AD&D - DMGR6 - The Complete Book of Villains (2e)

The
Complete Book of

Vi11 0

by Kirk Botula

Introduction ............................................................. 4 Chapter Five:
Bakshra‘s Tale ........................................................... 4
Overview................................................................... 4 Delivering the Goods..................................... .....44
~
What is a Villain?..................................................... 5
Role-PlayingYour Villain ..................................... 44
Describing Events .................................................. 45

Chapter One: Chapter Six: :47
47
Defining Your Villain ............................................ 6 Monsters into Villains ........................................ 48
50
Occupation................................................................ 6 Villains vs.Monsters.............................................. 52
Objective.................................................................... 6
Motive........................................................................ 7 Selecting a Monster................................................
Personality .............................................................. 10 Monster Problems..................................................
Monsters as Henchmen.........................................
Attitudes and Behaviors........................................ 11
Tastes and Preferences........................................... 11 Chapter Seven: 54
Surroundings.......................................................... 12 54
History..................................................................... 12 Advanced Villains ................................................ 56
Network .................................................................. 13 Recurring Villains .................................................. 60
Appearance............................................................. 14 The Rival ................................................................. 63
Abilities and Alignment........................................ 14 65
Increasing the Intensity......................................... 15 The Mythic or SymbolicVillain ........................... 66
67
Reviewing the Process........................................... 16 Faceless Villains...................................................... 69
FleshingOut Your Villain ..................................... 16 The Sympathetic Enemy .......................................
InterviewingYour Villain ..................................... 17 Nature as Villain ....................................................

Getting Ideas........................................................... 19 Public Opinion as Villain ......................................
Villains for Every Alignment ...............................

Chapter Two: 21 Chapter Eight: 73
21 73
Henchmen. Flunkies. & Lackeys ....................... 21 Creative Villainy ................................................... 73
79
Relationships .......................................................... Milking Your Encounters...................................... 81
Why Do I Need You?............................................. Hero-Created Villains............................................ 83
Villain as Servant ................................................... 86
Chapter Three: 24 Party as Servant...................................................... 88
24 89
Villainous Organizations .................................... 26 Allying with the Villain......................................... 95
The Hierarchy......................................................... 26 96
The Network........................................................... 31 Villain as Tempter ..................................................
Building Villainous Organizations...................... 31 Evil within the Party..............................................
31 The Villain’s SurvivalInstinct..............................
Good People inBad Places ................................... A Guest-Run Villain ..............................................
The Tide of Time .................................................... Raising the Emotional Stakes...............................

Management........................................................... Chapter Nine:

Chapter Four: 34 A Compendiumof Villains............................... 100
Darkon ................................................................... 100
Introducing Your Villain ..................................... 34 Pengo ..................................................................... 102
36 Mervis.................................................................... 104
Creating a Plot ........................................................ 36 Asoozel .................................................................. 106
37 108
Linear vs. Matrix Adventures .............................. 42 Thoto...................................................................... 110
42 111
The Linear Adventure ........................................... The Corn Kings..................................................... 112
The Matrix Adventure........................................... The Bree .................................................................
A Third Option.......................................................
The Levellers.........................................................
Enter the Villain......................................................

Chapter Ten:

A Catalog for Villains......................................... 114
Sources of Power .................................................. 114
Bad Objectives...................................................... 120
Bad Motives .......................................................... 122
Bad Personality ................................................... .122

Villain Tables

1: Bad Methods.................................................... .125
2: Source of Power ............................................... 126
3: Bad Objectives.................................................. 126
4: Bad Motives ...................................................... 126
5: Bad Personality ............................................... .126

6: General Traits

(From DUNGEON MASTER' Guide).............127

CREDITS
Design: Kirk Botula
Edited Kevin Stein
Black and white illustrations:Terry Dykstra,
Larry Elmore, Graham Nolan
Color illustrations: Bruce Eagle, Jeff Easley,

Keith Parkinson
Cartography: Dennis Kauth
Typography:Nancy J. Kerkstra
Production:Sarah Feggestad

tan= to Mark Evans, Mike Schiller, Harvey Coblin,
and Brett Botula.

Special thanks to M.J. for everything.

Virtue untested is innocence.
-Anonymous

ADVANCED DUNGEONS& DRAGONS,AD&D, FORGOTTENREALMS,

DARK SUN,DRAGONLANCE, RAVENLOFT,MONSTROUSCOMPENDIUM

ALQADIM, DUNGEON MASTER, and BATTLESYSTEMare registered trade-

marks ownedby TSR,Inc
DM, and the TSR logo are trademarksowned by TSR, Inc
All TSR characters, characternames, and the distmchvehkenesses thereof are trade

marksownedby TSR, Inc

0 1994TSR, Inc AU kghts Reserved Pnnted m the U S A
Thls book is protected under the copyright laws of the United StatesofAmenca
Any repmduchon or unauthonzed use of the material containedherein is pmhib

ited without the expresswntten permission of TSR, Inc
Random House and its affiliate companies have worldwide distribution rights in
the book trade lor English language products of TSR, Inc Distributedm the book
and hobby trade in the United Kmgdom by TSR Ltd Distributed to the toy and
hobby trade by 1 e g i 0 ~d1istnbutors

Lake Geneva,
WI 53147

TableofContents 3

Bakshra's Tale Overview

4 Introduction This book is intended to help you make
your AD&D" game villains nasty, believable,
and grandiose. It provides you with practi-
cal tools to create unforgettable villains that
will make adventures more fun for yourself
and your players. In the chapter "Defining
Your Villain," we explain how to create a
complete and compelling villain. "Hench-
men, Flunkies, & Lackeys" describes how to
define the individuals who play a minor role
in your villain's plots. "Villainous Organiza-
tions" looks at the hazards villains create
when they band together.

The practical aspects of weaving a plot for
your villain are described in the chapter
"Introducing Your Villain." The next chap-
ter, "Delivering the Goods," reviews ways
of bringing your villain to life through your
performance at the game table. The chapter
"Monsters into Villains" explains how to
turn a MONSTROUSCOMPENDIUM@entry
into a great villain. The wide variety of
unique villains is examined in the chapter

4dvanced Villains.” Tools, topics, and lain or enemy who is not very powerful, but

techniques that will make your villains such a character would not be much of a chal-

more abominable are included in ”Creative lenge to the heroes.

Villainy.” This module ends with a

compendium of sample villains, a catalog of 3. Villains are unsympathetic.

ideas for helping to create your own vil- Sympathy weakens a villain. The more

lains, and a series of charts for randomly understanding your characters extend to an

generating adversaries for your game. opponent, the less fear he creates. The less

fear a villain creates, the less danger he poses.

What Is The less danger he poses, the less heroic are
those who oppose him.

Unlike the friendly innkeepers and livery Villains are characters heroes can freely

men who may people your campaign, villains despise. Enemies are sometimes sympathetic.

motivate the player characters to action. It is An example of a sympathetic enemy who is

the villain who captures the imaginations of not a true villain would be an enemy warrior

your players and brings them back session or a misunderstood monster.

after session. A player character may have

many foes who are not ”real” villains. A vil- 4. Villains have bad motives.

lain is more than a random monster or an When Robin Hood stole from the rich to give

enemy. Of all the characters who come and to the poor, he proved that a person can do a

go, villains are the most important roles you bad thing for a good reason. A villain should

play as a Dungeon Master. have bad intentions regardless of whether his

There are five basic criteria for creating a vil- actions are considered good or bad.

lain. Let’s step through each of the criteria for The very essence of villainy may be bad

true villains to discover where they differ from motives or needs so excessive they are pursued

mere enemies. We will find that while all vil- to the detriment of other people. An enemy may

lains are enemies, not all enemies are villains have perfectly honest intentions and simply
31.Villains are opposing force
have goals inopposition to those of the heroes.

A villain may be an individual or a force of 5-Villain engage emotions

nature. The purpose of a villain in any story is By giving your players a villain that they

to oppose the heroes and force them to make love to hate, you will find them coming back

decisions. Common enemies also share this to play again and again.

role as an opposing force to the heroes. Any game is more exciting if your play-

ers care about the outcome of events. To

2. Villains are powerful adversaries. this end, villains, enemies, and even allies

The villain should command more should be characters who engage your play-

resources than the heroes. The more powerful ers’ emotions.

a villain, the more heroic his defeat. By keeping an eye toward these simple
For dramatic purposes, both enemies and

villains alike benefit from playing Goliath to rules of thumb, you can create diverse and

the heroes’ David. It is possible to have a vil- unique villains to populate your game world.

Introduction 5

This chapter takes you through the basic how he spends his time and who he deals with
steps to create a compelling villain. Each of the on a daily basis. The first thing we ask when
following topics covers one aspect of your vil- we meet someone is often, ‘What do you do?”
lain. We will go through each one and apply it
by building a sample villain-Bakshra, the Many famous villains are known by their
brutal warlord introduced at the beginning of occupation. Sweeney Todd, the murderer
this book. When we have put the finishing who killed his victims and served them up in
touches on our creation, we will interrogate meat pies, was called the ”Demon Barbe
the newly created villain for completeness. Fleet Street.’’

