# Reusable villains: how? (Another "101 ideas" thread)



## Psion (Oct 10, 2002)

Typical heroic movie: Villain battles hero to a standstill. As soon as he sees the tables are turned, he dashes off into the foilage, declaring "we shall meet again!"

Typical D&D game: As above, followed by:
PC: "Don't run, you'll only die tired!", chases down the miscreant and does away with him.

At any rate, I am looking for ways that I can make some villains more indellible. You can only give so many of your villains invisibility, fly, and dimension door spells before it wears thin.

So what other ways can you make villains more reusable. Here's some ideas:

1) Establish a "mercenary code" or somesuch. If a party, being bested in combat, casts their arms down, they can surrender and submit to being ransomed. This code is recognized by local law and those who violate this trust quickly gain a bad reputation and cannot expect the same treatment.

2) Make the villain a noble or some other figure who it would be a crime to kill outright (that one can get old, too.)

Any others?


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## Crothian (Oct 10, 2002)

3) Villians minions fights and hold off PCs as the Villian escapes.  

4) Villian surrenders (only work for a good party that won't kill a person who surrenders).

5) Villian has eloborate escape plan already set up


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## MerakSpielman (Oct 10, 2002)

"Wait! If you swear before your gods to let me go free, I'll tell you where the princess/treasure/bomb is! Otherwise, it will be on your heads! And don't think you can find her/it without this information! You only have one hour before she dies/my henchment take the treasure/the bomb goes off! Promise, NOW!"

And hope the villian makes his saves against the inevitable Charms, Geas, Suggestion, Detect Thoughts, etc that the party is going to try before swearing such an oath.


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## Apok (Oct 10, 2002)

7) The party does away with said villian but he comes back as some form of undead.  There are enough undead templates out there for anyone to come up with something interesting.

8) The part does away with said villian but he is raised or ressurrected, either by some dark deity, a cleric of said deity or some kind of infernal/abyssal pact.  Oodles of roleplaying & plot-twist fun stuff here.  

9) The villian has hostiges that will be summarily killed or tortured if anything happens to him.  This probably won't work unless the party has some shred of moral fibre.


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## Hand of Evil (Oct 10, 2002)

10) Never let the PCs see the villian die or find a body...Death blow and the villian falls from the castle wall into the raging river.  Death blow, the mountain shakes, lava flows, the PCs have to run for it, leaving the villian behind.

11) Public office - damn it Jim!  He is a congressman!  

12) Surrender - I give up, I will allow myself to be taken and see what the King has in store for me!  Sir, paladin, I repent and wish go to trial, protect me until the church finds just punishment for my crimes. (note: this is an alignment issue and deals a lot with what is defined as evil in your games).

13) Magic - Item takes the soul of the villian, later to be released into another boby or henchmen raise the dead on him.


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## Psion (Oct 10, 2002)

Apok said:
			
		

> *7) The party does away with said villian but he comes back as some form of undead.  There are enough undead templates out there for anyone to come up with something interesting.
> *




This one I actually am using in short order. My players defeated a traitorous aristocrat turned blackguard (who follows a goddess of undeath) whose body fell into a negative energy nexus. Death knight, here I come...


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## RangerWickett (Oct 10, 2002)

11. A delayed version of the psionic power "mind seed."  Pick the best roleplayer in your group (or if you don't have one, pick the NPC they care about the most), and have the character slowly begin to adopt unusual behaviors, then eventually leave for a time before coming back as the villain.

Be forewarned, it seems that a lot of players take it personally if you collaborate with another player.  I tried this with my group, and they thought I was cheating.  Grr.

12. The PCs actually killed her twin sister!  So she's still around, and pissed enough to want revenge.

13. Devoted followers who have readied teleport spells.  Even if the villain wants to stay and fight, his henchmen will carry him off to safety after two rounds of combat.

14. Set up in advance that the villain is immortal.  If he dies, he just reincarnates, or perhaps his body totally heals.  The party must either change his ways, or find a way to thwart him that's a little more inventive than kacking him.


