I made a villain called "The Blackbird" who just keeps helping out my players. He appears as blackbirds and seems to be omniscient. They're so terrified of why, they're focussing everything on defeating him, knowing that there must be some reason he wants them to complete the main quest (Stopping the Giant uprising). Every person they meet just wants the giants defeated, but my party is so terrified why The Blackbird also wants the giants defeated. They're terrified of helping him. And that's why he's so loved by the players. They love that he's important somehow, but they don't know whether they should kill him or not. Love this game.
It may sound corny, but I had a wizard villian of a campaign that actually had a entrance theme. He would use an illusion spell to create pipe organ music and turn all of the lights in the area violet. He was an egomaniac and he loved to put on a show.
my players would red wedding the villian before killing them just to let them know the extent to which they fucked up assuming the players were not psychopaths
I'm running my first campaign after watching dice, camera, action! My main villain is a Ancient black dragon with an eye of a medusa in place of one of his own eyes! He even collects his victims and keeps them organized in his lair!
FlyingAxblade I thought about adding a chess board in as well. They can either play the game to pass through or battle but the opposing "cleric" chess pieces actually heal the attacking pieces.
I like to go to Kobold Fight Club and randomly generate encounters. What are 2 spies doing with an allosaurus? Maybe they're animal rights activists rescuing them from a dog fighting ring. 4 Kobolds and a quasit? What if the Quasit is shape shifted into a fairy dragon and has been leading what they think is a dragon cult when really they're being groomed into demon hosts.
I like the idea! Mixing it with Chris's "boss plus something" idea, maybe the goblin/kobold boss is riding the creature to intimidate the others who are the actual activists and are in the middle of trying to stop him. Enter the party, who are all wondering why they are all teaming up on the boss/rider.
As a fun exercise I like to open up a random number generator, press it twice and go to those pages of the monster manual to create an encounter bsed on those 2 monsters... can end up with some interesting results.
I use to do a similar thing, but with treasure. I'd roll the random treasure hoard generator, ask myself, "What set of circumstances led to these items all being gathered in the same place," then build a dungeon or adventure around that.
I like having a villain for each of play that reports to someone more powerful. The characters then have to deal with the next boss as they go up in tiiers. So the evil conjurer reports to an oath breaker paladin who works with a necomancer. They report to an evil cleric. Finally at the top tier they face a major devil . The threat increases as the character levels do.
Chasm Bridge, the scenario Chris mentions, was great. The villain had been an adventurer who’s legs had been slice off. His party says they will comeback with help, but never do. Stranded in the Underdark by a chasm, comes up with scheme to use magic to build a bridge across the chasm. Hires ogres to collect tolls. It all works great under some deep gnome build a wire rope bridge. Wizard hires gargoyle to attack the gnomes. Then enter the PCs.
My current villain is a lich who does bad things in order to stop a tarrasque from waking. He has a death knight companion who is truly evil and wants to use the ritual to control the tarrasque. When the players figure out what the lich is doing, they can either let him finish the ritual and his death knight partner becomes the real villain. Or they can kill the lich and one of the party can sacrifice themselves in order to kill the beast. The death knight still posing a threat however.
A wizard plots a noble cause, but doesn't realize it will harm the innocent on a grand scale. He will not listen to reason as he is convinced his quest is for the greater good. He must be stopped before countless people are harmed, but he is the kindest and most gentle being. He is beloved by all, and many afflicted rely on his generosity (think John Hammond's character in Jurassic park). People love him so much in fact, they will protect and serve him at all cost, meaning that the party must oppose the popular opinion and may even clash blades with innocent, good hearted people. Without any proof of a catastrophe, the party may be labeled criminals and conspirators for their good deed. There will be no parade, no bard song for the death of the kind wizard. When the deed is done, there was no guarantee the wizard's plans would have brought disaster, and it leaves the party wondering if their quest giver had ulterior motives.
