Have any truly vile schemes for your campaigns? Are you truly excited about your newest method of psychological torture for your players to experience firsthand? Want to share the devious ways you crushed the Hit Points and hopes of your characters? Then the Spider Guild's Evil DM Plans forum is the place to be! Share all your evil plans for your campaigns here, from mildly infuriating to true BBEG tactics!
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Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
Have any truly vile schemes for your campaigns? Are you truly excited about your newest method of psychological torture for your players to experience firsthand? Want to share the devious ways you crushed the Hit Points and hopes of your characters? Then the Spider Guild's Evil DM Plans forum is the place to be! Share all your evil plans for your campaigns here, from mildly infuriating to true BBEG tactics!
Create a list of fake "spoilers" that are clearly jokes (such as: There is two imposters among us *Among Us Music* or the entire party dies at the hand of a nonanimate potted plant), then reveal that one of them is true
Creating a golden cup for loot. First person who touches it’s psyche is ripped from them and transferred to the cup. Their previous body turns into gold.
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Hi, I am not a chest. I deny with 100% certainty that I am a chest. I can neither confirm nor deny what I am beyond that.
I used to portray Krathian, Q'ilbrith, Jim, Tara, Turin, Nathan, Tench, Finn, Alvin, and other characters in various taverns.
Having a kobold scale sorcerer cast charm person at 2nd level using subtle spell on two PCs two rooms after her subordinates dropped a bridge to send them into the crocodile pool.
my players have what is essentially a home that they made. they have spent over 40 sessions building a small hamlet into a medium sized city. But then they told me they felt their characters had no initiative to leave the city to adventure anymore and wanted something new. so i gave them a reason. someone was sending threatening messages to the city which is why they leave. it should take 3-4 sessions though i aim for 3. right now they are on session two of three. when they get back they will find the city they spent so long building razed to the ground. with very few survivors. this will give them a reason to leave the city. revenge
These all are amazingly evil plots! One I would like to share is in a dungeon, I put a giant iron door before the last room. The door gives off an ominous presence, but is otherwise just a big door. The players, assuming a boss lied behind that door, took a short rest, drank almost all their healing potions, readied their strongest spells, and opened the door too.... an unguarded treasure room. No boss. No mimics. The treasure was right there, and they wasted their precious resources assuming the worst. This is by far my favorite evil scheme to pull off.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
These all are amazingly evil plots! One I would like to share is in a dungeon, I put a giant iron door before the last room. The door gives off an ominous presence, but is otherwise just a big door. The players, assuming a boss lied behind that door, took a short rest, drank almost all their healing potions, readied their strongest spells, and opened the door too.... an unguarded treasure room. No boss. No mimics. The treasure was right there, and they wasted their precious resources assuming the worst. This is by far my favorite evil scheme to pull off.
These all are amazingly evil plots! One I would like to share is in a dungeon, I put a giant iron door before the last room. The door gives off an ominous presence, but is otherwise just a big door. The players, assuming a boss lied behind that door, took a short rest, drank almost all their healing potions, readied their strongest spells, and opened the door too.... an unguarded treasure room. No boss. No mimics. The treasure was right there, and they wasted their precious resources assuming the worst. This is by far my favorite evil scheme to pull off.
this is brilliant. mind if I steal it
You can definitely borrow this! The Spider Guild is always happy to cause mischief and chaos in any campaign!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
A lich's psylacteracy is a single, invisible grain of sand in a desert the size of Switzerland. The psylecteracy randomly blinks into the ethereal plane also.
"I say we let the lich rule the world. All in favor?"
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Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
Use a past PC (that has died or been retired or the campaign has been abandoned) as the next villain. Show them what became of their beloved PC at the hands of the DM.
I also had played as a player one time and scared the dm.
I was at the time playing a water genasi bard named Azure (side note she is also a werewolf. this is important later). And after some down time (about 2 years in game) she had started a family and had a kid. The dm had started the game off by kidnapping said kid
So in response Azure hunted the kidnapper down. Fought him. tied him up, took hi blades, and waited. then did it all again. rinse and repeat three or so times.
then she took him and bat him half to death for a few days while interrogating him on why he did it. turns out he hated all werewolf's and was going to kill them all. (see i said it was important) In response to this azure turned into a werewolf and transferred the curse to him and poured all her hatred of him into it (my dm was for fun and revenge. so that hatred took the effect of making it a 9th level curse) and walked away leaving him for dead.
