Need some help to create the villain's villain's. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Need some help to create the villain's villain's. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Tjuk
08-31-07, 07:53 PM Hey everyone,

Thing is i'm having this campaign where me and a few mates are playing villians in the town of waterdeep in faerun. And the DM has been kind of put out of idea's to put against us, becaus he doesn't really know how to create a villain for PC's which are playing bad guys themselfs, and he has asked me to come up with some idea's which he might be able to use. The campaign is pretty much build around my Wizard. I will give you a few examples about the characters, and what they are trying to do. And hopefully you guys can give me a hand with creating some worthy Archvillians, or good guys which are trying to stand in our way of total rulership over the town of waterdeep.

Player : The dirty guard
Human 4 Rogue/1 Barbarian
This character has had the chance to join the guards of waterdeep at the time, and is trying to play this sort of dirty guard, which is getting himself payed for making him, and some other fellow guards to look the other way at appropriate times. He's kind of the hot head, and temps to charge in before asking questions to kill anyone who dares to oppose us. We are trying to get him higher in rank at the guards of waterdeep, by making him arrest and giving him reasons to arrest people that oppose us.
He grew up in the town of waterdeep itself but we don't know much about his past so you could get rather creative on this one (since the player hasn't made a background for his character, the DM decided that he will create a background which will become obvious through the sessions as a complot)

Player : The Thiefs guild leader
Elf Rogue 5
This character decided to run some ropes into the criminal circuit, ruling thiefs guilds and playing them out towards eachother, he's a roleplayer and based his character on everything which has to do with seduction, he cares about a good clean reputation, which means he's constantly trying to improve himself by performing and having a good name under the commoners that life in the town of waterdeep, allthough in his shadow he is the ruler of thief guilds. He is not nosie at all, he doesn't care about threats and is really arrogant.
This character does not like the fight, he would prefer to run or to hire someone to do it then doing it himself, he doesn't want to get dirty, he's a opportunist, he only acts from range and if he knows that no one would have seen him do a act like that (grew up in waterdeep aswell had a bad youth, nothing special about his background, he just doesn't trust anyone)

Player : The half/demon obsessed murderer
Thiefling rogue 4/Fighter 1
This player character is all about murdering he's obsessed with it, if somebody needs to be bumbed off, he will do it in the most bloodiest way he can find to complete the act. He's not so much for finesse, he's a murderer and that's all there is to it, he gets carried away with every detail of being a mass murderer. One problem about this character though is that he will never lie. Meaning that if he would get caught, and would be asked what he would be doing here he would simply reply with the words : Coming to murder someone, and it also means if they ask why, that he would reply: Becaus Someone Hired me too. This character sees no weakness of himself, he's arrogant in the ways of combat. I would not think twice if he would meet a powerfull person, and if he would have the smallest chance of killing him to do so. He's a demon of his own, and very feared by the ones that oppose him.
This player doesn't like to be threatend becaus, he would see to it that this person would be put as a example to the people who dare to oppose him.
He is the guard of the wizard of the party, which seems in his passed he has been hired by the father of this man to protect and to serve him for as long as his life expands (no one else knows this though) This character has only little known about his background he has been a wandering hireling for some time, and that's all there is too it.

Player : The wizard.
Human Wizard 5/ Shadow Adebt 1
This character has alot of potential allthough a troublesome past. This character has been struggling to get the rank of noble, he deals in arms, and slowly but surely is getting to be the biggest weapondealer in all of Waterdeep. He hasn't been named as a Nobleman yet. allthough it is soon to come. This character is obsessed with power, but has troubles knowing his real past. He has been captured by the drow since he was a kid, His mind is influenced by the dark arts of the Drow, and he has been send to be the leverage for the drow to get more power in the city. Lucius (the wizard) is going to try to be the ruler of all of waterdeep. He doesn't yet know how to do it completely yet. But he knows he needs to have a clean sheet when it comes to his name, this character is all based on mind influencing and illusions, trickery of the darkest kind, he uses the dark magic that the drow have teached him. He rarely uses magic to harm people, only to prevent himself from dieing. His father was a big slaves dealer, known in all of fearun, his place of origin is Thay. Bit by bit lucius is getting small pieces back from the real past he ones lived, allthough he is confused by it. He doesn't know which one of both is real. And struggles with himself. Slowly maddening himself. Allthough one thing is for sure. He seeks power, and alot of it, he is not scared of getting his hands dirty. But by influencing the minds of others he tries to get away with everything by being able to blame it on others.

