Personally, I love the idea of having the PCs enter a darkened temple with nothing but a shaft of light coming through the roof and playing over the frame of some great nemesis. Instead of the party all drawing swords/wands like in a normal encounter, one of the PCs holds up his hand to stop his companions and says the words, "Leave him to me, he's mine..." Great stuff. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to create a nemesis without ending up making them the BBEG (big bad evil guy). Having created 5 nemeses for my Oriental Adventures campaign I quickly learned the problems with making them, so I thought I’d type this up to hopefully foster the future of more nemeses appearing in people's games everywhere.
The great thing about a nemesis is that it adds an air of competitiveness to the game. Not the unhealthy kind between PCs but between one character and his enemy. The nemesis is an ever-present threat to the character who now has the goal of defeating this enemy to aspire to. The first thing that needs to be thought about is what purpose a nemesis has in your campaign. In my overpowered OA campaign which is hack'n'slash, due to the fact that we have four samurai and a ninja in the group, the nemesis are going to be used to create more competitiveness and also in many ways keep the PCs in check. Some of them get haughty about their might and capabilities and the presence of an undefeated nemesis reminds that player that his PC is not indestructible.
A nemesis can also be used to try and push your PCs a certain way; to put a new spin on the game. If your nemesis is working well you may influence the player to do something drastic to get back at him or her. For instance, if your nemesis was the mayor of a town, then not only would your PC hate that town but he may be tempted to contact the thieves guild in the town to try and frame the mayor. The PC might not normally consort with such lowly people but will because the player feels there is a damn good reason behind it.
A nemesis should be focused at aggravating the player, rather than what you think might aggravate the PC. Some players don't get into their character enough to be able to respond appropriately, but most of the time, the PC’s behavior is largely that of the players. Thus, the class of the nemesis doesn't matter as much as his personality. For example, if you have a PC paladin, you create a blackguard nemesis. However, if the blackguard just mouths out the rhetoric of evil which would certainly make a paladin hate him, the player will not be too enthralled. If you know your players well enough, you know what gets them annoyed. It could be complete and total arrogance. It could be fat and decadent people who get fanned by palm leaves. It could be a whiner. It could be a person who is retentive about the laws of physics. Whatever it is, your nemesis should do it.
The nemesis' morals should be different than those of the PC, (mind you having a nemesis with the same alignment is sometimes really good and adds a twist – as with a nemesis coming from the same order of paladins as the PC) and most importantly, they should break many of the unspoken rules of engagement. Kill some of the PC’s family while he/she's in another country. Burn their hometown to the ground. Kill the age-old mentor. Do it all, and make sure when the PC finds out, its a slap in the face. If the nemesis has a signature mark, have him send the PC a letter containing nothing but the PC's sister's hairpin and his signature mark. Play cheap, whether that is evil or good. While an evil nemesis might murder a family, a good nemesis may be suitably powerful or honored to simply have the family imprisoned for some crime until the PC is 'brought to justice.'
A real challenge I had was creating the situation where both the PC and a nemesis will end up hating each other I found very difficult. Sure killing the PC's family is a great way to get the PC to hate your creation but the murder so far is completely unjustified. Why did the nemesis do it? Here are a few of the events I thought up that could end up making the PC a nemesis of one of his foes.
a) Inadvertent - the PC unwittingly interferes in the "soon-to-be" nemesis' business stopping the NPC from getting/achieving something very important to them. Now it’s payback.
b) Blast from the Past - the player may have given you a background for the PC, or something but regardless, his history is littered with possible places where a faceless person (or an important person) could have been wronged, and his hate has festered for years. It's not hard to follow the trail of heroic and active heroes. Now he's caught up.
c) On the wrong side of the law - in the world of many organizations, many which operate with only a cursory gesture towards the law, stoic adventurers who don't back down can find themselves making powerful enemies, and it is even more engaging when the organization has the support of the local region.
d) The Traitor - there are few things more hated than traitors, especially when their true allegiances are shown in a fittingly destructive way for the PC.