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## Xarlen (Oct 10, 2002)

15) Regeneration. Perhaps the wizard did some ritual where he absorbed some troll blood, and thus after death, begins to reform. But it's slower, so it could take him days. Regeneration from a ring or magial item that was Implated in him, or she was gifted with the power through an infernal pact.

16) Watch the movie Fallen. The badguy is a spirit that inhabits body after body, by touch or possession, and to kill him, they have to put him in a situation he cannot possess anyone nearby.

17) Like the above poster said, have situations where the PCs can't see the body. Villain about to die? Have her jump off a roof/high rise/whatever, and a web spell/levitate/featherfall waiting. Cave the ceiling in, have the house they're in on fire. 

18) Body doubles. In the Slaver series (I believe), the elf wizardess would kidnap elves that looked like her, changen their apperance, and brainwash them so they thought/acted like her, and thus used several of them to pose as herself. 

19) Contingencies. Need I say more?  

20) Other spells like Wall of Force, Ghostform, Ethereal Jaunt, Gaseous Form, etc.

21) A Bigger Distraction. They're about to kill the villain? Have something bigger, nastier, etc etc, break in near the end of the fight. Could be the hook for the Next adventure, could be an ally of the villain, a random monster, a pet, etc. While the party fights the bigger threat, their nemesis bolts.


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## roytheodd (Oct 10, 2002)

Villain can polymorph and escape by flying or leaping or some such.

Villain is a doppleganger and hides by entering crowds.

Villain rarely engages in fights and leaves while his minions are still hashing it out.

Villain is an illusion, while real villain hides off in the shadows or some such.

Villain flees the PCs and leads them down a prescribed path that allows an ultimate getaway (like leaping over a waterfall and having some fantastic way of surviving).

Villain feigns death.

Villain is a lackey to a bigger villain.


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## AegisEversoaring (Oct 10, 2002)

*One of my favorites...*

The villian is a trusted ally of someone the party also trusts. An advisor to a monarch or noble, or a mayors trusted deputy with a dark secret.
On the surface, the villian does his job well, but underneath they are leading another life entirely.

Aegis


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## Zappo (Oct 10, 2002)

30) Villain is using _astral projection_ from another Prime world, and practically can't be killed.

Beat that.


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## Jürgen Hubert (Oct 10, 2002)

In my current GURPS Warhammer campaign, I am using a villain based on the Argus of Greek mythology, a monster with one hundred eyes.

So far, all the PCs have met of him are several floating eyeballs who try to zip off as soon as the PCs realize their true nature...


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## Psion (Oct 10, 2002)

Okay, guys. We know there are lots of interesting spells that will do the tricks.

However...

I was sort of hoping for some answers for fighter or rogue types as well.


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## Xarlen (Oct 10, 2002)

Well, potions, and magical items are good. How about a jar that's painted black. Inside is a rock with 'Darkness' cast on it. You throw the jar down, it breaks, darkness is let out, you excape. Or a potion of spiderclimb.


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## Hand of Evil (Oct 10, 2002)

The switch - villian runs into a room with the players hot on his tail, only to see him run out another door, they follow with weapons drawn.  Villian has switched places, a henchman is now running from the players as the villian uses his escape hatch!

The lie - The villian is beaten, the heros are about to kill him, when he says "kill me and you will never stop my master!"  This would use his skills, bluff, dipolmacy, and such.  

The hostage - while the heros are out to get the bad guy, the villian has dispatched men to capture and hold as hostage PCs family members.  He now uses them as chips to make his get away.


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## Don Carnage (Oct 10, 2002)

Divine Intervention - My current villain is a blackguard that is terrorizing the party. He's big, bad, and will be defeated. Likely, he'll be killed. 

When he does, I'm going to have his diety raise him as a Death Knight.


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## Psion (Oct 11, 2002)

Don Carnage said:
			
		

> *Divine Intervention - My current villain is a blackguard that is terrorizing the party. He's big, bad, and will be defeated. Likely, he'll be killed.
> 
> When he does, I'm going to have his diety raise him as a Death Knight. *




Gee, that sounds familiar.


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## Orclicker (Oct 11, 2002)

All of this and much more ic covered in great detail in Kenzer's Villain Design Handbook.


