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<blockquote data-quote="payn" data-source="post: 9498151" data-attributes="member: 90374">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.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="payn, post: 9498151, member: 90374"] 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. [/QUOTE]

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