D&D 5E Help! I Suck at Villains!

[FrogReaver]

Yeah, that part of the OP's description bothered me immensely. Just how hideously horrible a society were these women living in, that they find being kidnapped into a war camp that suffers frequent raids by fiends and told that they're there to help re-populate the tribe to be a preferable existence - and if their former home was an even worse alternative, why are the PCs even helping those people?

I thought it was a cool idea.

 

[Ancalagon]

I thought it was a cool idea.

Eh, it's a bit iffy... some tables would just roll with it, others would be quite bothered.

How about this - the barbarians raider the local orphanage. The locals are outraged thinking the barbarians are going to eat them, sacrificed them to their gods etc, but instead the barbarians have adopted them, because the last raid was a children-stealing raid!


As far as the general adventure... I don't know, but I think that maybe the barbarians don't know too much about what the evil is - they fight the "minions" (goblins? Duergars? Lesser fiends?) but don't know who's behind them - all they know is that there is a lot more all of a sudden and they are much more aggressive. What used to be an almost ritual of passage ("every fall we hunt the gobbos! You are not considered a man until you've fought one hand to hand!") is now a desperate struggle. From the minions and other clues the PCs will piece together what is going on.

 

[FrogReaver]

Eh, it's a bit iffy... some tables would just roll with it, others would be quite bothered.

How about this - the barbarians raider the local orphanage. The locals are outraged thinking the barbarians are going to eat them, sacrificed them to their gods etc, but instead the barbarians have adopted them, because the last raid was a children-stealing raid!


As far as the general adventure... I don't know, but I think that maybe the barbarians don't know too much about what the evil is - they fight the "minions" (goblins? Duergars? Lesser fiends?) but don't know who's behind them - all they know is that there is a lot more all of a sudden and they are much more aggressive. What used to be an almost ritual of passage ("every fall we hunt the gobbos! You are not considered a man until you've fought one hand to hand!") is now a desperate struggle. From the minions and other clues the PCs will piece together what is going on.

Maybe. Exact implementation of the idea matters... But the basic thought that women were kid napped and then fell in love with their captors doesn't seem offensive as long as the rest isn't forced or coerced.

 

[Eltab]

Back off on the "war brides"; it's too close to IRL events that rightly get people upset.
Instead, the barbarians sent an elder to negotiate intermarriages but the villagers read between the lines and got "ensnare you in our problems".

How about this: there is a monastery that takes in orphans from across the region and produces Monks. The barbarians raided THAT and grabbed a bunch of young initiates, so the monastery is raising a militia to go ask "What is going on here?" with authority.

The barbarians have accidentally located the portal to Bad Things after clearing a monster lair - maybe a hive of giant wasps? - that was blocking a ravine. Now they have Chasmes - the wasp-looking demons - filtering out of the ravine instead. This could be a demoncyst rather than a portal, so the number of monsters is limited.
The barbarians know they cannot handle this alone, but tribal taboos / traditions prevent them asking 'dirt-scratchers' for help as equals. In pride as flying warriors, they HAVE to deal with flying foes / threats themselves; nobody else is competent!

 

[Schmoe]

Yeah, that part of the OP's description bothered me immensely. Just how hideously horrible a society were these women living in, that they find being kidnapped into a war camp that suffers frequent raids by fiends and told that they're there to help re-populate the tribe to be a preferable existence - and if their former home was an even worse alternative, why are the PCs even helping those people?

I agree 100%. The barbarians could very well be doing a service for the common good, but this aspect of them is decidedly black. It could be an interesting wrinkle where the PCs have to somehow aid the barbarians but still find a way to get the kidnapped women back home and get restitution from the barbarians.

 

[Schmoe]

Also, Stockholm Syndrome does not justify kidnapping. Ever.

 

[FrogReaver]

Also, Stockholm Syndrome does not justify kidnapping. Ever.

It doesn't have to be Stockholm syndrome.

 

[Barolo]

It is funny that you paint yourself as lacking imagination but have built an interesting picture so far. I agree with other posters that there are some details that need some working, but I do like the whole idea.

Do you like/have intention to use any of the published adventure paths? If so, I think you would not have much trouble adapting some of them to your campaign. Specially if all you need is ideas, and you can pull yourself to do the necessary adaptations to match the original adventure path to your own campaign. A big threat from "beyond" is already the theme of Princes of the Apocalypse (where these barbarians could be dealing with one of the elemental cults), Tyranny of Dragons (they could be facing cultists sacking around) and Out of the Abyss (excursions from the underdark). The good about using the published material is that it is easier (at least for me) to adapt something than it is to create. And also, there are already a lot of maps, dungeons and encounters ready to be used.

If you want some inspiration from outside D&D, the 13th Warrior (movie)/ Eaters of the Dead (book)/ Beowulf might be a good source. The movie is based on the book, which in turn is partially inspired by the legend. There you could have a cult or some different culture living underground/inside the mountain, and they don't even need to be some sort of "evil", but instead a very different culture with their own alien customs (some of which might be very questionable, nonetheless).

Edit.: It is worth pointing to the obvious, that is: Dragons! It is in the name of the game, after all. You could have an old scheming dragon living deep underground and manipulating servants through the shadows to further its dark (or greedy) agenda. These servants might not even know who they are working for, if you want mystery, or intrigue, and a deep dragon fits nicely the concept (or even some rogue copper dragon turned evil).

 

[Guest 6801718]

If you like the idea of a fiendish villain, you could put an interesting twist on things. Perhaps the barbarians disturbed an ancient prison for a demon or devil. The fiend isn't free yet, but courtesy of a crack in that prison it can send it's influence out. The barbarians may not even be aware that they damaged a magical prison. They just have to deal with the fiend's minions constantly coming to the mountain to free it. Thus they protect the surrounding lands from a great evil but the don't know how to stop it. Now the demon has taken a hold of the barbarian ruler. The fiend is influencing his mind, driving him to darker deeds. The fiend's minions are making life difficult for the barbarians by ensuring the animals they hunt and the crops they grow become scarce and ruined. So the influenced ruler drives them to more dishonorable deeds in the guise of preservation of his people. Thus the barbarians are ordered to take captives, like the women or children, but don't really like to do so. So the captives are unharmed as the barbarians try to figure out what to do, protect the captives or follow their leader. Now the barbarians are in a desperate position, as they don't want to dishonor themselves or their once great leader but they don't want to hurt the captives with forced marriages or forcing children to be warriors. So when the PCs find them, they are in dire need of help as well.

You can also use abberations instead of fiends. Mind Flayers are known to control people's minds. So perhaps they need surface slaves to help them make the big push to invade the surface. The Mind Flayers live deep in the mountains and are looking to expand their surface influence. Though the barbarians constantly battle them and interfere. So now they control the barbarian leader and look to drive the barbarian tribe apart. The women and children captives aren't really for forced marriages and preserving the culture, they are being herded off as slaves for the Mind Flayers. The party discovers that the captives are actually thralls now and have to figure out how to save them.

So either way, the party either has to figure out how to restore the fiend's prison or drive out the Mind Flayers. Both big problems. So it depends on what your group takes to as a desired enemy.

 

[jgsugden]

If you struggle this way, try stealing more often. Movies, books, and published adventures will give you all the stories, motivations and characters you need.

It will be hard to portray these women as willing brides (all) given the circumstances you describe. It may get some raised eyebrows.