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## Don Carnage (Oct 11, 2002)

Psion said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Gee, that sounds familiar.  *




*Whistles innocently*


A wise man once said_, "Originality is hiding your sources."_


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## Xarlen (Oct 11, 2002)

What about...

"Behind you!" And then proceed to run like the dickens?


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## rounser (Oct 11, 2002)

Couple of ideas...

Gnomitech getaway contraptions may be worth a try, such as alchemical rocketpacks or helipacks for fighters, or batman/spiderman contraptions for rogues (maybe a self-winching crossbow harpoon rigged with customised _immovable rod_ ammo).  Then there's always the "I'm holding a thermal detonator" trick, gnomitech style.  Of course, it helps if the villain is a gnome...

A rogue or fighter who appears with several clones of himself/herself is another option.  The PCs may be able to stop one from getting away, but three?  Perhaps every time the villain turns up, there are more clones than last time, not to mention that the villain can be in many places at once.  That should get the PCs vaguely worried...


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## kenjib (Oct 11, 2002)

Here are some that don't rely on magic:

At lower levels without barbarians and monks in the party the run and endurance feats are still useful for escaping.

The villain can be politically entrenched such that the heroes need irrefutable proof of his villany before they can act openly against him.  Perhaps he is the court wizard, or chamberlain.  Perhaps he is a very influential and well respected senator.

The villain knows a secret or holds a key that the players need.  For example, only the villain knows where he has hidden the key that opens a forbidden book of lore needed to banish his more powerful master, or the players are lost deep underground and the villain knows the only path out.


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## corzican (Oct 11, 2002)

Best Friend/Greatest Foe:  The party's enemy turns out to be the best friend of a party member, perhaps even a relative.  They may be cursed or forced to be wicked, but then again they may just be naughty.  Any time they meet, though, the villain takes it easy on the PC.  Not really worth it if the PC's would stab their mother in the back then reanimate her to clean their clothes . . .

Use of Delaying Exposition (Ex): The villain uses her natural ability to spout out all the evil details of his plans to her advantage.  As she tells all, her minions come up behind the PC's, catch them flat-footed.  Will Save to resist.

Escape Route Traps to fit your Players: All villains have their escape routes laid with traps along the way to stop the advancement of the heroes.  My personal preferences on obstacles are ale houses and brothels.


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## Hand of Evil (Oct 11, 2002)

Being a family member - Mom, I told you to stop interfering in my life!  One of my best villians was the mother NPC of one of the player characters.


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## Psion (Oct 11, 2002)

Here's a few I don't think anyone has mentioned:

- Villain knows the terrain better, and can lead persuers across traps, knows secret hiding spots, etc.

- Villain really doesn't do anything wrong, at least that the party can prove or knows for sure. This might not stop a CN party, but lawful and good parties might have reason to wait until they know for sure.
- As above, but villain is not really a villain, but a red herring -- but still irritating as hell. Think Snape.


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## kibbitz (Oct 11, 2002)

Hand of Evil said:
			
		

> *10) Never let the PCs see the villian die or find a body...Death blow and the villian falls from the castle wall into the raging river.  Death blow, the mountain shakes, lava flows, the PCs have to run for it, leaving the villian behind.
> 
> 11) Public office - damn it Jim!  He is a congressman!
> 
> ...




No #10 reminds me too much of Murdoch from MacGyver


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## Hand of Evil (Oct 11, 2002)

Likeable - The villian is likeable.  He could at one time been a henchman, but he is a nice person, lot of fun, even helps out the PCs every now and then but is their oppenent more times than not.  

Works well as a swashbuckeer, highway man, lots of flash, smiles, and such, never kills the PCs, may tie them up, even seduce one or two or three of them.


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## Psion (Oct 11, 2002)

> *
> Likeable - The villian is likeable. He could at one time been a henchman, but he is a nice person, lot of fun, even helps out the PCs every now and then but is their oppenent more times than not.
> *




A bit of a tangent, this reminds me of what someone was saying about Sagiro's story hour... how some of the bad guys had goals that, while the PCs could not afford to let come to pass, the PCs could at least undestand what their reasoning.


