I am sure many of you have come to this point; I have some beautiful maps, the story has started turning in my mind, the players are ready to go BUT... My villain is missing his motivation. It seems contrite to just have Diter ZaraFortuna just attempt to become master of his household in some sort of desperate power grab. What interesting character motivations have you created, and how do you come up with them?
So why does ZaraFortuna want to seize ultimate control? Personally, when I start to flesh out a villain I like to use the seven deadly sins to archetype their main motivations. For instance, Strahd von Zarovich is a villain motivated by lust. Voldemort is a villain motivated by pride. Little Finger is a villain motivated by envy. Smaug is a villain motivated by greed. the Joker is a villain motivated by wrath. So what is Diter ZaraFortuna's paramount sin?
Just an addendum to xguilds excellent response - There is little in life more frustrating to a writer than spending hours (days?) coming up with something he considers original, only to have someone point out that their billionaire vigillante who fights crime dressed as a bat has already been done...
Villains are the heroes in their own stories; they have their own goals, and their own methods. The only difference between villain and hero is perspective - and possibly levels of restraint.
It's typically a lot easier starting with their character and motivation and working forward in the story. You may find that once you've created the Villains' motivations that it will warp your story a great deal.
However - to answer your question - no one's motivations come out of a vacuum; what is their origin and history? If you know their personality, and can tell the story of how the villain got to where they are, what traumas they suffered getting their, and how they reacted to them - you'll know what drives them, and what tactics they'll use to get what they want.
There is a reason that the comic-book style Origin Story(tm) is so widespread a stereotype; it works :)
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In general, people commit crimes or otherwise "evil" acts for one of four reasons - power, greed, love/sex or survival (which is arguably not evil villainy, but can be used for a more sympathetic type antagonist). There's some flexibility and overlap here, such as desire for fame and glory falling under a kind of desire for power, or a greed for knowledge/rare magics, or a drug addict hunting for their next fix as a variation on survival. So, you're almost always going to have Diter trying to seize power in this household.
The key here, however, is to add details and depth to the character. So, lets say that Diter is trying to seize power because he honestly believes that the current head and heirs to the house are going to bring ruin to their territory and land, and he could naturally do better. Maybe a deal with a devil because his daughter is sick. Maybe its just how he was raised - backstabbing each other is just a thing that the family expects from each other, and he adapted to the local noble culture. Maybe he blames everyone else for his failings. Maybe he's been brainwashed into a religious zealot of Bane, Maglubiyet or some other dark god. Or how about something as foolish as falling into gambling debt and is being threatened by criminal organizations into doing this or being assassinated.
If he feels like a two dimensional villain, then spend some time writing out a history, develop flaws and bond and ideals, and different drives beyond the basics. Build your villains like you're building any other PC and flesh them out.
When in doubt, go with a trope. Personally, I tend to enjoy them; they’re definitely not the terrible things that people tend to view them as.
I have a villain in the works that is wholly fueled by his love for his S.O., to the point of making a deal with a hag to save her (bad move obviously). But the party won’t know this initially, they’ll just think that this guy is some evil dick.
Also, sometimes it’s cool to have a “bad guy” without a lot of backstory or motivation - just pure evil for the sake of being bad. “Some people just want to watch the world burn”
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
And it can be an interesting reveal If/When the party finds out what the villain's motivations really are - it may not make them forgivable, but it can make them understandable, and perhaps a bit sympathetic.
<PHILOSOPHICAL HIJACK>
Mephista: It's arguable that all individual acts stem from those motives. Altruistic and community focused drives are just abstracted and versions of those motives that are focused on "survival of the individual through cooperatives means".
VanZoeren: I think even the people who "just want to watch the world burn" have motivations - they're just well buried. But I agree that sometimes the motives are unknown, and unknowable, to the party. To them at least, the villain appear just to be evil-for-evil's-sake.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
When in doubt, go with a trope. Personally, I tend to enjoy them; they’re definitely not the terrible things that people tend to view them as.
Almost everything is a trope in some form, the key is to make it interesting.
This is a fun website which I've lost hours to over the past few years - tvtropes.com - and don't say I didn't warn you about losing time to it. Here is a link specifically to its pages on character motivation.
At a glance through a few of these, I can already see several simple motivations you can flesh out - envy, vengeance, vanity, and madness.
