if you want to create an villain who will last you an entire campaign and harass the party for many sessions, one who is an credibile, ever present threat, but i dont want to make it an magic using dragon o an evil wizard or an mind flayer becuase that is kinda overdone, what other villanous archetypes would make good villains?
should i go for an villainous sniper, an high level rouge who is hiding among the population and who seeks to assasinate several wealthy targets, an mass murderer on the loose? an charismatic mastermind rouge who manipulates other people into doing his or her bidding, cuasing turmoil across the land in a means to seize power like good old sheev? an charismatic warrior, battle master fighter, who leads an army of followers who would die for their cuase? an truly terriifying half orc wereboar barbarian, one who rebells against encroachments to the wilderness by the civilived lands and who has destroyed many people in his or her rampage? an rock gnome tinkerer and artificer, one who creates mighty war constructs and seeks to ether sell is weapons of mass destruction to the highest bidder or to create his own personal army to take over the world? perhaps an mighty satyr musician?
whatcha all think, what class, subclass or monster that does not use or does not rely hevily on spells works the best as an villain for an campaign?
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Lex Luthor, the man behind the curtain, one that can use magic, but is not the cause/scope of their villainy would be a bard who twists/distorts everything the party does to bring the populace against them. Take a quick browsing of Game of Thrones for multiple BBEG's with no magic at all, and quite a few of them do not consider themselves evil, just "pragmatic". A ghost possessing some powerful figure, perhaps the ghost of someone the party killed in the introduction... Of course the "villain" doesn't have to be a creature at all, I seem to remember this one story where the "villain" was a ring...
Any or all of your suggestion examples could become great. It just takes some forethought and intentionality. An assassin rogue? He uses the most deadly poisons, strikes where people are most vulnerable, and uses all the meta knowledge of the GM :). He’s been hired by both sides of a longstanding rivalry of kingdoms, and performs for both equally efficiently. But now a LG cleric wants to blow the whistle. It’d be a shame if he became the next contract...
A half-orc battlemaster, who is uniting tribes of orcs, humans, and other monstrosities under his leadership. Gathering in the wilderness and strategizing for a march on the kingdom. Ushering in a new era of racial harmony, by canceling the old culture. He sends skirmishers out to test the defenses of the kingdom, Engages in psychological warfare by intimidating the population. Raids outposts for supplies.
A charlatan posing as a priest to amass power and control of the wealth and influence of the priesthood. (Cardinal Richelieu) Has no divine gifts, but talks the talk and has the king’s ear. Has convinced the king to exact extra taxes for his “faith” which trickle down to him personally. Claims he has taken vows not to practice even divine spellcasting because it creates an artificial divide. Spellcasting does not indicate one’s standing in the eyes of [his god] and the people should believe they are just as accepted by [god] whether they ever enact a divine miracle or not. However, very corrupt. A lot of people turn up missing around him.
How about a scapegoat villain? The supposed villain isn't the villain or possibly not real.
An elusive but powerful sorcerer emperor that is merely the creation of a small senate of alders who deflect blame for everything upon this phantom. The alders themselves are the real villains, cultivating confusion and hysteria among the population. Any attempt at revolution would likely end in failure when the objective doesn't even exist and the alder "revolutionists" are actually in control of the unrest.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
How about a scapegoat villain? The supposed villain isn't the villain or possibly not real.
An elusive but powerful sorcerer emperor that is merely the creation of a small senate of alders who deflect blame for everything upon this phantom. The alders themselves are the real villains, cultivating confusion and hysteria among the population. Any attempt at revolution would likely end in failure when the objective doesn't even exist and the alder "revolutionists" are actually in control of the unrest.
So Darth Sidius is fake and the Senate are just propping up the belief that he exists like part of the plot to Iron Man 3. That could work if done well. The party acts as the quick reaction task force for the Senate but only to provide evidence that the revolutionaries exist. Thus the party end up being pawns of the "BBEG". I like that.
You could draw inspiration from history, since we've had our share of villains with zero magic THAT WE KNOW OF!
Though they mainly take the form of charismatic, populist despots who seize power and weild it indiscriminately to achieve their aims. We've had dictators, military coups, corrupt leaders, religious extremists, organized crime, you name it.
