The easiest BBEG guy is to have them be a merchant in their starting town. Now whether they be a hag, a devil or a demon, that's up to you. But have them be in town and offering help to the party. Perhaps give the party a quest or two. Perhaps ask them to frame a business rival. Maybe find the assassin of the party alone, complement him on his discretion and ask him to kill someone. After the BBEG has led the party down one hell of a dark path, start giving them hints of what they've been doing along the way. Show them signs of misery or death, and hint at what caused it. Towards the end of the first chapter of your quest, do the reveal, have him laugh about how foolish they are, light fight and then a "goodbye my tools, I'll use you again". From there, you'll have some quite paranoid players and it could be entertaining when they meet new NPC's. Your Paladin will be doing Detect Evil left and right.
Regarding the "secret BBEG reveal" you've all seen this right? It's sometimes best to remember that the table isn't as close to the DM's "craft' as the DM so things like dramatic irony and the like may go over players' heads unless done really heavy handed, and thus asked the question of "should I?"
The easiest (best? Maybe) way to pull something like this off is to give the bad guy minions. Then, the surface of all the problems they cause becomes "oh no, the red claw goblin army is attacking Townsville! We must defend the city! What could they be after? Who are they working for??" rather than "oh no, a mysterious hooded figure is attacking Townsville with lightning bolts! Who could it be?? Actually wait, are they speaking? Can I roll perception to see if the voice sounds like anyone I know? Disadvantage because of the situation? Ok I'll take it. Hot dang! 18! Oh it's Friendpatine? Huh, mystery solved!"
Any good bbeg should be able to amass a force of minions to do their bidding and provide them plausible deniability. Even better, give them a powerful lieutenant or two that can act as red herring bbeg's for the party, standing behind the minions and delivering bad guy dialogue while trying to conceal the fact that there's a bigger badder evil guy pulling strings behind the scene. Think of how Palpatine used Douku and General Grevious to be the figureheads of the Separatist cause, allowing the heroes to direct all their energy towards stopping them while letting this growing uncertainty about things not really adding up go unexamined. It's important to drop clues when doing this, obviously, otherwise it's just a cheap gotcha, but if the players are given enough cause to wonder how it is that the Count Douku figure leading the goblin army seems to be *so* well informed as to the position of the good guys' secret weapon, or are wondering just *who* the cloaked figure your scouts spotted entering Douko's encampment in the dead of night was? Well, then you've got the beginnings of a conspiracy.
One of the easiest ways is if you don't know who your BBEG is. So just decide afterward which ordinary minor NPC from early in the campaign was actually the BBEG. It's easy to keep a straight face when you don't know you're lying.
Then at about the midpoint of the game, the party will get suspicious of nothing and roll an Insight check. They roll high. Now this minor NPC who they've met once before wasn't hiding anything. But now he's the BBEG and he's hiding a very big secret.
There are 2 problems with this suggestion:
1) It will be hard not to introduce plot holes. If you just decide this NPC from early in the campaign was the baddy, you have to make sure it's actually possible. You don't want to be caught with your pants down when your players poke holes into the twist because you forgot about that one time where something happened that ruled out that NPC as the baddy (they had an alibi, the baddy did something this NPC definitely couldn't, etc). You would be forced to them come up with some cheap explanation that patches the plot hole, and your players will see through that.
2) It will be hard to make your players care. If you didn't know who the baddy was, then there was definitely no foreshadowing. There were never any clues, and it would have been impossible for the players to guess. A good who-done-it makes the audience go "I should have known!". If the players don't feel like they should have or could have known, then they won't care about the twist. It's essentially the same as revealing that the bad guy was someone they never met and never heard of.
The world is full of baddies. There are multiple parties that are scheming and plotting. Everyone has something to hide. Everyone has a personal agenda. Your players will discover that there are multiple powerful people that all fight each other (some more openly, some in the shadows) and they will eventually fight your players (those meddling kids!)
Your players don't even have to be aware that there is one BBEG. When they suspect your BBEG of being a baddy, they will just see them as one baddy of many baddies.
Thanks again for all of the great counter points guys! I'm definitely guilty of leaning heavily towards plot structures from books and films that maybe don't translate as well, or at least very easily, to table top RPG's. I'll need to keep in mind the inherent challenges this approach has and possibly make some adjustments.
One of the easiest ways is if you don't know who your BBEG is. So just decide afterward which ordinary minor NPC from early in the campaign was actually the BBEG. It's easy to keep a straight face when you don't know you're lying.
Then at about the midpoint of the game, the party will get suspicious of nothing and roll an Insight check. They roll high. Now this minor NPC who they've met once before wasn't hiding anything. But now he's the BBEG and he's hiding a very big secret.