While you can spend hours working u p A villain’s occupation is sometimesintegral
every aspect of a villain’s life and personality, to his crimes. Cruella Devil of The Hundred
you need to know only enough to make the and One Dalmatians was a furrier who was
character believable to you. If you have a con- bent upon turning innocent puppies into fur
cise and clear picture of your villain, it is eas- coats. Auric Goldfinger of Ian Fleming’s
ier to make him come alive for your players. James Bond novel was a gold and jewelry
dealer who tried to irradiate the gold in Fort
In this chapter, we will look at each of the Knox to drive up the value of his own bullion.
following aspects of your villain’s life:
Few villains can afford to sit around being
I villains full time. Batman’s enemies always
,I appear with expensive equipment and hide-
t.‘1.Occupatior. ‘ . 2I ~ outs, but we are not expected to really accept
.+ these characters as ”real.”
2. Objective
3. Motive r

7. Surroundings 2. Objective
8. History
9. Network Your villain’s obj should be in direct
10. Appearance
11.Abilities and alignment conflict with those of your heroes. He might

ation want the throne of their kingdom. He might

ant a believable villain, we need to want to destroy one of their friends.
;ive him a means of support. What does your
Jillain do for a living? A good place to start The events and people affected by the

aking a villain is to decide how he lain’s actions should be important to
bills. Simply knowing how a villain
supports himself can tell us a great deal about heroes. The players would hardly care if

vicious man spent years in a subterranea

catacomb laboring over a stamp collection

However, if he started kidnapping farmers

to use as philatelic slaves, you might find

your players more interested (and maybe

amused).

A villain’s occupation may give you ideas can be seen as a desire for security pushed
regarding your villain’s objectives. His plots beyond the point of reason.
may extend from his occupational goals. In
Raising Cain, the villainous child psycholo- It is important for your villain to have bad
gist, Dr. Nix, kidnapped infants in order to motives. Even if your villain does something
conduct experiments on the development of nice, it should be for the wrong reason. A
multiple personalities in children. ruthless politician may make generous dona-
tions to charity to improve his reputation.
A villain’s objective may also serve a par-
ticular story function. For example, you may Bad intentions are even more important
need to kill a powerful NPC who has begun than bad actions. Bad actions are not strictly
to throw your game out of balance. In this the province of villains. Robin Hood proved
case, you can make the villain’s objective the that a person can do a bad thing for a good
murder of that NPC. reason. Even the little old ladies in ”Arsenic
and Old Lace” who poisoned old men did it
You may simply want to expose the charac- out of sympathy for their loneliness. Their
ters to the culture and hazards of a region in good intentions prevent these characters from
which they have never adventured. Launch- being villains.
ing a war headed by a villain from this region
who has designs on co People are motivated by a variety of needs.
land may serve this g The most common include:

3. Motive Achievement

What need drives your villain to perpetrate A person with a need for achievement sets
his heinous crimes? In Mark Twain’s The out to accomplish difficult tasks. He may
Adventures of Torn Sawyer, Injun Joe is driven maintain high standards and work toward
by a need for revenge when he plots against distant goals. An achievement-driven person
the widow of a judge who had him publicly also likes competition and is willing to put
horsewhipped. Greed motivates Long John forth more effort to attain excellence.
Silver to lead a mutiny against the ship cap-
tain searching for buried treasure in Robert A villain with an excessive need for
Louis Stevenson’s TreasureIsland. achievement may lie, cheat, steal, or kill. Vil-
lains may also thrive on the challenge of
A motive is a persistent concern for some crushing the heroes.
goal. In other words, a motive is a need. A
“bad” motive is a need pushed to excess and A person who has a need for affiliation
pursued at the expense of other people. Greed enjoys being with friends and people in gen-
eral. He accepts people readily. He also makes
efforts to win friendships and maintain asso-
ciations with people.

A villain with a need for affiliation may
in a gang of thugs and resort to acts of cru-
elty to gain their approval.

Defining Your Villain 7



Amession villain would attack people he believes pre-
sent a potentialthreat.
A person with a need for aggression enjoys
combat and argument. He is easily annoyed Nurturing
and willing to hurt peo
A person with a need to nurture gives sym-
seek to “get even.” pathy and comfort, assisting others whenever
villain with a need possible. He is interested in caring for chil-
mdictive bully who likes to pick fights, or dren, the disabled, or the infirm, and offers a
a tyrant who continually wages war. “helping hand” to those in need. This person
readily performs favors for others.
person with a need for autonomy tries to
k away from restraints, confinement, or A villain with a twisted need for nurturing
restrictions of any kind. H e enjoys being might aggravate a sick person’s condition or
unattached, free from people, places, or oblig- imprison him to make certain the victim
ations, and may be rebellious when faced remains under the villain’s care.
with restraints.
A villain with a need for autonomy may A person with a need for order is con-
drift from town to town, conning women into cerned with keeping his personal effects and
marrying him and eventually running off surroundings neat and organized. H e dis-
with their money. likes clutter, confusion, and lack of organiza-
tion. H e is also interested in developing
Exhibition methods for keeping materials methodically
organized.
A person with a need for exhibition wants
to be the center of attention. He enjoys having A villain with a need for order may run an
an audience and engages in behavior that oppressive totalitarian state that demands
wins the notice of others. He may enjoy being conformity from its citizens.
dramatic or witty.
Power
A villain with a need for exhibitionmay per-
form savage actsto gain attentionand notoriety A person with a need for power attemptsto
control the environment and influence or
safety direct other people. He expresses opinions
forcefully. He also enjoys the role of leadqz
A person with a need for safety does not and may assume it spontaneously.
enjoy exciting activities,especiallyif danger is
involved. He avoids risk of bodily harm and A villain with a need for power may mur-
seeks to maximizepersonal safety. der his superior to advance to a position of
greater influence. He may also use magic or
A villain with an overwhelming psionicsto enslaveinnocent people.
safety would take the only lifeboat on a sink-
ing ship. If the need becomes paranoic, the

Succor laughed too hard at everyone’s jokes.” The
A person with a need for succor frequently man’s behavior might suggest that he is inse-
cure and seeking the approval of other peo-
seeks the sympathy, protection, love, advice, ple. These strong but simple impressions are
and reassurance of other people. He may feel dominant traits. Fictional characters also have
insecure or helpless without such support such dominant traits, from the kindly and
and confides difficulties readily to a receptive wise Master Po of the ”Kung-Fu” television
person. series to the ambitious and cruel Prince John
of the Robin Hood stories. When creating a
A villain with a need for succor may feed villain, you should pick two or more domi-
on other people’s pity and invent problems to nant traits that serve as your first impression
gain comfort. He may stage accidents for of the character.
money or sympathy. He might be tempted to
betrav his friends or his countrv if someone The villain’s dominant traits should be
extends him a little sympathy consistent and reinforce one another. For
example, one villain might be reckless and
Understanding bold, and another might be cowardly and
A person with this need wants to under- deceitful. However, what often adds interest
and makes a villain memorable are the traits
stand many areas of knowledge. He often has which are seemingly contradictory (usually
a strong intellectual curiosity and values the one contradictory trait will be enough to
synthesis of ideas and logical thought. round out a character). This sort of contra-
dictory trait has been used in movies about
A villain with a need for understanding Nazi Germany in which brutal Gestapo offi-
may be willing to conduct horrific experi- cers are also shown to be loving fathers.
ments to satisfy his thirst for knowledge. He Some of James Bond’s opponents have had
may be willing to serve evil entities in curious interests in gardening or some other
exchanae for secret knowledge. I hobby which stood in stark contrast to their
criminal ambitions.
4. rersonalty
We can see how a villain’s dominant per-
When describing acquaintances to one nality traits as well as a contradictory trait
another we usually associate a person with are revealed through the conflicts in the
one or two particular traits, such as, ”You movie Blnde Runner. The villain Roy Batty is
remember him. He was that nervous guy who the leader of a group of renegade replicants
who have returned to Earth. Roy is revealed
to be a determined and ruthless mastermind.
When he saves the life of a man hired to kill
him, we find that Roy has the contradictory
trait of compassion.
When b;ilding a complete villain, you
should define two dominant traits and one
contradictory trait, as we shall do now for
Bakshrc

Dominant Trait 1:Compulsive

DominantTrait 2: Discontented
ContradictoryTrait: Protective

des and Behaviors 6. Tastes and Preferences

Determining how our villain regards and A villain’s tastes and preferencesmake him
treats other peoplehelps decidehow to roleplay more distinctive. Unusual tastes add color
and intensity. The young thug Alex of A
ounter when player characters meet the Clockwork Orange had an insatiable appetite
for the music of Ludwig van Beethoven.Han-
.A person’s attitudes are not always con- nibal Lecter of Silence of the Lambs had a taste
for human flesh. A villain’s tastes can con-
sistent with his behavior. A snobbish old lady tribute to his villainy or simply make him
may treat everyonevery graciously,but actually more distinctive.
feel pity that nobody is as sophisticated as she.
A librarian may be imperiouswith customers
but fawning with his superiors.People often
treat others differentlydepending on their rela-
tionship and the situation.

There are two important sets of attitudes

Defining Your Villain 1

7. Surroundings 8. History

Define the physical and political surroundings
in which a villain lives.The surroundingsshould
be logically consistentwith the other aspects of
your character’slife.Where does your villainlive
and why? Where does the character tend to go

on a daily basis,and how does he get there?

