Are they well known figures? (Sammaster, the Shades, Warlock Knights)
Part of a feared organization?
Are they custom created, and related to a known organization?
How have you introduced him/her to your players?
I would like to get a few names and general backgrounds, what makes them the campaign's BBEG?
Goals, motives...
Looking for inspiration! Thanks!
Im currently using good ol Szas Tam, only the players dont know it yet, they think theyre up against the Shades, which of course is just what Tam wants them to think! I'll probably throw some other baddies in there too, like the Zhents, or Cult of the Dragon, and some Shades of course, but the main bad guy is Tam. The players are actually doing Tams dirty work for him, they just dont have a clue, even though ive dropped plenty of hints along the way.
It looks promising
Tam is always a great vilain, and I certainly think you play him in character, staying in the background, master manipulator....
Curious though, and I an don't wan't to start anything here seriously... are you playing post-spellplague? If so, I am really interested in the motives behind Tam's manipulations, is it something you already have in mind or something you plan will evolve with the game?
Thanks for the feedback, also if you have any interesting bit on YOUR Tam, please, let us know.
For my 4th Edition Realms campaign....well I'm not too sure yet. The players just reached 6th level (and got to save King Foril of Cormyr from being assassinated in the gaining of that level) but I don't think unmasking those conspirators will make for a good BBEG type focus. Better to go the Swords of Dragonfire route and let there be lots of evil NPC hands stirring the pot.
For my now retired 3rd Edition Realms campaign I liked to use lots of BBEGs. Nalavarra, the Ghazneths, Kiaransalee, Bazim-Gorag, Aumanator (yep, you read that right), Orcus, Manshoon and his many clones, Elaith Craulnober, the Chosen (especially Khelben Blackstaff) and the Princes of Shade.
That 3E campaign taught me an important DMing lesson: the obvious bad guys all the sourcebooks give a DM to use are not the only NPCs that players will regard as evil or hated. NPCs who take their (excess) treasure, who aggressively manipulate public sentiment against them or who disagree with them (sometimes violently) on sensitive issues can be just as bad in a player's (and their character's) eyes as a classic BBEG like Orcus.
In low heroic tier the Zhents were the big problem. They had a smuggling and slave trade organized by a vampiric ruler in Secomber, had a cult of Cyric in Loudwater and a merc army occupying Llorkh. As the story advanced, turns out the Zhents were preventing Netheril from gaining influence in the region. When the Zhents were cleaned out by the players, it opened doors.
Mid to Upper heroic, Netheril came into focus as the enemy. Spies were sent into the Grey Vale, the players went through Spellgard Keep and they even disrupted a Netherese outpost in the Shadowfell. Then Netheril invaded Darkhold Keep, removing the Zhents as a regional faction, and drawing the players into the conflict between two evil factions. Darkhold became a spellplagued hole in the ground. At this point in the campaign, everyone is convinced Netheril will turn their sights to the Grey Vale next.
I havent done as much with Asmodeus yet, he has been more a background player and corrupting influence on a few characters. The above-mentioned vampire switched to his side, as did the leader of Loudwater. Later in the campaign this faction will make their presence obvious.
So there hasnt been a single BBEG as much as several warring evil factions. The most hated NPC turned out to be 'Lady Moonfire', the leader of Loudwater from the FRCG. The players had issues with her from the start, since she placated the evil factions to preserve her town and power. She ended up being a level 10 solo when it finally came to blows.
She ended up being a level 10 solo when it finally came to blows.
That's simply awesome.
Curious though, and I an don't wan't to start anything here seriously... are you playing post-spellplague? If so, I am really interested in the motives behind Tam's manipulations, is it something you already have in mind or something you plan will evolve with the game?
Thanks for the feedback, also if you have any interesting bit on YOUR Tam, please, let us know.
Im using post Spellplague Realms. You ever seen the movie Warlock? ive basically ripped off that movie. Theres a Tome of Ultimate Evil, but it has been seperated and its pieces scattered across the Realms. Tam wants the book to perform some unholy ritual out of it that is basicaly a Necromatic version of a nuke, turning everyone in the blast radius into undead slaves, which he needs to expand Thay and build more Doom Towers so he can try his altmate power ritual again.