There are 2 problems with this suggestion:
1) It will be hard not to introduce plot holes. If you just decide this NPC from early in the campaign was the baddy, you have to make sure it's actually possible. You don't want to be caught with your pants down when your players poke holes into the twist because you forgot about that one time where something happened that ruled out that NPC as the baddy (they had an alibi, the baddy did something this NPC definitely couldn't, etc). You would be forced to them come up with some cheap explanation that patches the plot hole, and your players will see through that.
2) It will be hard to make your players care. If you didn't know who the baddy was, then there was definitely no foreshadowing. There were never any clues, and it would have been impossible for the players to guess. A good who-done-it makes the audience go "I should have known!". If the players don't feel like they should have or could have known, then they won't care about the twist. It's essentially the same as revealing that the bad guy was someone they never met and never heard of.
As the One for All vid illustrates, the opposite tact can often be unrecognized self indulgence on the DMs part. With Palpatine being constantly evoked as the stealth BBEG, we actually got an illustration as to why books and films aren't always the best model for game narrative. There is an important device to the Star Wars prequels that can't be realized in the GMing technique discussed here: dramatic irony. The audience of the prequels know Palpatine is the BBEG so are "in" on the tragedy the prequels are trying to accomplish. TTRPG that want to have an underlying mystery where the players aren't granted that ironic appreciation are actually more analogous to the characters playing Clue with the DM making sure through a railroading process that "The Butler did it." I mean Knives Out is a good movie, but I wouldn't say it's a good template for campaign, maybe a one shot.
The mystery of the BBEG identity isn't essential for players caring about the game. In fact, it can be very much the opposite, the characters don't want to play the game in the moment and instead spend all sorts of time trying to "solve the mystery." BBEG "mystery" campaigns I feel fall into the "party as tourists" into the DMs Rube Goldberg mind, basically along for the ride as opposed to having actual in. world agency beyond what the DM expects them to do. And that's a way to play, but I think it's a bit more limiting in comparison to a world that is build by the playing of the game where dynamics of alliances and opposition are determined by the party's conduct in the game world.
I guess I just prefer "antagonist" over BBEG, and largely because it has the dynamic of "agon" in its routes, BBEG seems to fall into static world tourism more often than not ... I CoS does it brilliants, but that adventure is literally exceptional. But by and large BBEG relies on dramatic irony known only to the DM throughout actual play and probably proves underwhelming when the players see all their work had these elements that lead to some sort of ratiocinative tale resolution. Basically the BBEG relies on a storytelling narration formula that can only find a niche function in TTRPG story creation, and I'm arguing it's better off disregarded for more organic development of conflict and goals in most but maybe tutorial and very exceptional contexts. I'd say BBEG puts a lot of onus on the DM as keeper of secrets beyond regular keeper of secret duties.
Of course there are true detective type games or detective methodology type games like Call of Cthulhu and its ilk, but while fingering the Bad Guy at the climax is good for one shots, "whodunnit" isn't really the mystery to be revealed in more campaign length play. Rather it's "what they're doing" that needs to be revealed. Sure there's a conspiracy, and while maybe whoever's at the top may be a surprise, the point is the action the conspiracy is attempting to put in motion that the investigators are going to forlorn hope try to stop.
One of the easiest ways is if you don't know who your BBEG is. So just decide afterward which ordinary minor NPC from early in the campaign was actually the BBEG. It's easy to keep a straight face when you don't know you're lying.
Then at about the midpoint of the game, the party will get suspicious of nothing and roll an Insight check. They roll high. Now this minor NPC who they've met once before wasn't hiding anything. But now he's the BBEG and he's hiding a very big secret.
There are 2 problems with this suggestion:
1) It will be hard not to introduce plot holes. If you just decide this NPC from early in the campaign was the baddy, you have to make sure it's actually possible. You don't want to be caught with your pants down when your players poke holes into the twist because you forgot about that one time where something happened that ruled out that NPC as the baddy (they had an alibi, the baddy did something this NPC definitely couldn't, etc). You would be forced to them come up with some cheap explanation that patches the plot hole, and your players will see through that.
2) It will be hard to make your players care. If you didn't know who the baddy was, then there was definitely no foreshadowing. There were never any clues, and it would have been impossible for the players to guess. A good who-done-it makes the audience go "I should have known!". If the players don't feel like they should have or could have known, then they won't care about the twist. It's essentially the same as revealing that the bad guy was someone they never met and never heard of.