Consider these issues before drawing maps
of your villain’s environment. These are par-
ticularly important questions for DMs who
tend to put their villains
bottom of a deep dungeo

12 (thapter One

I

past to put unsettled spirits to rest. Each of 9. NetW~rk
the evil domain lords in the AD&D@
RAVENLOFT@setting has a rather dramatic Who does your villain know? The villain’s
and lurid backstory. network is his circle of friends, family, and
professional associates or acquaintances in
A backstory does not have to invol positions of power. A villain’s network of
dark secret or a melodramatic tale, nor does it associations affects both the heroes’ ability to
need to involve a defining experience which defeat their enemy, and to the resources a vil-
explains the villain’s viciousness. It should lain uses to accomplish his goals.
help you understand your villain’s origins.
Where did he or she grow up? How did he You may want to flesh out some of your vil-
lain’s associates in detail. We will describe
come to be in his current position? Answering how to do this in the chapter ”Henchmen,
Flunkies, & Lackeys.” For now, just make
these questions should help you to under- notes of the villain’s connections; the heroes
stand how your villain reacts, as well as the may use these peopleho influence the villain.
attitudes your villain has toward the world
and the people he encounters

tion supports Fallor with soldi
s from their est

ssistance of the

Defining Your Villain 13

10. Appearance 11. Abilities and Alignment

What is the appearance of your villain? The last step of your villain’s creation is to
Choose one or two unique physical character- define him in game terms. This means building
istics by which your players will remember the framework of ability scores, alignment, pro-
the villain. Traditionally, you could identify ficiencies, and class abilities. Use a player char-
villains by their crooked bodies and menac- acter record sheet to record the scores.
ing features which reflect their twisted spiri-
tual state. Extreme beauty has been used to Begin by filling in statistics which you
convey the decadence of aristocracy and may already have in mind. In the case of
wealth. The key is to use appearance to indi- Bakshra, we know that the villain is an
vidualize a character. Cruella Devil of The extraordinarily powerful fighter who com-
Hundred and One DuZrnutiuns is memorable for mands the fear and respect of his minions.
her hair, which is black on one side and white We can pencil in a 17 for his Strength and a
on the other. She also wears a trademark coat 16 for his Charisma. We also know that he is
of Dalmatian fur. People still wear Fu Manchu a desperately frustrated man who is not at
mustaches, named after the evil Chinese vil- peace with himself or the world. This aspect
of his personality might be noted by giving
lain who made them his trademark. Ihim an unusually low Wisdom of 6. Despite

Stereotypes in appearance are easily 1 his lack of wisdom, Bakshra is clearly an
avoided if you remember that a person’s
clothing usually reflects how he perceives intelligent man. An above average Intelli-
himself. Most villains do not think of them- gence of 13 or 14 might reflect both his cun-
selves as villains and are not likely to wear ning and cynicism.
black top hats, cloaks, or whips on their belts.
None of Bakshra’s remaining attributes
When considering appearance, you should have been dictated by the development of his
character. We can pencil them in as we see fit
1.Facial feature

4. Clothing

For Bakshra, we will use the following

When selecting a villain’s ability scores,
don’t pick numbers which make him too
powerful. It is usually a character’s shortcom-
ings which make them interesting. In Bak-
shra’ case, the needs which grow from his
disproportionately low Wisdom are what
motivate his villainy.

f

who have extraordinary talents but no person-
ality. A strength of the AD&D@rules lies in the
clear system for defininga character’s abilities.

Even if you do not use the nonweapon pro-
ficiency rules, it can be helpful to roll or select
some for your villain. It provides one more
way to round out your character.

An important aspect of any character in an
AD&D@’ adventure is his or her alignment.
Alignment is often used as a moral and ethical
compass to determine a character’s direction in
various situations. Most villainsfall somewhere
on the evil side of the fence; however, a non-evil
alignment may be appropriate dependingupon
the alignment of your player characters.
Remember, your villain should exist in opposi-
tion to your heroes as much as possible. We will
examine the issue of alignmentin more detailin
the section on ”Creative Villainy.” For now we
will continue with our example.

Abilities Increasing the Intensity

A person’s abilities are an importantpart of The last step in drawing up your character is
their identity, and in weakly defined charac- to push himbeyond everyday boundaries,
ters, oftenbecomes a substitutefor depth.This allow him to become excessive: Take what
is particularly true of comic book superheroes should be a well-roundedbelievable character

and unbalance him.Try to add the element that

ultimately distinguishesyour villain from all
the rest. It isn’t as hard as you might think.

De

1.Give your character a twist. ability scores. Each approach has its advan-

2.Take an existing attribute and exaggerate it. tages, and you can easily use a combination

of these two methods by rolling some attrib-

We know Bakshra has an intense enmity utes and filling in others.

for priests. Let’s give it a twist. Suppose that, Rolling up your villains forces you to

unknown to his men, Bakshra maintains a think creatively and helps prevent you from

small chapel in his castle where he secretly falling into ruts; it can also overwhelm you

labors to master the disciplines of the clergy. with information, making it somewhat diffi-

His failures fuel his bitterness toward the cult to get a clear initial picture. However,
;*$a :
priesthood :it, 1 .f h‘ P,* d r a f t i n g your villains on paper without
.I ’b&,
,*

Now let 5 exaggerate an aireaay mzarre recourse to dice can be risky-villains can

trait of our villain.We established in the sec- begin to seem alike.

tion on “Tastes and Preferences” that Bakshra There are two rules to follow when draw-

makes a habit of eating dog meat. His back- ing u p a villain. If you know what you

story suggests that this may be related to the want, write it-don’t roll it. Secondly, if you

lie of the high priest who healed him in his want a better chance of genuinely surpris-

youth. Perhaps Bakshra never knew that the ing yourself, roll it and try to make sense of

priest had lied about curing his curse with his the numbers.

dog. Perhaps he has continued to make a rit- The steps required to create a complete and

ual of the meal in order to ward off any power well-rounded villain are not necessarily

that a priest’s magic might gain over him, and sequential. There are as many ways to

additionally serve as a constant reminder of apgroach the process as there are interesting

his anger. What if Bakshra breeds a huge villains who have emerged from it. We have

number of beautiful hounds and travels far followed a particular thread in creating Bak-

and wide in search of rare and unique dogs? shra, but you might choose a completely dif-

He is never seen traveling without a pack of ferent angle of approach. If you consider each

hounds, and he makes a meal of one of his of the topics, you will have a complete villain

dogs every night. who is ready to play a crucial role in your

adventure.

Reviewing the Process

We have moved through the process of When you have difficulty fleshing out a
defining a complete v i l l a k Weexplained character, keep a few things in mind:
each of the basic components of a believable
character and eventually distilled the villain 1. look at Disparities
into a set of statistics, allowing us to bring the
--illaininto the game. When developing a character’s personality
traits or motivation, look at disparities in the
You can draft a villain into your AD&D@ ability scores. A weakness can create a need,
while an unusual strength might result in
game in two ways. You can start writing or overdependence.
start rolling; that is, you can literally design
a complete villain on paper without ever
touching a die, or you can begin by rolling

d i6 Chapterone

2. Create Interest through Contrast cles to your success?
What are you doing to ensure that you
Whether you are dealing with a characte vercome these obstacles?
personality or developing his surroundings, If you could change one thing about the
contrast and tension always draws attention.
world, what would that be?
3. When in Doubt, Roll a Die If you could chanze one thing about vour-
what would th; b
Even if you do not intend to use rando o you fear anything
generated information, it is sometimes easier
to modify something to your Personali
draw it up from scratch.
How would you describe yourself?
4. When You Are Convinced. Stor,
Attitud
When the villain is believableto you, avoid
burdening the character with unnecessary Are there any individuals you trust or rely on?
detail. Allow the vill Are there any individuals who trust or rely
the course of the ga upon you?
Do you enjoy the company of others or do
Interviewing Your Villain you prefer to be alone?
Do you have servants or employees?How
This section provides a series of questions do you gain their cooperation?
to help you get a clear picture of your villain. Are you a servant or employee?How does
Once you have worked through the previous
steps, these questions serve as a final check of thisrelationshipbenefit your personal interests?
your villain's completeness.
Tastes and Preferences
Occupation
How do you spend your leis
What do you do for a living? What do you like t
Why did you choose this vocation? What do you enjoy
What do you like to eat?
Objective/Mothe Do you collect anything?
Do you have any pets?
What are you trylng to do?
Why are you trying to do that? Surroundings
How do you measure your degree of suc-
cess or failure? Where do you live?
What will you do if you gain your goal! What is the climate?
What will you do if you fail? Why do you live ther
What do you consider the greatest obsta- What political boundaries lie near your
home?

The Complete Villains'
Worksheet

Name:
C-l_ass:
Alignment:
Occupation:
Objective:
Motive:
Dominant Trait 1:
Dominant Trait 2:
Contradictory Trait:
Attitudes and Behavior s:

Tastes and Preferences:

Surroundings:

Historv:

Network 01994 TSR,
Appearance:

This formmay be phohopied forpersonaluse in playing AD&" games.