Ok so i hope now that it has become a bit more clearly about what this campaign is all about, and if you can think of a a enemy for any of these character, pleaste state which of the four, if you have one which would fit to be every of these characters enemy, then that cool aswell.
I hope you guys can come up with some good idea's that our campaign doesn't crash.

We gain level's quiet easely in this campaign, and we go up to high epic. So don't hesitate to put some very strong, and annoying villian idea's with backgrounds in there
Terjon of the Blue Rose
09-01-07, 01:08 AM VS the wizard (and half-demon)

Start with an inquisitor/investigator. A good cop who is just following the clues. He hasn't yet connected things to you but he keeps getting way too close. You also need to grab him some sort of protection to keep the group from just bumping him off. Lets say he's too high rank and his death would draw a lot of unwanted attention.

Next let's give our investigator a bodyguard/partner. Skilled in a fight and loyal to a fault but not quite up to par with him on brains. Probably even got a rank or three of pally.

Add in a wizard who is just as loyal but to one of waterdeep's pirate lords. Working with the investigator he doesn't need nearly as much evidence to make an accusation. This guy has probably already accused you at least once already and has it fixed in his head that you're bad news. All he needs now is to convince our noble hero to place you under arrest "because that way everyone will know he's guilty even if we don't have the evidence to make the charges stick".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vs the Rogue.
You need a second rogue's guild at war with yours. They probably aren't as big but they are willing to resort to framing your guild for their crimes.

Add in one of the lesser lords of the city who you've burned on deals in the past. Maybe even turned on him when you got a bigger backer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vs the dirty guard.
The obvious is a clean guard so lets go with the opposite. A Higher ranking guard who has already got his own network of bribes and blackmail going on is threatened by your rising little group. He continually uses his official position to belittle you and put you on the worst details. What's more you don't know whether to trust new members of your own little network because you can never tell who is working for him. Anyone on the guard slimy enough to work for you is prob willing to work for him too.

Cross over that investigator from the wiz's problems and you've got a handful.

To make matters worse you can add one of your own bought men who has decided his cut isn't large enough. Fully willing to replace you he is looking for your ringleader so he can offer himself in your place. Don't make him untouchable for your killer but rather try to give him something of value that could significantly promote your groups agenda. If you can get it from him he's dead but so far he's done a very good job of hiding it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vs everyone
The Drow. You have more than one faction down there and your allies are getting impatient. Their enemies are pushing for assaults or simply attacking from too many angles and they seriously need that city or they may well fall.
Tjuk
09-01-07, 10:03 AM there are some certainly nice things in there the DM might be able to use, i'll bring up a few of your idea's with our next man vs. man meeting. Personally i think he is already using the drow to put against the lot of us. Allthough not too obvious so far, so can't say i'm completely sure of it, he tries to add small things with the idea's that i give him. He's rather resourcefull in that case, allthough he is just not used to leading this sort of campaign setting.
it's actually a new thing to all of us.

the first idea of your idea's i especially like, since it's rather effective to 3 of our characters, the bad cop is not knowingly being put in danger aswell, while the half-demon is not going to be to worried about becaus he doesn't like to think of big plans, when the time comes he will probably think that when they come to us, it is time for him to show some blades.
But yet my own character (the wizard) is going to have alot of problems dealing with him, which i really like :)