Ah, but they did guess. That’s where the random high insight check comes in. But you don’t spill all the beans on that Insight check. You start grooming your random NPC into the BBEG, and then you start dropping the clues, not to arouse suspicion, but to provide supporting evidence to convince the party they have enough to go on and to help the party convince allies and authorities.
Also, plot holes are not as big a deal as people make them. Look at how many plot holes people find in Star Wars, or how people talk about eagles carrying Frodo to Mordor. Never explain a plot hole or admit you made that mistake. Players sufficiently invested in suspension of disbelief will invent the lame excuse for you. You can’t have too many plot holes or your players will never make any successful deductions, but a few small ones and even one large one are probably fine.
I gave my arc 1 BBEG a Ring of Mind Shielding. He was a deathlock mastermind who fooled the party into thinking he was an ally, though he retained some of his will and actually hated what his patron was making him do. The ring foiled all attempts at insight-checking him, and I always made it seem like he was either being honest or hard to read. Players had no idea. The moment of betrayal was everything I had hoped for.
When the party finally killed him and freed him from his pact, I had his soul enter the ring. The party member who kept the ring got him as an advisor.
Personally, I think it's a good idea to introduce the BBEG as early as possible (even if they're still just a shadowy figure). It helps drive the narrative of the campaign forward and focuses the player's actions (without railroading). One of the things I didn't like about the new "Vecna: Eve of Ruin" campaign is that Vecna doesn't even appear until the end!!!
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The easiest BBEG guy is to have them be a merchant in their starting town. Now whether they be a hag, a devil or a demon, that's up to you. But have them be in town and offering help to the party. Perhaps give the party a quest or two. Perhaps ask them to frame a business rival. Maybe find the assassin of the party alone, complement him on his discretion and ask him to kill someone. After the BBEG has led the party down one hell of a dark path, start giving them hints of what they've been doing along the way. Show them signs of misery or death, and hint at what caused it. Towards the end of the first chapter of your quest, do the reveal, have him laugh about how foolish they are, light fight and then a "goodbye my tools, I'll use you again". From there, you'll have some quite paranoid players and it could be entertaining when they meet new NPC's. Your Paladin will be doing Detect Evil left and right.
Regarding the "secret BBEG reveal" you've all seen this right? It's sometimes best to remember that the table isn't as close to the DM's "craft' as the DM so things like dramatic irony and the like may go over players' heads unless done really heavy handed, and thus asked the question of "should I?"
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
The easiest (best? Maybe) way to pull something like this off is to give the bad guy minions. Then, the surface of all the problems they cause becomes "oh no, the red claw goblin army is attacking Townsville! We must defend the city! What could they be after? Who are they working for??" rather than "oh no, a mysterious hooded figure is attacking Townsville with lightning bolts! Who could it be?? Actually wait, are they speaking? Can I roll perception to see if the voice sounds like anyone I know? Disadvantage because of the situation? Ok I'll take it. Hot dang! 18! Oh it's Friendpatine? Huh, mystery solved!"
Any good bbeg should be able to amass a force of minions to do their bidding and provide them plausible deniability. Even better, give them a powerful lieutenant or two that can act as red herring bbeg's for the party, standing behind the minions and delivering bad guy dialogue while trying to conceal the fact that there's a bigger badder evil guy pulling strings behind the scene. Think of how Palpatine used Douku and General Grevious to be the figureheads of the Separatist cause, allowing the heroes to direct all their energy towards stopping them while letting this growing uncertainty about things not really adding up go unexamined. It's important to drop clues when doing this, obviously, otherwise it's just a cheap gotcha, but if the players are given enough cause to wonder how it is that the Count Douku figure leading the goblin army seems to be *so* well informed as to the position of the good guys' secret weapon, or are wondering just *who* the cloaked figure your scouts spotted entering Douko's encampment in the dead of night was? Well, then you've got the beginnings of a conspiracy.
There are 2 problems with this suggestion:
1) It will be hard not to introduce plot holes. If you just decide this NPC from early in the campaign was the baddy, you have to make sure it's actually possible. You don't want to be caught with your pants down when your players poke holes into the twist because you forgot about that one time where something happened that ruled out that NPC as the baddy (they had an alibi, the baddy did something this NPC definitely couldn't, etc). You would be forced to them come up with some cheap explanation that patches the plot hole, and your players will see through that.
2) It will be hard to make your players care. If you didn't know who the baddy was, then there was definitely no foreshadowing. There were never any clues, and it would have been impossible for the players to guess. A good who-done-it makes the audience go "I should have known!". If the players don't feel like they should have or could have known, then they won't care about the twist. It's essentially the same as revealing that the bad guy was someone they never met and never heard of.
