After significant time spent building up a world for the adventurers to be enjoying, I am finally laying some foundations for a BBEG. I want to try and create them as a Moriarty style villain (Sherlock Holmes' arch nemesis), with their own big plans for the world but who isn't going to be difficult to deal with if the heroes ever find them - they aren't a BBEG in the sense of being a big foe to face in the end, but rather they will be directly influencing the world through stronger pawns in their game of world-conquering chess.
And this is leading me to wonder how best to integrate this into a world where it will pay out well when the party starts to realise that they have been pawns in a greater game, and whilst they have been thorns in the BBEGs side for some bits, ultimately they were played. I am thinking the key steps for this are:
1: Figure out a goal for the BBEG - a destruction of a kingdom, for example
2: Put several means by which to achieve this into the world - a tense truce between them and another kingdom, a sleeping ancient dragon, an ancient power, etc.
3: Put steps needed to achieve the means into the world as the BBEGs plan - messengers to be killed from the other kingdom, treasure to be stolen from the dragon, amulets to be found for the ancient power.
4: Start by having the BBEG make small steps, which can be thwarted by the party, which will draw the BBEG's notice to the party
5: Start using the party to achieve BBEG's goals, like "recovering an artefact from a cave horde" (stealing from a dragon to enrage it into destroying the town below, which was the only one keeping the enemy kingdom from attacking)
6: Build up to the big reveal - the party meets the BBEG (or an illusion of them) and they explain how they have already won, and the party had been sent on a wild goose chase to keep them from saving the kingdom. BBEG disappears for a while, but will return. Party can try and track them down, or go off on another adventure.
My biggest goal is to remove all railroading - the BBEG can be thwarted, but they are working cleverly and it will leave the party second guessing everything.
Has anyone had any success running a criminal mastermind as the BBEG? If so, what tips might you impart?
Avoid having the party meet the BBEG in-person unless they're in a situation where they can't comfortably attack someone without getting in serious trouble. Once your players tag him as BBEG, the moment they get the opportunity to just pounce on him and kick his ass, they're going to. And especially since you're building him as a criminal mastermind and not a fighter, you need to think of reasons for why the players couldn't or shouldn't just kill them outright.
Something I'd recommend is introduce them as someone who is useful for the party. Not necessarily playing them as a good guy who later betrays the party, but let the players know that they're a criminal of some kind, but put them in a situation where the party has solid reason to work with them, instead of against them. Maybe the BBEG gets some kind of leverage against the party in the process... maybe he sets them up for a more serious crime than what they think they're contributing to, and he has evidence that could get them in more trouble. Nothing that's too obvious, but if the party tries to attack him, he has a solid "weapon" to use against them that doesn't involve brute force.
I think there's a step prior to your step one. Before villain has a goal, they need a motivation. It's a step a lot of people skip, which ends up with generic mustache-twirling villains who just want power for the sake of power, which should never be the case. People want power so they can use the power. If they want to destroy a kingdom, why do they want to? That can go a long way toward filling in their personality, which can then help direct their actions and plans. It also allow you to start to build in weaknesses, which can also manifest in their plans. Why the villain is doing what they are doing is the most important step. In short, the villain, like the PCs, needs a backstory
The big problem with playing a supergenius criminal mastermind is that most DMs are not, in fact, supergenius criminal masterminds, and that means you have to cheat and give the appearance of being a genius, but do it in a way that doesn't make the players feel cheated. This is difficult enough that I've mostly given up on that sort of character.
Make the players work for Moriarity, even meeting him in person. Let them realize their mistake after a few sessions "wait he no good guy!" without getting behind his scheme, and him gone. Hint things happening around them, while doing other "sidequests" and allow them to investigate. Somewhen let them find out something that happened could be somehow related to the work they've done for him, or maybe the clues lead to them, giving them "Well, F..." moment, being inquired by a Lestrade like NPC.
I have run 2 successful villains like this and am currently laying the groundwork for a third. Only one of these was humanoid.
