D&D 5E Help with base class and stats on a Homebrew NPC villain!

[JovialLichKing]

Hey All,

I'm running my first game for first time players and they are about to complete their first quest! In an interesting improv moment, about halfway through our first session, I came up with the idea of a powerful evil nature druid/mage who I plan on making repeat appearances ("we'll meet again, my friends!" *shakes fist then vanishes) and who will cause trouble on their upcoming quests. So far, they've only seen him from a distance as he commanded a giant spider to attack the party on a mountain pass (and then he vanished into the wooded terrain above). Eventually, they'll have a direct encounter(s) with him, and possibly at the end of this first adventure.

I'm hoping to get help with...

- What I should use as his base class and where I should get that info from: Does the Monster Manual offer info on this or should I just pick the wizard or druid class from the PHB and build from there?
- How I should approach his stats considering that my players are just on the cusp of 2nd level.
- Would love some ideas on his custom spells or maybe evil ways of controlling nature to the detriment of the players.

Thanks for the help!

 

[LordEntrails]

Don't.

Don't base your villain on a PLAYER class. 5E has no need for you to do that. Create the villain with the spells, powers and abilities YOU want him to have. You like a trait from a demon in the MM? Add it. You like a trait from the druid class? Give it to him. You want him to cast a wizard spell and a druid spell? Give them to him.

NPC creation in 5E is not (and even though we focused on doing such in previous editions, never needed to be) intended to be based off of character classes. NPC's don't have class levels. They have hit points, attacks, armor classes (which may or may not reflect Dex and Armor etc), traits, etc.

If you look at the DMG section for NPC creation, no where does it talk about giving them classes or levels. Don't limit yourself.

If you want to have your druid have a ranged magical attack that always hit, use Magic Missiles, but call it something else and describe it as a "tendrils of green life energy spring from his hand..."

Be creative, be original.

 

[JovialLichKing]

Don't.

Don't base your villain on a PLAYER class. 5E has no need for you to do that. Create the villain with the spells, powers and abilities YOU want him to have. You like a trait from a demon in the MM? Add it. You like a trait from the druid class? Give it to him. You want him to cast a wizard spell and a druid spell? Give them to him.

NPC creation in 5E is not (and even though we focused on doing such in previous editions, never needed to be) intended to be based off of character classes. NPC's don't have class levels. They have hit points, attacks, armor classes (which may or may not reflect Dex and Armor etc), traits, etc.

If you look at the DMG section for NPC creation, no where does it talk about giving them classes or levels. Don't limit yourself.

If you want to have your druid have a ranged magical attack that always hit, use Magic Missiles, but call it something else and describe it as a "tendrils of green life energy spring from his hand..."

Be creative, be original.

This is awesome. Exactly the kind of info I was needing. THANK YOU.

 

[WarpedAcorn]

I agree and disagree with LordEntrails. I agree with it from a design standpoint, but I disagree with it because I believe that everyone should play by the same rules. If a player sees the bad guy do something cool, I feel the player should have the tools to learn how to do that. I don't like it when an enemy has an ability or skill that no one else can replicate.

In regards to having a villain that shows up multiple times, I also like the idea that the Players can tailor they own skills to counter the villain as they progress. Like the first time they see him, they're outmatched. The second time they flee, but learn something important about his skills. And the third time they can defeat him because they know how to counter his power.

That being said, my villains do have unique properties that the players' can get (I'm a hypocrite I know) that are derived from the connection with a Shadow Power that manifests in different ways. I introduced this concept with a weaker villain that they defeated who was able to cast a Nercomatic Cantrip as a Bonus Action, noting that the spellcasting seemed to generate partially form him and partially from a Shadowy Aura. But my players were also given a chance to delve into this and enhance their own skills, however being the Good-Guys they are they realized the price was too high.

 

[LordEntrails]

This is awesome. Exactly the kind of info I was needing. THANK YOU.

