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<blockquote data-quote="Celtavian" data-source="post: 6698321" data-attributes="member: 5834"><p>I tend to think of what a villain needs to survive in a D&D world. I find module designers rarely think about this. They make these threats that would not be threats in the world they reside in due to a lack of many items required to survive in a D&D world. I like to build the relationships and power structure around this idea for the villain.</p><p></p><p>Some of the questions that I think about:</p><p>1. Can a person obtain and hold power in a D&D world without magical support? The answer to that question is no. It is literally not possible to build and hold power on any large scale without powerful magical support in a D&D world. So when a module designer does not supply a supposedly powerful NPC or creature that is threatening an area with magical support, they have failed. Why? Because as soon as someone shows up with magical support, that individual is done. They will be fairly easily defeated and their reign as a villain is over.</p><p></p><p>2. Can a villain survive a party of powerful adventurers novaing on them? If the answer is no, they are not a particularly worthwhile villain given that in a D&D world a powerful group of adventurers showing up on your doorstep as local heroes or paid hitters is fairly common. If they don't have the means to deal with that, they won't hold power very long. I generally handle this question by constructing an NPC villain a support party be it monsters that can supply the power or a group of adventurers on their side. I don't have them spread out for easy defeat piecemeal. I have them near the villain and capable of massing quickly for mutual defense. This idea of solo villain waiting in his room to be killed is not something I consider a worthwhile villain.</p><p></p><p>I solve this problem for monsters by boosting hit points, AC, or defensive powers. I find module designers to be amongst the poorest designers of villain defense. They think an impressive offense is going to do something against 4 to 6 PCs blowing off all their offensive powers. If the creature can't defend itself, it's not going to last long enough to do much offense. Any worthwhile villain should be powerful enough to repel a fairly powerful group quickly.</p><p></p><p>3. All this is much harder to do in 5E given how the game mechanics are set up. This Bounded Accuracy makes things too easy to hit. Hit points are way too low. Defensive capabilities are weak. I'm told this is by design given combats are only supposed to last 18 seconds. That doesn't bother me against mooks. When a powerful villain is supposed to die in 18 seconds or less, that is not a powerful villain. Can you imagine if Darth Vader lasted 18 seconds against Luke? Or Mordred lasted 18 seconds? Or Smaug was beaten in 18 seconds? Or the Balrog in 18 seconds? Or the Witchking of Angmar? Or The Hulk? Or any of numerous villains in stories. None of them would have lasted to become formidable villains. It's not sensible, memorable, or epic villain design.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celtavian, post: 6698321, member: 5834"] I tend to think of what a villain needs to survive in a D&D world. I find module designers rarely think about this. They make these threats that would not be threats in the world they reside in due to a lack of many items required to survive in a D&D world. I like to build the relationships and power structure around this idea for the villain. Some of the questions that I think about: 1. Can a person obtain and hold power in a D&D world without magical support? The answer to that question is no. It is literally not possible to build and hold power on any large scale without powerful magical support in a D&D world. So when a module designer does not supply a supposedly powerful NPC or creature that is threatening an area with magical support, they have failed. Why? Because as soon as someone shows up with magical support, that individual is done. They will be fairly easily defeated and their reign as a villain is over. 2. Can a villain survive a party of powerful adventurers novaing on them? If the answer is no, they are not a particularly worthwhile villain given that in a D&D world a powerful group of adventurers showing up on your doorstep as local heroes or paid hitters is fairly common. If they don't have the means to deal with that, they won't hold power very long. I generally handle this question by constructing an NPC villain a support party be it monsters that can supply the power or a group of adventurers on their side. I don't have them spread out for easy defeat piecemeal. I have them near the villain and capable of massing quickly for mutual defense. This idea of solo villain waiting in his room to be killed is not something I consider a worthwhile villain. I solve this problem for monsters by boosting hit points, AC, or defensive powers. I find module designers to be amongst the poorest designers of villain defense. They think an impressive offense is going to do something against 4 to 6 PCs blowing off all their offensive powers. If the creature can't defend itself, it's not going to last long enough to do much offense. Any worthwhile villain should be powerful enough to repel a fairly powerful group quickly. 3. All this is much harder to do in 5E given how the game mechanics are set up. This Bounded Accuracy makes things too easy to hit. Hit points are way too low. Defensive capabilities are weak. I'm told this is by design given combats are only supposed to last 18 seconds. That doesn't bother me against mooks. When a powerful villain is supposed to die in 18 seconds or less, that is not a powerful villain. Can you imagine if Darth Vader lasted 18 seconds against Luke? Or Mordred lasted 18 seconds? Or Smaug was beaten in 18 seconds? Or the Balrog in 18 seconds? Or the Witchking of Angmar? Or The Hulk? Or any of numerous villains in stories. None of them would have lasted to become formidable villains. It's not sensible, memorable, or epic villain design. [/QUOTE]
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