e) Special – I can't really put a name to this variety because some campaigns would definitely have these and others not. Basically, when I mean non-human nemesis of demons, celestials, oni, etc. that have special significance to the character. You can see how these could be few and far between, but in Oriental Adventures where the greatest threat by the Shadowlands (effectively the BBEG except in a region) is to steal a person's identity. It raises some cool options that go beyond the normal hate-hate relationship. One nemesis for OA is actually an Oni who has stolen the identity of the PC and gains power from it.
f) Look at what’s happened - the actions that have happened in the campaign so far is the best place to go for inspiration. It's uncanny how things can link in to what you want. I would never have thought of stealing one of my PC's identities if he had not actually wanted to take the "Tainted" prestige class. The actions of the characters end up really defining who they are so nemeses should usually be made after some time in the campaign to allow the prestigious names of your PC's to be dirtied whether openly or secretly. For instance, having a single character "tainted" by the power of the Shadowlands dirties everyone associated to him should anyone find out, for they would be harboring a "tainted." This forms the basis of one of my other nemeses, thus, the actions of one PC have impacted on the lives of the others, creating a more real world.
Finally, a nemesis should not be an adventure--something which stands as a quest either uncompleted or completed. A nemesis is never defeated until he's dead, because the hate should drive him to come back to fight once more.
My favorite nemesis was a high ranking inquisitor (cleric/monk) of his church. The party was mistakenly identified as the culprits who slew a high-ranking official of the church (they just happened to be there when the guards showed up). The inquisitor fought them for the first time in this battle, but was forced to flee when all of the other guards were killed. Later, he tracked the party down while they were on another continent and tried to prevent them from recovering a holy relic. Sadly, the party's monk decided to go after him solo. Both of them were horribly maimed, but the inquisitor survived the one-on-one fight but was killed by the rest of the party. Later, I brought him back to life from another Cleric. He probably would've hunted the party down again, had they not already cleared their names. By the time they finished the campaign, he had gone from one of their most hated foes to being one of their closest allies.
Sad huh?
Initially the three met when they were in a forest. Lokai was attempting to steal religious relics from a caravan that Senine was leading. Raliegh was in the area meditating and training. We were all attacked by a large group of orcs and were eventually captured.
We were sold into service far from the area to a man named Manfred. He was our trainer and became one of our closest allies. As time passed, Manfred was eventually whisked away in a spell after an encounter with Ne'Biz'Buhl, a sorcerous Medusa. It wasn't the real thing, but a spell that zapped him away. We thought him good as gone and tried to move forward. This was about level 6. Time passed and our group reached the hometown of Raleigh. His monastery was also in the area so after some adventures there, he decided to stay while Senine and myself headed toward Baldur's gate. We would receive word when to return when Raliegh was ready to leave after some training.
Throughout the adventure, we had been attacked on occasion by a strange cult who was hell bent on our destruction. They were the ones who had initiated the first attack and have been following us since. They had attacked the monastery shortly before we left.
Anyway, after some smaller adventures in Baldur's Gate, we received word from Raleigh to return, so we went back. The monastery was a total mess, and Raleigh was in a terrible state. We eventually found out what had happened. After our departure, another raid attacked the monastery. Manfred had returned not too long prior to the raid, and Raliegh was very happy to have him back, though he looked very different, he was still his normal self (or so it seemed). During the battle, Manfred knocked out Ralieghs love interest (Kayla) and took off with the group, who had just killed Raliegh's master.
We decided to try and help Raliegh find Kayla and get revenge (though we weren't nearly as pained by this as he was...so it was a "let me at him" situation. We tracked him for a few days and finally reached his lair. Manfred turned out to be a Forsaker, and was extraordinarily powerful. We had the three of us at level 9 and a halfing trickster/rogue at level 11. During the battle we noticed what appeared to be a corpse on a table near Manfred (who was at the bottom of a spiral walkway surrounded by a large antimagical cage. Manfred picked up the body as Raliegh worked his way down the trap-ridden walkway and it was apparent that it was Kayla...only she was still somewhat alive. Manfred had been cutting off her limbs and keeping her just barely alive. He also was eating her limbs...because he was a sick bastard like that.