So the PCs have been unwittingly gathering pieces of this book for Tam. So far they got two pieces. I havnt decided yet how many there are in total, Im thinking of going with 13.
I got this Idea from a thread at enworld. This guy was wanting to know what people thought of taking the standard assumptions and turning them up-side down. Like Drizzt is a womanizing merc. Elminster is only a Sage 3 Dales over, but the stories over the years have been embelished to where when the PC's meet him, they expect Gandalf, but what they get is a Minor Hedge Wizard...
I say go for it!
The most hated NPC turned out to be 'Lady Moonfire', the leader of Loudwater from the FRCG.
Weird. We liked the woman. we had a great party (and an even more interesting after-party night) before we even get around to getting hired by her.
As to the original question: In my current plot for LFR there is one person that is, at least currently, the top villain.
This is Mirabeta Selkirk (whose existence is revealed in DALE1-3).
I choose to use this villain due to the tie to the region and my area's traditional enemies. More behind-the-scene appearances are scheduled. An actual confrontation will likely not take place too soon though (the plot didn't get that far yet).
Gomez
Im using post Spellplague Realms. You ever seen the movie Warlock?
I've seen the movie as a kid, a long time ago ;)
The part with the little boy on the swingset... and his unhappy end... it actually shocked me at that time
2 of them have some knowledge, the others could care less. Take what your players know about the setting and twist it around.
I like it. Unexpected and surprising... most of all refreshing.
For my 4th Edition Realms campaign....well I'm not too sure yet. The players just reached 6th level (and got to save King Foril of Cormyr from being assassinated in the gaining of that level) but I don't think unmasking those conspirators will make for a good BBEG type focus. Better to go the Swords of Dragonfire route and let there be lots of evil NPC hands stirring the pot.
For my now retired 3rd Edition Realms campaign I liked to use lots of BBEGs. Nalavarra, the Ghazneths, Kiaransalee, Bazim-Gorag, Aumanator (yep, you read that right), Orcus, Manshoon and his many clones, Elaith Craulnober, the Chosen (especially Khelben Blackstaff) and the Princes of Shade.That 3E campaign taught me an important DMing lesson: the obvious bad guys all the sourcebooks give a DM to use are not the only NPCs that players will regard as evil or hated. NPCs who take their (excess) treasure, who aggressively manipulate public sentiment against them or who disagree with them (sometimes violently) on sensitive issues can be just as bad in a player's (and their character's) eyes as a classic BBEG like Orcus.
Good stuff here, and although I mentionned BBEG... could be big bad evil group also
I like the iconic evil character, but to me a good home-brewed vilain is just as good.
About Amaunator..... what was the twist behind it?
Are they well known figures? (Sammaster, the Shades, Warlock Knights)
Part of a feared organization?
We just finished up our campaign last week (4E), set in the UE, which took us from Aglarond to Thesk, on to the Great Dale, back to Aglarond, to Rashemen, and finally on to Thay. Szass Tam was the BBEG, and in true BBEG fashion, he utilized his web of underlings to maximum effect. The Red Wizards, in our game, are still their past incarnation; some of them are also merchants, but none of us cared much for the expatriate angle, so we ignored that. ST was a great antagonist; one of FR's finest puppetmasters, and he pulled the strings of both minions and foes all across the UE.
As for our campaigns in ages past, the ones I've been most fond of are: the Zhentarim (surprise, surprise), the Kraken Society, the church of Talona, the Red Wizards, the Night Masks, and the church of Tiamat.
Are they custom created, and related to a known organization?
I tend to prefer custom-created BBEGs to CSBBEGs, but to tell you the truth, I use them at an equal rate. Now that we've finished our current campaign, I will once again return to the DM helm (a friend of mine also knows how to DM very well, so we trade off campaigns; this past one was hers, so the upcoming one is mine). I'm thinking of using Halaster's apprentices for some good old-fashioned Waterdeep strife. It's still in the works, though.
I have been thinking of having The Harpers and The Zhents working together. The Harpers are now a secretive brank of the Zhents.
Intriguing....