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## Psion (Oct 15, 2002)

Shameless bump...


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## Deadguy (Oct 15, 2002)

I know several people have mentioned ways in which a character can escape. I merely want to add that it is a good idea for a recurring villain to be smart. If he's smart enough he legs it _before_ the PCs catch up with him. Rather than the climactic fight which the villain loses and _then_ tries to escape, let him realise before the PCs reach him. Instead of fighting him, let them fight the henchmen and then find clues as to the boss.

The problem of trying to recreate the film/novel trope of the "we shall meet again!" villain is that the trope only works because the writer has the power to stop the hero from pursuing. The only plausible one I have seen that doesn't stretch believability too far is to have other things that the PCs _must_ do rather than pursue the villain. Rescuing hostages has been mentioned, but there's also things like preventing the trapped demon being released, disabling the device that will destroy the town, stopping the eruption, etc. If they _still_ prefer to chase the villain, just make sure that the XP award reflects their failure to complete necessary tasks.


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## Pyske (Oct 15, 2002)

Bluff to feign death.

Attack the PCs mounts / transport, and then flee on your own.

Run around corner, hide. (Generally best after a couple rounds running start.)

Hold back reinforcements to engage the PCs as you flee... or kill / hold hostage unconscious PCs if they party gives chase.

Snipe and hide if someone comes toward you.

Use cover to prevent 'parting shots'.

Potion:  Expeditious Retreat  (A 50 gp death cheat.)

Retreat into an area known to be dangerous / unexplored.

Branching, zigzag corridors limit sight distance, may lose pursuers who take the wrong path.

Duck around corner into secret bolthole which requires search to find.  PCs may keep running if cover would allow position farther away.

Death magic / sacrifice magic.  PCs are more likely to accept surrender if opponent who will die anyway can make "final blow" likely to kill a PC.  Can also work with all-out power attack.

 . . . . . . . -- Eric


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## kibbitz (Oct 15, 2002)

With regards to the "bluff to feign death" bit, do you guys ever encounter nasty players who believe in another bullet to the head as insurance?


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## Grundle (Oct 15, 2002)

kibbitz said:
			
		

> *With regards to the "bluff to feign death" bit, do you guys ever encounter nasty players who believe in another bullet to the head as insurance?  *




Most people will only fall for something one time.  Once they "kill" the bad guy but he comes back.  Rest assured they will take every precaution to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Every big bad guy my group drops to negative HP will, at a minimum, loose his head.  If time and resources allow, the body will be cremated and ashes dispersed, disintegrated, or dismembered and piece-by-piece FedEx'ed to the outerplanes.


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## drnuncheon (Oct 15, 2002)

Really, the best idea is not to let the PCs meet the master villain unless you're ready for him to die.

*"What do you mean, he melted?"*
At high levels - or with wealthy villains - there's always the possibility of the _simulacrum_ spell, or other 'cloning'-type 
spells.  

*Power Behind the Throne*
The big bad guy wasn't who you thought it was - he was under the influence (as a willing servitor or unwilling dupe) of the _real_ villain.

*"I'm Spartacus!*
Using disguise skills and/or magic, the villain's fanatically loyal henchman has taken his place - he's the one that the PCs are fighting!

*"Have you ever considered piracy? You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts."*
The villain isn't so much a person as it is a title or position - and if you strike one down another will come forth to take his place.  If you do it right, this will give the players _fits_ as they try to figure out how their old nemesis could have survived, and how he managed to get all of these new abilities...

*"If you strike me down, I shall return - more powerful than you can possibly imagine."*
Make the death part of the villain's Master Plan.  Maybe he's got a trick up his sleeve that will let him get ressurrected far away.  Maybe the death will give him more power. ("The red dragon we slew turned into a draco_what_?")

*Revenge or Rescue?*
Give the PCs something else to worry about than chasing the villain down.  Maybe there's a time limit and they've got to rescue a friend, companion, lover, schoolbus full of nuns and orphans, whatever.  Maybe he opened the floodgates when he realized he was losing and the water is rushing in.

J


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