Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 oakspar77777 Jul 11, 2004 0:38:23	The Recurring Villain So, what turns hack and slash combat against nameless hoards into a cohesive RPG campaign? Recurrence. Recurring NPCs, running jokes, familiar towns, and above all, the Recurring Villain. Whether the nemesis of a particular PC or a PCs organization, the Recurring Villain is one of the hardest to pull if. This is, of course, because, by definition, the Recurring Villain is the one recurring aspect that the PCs are openly dedicated to making a non-recurring aspect. Now, this article is not meant to be the end all of Recurring Villains, merely a springboard to help you develop and focus on your own Recurring Villains. When creating a Recurring Villain, there are several key decisions that you must make: (1) Will this be a scaling or a non-scaling Recurring Villain? This is a pivotal decision, because it sets the tone of the encounters with the Recurring Villain. A scaling villain is meant to be overcome every time (or not overcome-ed). A non-scaling Recurring Villain has a specific point at which it should be finally defeated. The advantage of a scaling Recurring Villain is that it is more versatile and longer in duration. The advantage of a non-scaling Recurring Villain, is that it sets up a goal for the PCs to attain to, and finally reach. (2) How will I keep this Recurring Villain alive to recur? Of course, the most obvious way is an Amulet of Recall, a Teleport or Invisibility Spell (or other similar spell), or a Deus ex DM-cheat type escape. These, of course, run the risk of (A) the players defeating the escape attempt or (B) players frustrated by their powerlessness to overcome the Recurring Villain. Another route is to let the enemy be killed each time, and merely raised by allies of the Recurring Villain. After all, defiling corpses (even the corpses of evil people) is pretty much an evil act, and it takes a lot of defilement to stop a Resurrection spell. Another route is to have the villain always be powerful enough to own the party, and always leave the party before the encounter turns into a TPK. A final tactic is the toady route (think Wormwood from the LotR books). After all, killing someone begging for mercy is an evil act, even if you just know that they are going to come back to be a prick in the future. (3) What is the purpose to this Recurring Villain? Why is the Recurring Villain opposed to the party (or a PC within the party)? Is it a personal grudge, do to some past slight? Or is it more of a philosophical conflict with the party’s ideals? Maybe it is just happenstance that the PCs are always stumbling onto (and thwarting) the Recurring Villain’s most current scheme of evil. (4) When will the Recurring Villain stop recurring? This is an all important step, as this will help keep the Recurring Villain in perspective. Sooner or later, the PCs need to overcome the foe. It might be a climactic battle that leaves them thinking “was this really the end?” It might be a noble dual overcoming, allowing a PC a final epic death (like Holmes and Moriarty going over the falls together). An endless enemy, while fine in concept, usually becomes rather cartoonish over time. EXAMPLES: Example one is a minor scaling Recurring Villain. Charthraxazad is a Wyrmling Red Dragon. At low levels, the PCs encounter him in an iron cage trapped by Orcs that the PCs are fighting. If the PCs kill him, that’s it. If the PCs free him, he will toss some destruction at the Orcs, then flee. Of course, like any red dragon, his hubris will not abide him ever needing help, so he dedicates himself to eliminating the evidence (ie, the party). If they don’t free him or kill him, he frees himself in time, and, of course, has a reason to hate the party. Since dragons scale over time, and PCs tend to gain levels quickly, Charthraxazad is not going to scale many times. An encounter at CR4 as a wyrmling, CR 5 as very young, and an eventual defeat after a few levels of barbarian (say, CR 7). Three straight out surprise attacks of increasing severity, as Charthaxazad becomes increasingly obsessive in his desire to overcome the parties. Since they will all be outside, and all initiated as random encounters by Charthaxazad, his ability to fly should be enough of an escape hatch. Of course, since his eventual end is to be defeated, if he doesn’t escape to his final intended end is not much of a loss. Example two is a non-scaling Recurring Villain. Ester Valentine is a LV8 Rogue Vampire (CR10). A Vampire’s abilities are custom built for recurrence, so that is not an issue. Since she is non-scaling, the PCs will likely overcome her finally around LV 10-12. She is currently besotted with [insert PC here, preferably a Paladin or Cleric of Pelor or other righteous deity]. Of course, she knows that to be with him, she needs to corrupt him. Thus, her goals are not to TPK the party, and only fights against them when she has to. Instead, she does whatever she can to corrupt the party through coercion, seduction, and what other means your evil DM mind can come up with. I won’t go through encounters here, but setting up a villain (a sired vampire) with a cursed item that switches alignment hidden in its hoard of a type that the love-interest would be sure to pick up is a good one. Moral crisis to deal with (let the orphans die from drowning or be turned into vamp spawn), to darken the PCs conscious. Even love gifts (since greed is the root of all evil). The PCs will be so conflicted as to whether she is a foe or an ally, that she might succeed in corrupting them, or else will become bitter and bring it to a violent end (especially if the PC finds a different love). I think you all get the point of this one. Example three is a full scaling Recurring Villain. Thanatos is a Necromancer / Cleric of Nerull. Whenever the party meets him, he is usually about his task of animating corpses for the Dark Society’s “Flesh pool”. If he can, he flees when injured by using his undead minions as a screening wall. If he dies, however, you can expect him to be raised by the Society to go about his work again. The party will find him all over the place, constantly scheming, not against the party, but for the common evil. Great non-combat encounters can include him being the representative of the Dark Society at the meeting of the schools of wizardry (giving him temporary diplomatic immunity), or possibly coming across him while he is in a prison for his many crimes. As the party levels, so should he. Pale Master and True Necromancer are great PrCs for higher levels. Especially if the party is the one who seals him in with undead (one of the pre-reqs for Pale Master). A classic foe with built in cohorts, Thanatos (or any variation on him) makes a great Recurring Villain that does not take away from an existing storyline. He also allows a smooth inclusion of Undead in a campaign that might otherwise be pretty much Undead-free. The party will kill him many times, but always with the thought, ?we will see this guy again.? Well, I hope this little overview has helped you out, and inspired you to think about how you can use Recurring Villains to add depth and continuity to your campaigns. If you have any favorites of your own, fill free to list them.
#2 77im Jul 29, 2004 18:10:25	This is a really good article. I'd like to point out some other aspects of villains that I think work particularly well with a recurring villain. The Remote Villain: This guy is a villain that the party rarely interacts with directly; instead they fight a series of ever-more-competent henchmen and lieutenants until they finally reach the main villain. (Sort of like Carmen Sandiego.) Devils and Demons are great for this -- at low-levels the party can face cultists, then there is a broad spectrum of fiends at various CRs, until finally they square off against Lord Axlebraphnoch himself. Powerful nobles, tyrannical rulers, warlords with big armies, etc. can also work well for this, because it's hard to get close to them at early levels. A drawback to this villain is that it can feel impersonal, like the party is facing an organization rather than a villain. It can often help to expose the party to the villain early on -- for example, maybe they get whooped by the villain, or captured and put on "trial," but somehow manage to escape. Or, the villain may send the party personal messages, delivered by henchmen, before each battle. The Rival: The idea behind the rival is that their goals are contrary to the party, but they are otherwise not a bad person. This is a great recurring villain because he or she is not really all that villainous, so the party probably won't kill them, which makes recurrence a no-brainer. Rivals include an enemy party with the same immediate goals as the PCs but different end goals -- for example, maybe both groups are trying to assemble the legendary Seven-Piece Staff or collect all the Dragonballs or something. Another type of rival is simply in a sort of competition with the PCs; maybe a friendly competition or maybe an ugly one. Some rivals may simply be foes of circumstance -- if two more-or-less neutral kingdoms are at war, the party's rival could be an adventuring party loyal to the enemy kingdom. For the rivalry to end, it usually either goes south big-time or the two groups manage to find similar goals and become good allies (in the example of two kingdoms at war, maybe they find that the real enemy is dark wizards fomenting the conflict for their own gain). The Evolving Villain: This villain either starts out as someone not so bad (maybe a rival) and becomes more vindictive and evil over time, or maybe they start bad but continued exposure to the party redeems them (it could happen). This sort of NPC character arc is really only possible with a recurring villain. A big risk here, as with any interesting NPC, is that the DM gets too wrapped up in the NPC's story and neglects the PCs. It can lead to railroading, in which the DM tries to trick or force the PCs into some course of action that they don't really want to do but makes a better "story" from the DM's point of view. The Secret Villain: This one can be tricky -- one of the PC's closest allies is really the villain behind the scenes pulling all the strings. And the PCs have probably been feeding them information the whole time! An example might be a King who hires the PCs to root out a traitor in his court -- when really he is the traitor, deliberately sabotaging his own kingdom for some evil reason. This obviously works best with the "remote villain," with the PCs fighting the henchmen of an unknown or mysterious villain; they can discover the treachery mid-campaign and then their foe becomes a more traditional recurring villain. The hard part about this villain is maintaining just the right level of secrecy. You don't want the players to figure it out right away, but when the villain is revealed it needs to make sense. You don't want the players to feel cheated -- "You mean the high priest was the mastermind? But none of this had anything to do with him!" -- and feel that you've suddenly turned a good ally into an enemy for convenience. Villains are great fun and everybody likes them. There's an old quote, "The audience will hate a mediocre villain, but they'll LOVE a good villain.” -- 77IM
#3 r-man Sep 19, 2004 5:48:50	The accidental Villain This is usually the party’s mentor/patron/great lord who hires them to do stuff. He is seen as the party simply as a recurring benevolent NPC who gives them reward(s) to go on various missions until it is found out that the missions have caused a "bad thing" to happen (release Demon, destroy city, raise lots of undead etc.) The best part is the "mentor" can be either a villain who tricked the party or a genuinely good person who now tries to aid the PCs in their quest to fix the "bad thing."
