Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Danahan 10-10-07, 12:14 PM	I’ve decided that in my upcoming campaign, my BBEG isn’t going to be some insanely powerful dragon, lich, necromancer, or dark knight who could squash the party with the swat of a hand. That’s one thing I’ve never understood! If the party keeps sabotaging the plans of an evil wizard, why doesn’t he just teleport next to them and hit them with a delayed blast fireball when they’re still leveling up. End of story! Instead, I’m working on a villain who isn’t a physical threat to the party. He is in fact only 1st level, but is extremely rich and influential. Thus, he works through a plethora of minions, and has numerous bodyguards in his employ. He also has several magic items at his disposal. I’m also thinking of making him impervious to death, sort of like Dorian Gray with his portrait. This shoots home that violence is not the way to beat him. Since he’s immortal, the best bet would be to stick him in prison for the rest of his life... a very, very long time indeed. Of course, using a powerful weapon like the sun sword from EtCR might negate his immortality, thus yet another adventure hook. Or like Dorian Gray, whose life force was contained within his portrait, he might have some sort of item like a phylactery that needs to be destroyed. Does anyone have any additional ideas?
Kezot 10-11-07, 06:13 PM	I commend you for trying a BBEG who doesn't just monologue at the PCs and then proceed to single handedly evicerate them. However, I worry that making him just level 1 is kind of. . . hard to believe. Personally, I measure the importance and influence of an NPC by their level. For example, the mayor of town is usually in the 4-10 range, not because he is a super-skilled expert or deadly warrior, but because he has experience doing his job, and he does something that ordinary commoners can't do. Indeed, if this immortal is indeed based on Dorian, maybe you should check the book for inspiration. A few parts of the story that come to mind are that Dorian spends all his time LEARNING. Even though most of it is useless for an enemy (perfumes, exotic instruments, horticulture), he still has FAR more skills than a mere level 1. If I had to make Dorian, I would suggest a level 6+ aristocrat or expert (heck, multiclass him if you want). This gives him a lot of skills at his disposal, and allows the PCs to believe that this random antagonist actually shows his immortality. If you don't want him to be so tough in combat (BAB, saves, HP), you could lower his stats so that his attacks or longevity go down. Besides, if he's never going to face the PCs in combat, who cares what his BAB is? Regarding the immortality clause, you should be careful with this. If my group is any indication, players enjoy beating their opponents at least as much as they like facing them. Remember also that Dorian doesn't age, but there is no indication that he can survive fatal trauma. Dorian fears being killed in the last part of the book, so it is reasonable that this immortality would not manifest in the BBEG going "Ha Ha, you can't hurt me!", and instead appear as "I have lived for a thousand years, and you think to stop me now? Foolish mortals! Bwaa Ha Ha Ha Ha!" Think lich style immortality: he lives really long and has the skills, experience, and wealth to show for it. Also, you need to make sure of one thing: his henchmen don't, or can't, kill him. I mostly do this by having the evil aristocrats have all their soldiers be levels 2-8, but also have them get some hired agents at level 6-12. The really tough fights with this immortal will not be with his personal guards, but with the assassins he can hire and the corrupt police he can send to arrest the PCs. Even very powerful characters will shy away from fighting the law; the rule of "there's always someone more powerful" usually works AGAINST the players, not with them. Lastly, regarding his magic item cache, assume that he doesn't have too much of the stuff. One or two of his goons might carry a magic weapon, a hired wizard can carry a wand, or an expensive golem will come chasing after the PCs. If every fight turns into a game of killing the mooks and taking their many wonderous items, you suddenly make the enemy less of an enemy and more of a magic item shop. Really, you just have to make sure that this enemy never dedicates so many of his resources to the PCs that he destroys them, while at the same time keeping him dangerous enough to be a serious danger. P.S. sorry for the long post, but I have been running a campaign with lots of this sort of bad guy (works in the background, hard to kill personally), and I have dealt with this sort before.
Kamin_Majere 10-12-07, 02:15 PM	Lex Luther. He didnt have super powers. All he had was a genius level IQ and billions of dollars at his disposal and he kepts the likes of superman at bay for decades. I LOVE the manupilator villans. I currently have one in my campaign. He actually is a very competent fighter, but why dirty yourself if you have minions to do it for you. I have him with his hands in everything and with it being impossible to prove. In a few levels the PC's could probably just kill him outright, but with his money and influence it will be a next to impossible task. Plus the wonderful thing about manupilators is that they can actually help the party alot of the time and then they "owe" him. Its always great fun when they catch the BBEG and he gets out with clever words and favors that they call in (espically favors that the PC's owe him)
Danahan 10-12-07, 10:36 PM	Wow, thanks for all of the advice. I’m definitely getting a better idea of what this guy should be like! Here is a very, very brief synopsis of my BBEG: Louis Larkin owns Greener Pastures, a chain of funeral homes with a monopoly on the funerary industry. Known only to himself and a few of his higher-ups, Larkin resorts to staging deaths to keep business pouring in. Seemingly random house fires, murders, and accidents are really the machinations of this madman. Utilizing third-party assassins and undead minions, these unscrupulous acts have thus far remained clandestine. Larkin has two main motives behind his insanity. First, money is something that can never reach an excess. Two, Larkin pushes the boundaries of morality, seeing how far his criminal activities will get before the law finally catches on. I already know that the parents of one of my PCs were stabbed to death by one of Larkin’s goons, and that Greener Pastures conducted the funeral for a small fortune. The very first encounter will actually be an attempt on the PCs lives by one of the undead minions that serve Larkin’s every whim.
EvilVegan 10-14-07, 10:00 AM	A few questions to help flesh it out: How is he influencing people higher level than him? How is he controlling undead, is it by proxy, directly with magic items, etc? Aside from running a funeral home how is he generating wealth? What are the names of his 5 next-in-commands, and what are their areas of expertise? What events spawned his immortality and insanity? What is his mortal weakness and is he even aware that he has one? These aren't critiques in your plans, these are just things I thought you'd want to have fleshed out before the fact so you can know in advance. Suggestions: If you're wanting him to have undead at his command, I would suggest having him at least partially aligned with a necromancer/cabal, which he supplies bodies to in exchange for a few loyal servants (maybe 1 zombie/skeleton for every 10 corpses provided). This would need to take place in a largish city, a town of 500 couldn't supply a serial killing crime-boss with enough bodies for long enough to build up a sufficient power base, nor would he have contacts or trade enough to maintain his business-front. He's going to need his hands in a lot of pockets, from the gem market (for animate dead) to lumber and carpentry (coffins), and I would highly suggest having him be at most 1 step away from someone in charge of police work.