Artifice meal: You use 'an' when you don't need to!! You only need it for when you have a vowel at the beginning of the word next. E.g an elephant, not 'an tiger'. Just wanted to say.
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
My best, longest living villain was a monk, who was high level, designed with sneak and acrobatics to assist him. He could teleport, and would beat the living hell out of the weakest members. He had a small enchantment to give him 50 hp, and if he used it (usually at about 40hp) he would change his tactics to escape by using his ki to create a copy of himself.
I had him use his turn to attack the weakest member, before using his bonus action to shadowstep away, to any location not within sight of the party. This meant that they couldn't cleanly move to fight him, theyd waste movement searching only to sometimes being left having to take ranged shots at him since they couldnt get closer. Good, react by catching those bad boys and maybe tossing them back. His plan is to knock out the weakest, but to avoid tank at all cost. If he got too weak, he'd drop his clone, who would appear visibly out of attack range of all melee fighters, so they wouldnt be able to move up to him. His illusion would imitate dodging arrows and catching them, but any perception check over 10 would have showed the party that they were shooting through it, and the arrows were in the wall. This gave the monk a solid round, if not two, to make as much distance as he could, using shadowstep to avoid tracks where he could.
Now he goes about his life, satisfied (as his key point was working for a worse guy in order to be cloned at a younger age, which he was, which made a great point where the party thought they actually killed him, they did, but because he knew his new body was ready by then). Sometimes they encounter one another (they think he is hunting them, really Ive been rolling for his location and sometimes they happen to locate him) and usually they fight before he does just enough damage to cover his escape. Lowest HP he ever lived with was 1hp.
It should definitely have legendary actions, and you can look to the Warlord monster as a high level non magical enemy. The command ally and weapon attacks at the end of the PC's turns will get their attention for sure. A Warlord and 2 or 3 Archer monsters can make for a memorable enemy for just about any party if you set up the attack right.
I don't recall Maven Blackbriar ever using magic. Karliah used some magic weapons and potions, but I don't think she cast spells (she was a bad guy until she turned out to be the good guy). Likewise, Mercer Frey had some magic weapons and used potions and poisons but I don't recall him even casting a spell, but maybe that one invisibility was a spell and not a potion. It's been a while so I'm not sure.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
One thing you can do is have someone who doesn't bother to confront the party directly. He might just appear and taunt them from the far side of a gorge as he cuts the rope holding the bridge up, or drop a vial of Alchemist's Fire off the back of the flying creature he's riding (preferably something with Legendary Resistance to prevent any inconvenient spells from disrupting your awesome scene) just as the party figures out that the field they're walking through is soaking in oil.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
It should definitely have legendary actions, and you can look to the Warlord monster as a high level non magical enemy. The command ally and weapon attacks at the end of the PC's turns will get their attention for sure. A Warlord and 2 or 3 Archer monsters can make for a memorable enemy for just about any party if you set up the attack right.
you mean those monster stat blocks from volo's guide to everything? i donno man seems kinda lame, just a dude making a bunch of attacks and a bunch of archers making a bunch of attacks at times where they normally dont make attacks, nothing really that interesting. Buffing up the epic hobgoblin warlord stat block however, by giving the warlord one superiority dice per turn and those same legendary actions, perhaps even the mage slayer feat and proficiency in strength and dex saves, now that is an epic and worthy opponent in battle
One thing you can do is have someone who doesn't bother to confront the party directly. He might just appear and taunt them from the far side of a gorge as he cuts the rope holding the bridge up, or drop a vial of Alchemist's Fire off the back of the flying creature he's riding (preferably something with Legendary Resistance to prevent any inconvenient spells from disrupting your awesome scene) just as the party figures out that the field they're walking through is soaking in oil.
A Khobold Kensei Monk who specializes with the Shortbow. Maybe with a dip for Inquisitive Rogue, or Battle Master.
Edit->typo
what is an khobold, does they have any connection to kobolds? and how would this very special little man go about being as high of an threat to the party as the most grand of wizards?
