what motivates your villains ?

[Bloodstone Mage]

In my campaign-

Isithrandel (evil banished demigod): Get back his power by collecting his remains.

King Aserannor I (evil greedy tyrant): Enact revenge against on all those who have attempt to assassinate him, and to get power by collecting Isithrandel's remains.

Nirahm (criminal half-dragon assassin): Finish the job on one of the NPCs who happens to be a lifelong rival.

Beas B'Loulle (menacing bard thug): Enact revenge on the woman who put him, his girlfriend, and his band in jail, causing chaotic havoc along the way.

Once Part II of my campaign is implemented, I'm going to throw in some interesting concepts. A villian is going to kidnap one of the NPCs in order to get Isithrandel's remains by tricking the PCs to do it for him. Then, the villian will ransom the remains to Aserannor, plotting to kill him once he turns his back and being empowered by the remains himself.

Anyways...
I think greed for intangible things is the most interesting villian concept.

Cheers!

 

[Desdichado]

There was a Dragon article a year or two ago that had tons of great motivations and villain archetypes. Lots of great ideas there, actually. I like villians that are borderline sympathetic, at least at first. The classic "dark lord" with big spikey armor and his agenda of "world domination" or whatnot is OK now and then, but pretty boring really.

 

[reiella]

One is simply motivated by a desire to remove the outside taint and influence that gods and their outsider minions have upon the world.

Another is pursuing his less than noble goals out of a desire to survive.

 

[Mercule]

Trix. Darn kids are worse than that dog.

Seriously, I use a lot of demons. They are motivated by headcount (soulcount?). Corruption is something of a regular theme in my games. Deceit, treachery, bribes; whatever it takes to turn the PCs on themselves. Almost got a NG Ranger to murder his daughter once (long story, but I love Glabrezu).

Otherwise, I spice things up with political power, world domination, revenge, some serious misunderstandings. economics, self-preservation, and the occasional sociopath.

 

[frankthedm]

Old empire mind flayers [freshly down from the stars] : Enslave creation again and destroy the degenerate cults of subterranian mind flayers if they wont abandon elder brains.

Wizard princes of Glantri: Obtain greater magic power at all costs. Too bad the clergy of Tawil at Umar are more than willing to help.

Behemoth: DESTORY

Dark Druids: one life for every tree felled

Deep Ones: propagation and spread worship of Dagon and Hydra

Law: To impose final order and Crystalize creation.

Magic: naw away the bindings of reality.

Far Raelm: to get IN

 

[Sarellion]

Some villains

The Keldorr: A shapeshifting, highly magical race, banished in the old ages. 70 of them were released from their prison and tried to return back. The PCs later opened the gate for them to return after they got rid of the dark taint within the keldorrian rulership.

The dark court: released the Keldorr to corrupt them to their dark lord. Nearly made it.

The drow house Yal´Mar: The matron mother was in the game to disrupt the dark one´s plans.
The house is currently occupied with internal struggle. Some of the mother´s children wanted to get rid of her and failed.

The dragonking: Another imprisoned being, wants to get his body and his power back. Currently his mind is residing but slleeping in one of the PCs.

The dragonking´s aide: His preferred troubleshooter is an ancient elf who wants to die. The problem is that he is bound to the life force of the king and only his master can sever this bond.

The great dragons: They don´t want to have their boss back. Also they like to toy with humankind.

Zolkai: The usual necromancer villain. He has dissapointed his goddess of undeath and tries to make up for it by starting an invasion.

The lich ruler of Nikos: He is one of the best necromancers of the world and one of the head of the guild of black magic. Currently he is trying to kill Zolkai, his former pupil as he is weakening the reputation and influence of the black guild. The master of Nikos had currently experienced some problems with paladins on his island as Zolkai (under fake ID) gave them some confidential information about the security of Nikos and his former master´s stronghold.

Vandriel: The brother of the elven king. Tried to get the throne by murdering his father and blaming his brother for it. Has ben corrupted by dark influences and wants to kill all half-elves because he sees them as tainted and a threat for the elven race.

The orcish worshippers of the god of demons and strength:
They want their ancient territories back. They don´t see their god as an evil one. They worship him because he grants them imperishable fire (they are living in icy lands) and strength in combat.

The lizard kings of Yash´Hel: They want to lead their race to the glory of the old empire.

 

[Chimera]

Jello Pudding Pops. It's all about the pudding pops...

DAMN YOU!

I had it in my mind, upon seeing this thread, to post nearly the same thing.

IMC;

Calaseans: We're the natural rulers of this world. Humans are suitable only as slaves. Those that rebel, die. (Those that think funny thoughts die. Those that bruise the grapes die. Those that are useless die. Those who's death might be entertaining, die... get the point?)

Morgothians (Humans): The only logical order of human affairs is a strict heirarchy, serving our God. Only in him might we be strong enough to oppose the Calaseans. Fall in line or fall dead.

Formians: Human society is too chaotic. We offer order and security, in exchange for service. All humanoids (Humans, Orcs, Hobgoblins, etc) are equal in the service of our Empress.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Back in the day, I had several mega villains.

Mordant, a psionicist who fought the demi-goddess Bliss during the Divine War and lost. Bliss being cruel sent him to Dungeon World though where he lingered for over a hundred years until a group of adventurers were captured and he planted his mind into one of them (a player who wasn't showing up anymore) and was reborn in the Scarred Lands when the party was rescued. Now seeks to regain power slowly but surely, one way by using adventurerers to get him stuff that he recalls from his old days but is cut off by the changes in the land.

Bliss: A semi-divine being whose true power levels are unknown and who seized a mercenary group that was falling apart and turned it into a force strong enough to practically halt the northern advancement of Claista. Her "I'm always right" attitude however, had not made her popular with paladins and clerics and many of the mercenaries dislike her manipulations.

Derelith: A sorcer with a specialization in necromancy (I gave him domain like powers and some other abilities) who tried to seize power in the evil necromancer city, was caught and tortured over a period of months but rescued by strange beings interested in his greater necromantic abilities and rebuilt as an iron lich. Wants to tear down all communities of necromancers as he sees them as rivals.

 

[Buttercup]

[BA Generally, all of the "set things right" motives seem a little off, there's a fanaticism there that i just don't get. [/B]

You have to be a BBEG to get it.

One of my villains is a politically powerful sociopath. Who knows what motivates him, other than wading in blood. Another villain wants to conquer the fertile lands south of his frozen wasteland of a kingdom. Neither of these villains knows or cares about the PCs. They're just two of the antagonistic forces in the world at large.

On a more personal scale, there is a villain who the PCs haven't met yet, who wants something that one of them has. It belonged to this PC's deceased uncle, and this villain is pretty angry that this slip of a girl has what he considers to be his property. He has been following the party, and they'll most likely meet him at tomorrow's session.

 

[Zarthon]

The desire to kill the pc's and take their stuff