What makes a Villain?

[RUMBLETiGER]

I'm seeking defining characteristics of a quality villain. There are so many different kinds, what are the universal strands throughout all Villains? This is for the purpose of becoming a better D&D DM, so I've posted in this forum.

Dictionary.com on the word Villain states, "a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel."

TVtropes.org on Villains says, in part, "the mortal aspects of pure evil, and, more often than not, the people (or otherwise) that instigate the conflict and the story."

How would you define and design a villain? What's the difference between the abrasive anto-hero and a real villain? How can a player portray a Chaotic Neutral PC without teetering into villain territory?

 

[Nagol]

A villain needs a story with a protagonist who can oppose him, however ineffectively. In effect the villain either defines or is defined by the protagonist.

A villian is at least as competent as the protagonist and often much more capable.

The villain takes a position the audience is expected to be against thus giving them reason to root for the protagonist.

I don't think there really is comprehensive set of traits other than those.

 

[Umbran]

How would you define and design a villain?

That's a pretty big question - it varies depending on the themes and setting of the game.

What's the difference between the abrasive anto-hero and a real villain?

An anti-hero is a protagonist that doesn't have heroic qualities. And this is protagonist in the literary sense - merely the central figure of the piece.

How can a player portray a Chaotic Neutral PC without teetering into villain territory?

By following Wheaton's Rule, of course. Don't be a jerk!

Remember that "neutral" does not mean "heartless and self-involved". Neutral people have friends and family that they'll go out of their way to protect and do nice things for. They just don't extend that to society as a whole. Your regular person on the street is neutral in alignment, but most of them are perfectly nice people.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I don't think there is one right answer to this. Each GM and each groups has their own sense of what makes a villain and how villains should be run. But I did do a blog entry on this subject a while back, saying what works for me: http://thebedrockblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/goods-of-villainy.html

It is basically a list of rules I try to follow. But for me the most important one, and the one that players have given me the most positive feedback for in play is: villains need to earn their place. I think most of my players really hate it when the GM treats the villain as his favorite character in the story and either grants him direct plot immunity (PCs can't kill him until the big confrontation) or sets up the whole campaign around him from day one. I used to do this, back when I first started GMing my Ravenloft campaigns. But over time I realized this wasn't fair to the players. So I changed how I handled villains. Now my villains get the same treatment any other NPC does. They have to survive to become a true nemesis of the party (and frankly not many do). Whether the players kill my villain through cunning, or a stray arrow does him in, I have heard from players countless times that they appreciate it when they realized my big baddy wasn't getting any special treatment.

For example, something I used to do, saw many GMs do, and even saw advice columns suggest, was allow the villain to escape at the last minute so he could fight another day. Basically fudge to get him to safety. I made a conscious decision not to do this stuff any longer back in the mid-90s. In a campaign soon after that there was a series of adventures involving the plottings of an evil cleric (a little fuzzy on the precise details). When the players confronted him early in a cathedral, where he was caught a bit off guard, they were able to last him with enough spells and steel that it was clear he wouldn't survive. He tried to flee out the window (nothing wrong with letting them try), but one of the players fired an arrow at him while another cast a spell and he died an undignified death as he was squeezing himself through the window frame. One of the players told me after the game (and in fact mentioned it many times after) that he really appreciated it, because he knew as a GM, that was typically not how or when you'd want the bad guy to die.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

That's a pretty big question - it varies depending on the themes and setting of the game.

Indeed, and this is why I'm looking for feedback from many of you fine, experienced folks here.

I don't think there is one right answer to this. Each GM and each groups has their own sense of what makes a villain and how villains should be run. But I did do a blog entry on this subject a while back, saying what works for me: http://thebedrockblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/goods-of-villainy.html

Oh.. thanks!

But for me the most important one, and the one that players have given me the most positive feedback for in play is: villains need to earn their place... One of the players told me after the game (and in fact mentioned it many times after) that he really appreciated it, because he knew as a GM, that was typically not how or when you'd want the bad guy to die.

Great point. I had intended once for a bounty hunter to campute my PCs, instead they killed him & his partner. It seriously messed with my plan, but my players talked about that battle for years afterward.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I think the best villain is the one who can bring out the evil in the player characters.

 

[Umbran]

For example, something I used to do, saw many GMs do, and even saw advice columns suggest, was allow the villain to escape at the last minute so he could fight another day. Basically fudge to get him to safety. I made a conscious decision not to do this stuff any longer back in the mid-90s.

Especially when there's usually no need to fudge it. A villain can (and should) come prepared with a few escape plans. Just like anyone else, villains are often going to feel retreat an acceptable option, and be prepared to do so.

 

[Quickleaf]

I have a list of 4 things I use for designing villains:

Motive. Transparency. Communication. Surprise.

A villain needs to have a convincing campaign-appropriate motive. Mooks die by the dozens but a real villain gives the players pause (either to formulate a plan or consider the villian's perspective). The saying "the villain is the hero of their own story" holds a lot of truth. Whatever the villain is doing needs to make sense...even if its only in their own distorted worldview...and should be learnable by the PCs. If the villain is assassinating political officials, they should have an objective - why these targets and why now?

This ties into transparency. While villains can be mysterious and have many secrets, some of those need to be available to the PCs. I actually think more transparency sooner is better, as it gives the PCs a better picture of the villain in totality. For example, a villain who leaves a purple rose after each assassinated victim is much more intriguing once the PCs know the significance of the purple rose. I'll often write up 3 secrets about the villain that PCs can uncover through footwork.

