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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 25631" data-attributes="member: 172">Hear, hear! The best method IMO. You explained that from the stance of imagery, but I'll put a more mechanical spin on it:The moment that your players can say "this character is a 5th level vampire fighter", the foe becomes categorized. They know where they stand. There is no fear that they are dealing with something beyond their means, no trepidation in their actions.So IMO, there are two things you should do:1) don't make the nature of the villain more obvious than you have to, and,2) work within the system to surprise the players and keep them guessing.For example, you may decide that one of the villains is a brooding weapon master type. Easy enough, eh?But you might try giving the villain an uncharacteristic ability, or a magic item you don't expect them to have. For example, you might give the character a couple of wizard levels that he uses in a pinch ("he can do that?") or a magic item or template that gives them capabilities that they don't expect.</blockquote>