Great video! Liked the monster manual suggestion, don't know why I never thought of that. While it wasn't overtly stated in the video, it's basically really reinforced that giving characters your villain is invested in or even cares about can really flesh that villain out, as can defining what the limits of those investments and cares are.
wow... the Dragon having a Will of the Wisp nearby example was eerily similar to a Boss to a major campaign that I had.. A straight up Pirate King who was given the Title of the "Sea King." A bit of mystery surrounds it as its a title that is passed down, so any influential guy can be the Sea King.. but he has been fervently searching for an artifact, because he has this wrapped up object that he seems to talk to... the final fight ended with a typical tough Swordsman and mook pirates, where half-way through, the Players could hear this ominous voice, declaring that "This mortal's use has run out." and to their horror, they saw this swordsman--battered, beaten, cut up, began to twist and contort in inhuman ways, almost like a puppet. .. and suddenly was casting magic through this blank stare. The Sea King's henchmen, that were there as just extra bodies, became horrified and fled the battle, which made things a little easier for the players in this last section of the fight. The campaign ended with the party deciding on chasing after this powerful being that controlled the Sea King, and possibly trying to save his soul. It was by far, the most memorable fight for the party, and they all went in with the expectation that they could be TPK'd.
Giving your players options is important. I once had this homicidal giant octopus that was fully intended to be a fight. My players ended up talking it down and giving it a shiny stick. Diplomacy turned out much more hilarious than the intended outcome
I really like the themes behind goblins, expecially as described in volo's, so I gave a goblin a circlet of intelligence, now he is the Great Booyagh and my players hate him because he keeps sending goblins after the players while they are on important missions. He's a minor villian, but one they'll surely enjoy fighting!
circlet of int is a great item for villains in general. mark hulmes used it on a strange lizard creature in his campaign in high rollers, the lizard become smart enough to create and operate bizarre surgical equipment and used it for really nasty deeds.
I've been adding my villains to my campaign but show cased as lower level non player characters in other guys games so they can meet them, and so when I reveal them in my campaign later they'll be all the more interesting as they've already spent time with them as an Ally. Last week I introduced the 4th of 5 of these characters a great old one high elf Warlock, who they all loved as he was quite mad and quite effective, in fact one of my players offhandedly remarked"Glad he's on ourside". Oh if only he knew, well he'll know soon. Anyways I find that to be the more fun way to introduce villains as it gives the players a chance to really get to know them and makes them all the more difficult to have to face later as a foe.
Here's a mix I made: A drow necromancer who works with a crime lord, who just happens to be a rakshasa, to take over a kingdom. Oh yeah, he also works with an assassin, who works for the rakshasa, and he hired an orog to be his bodyguard. Both are minibosses, but the necromancer and rakshasa are the main bosses.
I think the best villain is one that is lawful good, and trying to make the world better, but failing terribly about doing it. A person who is a king and despised by his people for overtaxing them and preventing many freedoms because an oracle told him of a coming danger that he will need the people in line for and money to prepare soldiers to fight. Or even one who is trying to defeat a hoard of evil beasts, but wants to be the war hero, so he needs to kill the party so that his fame lives on forever and isn't shared.
What about a Lich releasing a Tarrasque? The Lich wanting to start a new world and uses the Tarrasque as a catalyst for a great Cataclysm? Edit: I may have run this as the epic finale of a campaign... and two or more of the party may have died.
One of my main villains in my Spelljammer campaign is an illithid who genuinely wants to bridge the gap between the Illithids (who are still a powerful empire post-Gith) and the other races, but who keeps getting sent on missions to attack the heroes.
In one of my worlds the last Purple dragon works alongside the last illithids taking over adventurer's minds, making them their slaves, as neither want to physically leave the underdark as extinction can come.
I like the idea of a villainous wizard who is in a relationship with his right hand man. They are lovers; the wizard is quite affectionate, but his hubby is embarrassed and doesn't like to advertise their relationship. So, some depth there. More to the point, if the PCs ever kill one of them, the other will go apeshit from grief, and seek revenge and/or the destruction of everything around them (because hey, since "he" is gone, does anything matter anymore?). I could easily see the right hand man (let's call him a Fighter) gathering a posse of dudes to hunt the party down, while the wizard would go mad and start raising an army of the dead. (Let's assume the wizard in this case isn't a necromancer, typically. People turn to terrible powers when burdened by loss).
