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<blockquote data-quote="MoogleEmpMog" data-source="post: 1815647" data-attributes="member: 22882">Excellent advice.&nbsp; Very cool villain.&nbsp; But no self-respected dwarf needs human aid. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink&nbsp; &nbsp; ;)"&nbsp; data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> Seriously, though, my personal favorite antagonists are those whose motives are understandable, even sympathetic.&nbsp; Maybe even their methods aren't truly vile, just a shade more ruthless than what the PCs like.&nbsp; The real trouble is the &quot;villain's&quot; goal.Perhaps he's a general (LN or, at the start, even LG in D&amp;D terms) sent to secure a vast supply of rare materials to cure a plague in his homeland.&nbsp; A noble goal, to be sure.&nbsp; Pity that the &quot;rare materials&quot; can only be extracted from dead (insert typically PC-allied race here - gold dragons, treants, unicorns, elves, whatever).&nbsp; He doesn't like it, but his own wife and children are infected, along with most of the populace.The PCs, coming from a rival country - one that's, for instance, ruled by an ancient gold dragon or full of elves, either way it has a vested interest in not having its citizens slaughtered for medicinal purposes - consider the general a hideous villain.Then they meet him.Specifically, they see him weeping over the bodies of those his army has slain.When they confront him, he tells them that he can't turn back, the fate of his people, of everything he loves, hangs in the balance.&nbsp; He will not stop.&nbsp; And he won't allow them to stop him.After an extended campaign of this sort, the PCs eventually discover the real truth - the &quot;emperor&quot; their antagonist serves is not himself.&nbsp; Five years ago, a powerful devil accidentally unleashed by the court wizard killed and replaced the once-noble emperor.&nbsp; This dark luminary unleashed the plague precisely to engineer the very war it has instigated.Unfortunately, the PCs have no way of convincing their immediate enemy of this.&nbsp; Not until they face the infernal imperial imposter on his own terms, and the latter reveals his nature to properly confront them.No doubt the general will eventually die heroically, albeit in vain, trying to slay the devil.&nbsp; No doubt his sacrifice will weaken it enough that the PCs stand a chance.In this case, the devil, although the &quot;main bad guy,&quot; is really a plot device.&nbsp; He should be himself loathsome and cool - but the memorable antagonist is the general.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MoogleEmpMog, post: 1815647, member: 22882"] Excellent advice. Very cool villain. But no self-respected dwarf needs human aid. ;) Seriously, though, my personal favorite antagonists are those whose motives are understandable, even sympathetic. Maybe even their methods aren't truly vile, just a shade more ruthless than what the PCs like. The real trouble is the "villain's" [I]goal[/I]. Perhaps he's a general (LN or, at the start, even LG in D&D terms) sent to secure a vast supply of rare materials to cure a plague in his homeland. A noble goal, to be sure. Pity that the "rare materials" can only be extracted from dead (insert typically PC-allied race here - gold dragons, treants, unicorns, elves, whatever). He doesn't like it, but his own wife and children are infected, along with most of the populace. The PCs, coming from a rival country - one that's, for instance, ruled by an ancient gold dragon or full of elves, either way it has a vested interest in not having its citizens slaughtered for medicinal purposes - consider the general a hideous villain. Then they meet him. Specifically, they see him weeping over the bodies of those his army has slain. When they confront him, he tells them that he can't turn back, the fate of his people, of everything he loves, hangs in the balance. He will not stop. And he won't allow them to stop him. After an extended campaign of this sort, the PCs eventually discover the real truth - the "emperor" their antagonist serves is not himself. Five years ago, a powerful devil accidentally unleashed by the court wizard killed and replaced the once-noble emperor. This dark luminary unleashed the plague precisely to engineer the very war it has instigated. Unfortunately, the PCs have no way of convincing their immediate enemy of this. Not until they face the infernal imperial imposter on his own terms, and the latter reveals his nature to properly confront them. No doubt the general will eventually die heroically, albeit in vain, trying to slay the devil. No doubt his sacrifice will weaken it enough that the PCs stand a chance. In this case, the devil, although the "main bad guy," is really a plot device. He should be himself loathsome and cool - but the memorable antagonist is the general. [/QUOTE]

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