Where I decide to occasionally post my gaming thoughts.
Thoughts on Revealing Villains
Posted 6th February 2009 at 07:01 PM by Rugult
As I’ve been toiling away on my latest project; the “Twin Empires” campaign path, a question has sprung to mind. How early should the players know who/what the Big Bad is?
Obviously, there should be subtle hints or links that tie together the Big Bad to the beginning of the campaign, but how long should it be before the players finally realize exactly who their final enemy is?
A couple months ago my roommate finished running the first adventure in the Rise of the Runelords series. Sadly we weren’t able to complete the campaign with that group (though my roommate is running it for another one), and I have taken the liberty of reading through the adventures for my own satisfaction. One interesting point is that while the main baddy of the adventure path is mentioned throughout the first adventure, it is more than likely that the players will never even realize who he is.
There is benefit to showing off the Big Bad early on, as it creates a sense of tension and rivalry between the party and this force. Being someone who plays World of Warcraft, I can say that in my opinion, the best part of the latest expansion is the level of interaction players are given with the final boss; the Lich King. Even at lower levels, players are given the chance to interact with ‘The King’, usually in the form of a quick in-game scene where he taunts someone and walks away. Getting such a good view of the enemy from early in a game really lends credit to the eventual goal of killing that person. Lets be honest here; the goal of most campaigns is to “Save the world and kill the villain”, so you might as well give the villain some screen time.
If there is a single game that emphasizes good villain development; it’s Final Fantasy 6 (3 for us North Americans). The game introduces the crazed clown Kefka in the first few scenes. As the game continues, the party is forced to fight Kefka several times, though it is revealed that Kefka works for a power hungry Emperor. As the game reaches its climax, the party chases after Kefka and the Emperor to a floating island, and by this point it’s assumed that the final battle will be against the Emperor. The twist comes when Kefka kills his Emperor, takes the power of the island, and basically unleashes an apocalypse on the planet. Suddenly the game takes a sudden twist; Kefka is now the main bad guy, and the story turns from prevention to revenge against him for ending the world. Sadly Final Fantasy games are not always like this, and most of the time they unveil some ‘hidden enemy’ within the last few hours of the game (FF VIII, FF III, FF IV, and more…).
So really, what is the proper way to reveal a Big Bad in a campaign? Is it to slowly build them up in a stunning reveal midway through? Is it better to start off the campaign with the Big Bad and just build upon the Party/Big Bad relationship? Is it better to have the real Big Bad turn out to be some weird Tree Demon as the final fight to the campaign?
I bet the Cylons would know. Ah the Cylons; another fantastic method of deploying a villain to an audience. Made famous from the remade Battlestar Galactica, the Cylons doubled as villains and plot MacGuffin for the series. Essentially hidden amongst the cast, the audience was aware that there were twelve Cylon models, and that anyone could possibly be one. As the main plot moved forward, the Cylons were revealed in ways that further advanced the story, and in some cases they created dramatic twists of fate (I.E. end of Season One). Obviously these methods could be used in a regular campaign with the Doppleganger as played by one of the PCs, but unless handled in such an overarching way, the use of such a plot device becomes stale.
As I write the Twin Empires stuff, I think I’ve stumbled upon a unique way to treat the Big Bad. Only time will tell if it works out, but in the meantime I’d love to hear thoughts from the audience!
Obviously, there should be subtle hints or links that tie together the Big Bad to the beginning of the campaign, but how long should it be before the players finally realize exactly who their final enemy is?
A couple months ago my roommate finished running the first adventure in the Rise of the Runelords series. Sadly we weren’t able to complete the campaign with that group (though my roommate is running it for another one), and I have taken the liberty of reading through the adventures for my own satisfaction. One interesting point is that while the main baddy of the adventure path is mentioned throughout the first adventure, it is more than likely that the players will never even realize who he is.
There is benefit to showing off the Big Bad early on, as it creates a sense of tension and rivalry between the party and this force. Being someone who plays World of Warcraft, I can say that in my opinion, the best part of the latest expansion is the level of interaction players are given with the final boss; the Lich King. Even at lower levels, players are given the chance to interact with ‘The King’, usually in the form of a quick in-game scene where he taunts someone and walks away. Getting such a good view of the enemy from early in a game really lends credit to the eventual goal of killing that person. Lets be honest here; the goal of most campaigns is to “Save the world and kill the villain”, so you might as well give the villain some screen time.
If there is a single game that emphasizes good villain development; it’s Final Fantasy 6 (3 for us North Americans). The game introduces the crazed clown Kefka in the first few scenes. As the game continues, the party is forced to fight Kefka several times, though it is revealed that Kefka works for a power hungry Emperor. As the game reaches its climax, the party chases after Kefka and the Emperor to a floating island, and by this point it’s assumed that the final battle will be against the Emperor. The twist comes when Kefka kills his Emperor, takes the power of the island, and basically unleashes an apocalypse on the planet. Suddenly the game takes a sudden twist; Kefka is now the main bad guy, and the story turns from prevention to revenge against him for ending the world. Sadly Final Fantasy games are not always like this, and most of the time they unveil some ‘hidden enemy’ within the last few hours of the game (FF VIII, FF III, FF IV, and more…).
So really, what is the proper way to reveal a Big Bad in a campaign? Is it to slowly build them up in a stunning reveal midway through? Is it better to start off the campaign with the Big Bad and just build upon the Party/Big Bad relationship? Is it better to have the real Big Bad turn out to be some weird Tree Demon as the final fight to the campaign?
I bet the Cylons would know. Ah the Cylons; another fantastic method of deploying a villain to an audience. Made famous from the remade Battlestar Galactica, the Cylons doubled as villains and plot MacGuffin for the series. Essentially hidden amongst the cast, the audience was aware that there were twelve Cylon models, and that anyone could possibly be one. As the main plot moved forward, the Cylons were revealed in ways that further advanced the story, and in some cases they created dramatic twists of fate (I.E. end of Season One). Obviously these methods could be used in a regular campaign with the Doppleganger as played by one of the PCs, but unless handled in such an overarching way, the use of such a plot device becomes stale.
As I write the Twin Empires stuff, I think I’ve stumbled upon a unique way to treat the Big Bad. Only time will tell if it works out, but in the meantime I’d love to hear thoughts from the audience!
Total Comments 0
Comments
Total Trackbacks 0
And yet another word from our sponsors
