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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 1989838" data-attributes="member: 9254">Most BBEGs tend to have an undocumented soure of income and have to rely on personal power to acquire minions; hence the wizards.  Charm, dominate, and just kidnapping someone from the other side of the world via teleport are great ways to acquire controllable, if not loyal, minions.  Cao Cao, however, has a government and the budget of a governor.  The businessman and gangsters both have income streams they can use to buy a dgree of loyalty.  They also have a bit of prestige they can share since being a member of the Mob, government or Microsoft brings various perks.  There's also enough resources there that doublecrossing them could be bad in a number of non-violent ways; leverage that is hard to prove and defend against.  If you're the anal type you'll want to set a budget, decide how much individuals of each level get paid, set up detailed staff lists, etc.  But that doesn't cover the real power of those BBEGs: contacts.Legbreakers in the forms of cops or thugs are easy; it's who the BBEG has in their pocket that makes them powerful.  If the BBEG is the chief of police the PCs will be constantly watched, any altercation will result in them being hauled in to jail (even if not charged), any investigation with a suspect that even vaguely resembles the PCs will result in them being part of the line-up, they'll be pulled over routinely for minor traffic infractions (possibly dating back to the horse & buggy days), etc.  The chief of police's contacts will extend to health inspectors, tax collectors, the FBI, and even drug lords.  Now extend that up to a governor, Bill Gates, or Al Capone; individuals with organizations that cover entire states or stretch internationally.  How do the PCs fight such an individual?  Exposure.  The PCs could try to assasinate them but they'd be the criminals.  The only way to win is to show them for the evil overlord they are and strip them of their contacts and assets.</blockquote>

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