One method that I like is this:
The world is full of baddies. There are multiple parties that are scheming and plotting. Everyone has something to hide. Everyone has a personal agenda. Your players will discover that there are multiple powerful people that all fight each other (some more openly, some in the shadows) and they will eventually fight your players (those meddling kids!)
Your players don't even have to be aware that there is one BBEG. When they suspect your BBEG of being a baddy, they will just see them as one baddy of many baddies.
Thanks again for all of the great counter points guys! I'm definitely guilty of leaning heavily towards plot structures from books and films that maybe don't translate as well, or at least very easily, to table top RPG's. I'll need to keep in mind the inherent challenges this approach has and possibly make some adjustments.
As the One for All vid illustrates, the opposite tact can often be unrecognized self indulgence on the DMs part. With Palpatine being constantly evoked as the stealth BBEG, we actually got an illustration as to why books and films aren't always the best model for game narrative. There is an important device to the Star Wars prequels that can't be realized in the GMing technique discussed here: dramatic irony. The audience of the prequels know Palpatine is the BBEG so are "in" on the tragedy the prequels are trying to accomplish. TTRPG that want to have an underlying mystery where the players aren't granted that ironic appreciation are actually more analogous to the characters playing Clue with the DM making sure through a railroading process that "The Butler did it." I mean Knives Out is a good movie, but I wouldn't say it's a good template for campaign, maybe a one shot.
The mystery of the BBEG identity isn't essential for players caring about the game. In fact, it can be very much the opposite, the characters don't want to play the game in the moment and instead spend all sorts of time trying to "solve the mystery." BBEG "mystery" campaigns I feel fall into the "party as tourists" into the DMs Rube Goldberg mind, basically along for the ride as opposed to having actual in. world agency beyond what the DM expects them to do. And that's a way to play, but I think it's a bit more limiting in comparison to a world that is build by the playing of the game where dynamics of alliances and opposition are determined by the party's conduct in the game world.
I guess I just prefer "antagonist" over BBEG, and largely because it has the dynamic of "agon" in its routes, BBEG seems to fall into static world tourism more often than not ... I CoS does it brilliants, but that adventure is literally exceptional. But by and large BBEG relies on dramatic irony known only to the DM throughout actual play and probably proves underwhelming when the players see all their work had these elements that lead to some sort of ratiocinative tale resolution. Basically the BBEG relies on a storytelling narration formula that can only find a niche function in TTRPG story creation, and I'm arguing it's better off disregarded for more organic development of conflict and goals in most but maybe tutorial and very exceptional contexts. I'd say BBEG puts a lot of onus on the DM as keeper of secrets beyond regular keeper of secret duties.
Of course there are true detective type games or detective methodology type games like Call of Cthulhu and its ilk, but while fingering the Bad Guy at the climax is good for one shots, "whodunnit" isn't really the mystery to be revealed in more campaign length play. Rather it's "what they're doing" that needs to be revealed. Sure there's a conspiracy, and while maybe whoever's at the top may be a surprise, the point is the action the conspiracy is attempting to put in motion that the investigators are going to forlorn hope try to stop.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Ah, but they did guess. That’s where the random high insight check comes in. But you don’t spill all the beans on that Insight check. You start grooming your random NPC into the BBEG, and then you start dropping the clues, not to arouse suspicion, but to provide supporting evidence to convince the party they have enough to go on and to help the party convince allies and authorities.
Also, plot holes are not as big a deal as people make them. Look at how many plot holes people find in Star Wars, or how people talk about eagles carrying Frodo to Mordor. Never explain a plot hole or admit you made that mistake. Players sufficiently invested in suspension of disbelief will invent the lame excuse for you. You can’t have too many plot holes or your players will never make any successful deductions, but a few small ones and even one large one are probably fine.
I gave my arc 1 BBEG a Ring of Mind Shielding. He was a deathlock mastermind who fooled the party into thinking he was an ally, though he retained some of his will and actually hated what his patron was making him do. The ring foiled all attempts at insight-checking him, and I always made it seem like he was either being honest or hard to read. Players had no idea. The moment of betrayal was everything I had hoped for.
When the party finally killed him and freed him from his pact, I had his soul enter the ring. The party member who kept the ring got him as an advisor.
There's a really great write up on BBEG's here: https://dungeonsanddragonsfan.com/bbeg-big-bad-evil-guy-meaning/
Personally, I think it's a good idea to introduce the BBEG as early as possible (even if they're still just a shadowy figure). It helps drive the narrative of the campaign forward and focuses the player's actions (without railroading). One of the things I didn't like about the new "Vecna: Eve of Ruin" campaign is that Vecna doesn't even appear until the end!!!