tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345678810044169388.post426780119244249869..comments2023-11-02T04:55:47.655-07:00Comments on The D&D Take: Villains Vs. EnemiesAndrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13439204037397382556noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345678810044169388.post-72734911475776210212009-08-01T20:34:02.622-07:002009-08-01T20:34:02.622-07:00Guys, I gotta say, I don't have much to add. ...Guys, I gotta say, I don't have much to add. That was an awesome bit of discussion. Adam, welcome to the Take =] Glad to see your comment and I whole-heartedly agree with you. Teleporting villains does tend to be lazy (unless circumstances permit such action) but yeah, that's usually something to stay leagues away from. Silent, I love your idea of having some factions and different people the PC could interact with who will, in some way, shape, or form end up confronting the PC later. That was awesome guys. Keep the comments going if you wish. Glad you liked the post. I thought it was short but it seemed like it hit the right points. =]Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13439204037397382556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345678810044169388.post-24046777044645044182009-08-01T19:30:06.246-07:002009-08-01T19:30:06.246-07:00Nothing screams "villain!" as a seemingl...Nothing screams "villain!" as a seemingly ally NPC that is way too interested in the PCs actions, ready to doublecross them at the first chance.<br /><br />Any roads, I really like to spice plots with villains that are not the common type, specially the villain who is not really a bad guy, but just share a complete different point of view. <br /><br />Great postFrançoise Díazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15223195809799211677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345678810044169388.post-23301424136956447942009-08-01T19:00:21.295-07:002009-08-01T19:00:21.295-07:00Absolutely, Adam. The PCs really shouldn't kn...Absolutely, Adam. The PCs really shouldn't <i>know</i> that any given major NPC is the ultimate villain until the DM is willing to let him roll initiative and let the dice fall where they may.<br /><br />The way I am handling this in my current campaign is that I've set up a bunch of different story arcs, wherein four different groups are each trying to pull the PC into their fold. All four groups are headed by very strong NPCs with considerable resources, and at least one of them (and possibly all four!) will end up on the opposite side of the battlemat from the PC (this will be determined largely by his actions). <br /><br />However, two of the groups are his allies at the moment, one very much so; a third I'm portraying as ludicrously ineffectual romantic rival for a seemingly minor story arc; and the fourth hasn't moved directly against the PC at all and thus hasn't quite been picked up on the radar. There are also other groups which seem quite nefarious, but are really red herrings in the grand scheme of things...<br /><br />The PC can tell he's going to be butting heads with at least some of these groups in the future, and with that in mind he treads very carefully around them, but since he either thinks they're not really a threat, or that they're helping him more than they're hurting him, or that he really doesn't have any leads to act against them, or that he needs to play one against the other in order to have a chance against them, all my wonderful villains, potential and intended, are in no danger of their roles being cut short.silent stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15687840899349655370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345678810044169388.post-63165534293660626972009-08-01T18:29:23.485-07:002009-08-01T18:29:23.485-07:00Whatever you do, for the love of all that is good ...Whatever you do, for the love of all that is good and descent, please do not have your villain simply teleport away. That is fine for SNES sidescrolling beaters but not for D&D. Teleporting villains away is just lazy and players hate it. Silent makes a good point that one shouldn't want to immediately kill the villain, I will add that perhaps we shouldn't know who the villain is immediately.Adam Powerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13921063136088880796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345678810044169388.post-91818578358681780342009-08-01T16:58:15.055-07:002009-08-01T16:58:15.055-07:00Yeah, which is why I think making the villain inte...Yeah, which is why I think making the villain interesting is important. You wanna kill 'em but you also figure "Well, they're probably significantly stronger than us... and they're kinda interesting... Let's chase 'em!"Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13439204037397382556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345678810044169388.post-26680100674068506062009-08-01T16:03:01.439-07:002009-08-01T16:03:01.439-07:00In my experience—and this ties back into the "...In my experience—and this ties back into the "powergaming" question in <a href="http://thedndtake.blogspot.com/2009/07/powergaming-vs-roleplaying.html" rel="nofollow">an earlier post</a>—but all too often, players see villains as just something else to kill. <br /><br />Which is why I would say, give your PCs reasons, compelling reasons why they <i>shouldn't</i> kill the villain right away. Or keep the villain out of sword's reach, because otherwise, all it takes is a lucky string of rolls and your villain is pushing daisies long before his time (either that, or you end up with a TPK, which is possibly worse).silent stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15687840899349655370noreply@blogger.com