Recurring Bad Guys

[Tamlyn]

The one my players currently hate the most is a 2,000 year old Ghost cleric. The cool thing about ghosts is that they just don't stay dead!

They first met him in a temple and after a tough fight, killed him (they thought). Months later, he used his Malevolence ability to take over a friendly dwarf and attack a PC. Months after that, he possessed a 7 year old girl to taunt the PCs. After a while the PCs went back to the original temple, to find it reinforced with an army of undead. While the heroes were fighting the skeletons, the ghost used Malevolence to possess the Barbarian PC. It turns out that a possessed, raging, power attacking, leap attacking, critting Barbarian PC can bring the Elf Cleric PC from full health to minus 20 in a single hit.

My players really don't like the ghost cleric.

 

[Squire James]

One piece of advice... if the bad guy HAS to get in a fight with the PC's and escape, it's a lot better to start the escape plan when the villain has, say, half his HP rather than waiting until he gets down to 10 or so! Starting at half HP, the villain has a decent chance of getting away is his plan was any good.

I've had one guy bail at near-full HP when the party was clearly wiping out the set of elite minions he thought would challenge them a little.

 

[Daztur]

It's hard to know ahead of time which NPCs the PCs will love to hate. Often it works well to just throw a whole bunch of characters at them and recycle the ones that strike a cord rather than planning out a long-term villain.

Or just wait until the PCs do something horrible to someone who didin't really deserve it without actually killing them, nothing like hanging them with the rope that they provide you.

 

[billd91]

I don't do it often, but when I have needs for a reoccurring bad guy, he never directly fights the PCs, as it's certainly possible that he'll be killed in such a conflict. Dead bad guys tend not to reoccur. As a boss, he directs others to attacking the PCs while he watches long enough to see the combat progressing, then he disappears before the combat is complete - often he disappears after the first round of combat.

I have to say that this is pretty important, and not just because your PCs might kill the bad guy you have plans to reuse. If they do kill them, they can always come back. But every time they do, you risk the players getting pissed off. It can be very frustrating to have your accomplishment (defeating a major bad guy) negated by having him brought back from the dead.

If you feel you have to get him into the fight, make sure that there's wiggle room. Like plenty of classic movie serials and comic books, make sure there are ways the guy can disappear or have an ambiguous death. Falling off the cliff into the sea, being grabbed by the summoned demon and dragged into Hell, all sorts of other options that seem to finish him off but leave you room to have him miraculously survive and return some time later.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Recurring BBEG's are great if you have the thought processes to pull them off. Not meaning you're stupid, but can you out think your party long enough to keep them alive?

I have a long history of parties "dropping me from a rooftop" with some out of left field move. I changed all that when I created a BBEG that was "obviously" an anti-paladin (2eAD&D), he always showed up and tried to get whatever the party was after. If he fought them he used minions and stooges to slow the party to aid his escape if things went south.

And the biggie - he WASN'T the BBEG, he was a minion to the real BBEG. So remember, you can really go with it if you make a stooge or two or equal or slightly high level than the party. Remember to give that mook a survival instinct (ie, it's okay to run, I'm the bad guy). And always take into account the "X" factor of your players pulling a fast one.

BBEG's should be as intricately crafted as a PC. History, mannerisms, etc. even if they never become apparent in play because this is one time where extra material makes the monster. If you have a notebook full of notes on this guy and only use a 1/10th of it, it's better than having a few notes and get hit with something that either leaves a glaring hole in the background or contradicts something that was said earlier. Unlike a standard NPC this NPC HAS to feel real. If the PCs can't get emotional (a little bit) when they talk about your BBEG, then you've missed the mark.

Another clue that you've done a good job, when you hear a group of PCs from a group that one of your PC's is DMing complain about this new villain and you realize he/she swiped your idea wholesale.