I have this concept for a BBEG that took 7 broken adventurers and turned them into Generals in his monster army, each member representing a Deadly Sin linked to their special powers and back story. The BBEG themselves were also a adventurer turned villain that wants to purge the gods and devils with a legion of monsters of all kind under one banner, it's probably cliche and edgelordy though
Ive got it and your welcome. Take one death knight with pirate sub classes. One flying carpet, one masquerade mask, a set of golden spurs a large floppy hat, a pitchfork hand. His fire balls are bird shaped and uses tk push and pull.
I have a great idea for a Jester that keeps following my players around. I imagine ominous yet vibrant circus music when my players encounter him. Does anyone have some ideas to develop this character?
If you are still working on the idea make several of them. A Circus themed group of people that attack your players. A strong man/woman, a diviner, a clown or jester, a ringmaster, a marksman of some sort, acrobats, etc. Make them a family and they are all under a demonic pact or a treat of dead and have to target your players or something bad could happen
how about a night hag, with a warlock pact with an undying patron. I think the soul trade could be an interesting hook, and provide some synergy. The night hag as the initial baddie, the when the party either gets close to or defeats her, the lich will come to bear.
I've been having this idea for a "villain", who is essentially a frustratingly effective bounty hunter. Whenever the party is encountering certain NPC's or minibosses, this bounty hunter always seems to be a step ahead of them, or swoops in on the final moment of victory, and arrests the NPC the party had been dealing with, before fleeing. More of a "rival", than a villain, per se...but their ability to meddle in the party's affairs is actually more hands-on than a villain proper.
The main villian in my canpaing is a big scar't minotaur. Hé was kept as a slave his entire life and saw other minotaur's being slave'd as wel. But at some piont hé escaped. Hé then encounter't a dark wizard Who tolt him that it is his destiny to lead all minotaur's to take over. If he collected four magic rings hé woud be really strong and can collect groups of minotaur's. Mine player's met him when hé was pretending to be a farmer. Hé tolt them about the rings and that hé waned them ( but hé did not tolt them about his plan). When they found all of then hé betrayed them and escaped. And the they had to fight agianst him and his army many times before they defeated him.
Something small that I’ve done recently is I took an ancient green dragon and just gave it the shapeshifting ability of the metallic dragons. I used it’s desire to control people along with its human form together so that it could infiltrate deep into the political system of the land and get installed as a second-in-charge (stage a coup, marry the king etc). The ruler becomes a puppet leader who rides their dragon into battle, and if the heroes get too involved then the dragon queen can approach them and offer favours and help to overthrow the tyrannical abusive King.
What about a Prince who is cursed with permenant invisibility who just wants to be seen/noticed by his dead father (the king) and can only be seen through a mirrored wall in his father's throne room with his father still in the throne?
My dm created a green dragon that a certain member of my party decided to give a book of really powerful versions of standard spells and he’s know one of our most dangerous enemies
I once had an 'antagonist' group "The Black Templars", people seeking out to destroy devils, but were hunting down Tieflings at one point that weren't prominently known in the world (which the party had to protect). Some of those Black Templars were brainwashed (only a few REAL villains were in a group ever), but most of them were just general people who had been attacked by devils in the past and just were eager to join the fight against demons. They came into contact with the Tieflings, who were extremely desperate and out of options, so obviously this spiked up the need for the players to protect them. In the end, the main badguy was a higher-ranked demon that just wanted to make sure no devil-blood was remaining in the world he eventually wanted to conquer... So yeah, the party ended up having issues about not being found out in saving the Tieflings, but also that they didn't kill innocent people who just wanted to protect their homes and didn't know better... :-P
I guess I'll have to ruin it... Goblin Boss and his hoard have come across "The Singing Bush" and transplant it to a cross-roads to draw unsuspecting travellers in for looting... if you don't know about "The Singing Bush" I'd suggest you watch "The Three Amigos"... AND if so inspired, I'm sure somebody can create the narrative for one of the goblins (even the boss?) ending up invisible and armed with a "sword" or similar instrument... at least until he manages to get shot. ;o)
Having a evil cult leader who abuses their servant but after being defeated the servant is revealed to be the avatar of the evil god the cult worshipped.