What natural resources exist in the area? Appearance
What resources are scarce?
What is your daily routine? What do you look like?
What is interesting about the population in What aspect of your physical appearanceis
your area? most distinctive or easiest to identlfy you?
H o w do you protect your home? Could
you be trapped there in the event of fire or Abilities and Alignment
intrusion?
What is your religion?
History What are your most developed skills?
What are your least developed skills?
What is your name?
How old are you? Getting Ideas
Where were you born and raised?
Did you know your parents? So your player charactersfinally defeated
How do you feel about them? your incredible villain. Its been weeks since
Are your parents alive? they beat him, and they still talk about him.
How did your parents make their living? Now what do you do to follow up? There are
Do you have any brothers or sisters? If yes, many times when you might find yourself at
do you know where they are? a loss for ideas for a new villain.
What role did your family play in your
upbringing?If they did not play a significant Fortunately, there are great sources for
role, who did and in what respect? ideas all around us. Whether you are inspired
Did you have any friends in your youth? by a person in the news, a character in a book,
Are you married? If yes, what do(es) your or your own imagination, you are never at a
spouse(s) do for a living? loss for a villain for long.
Do you have any children? H o w many?
What ages? life
What is your race?
Did you receive formal education? Pick up any newspaper, take a walk
H o w did you learn to do what you are down any street, and odds are good you
doing now? will find an idea for a villain. Don't try to
What has been your greatestachievement? lift someone's personality from real-life.
While real life villains are certainly believ-
What hasbeenyour greatest disappointment? able (mostly), they are not necessarily very
interesting, and they are not likely to be a
Network villain of the grand and terrible type that
you want for your game.
Who are your influentialacquaintances?
Who are your personal enemies? However, just like writing a book or movie,
Who do you interact with on a daily basis? you can get the kernel of an idea for a story
from the newspaper. A mysterious incident
can trigger an idea for a plot, or a public
enemy might inspire a game villain.

Fiction Developing Your Idea

Books can also provide ideas. Many of the Once you have a kernel of an idea, run it
examples in this book were drawn from nov- through the process described at the begin-
els, movies, television, and comic books. Find ning of this chapter and the villain will take
any story with a hero, and you are likely to shape. All you need to get started is one com-
find a villain skulking nearby. ponent of your villain. You can usually
deduce the rest of the character from that.
Dice-Rolling
Bakshra was created from a randomly gen-
As suggested earlier, a great way to create a erated set of ability scores. We decided to make
fresh villain is to roll his characteristics ran- him a fighter because we thought too many
domly. Nothing challenges a creative mind villains are spellcasters. Then, looking at the
like trying to make sense of random figures. numbers, we asked, ”What would a guy with
Even if a randomly generated character gives no wisdom but a decent intelligence be like?
you only the spark of an idea, you can keep And what if he desperately wanted wisdom?
what you like and discard the rest. In fact, what if he wanted to be a cleric?”

It doesn’t take much to get started.

20 Chapter One

1

Henchmen, Flunkies, & lackeys

-

No man is an island, and no villain would do-gooders. Think again of your villain’s
be complete without lackeys, henchmen, dominant traits. People are often attracted to
partners, overbearing mothers, and mentors others who have traits they lack but value
in crime. We have already addressed the idea highly. A scatterbrained person may seek an
of a villain’s network of associates. This sec- extremely well-organized assistant. A bully
tion shows how to create these minor charac- might like to be surrounded by weaklings.
ters. We will create two sample minor
characters to support Bakshra. Likes Attract

You should take the time to generate the This rule may hold true even more than
key people who may become embroiled in the previous rule. We all enjoy and seek out
your adventure. These are probably the ones the company of like-minded peers. Our
your villain relies upon or works with daily. bully might enjoy drinking with other bul-
These minor characters may be the first con- lies and trading stories about how they each
tacts your heroes have with the villain. Sup- bully people. Of course, such relationships
porting characters may take the form of based upon contrast or tension are more
employees, friends, neighbors, business asso- interesting than those based on commonal-
ciates, mentors, rivals, and even enemies. ties. As in a photograph, contrast always
heightens the definition and clarity of the
Minor characters should be less complex things we see.
than the villain. If they are too interesting,
they draw attention away from the villain. Why Do I Need You?
Restrict minor characters’ personalities to
their two dominant traits. Develop them fur- The supporting characters exist for two
ther only if the story demands. You might specific reasons. The first reason is the vil-
have to roll u p some hit points or spells if lain’s need for associating with the minor
they actually fight your player characters. character, and the second is the minor charac-
ter’s reason for associating with the villain.
Relationships These reasons may be practical, such as a vil-
lain’s need for a cook, or they may be both
At this point, you know enough about your practical and emotional, such as a villain who
villain to draw conclusions about the people not only needs a cook, but whose relationship
with whom he surrounds himself. The villain with his flattering cook fulfills his need for
should almost always have the stronger per- approval from others.
sonality of any relationship in which he is
involved.Here are two easy rules of thumb to Use these four needs to structure the rela-
follow when designingsupporting characters: tionshim between the villain and the SUD-

Opposites Attract I

This is one stereotype which can be helpful porting character:
in designing relationships for your villains.
This is not to be construed to mean that your 1.Villain’s practical need
evil characterswill surround themselveswith 2. Villain’s emotionalneed
3. Supporting character’s practical need
4. Supporting character’s emotional need

Henchmen, Flunkies, & Lackeys 21

nteresting relationships can be created by is a force which could work against or along-
varying the level of fulfillment for each of these side the PCs. For examule, one of Bakshra’s
needs.For example, a villain may have a wife
who serves the practical functions of ”a wife in fellow warlords might k n d himself person-
the community.” The respectability associated ally opposed to Bakshra, allying with him
with the marriage, as well as the ability to con- only out of desire to keep the villainous
tribute to raising a family, may all serve the vil- organization intact. Cunning PCs might
lain’s practical need. Emotionally, the villain convince this warlord to assist them in
may find the relationship unsatisfymg. In turn, destroying Bakshra; if such an overture is
the wife may feel that her emotional expecta- mishandled, the PCs could find themselves
tions are fulfilled, but that the villain does not with a new enemy.
meet the practical needs. The villain may have
an awful reputation, diminishing the esteem of The following are two minor characters
the wife in the community. close to Bakshra. The first is a like-minded
soldier who might serve as a hook for the
Interesting situations can arise when a player characters. The second character may
minor character is an enemy of the villain. prove to be Bakshra’s undoing. You need to
This is not to say that the character will be worry about game statistics only if it appears
an ally of the player characters, but that he your player characters are going to fight with

these minor characters.

Supporting Character Record Sheet

Name: Class: Level

Alignment: Gender:

Dominant Trait 1:

Dominant Trait 2:

Villain’s Practical Need:

Villain’s Emotional Need:

Supporting Character’s Practical Need:

Supporting Character’s Emotional Need:

Description of Relationship:

Notes and Statistics:

22 ChapterTwo

whom Bakshra would like to p

4. Supporting character's emotional

Nurturing-the need to tend to the

attention with her disarming manner.
Rather than grovel, plead for her life, or

s, she seemed a m u M by

pressibly impish, the mis-
chievous priestesswas alternately sympa-
thetic and playfullyteasing toward Bakshra.

Bakshra originally attempted to break
Andrea's spirit, but became intrigued by
her good-natured strength. He has made
her custodian ofhis chapeland charged her
with teaching him spiritual mastery. She

has been entirely unsuccessful in this task,
but is nof particularly concerned. Her pres-
ence in the tower is unknown to Bakshra's

Henchmen, Flunkies, 8, Lackeys 23

Villainous Organizations

We will review each of these forms, and see
how best to build and maintain such organi-
zations over the life of you

The Hierarchy

From enemy armies to evil churches, vil-
lainous hierarchies are found in some of the
most memorable adventures. Hierarchies are
organized by rank or authority. Large hierar-
chies are often characterized as bureaucracies.
The very word conjures images of inefficiency
and suffocating conformity.

Bureaucracies have the following traits:

This section builds upon the villain creation outside his area. This can make it tough for
tools to develop corrupt organizations.Villain- PCs to extract information from an ignorant
ous organizations can provide years of adven- flunky. Specialization is often used by secre-
tures as your heroes defeat individual villains tive organizations, such as terrorist groups.
within the organization,who are then replaced
by more loathsome villains. The Cord War 2. Standard Procedures
inspired hundreds of imagined evil organiza-
tions, many of which were assembled for the Everything is done the same way again and
sole purpose of perpetrating villainy. James again. This tendency of bureaucracies is help-
Bond combated SPECTRE (Special Executive ful to PCs when trying to learn some regular
Command for Terrorism, Revenge, and Extor- activity of the villainous organization,such as
tion). Lancelot Link spent his career dedicated when guards change duty.
to the destruction of CHUMP. Faceless corpo-
rations and renegade government agencies 3. Office Independent of Individual
have been favorite villains in manv movies. In
role-playing games, secret cults, tyrannical People can be easily substituted or replaced
armies, and guilds of thieves have all been because authority lies in titles and positions,
assembled to test the heroes’ mettle. not individuals.

There are two types of evil organizationscom- 4. Inflexibilijl
monly encounteredin role-playing adventures:
Bureaucracies are not well prepared to
1.The hierarchy innovate or respond quickly to a changing
2. The network
environment.

I-- -

5. Dominance of Authority Creating an enemy organization rife with
red tape and inefficiency creates the illusion
Everyone has a boss to step on his head and that the organization seems less likely to
a lackey beneath to step on in turn. Addition- mobilize itself effectively against the heroes.
ally, the accumulation of power, as well as its However, there are two important reasons
exercise, is a goal in itself. This is helpful why a bureaucracy can be a dangerous force.
when threatening or bribing organization The first is the organization’s literal power;
men, since they willing to find ways to even the most incompetent general’s army
increase their own power at the expense of can create a formidable threat by doing noth-
their superiors. Subordinates are inclined to
follow orders blind1 ing more than mustering- sup-erior numbers.