#4 skydog10999 Sep 30, 2004 16:21:42	Good thread folks! I'm already getting lots of ideas for my next campaign. Thanks for your effort.
#5 orloff Sep 15, 2007 14:09:44	Something to keep in mind: The players will catch on to your plans fairly quickly if your recurring villain is the only enemy they face who ever runs (teleports, etc.) away. Establish early on the idea that enemies, if they are faring poorly in battle, will attempt to escape. Then, the PCs never quite know which ones they'll be seeing again.
#6 robertliguori Sep 16, 2007 9:47:54	The devolving villain In this case, the villain starts with a great deal of resources and multiple levels of plots and intrigues. As the PCs remove his resources, he begins to turn more and more of his remaining forces directly on the PCs. In order for this to work well, you need to emphasize the broad nature of the villain's initial power, preferably in non-combat ways. For instance, you can have an evil wizard who is magically controlling the weather. After an assault on his fortress, the villain decides to withdraw some of his elite agents as a home guard, and starts devoting the spell slot he had been using to control the weather to add another defensive or alarm spell. In the end, the once-nigh-omnipotent mastermind has been reduced to throwing absolutely everything he has at the PCs, and still eventually falling at their hands. The yardstick villian In this case of recurrence, it is the type of enemy that recurs, not the individual villain. One example is the troll. Trolls are challenging but limited foes; a prepared enemy (or one who can avoid toe-to-toe combat) can gain great advantage. One way to help emphasize how the party has grown is to throw the same enemy at them as they level. At 3rd level, a troll is a boss fight. At 5th, it's an encounter, and by seventh, the trolls need favorable terrain or other such advantages. I have found that it is often the player whose Barbarian was reduced to -8 HP by a rend attack at third level really appreciates the chance to single-handedly hack apart the elite trollish heavy infantry company at 13th level. "With my wand of magic missile, I will be unstoppable!" In this case, PCs who leave behind a low-level threat return, to find that the threat is now so far below their league it isn't funny (at least for him. The party mage shrugging off you enemy's most damaging attack is generally pretty funny.) Again, this can emphasize how far the party has come. Earning recurrence Remember you're not playing Mutants and Masterminds here. Villains need to earn the right to recur by not dying. In addition to running away like a scared little elf girl, villains also need contingency plans. More than that, however, you need to recognize as DM that once combat is joined and initiative is rolled, your villain might die. If you really want the villain to live to fight another day, do everything he can to ensure that he's not fighting today. If he does fight, and he loses, then grit your teeth and accept it. There are other villains, after all.
