There’s a lot of other resources out there for writing interesting villains, but this one is just my process for how I think about villains. It isn’t a surefire way to write a good villain and it’s probably a lot more work than you want to put into it. My players are often really interested in what I do with my villains, so that’s why I go the extra mile. Some players don’t care. They just want the room the villain’s in and the fight to be interesting and that’s it.
Now that we’ve gotten with circumstances out of the way…
•Think Character, Not Villain
When a player makes a character, they typically think a little beyond the character’s immediate goal and stats. They think about where the character came from, who the character knows, what motivates the character, even if the answers to each are simple one-word statements. Think about these things when you make a villain, more than just the room he or she will fight the players in. Even if, for example, the players just kill the villain like any other monster, the questions answered above can come into play to create interesting situations in the future – how will someone the villain knows react to his or her death? Maybe someone will want vengeance on the PCs, or maybe they’ll be rewarded greatly if they stumble unto that villain’s birthplace (or even attacked, if the place thought of the villain as some kind of folk hero!)
The players, if you give them some way to learn about it, can also become interested in the villain’s story. I’m currently reading the Mistborn trilogy of books, and in it, the characters find the journal of the Big Bad. Having the PCs learn important details and maybe even become sympathetic towards the villain through such a device leads to the types of games I find most interesting, and that my players like, so I always try to think of these things. Not all villains have to be sympathetic, but maybe they were at some point, and aren’t anymore. Maybe they can get back to that state some time. Perhaps they’re even sympathetic now. Or they really are just monsters.
•Think Abilities, Not Just Powers
How does a villain with a paralyzing touch attack or a domination ability work outside of combat? How are his captives treated, what kind of beasts does he command, how is his lair set up? What kind of movement is he capable of? If a villain flies, and his minions fly, he can make a dungeon or fortress that might be quite challenging for parties to traverse (think the Sky Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess). He could gather minions who fly, and set himself up with loads of hard-to-reach platforms and big jumps.
Swimming is a typically maligned ability that makes for a very easy themed dungeon – players get frustrated if you make castles that have loads of swimming and water sections because not every player can swim. But Link from Zelda doesn’t fly, he used his clawshot to get through the Sky Temple. In the same way you can make a navigable, but hard, dungeon based around the abilities your villain and his minions have that your PCs don’t, but give your PCs ways to circumvent this and navigate the area nonetheless.
Likewise, if a villain can petrify opponents, all the statues around the fortress get much creepier (or if the PCs can rescue all the petrified people, they might have a big advantage in the coming battle)! If a villain can dominate opponents, it could add an interesting diplomatic element. Can the PCs free the enslaved creatures and get them to help out against their oppressor? A lot of PCs would just opt for killing everything, but I know mine would appreciate this kind of thing. If a monster can shapeshift and his minions can shapeshift, you could make an entire dungeon based around lies and distrust. Same with illusions.
If a monster has really huge strength, and his minions do too, then maybe all the doors are incredibly heavy, so escaping from one room to another becomes difficult in the middle of an encounter, but the enemies can come and go as they please. If a monster and his minions can see in the dark, you can make a dungeon laden with magical shadows. If a monster and his minions are all resistant to fire or cold, you can have dungeons where the monsters are popping in and out of magma or freezing water to attack or retreat.
A villain’s abilities shouldn’t just be limited to the attack powers on his stat block, and their influence on the campaign shouldn’t be limited to just doing damage to PCs!
•Think Small, Then Think Medium
Let’s face it, we’ve all had our share of “take over the world” supervillains or “destroy the world” maniacs (OF COURSE!). It gets kind of boring after a while. By the third campaign you’ve stopped the world from collapsing in on itself you’re about BIG DAMN HEROES’ed out, or at least I was. Especially if your campaign has multiple villains serving the same goal, such as helping Orcus take over the world or something. Working your way up slaughtering the chain of command is fine until you realize there’s nothing interesting anymore about the guy at the top.
For that matter I like to concentrate on smaller goals. Not take over the world – take over a Nation maybe, or hell, even take over a company. Not destroy the world – destroy a certain race, or a certain individual. Think about the seven deadly sins for your base motivations and think small. Then think Medium. Then think Large. But going to Huge and Gargantuan might wear itself thin after a while. Even in the higher levels of play, you can still have something more focused than deific power, mass control or world devastation.
Look for example at the villains from Nevermet Press. A lot of them are interesting and with smaller (in comparison to taking over the world or destroying it) and more manageable goals.
It makes me happy to be one of your players every time you talk positive about your players
Also, everyone else, listen to this guy. He has some of the greatest goddamned villains ever. For serious
Your supposed to have “OF COURSE!” after take over the world, not destroy it!
Regardless, this is a wonderful article. I just hope my PBP players will appreciate somewhat complex villains as opposed to my real life group.
Very good article Wyatt and I agree completely. My villains are never 2 dimensional B.B.E.G.s. Sometimes the players appreciate the depth of my NPCs (not just the villains) and sometimes not so much, but I still put in the time and labor, because it’s important to me regardless.
And I too am tired of the “World Ending/Conquering” –type campaigns. For instance, my current campaign is centered around the fact that the PCs are slowly finding themselves and the small outpost they live in, in the middle of a grudge match between two monsters. Not a particularly earth-shattering event, but it’s impact/threat is important to them none the less.
Even though we’re playing a published campaign (Shackled City), our DM often ad-libs our off-track/side quests and her villains are inspired! I’ll send her this post, though because you can always improve and you’ve offered great ideas here.