6. Position Protection The corrupt bureaucracies of the sorcerer-
ngs in the AD&D@DARK SUN@world of
Rather than rise by merit, peo thas become much more dangerous when
advance within the organization by length of
employment. These people exert their time heir templars have the power to indiscrimi-
and resources protecting their positions, nately throw citizens into prison and kill
regardless of whether it is in the best interests spellcasters on sight.
of the organization.
The second weapon of the bureaucracy is

Villainous Organizations 25

The Professional quently, an enemy general issues orders
meant to be followed without question; a
The professional operates independently to
accomplishthe goals of the organization.James black marketer may need to jockey for advan-
Bond was a professional working for the tage with his buyers and suppliers.
bureaucraticBritishSeaet Service.DarthVader
was a professional working for the bureau- Networks often serve only as a means of
cracy of the Empire. In a fantasy setting, a pro- communication and do not initiate actions.
Decisions are made by committees, and these
fessionalwithin a bureaucracy may be a wizard committees take longer to arrive at decisions
than the direct chains of command in a hier-
who is counselorto a king, or holy assassin of a archy. However, hierarchiescan be as slow as
church. The professional can work quickly and a network when a committee lies at the top of
independently, but can also draw upon the
greater resources of the hierarchv which backs a chain of command.

Communication

I The Network Word generally travels faster and more
In contrast to the clumsy but powerful hier- accurately in a network than in a bureau-
cracy. Documents, letters, and written orders
archy, the network acts as “grapevine.” Net- are usually accurate in a bureaucracy, while
works regularly change their structure and word of mouth tends to be unreliable. Writ-

form. It is possible for networks to cross the ten communication in networks is only mar-
boundaries of bureaucracies, and they can ginally accurate because messages tend to go

trace lines of communication and influence through several channels before being com-

from one organization to another. mitted to paper.

There are usually few layers of authority
between the bottom and the top of a net-
work‘s organization. However, there may be Commitmentand Sirtisfaction

a number-of individuals comprising each of Membersof a bureaucracy are less committed
those layers, and the highest level of the orga- to the organization’sdecisionsthan membersof
nization is likely to be a small group rather a network. Jobsatisfaction is usually much
than an individual. Villainous networks often lower in a hierarchy An exampleof thisdissatis-
appear in the form of black markets and faction is the Soviet bureaucracy’s supposed
dedicationto the destruction of capitalism. The
bands of smugglers.
igh-ranking Soviet officials spurned these

Here are several other significant differ- objectives and enjoyed black market western
goods, while the lower-echelon bureaucrats
ences between hierarchiesand networks:
often accepted bribesfor political favors.

Power and Authority Building Villainous Organizations
~
Justlike building an individual villain,
In a bureaucracy, power is concentrated at there are a number of traits which you need
the top, as opposed to a network, which tends
to have small islands of influence. Conse-

26 ChapterThree I P

The Hierarchy vs. the Network

ISlower but more accurate Faster but less accurate

to define when you create a villainous organi- How are they organized?
zation. We will discuss each of the compo- Do they have an advantage?
nents you should consider before allowing How do they plan for the future?
your villainous group to unleash its fiendish How do they establish conformity?
conspiracies upon your world. As we con- How do they satisfy their audiences?
tinue, we will define a sample villainous Who are the prominent characters?
organization called the Bloodhounds, a hier-
archical order of knights who serve Bakshra What Do They Deliver?
in persecuting the clergy. At the end of this
section, we will review the process by defin- This is similar to the objective of an indi-
ing another villainous organization, the Fallo- vidual villain. You need to define the goods
rian Alliance, a network of evil warlords, of or services the organization provides, as well
which Bakshra is a member. as how this serves the interests of the partici-
pants. An evil church may provide a place of
We will build our villainous organization worship for its cultists and provide a path to
by answering the following questions: power for its priests. A network of smugglers
might a variety of contraband for the mutual
What do they deliver? benefit of the suppliers and buyers.
How do they acquire resources?

Villainous Organizations 27

Wow Do They Acquire Resources?

Any team needs access to the training,

materials, and tools of their trade. For the evil Do They Have an Advantage?
church, this may take form as recruiting

efforts to locate young priests, or collections A band of villains must overcome compe-

conducted to raise funds. The network of tition to survive over time. Using fewer

smugglers would need a contraband supply, resources, or delivering a service or product

safe houses for hiding out, transportation for no one else provides ensures the long life of

1 their cargo, and contacts in the black market an organization. An evil church may be able
for resale of their goods. to summon more power from their foul god

than the good church down the road. The

network of smugglers may have the head of

hra. When traveling, they hav the border patrol on their payroll, ensuring
requisition any resources nee that their shipments make it across the lines
while other would-be smugglers are stopped

and harassed.

How Are They Organized? How Do They Plan for the Future?

or role-playing purposes, you will need to Outside events can threaten a villainous
ow the structure of the organization, how organization that is not prepared to respond
power is distributed, and how activities are to change. An evil church might stockpile
coordinated. The evil church may take the magic and weapons for a holy war to elimi-
form of a hierarchy, with a high priest at the nate its competition. Smugglers might expand
top and lowly acolytes at the bottom. Smug- the types of contraband in which they deal, in
glers avoid operating the same way twice; case another supplier appears or the queen
they are probably a small committee of thugs, decides to legalize their wares.
corrupt businessmen, and city officials who
beg, borrow, and steal to make certain their

I 28 ChapterThree

I

II

boring towns to build an atmosphere of toler-
ance. It may also need to pander to the king to
avoid harassment or inordinate taxes. The
network of smugglers must provide adequate
returns to investors and pay off the flunkies
who do the dirty work.

Wow Do They Es&Msh Conformkty? Who Are the Promfnent Characters?

V i i o u s organizationstry to maintain con- When you first establish a villainous orga-
sistency in their p p l e and processes. The evil nization in your campaign, you should define
church may have a school to indoctrinate its the members who set the objectives. Addi-
members, and ancient rituals to ensure certain tionally, you need to keep track of any ”bit
procedures are perpetuated. It may regularly players” encountered by the adventuring
send priests into the villages to perform heal- party. These minor functionaries can be sum-
ing for a standard fee, ensuring that people marized by a few notes. Other characters
h o w when and where to use this service. The require more complete development. In our
network of smugglers may have its own ritu- examples, we abbreviate alignments.
als and tests for indoctrination, and always use
certain codes to mark drop-off spots.

By their nature, networks are much less
conformist than bureaucracies.

How Do They sihtdsfy Their Audiences?

Every villainous organization has several
audiences, including lackeys, financiers, and

patrons. A balance must be etmck to meet the
needs of these diverse groups to gain their

continuing support. The evil church may
need to provide healing services to the neigh-

Villainous Organizations 29

The Fallorian Alliance Do They Have an A d v m g e ?

Having stepped through the process of defin-
ing a villainous hierarchy we will use the same
procedure to create a network of villains.

What Do They Deliver?

How Do They Pian for the Fdure?

How Do They Acquire Resources?
How Do They Establish Conformity?

Haw Are They Organized? How Do They Satisfy Their Audiences?

30 Chapter Three

I

I

Wha Are the Pmdnent Characters? structurethat pursue agendas at odds with the
organization. Second, organization members
Good People in Bad Places lose any sense of personal responsibilityfor the
unanticipated negative consequences of the
One of the wonderful aspects of an organi- organization’sactions. At this point, the organi-
zation is its ability to acquire its own life. It is zation can go out of control.
quite possible for an organization made up of
well-meaning individuals to perpetratewide- It is also possible for ”good individuals to
spread destruction. become potential allies to the PCs within a vil-
lainous organization.A group run by a villain
Anytime an organization becomes so large may not require that members have the same
that one person m o t understand all its attiv- alignment as the villain. In fact, it is likely that a
ities, two eventsOCCUT. First, informal islandsof villain will staff an organization with lawful
influenceand power developwithin the formal neutral employees, unless the organization is a
religious group. These lawful neutrals will do
their work responsiblywithout questioning the
moral aspects of their jobs.

The Tide of Time

Organizationscan survive the defeat of any
single villain within its r&. If the heroesburn
the chapter house of a notoriousthieves’ guild

and captureits leaders, it may only be a matter

of monthsbefore surviving members regroup

and seek revenge.Like “ C s , organizationsare

much more interestingif they changeover time.
As you introduce your villainous organiza-

tions to your campaign,keep track of individ-
uals in the organizations encountered by the
heroes and the outcome of the encounter.This
makes it easier for you to predict an NPC’s
next reaction to the player characters.

Management

In general, hierarchies are inflexible and
networks have slow response times. Bureau-
cracies are best for accomplishing specific
tasks; organization falters when a bureau-
cracy encounters change or a new situation.
Networks take longer to make decisions,
though they can easily make decisions on any

1

Villainous Organizations 31

THE FALLORIAN ALLIANCE b

A network Barkus
LE, male human
6th level fighter

Cooldoom
NE, male half-elf
8th level fighter

LN, female human
4th level thief

Ferrin Karbar
LE, male human LN, female human
6th level fighter

..................................................... I I AI
Bakshra
THE BLOODHOUNDS LE, male human

A hierarchy Alliance has his own hierarchical
organization supporting him.
Typical Bloodhound
IElgin (Captain)
ikx%;;E?
Typical Squire LE, male human
LE, male human 6th level fighter

3rd level fighter ...............