#7 empirate Sep 17, 2007 11:01:08	Something to be said about recurrence: If the villain always manages to jump ship/get on the elevator/grab a flying carpet/teleport away just in time, you're detracting from the PCs' satisfaction big-time. Players like to reach plateaus of happiness: Phases in the story when they feel they're on top of the world, that they've vanquished their foe once and for all. Also, the bomb you drop by reintroducing the villain will be much bigger and BOOM!er if they think they've won for good. So try to think of ways how the party can "really" defeat the villain without killing him. E.g., the villain's power might be vested in a business venture/secret organization/his standing at court, while the villain himself isn't exceptionally powerful in a standup fight. Thus, when the PCs manage to destroy his power base, make it clear to them that the villain is finished. Let him shake his fists in powerless frustration, let him rant about his family he needs to feed etc. His defeat should be a moral one as much as a political/economical one. Just make sure the PCs can't kill him. Examples are the charismatic-but-personally-weak cult leader whose cult is discredited and outlawed; the effeminate aristocrat who is banished from court, having lost all family property; the fat, old businessman whose slaver practices are exposed and whose fortune is confiscated. Another possibility is making the villain valuable to the PCs in some way. With very "good" parties this is easy, if the villain is presented the right way the PCs can be convinced he can be reformed. Or the villain could have valuable information that necessitate his survival for the party to stop some great evil/find some great treasure/gain the ear of the king etc. Or the villain could simply have taken hostages, or found out a dirty little secret about (a) PC(s) that will be released on his death. These are possibilities that allow the PCs to "really" win, but keep the villain alive for later, sometimes much, much later. Imagine the PCs anguish if they hear the BBEG they defeated and stripped of his titles, but handed over to a good temple so he could mend his ways, has found a powerful patron among the priesthood and is constantly feeding lies and deceit to that person. He's slowly regaining a good standing and power base, and the PCs can do nothing about it until his plans come to fruition. Also, the PCs are slowly losing favor with the temple in question because of the lies the villain is sowing... Of course, this approach to villainy is almost incompatible with the combat brute type of villain: Somebody very powerful in person, but done for once he is defeated. But even in that case, hostages or valuable information, or of course the PC Paladin's desire to reform the villain, may work.
#8 Dark_Stryke Sep 17, 2007 19:20:57	Lots of good food for thought in here. I'll throw on my own experience with recurring villains. In my last campaign, which lasted from level 3 all the way to 20, I had a few recurring villains of different types. First, there was a Great Wyrm red dragon who eventually became the main villain of the campaign. The PCs killed two of his children, Wyrmlings, very early in the campaign, and thus earned his ire. He sent assassins after them several times, but never actually came after them in person, since he had certain world-destroying goals that the PCs were unaware of at the time, but slowly began to catch on to. Anyway, they accidentally bumped into him once or twice, but always managed to get away before he slaughtered them. Let me tell you, this was a good villain. The PCs lived in fear of him for the entirety of the campaign, and mentioned him often, even when on completely unrelated adventures. They often tried to gather information about him, trying to see where he was going to be next, in the hopes of not being anywhere near that spot. This was an example of a non-scaling villain, by the way. No matter what, he remained at the same CR. The other villain that I recurred throughout the campaign was a somewhat bumbling evil wizard named Stin. They first met him in a forest, and he quickly tried to trick them into becoming his next magical experiments. When they refused, he quickly turned violent. Of course, the PCs beat him senseless and tied him to a tree. They decided to leave him there and bring him to the authorities later, since they suspected him of being part of the evil wizardly regime of a neighboring country (they were right). Of course, when they returned to where they had tied him up later, he was gone. He had left them a rather long-winded note that promised particularly painful vengeance. Over the course of the campaign, they met him several times, overcoming him in a way that was usually very humiliating. They never had the heart to kill him in the early levels, and he eventually got access to the teleport spell as he leveled up. Since the party wizard often stole Stin's spellbook, the two had a rather vicious rivalry. That rivalry culminated in a one-on-one duel flying above the home base of this evil regime, a magical, floating city. The party Wizard and Stin both had Fly spells active, and basically duked it out with their strongest spells while the rest of the party watched. Of course, the PC won, and Stin fell, apparently to his death. Intermixed with the cheers and congratulations, there was also a bit of sadness, however. It finally struck the PCs that they'd never see Stin again, and they missed him. This is, in my opinion, what makes a great villain. If he can evoke emotional responses in your PCs, be them anger, fear, joy, sadness, or anything, you have done something right with your villain. P.S. about Stin... I started a new campaign in the same world, set twenty years later, with new PCs (same players, though). Well, these PCs defeated a group of goblins, and found a battered old spell book on the goblin shaman, with spells inside that were far beyond their (and by extension, the shaman's) comprehension. There was gold lettering on the front cover, which was partially torn off. The letters that weren't ripped were "S.T.I." When I gave the description, the players looked at me with rising interest. One of them asked "Is this what I think it is?" To which I replied, as cryptically as I could "Maaaybe." They all broke into grins, and one of the players actually jumped up and yelled "YES!" at the top of his lungs.
