Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Thunderfoot" data-source="post: 2427582" data-attributes="member: 34175">Thunderfoot's villian creation matrixSteps:1)&nbsp; Race, class and level2)&nbsp; if Magic User - create spell book/spell list3)&nbsp; skills and feats4)&nbsp; magic items5)&nbsp; fortress/fortification/lair (for &quot;final&quot; battle)6)&nbsp; cohorts7)&nbsp; henchmen/hireling/flunkies and slave (for both allies and adversaries)8)&nbsp; traps9)&nbsp; tactics10) ESCAPE PLAN - No bad bad guy should be defeated in a &quot;final&quot; battle unless you plan for it to be a penultimate clash.&nbsp; Reoccuring baddies is what makes, movies, TV series, novels, and comic books great.&nbsp; Someone who shows up (AGAIN!!) and messes things up just because.&nbsp; &nbsp;I am in agreement - BBEG shouldn't get that way just because you need a flunkie villian - the MM (in all its incarnations) have tons of those, they are called monsters.&nbsp;&nbsp; BBEG - should be mean, cruel, vicious, despicable and memorable.&nbsp; &nbsp;The first four aren't even set in stone - I once had my BBEG running a paradisical society (commune, agrarian moderately wealthy) with love, &quot;good deeds&quot; and a retirement plan in a nice home where they would be taken care of. (sucking them of their life blood) - but to the eyes of the community - the heroes were actually the villians, until light was shed on the true nature of mister bad guy vampire.Ask the name of my current party's most heinous enemy and they will reply (either Donovan or his nickname &quot;Maus&quot;).&nbsp; He has thwarted his capture and escaped on several occassions and it has the party looking to &quot;gun him down&quot; at first sight. (They are even starting to pick feats based on the &quot;one shot, one kill&quot; theory.&nbsp; <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"&nbsp; class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious&nbsp; &nbsp; :]" data-shortname=":]" /> The fact that they don't know that he's just a small potatoes thief/wererat that just happens to be in the wrong place at the right time just adds fuel to the fire.&nbsp; When they find out that the real enemy is actually.... well, let's just say it will be a Kodak moment.<img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"&nbsp; class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious&nbsp; &nbsp; :]" data-shortname=":]" /> I'm not devious because I'm a DM, I'm a DM because I'm devious. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"&nbsp; class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious&nbsp; &nbsp; :]" data-shortname=":]" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="Thunderfoot, post: 2427582, member: 34175"] Thunderfoot's villian creation matrix Steps: 1) Race, class and level 2) if Magic User - create spell book/spell list 3) skills and feats 4) magic items 5) fortress/fortification/lair (for "final" battle) 6) cohorts 7) henchmen/hireling/flunkies and slave (for both allies and adversaries) 8) traps 9) tactics 10) ESCAPE PLAN - No bad bad guy should be defeated in a "final" battle unless you plan for it to be a penultimate clash. Reoccuring baddies is what makes, movies, TV series, novels, and comic books great. Someone who shows up (AGAIN!!) and messes things up just because. I am in agreement - BBEG shouldn't get that way just because you need a flunkie villian - the MM (in all its incarnations) have tons of those, they are called monsters. BBEG - should be mean, cruel, vicious, despicable and memorable. The first four aren't even set in stone - I once had my BBEG running a paradisical society (commune, agrarian moderately wealthy) with love, "good deeds" and a retirement plan in a nice home where they would be taken care of. (sucking them of their life blood) - but to the eyes of the community - the heroes were actually the villians, until light was shed on the true nature of mister bad guy vampire. Ask the name of my current party's most heinous enemy and they will reply (either Donovan or his nickname "Maus"). He has thwarted his capture and escaped on several occassions and it has the party looking to "gun him down" at first sight. (They are even starting to pick feats based on the "one shot, one kill" theory. :] The fact that they don't know that he's just a small potatoes thief/wererat that just happens to be in the wrong place at the right time just adds fuel to the fire. When they find out that the real enemy is actually.... well, let's just say it will be a Kodak moment.:] I'm not devious because I'm a DM, I'm a DM because I'm devious. :] [/QUOTE]

Verification