III D 111111d b 11

topic regarding their goals. from a wizard. In the meantime, the guards
To simulate the inflexibility of a hierarchy, would probably mill around in confusion, or
act as if the fort were under attack (they
maintain a list of specific tasks for which your might arm the battlements and not pursue the
organization has established standard proce- fugitivesbeyond the walls of the fort).
dures. Thereafter, when forced to perform a new
action, someone in the bureaucracy (probably The slow decision-making process of a com-
one of your pregenerated flunkies) must make mittee within a bureaucracy can be simulated
an Intelligence check. Failure means a delay of by casting ld6 for each decision-maker. The
total equals the number of hours, days, weeks,
one combat round or one turn(dependingon the or months required for the organization to
reach a consensus. Decide which unit of time to
situation)before another check can be made. The use based upon the urgency of the issue at
organization either ads in the manner in which it hand. For example, if the six members of the
has been trained, or does nothing until the deci- Fallorian Alliance must decide whether to back
sion-maker succeeds the Intelligence check. This Bakshra’s military plans against the Church of
penalty does not apply to professionals. Gonroll, you might roll 6d6 and determine that
they will reach a consensus in 20 weeks. How-
For example, if the guards of a merchant ever, if Bakshra begins the campaign on his
fort are not specifically trained to respond to own, it may take only 20 hours for the group to
reach a consensus. A single reaction roll can be
escape attempts by prisoners, they will not used to determine the ultimate decision.
perform well when the PCs make a prison
break. Consequently, the commander of the
guard must make an Intelligence check before

trying Tracking checks or requesting help

Villainous Organizations 33

This section describes how to introduce accommodate, but do not require, in-depth
and integrate villains into your campaign. We role-playing. This makes them great for tour-
will begin by looking at the most common naments or as introductions to the game for
ways to create a plot for your adventure. We beginners. This approach characterizes what is
then provide some practical advice on how to often called the "classic dungeon crawl."
incorporate a villain into both linear and
matrix adventures. Finally, we present a new A villain in a map-first adventure is usually
way to prepare villain encounters. an intrinsic part of the mapped area. The
assumption is that some malign intelligence
Creating a Plot has laid the obstacles in the adventurers' path
and may even be monitoring their progress
Now that you have defined your villain, he through the complex. Villains in a map-first
is ready to enter the world of the living. Do not adventure often taunt and goad the party into
develop the details of your plot before the vil- moving deeper into their lairs.
lain is created. As you will see, well-defined
villains generate plots of their own. A plot Plot-First Method
reflects the unique outlook and attitudes of
your villain. Your villain's actions extend logi- After working through the map first
cally from his motives and needs, which in turn method, many DMs build plot driven adven-
extend from his personality and situation. tures. The DM develops a plot, and creates the
necessary characters and settings to lure the
There are as many ways to create a plot as player characters into the action. This approach
there are DMs creating them. Each method is often used when creating mysteries.
has its own advantages. The most common
approaches are map first, plot first, outcome In plot-first adventures, the action drives
first, and villain first. the characters. For example, a DM may decide
that the crown jewels will be stolen and the
Map-First Method PCs hired to uncover the thief. The DM has
probably devised a crafty way for the villain
Many DMs plan their adventuresby creating to have stolen the jewels, such as a passwall
a dungeon, then worry about how to get the spell used by a sneaky wizard, and created
player characters to go inside it (and why some clues for the players to piece together.
villain would bother to live there in the first
place). These adventures often focus on the This approach is likely to provide more real-
deviousness of traps and monster encounters ism compared to map-first adventures. Like the
which each DM places in the adventurers' path. map-first approach, the adventure can exist as a
freestandingmodule independent of the wants,
Map-first adventures are often based upon needs, ambitions, and desires of the characters.
puzzle-solving and tests of players' wits, as The problem with this approach is that the PCs
well as their knowledge of obscure rules. They are not involved in the action because of per-
make terrific one-shot adventures and can sonal motivations, making a potentially less
have a great "beer and pretzels" feel. Map- engaging scenario. Consequently, the villain
first adventures are usually linear and can might ultimately be a bad "made-for-TV-
movie" throwaway without much depth.

34 Chapter Four

F

Outcome-First Method ton of treasure.
PLAYER: Yeah, well, we head the other
Some DMs create an exciting climactic or
dramatic moment, working backward to cre- direction. East.
ate a storyline and series of events to bring DM: Er, um. There’s a big river east of town
that moment alive. This approach can resuit
in memorable sessionswhich players will talk that looks too wide to cross.
about for years to come: ”Remember that PLAYER We buy a boat.
night we finally caught up with the one-
legged man and he turned out to be my char- DM: There aren’t any boats in town. In fact,
acter’s father who had gone insane?” the town’s boat-builder has been killed.

The danger of this approach is that you risk PLAYER I have boat-building proficiency.
compromising the players’ sense of free will. DM: Well, all the trees have been burned to
The hallmark of a good DM is the ability to the ground by the dragon, and there’s a giant
have your players convinced that their deci- whirlpool in the river which the townspeople
sions drive the story. Players grow frustrated
say has never been passed.
with a DM whose personal agenda shows PLAYER OK, OK. We head north.
DM: There’s an impassable mountain range
through the thin veil of believability:
DM: You hear a rumor that there is a really to the north.
PLAYER South.
mean dragon capturing children just west of DM: Uh, OK, urn, you head south and an

endless desert stretches out before you.
PLAYER: All right, already! We’ll go fight

troducing Your Villain 35

I

Vilidn-First Method role-playing games. First, something of great
importance to either your villain or heroes
Using this approach, you create a complete should depend upon the actions of the other.
villain before deciding on his actions. A com- Second, these events should arise logically.
plete villain creates plots of his own. As he
grows and changes, experiencing successes For example, it is not enough for Bakshra to
and defeats, he will do the work for you. You stop the flow of snappy hats into the heroes’
can still incorporate all the fun of an exciting town. Your player characters are unlikely to care
dungeon, a devilish conspiracy, or a dramatic about the availability of headwear, and it is even
moment, which all extend logically from the moreunlikely that Bakshra would have an inter-
villain in control. est in preventing people from having hats. This
is not to say that it is impossible, just unlikely.
Focusing on characterization brings believ- Based upon what we know of Bakshra, it is
ability and internal consistency to your adven- more likely that he would try to expand his terri-
tures. You will begin to ask yourself what sort tory into the player characters’ free farmland
of person lives on the tenth level of an under- and wipe out the clerics residing there.
ground dungeon-clearly, someone who is
somewhat impractical, extremely paranoid, Linear vs. Matrix Adventures
and incredibly wealthy (with knowledge of
engineering). You may also begin to ask your- As we mentioned, plot is action. Now you
self questions like, ”How exactZy does your must decide how to bring this action to life.
dungeon-dwelling villain manage to conduct Will you completely plan out the action ahead
his affairs with all those wandering monsters of time? Will you simply set u p a situation
scooting around his place?” and allow your playersto instigate the action?

The risk of creating a villain-fir Two basic approaches can be used to -pre-pare
is that the villain m a j not logically end up in
the players’ path. It is sometimes best to start an adventure. Each method has many varia-
with the kernel of a plot idea, develop your tions, and it is possible to move from one style
villain based upon this, then allow him free- to the other within the same campaign.
dom to pursue other acts of villainy if he sur-
vives the initial adventure. The Linear Adventure

Essential Components of Your Plot This is the most common form of adventuie.
In its purest form, the linear adventure can
Plot is action. It is the process of overcom- amount to a simple dungeon crawl, with the
ing obstacles to achieve a goal. villain waiting in the last room of the dungeon
sitting on a pile of treasure. Each room has one
Actions emerge from the needs of villains. entrance, one exit, and a monster waiting on the
in turn, these actions have an impact upon other side of the door. Another good exampleof
your player characters. The villain does not a linear adventure is the ”pick-a-path” style
necessarily need to initiate the process. In book, in which a reader follows the story to a
fact, the actions of your PCs may provoke a point where he must select between one of sev-
response from a dormant villain. There are eral options. Each option directs the reader to
only two components essential to the plot in continue reading at a different page.

36 Chapter Foul

l

A linear adventure can usually be drawn as Villains in the Linear Adventure
a flow chart, with options and consequences
represented as paths on the chart. It usually A linear adventure allows you to carefully
involves a series of planned encounters and plan every encounter with the villain. The
fixed obstacles, which must be overcome in a risk of the linear adventure is that the villain
certain order. The characters’ actions determine is essentially static or one-dimensional; the
what options remain available to them, as well villain often serves the plot in a linear adven-
as the likelihood of attaining their goal. ture, rather than the plot serving the villain.
Consequently, the personalities of the charac-
A linear adventure is usually time indepen- ters rarely change the probable outcome of
dent, which means that a certain event is the encounter. The adventure resembles an
”programmed” to take place, such as when arcade video game in which players simply
the adventurers walk into a particular room negotiate their way through a series of obsta-
of a dungeon. The event occurs whether the cles, and those obstacles behave in a pre-
PCs walk into the room now or in 10 weeks. dictable and programmed manner.

