Show Me Your Villains

Draegn · Mar 20, 2019

A medusa who the party had to capture alive and turn over to someone they owed a debt to. Our halfling mage hated her the most as she turned her to stone, slipped a cursed ring on her finger, brought her back to flesh, questioned her and sent her off to suffer for nearly a month in game time until the curse could be lifted.

Other characters had their time as stone as well. Collectively they have grown to dislike pigeon pie for some unknown reason.

The medusa also enjoyed adding insult to injury by having petrified flocks of birds fall on the party from time to time. The paladin learned a lesson of hard knocks when her charging steed came to a sudden stop and rolled over her.

The medusa is also a twelfth level "warlock" and had a wonderful time using those abilities as well.

Bitbrain · Mar 20, 2019

A CR-6 Yuan-ti snake-armed Malison. Mechanically, he was nothing special.
What made the players truly hate him was that he was the head of a religious cult.

Not a cult in the fantastical sense, but (according to one of my players anyway) a disturbingly realistic one . . . Leaving aside the fact that Malison had snakes for arms.

Malison's cult was less concerned with summoning demons and bringing about the apocalypse, and more with targeting impressionable people to absorb into their ranks, isolating them from the outside world so that the only thing left to Malison's victims was his cult itself.

EVERYTHING within his cult revolved around Malison.
He used opioid substances, sensory deprivation, torture, and emotional manipulation to brainwash his victims into an almost child-like reverence of himself.
Two of the players were creeped out by just how overjoyed the cultists got simply talking about Malison, and ALL of the players announced that they weren't ending the session until they had Malison's head on a spike once they saw what was inside one of the torture chambers . . .

After the players finally killed him, there was no celebration at the table, no excitement. Only relief that they had rescued Malison's victims from his continued exploitation of them.

Imaculata · Mar 20, 2019

I had a former lover of one of the PC's turn into an avatar of the vermin goddess Theelian'tara, Lady of the Flesh. It was an elven maiden he had casually written into his backstory, but then as the campaign progressed he had kind of forgotten about it. Over the course of the campaign his elven character fell in love with someone new. So I had this former lover show up at the most inconvenient time ever for an emotional confrontation. The vermin goddess (who exploits the emotional weakness of mortals to transform them into her mortal body), saw in this former lover a powerful spellcaster that would be well suited as her new embodyment (and easy to manipulate). So after this encounter she took control of the elven sorceress, and fought the party in a climactic boss battle. They defeated her, but later discovered an empty cocoon, indicating that a spare body had been made, that had successfully escaped. She has yet to reappear, but I'm keeping her in reserve for later.

Bitbrain said:
...and ALL of the players announced that they weren't ending the session until they had Malison's head on a spike once they saw what was inside one of the torture chambers .

Don't leave us hanging. What was in there?

Tallifer · Mar 20, 2019

The Queen of the Snake People has various psychic tricks and a divers and dangerous retinue. She also has influence over the dinosaurs and crocodilians of Pellucidar as well as an alliance with some of the more nefarious Giants.

That’s a bit “R rated” for a “PG-13” website. (Yes, we know some nudity exists in certain RPG books.)

Bitbrain · Mar 20, 2019

Imaculata said:
Don't leave us hanging. What was in there?

SIDE NOTE: Sorry about leaving the thread, I was watching something on YouTube.

You asked for it . . .

A 9-year-old girl with both of her eyes gouged out, the reason being that she would be forced to rely upon Malison himself to lead her by the hand from place to place.

If the players had enquired further, they would have learned that she was also being groomed to be Malison's favored wife when she reached 16, but as soon as the players learned that her torture was simply another way for Malison to maintain control over her, three of the players jumped to their feet in genuine anger.

My dad on the other hand, put his head in his hands and declared "I swear, I don't know where he comes up this $#!+. You've met him outside of D&D, you all know my son would never hurt a fly in real life. Right?"

