Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Jan 11, 2004 23:00:12	What do we need to do to make a truly evil and terrifying villain? This has been a question DMs have been asking themselves for ages. In this essay, I will list all the known skills, attributes, special abilities, and items an evil villain must possess. I shall also detail his mindset, providing examples from literature and television. And of course, I shall discuss why every villain seems to get defeated (other than the fact that good must always win). Let us begin with the types of villains. I know this has been detailed in the Book of Vile Darkness, but nonetheless, I noticed that villains could be separated into more general categories. I will describe each one, and give the aforementioned details on them. The first type is the hands-on villain. He does everything by himself, relying on no one else. He is either very good at striking out at vital points- much like an assassin, or simply has so much raw power that he is capable of destroying anything that opposes him single-handedly. In the first case, the one of the “sneak” he must have stealth, and access to quiet killing power. He should have the ability to approach his enemies quietly, and eliminate them efficiently. This means he should possess the ability to Move Silently, Hide, and Spot (to see if anyone has noticed him). He does not need good people skills, or particularly adept at combat either, however, he should be able to inflict massive amounts of damage with a sneak attack (like a high-level rogue would) or be able to kill outright (such as the Assassin prestige class). Furthermore, he needs the type of equipment that will enable him to do that. A light armor that has the ability to damped sound around it, as well as help him conceal himself. If he is wise, and takes a few levels of spell-caster, he would do well with the ability to turn invisible, and to hover above the ground. Flight too is a good option. Furthermore, he should have a safe recluse where he can retreat after he has done killing. It should be safely tucked away, however, best in the center of a city, preferably to a place of importance that is not heavily guarded, such as a museum or a large inn. Not close to the mayor residence, palace, or the headquarters of a guild. The second case of the super-powered juggernaut. He is either very skilled with a weapon, or possesses great levels of spell power. So he could either be a fighter/barbarian, or a wizard or sorcerer. Amazingly, sorcerers would do better as they are capable of casting more spells, and more often than wizards. The tank-type should have a very good weapon, and he should use all his feats to further the use of such a weapon. His skills should not be geared towards people skills, or sneaking skills, but to the fact so that he will be able to over distances rapidly with skills such as Ride and Jump, and to be able to survive by himself, with Heal and Wilderness Lore, as well as Survival. He should have a type of armor that will allow him to reflect the blows of fellow tank-types, and have the ability to resist attacks from spell-casters. An enchanted plate-mail with spikes and an SR would do nicely. As for the weapon, he would do good with an axe or great-sword, enchanted regularly, and also given some sort of elemental damage, possibly more than one. The abilities of the spell destroyer should be geared towards causing as much damage as possible in the shortest period of time. Feats that will allow him to get away with casting more than one spell per round, as well as doing more damage will serve him well. Furthermore, he could choose to have a couple of his spells become spell like abilities. Also, area spells would do best here, as they are capable of doing damage to many things at a time. Fireball, blizzard, cone of cold, meteor shower, as well as others would do superb. Transmutation spells are nice too, as they can give him better spell-casting stats, more endurance, and at some points, make him move doubly the speed of a regular person with haste, and transform him into a metal terror. Necromancy will be a good ally here too, with the ability to kill outright. Illusions will do well against communities that fear magic. Disguise yourself as a dragon, and force the village into submission. A teleportation spell is good, if things begin to go awry. The lair for such a type must be reclusive, as many people will be out to get him. He should have a place to recuperate, to replenish his spell (for the spell-caster) and to repair his belongings (for the tank-type). However, the drawback of this type is that he will not likely to have allies, and the fact that he can be overwhelmed with numbers often proves to be his downfall. Examples of such villains could be found in Arthurian mythology, such as Sir Pellenor, the Black Knight whom Arthur fought before he gained Excalibur. Another is the clone of Miles, from the Lois McMaster Bujold series about Miles Vorkosigan series, one Mark. They did not have any allies, and they attempted to do everything themselves. The third type is the schemer. He is very good with people, and can easily manipulate them into doing his bidding. Whether he is a bard that is good at entrancing people with his music, or simply a diplomat with good people skills, or a conniving con artist, he will get what he wants, not through force, but through the force of the mind. He possesses the ability to talk to people, with Diplomacy, Bluff and Sense Motive. Those are good for him to make deals, to make it seem like the other person is getting the better part of the deal, and of course to tell whether the other person is trying to do the same. The ability