You might also notice that throughout D&D history, this is how module and campaign designers have done it as well, in fact some of the most famous D&D villains have historical or fictional counter parts, Strahd for example is clearly Dracula for example.
Ah, sort of like the best Star Trek TNG episodes were the ones based off of excellent literature. I will be sure to follow this advice for some of the 'big baddies' especially.
In general, people commit crimes or otherwise "evil" acts for one of four reasons - power, greed, love/sex or survival (which is arguably not evil villainy, but can be used for a more sympathetic type antagonist). There's some flexibility and overlap here, such as desire for fame and glory falling under a kind of desire for power, or a greed for knowledge/rare magics, or a drug addict hunting for their next fix as a variation on survival. So, you're almost always going to have Diter trying to seize power in this household.
I feel like such an idiot now, because I am literally sitting across from three books containing criminal theory and I haven't thought to crack my real world textbooks on the subject to tackle my fantasy world. There are some phenomenal juvenile theories that could help establish some motivations for less than legal/ anti-social behavior. You all have been a great help, and I will be sure to tackle this problem from the multitude of options you all have provided for me.
If you want to have a huge reveal or twist, perhaps the villain wasn't the villain after all, but the hero in their own story. Suppose that Diter needs to become head of his house in order to prevent some great tragedy. Preventing this is more important than the wrongs that are committed in getting there. It could be anything from a Demon that comes to negotiate every 100 years and he knows that the current head of the house will fail, or only the head of the house has the influence to prevent a war.
This type of villain requires the party to do some additional digging (finding a journal or something) in order to truly grasp and understand the gravity of the situation.
No one thinks "hey, I think I'll be evil today" - they all think they're pursuing a worthwhile goal, a "good" if you will.
Where they slip into villain territory - from others' perspectives - is typically in the tactics they use, the goals they set, or the relative value they place on other peoples' lives/property/circumstances.
A highway bandit isn't trying to be evil - he's trying to survive, and places higher value on his survival, than the property rights of travelers.
Someone trying to accumulate power/control/money at the expense of the well-being others is likely doing it a) to protect themselves ( survival motive ), or b) to accomplish some other goal that they value, c) and/or they place less value on the well-being of others, so why not?
Even a flat-out sociopath is trying to accomplish other things - where they go "evil villain" is the fact that they attach no value to other peoples' lives at all; they're just objects to be manipulated to accomplish their goals ( their "good" ).
Some of the scariest villains historically were idealists, who committed horrific acts, in the service of some "absolute good" that they really fervently believed took precedence over the well being - or survival - of others. But in their own minds, they were accomplish that "good".
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Dear fellow DM's,
I am sure many of you have come to this point; I have some beautiful maps, the story has started turning in my mind, the players are ready to go BUT... My villain is missing his motivation. It seems contrite to just have Diter ZaraFortuna just attempt to become master of his household in some sort of desperate power grab. What interesting character motivations have you created, and how do you come up with them?
Check out this video by Matthew Colville. It's a bit long, but he has some REALLY great ideas in regards to this.
So why does ZaraFortuna want to seize ultimate control? Personally, when I start to flesh out a villain I like to use the seven deadly sins to archetype their main motivations. For instance, Strahd von Zarovich is a villain motivated by lust. Voldemort is a villain motivated by pride. Little Finger is a villain motivated by envy. Smaug is a villain motivated by greed. the Joker is a villain motivated by wrath. So what is Diter ZaraFortuna's paramount sin?
Just an addendum to xguilds excellent response - There is little in life more frustrating to a writer than spending hours (days?) coming up with something he considers original, only to have someone point out that their billionaire vigillante who fights crime dressed as a bat has already been done...
Try to add a new character/historical figure to this : http://en.akinator.com/
Edit : Failed my Tech roll on that hyperlink. Just search akinator and go from there! :)
Roleplaying since Runequest.
Villains are the heroes in their own stories; they have their own goals, and their own methods. The only difference between villain and hero is perspective - and possibly levels of restraint.
It's typically a lot easier starting with their character and motivation and working forward in the story. You may find that once you've created the Villains' motivations that it will warp your story a great deal.
However - to answer your question - no one's motivations come out of a vacuum; what is their origin and history? If you know their personality, and can tell the story of how the villain got to where they are, what traumas they suffered getting their, and how they reacted to them - you'll know what drives them, and what tactics they'll use to get what they want.