Shiroiken · Mar 20, 2019

Lolth, both her avatar in the Vault of the Drow and her true form in the Demonweb pits. She had 2 forms, a drow female that could cast spells (with Legendary Actions), and a giant spider that could cast Heal for 2 Legendary Actions (3x per day - true form only) and she could cast a special Web spell (no concentration, and deals acid damage to any non-spider). She a lot more common abilities as well.

77IM · Mar 20, 2019

My last campaign, MonsterTown, was ruled by an uneasy alliance of 5 Big Bosses:

A medusa vampire warlock;
a fomorian wizard;
a beholder cleric of the Elder Elemental Eye;
a red dragon paladin of Bahamut;
and a half-fiend minotaur fighter-sorcerer.

They were all nominally ruled by an ancient red shadow dragon who lived above a bottomless pit.

I created uncharacteristically detailed write-ups and stat-blocks for them: View attachment MonsterTown-Bosses.pdf

Xukuri_Harrowhand · Mar 21, 2019

My current campaign has a baddie designed for the PCs to take on (and presumedly defeat) pretty soon (they're all 5th level; party of 6 characters). Here's the description and statblock:

Ezekiel Gaunt is a human who was once a warlock of the Great Old One but has become something worse, something darker and more pitiless. A relentless seeker after the secrets of the universe, he has become something more than a warlock, something beyond a priest: he is a disciple to Tharizdun: a hideous, hungry being that lurks in the cold places between the stars. Gaunt has made agreements with a number of evil entities within and without Khellinar, exchanging knowledge and prisoners to help his ongoing hunger to know…everything. Baba Yaga, Fel Excoriata, and Sarnath are included in that list.

Dread Words. Due to his relationship with Tharizdun, Gaunt has acquired strange powers and abilities. His knowledge of the horrors waiting in the deeps of space and time can be uttered as a single, shouted word that invokes dread and despair.

Tendrils of Hate. Gaunt’s trafficking in forbidden lore and with fell beings has stained his soul and corroded his arcane abilities. Channeling his soul-shattering knowledge, he can summon tentacles made of dark, sorcerous energy to ensare and wound his foes.

Arcane Assists. In addition to spells and weird capabilities, Gaunt wields Dirge, a rapier that burns with unholy flames. He also wears a Ring of Protection, +1, and has a Wand of Wonder (used only in desperate instances, due to its unpredictable results).

Draegn · Mar 24, 2019

A little back story; a group of gnomes were mining in a border territory, or the gray elvish lord who recently claimed the lands after taking them from a dragon came across the cave/mine entrance while exploring his new territory. Who is to blame, the gnomes that attacked "trespassers" without offering parley or the elf making claims without seeing if there was anyone there before him?

Only one gnome their leader survived and fled, making his way to a nearby dwarven clan. Over time with guile he influenced the clan leaders to take this mine for themselves. The dwarfs attacked killing one of the elf's loyal retainers who was also a dwarf placed in charge of the mine. The retainer could not be raised or resurrected, the grace of the divine was not to be had that day.

In vengeance the elf took the dwarven clan hold, executed the clan leaders and expelled every other dwarf. He then gave the clan hold to a group of dark elves (Eilistraee followers, in game our equivalent).

The dwarven survivors made their way to their king who then marched on the elf. With a preemptive strike the elf forced the dwarf king to bend the knee and recognize the lands as elvish.

Enter Melgar Coalhammer the youngest and only surviving son of the slain clan leaders who swore to have revenge.

When the players city was being attacked the dwarf king came to his neighbor's aid, and there on the battle field the forces of Melgar and his landless allies turned on the king's formation and unleashed hell as they then left the field and the king to face alone the enemy who quickly surrounded them. Melgar's agents then seized the royal family, took the queen's head, and forced the princesses to marry, the eldest to him, the younger ones to his relatives. Lands were granted to his allies.

Now Melgar sits as king with the last legitimate prince who survived the battle in exile. A state of civil war exists with the players free to choose who they support.

What might have happened if the players had in the beginning explored the reason behind Melgar's dislike of elves?

And still the one gnome is out in the world slinking about somewhere.....