Worlds of Design: The Mastermind

Every campaign has their Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes’ master criminal.

By Moriarty and Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls by Raymond Bell, CC BY-SA 2.0, File:Moriarty and Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls - geograph.org.uk - 5942977.jpg - Wikimedia Commons​

He [Moriarty] sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans. - Arthur Conan Doyle

The Criminal Mastermind​

The criminal mastermind is a common trope for fiction, the great Evil in the background of some stories. In fantasy campaigns, there is often a “master criminal” as a focus opponent for an adventuring group. I could have called this piece “Sauron” (Lord of the Rings) or “Shaitan” (Wheel of Time) both great Evil beings in the background of a series of stories. But Moriarty is much less charged with omnipotence than the other two. Long-time readers know I get tired of world-ending threats in games. This is more about the “master criminal” as a focus opponent for an adventuring group, more criminal than godlike threat to the world.

Meet Moriarty​

Professor James Moriarty was Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis through many adventures. The author tried to kill off Holmes and Moriarty more than once, but fans always demanded their return. All of the recent Sherlock Holmes TV and films bring Moriarty in sooner or later (once as a female). Even Netflix’s Enola Holmes (“Sherlock’s younger sister”) includes Moriarty in the second movie.

But his agents are numerous and splendidly organised. Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed – the word is passed to the Professor, the matter is organised and carried out. The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his defence. But the central power which uses the agent is never caught – never so much as suspected. (Conan Doyle)

The master criminal is usually treated as so brilliant that he/she can do almost anything.

“When you have one of the first brains of Europe up against you, and all the powers of darkness at his back, there are infinite possibilities.” (Conan Doyle)

Behind the Scenes​

On the other hand, we see in Butcher’s Dresden Files that the top boss may take actions that help Our Heroes, though that is not the villain’s intent. Admittedly, Dresden’s Chicago nemesis is much more present than Moriarty or Sauron. James Bond’s Blofeld (head of Spectre) is sometimes behind the scenes, sometimes up front. (The up-front villain fits movies better than the villain controlling everything from the background.)

A different version of enemy is the recurring villain who takes part in the action, but who manages to get away again and again – if you ever manage to get close to them at all. Khan (Star Trek) may fit into this category, though he seems to have a personal antipathy to Our Heroes as well. Players come to hate this kind of villain and anticipate the time when the villain gets “what they deserve.”

Then there’s the villain who is a minion of the chief bad guy, but is powerful in his/her own right, who may come to the fore if the minion conceives a personal hatred for one of the good guys. It’s no longer “just business,” it’s personal. As in Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher movies. (Sauron, in the First Age, was a minion of Morgoth but without much of the personal hatred.)

Fantasy tropes help criminal masterminds. The villain-as-spider with a hand in everything will benefit from some spells and magic items, especially crystal balls or other long-distance seeing. Long-distance communication will provide more possibilities than available in Moriarty’s Victorian Era. Mind-controlling spells, even one as mild as a charm, are great for recruiting unwitting minions. And so on. Disguise spells and doppelganger powers help the sinister sneaks of the world, as well.

Mastermind Characteristics​

There are several elements that elevate a villain from mere foe and a collection of stats to a mastermind.

• Familiarity: from a former colleague or relative of a character, to the faceless and hardly known mastermind.
• Reach/Scope: Within a precinct or small settlement to an entire country or continent
• Power Level: A few minions to entire armies, a few hedge wizards to mighty magicians
• Objective: Personal power in a city all the way to conquer the world (continent, region).
• Personal hatred: of Our Heroes (or one of them), down to the bad guy who has no personal knowledge of, or interest in, the good guys.

If you play this right, a recurring villain is someone the player characters know of but don’t often meet; and when they do, the showdown is epic.

Too Many Cooks​

There are several ways to use masterminds, and there is often a “Sorting Algorithm of Evil” in which each lower boss reveals that there is someone in turn more powerful behind them. This is a common trope in television series in which each season ends with a new villain, culminating in the criminal mastermind when the finale ends (assuming it doesn’t get cancelled before then).

That said, using multiple masterminds potentially reduces the influence of each villain on the game. But you can certainly have several kinds of villains involved; for example the chief villain and then a subordinate who conceives personal hatred for Our Heroes.