#9 Enlightened1 Sep 19, 2007 0:16:11	I think the major limitation on using a recurring villain is the attitude of the players. Many, if not most, players, once they have encountered a villain a second time, will do whatever it takes to put the bad guy down permanently: chopping up the body, feeding it to a gelatinous cube, disintegrating it, whatever - especially if the villain posed a significant danger. While such behavior may involve deeds that are evil (corpse mutilation, etc.), they are also not unreasonable actions in the light of the situation: D&D (and most RPGs) in general focuses on combat and defeating one's enemies, and an enemy that comes back is an enemy that has not been defeated - at least in the minds of many: the quality of mercy is rarely, if ever, structured into xp or treasure rewards. This attitude is also likely in part because the usual motif - not to say cliche - is that the recurring villain will come back stronger. So, it's a fair assumption that to say that it is in the players' long-range interest to ensure the permanent destruction of any and every enemy they face. Providing a villain a deus-ex-machina way to escape doesn't help. In my experience, when that happens, most players consider it a form of cheating (setting aside the argument whether or not the DM can ever really "cheat"). The result is that their impetus toward destruction is only exacerbated, and they will pull out all stops to not only defeat the villain next time, but will spend large amounts of energy toward preventing the intervention of another miraculous escape (by direct countermeasures, one-round kills, or whatever). In the meantime, they have been put on notice that at least some of the bad guys get to operate blatantly outside the rules, which can put the whole group on tenterhooks, as they will not necessarily be aware of when this clause will be invoked. This can destabilize the flow of events, since some players will strive for total destruction, while others will just not bother, since the GM has demonstrated that if and when he wants to, the bad guy will get away no matter what the heroes do - so why bother working up a sweat? To provide a good reason for a villain to recur, without risking an unfortunate attitude among the group, the players need a good in-game reason to not kill the villain. Sometimes, a mere threat of punishment (whether by the villain's minions, a deadman switch, or the judgment of the heroes' own society) is enough, but rarely works for long: either the heroes gain enough power to balance the threat, or the players get fed up enough to go for it anyway - and then the GM must choose between a probable TPK (either instantly or in due process) or the death of his "recurring" villain. There are other ways to create this self-restraint: One is the threat of a worse villain - that is, the recurring villain is responsible somehow for keeping a more powerful and/or more malevolent entity at bay. While in some sense a mere variation on the threat of punishment, it can be differentiated by making it clear that the on-stage villain is taking an active role to restrain the bigger-badder guy. This can easily lead to... Make the villain a double-edged sword - that is, make him useful to the heroes in some way. He can provide advice about how to fight bad guys; even if it is bad guys who are rival of the villain, the heroes can be given good, important work to do for a long time before the villain sees the need to dispose of them. He can provide gear or other resources; when the heroes really need flying mounts to reach the next evil dude's castle, guess who is there to offer a stable of well-trained griffons - for a share of the loot or some other reward (if the players are good at playing honorably, even just extracting a promise of a favor can be enough). Even if the villain must be fought at some point along the way, he can remind the players that killing him will make all his resources inaccessible to them - and he can even offer a good bribe: just the right item, or a map to that legendary place they've been seeking. Which leads to... Make the heroes useful to the villain. Heroes are always looking for kewl stuff to do, and bad guys to whack - and a master villain can provide them. There are always plenty of rival villains and inconvenient monsters, and disloyal minions that need to be eliminated. How better to accomplish this than to employ a band of eager heroes: if they fail, there are always one's own minions to send, and if they succeed, the task is accomplished *and* you've gained a useful puppet "ally" for future endeavors. The heroes will almost certainly feel that you're not as bad as all that, even if they don't feel that they're in debt to you. They can deal with you, which gives you a leg up on the other bad guys they run into. And while they're doing some of your dirty work... The villain needs the opportunity to study and get to know the heroes. If he's a recurring villain worth his salt, he'll have pegged the PCs early on as people with serious potential, so he'll gather information on them. He should get to know at least some of their background story, and will probably get a good idea of their goals. That way, he can carefully select what things would best buy the loyalty (or at least restraint) of each of the heroes. This can be certain magical items ("let me live, and I can obtain for you that Holy Avenger you've been craving..."), hidden knowledge ("...I can teach you three ninth-level spells, but only if I'm alive to do it..."), or even pure roleplaying rewards ("...I have the ear of the king; with a word from me, you can be named the royal champion...but only if I'm alive tomorrow to talk to him..."). Which leads to... He will also