Im using post Spellplague Realms. You ever seen the movie Warlock? ive basically ripped off that movie. Theres a Tome of Ultimate Evil, but it has been seperated and its pieces scattered across the Realms. Tam wants the book to perform some unholy ritual out of it that is basicaly a Necromatic version of a nuke, turning everyone in the blast radius into undead slaves, which he needs to expand Thay and build more Doom Towers so he can try his altmate power ritual again.
So the PCs have been unwittingly gathering pieces of this book for Tam. So far they got two pieces. I havnt decided yet how many there are in total, Im thinking of going with 13.
Hah.. I'm about to start up a 4e campaign this Sunday with almost the same plot.
Tam is trying to rebuild his Dread Keeps in an untainted area, this time being Baldurs Gate. He and his agents are planning to unleash a necrotic plague that will raise the populace as low level undead after they die from the plague. Then he would use them to build his keeps while having a huge army to hold off interlopers.
My PC's are going to have to figure this all out and try to stop the plague, or mitigate it's effects with some unnamed Artifact they will have to bargain for. Most likely from Larloch or one of the sarrukh in Najara.
Hah.. I'm about to start up a 4e campaign this Sunday with almost the same plot.
Great minds think alike! I'll be using Baldur's Gate as well, being that it now has the Realms largest population, that way Tam gets more bang for his buck, plus one of the pcs is from Baldur's Gate, so that will give them even more of an incentive to save the day, or try to any way.
The most hated NPC turned out to be 'Lady Moonfire', the leader of Loudwater from the FRCG.
Weird. We liked the woman. we had a great party (and an even more interesting after-party night) before we even get around to getting hired by her.
I guess not every BBEG is planned from the start. I had no intention of using her in this way but it sort of grew. First she was a patron and ally, then gradually over 20-some play sessions they really started to hate her. Eventually they were literally looking for a legal excuse to take her out.
The statblock I used last week - I made her into a leader-type with warlock powers, several minions and normal guards assisting her.
About Aumanator..... what was the twist behind it?
Serious "this is in my campaign only stuff" follows.
OK, in my campaign the Dawn Cataclysm was caused by Aumanator and his faithful, who lost their battle against the other gods of the Realms and thier minions as they attempted to siege the the gates of the Bastion of Unborn souls (think massive crystalline complex, impregnable, hollow on the inside, residing at the heart of the Positive Material Plane and the source of the spark of life that enters every living being's soul as it is born into the Prime).
Though the Aumanatori breached the Bastion, they failed to secure it ere Aumanator was waylaid and imprisoned by the other gods of the Realms. Without their god to aid them, the last of Aumanator's mortal servants fell to the Bastion's natural defenses. Thus did the greatest of all Aumanatori Holy Relics, Dragonhammer, sword of Order and the Faith, sign of the Righteous Avenger and bane and binder to all dragon kind, fall from the hands of its wielder, sealed away from the rest of creation for all time.
As a tripartite deity, Lathander was awakened by the gods imprisonment of Aumanator and quite naturally assumed the process of his portfolio, which involved first and foremost renewing the faith. But this did not stop Aumanator from attempting to call upon the very last of his archangels to inspire mortals to recover Dragonhammer and with it a heady spark of creation from the Bastion to renew his godhead, even if it meant subverting Lathander's faith, severing himself from Lathander altogether and causing the stillborn births of countless living beings in the process.
But Aumanator's last angles were twisted and broken from battle and the loss of their deity. Knowing such an adventure to retrieve the Holy Avenger Relic could only be achieved by the mightiest of champions, the demented archangels chose a fiend to find their champion for them.
And so it was that Orcus, foul tormentor and slayer of gods, came to hear a story whispered on angelic lips and was inspired to create a false relic that would when found automatically corrupt a paladin and allow Orcus to overtake his or her mind and make them commit the most foul of deeds.
And in so doing doom the paladin's sould to Orcus for all of eternity.
To the archangels twisted way of thinking, only a paladin so corrupted could truly know a failure equal to Aumanator's own. And only the mightiest could find redemption from it.
Imprisoned, weakened, mad and desperate to recover his lost godhead, Aumanator sent whisper-quiet thoughts beyond the walls of his prison that soothed the tortured minds of his faithful and urged them to set their twisted plan in motion.