You are welcome

 

[Quickleaf]

Hey All,

I'm running my first game for first time players and they are about to complete their first quest! In an interesting improv moment, about halfway through our first session, I came up with the idea of a powerful evil nature druid/mage who I plan on making repeat appearances ("we'll meet again, my friends!" *shakes fist then vanishes) and who will cause trouble on their upcoming quests. So far, they've only seen him from a distance as he commanded a giant spider to attack the party on a mountain pass (and then he vanished into the wooded terrain above). Eventually, they'll have a direct encounter(s) with him, and possibly at the end of this first adventure.

Read about "recurring villains in RPGs" on the Internet. A DM's long-term plans are often short-circuited by bloodthirsty players out for revenge. This requires careful planning. In fact, in my 4e DM Cheat Sheet linked in my signature, you can find on the fourth page of that PDF a list of ideas for how to keep a recurring villain alive without resorting to DM fiat/fudging.

- What I should use as his base class and where I should get that info from: Does the Monster Manual offer info on this or should I just pick the wizard or druid class from the PHB and build from there?

Have you played 3e? In 3e you'd give a monster a class or class levels. 5e does not work like that for a couple reasons:

• Player classes have more fiddly parts than a time-harried DM wants to think about in the midst of actual play at the tabletop.
• Player classes, especially spellcasters, tend to be glass cannons easily taken out.
• Player classes diminish some of the surprise/thrill/mystery of figuring out what a new monster is capable of.

Instead, look for "signature abilities." These can be certain spells you know you want your BBEG (big bad evil guy) to be able to cast, class features that are easily run & flavorful, certain actions/traits you've seen other monsters in the Monster Manual have, or ideas from your own imagination. For example, you might say "I want him to cast blight and a bunch of other spells!" OK, blight is a 4th-level spell available to 7th-level death clerics, druids, sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards. So you've narrowed it down some. You know his Spellcasting trait is going to give him at least the spellcasting abilities of a 7th-level caster.

- How I should approach his stats considering that my players are just on the cusp of 2nd level.

That depends. At what level do you want your PCs to be when confronting your BBEG actually has a chance of defeating him once and for all? And do you intend for him to be encountered alone or with minions (and if with minions, which ones)?

- Would love some ideas on his custom spells or maybe evil ways of controlling nature to the detriment of the players.

Hmm, "evil nature druid/mage" is not a lot to go on for designing custom abilities. Can you describe the BBEG in a bit more detail? Is he an evil druid of yore looking to sacrifice some maiden to summon his forgotten god? Is he a drow mage looking to blanket the land in endless night for his drow brethren to invade? Is he a fallen cleric corrupted by a possessing demon whose mere presence causes pestilent boils of poison and acid to form in the land, withering plant life for miles?

 

[BookBarbarian]

Volo's Guide to Monsters has a statblock for an Archdruid, I can't comment on how good, or not good it is since I haven't picked it up yet. But it could be what you are looking for.

 

[Lanliss]

If you look at the DMG section for NPC creation, no where does it talk about giving them classes or levels. Don't limit yourself.

Actually, DMG page 283 has rules for monsters with classes, monsters being any NPC that is planned to be fought.

 

[JovialLichKing]

Hmm, "evil nature druid/mage" is not a lot to go on for designing custom abilities. Can you describe the BBEG in a bit more detail? Is he an evil druid of yore looking to sacrifice some maiden to summon his forgotten god? Is he a drow mage looking to blanket the land in endless night for his drow brethren to invade? Is he a fallen cleric corrupted by a possessing demon whose mere presence causes pestilent boils of poison and acid to form in the land, withering plant life for miles?

Excellent questions. I'm playing 5e with my only prior experience being AD&D of yore (I'm in my mid 40's ). At this point, I'm thinking this druid/mage gone bad is a fallen druid, probably human but maybe Drow. I haven't figured out his greater scheme yet, but I actually really like your idea of him seeking to blanket the land in endless darkness and perhaps control nature and the elements to this end.

 

[JovialLichKing]

Thanks!