know their weaknesses. Besides basic info on what class and level they are (at least approximately), he may be able to determine what spells, feats, or other abilities they are least likely to have good counters for. This is another good place for roleplaying, er, "rewards" (..."if I die, my men will kill your wife and daughter within the hour! They are already watching your home; only my order can stop them!"). This knowledge can also grow as the campaign goes on, so that as the heroes become a greater threat, the villain gets to know more about them. In the end, there will be final confrontation - perhaps several minor confrontations along the way. In each case, it's important to signal that the stakes are not death; so many monsters and bad guys are just out to kill the heroes, it will probably seem refreshing to the heroes if they can be persuaded that their own lives aren't necessarily on the line. It can also give one the chance to escape if defeated, if the heroes are focused on defeating the minions and the infernal device rather than on destroying the villain. This also leaves open the chance to spring an effective surprise on them if they are lulled into the idea that it's a battle to the win, not to the death - when they finally must be disposed of, springing the truly deadly stuff on them can be even more effective. This isn't easy to pull off. As with anything else about good DMing, it takes a sense of fair play and balance, and a willingness from both DM and players to role-play rather than cut to the hackfest. Presumably, even trying this implies that this is a reasonable expectation. I've described a master manipulator, a villain who mostly stays behind the scenes. In my opinion, it's the only kind that will work as a long-term recurring villain in D&D, or in most RPGs. Vampires and such, as well as resurrection spells, have known ways to destroy them, and violating those rules makes the villain something else, something more dangerous by definition (since it is not limited by the known rules) than anything else the player will ever face; and they will react accordingly (either with desperate alpha-strike assault, or hopeless resignation). At the same time, such a creature is really just another monster - it's just one that gets to cheat, at least a little. To tap the potential dramatic tension of a recurring villain, the tension must be created as a roleplaying, plot-affecting phenomenon, not a manipulation of the rules: if anything, the most effective dramatic villains aren't necessarily those who can change the rules, but the ones who can manipulate the existing rules and work them to their best advantage...in other words, who are playing the exact same game as the players, just in a different way. For a truly marvelous development, it can even be possible for the heroes to spare the villain, once they have him at their mercy, after the "final" confrontation. After all, the villain will still have a broad network of resources; if he bargains for his life, the players can still have the satisfaction of beating him, and be able to tap into those resources. If they kill him, their contact with the organization simply vanishes; if they keep him alive, they can extract promises (even impose a geas if necessary) and make him their tool instead of the other way around. The players should have the choice; after defeating the villain in a grand confrontation, they can kill him - without the GM imposing a miraculous save - or make a deal, enabling them to access his resources, in full awareness that the villain will eventually, but certainly, strike yet again. As I said, it ain't easy to pull off. I've managed to do this once, but it has been so rewarding that I have had the villain show up in cameos and bit parts in campaigns other than the one he originated: and the players who know him groan and know that, while this is not a good guy, he can be dealt with, and the deals he makes he usually keeps. It's great fun, and has provided some of my fondest memories as a DM.
#10 joestriker Sep 20, 2007 14:01:53	Excellent read - Everything in here is a must for all DMs. I for one always start new games with a recurring villain. They never fail me as i can bring them back when things slow down or put them in hiding when a new module comes out... Something to keep in mind in a recurring villain is the background of your villain. Give them a good one and take some time to think about their needs/wants. Things like: Where do they live? A cave? a dark underground fortress?? on the move? Where this person lives is important because one day the PCs will find them..(or maybe not..) How do they make money? Is it an evil duke and uses his serfs and farms as income? A Dragon have a hideout filled with gold and doesn't care? The economic side of your villain is important - it will help give your villain motivation to do what he/she/it is doing. How do they recruit others to fight with them? Do they hire mercenaries or recruit from the local orc tribe?? maybe raise undead?? Maybe they put a big bounty on their heads (See Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars). More than likely, these baddies will be the ones your players will fight a lot of, so make it fun but hard. Why are they doing what they do?? (yes, they hate the PCs because the PCs foiled the plot again.. damn kids..) Do they want to conjure up an evil demon to conquer the world?? Is the villain part of an underground organization that wants to control it? Giving a motivation will help you generate your adventures and also make them more real. Most important, give them a life! give them a unique voice when playing.. maybe a special song on a cd from a movie as a theme song... most important - make it fun.