God bless my players for spending several years playing through my convoluted railroad of a campaign, for not leaving my game outright when I took over the paladin and had him go on a Cormyrian noble-slaying spree that would have done any self respecting Zhentilar proud, for recognizing the unfolding plot as a complex and rewarding opportunity for adventure and roleplaying (and Orcus slaying), and most of all for seeing this part of the wider campaign to a final conclusion.
I have been thinking of having The Harpers and The Zhents working together. The Harpers are now a secretive brank of the Zhents. The enemy of my enemy is really my friend.
I got this Idea from a thread at enworld. This guy was wanting to know what people thought of taking the standard assumptions and turning them up-side down. Like Drizzt is a womanizing merc. Elminster is only a Sage 3 Dales over, but the stories over the years have been embelished to where when the PC's meet him, they expect Gandalf, but what they get is a Minor Hedge Wizard...
that is plain awesome and evil, it makes a lot of sense and explains a lot about the characters as well.......
Ultimately the BBEGs of my campaign are the aboleth of the Abolethic Sovereignty but Szass Tam is likely to make an appearance as is, potentially, the elder evil, Pandorym. It's early days now, though; we're still playing through the first adventure.
Sounds really cool.
I was running that AP, and got to Farshore before it fell apart.
In the continuation of the same adventure (they're hitting level 24th level) and reaching the year of 1385 soon, Orcus will attempt to take use of the chaos going on in the world to reach the surface. Or so i've thought a bit about this, and i'll have it be the campaigns ending showdown before we go to 4th ed or such.
The bountyhunting party wisely chose to ally with Tchazzar (DoF) after helping an untheric Tiamatan priestess named Jervana who unwittingly thwarted Gargauth. At the end greed did the party in prematurely as they gunned for the rebel Selunite Ningal (FRCS) who proved to be too strong a sorceress.
In an earlier campaign I used the leader of the yuan-ti Jennestas tribe as a BBEG. Ssrevathiss, a winged yuan-ti abomination cleric, planned to spike the major rivers in the Black Jungles of Thindol with a serum that changes humans to ophidians (half-snake people) but he needed a large amount of mushrooms and herbs that he was growing in underground temples and caverns and a solstice to empower his relic of transportation. He had the Coiled Cabal (a Yuan-Ti group of mages), some Rundeen (who were halfblood infiltraters) and regular viper snake spies (amazing how easy these guys are overlooked) at his disposal. I regret he had so much information control as he was never threathened during the campaign. Sometimes its better to have less intelligent antagonists.
Paragon, possibly a pyroclastic dragon, or some fire titan like being, or a combination of both - with the dragon being the mount
Epic - Rorn with some baddies a long with him
This is of course only half of the truth. If one of the power of Bhaal they still need to commit a great murder worthy of a god to truly claim that power truly. Further more if they die carrying this power THEY will take the place of the great murder invigorating bhaal to reclaim his lost power and ressurrecting the Lord of Murder.
For my evil epic campaign I actually have the dead floating corpse of Bhaal as a BBEG.
That's pretty cool. Reminds me of the Githyanki a little bit, too.
I also want to work in some action with the guilds and criminal rings. Incidentally, Elaith has also survived up to 1479 DR in my game. I've got a few new tricks to give him, but I still haven't decided how his personality has changed (if at all) over the past century. The PCs aren't going to want to get on his bad side. He's as big a threat as Trobriand, if provoked.
For my evil epic campaign I actually have the dead floating corpse of Bhaal as a BBEG.
That's pretty cool. Reminds me of the Githyanki a little bit, too.
Thank you. i hope that it will work out well.
The paragon tier will feature this warlord as the right hand of my main villian: a Netheril shade noble, who will be somehow the incarnation of the evil wizard Xanad (2e Netheril - Empire of Magic). He will plot to activate a new mythallar out of a peak from the Greypeak Mountains to build a new fortress against this "enemies" (he will be very paranoid ^^). The final goal of Melcer Xanad II. is to find the remains of the dwarven arcane college of Xothol to creat an army of shade dwarf sourcerers to conquer the Grey Vale up to the Nether Mountians.
What do you think about it?