Create Villains Who Learn
Create villains that can grow with the PCs. A growing villain is a character
who has personal ambitions and achieves them over the course of play, just as
the PCs do. The villain also becomes more powerful and accumulates his own hoard
of magical items, associates, and followers. This approach reminds the players
that their characters are not the only people who are making a difference in
the world. It heightens the sense of urgency the players feel when the PCs
confront a threat or opportunity because they know there are NPCs who are just as
determined and powerful working toward results that the heroes won’t like.
Backgrounds are important for NPC villains. The heroes have the advantage of
constant molding and shaping by their own actions as well as the plot twists
that the DM throws at them. The villain needs the same benefits in order to be
truly challenging to the PCs. Some examples are included below, but the list is by
no means exhaustive.
Source of Power: What is it that allows the NPC to be villainous? Does the villain merely
depend on spells and character skills, or does he also command an army, run a
government, or control a business?
Objectives: What vile thing does the villain want to accomplish? The emphasis here is on
the word vile. The NPC’s objective should be objectionable to the heroes at the
very least, if not outright detrimental. The villain might wish to destroy or
enslave the nation where the PCs live, wipe out an entire race, or even destroy
the world.
Motives: Why does the villain wish to do vile things? He might simply be highly
aggressive, have a compulsive need for power, or a thirst for revenge.
Personality: What is the villain like in person? Decide what the NPC looks like, how the
character acts, where the character lives, and so on. Great villains are never
flat characters; if your villain is simply a collection of statistics, the
players look at the evildoer as just another monster rather than someone they love to
hate.
History: How did the villain come to be? Decide where he was born, what significant
things he has accomplished in the past, what failures the villain has suffered,
and so on. Great NPCs are shaped by their past.
Allies: What other NPCs does the villain use or abuse? Decide if the heroes’ nemesis
has henchmen or servants to carry out plans and decide who those servants are.
Perhaps the villain serves an even more powerful master.
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