The successful end of a linear a d v e n m often The Matrix Adventure
involves a particular person, place, or thing
which must be found, defeated, or rescued. The Matrix adventures are designed to give the,
DM can limit the players’ decisions to those PCs greater flexibility and a wider choice of
bringing their characters closer to their goal. options in any given situation. A matrix also
brings added realism to an adventure.
Building a Linear Adventure
The three basic types of matrices are the
Linear adventures have a distinct advan- space matrix, the time matrix, and the power
tage over other adventures: You can prepare matrix. Three types of matrices can expand
for anything during the scenario. Even minor the possibilities of your game: Although each
encounters can be planned in advance. A sim- has its own advantages, they also create
ple linear adventure might involve Bakshra’s unique problems for the DM.
decision to kidnap a local cleric. A diagram of
this adventure is provided on the chart on the The Space Matrix
following page.
A space-matrix adventure allows the PCs to
The party is attacked by highwaymen and explore all regions of a larger area in any order
stands a chance of finding some treasure if it desired. For example, an adventure in an
amusement park would be a space matrix.
travels by land. If the group travels by sea, it Unlike the linear dungeon in which each room
has one entrance, one exit, and must be tra-
is attacked by pirates and also stands to gain versed in sequence, the amusement park has a
treasure. You could use the same treasure for variety of rides and attractions which might be
either encounter. You might use the treasure visited by the adventurers at any time. In fact,
as an opportunity to provide a critical clue to the group might visit a site more than once,
the adventure. On the other hand, you might skipping others altogether. A pure space
want the outcome of the two encounters to be
entirely different and take the party down
drastically different paths toward the conclu-
sion of the adventure.

Introducing Your Villain 37

THE FLOW OF A LINEAR ADVENTURE

Party is told
Bakshra kidnapped

their friend.

Ignore news, start a Travel to rescue by Travel to rescue by
new adventure.

Party is attacked by Party is attacked by
pirates. highwaymen.

Party is defeated. Party is victorious,
Game ends, start a finds treasure.

1 I

Party arrives at
Bakshra's castle.

l

Party attacks Party negotiates
castle. with Bakshra.

I II 1 I 1 I

Party is defeated. Party is victorious Negotiationsfail.
Game ends, start a and return home

I I

38 Chapter Four

matrix places no linear constraints on the out- not only a map of the city, but notes regarding
come of the adventure. It might involve a who would be where and at what times. If the
quest to collect a list of spell components from PCs are not in the right place on the right day at
several wizards in different villages, each of the right time, the queen may die.
which can be visited in any order without
affecting the likelihood of success. The advantage of a time matrix is that it can
add momentum and drama to an adventure.
The advantage of a space matrix is the flex- When players realize that the world is not wait-
ibility it affords the PCs. Players enjoy having ing for them to make decisions, they soon
freedom of will without feeling corralled develop a sense of urgency regarding how they
down a particular path. The weakness of this use their time. The disadvantage of a time
type of matrix is the difficulty it presents the matrix is that it can be very unforgiving of
DM in controlling the action. No encounter player-character mistakes. It is sometimes best
depends upon the outcome of any previous to use time as a way of changing the direction
encounter. A purely spatial matrix ends up of an adventure, rather than making the ulti-
feeling more like a trip to a shopping mall mate success of the adventure dependent on a
rather than an epic adventure; it is difficult to particular hour or date. Instead of making a
build intensity or momentum unless some queen’s life dependent upon the PCs’ timing,
linear elements are incorporated. allow time to tilt the balance of power in the
adventure. For example, in a war between two
Linear components can be mixed into a kingdoms, time may influence which neutral
space matrix by making access to one physical parties ally with the heroes; time does not need
area dependent upon previous visits to others. to determine the outcome of the war.
For example, the adventurers sent to fill a list of
magic components might discover that a wiz- The Power Matrix
ard refuses to see them until they can prove
they have gathered the other components. A power matrix is a radically different
approach to adventure design, and it can be
The Time Matrix incorporated into a game already using a space
and time matrix. It should only be used if you
A time matrix is a feature which can be over- prefer improvisation to planned encounters. In
laid on your space matrix. A time matrix creates a power matrix, you do not plan a sequence of
an adventure where events d o not wait for events or the ultimate outcome of an adven-
player-character participation. An example of a ture. You simply design a set of relationships
time-matrix adventure would be a plot to assas- between a variety of NPCs and plan one
sinate a queen during her visit to a neighboring encounter to serve as a hook for the adventure.
city. The city might have a number of buildings Once the story has started, you allow the
in which the queen will spend time over a diverse needs and personalities of all the char-
period of three days. Her trip could culminate acters involved to perpetuate the plot.
in a parade planned to run the length of the
city‘s main street. The assassins are prepared to Don’t use the power matrix if you do not like
attack at the various buildings during the the possibility of significant and unpredictable
queen‘s visit, and are also ready to strike during power shifts in your campaign. In addition, a
the parade. In this example, you would have power-matrix adventure is more likely to split

Introducing Your Villain 39



I

~

A SPACE MATRW ADVENTURES

The Mission:
Collect a magic component from a wizard in each of the
eight villages and return with them to the castle so that the
king may be curec’

A SPACE/TIME MATRIX ADVENTURE

The Mission:
Collect a magic component from a wizard in each of the
villages and return with them to the castle so that the king
may be cured.
The wizards frequently visit one another. For any village
visited, roll ld6. The wizard is out on a 1 or a 2. The wizard
is in on a 3 or 4. The wizard is being visited by another
wizard on a roll of 5 or 6. Use l d 8 to determine which
wizard is visiting.
It takes one day to travel between adjacent villages. It
takes one day to travel from the castle to any village. You
have 12days to complete the mission.

A POWER MATRIX ADVENTURE

The Mission:
Collect a magic component from a wizard in each of the
eight villages and return with them to the castle so that the
king may be cured.
In addition to the rules established in the Spacerrime
Matrix Adventure, you are to consider the following
rumors:
1. One of the wizards is actually trying to kill the king.
2. One of the wizards wants to fake the king’s death in

order to expose the king’s enemies.
3. One of the wizards will ally with the highest bidder.
4. One of the wizards wants to become counselor to the

king.
You do not know to which wizard any of these rumors may
nnnlv.

r lntroducing Your Villain 41

i

Villains in a Matrix Adventure the action by understanding your NPCs’
goals and desires.
Matrix adventures lend themselves to com-
plex political intrigue. With a power matrix, The third option is a combinationof linear
alliancescan shift and treachery may lie in the and matrix adventures that maintains the
heart of your closest ally. It is important to ”feel” of a matrix. The primary attraction of
allow a distinct villain to emerge from the the matrix is that players believe they are in
shadows early in the adventure, serving as a control of their characters’ actions and have
focus for the player characters’ actions.Once a multitude of options at every step. With a
they have a direction, you may orchestrate well-thought-out combination of linear and
shifts in the relationshipsand the appearance matrix tactics, you can create a hybrid
of new villains, allies, and traitors. adventure that maintains the illusion of
complete freedom of action while there are
It is also possible to create a muddle of actually only a few likely outcomes in any
intentions; the PCs are never certain who to encounter.
trust or who to oppose. Players may have
difficulty with too much ambiguity. If you Enter the Villaln
interpret an event in two ways, a group of
six players will come up with six different Now that your villain has a plot in motion,
interpretations and overlook the two you you need to know how he reactswhen he meets
thought obvious. When running a matrix your player characters. Your primary guide is
adventure, the most important job for the the villain’s personality.The villain’s actions
DM is to know when to provide direction to must be consistent with his character. The illu-
the players. This prevents them from grow- sionof reality requiresconsistency and attention
ing frustrated, or moving in circles. The to detail.The villain needs to react consistently.
players will usually have less di You do not want a greedy villain who one day
distinct villain emerges quickly. happily accepts a bribe but is indignantwhen
offered another. In this section, we will step
.A Third Ontion througha seriesof questionsyou should answer
beforerunning an encounterthat involvesyour
When deciding whether to create a linear villain. You will see that with a well-defined
or matrix adventure (or some combination of character in a focused moment, random rollson
the two), the best approach is the one which readiondiceare unnecessary.
you and your players enjoy most. If you have
limited time, or want to preparein advance, it For example, the player characters travelled
is best to lean toward a linear adventure. unwittingly through Bakshra’s territory and
were attackedby his knights, the Bloodhounds.
If you have more planning time and are The attack seemed to single out the cleric in t
trying to develop an ongoing campaign party, but it left the group badly injured.
world, matrix adventures can force you to
develop aspects of your world which might The PCs decide to seek shelter in a keep
otherwisebe ignored.While a detailed matrix which stands on a hill overlooking the terri-
might require more initial preparation, you tory It is Bakshra’s keep. You decide that they
can often improvise a significant amount of will meet the lord of the manor on his way
home from a hunt.