How about a Draconic Sorceror who when angry or spellcasting her body manifests birthmarks revealing that she's a wood elf but her Sorceror mark means she appears like a plain faced human? The twist being she's a terrifying foe to those who fall foul of her personal code of honour, but a loyal friend. So she befriends one party member, but despises another who due to her age is viewed as a ruthless monster responsible for killing entire armies and powerful adversaries albeit she did these because they committed horrifying crimes on behalf of their country/faith/personal glory and she had no choice but to end their rampage. Imagine a paladin-like heroine who isn't interested in glory or power, already dealing with her own personal problems but finding herself the only defence against genocidal maniacs wrongly viewed as "heroic"
I made a villain called "The Blackbird" who just keeps helping out my players. He appears as blackbirds and seems to be omniscient. They're so terrified of why, they're focussing everything on defeating him, knowing that there must be some reason he wants them to complete the main quest (Stopping the Giant uprising).
Every person they meet just wants the giants defeated, but my party is so terrified why The Blackbird also wants the giants defeated. They're terrified of helping him. And that's why he's so loved by the players. They love that he's important somehow, but they don't know whether they should kill him or not. Love this game.
Sounds awesome!
How did that play out in the end?
I know it's been a long time, but I would very much like to know how things went with him
It may sound corny, but I had a wizard villian of a campaign that actually had a entrance theme. He would use an illusion spell to create pipe organ music and turn all of the lights in the area violet. He was an egomaniac and he loved to put on a show.
No no that’s brilliant!!
I like how Todd actually spent a little time at the beginning talking about his take on villains. You have good things to contribute too!
Pregnant villain? That's brilliant.
*Pregnant male villain
Sure, why not.
I always thought D&D needed more seahorse villains.
"Seahorses are stat-ed in the Monster Manual and by God, I'm going to use them!"
I've seen it done before. We still killed her.
my players would red wedding the villian before killing them just to let them know the extent to which they fucked up assuming the players were not psychopaths
I sort of subconsciously do these things anyway, but hearing it spelled out like that really inspires me!
I kinda love it when my player outsmarts the villain (and me), and takes them down with poison or something like that.
My players used the suggestion spell to tell a bone devil to go back to hell. It failed the save, said goodbye and left.
todds intro on this one is great! feels like he is in his element a little more! great job yall
It looked like he was reading from a script. Maybe he wrote it, at least!
I'm running my first campaign after watching dice, camera, action! My main villain is a Ancient black dragon with an eye of a medusa in place of one of his own eyes! He even collects his victims and keeps them organized in his lair!
FlyingAxblade I thought about adding a chess board in as well. They can either play the game to pass through or battle but the opposing "cleric" chess pieces actually heal the attacking pieces.
yo that's an awesome idea
"goblin boss and an awakened rhinoceros" instantly as he said that my mind decided to twist it into a goblin riding atop a gorgon lol.
A pregnant villian? That's absolutely genius!
This gives one many great ideas for further villians. Ty Mr.Perky
I like to go to Kobold Fight Club and randomly generate encounters. What are 2 spies doing with an allosaurus? Maybe they're animal rights activists rescuing them from a dog fighting ring. 4 Kobolds and a quasit? What if the Quasit is shape shifted into a fairy dragon and has been leading what they think is a dragon cult when really they're being groomed into demon hosts.
I like the idea! Mixing it with Chris's "boss plus something" idea, maybe the goblin/kobold boss is riding the creature to intimidate the others who are the actual activists and are in the middle of trying to stop him. Enter the party, who are all wondering why they are all teaming up on the boss/rider.
As a fun exercise I like to open up a random number generator, press it twice and go to those pages of the monster manual to create an encounter bsed on those 2 monsters... can end up with some interesting results.
I use to do a similar thing, but with treasure. I'd roll the random treasure hoard generator, ask myself, "What set of circumstances led to these items all being gathered in the same place," then build a dungeon or adventure around that.
I like having a villain for each of play that reports to someone more powerful.
The characters then have to deal with the next boss as they go up in tiiers.
So the evil conjurer reports to an oath breaker paladin who works with a necomancer. They report to an evil cleric. Finally at the top tier they face a major devil . The threat increases as the character levels do.