Even more evil is a Tarrasque that can innately cast Mirror Image
a tarrasque that can innately cast antilife shell, and globe of invulnerability. oh, and also ennervation.
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Proud member of the spider guild.
i Play Ursula, Ariadne, Bolehs, Uhluhtc and Lizagnazeialqi in the tavern at the end of the world.
spiders are absolutely wonderful works of nature and if you say otherwise i shall feast tonight.
"Those who fight with Swords are Fools. those who fight with Bows are Cowards. You, My friend, Seem to be Both a Coward and A Fool." -Wilbur, Archmage of the Sunset sea addressing a Warrior.
Hm.... My idea would be to use a College of Whispers Bard, Conquest Paladin, or similar build using Hold Person and a strong attack to slowly pick off party members, after separating them in a giant maze-work. Have them make use of a flying speed or secret tunnels to ensure their mobility, and basically just use this tool of yours to blow your player characters to smithereens
The concept I had in particular was for a Satyr Hexblade with Grasp of Hadar/Repelling Blast for field control. They'd have mobility (especially if you get the Jump spell), some minor advantage against being manipulated themselves, and could definitely be flavored in such a way that would make a major impact on your players. The reliance on ranged attacks would also allow you to take advantage of cover rules within the terrain.
A lich thats phylactery is an item one of the character's holds dear to them, and slowly influences their emotions.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Proud member of the spider guild.
i Play Ursula, Ariadne, Bolehs, Uhluhtc and Lizagnazeialqi in the tavern at the end of the world.
spiders are absolutely wonderful works of nature and if you say otherwise i shall feast tonight.
"Those who fight with Swords are Fools. those who fight with Bows are Cowards. You, My friend, Seem to be Both a Coward and A Fool." -Wilbur, Archmage of the Sunset sea addressing a Warrior.
having a well-loved NPC killed, then letting the party ressurrect them, then revealing that the NPC was a sorceror of prodigeous and dangerous power who was lobotomised in their youth to protect the world - the ressurrection healed the lobotomy, and now they're a mad, powerful, wild-magic sorceror who the party needs to kill. Bonus points if they act happy and curious whilst destroying things, so the party don't start to hate them. Make the NPC feel like hte party is betraying them, not the other way around.
I am preparing an adventure where the characters are manipulated by six godlike eldritch horrors into resolving their cosmic war. The characters are constantly betrayed by allies to the point they slaughter all contacts immediately after receiving help/advice, are repeatedly forced to undo their own actions, and rarely succeed on completing a long rest. When they finally resolve the war, half of the characters are revealed to be instruments of the losing side and attack the others. Once one side wins, all characters awake at 1st level, where the adventure started, while I restart the adventure.
In my campaign, the adventurers heard rumors about a town that was suffering from more than the usual Goblin raids. There are theories floating around that the tribes in the north had gotten too large and offshoots from the old goblin tribes are trying to find new territory.
The adventurers soon find out that these goblins are not the usual run of the mill variety. They are stronger (I use Goblin boss stats with a few alterations on everyone) and have a lot of tatoos, piercings and scarification almost to the extent of self mutilation. They are fanatics. Riding spiders and just out to make hell for the poor people in the country just trying to make a living.
The PCs track the goblins back to their hideout and find a Hobgoblin captain and a Goblin schaman. (I adjusted the schaman to be more of a buffer NPC, able to give goblins a bark skin variety and hunters mark variety, and not just a goblin with a fire bolt handy)
It turns out that this cult of schamans have stumbled across a demon that has promised ultimate power to the goblin schaman that impresses him the most. So all of these small villages being terrorized are suffering from a pissing match between goblin schamans. (I have three villages with each one leading to a new goblin lair encounter.) The hobgoblins there have a horn they can blow for reinforcements if the players have too much luck with the dice.
This also leads to the last schaman having more attention from the demon (since the others obviously failed to impress him) and in the last encounter actually summons a demon as a larger battle leading to a level up for the players.
What I like about this is I can easily scale it up or down depending on the players and the level of PCs. Fewer goblins? More of them? Possibility of reinforcements or no? Throw in a bugbear too?
