How Do Your Villains Escape?

Altalazar · Dec 2, 2003

I think Misdirection is the best way to go.

Example: Villain turns into a dove at the same time as 1000 doves are released into the air. Good luck figuring out which dove flying away is him.

Or villain could ransom himself - offer something of value in return for freedom - this time - perhaps something so vital to the players that they think it worth letting him go to get it - perhaps something they must get to solve a problem or save a nation.

It might be fun to come up with a signature escape for the villain, one that is predictable, and yet if done creatively can be hard to stop.

While I agree that having villains escape every time is stupid, players really appreciate it when there is a GOOD, INTELLIGENT escape plan - one they can try to thwart, but still failed - makes them appreciate it all the more when they finally DO manage to outsmart the villain and nail him or her.

Vahktang · Dec 2, 2003

Druids can take advantage of the fact that they can essentially move through walls of thorns unhindered.

Not the spell, they can't.
But otherwise, yes.

BardStephenFox said:
Have them run once they are down below 1/2 HP (or 3/4 for really cravenly villains). The PC's will probably assume that one more hit will take the villian out. Maybe a Magic Missile, or an arrow. They might not consider pursuit until after the villian keeps staggering onward and has already obtained too great a lead.
<snip>
Another honorable/good party option. Have the villian surrender. Now, they have to safeguard a prisoner. If they have any semblance of law, that also means they have to protect the villain from rivals! They will have to expend resources on keeping watch so the villian doesn't escape and is unharmed. They have to bring the villian back to face justice. They have to prove misdeeds. You get the idea. In players terms, it works like this. "Oh great, now there are plenty of chances for the DM to screw us!" While I don't advocate that strategy, it is likely what the players will think. However, you can use this as a great way to establish how the local kingdoms' legal systems work. Perhaps the PC's can't prove a crime. Perhaps the villain can wiggle free through a loophole. Again, with the right party, this can be a lot of fun and cause some great RP.

Evil
Eeeevil.
I like them.

Low level favorite: Obscuring mist.
I have an Osyluth (demon) that the party met in mid levels that is still troubling them at high level. He does invisibility then a 5' 'step' straight up. Nobody has yet thought to go into the square he just vacated, they figure he just teleports. OTOH, nobody has picked up a dimensional anchor either.
High level: Minions. Just below where the PC's would get XP's for killing.

More later,

Vahktang

frankthedm · Dec 3, 2003

Undeath

Twice the use from one NPC!

Hypersmurf · Dec 3, 2003

ThomasBJJ said:
Have your villain wear a mask. If the PC's attack the villain in his lair, he should have a small cell nearby with a kidnapped commoner dressed up like him, mask and all, but gagged under the mask so he can't talk.

The fleeing bad guy runs past this small cell, opens in and casts Fear on the captive duplicate, who now runs off in a panic. The really bad guy, pulls his mask off, drops his cape and flees like he's just an ordinary underling.

In the event the PC's catch the duplicate bad guy, there's a chance they kill him. Finding out they killed an innocent could be a big deal.

Chalk this idea up to both "Mission Impossible 2" and "Halloween Ressurection".

It's not Mission Impossible 2ish enough.

See, the PCs might normally kill an underling... but they don't kill this one, because they think that he's the party rogue, who disguised himself as the exact same underling before infiltrating the BBEG's stronghold.

The BBEG, however, nearly reveals himself, because he thinks one of the PCs is his chief lieutenant wearing a PC mask...

More masks! More masks!

(Or then there was the episode of V, where Donovan and Julie dressed up in Visitor uniforms... but Diana recognised them. Until they pulled their faces off to reveal they really were Visitors, so Diana let them go. What she didn't realise what that it was Donovan and Julie, wearing Visitor masks, wearing Donovan and Julie masks over the top. Why didn't they just use different faces for the top layer?!)

-Hyp.

Altalazar · Dec 3, 2003

Hypersmurf said:
(Or then there was the episode of V, where Donovan and Julie dressed up in Visitor uniforms... but Diana recognised them. Until they pulled their faces off to reveal they really were Visitors, so Diana let them go. What she didn't realise what that it was Donovan and Julie, wearing Visitor masks, wearing Donovan and Julie masks over the top. Why didn't they just use different faces for the top layer?!)

-Hyp.

Ah DIANA. LOVE that Diana. So ruthless. So incompetent. Perfect TV villain.

Hypersmurf · Dec 3, 2003

Altalazar said:
Ah DIANA. LOVE that Diana. So ruthless. So incompetent. Perfect TV villain.

And, you know, it's Jane Badler, so...

-Hyp.

Norfleet · Dec 3, 2003

Heh. And the moment I saw this thread resurface after a 3 month hiatus, I *KNEW* Altalazar had struck again.

I still say that the best return is the "unexplained" return. It's an adventure hook in itself, "Didn't we kill this guy? How did he come back from the dead? Did Altalazar dig him up and resurrect him or something?"