Chasm Bridge, the scenario Chris mentions, was great. The villain had been an adventurer who’s legs had been slice off. His party says they will comeback with help, but never do. Stranded in the Underdark by a chasm, comes up with scheme to use magic to build a bridge across the chasm. Hires ogres to collect tolls. It all works great under some deep gnome build a wire rope bridge. Wizard hires gargoyle to attack the gnomes. Then enter the PCs.
My current villain is a lich who does bad things in order to stop a tarrasque from waking. He has a death knight companion who is truly evil and wants to use the ritual to control the tarrasque. When the players figure out what the lich is doing, they can either let him finish the ritual and his death knight partner becomes the real villain. Or they can kill the lich and one of the party can sacrifice themselves in order to kill the beast. The death knight still posing a threat however.
Can we move the camera to the right a little---or Chris to the left---and complete the awesome demon wings effect?? :)
A wizard plots a noble cause, but doesn't realize it will harm the innocent on a grand scale. He will not listen to reason as he is convinced his quest is for the greater good. He must be stopped before countless people are harmed, but he is the kindest and most gentle being. He is beloved by all, and many afflicted rely on his generosity (think John Hammond's character in Jurassic park). People love him so much in fact, they will protect and serve him at all cost, meaning that the party must oppose the popular opinion and may even clash blades with innocent, good hearted people.
Without any proof of a catastrophe, the party may be labeled criminals and conspirators for their good deed. There will be no parade, no bard song for the death of the kind wizard. When the deed is done, there was no guarantee the wizard's plans would have brought disaster, and it leaves the party wondering if their quest giver had ulterior motives.
Great video! Liked the monster manual suggestion, don't know why I never thought of that. While it wasn't overtly stated in the video, it's basically really reinforced that giving characters your villain is invested in or even cares about can really flesh that villain out, as can defining what the limits of those investments and cares are.
wow... the Dragon having a Will of the Wisp nearby example was eerily similar to a Boss to a major campaign that I had.. A straight up Pirate King who was given the Title of the "Sea King." A bit of mystery surrounds it as its a title that is passed down, so any influential guy can be the Sea King.. but he has been fervently searching for an artifact, because he has this wrapped up object that he seems to talk to...
the final fight ended with a typical tough Swordsman and mook pirates, where half-way through, the Players could hear this ominous voice, declaring that "This mortal's use has run out." and to their horror, they saw this swordsman--battered, beaten, cut up, began to twist and contort in inhuman ways, almost like a puppet. .. and suddenly was casting magic through this blank stare. The Sea King's henchmen, that were there as just extra bodies, became horrified and fled the battle, which made things a little easier for the players in this last section of the fight. The campaign ended with the party deciding on chasing after this powerful being that controlled the Sea King, and possibly trying to save his soul. It was by far, the most memorable fight for the party, and they all went in with the expectation that they could be TPK'd.
Giving your players options is important. I once had this homicidal giant octopus that was fully intended to be a fight. My players ended up talking it down and giving it a shiny stick. Diplomacy turned out much more hilarious than the intended outcome
I really like the themes behind goblins, expecially as described in volo's, so I gave a goblin a circlet of intelligence, now he is the Great Booyagh and my players hate him because he keeps sending goblins after the players while they are on important missions. He's a minor villian, but one they'll surely enjoy fighting!
circlet of int is a great item for villains in general. mark hulmes used it on a strange lizard creature in his campaign in high rollers, the lizard become smart enough to create and operate bizarre surgical equipment and used it for really nasty deeds.
To be fair, it was a Yuan-Ti. So it was probably still smart enough to be a villain. The circlet just made him more so.
I've been adding my villains to my campaign but show cased as lower level non player characters in other guys games so they can meet them, and so when I reveal them in my campaign later they'll be all the more interesting as they've already spent time with them as an Ally. Last week I introduced the 4th of 5 of these characters a great old one high elf Warlock, who they all loved as he was quite mad and quite effective, in fact one of my players offhandedly remarked"Glad he's on ourside". Oh if only he knew, well he'll know soon. Anyways I find that to be the more fun way to introduce villains as it gives the players a chance to really get to know them and makes them all the more difficult to have to face later as a foe.
Excellent advice. Thanks!