Cheers mate, good idea. Keep 'm coming !! :)
Fithero
09-01-07, 11:41 AM Cheers mate, good idea. Keep 'm coming !! :)

Oh... you must be new here... You see, the way it works is that once Terjon posts, nobody else does because they dont need too... the question has already been answered at every possible angle :P

Add *that* to your ego pad Terjon :P
Tjuk
09-01-07, 11:59 AM Hehe a villain can't have too many enemies i always say :)
But he sure deserves a compliment for his work :)
ZimTsu
09-01-07, 05:59 PM What if someone that was harmed, or lost a loved one due to the corrupt guard turns to vigilantism, and starts uncovering the connections between the PCs, and decides to plot a counter-plot to stop the villains?
Or maybe, in investigating the PCs, the vigilante detects an assassination plot by the enemies of the wizards biological father, and decides to foil them in a bid to gain the PCs trust, so he can eventually get them all when their guard is down. You can even make an entire subplot around the failed assassination, and the villains revenge (you could even try mobilizing the thieves guild and the city guard to work toward the same objective, and then solve the mess that happens when they step on each others toes).
AshenRoseOfTheWaningSun
09-01-07, 09:55 PM I'm not terribly familiar with Faerun but here goes...

1. A vampire decides to move into town and it's his way or.... well one good bite and it's his way anyway.

2. A hunting team of a shadowbane inqusitor, a shadowbane stalker and a mystic theurge of St Cuthbert (or equivalent) catch wind of a vampire moving into town and start poking their noses in everyone's business.

3. A regional or national representative (tax collector, or 2nd in command of the royal guard) decides to take a few months vacation in the city. He's not officially on duty, but he certainly commands respect and power. He's also no idiot to have risen to his current rank. Various members of the elite guard are with him all the time.