Raliegh had nearly lost all hope (the rest of us remained at the top of the stairs, to evaluate the situation, and well...we're wimpy). Raleigh was almost to the door when Manfred took out his huge bastard sword and chopped her head off before him. Needless to say, this made Raleigh not too happy. In the end we did defeat Manfred, though it was a very close battle. Raliegh ended up killing him (his first true kill) and burning his corpse. He then carried both parts of Kayla back to the monastery for her proper burial.
Needless to say, it was an intense and wonderful way to end the halfway point of our adventure.
Sarin
It started out when the party was in the common room of an inn, preparing to set out into the Lortmil Mountains. There was a pretty half-elven woman in the common room, and upon seeing her, the group's sorcerer went over to talk to her. Shortly thereafter, she invited him up to her room. When they returned, the party's rogue decided to sneak into her room and snoop around. He found various illicit drugs, thieves' tools, and a spellbook. He stole the drugs, hoping to identify them at a later point.
Then, the half-elf (her name was Tamyris Kestrel) agreed to accompany the party into the Lortmils. She fought alongside them until the party found some mushrooms growing in a dungeon. Then she turned invisible, harvested some mushrooms, and snuck off. The rogue noticed that she was gone and went after her. He saw a riderless horse galloping away and gave chase, assuming that the invisible Tamyris was riding it. As it turned out, the horse really was riderless - a diversion. When the rogue returned to the rest of the horses, one of the others was missing.
Later, after the party returned to town, the rogue spotted someone following him. It turned out that Tamyris suspected the rogue of stealing things from her and hired someone to follow him. This led to the rogue getting a clue about where Tamyris had gone. He then left the rest of the party and struck out on his own to follow her.
The rogue found Tamyris in Hommlet, where they fought and he barely escaped. He followed her to Verbobonc, where he lost her. Then he learned that she had returned to Hommlet and he followed. They fought again, and this time she killed him.
Now the entire party has caught up to the rogue and learned of his death. At this point, Tamyris has earned the enmity of the entire party, and when I look back at how she was introduced, it still surprises me a little bit that they hate her so much. I agree that this is the kind of thing that really gets players interested and involved.
, but these are the basics.Originally posted by Sinjei
A nemesis should be focused at aggravating the player, rather than what you think might aggravate the PC.
I think this is an especially good point. And your follow-up reasoning was wonderfully sound. I have learned a few good ideas from your article, subtle variations on stuff I have done before. I like the way you put the spin on things. I will be more conscious of deliberately annoying my players.
Finally, a nemesis should not be an adventure--something which stands as a quest either uncompleted or completed. A nemesis is never defeated until he's dead, because the hate should drive him to come back to fight once more.
Not as insightful as your other points, but a good one. I think it should be said that a one-shot adventure villain is by definition not a nemesis.
Thanks again.
Bear
The party was investigating the sudden disappearance of a young princess and the equally mysterious death of her father a few months earlier. They had reason to believe that the two events were linked, and that the answer to the riddle lay somewhere in the royal summer palace. All they had to do was get unfettered access to the palace and turn it upside down looking for clues...
Not so fast, of course! The captain of the Queen's bodyguard wasn't about to let just anyone traipse about the palace grounds. He was never more than a few steps behind them during their initial search of the castle, quite literally breathing down their necks. Furthermore, he was quick to downplay any clues they found... He wasn't about to let this rag-tag group of wanderers succeed where his guards had failed.
To make a long story short, the strongly Lawful Neutral bodyguard made a wonderful foil to the party's de facto leader, a CG Bard. The Bard took great pleasure in antagonizing the bodyguard whenever they spoke, and the party was thrown out of the castle on more than one occasion thanks to a smart-aleck quip made too hastily. Even though the party understood the bodyguard's reasons for not liking them, it was more fun heckling him than trying to make him like them!