I confess that when I create adventures, I think far more about interesting situations than individual villains. Perhaps it’s because I think in terms of a war between good and evil. But even Lord of the Rings had several “mid-tier” bad guys (e.g., the balrog, Saruman) before the heroes faced down Sauron himself, and even then they did so indirectly.

Your Turn: If you use criminal masterminds in your campaign, how far-reaching are their plans?

 

[payn]

My tastes lean more towards the mundane than probably a lot of folks. Id say im ready to call it quits by level 10, if not sooner. So, my criminal masterminds are less hidden by a thousand magic items/spells to counteract the abilities of the PCs. High level fantasy shenanigans are cool, but I just dont enjoy preparing them or facing them at the table.

That said, I've done many Paizo PF1 era APs. Some of them definitely have criminal masterminds as villains. Usually the process goes something along the lines of a small village town is threatened and then its the country and potentially the world. Usually, there is an entire faction working towards a goal so the PCs have plenty of encounters along the way leading up to a final battle with said mastermind. That seems to work out.

Though, its really hard to have a Moriarty type mastermind in a group game. That personal rivalry and hatred seems odd when focused on an entire group. Its not impossible, its just not a direct transfer of concept. I have toyed with the idea of a mastermind rival adventuring group. I've done this a few times, but never on a campaign wide scale. Its a lot of fun for both the GM and players to take that mirror group trope to the table.

All that said, ideally the masterminds plans grow along with the PCs. The beginning is something small and seemingly mundane, and grows into something large and all assuming. That can be just the fate of the PCs and their agendas, or it can be a setting wide threat at the end.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

I get that for some reason this column doesn't get into actual game mechanics, but just wanted to mention that The Between has really fun mechanics related to a campaign-length Mastermind. The PCs are Penny Dreadful-style Victorian monster-hunters, and most of the Threats they go after aren't obviously liked to a shadowy archvillain. But as the campaign goes on, and they gather more clues related to that Mastermind, they get closer to a final confrontation.

It's the only game I've seen that pulls off that Moriarty-style framing without just assuming the GM is going to do endless hours of prep.

 

[talien]

Though, its really hard to have a Moriarty type mastermind in a group game. That personal rivalry and hatred seems odd when focused on an entire group. Its not impossible, its just not a direct transfer of concept. I have toyed with the idea of a mastermind rival adventuring group. I've done this a few times, but never on a campaign wide scale. Its a lot of fun for both the GM and players to take that mirror group trope to the table.

Lew doesn't say it here but it's implied: the criminal mastermind is actually the author (of novels) and the GM (of games). Since games are fluid, being a criminal mastermind is a LOT harder. In short, the only real mastermind is the creator, and to be seen as such they have to plan way in advance.

It's doable -- I've got some villains who are certainly challenging foes with long-reaching plans -- but it does require using some blocks to prevent PCs from just short-circuiting things without ruining the villain's plot instantly. In my case the villain is a deity, so she overrides resurrection (of people she's trying to punish) and divination spells (to intentionally avoid revealing her plans -- the PCs have correctly called her "dramatic" which is just another way of calling me dramatic. GUILTY). The key is to make this narratively acceptable.

In D&D, which has power levels, it gets even harder. The criminal mastermind who can easily pull strings when PCs are low level is going to have a real problem when they decide to have access to the ability to scry, teleport, instakill.

 

[Theory of Games]

Your Turn: If you use criminal masterminds in your campaign, how far-reaching are their plans?

World domination is the usual plan and I prefer injecting players into a setting where the BBE has already "won", forcing the PCs to defeat them in order to set things right again.

 

[GMMichael]

A different version of enemy is the recurring villain who takes part in the action, but who manages to get away again and again – if you ever manage to get close to them at all. Khan (Star Trek) may fit into this category, though he seems to have a personal antipathy to Our Heroes as well. Players come to hate this kind of villain and anticipate the time when the villain gets “what they deserve.”

Can't imagine why you're thinking about villains who keep getting out of trouble. In early November...

 

[jian]

Can't imagine why you're thinking about villains who keep getting out of trouble. In early November...

Hardly a mastermind though. He’s run a really terrible campaign so far.