42 Chapter Four

What Are the Villain's Circumstances? den deception. It may occur to him to invite the
party to his castle in order to nurse the cleric
He is just returning from a recreation
hunt, where he released a cleric in the woods back to health, then release him in a hunt. How-
to be hunted by his men and dogs. He is sur- ever, it is likely that his first thought will be to
rounded by a hunting party of six knights
and a pack of hounds. He is exhilarated. finish the cleric off. Given his state of mind fol-
lowing the hunt, and given the fact that he is
What JustHappened to the Villain? likely to be suspicious of the visitors, he may
simply state, "You are welcome to stay at my
He successfully ended the hunt himself by
running the cleric to exhaustion and killing home,-butI'm afraid there is nothing hican be
him with his scou
ing with his men. done to help your friend.Best just to end his suf-
fering,'' upon which he might bring his horse-
what Is the "himate Objective? man's mace do

Eliminate the cloudy lies of religion by encounter in which your villain confronts the
destroying all churches. player characters,you will find it much easier
to make decisions on the villain's behalf. If
What Is His Current Objective? you are creating a linear adventure, you
should take a moment to jot down your
To find out who is in the band of armed thoughts on each question. If you are impro-
strangersapproaching his keep. He thinks they vising, you should still take a moment before
may be emissaries from one of his allies. He the villain makes an entrance to ensure that
would also like to get home before nightfall. his actions are consistent with his character.

How Will He Achieve This Objective?

He will send out one of his men ahead of
the pack to identify the party of adventurers,
and interrogatethem himself, if necessary.

What Will This Character Do?

If you are uncertain how to respond, F- I' r,j.;
remember that in a crisis, a person often relies
on well-developed abilities.For example:

Let's assume the party takes a defensivepos-
ture toward the approachingrider, and requests
aid for their dying cleric friend. From what we
know of Bakshra, he is not a man given to sud-

I

I Introducing Your Villain 43

ualize your villain and heighten the ize their NPCs. Tone of voice, modulation,
believability of the game’s drama. This can be tempo, and choice of words all contribute to
done through role-playing the villain and cre- bringing your villains to life. Unfortunately,
atively describing events to your players. DMs fall into ruts in how thev use their voices.
Don’t alter your natural manner of speaking
Role-Playing Your Villain unless you can individualize the character,
otherwise every innkeeper begins to sound the
It is usually more dramatic for your players same. Altering one aspect of speaking can often
to learn about a villain through your role- conjure a minor character for the moment.
playing rather than by describing the villain’s
personality. You have a number of vehicles to Choice of words can also characterize
help characterize your villain. lain. Don’t we speak differently when we are
at home than when we appear in a court of
Facial Expression law? Wouldn’t a professor of entomology
speak differently than a gas-station attendant
Your villain’s facial expression contribut who collects bugs in his free time? A villain’s
significantly to engaging your players’ inter- vocabulary varies by his location, his knowl-
est. Does your villain have a habitual expres- dge, and his audienc
sion? A unique expression helps your players
recognize the villain in recurring encounters. Gesture
If you suddenly assume the familiar squint of
an old enemy when the player characters Comedians mimic the habitual gestures of
enter a room, it may be more effective than famous people when doing impersonations.
announcing, ”You open the door to find your When using gestures to characterize a villain,
old arch-rival Saucy Jack squinting in his your approach should extend beyond ”talk-
characteristically shifty manner.” How does ing with your hands.” Think of several ways
your villain use his eyes and his glance? At in which someone might habitually use their
whom does he look when speaking? A villain hands and arms to communicate. Captain
may not necessarily use his face to show his
emotions or mood. Queeg of The Caine Mutiny made a practice of

Depending on his personality, the villain clicking two steel balls together with one
may be more or less inclined to allow his face hand. One of your villains may simply rest a
to indicate his emotions in different situa- few fingers on his temple when speaking, a
tions. For example, people avoid allowing if intensely concent
superiors to see indications of anger, disap-
Habitual Posture
ent, o
Posture can convey personality and emo-
Varying your manner o tion as effectively as voice and gesture. In car-
common method used by DMs to individual- toons, we have seen Canadian mounties
stride about with their chests thrust forward
and their chins held high to display bravery
and self-confidence. Their adversaries skulk
about with their shoulders hunched over and

Y

hands retracted like claws to reveal a sneaky, game into a live-action role-playing game.
predatory nature. A DM can communicate a If you make effective use of the tools
great deal about a character through posture,
w e n while sitting in a chair. available to you, the players will know
when they are in the presence of their char-
Walk acters’ adversary.

A character’s walk is rarely used by DMs Describing Events
role-playing villains, primarily because few
DMs bother to get out of their seats when In addition to the times when you play the
moderating. It can heighten the drama of a role of the villain, the manner in which you
situation considerably if you are willing to describe events can dramatically impact the
move from your chair. Use the room in which game. Remember to show, rather than tell,
you are playing; you might circle your play- and creatively detail the villain’s depravity.
ers, resting your hands on their shoulders,
leaning between them and whispering softly. Show, Don’t Tell
As another character, you might move to the
corner of a room and turn shyly. This method Whenever possible, it is always more effec-
should only be used to accentuate an impor- tive for the player characters to learn about the
tant moment, and not mistakenly turn your villain’s character through the villain’s actions.
It is much less dramatic to be told, ”Bakshra is a

Delivering the Goods 45

really mean man,” than to stumbleupon a fam- tion when they are bored or distracted. Some-
ily that has been attacked by his men and left to times it helps to write ”read to the players”
die by the roadside. However, this is not to say notes for planned encounters prior to a ses-
that unnecessary gore or gruesomeness is the sion. That way you don’t have to worry about
key to portraying a villain. improvising prose while trying to manage
combat and dice rolls.
Attention to Detail

Another tool that makes your villains more
vivid is your attention to detail. You should

always individualizeyour villain and make him

distinct. The more specific the details, the more
vivid the role-playing experience. Whether you
are describing combat or the signing of a treaty,
specificity heightens both the realism and the
emotional response of your players.

If you are having trouble increasing the
level of detail, take an inventory of the scene
in your mind. Rather than tell the heroes that
they see a small farm that looks like it was
destroyed by a dragon, consider each of your
senses and see if you can account for each
thing they detect.

beams of the barn

dairy cows. You smell roas
You don’t need to get carried away with it,
but detail also helps to focus players’ atten-

46 Chapter Five

Monsters into Villains

In this section, we will explain how you can
turn your favorite monster into a villain. We
will discuss certain traits in the monstrous
race you select that are likely to make a more
dramatic villain. You will learn how to create
an entirely new campaign world based upon
your new creations.

Villains vs. Monsters

Throughout this book, we have been talking
about villains, but have not specifically
explained the differencebetweena villain and a
mere monster, or how a monster can rise to the
stature of a true villain. The DUNGEON
MASTER@Guide definesa monster as any crea-
ture that is not of a player-characterrace. The
primary differencebetween monster races and
player-character races is that monsters usually
have a strong racial predispositionto a particu-
lar alignment. As a result, certain monsters are

literallyborn to be bad.

How to Do It
The process of turning a MONSTROUS

COMPENDIUM@entry into a villain can be
even easier than creating a villainfrom a player-
character race. The results can be perverse.You

begin by reading through the entry, then follow

the same process describedin the first chapter
of this book, "Defining Your Villain." You may
be surprised by the ideas which the
MONSTROUSCOMPENDIUM entry provides
as you developyour villain.

Three general approaches can be used to
turn a monster into a villain.

Use the Entry
With this method, you cre

within the constraints of the MONSTROUS

j Monsters into Villains 47

I(

COMPENDIUM@entry. Some monsters, cities of man with armies of sylvan creatures,
including liches, vampires, kenku, and yuan- such as sprites, satyrs, dryads, and korreds, and
ti, can be taken straight from the book and additionally have allowed forest growth to run
developed into compelling villains by using rampant. This is a world where man only has a
the steps for character creation. We will use few scattered villages. You could base an entire
this approach later to create the example of campaign on the efforts of these last outposts of
Lady Silith, a medusa. humanity to organize and defend themselves
from the forest folk.
Modify the Entry
Selecting a Monster
If you think a standard monster might be
interesting if it had a higher intelligence or an The first thing you need to do before creat-
unfortunate shift in alignment, give it a try. ing your monstrous villain is select a monster
An orc or troll leader might be smarter than to transform. Each of the MONSTROUS
the rest. A centaur might make an interesting COMPENDIUM entries bristles with poten-
foe if something had twisted its good nature tial enemies.
toward evil. A gnoll who never breaks his
word could be an interesting lawful evil vari- Intelligence
ation from the "standard" chaotic evil race.
Even an ordinary kobold might become more Your new villain should be a monster of at
ambitious with a few more hit dice and a least average (8-10) intelligence or higher,
troll-like ability to regenerate hit points. presenting an ongoing challenge to your
player characters. A highly intelligent mon-
Freely Interpret the Original ster can anticipate the actions of the adven-
turers and concoct fiendish conspiracies.
This approach begins by simply using a
MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM entry as a Society
creative springboard. This method can be
used to create a unique villain, but some play- Monsters with some sort of society make a
ers will feel cheated if every tough monster good foundation for a villain. A monstrous
they encounter has additional powers. How- society can provide a villain with resources
ever, this strategy can result in dramatic ideas and assistance. It can also suggest logical
which may be the basis of an entire campaign. objectives for your villain. Yuan-ti, kenku,
The DRAGONLANCE" and RAVENLOFT@ and drow all have unique societies that could
campaign worlds are the result of this supply soldiers, gold, followers, or magic.
approach.
Alignment and Free Will
What if you created a new type of monster
loosely based upon the manticore?Imagine this Most monstrous races have a particular
creature as a lawful evil beast given to organiza- alignment. As we will explain in the section
tion and military enterprises.They are extremely on alignments, you should select an adver-
intelligent, territorial, and hostile toward men. sary who is evil, or has an alignment in direct
Suppose these creatures have destroyed the

~~

48 Chapter Six