#11 zombiegleemax Sep 25, 2007 13:57:32	Really good article. One small thought: A really good ONGOING villain can be nearly as good as a recurring one. It can be maddening as well as exciting for the PCs to know who (and maybe even where) the villain is, maybe even to know his plans, and STILL to be unable to end the danger he poses by an outright attack. For an example, in a Ravenloft game I once had (Ravenloft has, among other nice aspects, the benefit that villains can hardly be "too powerful"...), I made the main villain a powerful nobleman posing as a benefactor, having gained the love of the common people and the ear of the king. After a while, the PCs (outsiders and powerful heroes of good that they were) figured out what he truly was up to. But they couldn't attack him, because he was too powerful personally and had many friends and allies. Then again, the PCs had accomplished quite some heroic deeds themselves already, and their Paladin as well as their good cleric were generally accepted to be beacons of goodness. Because of that, the villain could not smash the PCs either, because he would lose his influence, thus endangering his plans. Instead, the PCs tried to kill off the villains minions, while the villain sent the aforementioned minions to kill off the PCs - a nice little cold-war like campaign evolved. Oh, and finally, as in many Ravenloft campaigns, the forces of good lost, the PCs barely able to reach and activate a portal to another plane as a last minute escape. To this day, my group fondly recalls this campaign - fighting a battle they could not win against a foe they could not openly confront, while a bit frustrating, was far more heroic than simply defeating evil in an all-out battle.
#12 ultima0071 Oct 12, 2007 21:27:53	Excellent article. For me, a recurring villain shouldn't have an outsider affect the outcome of the battle. I particularly like the villain being much stronger than the party in the beginning. This gives the party a specific goal to work on. My players usually get very excited while training to beat this Big Bad Evil Guy (BBEG). Also, dungeon masters should not hesitate when it comes to designing a special super powerful ability for the BBEG. All in all, great thread. -Ultima0071 If you're hoping for the worst; your wish has come true.
#13 rune__dup Oct 14, 2007 23:43:08	This is the very first time I'm posting on these forums, although I'm all too familiar with Oakspar's wisdom. I'm from Brazil and English is not my native language (Spanish's also not, by the way), so pardon any bad bad grammar (and feel free to correct any of my mistakes; that's the only real way to learn). I have had a few recurring villains, and most of them fall on some of those categories presented. I've had the great wyrm dragon that loses his offspring to the PCs early on and then turns into a dracolich. He was a somewhat distant villain, until the PCs finally got around him by level 12 and he did bite the dust (killing a dracolich is no easy feat, mind you). These days I'm DMing an Eberron campaign, and before I could notice I had not one, but two recurring villains: I've introduced a master spy and burglar that stole some important artifacts from each of the PCs (actually from the organizations/religions) so his master (an ancient vampire) can accomplish some Fate Which Cannot Be Spoken Of. He (the spy) is the main villain from an adventure called Whispers of the Vampire's Blade, which I introduced earlier so the players could learn to love and hate him before the events in the adventure start to happen (he actually is a nice guy who only got dominated by a vampire). The other one (the one I actually did myself) is a rival of the druid PC; a druid of a different faction. He hates cities and abhors arcane magic; he believes that both are anathema to nature and will bring only ruin. He is trying to get his hands onto the same artifact as the PC, but his means are ruthless (he wanted to derail a train and kill hundreds because he believed he could find the artifact amidst the wreckage). His fight against the PCs happened on top of a moving lightning rail, going right to a bridge subtly sabotaged so it would collapse. The PCs manage to fix the building with some desperate magic item creation from the artifice and he falls into the side of the train with negative HP. The thing is, he had Fast Healing 1 going through a spell. He met with the druid PC on the middle of a packed station to discern why the hell the PC was working with the "soft and weak-willed citians" ("citians" in intentional; he was not very good with the Common language). They exchanged very harsh words and almost clashed right there (claws were literally out, since they both were shifters), but with the others fast approaching he left, not without promising that "that will be the fall of you". Next session is still coming, and I'm excited about running Whispers of the Vampire's Blade. It features a fight at a masquerade ball, y'know?