One thing I've seen written a lot online is various tricks to keep villains alive. While different DMs have differing perspectives on this, I think the important take away is to provide the PCs a chance to communicate with the villain in non-combat scenarios. Depending on how rabidly violent your PCs are, you might need to resort to sending stones, magic mirrors, crystal balls, "scrying" undead, or other magic to make this work, but I've had success with making the villain politically untouchable at various functions in intrigue scenarios.

I also think the best villains keep the players on their toes, both in terms of plot and strategy. The villain should surprise the PCs with their tricks, plans, and background. During repartee have the villain reveal something horrible that the PCs can go rush off and maybe save someone's life in the nick of time - one of those "you can fight me or save the innocent person" cliched moral dilemmas. While raising the villain's hideout, the PCs might discover a magical purple rose with only a few petals left...that appears to be life-linked to someone (the villain? a dying relative? their current victim?). During an assassination scenario the villain has a decoy target and decoy assassin to lead the PCs away from the real target.

So those are my big 4: Motive. Transparency. Communication. Surprise.

 

[NewJeffCT]

It all depends on the group and the campaign. For my big 3.5E campaign, it was a new group, so I didn't plan anything out too long term, but had a few general ideas of where things could go if it developed into a campaign. I started off with a low level adventure, and as the group went through the adventure, one guy playing an elf PC decided he wanted to become a Paladin of Freedom down the road (to oppose the evil theocracy nearby that was responsible for much of the world's slave trade) and a guy new to the group had a background as an escaped slave... so, it naturally developed into opposing the evil theocracy of slavery.

Not long after that intro module, I had an encounter with the slavers and some low level priests, and then also gave them a drow duskblade as an "unusual" type of muscle for the slavers. (I had the drow Champion of Elistraee mini, so I had to use it, of course@) The combat was a big one, and the slavers fell one-by-one until only the duskblade was left - but she proceeded to then drop the paladin of freedom (below 0, but not dead) and seriously wound another PC. She was then cornered by the remainder of the party, but cast her Swift Expiditious Retreat spell and escaped their grasp. Rather than pursue, the players tended their fallen comrades and some injured slaves.

The slavers struck back a few levels later (the PCs went into town to deal with a threat there, and came out level 4 or 5 instead of 3). The slavers were some higher level priests, some soldiers, as well as some orc scouting parties, a hill giant and (of course), the drow duskblade looking for revenge. She again dropped the elf paladin of freedom below 0 (hitting -10, with his death number being -11), as well as a key NPC ally before the players managed to drop her to exactly 0 hit points. It was a huge combat on my 4x8 table, so the drow was in one corner of the table with the fallen elf and NPC. I think the other PC in the area got dropped by another bad guy (2 PCs died and the elf almost did.) But, when the drow was at 0, the players were finishing the combat on the other end of the board, while one of the other fleeing bad guys helped the drow to escape. Of course, by this time, the guy playing the elf paladin of freedom really hated the drow. (not to mention the guy whose PC got killed by her...)

Cut to a few levels later, I leveled the drow up so she'd still be a challenge to the players, and the party encountered more slavers. I forgot the exact situation, but this was their first real encounter with all smart bad guys (no orcs, hill giants, goblins, etc). In the past, the orcs or whoever would just rush at the front line fighters while the evil clerics and the party casters would exchange spells. This time, the drow was invisible and appeared behind the party cleric (you should have seen the look on the face of the woman playing the party cleric as I dropped that Champion of Elistraee miniature behind her cleric's mini... priceless. Made the entire encounter prep worth it to me as a DM.) But, the drow did a full power attack and arcane channeled on her blade as well and did something like 58 points of damage - the cleric had 53 hit points. It was the first time the party healer had gone down, so the group was in a frenzy trying to save/heal her and also take care of the drow and the wyvern mounted cleric lobbing spells at them. Fun encounter, but when the cleric's troops all were killed, and he and the drow were the 3.5E of bloodied, they flew away on the wyvern.

So, by this time, they all really, really hated that drow duskblade. And, each escape was not cheesed up at all. It all worked within the context of the game.

They had two more encounters with her, and I forgot how she escaped that first time, but the final showdown was when everybody was level 17 and the drow was part of a drow raiding party that I made up to be the drow equivalent of the PC's party, though with a few twists, and a few hill giant barbarians in the mix (the PCs had some NPC allies). It was a fitting final showdown, with the drow getting dropped and then revivified and healed before finally getting killed in the end. I think the final blow was even struck by the elf paladin.

However, the drow was not the BBEG - she was just one of his major allies/minions, and a focal point of the players. The PCs knew early on that they were not ready for the BBEG (after that initial adventure, the PCs found out they were heroes out of prophecy, but were also warned that the BBEG had a pit fiend for a bodyguard, which they found out was way beyond them at that time.)

 

[Celebrim]

This is like asking, "How do you design a character?"

In my current campaign, as much for my own sake as anything else because the players aren't likely to find out every villains backstory, I've been playing with deliberately giving each villain a sympathetic backstory and sympathetic goals and motivations. Mainly because I'm tired of it being a fantasy trope that the villain is just a scene chewing psychopath or worse is just a wearer of a black hat that marks him as the villain. It's not that its wrong to have a villain which you can't empathize with at some level, it's just I think its become too overplayed and the interesting middle ground between incomprehensible evil by definition villain and villain as hero is just too little explored. So, I'm exploring it for my self if nothing else, and hopefully my players will pick up on it eventually. (They are beginning to have the first glimmers.)