My most recent one is a Half elf wizard, he is seeking great knowledge to gather something (no idea what yet, players at level 3 have time to prep it). He has come to this area because he read of an aboleth being trapped here aeons ago. He has made himself immune to the Aboleth and is working with/keeping it trapped in order to get as much knowledge out of it as possible. Aboleth is going to give him information about the thing eventually. Meanwhile he is one of the towns magic shop keepers, sits on the council and has the ear of the mayor. Players already think he is great, have taken a couple of quests off of him and he has provided them with magic items, spells etc.
Before that my fav one was a Dragon, ancient, silver, the dragon could transform itself into a human form, when the party where first introduced to it the Dragon was human and seeking magic scrolls and knowledge. He passed himself off as a middle man selling and buying rare items hiring adventurers to track down, protect and transport these goods. He had a number of tattoos on his body. As time went on he gained more tattoos. In reality the Dragon, based off I think 2nd Ed dragon variant, was absorbing each spell, these then became runes on his scales and a large living magic book that was part of him.
In this campaign the silver dragon started out obsessing over ensuring a world ending prophecy never came to be. However the dragons actions meant he became the vessel for that prophecy and by the time he realised it he was too far gone. I actually had the party be assisted by a green dragon, at first they where convinced she was the big bad (for 4 levels of advancement) as she was always there trying to get the thing they wanted. Eventually they learnt the truth. They didn’t actually fight the silver dragon until the very end.
The final campaign I had was based off Xanathar. So players where trying to deal with a very clever bbeg who was always 2 steps ahead, ran a crime syndicate and seemed to act through layer after layer of hireling. Each time they killed the creature they thought was this being they soon after they heard the name again. Eventually they realised the real big bad was using them as assassins taking out his rivals, spreading into the territory of those they killed.
They finally caught him after a really convoluted plan they themselves came up with to get him into the open. I mean the plan took 9 months of real time to enact. I had to keep track of what was going on behind the scenes but it was well worth it. The look on their faces when they finally set the trap to discover the being they where dealing with was a beholder. Who then explained that by controlling all the crime in the continent he was ensuring peace and order was maintained.
After significant time spent building up a world for the adventurers to be enjoying, I am finally laying some foundations for a BBEG. I want to try and create them as a Moriarty style villain (Sherlock Holmes' arch nemesis), with their own big plans for the world but who isn't going to be difficult to deal with if the heroes ever find them - they aren't a BBEG in the sense of being a big foe to face in the end, but rather they will be directly influencing the world through stronger pawns in their game of world-conquering chess.
And this is leading me to wonder how best to integrate this into a world where it will pay out well when the party starts to realise that they have been pawns in a greater game, and whilst they have been thorns in the BBEGs side for some bits, ultimately they were played. I am thinking the key steps for this are:
1: Figure out a goal for the BBEG - a destruction of a kingdom, for example
2: Put several means by which to achieve this into the world - a tense truce between them and another kingdom, a sleeping ancient dragon, an ancient power, etc.
3: Put steps needed to achieve the means into the world as the BBEGs plan - messengers to be killed from the other kingdom, treasure to be stolen from the dragon, amulets to be found for the ancient power.
4: Start by having the BBEG make small steps, which can be thwarted by the party, which will draw the BBEG's notice to the party
5: Start using the party to achieve BBEG's goals, like "recovering an artefact from a cave horde" (stealing from a dragon to enrage it into destroying the town below, which was the only one keeping the enemy kingdom from attacking)
6: Build up to the big reveal - the party meets the BBEG (or an illusion of them) and they explain how they have already won, and the party had been sent on a wild goose chase to keep them from saving the kingdom. BBEG disappears for a while, but will return. Party can try and track them down, or go off on another adventure.
My biggest goal is to remove all railroading - the BBEG can be thwarted, but they are working cleverly and it will leave the party second guessing everything.
Has anyone had any success running a criminal mastermind as the BBEG? If so, what tips might you impart?
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Avoid having the party meet the BBEG in-person unless they're in a situation where they can't comfortably attack someone without getting in serious trouble. Once your players tag him as BBEG, the moment they get the opportunity to just pounce on him and kick his ass, they're going to. And especially since you're building him as a criminal mastermind and not a fighter, you need to think of reasons for why the players couldn't or shouldn't just kill them outright.