to Intimidate is also handy if he has a dagger pressed against someone’s neck, or has his family hostage. However, this villain usually tries to minimize that type of behavior. If he is a bard, his Perform needs to be exceptional. His abilities are good, and he is often focused in the skills that he needs to be any good. Furthermore, he needs to have a vast amount of intelligence in order to devise schemes that people will not be able to discover, or thwart, and a high wisdom to help smooth out those things that the logical mind cannot hope to comprehend. His inventory should be full of gifts to people he needs to entice, a set of good clothes to fit in with the powerful, and a set of ordinary clothes if he wants to guarantee the respect of the lesser folk. Next, he needs something that will allow him to influence people better, such as a Cloak of Charisma, or a potion of lies. Also, he needs something that will not allow people to read his thoughts, so a mind-shielding device is important. If he is also a spell-caster, he is in luck, as he can simply dominate or charm his opposition into doing things for him. That would make his job easier. He can have two types of homes. The first one is reclusive, in the case he gets caught, such as a hut in the woods, or a secret chamber in the sewers. Another type might be a lavish home where he accepts guests, and dazzles them with his finery. Or if he is fortunate, he can have the lavish home, and if things turn bad, he can go hide and retreat. His weakness is the fact that once people see that they have been duped, they often ally against him in large groups, and either kill him or drive him out of town. Afterwards, his ability to lie to people is diminished, as people will be more aware of him. One such character is Iago from Othello and Figaro from Il Barbre de Seville. People back then had appreciation for Machiavellists. The final type is the evil overlord. These are the most powerful enemies a group of adventurers can face. They are all out tough. First, as they are Overlords, they must be Overlords of something, which usually means land or some sort of organization. They rule through fear, and often have cadres of elite guardians serving him. They are usually soldiers and mages, well suited to working with each other. He himself is quite formidable too. Although a great strength is a bonus, it is not necessary, unless he is some sort of warlord of a tribe that favors the strong. A constitution is important, as it provides him with great fortitude against people who might try to kill him, with various ways. Dexterity is not important, as he does not do well with rolling to avoid obstacles. A keen intellect is imperative, or he will not be able to coordinate his armies properly, nor carry out his schemes. A good wisdom is good, but not necessary. He does not need to understand why things are the way they are, he is better off at knowing how to use those things, and control them. A good charisma is important because he will be able to raise an army through force of will alone, not counting mercenaries. It will also allow him to attract other evil individuals by brokering deals with them. His skills must be diversified. However, he too must possess good people skills in order to draft people into his army. It would also do well for him to be a spell-caster because he could either conjure up his fighters, or charm/dominate them to fight for him. His other skills need to fuel his survival, should his armies fall, and his citadel conquered. His inventory must always consist of a large sum of coin to pay for services that he cannot extort out of people, and to pay for his mercenaries. Also, as mentioned above, he must have a region that he controls. He should have items that protect his persona, but not hinder him, so instead of armor, he should have Rings, Amulets and Bracers of Protection. He should also have a good number of offensive items, and preferably a wand or a staff. He should always have at least two different modes of escape, either through a teleportation spell or a secret passage that leads to some escape hatch, or a secret tunnel. Next, he often possesses a compound that he calls his home. It is usually a fortress or citadel of some sort that is either very well concealed, heavily fortified, or both. Furthermore, it usually has a cache of traps, a treasury, and a barracks for his guard. It must have a grand hall for receiving his guests and/or prisoners, as well as a place to dine. A torture chamber is also crucial, as well as an armory. A throne room is a good touch, and it is a god idea to have one true and one false one to fool invaders. Naturally, the false one should be trapped. Those are the four major categories of villains. This is just an introductory chapter, I will add details on henchmen, citadels, magic items, and ruthlessness in general as the time progresses (and as my arcane lore research permits). -As chronicled by Drayakir Darodor, Overlord-Archmage of Krahl
#2 ringmereth Jan 30, 2004 16:17:29	One thing you forgot to mention was the use of clerics as BBEGs. A Cleric makes an ideal 'overlord,' with the ability to cast spells, decent melee capability, a number of lesser followers of his deity (as well as creatures with an alignment similar to his god's), and fair abilities for dealing with people. A cleric of a god that's not overtly evil would be able to command respect (and possibly tithes or other contributions) from the masses while carrying out his evil plans. The PCs would then need solid proof of his plans before they could rally any support. And finally, the cleric is the perfect commander for undead legions, as well as demons, devils, or other outsiders.