4. A branch of another major city's thieves guild and/or assassin's guild wants to expand beyond their old home and sets up shop. They're fairly removed from their power base, but they have tremendous resources to call upon if given enough notice and are certainly not above scribing explosive runes on your eyelids while you're magically asleep. Hippogriff heads on your pillow are also a good message.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tjuk 08-31-07, 07:53 PM	Hey everyone, Thing is i'm having this campaign where me and a few mates are playing villians in the town of waterdeep in faerun. And the DM has been kind of put out of idea's to put against us, becaus he doesn't really know how to create a villain for PC's which are playing bad guys themselfs, and he has asked me to come up with some idea's which he might be able to use. The campaign is pretty much build around my Wizard. I will give you a few examples about the characters, and what they are trying to do. And hopefully you guys can give me a hand with creating some worthy Archvillians, or good guys which are trying to stand in our way of total rulership over the town of waterdeep. Player : The dirty guard Human 4 Rogue/1 Barbarian This character has had the chance to join the guards of waterdeep at the time, and is trying to play this sort of dirty guard, which is getting himself payed for making him, and some other fellow guards to look the other way at appropriate times. He's kind of the hot head, and temps to charge in before asking questions to kill anyone who dares to oppose us. We are trying to get him higher in rank at the guards of waterdeep, by making him arrest and giving him reasons to arrest people that oppose us. He grew up in the town of waterdeep itself but we don't know much about his past so you could get rather creative on this one (since the player hasn't made a background for his character, the DM decided that he will create a background which will become obvious through the sessions as a complot) Player : The Thiefs guild leader Elf Rogue 5 This character decided to run some ropes into the criminal circuit, ruling thiefs guilds and playing them out towards eachother, he's a roleplayer and based his character on everything which has to do with seduction, he cares about a good clean reputation, which means he's constantly trying to improve himself by performing and having a good name under the commoners that life in the town of waterdeep, allthough in his shadow he is the ruler of thief guilds. He is not nosie at all, he doesn't care about threats and is really arrogant. This character does not like the fight, he would prefer to run or to hire someone to do it then doing it himself, he doesn't want to get dirty, he's a opportunist, he only acts from range and if he knows that no one would have seen him do a act like that (grew up in waterdeep aswell had a bad youth, nothing special about his background, he just doesn't trust anyone) Player : The half/demon obsessed murderer Thiefling rogue 4/Fighter 1 This player character is all about murdering he's obsessed with it, if somebody needs to be bumbed off, he will do it in the most bloodiest way he can find to complete the act. He's not so much for finesse, he's a murderer and that's all there is to it, he gets carried away with every detail of being a mass murderer. One problem about this character though is that he will never lie. Meaning that if he would get caught, and would be asked what he would be doing here he would simply reply with the words : Coming to murder someone, and it also means if they ask why, that he would reply: Becaus Someone Hired me too. This character sees no weakness of himself, he's arrogant in the ways of combat. I would not think twice if he would meet a powerfull person, and if he would have the smallest chance of killing him to do so. He's a demon of his own, and very feared by the ones that oppose him. This player doesn't like to be threatend becaus, he would see to it that this person would be put as a example to the people who dare to oppose him. He is the guard of the wizard of the party, which seems in his passed he has been hired by the father of this man to protect and to serve him for as long as his life expands (no one else knows this though) This character has only little known about his background he has been a wandering hireling for some time, and that's all there is too it. Player : The wizard. Human Wizard 5/ Shadow Adebt 1 This character has alot of potential allthough a troublesome past. This character has been struggling to get the rank of noble, he deals in arms, and slowly but surely is getting to be the biggest weapondealer in all of Waterdeep. He hasn't been named as a Nobleman yet. allthough it is soon to come. This character is obsessed with power, but has troubles knowing his real past. He has been captured by the drow since he was a kid, His mind is influenced by the dark arts of the Drow, and he has been send to be the leverage for the drow to get more power in the city. Lucius (the wizard) is going to try to be the ruler of all of waterdeep. He doesn't yet know how to do it completely yet. But he knows he needs to have a clean sheet when it comes to his name, this character is all based on mind influencing and illusions, trickery of the darkest kind, he uses the dark magic that the drow have teached him. He rarely uses magic to harm people, only to prevent himself from dieing. His father was a big slaves dealer, known in all of fearun, his place of origin is Thay. Bit by bit lucius is getting small pieces back from the real past he ones lived, allthough he is confused by it. He doesn't know which one of both is real. And struggles with himself. Slowly maddening himself. Allthough one thing is for sure. He seeks power, and alot of it, he is not scared of getting his hands dirty. But by influencing the minds of others he tries to get away with everything by being able to blame it on others. Ok so i hope now that it has become a bit more clearly about what this campaign is all about, and if you can think of a a enemy for any of these character, pleaste state which of the four, if you have one which would fit to be every of these characters enemy, then that cool aswell. I hope you guys can come up with some good idea's that our campaign doesn't crash. We gain level's quiet easely in this campaign, and we go up to high epic. So don't hesitate to put some very strong, and annoying villian idea's with backgrounds in there
