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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 3039102" data-attributes="member: 15538">Remove the sense of certainty. Have their enemies impersonate their employer successfully, using magic, then let them discover this at a later time. Let them wonder who they've been dealing with the whole time.I've gotten good mileage out of shapechanging villains. In one case, they faced a "drow wizard" who turned out to be an ogre mage sorcerer. It completely weirded them out, and left them in a very ticklish position when it came time to leave the keep he had been ruling, mostly populated by drow and goblins. In another case, the PCs have twice "rescued" a succubus. She used her charm abilities on them during the night while most of them were sleeping and absconded with a powerful magical item. They attempted to fireball her; I described her wrapping her wings about her and shrugging it off when they failed to penetrate SR. That put some fear into them. Ambiguity also creates fear. An undear warrior on a skeletal horse could be ANYTHING, most of them not good. Some PCs are nervous about not having backups. They talk to the local cleric, describe their problem, and he replies that they know more than him, and asks for their help in dealing with the problem. Now the PCs know the cavalry aren't coming; they ARE the cavalry. I also exploit my player's psychology. One of my players has a fear of spiders...</blockquote>