My three lairs have been in a canyon, in a cavern with a lake and the final one will be in a thick forest. All of them where spiders have the opportunity to attack from above too.
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Have any truly vile schemes for your campaigns? Are you truly excited about your newest method of psychological torture for your players to experience firsthand? Want to share the devious ways you crushed the Hit Points and hopes of your characters? Then the Spider Guild's Evil DM Plans forum is the place to be! Share all your evil plans for your campaigns here, from mildly infuriating to true BBEG tactics!
Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
Create a list of fake "spoilers" that are clearly jokes (such as: There is two imposters among us *Among Us Music* or the entire party dies at the hand of a nonanimate potted plant), then reveal that one of them is true
Supreme Cat-lover Of The First Grade
I AM A CAT PERSON. /\_____/\
She/her pronouns please. (=^.^=)
Or deciding to run tomb of horrors for them, when they have spent hours upon hours creating creative character builds and intricate backstories.
Supreme Cat-lover Of The First Grade
I AM A CAT PERSON. /\_____/\
She/her pronouns please. (=^.^=)
Creating a golden cup for loot. First person who touches it’s psyche is ripped from them and transferred to the cup. Their previous body turns into gold.
Hi, I am not a chest. I deny with 100% certainty that I am a chest. I can neither confirm nor deny what I am beyond that.
I used to portray Krathian, Q'ilbrith, Jim, Tara, Turin, Nathan, Tench, Finn, Alvin, and other characters in various taverns.
I also do homebrew, check out my Spells and Magic Items
"That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons, even death may die"
No reading this, Nightshade and Saratha.
Having a kobold scale sorcerer cast charm person at 2nd level using subtle spell on two PCs two rooms after her subordinates dropped a bridge to send them into the crocodile pool.
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
my players have what is essentially a home that they made. they have spent over 40 sessions building a small hamlet into a medium sized city. But then they told me they felt their characters had no initiative to leave the city to adventure anymore and wanted something new. so i gave them a reason. someone was sending threatening messages to the city which is why they leave. it should take 3-4 sessions though i aim for 3. right now they are on session two of three. when they get back they will find the city they spent so long building razed to the ground. with very few survivors. this will give them a reason to leave the city. revenge
These all are amazingly evil plots! One I would like to share is in a dungeon, I put a giant iron door before the last room. The door gives off an ominous presence, but is otherwise just a big door. The players, assuming a boss lied behind that door, took a short rest, drank almost all their healing potions, readied their strongest spells, and opened the door too.... an unguarded treasure room. No boss. No mimics. The treasure was right there, and they wasted their precious resources assuming the worst. This is by far my favorite evil scheme to pull off.
Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
this is brilliant. mind if I steal it
You can definitely borrow this! The Spider Guild is always happy to cause mischief and chaos in any campaign!
Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
A lich's psylacteracy is a single, invisible grain of sand in a desert the size of Switzerland. The psylecteracy randomly blinks into the ethereal plane also.
"I say we let the lich rule the world. All in favor?"
Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
Use a past PC (that has died or been retired or the campaign has been abandoned) as the next villain. Show them what became of their beloved PC at the hands of the DM.
I also had played as a player one time and scared the dm.
I was at the time playing a water genasi bard named Azure (side note she is also a werewolf. this is important later). And after some down time (about 2 years in game) she had started a family and had a kid. The dm had started the game off by kidnapping said kid
So in response Azure hunted the kidnapper down. Fought him. tied him up, took hi blades, and waited. then did it all again. rinse and repeat three or so times.
then she took him and bat him half to death for a few days while interrogating him on why he did it. turns out he hated all werewolf's and was going to kill them all. (see i said it was important) In response to this azure turned into a werewolf and transferred the curse to him and poured all her hatred of him into it (my dm was for fun and revenge. so that hatred took the effect of making it a 9th level curse) and walked away leaving him for dead.
Two words. Tarrasque Simulacrums.
Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
Even more evil is a Tarrasque that can innately cast Mirror Image
Supreme Cat-lover Of The First Grade
I AM A CAT PERSON. /\_____/\
She/her pronouns please. (=^.^=)
a tarrasque that can innately cast antilife shell, and globe of invulnerability. oh, and also ennervation.