Terjon of the Blue Rose 09-01-07, 01:08 AM	VS the wizard (and half-demon) Start with an inquisitor/investigator. A good cop who is just following the clues. He hasn't yet connected things to you but he keeps getting way too close. You also need to grab him some sort of protection to keep the group from just bumping him off. Lets say he's too high rank and his death would draw a lot of unwanted attention. Next let's give our investigator a bodyguard/partner. Skilled in a fight and loyal to a fault but not quite up to par with him on brains. Probably even got a rank or three of pally. Add in a wizard who is just as loyal but to one of waterdeep's pirate lords. Working with the investigator he doesn't need nearly as much evidence to make an accusation. This guy has probably already accused you at least once already and has it fixed in his head that you're bad news. All he needs now is to convince our noble hero to place you under arrest "because that way everyone will know he's guilty even if we don't have the evidence to make the charges stick". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vs the Rogue. You need a second rogue's guild at war with yours. They probably aren't as big but they are willing to resort to framing your guild for their crimes. Add in one of the lesser lords of the city who you've burned on deals in the past. Maybe even turned on him when you got a bigger backer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vs the dirty guard. The obvious is a clean guard so lets go with the opposite. A Higher ranking guard who has already got his own network of bribes and blackmail going on is threatened by your rising little group. He continually uses his official position to belittle you and put you on the worst details. What's more you don't know whether to trust new members of your own little network because you can never tell who is working for him. Anyone on the guard slimy enough to work for you is prob willing to work for him too. Cross over that investigator from the wiz's problems and you've got a handful. To make matters worse you can add one of your own bought men who has decided his cut isn't large enough. Fully willing to replace you he is looking for your ringleader so he can offer himself in your place. Don't make him untouchable for your killer but rather try to give him something of value that could significantly promote your groups agenda. If you can get it from him he's dead but so far he's done a very good job of hiding it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vs everyone The Drow. You have more than one faction down there and your allies are getting impatient. Their enemies are pushing for assaults or simply attacking from too many angles and they seriously need that city or they may well fall.
Tjuk 09-01-07, 10:03 AM	there are some certainly nice things in there the DM might be able to use, i'll bring up a few of your idea's with our next man vs. man meeting. Personally i think he is already using the drow to put against the lot of us. Allthough not too obvious so far, so can't say i'm completely sure of it, he tries to add small things with the idea's that i give him. He's rather resourcefull in that case, allthough he is just not used to leading this sort of campaign setting. it's actually a new thing to all of us. the first idea of your idea's i especially like, since it's rather effective to 3 of our characters, the bad cop is not knowingly being put in danger aswell, while the half-demon is not going to be to worried about becaus he doesn't like to think of big plans, when the time comes he will probably think that when they come to us, it is time for him to show some blades. But yet my own character (the wizard) is going to have alot of problems dealing with him, which i really like :) Cheers mate, good idea. Keep 'm coming !! :)
Fithero 09-01-07, 11:41 AM	Cheers mate, good idea. Keep 'm coming !! :) Oh... you must be new here... You see, the way it works is that once Terjon posts, nobody else does because they dont need too... the question has already been answered at every possible angle :P Add that to your ego pad Terjon :P
Tjuk 09-01-07, 11:59 AM	Hehe a villain can't have too many enemies i always say :) But he sure deserves a compliment for his work :)
ZimTsu 09-01-07, 05:59 PM	What if someone that was harmed, or lost a loved one due to the corrupt guard turns to vigilantism, and starts uncovering the connections between the PCs, and decides to plot a counter-plot to stop the villains? Or maybe, in investigating the PCs, the vigilante detects an assassination plot by the enemies of the wizards biological father, and decides to foil them in a bid to gain the PCs trust, so he can eventually get them all when their guard is down. You can even make an entire subplot around the failed assassination, and the villains revenge (you could even try mobilizing the thieves guild and the city guard to work toward the same objective, and then solve the mess that happens when they step on each others toes).
AshenRoseOfTheWaningSun 09-01-07, 09:55 PM	I'm not terribly familiar with Faerun but here goes... 1. A vampire decides to move into town and it's his way or.... well one good bite and it's his way anyway. 2. A hunting team of a shadowbane inqusitor, a shadowbane stalker and a mystic theurge of St Cuthbert (or equivalent) catch wind of a vampire moving into town and start poking their noses in everyone's business. 3. A regional or national representative (tax collector, or 2nd in command of the royal guard) decides to take a few months vacation in the city. He's not officially on duty, but he certainly commands respect and power. He's also no idiot to have risen to his current rank. Various members of the elite guard are with him all the time. 4. A branch of another major city's thieves guild and/or assassin's guild wants to expand beyond their old home and sets up shop. They're fairly removed from their power base, but they have tremendous resources to call upon if given enough notice and are certainly not above scribing explosive runes on your eyelids while you're magically asleep. Hippogriff heads on your pillow are also a good message.