Something I'd recommend is introduce them as someone who is useful for the party. Not necessarily playing them as a good guy who later betrays the party, but let the players know that they're a criminal of some kind, but put them in a situation where the party has solid reason to work with them, instead of against them. Maybe the BBEG gets some kind of leverage against the party in the process... maybe he sets them up for a more serious crime than what they think they're contributing to, and he has evidence that could get them in more trouble. Nothing that's too obvious, but if the party tries to attack him, he has a solid "weapon" to use against them that doesn't involve brute force.
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I think there's a step prior to your step one. Before villain has a goal, they need a motivation. It's a step a lot of people skip, which ends up with generic mustache-twirling villains who just want power for the sake of power, which should never be the case. People want power so they can use the power. If they want to destroy a kingdom, why do they want to? That can go a long way toward filling in their personality, which can then help direct their actions and plans. It also allow you to start to build in weaknesses, which can also manifest in their plans. Why the villain is doing what they are doing is the most important step. In short, the villain, like the PCs, needs a backstory
The big problem with playing a supergenius criminal mastermind is that most DMs are not, in fact, supergenius criminal masterminds, and that means you have to cheat and give the appearance of being a genius, but do it in a way that doesn't make the players feel cheated. This is difficult enough that I've mostly given up on that sort of character.
I like this idea. I immediately think of the Zhentarim when I was reading your post, and Moriarty would be a pretty decent Zhent.
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DM - Our Little Lives Kept In Equipoise: Curse of Strahd
DM - Misprize Thou Not These Shadows That Belong: The Lost Mines of Phandelver
PC - Azzure - Tyranny of Dragons
Make the players work for Moriarity, even meeting him in person. Let them realize their mistake after a few sessions "wait he no good guy!" without getting behind his scheme, and him gone. Hint things happening around them, while doing other "sidequests" and allow them to investigate. Somewhen let them find out something that happened could be somehow related to the work they've done for him, or maybe the clues lead to them, giving them "Well, F..." moment, being inquired by a Lestrade like NPC.
I have run 2 successful villains like this and am currently laying the groundwork for a third. Only one of these was humanoid.
My most recent one is a Half elf wizard, he is seeking great knowledge to gather something (no idea what yet, players at level 3 have time to prep it). He has come to this area because he read of an aboleth being trapped here aeons ago. He has made himself immune to the Aboleth and is working with/keeping it trapped in order to get as much knowledge out of it as possible. Aboleth is going to give him information about the thing eventually. Meanwhile he is one of the towns magic shop keepers, sits on the council and has the ear of the mayor. Players already think he is great, have taken a couple of quests off of him and he has provided them with magic items, spells etc.
Before that my fav one was a Dragon, ancient, silver, the dragon could transform itself into a human form, when the party where first introduced to it the Dragon was human and seeking magic scrolls and knowledge. He passed himself off as a middle man selling and buying rare items hiring adventurers to track down, protect and transport these goods. He had a number of tattoos on his body. As time went on he gained more tattoos. In reality the Dragon, based off I think 2nd Ed dragon variant, was absorbing each spell, these then became runes on his scales and a large living magic book that was part of him.
In this campaign the silver dragon started out obsessing over ensuring a world ending prophecy never came to be. However the dragons actions meant he became the vessel for that prophecy and by the time he realised it he was too far gone. I actually had the party be assisted by a green dragon, at first they where convinced she was the big bad (for 4 levels of advancement) as she was always there trying to get the thing they wanted. Eventually they learnt the truth. They didn’t actually fight the silver dragon until the very end.
The final campaign I had was based off Xanathar. So players where trying to deal with a very clever bbeg who was always 2 steps ahead, ran a crime syndicate and seemed to act through layer after layer of hireling. Each time they killed the creature they thought was this being they soon after they heard the name again. Eventually they realised the real big bad was using them as assassins taking out his rivals, spreading into the territory of those they killed.
They finally caught him after a really convoluted plan they themselves came up with to get him into the open. I mean the plan took 9 months of real time to enact. I had to keep track of what was going on behind the scenes but it was well worth it. The look on their faces when they finally set the trap to discover the being they where dealing with was a beholder. Who then explained that by controlling all the crime in the continent he was ensuring peace and order was maintained.