#3 zombiegleemax Feb 17, 2004 1:05:10	Your information on the mechanics of building an appropriate villian is good as far as it goes but IMO irrelevant to creating a memorable NPC. I would urge you to include the stat-less parts in your discourse on villians. You can create a truely memoriable villian around a NPC built on only a few levels of NPC classes. A first level commoner reporting to her vampire lover can ultimately create more angst for your group (who though she was their friend) than an ultimate "stat juggernaught" be it a schemer, overlord, or what-have-you. Ultimately the PCs won't see the villian's stat sheet. What they will see is the plots put in motion by the villian and the impact they have on the campaign world. These things doon't have stats. I instead would urge strongly for DMs to focus on the "statless part" of the villian before ever looking at what skills and feats impliment its role. Stan Lee once said that he thought the most interesting [comic book] villians were the ones that almost could have been heroes save for one or two fatal flaws. They weren't just 'bad evil" just because the wanted to do evil things to other people. They had causes. Often good causes, though pursued in impure ways. Some "villians" may even have neutral or even good alignments but different political or religious agendas. The keys to a memorable villian include: (1) concrete (though often hidden) goals the individual wishes to accomplish, (2) means that provide a realistic chance to achieve those goals (unless being played for laughs nothing is as forgettable a villian who'd never succeed - and in this case it also robs the heroes of glory because there is little need for the heroes), (3) a compeling reason for the PCs to intervene against the villian other than the fact that they're the good guys, (4) the villian and his/her/its abilities ought to be a bit mysterious. The unknown is always scarrier than the calculated and quantified (5) a chance to meaningfuly interact with the villian. This can be hard since PCs tend to kill villians as fast as they can. Still if the only time the PCs get a chance to talk with an NPC is to exchange a one liner or two as they go after him/her/it at the "end of the level BBEG" fight then there's little chance to really appreciate your villian. EXAMPLE: Though technically sci-fi, most people would agree that Darth Vader is pretty memorable villian and archtypal dark knight character. I ceratainly don't deny he has a tremendous amount of personal power...but its not his stats that make him intersting to me. Let's look at his stat-less components: First, he just looks evil in all his black armor. The armor we find out isn't just a fashion accessory, he needs it to survive because he's been critically injured by an old mentor and foe. Second he isn't evil just for the sake of being evil. He was once a good guy who was corrupted. He wants to impose order on the galaxy and eliminate the weakness he has seen in the bueracrats(nominally a good thing). He has loved in the past, and is capable of discipline and loyalty. Third he is personally connected to the heroes and they interact with him repeatedly: (a) Leia, Chewy and Hans have both been his prisoners by the Empire Strikes back. (b) He has the same mentor as Luke (Obi-Wan), and (c) kills him while Luke watches (Obi-Wan is also Luke's last Father figure since indirectly Vader has arranged for the deaths on Tattoine). Of course we learn that (d) Vader is the father of Luke and Leia and watch him as he (e) helps blow up Leia's homeworld with the Deathstar. Fourth he has the means to his ends. There is never any doubt that storm troopers, starships and death stars are off in the wings and just about ready to come after the heroes. We know he is competant. He kills Obi-Wan. He kills many rebels in his Tie Fighter. He captures and freezes Hans who has evaded bounty hunters for several years. He beats the snot out of Luke and cuts off his hand. Fifth, he's at least somewhat a tragic figure in that he could have been a great hero if Obi-Wan was a better teacher, or events had gone just a little differently. Finally he's a bit mysterious. We can't exactly know what he is capable of. He has the force and uses it in ways the "good guys" can't - like his force grip around the throats of his foes. Do we know the full extent of his abilities? Are you going to bet your paper life on it? -Eric Gorman