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
okay but so do you suggest the grand villain should be some kobold kind or queen, or an dragon, or an kobold hivemind? kobolds are by nature kinda cowardly, they are unlikely to seek the party out, the party comes to the kobolds
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
That doesn't rule out an exceptional individual who has a major long-term plan that they're busy carrying out which causes them to come into conflict with the PCs.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
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if you want to create an villain who will last you an entire campaign and harass the party for many sessions, one who is an credibile, ever present threat, but i dont want to make it an magic using dragon o an evil wizard or an mind flayer becuase that is kinda overdone, what other villanous archetypes would make good villains?
should i go for an villainous sniper, an high level rouge who is hiding among the population and who seeks to assasinate several wealthy targets, an mass murderer on the loose? an charismatic mastermind rouge who manipulates other people into doing his or her bidding, cuasing turmoil across the land in a means to seize power like good old sheev? an charismatic warrior, battle master fighter, who leads an army of followers who would die for their cuase? an truly terriifying half orc wereboar barbarian, one who rebells against encroachments to the wilderness by the civilived lands and who has destroyed many people in his or her rampage? an rock gnome tinkerer and artificer, one who creates mighty war constructs and seeks to ether sell is weapons of mass destruction to the highest bidder or to create his own personal army to take over the world? perhaps an mighty satyr musician?
whatcha all think, what class, subclass or monster that does not use or does not rely hevily on spells works the best as an villain for an campaign?
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Lex Luthor, the man behind the curtain, one that can use magic, but is not the cause/scope of their villainy would be a bard who twists/distorts everything the party does to bring the populace against them. Take a quick browsing of Game of Thrones for multiple BBEG's with no magic at all, and quite a few of them do not consider themselves evil, just "pragmatic". A ghost possessing some powerful figure, perhaps the ghost of someone the party killed in the introduction... Of course the "villain" doesn't have to be a creature at all, I seem to remember this one story where the "villain" was a ring...
Any or all of your suggestion examples could become great. It just takes some forethought and intentionality. An assassin rogue? He uses the most deadly poisons, strikes where people are most vulnerable, and uses all the meta knowledge of the GM :). He’s been hired by both sides of a longstanding rivalry of kingdoms, and performs for both equally efficiently. But now a LG cleric wants to blow the whistle. It’d be a shame if he became the next contract...
A half-orc battlemaster, who is uniting tribes of orcs, humans, and other monstrosities under his leadership. Gathering in the wilderness and strategizing for a march on the kingdom. Ushering in a new era of racial harmony, by canceling the old culture. He sends skirmishers out to test the defenses of the kingdom, Engages in psychological warfare by intimidating the population. Raids outposts for supplies.
A charlatan posing as a priest to amass power and control of the wealth and influence of the priesthood. (Cardinal Richelieu) Has no divine gifts, but talks the talk and has the king’s ear. Has convinced the king to exact extra taxes for his “faith” which trickle down to him personally. Claims he has taken vows not to practice even divine spellcasting because it creates an artificial divide. Spellcasting does not indicate one’s standing in the eyes of [his god] and the people should believe they are just as accepted by [god] whether they ever enact a divine miracle or not. However, very corrupt. A lot of people turn up missing around him.
How about a scapegoat villain? The supposed villain isn't the villain or possibly not real.
An elusive but powerful sorcerer emperor that is merely the creation of a small senate of alders who deflect blame for everything upon this phantom. The alders themselves are the real villains, cultivating confusion and hysteria among the population. Any attempt at revolution would likely end in failure when the objective doesn't even exist and the alder "revolutionists" are actually in control of the unrest.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
So Darth Sidius is fake and the Senate are just propping up the belief that he exists like part of the plot to Iron Man 3. That could work if done well. The party acts as the quick reaction task force for the Senate but only to provide evidence that the revolutionaries exist. Thus the party end up being pawns of the "BBEG". I like that.
You could draw inspiration from history, since we've had our share of villains with zero magic THAT WE KNOW OF!
Though they mainly take the form of charismatic, populist despots who seize power and weild it indiscriminately to achieve their aims. We've had dictators, military coups, corrupt leaders, religious extremists, organized crime, you name it.