Here's a mix I made:
A drow necromancer who works with a crime lord, who just happens to be a rakshasa, to take over a kingdom.
Oh yeah, he also works with an assassin, who works for the rakshasa, and he hired an orog to be his bodyguard. Both are minibosses, but the necromancer and rakshasa are the main bosses.
I think the best villain is one that is lawful good, and trying to make the world better, but failing terribly about doing it. A person who is a king and despised by his people for overtaxing them and preventing many freedoms because an oracle told him of a coming danger that he will need the people in line for and money to prepare soldiers to fight.
Or even one who is trying to defeat a hoard of evil beasts, but wants to be the war hero, so he needs to kill the party so that his fame lives on forever and isn't shared.
What about a Lich releasing a Tarrasque? The Lich wanting to start a new world and uses the Tarrasque as a catalyst for a great Cataclysm?
Edit: I may have run this as the epic finale of a campaign... and two or more of the party may have died.
sounds like a fun high-level adventure!
Easily a first level encounter, what are you talking about...
One of my main villains in my Spelljammer campaign is an illithid who genuinely wants to bridge the gap between the Illithids (who are still a powerful empire post-Gith) and the other races, but who keeps getting sent on missions to attack the heroes.
Fantastic ideas and discussion! Thank you!
In one of my worlds the last Purple dragon works alongside the last illithids taking over adventurer's minds, making them their slaves, as neither want to physically leave the underdark as extinction can come.
I like the idea of a villainous wizard who is in a relationship with his right hand man. They are lovers; the wizard is quite affectionate, but his hubby is embarrassed and doesn't like to advertise their relationship. So, some depth there. More to the point, if the PCs ever kill one of them, the other will go apeshit from grief, and seek revenge and/or the destruction of everything around them (because hey, since "he" is gone, does anything matter anymore?). I could easily see the right hand man (let's call him a Fighter) gathering a posse of dudes to hunt the party down, while the wizard would go mad and start raising an army of the dead. (Let's assume the wizard in this case isn't a necromancer, typically. People turn to terrible powers when burdened by loss).
Did you watch Critical Role Campaign One.
Hint, The Briarwoods.
Web DM just did a video on this
Daniel Palmer but did they have THE Chris Perkins???
Came here to say this.
I really needed this. Thanks Guys
the rhinocerous is tricking the goblin into believing he was sent by maglubiyet to be treated as a godlike creature 😂😂😂
I kind of what to make a "Villain" that can be redeemed
When your camera won't stop focusing on Perkins' hat
I’m a simple man, I see a video with Chris Perkins, I click it
I have this concept for a BBEG that took 7 broken adventurers and turned them into Generals in his monster army, each member representing a Deadly Sin linked to their special powers and back story. The BBEG themselves were also a adventurer turned villain that wants to purge the gods and devils with a legion of monsters of all kind under one banner, it's probably cliche and edgelordy though
Ive got it and your welcome.
Take one death knight with pirate sub classes.
One flying carpet, one masquerade mask, a set of golden spurs a large floppy hat, a pitchfork hand.
His fire balls are bird shaped and uses tk push and pull.
What about a Manticore with her newborn, enlisting a bunch of Gnolls to go raid villages and bring her food?
Oh wow, I wonder where you got THAT idea.
I can't think of a single instance of a villain being convinced that they were wrong and stopping
I have a great idea for a Jester that keeps following my players around. I imagine ominous yet vibrant circus music when my players encounter him. Does anyone have some ideas to develop this character?
If you are still working on the idea make several of them. A Circus themed group of people that attack your players. A strong man/woman, a diviner, a clown or jester, a ringmaster, a marksman of some sort, acrobats, etc. Make them a family and they are all under a demonic pact or a treat of dead and have to target your players or something bad could happen
More Chris Perkins interviews please.
how about a night hag, with a warlock pact with an undying patron. I think the soul trade could be an interesting hook, and provide some synergy. The night hag as the initial baddie, the when the party either gets close to or defeats her, the lich will come to bear.
I've been having this idea for a "villain", who is essentially a frustratingly effective bounty hunter.
Whenever the party is encountering certain NPC's or minibosses, this bounty hunter always seems to be a step ahead of them, or swoops in on the final moment of victory, and arrests the NPC the party had been dealing with, before fleeing.
