RPGMemes

If I had a group like this, I would have so much fun with the first one. Player paranoia is one of my favorite toys.

They show up and the ruler is healing children. The ruler hires them to help people constantly, even lets themself be taken hostage to free the previous hostage, a little old lady. But the whole time, they keep speaking in indirect ways, leaving things up to player imagination, which player paranoia would fill with devils and monsters. There's nothing wrong with them, though. They really are just trying their best to help everyone. It'd be great because I know the players would be shitting themselves trying to figure out what nefarious plan is supported by setting up a hospital, despite there being zero reason to assume there is one.

My players favorite ruler they ever met was a crippled, emaciated dwarf king who could barely sit up right while wearing his crown because it was too heavy for his weak neck.

One of my players almost cried when that ruler died at the end of the campaign.

I think my favorite variation of this was a DM posting about how they had made their BBEG Hitler but hot and changed a bit of the flavoring to fantasy and his table sided with them the whole game. To the DM's horror.

You always have to package good people with secret shames so suspicious players can gauge how good or evil they are. What people feel they need to hide is a good measure of what they consider acceptable. For example, a lawful good character could be ashamed by ignoring a person asking for help, but a lawful evil character might be ashamed that they indiscriminately murdered adults & children.

the ruler is a sentient kitten made immortal by a witch. it can't talk but it listens to its advisors and stamps its tiny little pawbeans down on laws that it agrees with

I'm querying my internal meme database and if I recall weren't these pictures of before and after Square announced FF VII port for the PS3. Not the remaster, just a playable port. And the pictures are reversed timeline, meaning they were very excited (bottom picture), but then quickly disappointed (top picture) after realized Square pulled a switcharoo? Could be wrong but going crazy with the thought now!