Artifice meal: You use 'an' when you don't need to!! You only need it for when you have a vowel at the beginning of the word next. E.g an elephant, not 'an tiger'. Just wanted to say.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
that is funny because my english teacher also keeps saying that
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Is your school closed? Mine is. I keep getting work😭😢😰
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
My best, longest living villain was a monk, who was high level, designed with sneak and acrobatics to assist him. He could teleport, and would beat the living hell out of the weakest members. He had a small enchantment to give him 50 hp, and if he used it (usually at about 40hp) he would change his tactics to escape by using his ki to create a copy of himself.
I had him use his turn to attack the weakest member, before using his bonus action to shadowstep away, to any location not within sight of the party. This meant that they couldn't cleanly move to fight him, theyd waste movement searching only to sometimes being left having to take ranged shots at him since they couldnt get closer. Good, react by catching those bad boys and maybe tossing them back. His plan is to knock out the weakest, but to avoid tank at all cost. If he got too weak, he'd drop his clone, who would appear visibly out of attack range of all melee fighters, so they wouldnt be able to move up to him. His illusion would imitate dodging arrows and catching them, but any perception check over 10 would have showed the party that they were shooting through it, and the arrows were in the wall. This gave the monk a solid round, if not two, to make as much distance as he could, using shadowstep to avoid tracks where he could.
Now he goes about his life, satisfied (as his key point was working for a worse guy in order to be cloned at a younger age, which he was, which made a great point where the party thought they actually killed him, they did, but because he knew his new body was ready by then). Sometimes they encounter one another (they think he is hunting them, really Ive been rolling for his location and sometimes they happen to locate him) and usually they fight before he does just enough damage to cover his escape. Lowest HP he ever lived with was 1hp.
i mean yeah technically he does not use spells and is not considered an proper spellcaster, but he is using magical/ supernatural powers ising he?
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
It should definitely have legendary actions, and you can look to the Warlord monster as a high level non magical enemy. The command ally and weapon attacks at the end of the PC's turns will get their attention for sure. A Warlord and 2 or 3 Archer monsters can make for a memorable enemy for just about any party if you set up the attack right.
I don't recall Maven Blackbriar ever using magic. Karliah used some magic weapons and potions, but I don't think she cast spells (she was a bad guy until she turned out to be the good guy). Likewise, Mercer Frey had some magic weapons and used potions and poisons but I don't recall him even casting a spell, but maybe that one invisibility was a spell and not a potion. It's been a while so I'm not sure.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
A Khobold Kensei Monk who specializes with the Shortbow. Maybe with a dip for Inquisitive Rogue, or Battle Master.
Edit->typo
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
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One thing you can do is have someone who doesn't bother to confront the party directly. He might just appear and taunt them from the far side of a gorge as he cuts the rope holding the bridge up, or drop a vial of Alchemist's Fire off the back of the flying creature he's riding (preferably something with Legendary Resistance to prevent any inconvenient spells from disrupting your awesome scene) just as the party figures out that the field they're walking through is soaking in oil.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
you mean those monster stat blocks from volo's guide to everything? i donno man seems kinda lame, just a dude making a bunch of attacks and a bunch of archers making a bunch of attacks at times where they normally dont make attacks, nothing really that interesting. Buffing up the epic hobgoblin warlord stat block however, by giving the warlord one superiority dice per turn and those same legendary actions, perhaps even the mage slayer feat and proficiency in strength and dex saves, now that is an epic and worthy opponent in battle
hell yes this is delicously evil
what is an khobold, does they have any connection to kobolds? and how would this very special little man go about being as high of an threat to the party as the most grand of wizards?
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Yes, Kobold. So there were two typos.
The guy who shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand started WWI. Make the little critter as badass as John Wick.
Osama Bin Laden was no Wizard and he killed almost 3,000 people in one day.
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Many players underestimate kobolds because GMs have a tendency to use them as cannon fodder and ignore the part where they're master trap-makers.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
okay but so do you suggest the grand villain should be some kobold kind or queen, or an dragon, or an kobold hivemind? kobolds are by nature kinda cowardly, they are unlikely to seek the party out, the party comes to the kobolds
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
In general, kobolds are cowardly.
That doesn't rule out an exceptional individual who has a major long-term plan that they're busy carrying out which causes them to come into conflict with the PCs.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.