More of a "rival", than a villain, per se...but their ability to meddle in the party's affairs is actually more hands-on than a villain proper.
The main villian in my canpaing is a big scar't minotaur. Hé was kept as a slave his entire life and saw other minotaur's being slave'd as wel. But at some piont hé escaped. Hé then encounter't a dark wizard Who tolt him that it is his destiny to lead all minotaur's to take over. If he collected four magic rings hé woud be really strong and can collect groups of minotaur's. Mine player's met him when hé was pretending to be a farmer. Hé tolt them about the rings and that hé waned them ( but hé did not tolt them about his plan). When they found all of then hé betrayed them and escaped. And the they had to fight agianst him and his army many times before they defeated him.
Something small that I’ve done recently is I took an ancient green dragon and just gave it the shapeshifting ability of the metallic dragons. I used it’s desire to control people along with its human form together so that it could infiltrate deep into the political system of the land and get installed as a second-in-charge (stage a coup, marry the king etc).
The ruler becomes a puppet leader who rides their dragon into battle, and if the heroes get too involved then the dragon queen can approach them and offer favours and help to overthrow the tyrannical abusive King.
What about a Prince who is cursed with permenant invisibility who just wants to be seen/noticed by his dead father (the king) and can only be seen through a mirrored wall in his father's throne room with his father still in the throne?
My dm created a green dragon that a certain member of my party decided to give a book of really powerful versions of standard spells and he’s know one of our most dangerous enemies
Thank you! Great inspiration!
I once had an 'antagonist' group "The Black Templars", people seeking out to destroy devils, but were hunting down Tieflings at one point that weren't prominently known in the world (which the party had to protect). Some of those Black Templars were brainwashed (only a few REAL villains were in a group ever), but most of them were just general people who had been attacked by devils in the past and just were eager to join the fight against demons. They came into contact with the Tieflings, who were extremely desperate and out of options, so obviously this spiked up the need for the players to protect them. In the end, the main badguy was a higher-ranked demon that just wanted to make sure no devil-blood was remaining in the world he eventually wanted to conquer... So yeah, the party ended up having issues about not being found out in saving the Tieflings, but also that they didn't kill innocent people who just wanted to protect their homes and didn't know better... :-P
And then it turns out the rhinoceros was pulling the strings the whole time.
Goblin boss and Awakened Shrub
Well, now I've gotta write something about a goblin boss whose got 'THE BEST HAT' now. Thanks. Thanks for that.
I'm thinking mobile sentient cover from which the goblins can hide behind
I guess I'll have to ruin it...
Goblin Boss and his hoard have come across "The Singing Bush" and transplant it to a cross-roads to draw unsuspecting travellers in for looting...
if you don't know about "The Singing Bush" I'd suggest you watch "The Three Amigos"... AND if so inspired, I'm sure somebody can create the narrative for one of the goblins (even the boss?) ending up invisible and armed with a "sword" or similar instrument... at least until he manages to get shot. ;o)
See you tonight Chris!
I didn't know you guys watched Web DM too! jk I'm sure this is just coincidence
How bout a kobold that was magically turned buff, so he goes around trying to make mad gains and get buffer?
I just subscribed to this channel and just got notified about the new vid :D
Having a evil cult leader who abuses their servant but after being defeated the servant is revealed to be the avatar of the evil god the cult worshipped.
How about a Draconic Sorceror who when angry or spellcasting her body manifests birthmarks revealing that she's a wood elf but her Sorceror mark means she appears like a plain faced human?
The twist being she's a terrifying foe to those who fall foul of her personal code of honour, but a loyal friend.
So she befriends one party member, but despises another who due to her age is viewed as a ruthless monster responsible for killing entire armies and powerful adversaries albeit she did these because they committed horrifying crimes on behalf of their country/faith/personal glory and she had no choice but to end their rampage.
Imagine a paladin-like heroine who isn't interested in glory or power, already dealing with her own personal problems but finding herself the only defence against genocidal maniacs wrongly viewed as "heroic"
yea!!
🏴☠💀🏴☠
I was with him until "awakened rhinoceros".