Writing a good story

How to make the best villain

All good hero’s need an equally amazing villain. Without a bad guy your campaign will be boring, and your players will quickly descend into madness while eating all your food.

But Arthur villains hurt people why do they need to be awesome?

Have you seen batman the dark knight? Do you live under a rock?

Villains aren’t always murdering clowns. No, no, sometimes they are wealthy merchants seeking ancient artifacts. Sometimes they are not one person but a group of people.

When you make your villain there are some questions you need to answer.

1. What does your villain want, are they seeking revenge on one or all the party members? Or do they simply seek to be more powerful?

Revenge seekers: will want more than to just kill the party they will want them to suffer. They will set traps or send assassins after their allies and families.

Power seeker: power seekers are fairly simple to work out. they want to be the most powerful person in their world or sphere of influence. This can be anything from being the wealthiest merchant in town or being crowned king.

2. Is your villain a smart one, or just a really good fighter?

Smart ones: these wonderful bad guys will use their wit to beat the party rather than brawn. Not necessarily because they can’t fight, but it gives them satisfaction to outsmart their opponents in this case the players.

The good fighter: these particular villains will use their combat prowess on the field of battle to intimidate any who stand in their way. that doesn’t mean their completely stupid though. They be masters at tactics being able to see all the angles of a battle before it has started.

3. How old is your villain? Kids can be bad guys too so think about age though its not always needed. Having a young villain can make for a good twist. Think about mutants in the marvel universe. There are some who at a very young age became villains either because of how they were treated or were just evil for evil sake. Sometimes the villain is a villain because he or she doesn’t know any better. So, someone who’s can make then for a really interesting villain if its done right.

4. Is your villain a former leader from where the party is from? Maybe he is a disgruntled general or he was ousted as the king. They could also have been slaves, or prisoners of war. Making the player delve into the dark secrets of their home country can be an intriguing plot.

It makes them face the fact that they may have had a major part in creating the villain, but also helps them to see that there are consequences to keeping secrets. Just remember though to make your villain fit your campaign and your party. Some players are good at puzzles, some are good at thinking tactically, or prefer to play tanks. So, make sure that if your players are there just to do battle don't have villain that throws them into a situation where they have to solve riddles. They may just decide not to come back. Additionally if your players like to role play more than anything else, than play to that and give them a villain that fits best into that.

Without amazing villains your story will lack the most important thing, the very reason for the adventure. So, when you come up with an idea for a story or campaign make sure that your villain is more than just a meat bag.

Until next time write, be creative, and make villains your party don’t wish to cross paths with.