Undead Pete
First Post
I'm always interested in the creativity of fellow DM's....especially when it comes to villains, one-shot or recurring.....
My personal favorite was a Death Knight named Lord Ash.
I know...Death Knights aren't amazingly original, but his background was to my PC's
Right around the time 3E came out, I decided to introduce the new system by ending the current campaign with, what else, a meteor.....but the PC's (unknown to them, of course) would determine where it landed.
The basic plotline involved the avatars of the Earth God (evil), the Ocean God (not evil, but muy loco) fighting for the love of the Moon Goddess (hence the tides, etc....).
The avatars manifested themselves by taking over mortal's bodies. The Moon goddess took over the body of a local princess, the one true love of my party's paladin.
Needless to say, this wasn't likely to end well....at least for their relationship.
I let all my players know that the campaign finale was upon us soon, and that the results would determine what I did for the 3E campaign.
So.... the next campaign begins. everyone has created new characters. All old characters have been relegated to NPC status.
A few runs in, I introduce this death Knight/minion of the Death God who is laying waste to temples all over the continent....with no regard for the temple's allegiance.
I dropped a few hints here and there, but it wasn't until they finally encountered him that they realized (OOC) he was the previous party's paladin, serving the Death God as an agent of his own vengeance.
To top things off, the way the PC's finally defeated him ranks in my top 2 or 3 of all in game events that I've witnessed.
I had given them a Rod of Resurrection with only enough charges left to raise one individual. They were very conservative, and saved it until the end.
What they did took me completely by surprise. They were slowly losing ground against Lord Ash. One PC was down (and dying). The rest were at about 1/2 HP. Lord Ash looked about 2/3 power.
The party's cleric pulled out the Rod....and cast it on Lord Ash!! Now, I had never thought of this possibility, but it's originality made me feel that it should have a chance.
Of course, Lord Ash was allowed a save....and he had a pretty good one. from what I recall, he only needed a 6 or 7 to successful save.
I rolled a 2.
The battle was over. The paladin was resurrected, and is now redeeming himself as an NPC Hero.
Poetic Justice at its best in D&D.
So.....let's hear some stories of villains from your campaign.
I'm all ears.
My personal favorite was a Death Knight named Lord Ash.
I know...Death Knights aren't amazingly original, but his background was to my PC's
Right around the time 3E came out, I decided to introduce the new system by ending the current campaign with, what else, a meteor.....but the PC's (unknown to them, of course) would determine where it landed.
The basic plotline involved the avatars of the Earth God (evil), the Ocean God (not evil, but muy loco) fighting for the love of the Moon Goddess (hence the tides, etc....).
The avatars manifested themselves by taking over mortal's bodies. The Moon goddess took over the body of a local princess, the one true love of my party's paladin.
Needless to say, this wasn't likely to end well....at least for their relationship.
I let all my players know that the campaign finale was upon us soon, and that the results would determine what I did for the 3E campaign.
- The big battle ensued, and the PC's sort of won....by helping to defeat the Earth God's avatar.
- The Ocean God thereby won the love of the Moon Goddess....in the form of the meteor crashing into the ocean.
- The paladin lost his love forever as she ascended to the heavens
- The surviving PC's fled the tsunami that was rushing toward shore
- ......all except for the paladin who simply stood there and swore vengeance upon the two gods
So.... the next campaign begins. everyone has created new characters. All old characters have been relegated to NPC status.
A few runs in, I introduce this death Knight/minion of the Death God who is laying waste to temples all over the continent....with no regard for the temple's allegiance.
I dropped a few hints here and there, but it wasn't until they finally encountered him that they realized (OOC) he was the previous party's paladin, serving the Death God as an agent of his own vengeance.
To top things off, the way the PC's finally defeated him ranks in my top 2 or 3 of all in game events that I've witnessed.
I had given them a Rod of Resurrection with only enough charges left to raise one individual. They were very conservative, and saved it until the end.
What they did took me completely by surprise. They were slowly losing ground against Lord Ash. One PC was down (and dying). The rest were at about 1/2 HP. Lord Ash looked about 2/3 power.
The party's cleric pulled out the Rod....and cast it on Lord Ash!! Now, I had never thought of this possibility, but it's originality made me feel that it should have a chance.
Of course, Lord Ash was allowed a save....and he had a pretty good one. from what I recall, he only needed a 6 or 7 to successful save.
I rolled a 2.
The battle was over. The paladin was resurrected, and is now redeeming himself as an NPC Hero.
Poetic Justice at its best in D&D.
So.....let's hear some stories of villains from your campaign.
I'm all ears.
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