Proud member of the spider guild.
i Play Ursula, Ariadne, Bolehs, Uhluhtc and Lizagnazeialqi in the tavern at the end of the world.
spiders are absolutely wonderful works of nature and if you say otherwise i shall feast tonight.
"Those who fight with Swords are Fools. those who fight with Bows are Cowards. You, My friend, Seem to be Both a Coward and A Fool." -Wilbur, Archmage of the Sunset sea addressing a Warrior.
Hm.... My idea would be to use a College of Whispers Bard, Conquest Paladin, or similar build using Hold Person and a strong attack to slowly pick off party members, after separating them in a giant maze-work. Have them make use of a flying speed or secret tunnels to ensure their mobility, and basically just use this tool of yours to blow your player characters to smithereens
The concept I had in particular was for a Satyr Hexblade with Grasp of Hadar/Repelling Blast for field control. They'd have mobility (especially if you get the Jump spell), some minor advantage against being manipulated themselves, and could definitely be flavored in such a way that would make a major impact on your players. The reliance on ranged attacks would also allow you to take advantage of cover rules within the terrain.
I is the feels good.
- Kefko, the Traveler
A lich thats phylactery is an item one of the character's holds dear to them, and slowly influences their emotions.
Proud member of the spider guild.
i Play Ursula, Ariadne, Bolehs, Uhluhtc and Lizagnazeialqi in the tavern at the end of the world.
spiders are absolutely wonderful works of nature and if you say otherwise i shall feast tonight.
"Those who fight with Swords are Fools. those who fight with Bows are Cowards. You, My friend, Seem to be Both a Coward and A Fool." -Wilbur, Archmage of the Sunset sea addressing a Warrior.
having a well-loved NPC killed, then letting the party ressurrect them, then revealing that the NPC was a sorceror of prodigeous and dangerous power who was lobotomised in their youth to protect the world - the ressurrection healed the lobotomy, and now they're a mad, powerful, wild-magic sorceror who the party needs to kill. Bonus points if they act happy and curious whilst destroying things, so the party don't start to hate them. Make the NPC feel like hte party is betraying them, not the other way around.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
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I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
I am preparing an adventure where the characters are manipulated by six godlike eldritch horrors into resolving their cosmic war. The characters are constantly betrayed by allies to the point they slaughter all contacts immediately after receiving help/advice, are repeatedly forced to undo their own actions, and rarely succeed on completing a long rest. When they finally resolve the war, half of the characters are revealed to be instruments of the losing side and attack the others. Once one side wins, all characters awake at 1st level, where the adventure started, while I restart the adventure.
Just another prophetic madman.
In my campaign, the adventurers heard rumors about a town that was suffering from more than the usual Goblin raids. There are theories floating around that the tribes in the north had gotten too large and offshoots from the old goblin tribes are trying to find new territory.
The adventurers soon find out that these goblins are not the usual run of the mill variety. They are stronger (I use Goblin boss stats with a few alterations on everyone) and have a lot of tatoos, piercings and scarification almost to the extent of self mutilation. They are fanatics. Riding spiders and just out to make hell for the poor people in the country just trying to make a living.
The PCs track the goblins back to their hideout and find a Hobgoblin captain and a Goblin schaman. (I adjusted the schaman to be more of a buffer NPC, able to give goblins a bark skin variety and hunters mark variety, and not just a goblin with a fire bolt handy)
It turns out that this cult of schamans have stumbled across a demon that has promised ultimate power to the goblin schaman that impresses him the most. So all of these small villages being terrorized are suffering from a pissing match between goblin schamans. (I have three villages with each one leading to a new goblin lair encounter.) The hobgoblins there have a horn they can blow for reinforcements if the players have too much luck with the dice.
This also leads to the last schaman having more attention from the demon (since the others obviously failed to impress him) and in the last encounter actually summons a demon as a larger battle leading to a level up for the players.
What I like about this is I can easily scale it up or down depending on the players and the level of PCs. Fewer goblins? More of them? Possibility of reinforcements or no? Throw in a bugbear too?
My three lairs have been in a canyon, in a cavern with a lake and the final one will be in a thick forest. All of them where spiders have the opportunity to attack from above too.