In the end, the party discovered that the bodyguard was a foreign agent, sent to manipulate the Queen into apathy so that his own nation could invade unfettered. When they captured him and turned him over to a friendly dragon for safekeeping, they were delighted to watch him squirm under Dale's ever-watchful eye!
No, the nemesis doesn't have to be a bad guy... but in the end, it's usually more fun if he is!
PS: You read that right... the dragon's name was Dale. Dale's father was Dave. What are you going to do about it?
Best of all, she was working with the enemy from The Sunless Citadel (Bellak, a druid), and we were just starting. Unfortunately the ranger then went to university, or I shudder to think about what she'd have thrown at us by now.
My character, a halfling rogue (Cade Underbough, actually) hated him because he's like me - and our DM knew this. We're both in love with Arthurian chivalry, and neither of us bothers choosing our fights. So she (the DM) made the enemy the ex-boyfriend of our druid, and had him be rude to her and cause her mental trauma. I was the only one who figured out his connection to the tree, and I sure hope it looked cool to see me riding into battle on Fluffy the sheepdog, though my melee bonus was pitiful.
The druid was played by a girl who'd discussed it with the DM, and agreed about having this enemy be her ex-boyfriend from the druidic order (think about it - they must have good beer at their parties). So the DM gave them a link, and basically put her out for the battle because she got subdual damage every time we hurt him or something - we never quite figured it out. She hated him because she doesn't get along well with most guys, and when this one spoke that suggestively to her, she blew her top. Unfortunately then she was incapacitated.
The ranger was male but played by a girl. He was already attached to the druid. The character got angry quite easily, really, but the player was a fantastic RP'er. She got into his character and proceeded to fend off an army of tree-things and a pair of high (er)-level NPC's all by his/her-self. She (the player) might have also had a protective streak, but I didn't get to know her well enough.
So, the point is - it's all in the character. This is the same DM who's putting in a completely nefarious teifling who's so magical he made a haunted house - and then put us through it. Then she's not going to let my paladin kill him, because he hasn't technically been evil.
There's one thing I disagree with in your post, however, is the death clause. If the world provides a way of them returning from the grave, then your PC's are just out of luck. In my campaign, I'm making one of the little enemies turn out to be a high-level servitor to the prince, and when they kill him they give the drow lichlady a hand in the court. First, just to define 'nemesis', I'll have the paladin fall in love with him.
May all your players shudder and say: "Ooooh that's evil..."
by way of example I'll relate the following...
The party had searched long and hard for an evil relic in hopes of seeing it destroyed before it could be used to summon more evilness. After finally finding it, being of course nearly killed in the process, the characters were approached by an Elven Ranger. They had just been washed down an icy river after being chased from the forest by an angry Goblin tribe. They were all wounded, depleted of spells, and one player had just lost his characters pet hound (he was very attached to this dog.) The Ranger introduced himself, healed the party and offered to lead them to safety in the morning. There was a feeling of completion amongst the players, of the adventure being over and this being just the wrap-up...
In the morning, the Ranger was gone... So was the relic.
He was a minor villain when our campaign began. A secondary figure to the Evil cleric I meant for the players to hate. Now the Evilness has been summoned in the form of a powerful demon and the Kingdom is at war. Do my players hate the demon? The Cleric? No, they hate the Ranger with a passion. Two years and several dead characters later, the ranger still sits at the top of the players 'hit list'. He has grown in power and gained the half-fiend template. He dogs the characters heels and frustrates them endlessly. I'm quite sure when the final battle happens, it will be that ranger that the players take most pleasure in finally slaying. He has become a true nemesis.
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It must be stressed that this method of creating a nemesis can easily be overdone. Just this one instance of betrayal made it very difficult to actually help the characters with friendly NPCs afterwards. My players are still wary of every smiling helper I throw their way.