There is a reason that the comic-book style Origin Story(tm) is so widespread a stereotype; it works :)
Best of luck,
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
In general, people commit crimes or otherwise "evil" acts for one of four reasons - power, greed, love/sex or survival (which is arguably not evil villainy, but can be used for a more sympathetic type antagonist). There's some flexibility and overlap here, such as desire for fame and glory falling under a kind of desire for power, or a greed for knowledge/rare magics, or a drug addict hunting for their next fix as a variation on survival. So, you're almost always going to have Diter trying to seize power in this household.
The key here, however, is to add details and depth to the character. So, lets say that Diter is trying to seize power because he honestly believes that the current head and heirs to the house are going to bring ruin to their territory and land, and he could naturally do better. Maybe a deal with a devil because his daughter is sick. Maybe its just how he was raised - backstabbing each other is just a thing that the family expects from each other, and he adapted to the local noble culture. Maybe he blames everyone else for his failings. Maybe he's been brainwashed into a religious zealot of Bane, Maglubiyet or some other dark god. Or how about something as foolish as falling into gambling debt and is being threatened by criminal organizations into doing this or being assassinated.
If he feels like a two dimensional villain, then spend some time writing out a history, develop flaws and bond and ideals, and different drives beyond the basics. Build your villains like you're building any other PC and flesh them out.
When in doubt, go with a trope. Personally, I tend to enjoy them; they’re definitely not the terrible things that people tend to view them as.
I have a villain in the works that is wholly fueled by his love for his S.O., to the point of making a deal with a hag to save her (bad move obviously). But the party won’t know this initially, they’ll just think that this guy is some evil dick.
Also, sometimes it’s cool to have a “bad guy” without a lot of backstory or motivation - just pure evil for the sake of being bad. “Some people just want to watch the world burn”
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
And it can be an interesting reveal If/When the party finds out what the villain's motivations really are - it may not make them forgivable, but it can make them understandable, and perhaps a bit sympathetic.
<PHILOSOPHICAL HIJACK>
Mephista: It's arguable that all individual acts stem from those motives. Altruistic and community focused drives are just abstracted and versions of those motives that are focused on "survival of the individual through cooperatives means".
VanZoeren: I think even the people who "just want to watch the world burn" have motivations - they're just well buried. But I agree that sometimes the motives are unknown, and unknowable, to the party. To them at least, the villain appear just to be evil-for-evil's-sake.
</PHILOSOPHICAL HIJACK>
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
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Ah, sort of like the best Star Trek TNG episodes were the ones based off of excellent literature. I will be sure to follow this advice for some of the 'big baddies' especially.
I feel like such an idiot now, because I am literally sitting across from three books containing criminal theory and I haven't thought to crack my real world textbooks on the subject to tackle my fantasy world. There are some phenomenal juvenile theories that could help establish some motivations for less than legal/ anti-social behavior.
You all have been a great help, and I will be sure to tackle this problem from the multitude of options you all have provided for me.
If you want to have a huge reveal or twist, perhaps the villain wasn't the villain after all, but the hero in their own story. Suppose that Diter needs to become head of his house in order to prevent some great tragedy. Preventing this is more important than the wrongs that are committed in getting there. It could be anything from a Demon that comes to negotiate every 100 years and he knows that the current head of the house will fail, or only the head of the house has the influence to prevent a war.
This type of villain requires the party to do some additional digging (finding a journal or something) in order to truly grasp and understand the gravity of the situation.
All villains are heroes in their own story :)
No one thinks "hey, I think I'll be evil today" - they all think they're pursuing a worthwhile goal, a "good" if you will.
Where they slip into villain territory - from others' perspectives - is typically in the tactics they use, the goals they set, or the relative value they place on other peoples' lives/property/circumstances.
A highway bandit isn't trying to be evil - he's trying to survive, and places higher value on his survival, than the property rights of travelers.
Someone trying to accumulate power/control/money at the expense of the well-being others is likely doing it a) to protect themselves ( survival motive ), or b) to accomplish some other goal that they value, c) and/or they place less value on the well-being of others, so why not?
Even a flat-out sociopath is trying to accomplish other things - where they go "evil villain" is the fact that they attach no value to other peoples' lives at all; they're just objects to be manipulated to accomplish their goals ( their "good" ).
Some of the scariest villains historically were idealists, who committed horrific acts, in the service of some "absolute good" that they really fervently believed took precedence over the well being - or survival - of others. But in their own minds, they were accomplish that "good".
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.