"Who would believe the bumbling idiot is the ultimate enemy?" >insert Darth Jar Jar meme.
@an8strengthkobold360
4 жыл бұрын
He will always be a sith lord in my eyes.
@diddleriddle8921
4 жыл бұрын
Truth is...game was rigged from the start
@lunargamer5261
3 жыл бұрын
I believe this is the plot of Scary Movie, too.
@sgtflamingo6532
Жыл бұрын
Kefka in ff6
@dankatz5224
8 жыл бұрын
Here's an insane idea. Sorry it turned into a bit of an essay! You run two separate campaigns with different players, but unbeknownst to them they are on different sides of the same conflict. News of one group's movements reaches the other group and vice versa, but they believe they are hearing about the exploits of NPCs to move on the story. Your friendly character (who will turn out to be the villain of course!) is common to both games and becomes trusted by both groups of players under a different alias. Perhaps they tell one group they are a journalist covering recent events and can be used to give information, and they tell the other group they are an undercover agent infiltrating an arms trading organisation, so they can shower them with powerful equipment. Once trust is gained in both groups, you engineer a scenario where you take one player from each group and swap them around to go "undercover", probably at the behest of a different NPC; maybe an embittered henchman who has turned against his master and wants to see his deception thwarted. You tell the other guys in the group that "John can't make it next Sunday, but I was explaining the story to my other friend Mark who's up for stepping in as a new character". In the farewell game to John (with John's prior knowledge), to 'kill the character off' conscientiously, you spin a narrative where John's character is called off on secret ops behind enemy lines and is not heard from again. This is agreed between yourself and John before the game, when you explain that there is a second parallel game which has been playing the enemy all along and swear him to secrecy for his farewell session. Unbeknownst to the other players, John really is going behind enemy lines to glean information from and unsuspecting player group! And so is the new player, Mark, under the same pretense as John. You do this in both games and thereby swap one member from each team to spy on the other, with nobody else any the wiser, except maybe for the new player who might learn of his opposite number's mysterious disappearance from the game and suspect a double agent. Then you plan a session to which you invite both groups, let them discover for between themselves that the villain has been playing them against each other all along. After a successful mission, you could say to one group at the end of the previous session: "[friendly villain alias 1] packs the seized contraband into a container to send to the police force as evidence. A job well done!" whilst in the other group, [friendly villain alias 2] arrives with fresh equipment to fight the good fight. Both groups realise simultaneously that they have been played, that the very same character has been going by 2 different names and is in fact the criminal they have been looking for. Their causes are united for the first time, and from act 2 onwards their characters will all be part of the same game. Meanwhile the nemesis escapes with his tail between his legs. The players later find the disgruntled henchman (who set up the chance encounter) tortured brutally to death and vow to catch and destroy the three-faced super villain!
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
That's a hell of a set-up. I've done something similar once. Two groups - same world. However in my town everyone know's who sits at my table so there is no surprise changes etc. The two groups were neither enemies nor allies but when one of them went back in time and changed the view of a god (they basically met Zeus as a boy and installed human centric values by mistake whilst babysitting him) the other group found themselves in a very very different world (since they were in the present and suffered the wrath of a 'new Zeus'). It was amazing fun to watch as everyone tried to solve the issue from both past and present. I have also had a convention module run where a character from the game randomly swaps with another character from another table! That was amazing - especially become con-games are often very... isolated events. But thank you for sharing your cool idea and if you ever pull it of let me know!
@dankatz5224
8 жыл бұрын
+How to be a Great Game Master That Zeus game sounds brilliant! Reminds me of the old LucasArts point & click adventure Day of the Tentacle. That would be a zany setting for a game in itself with 3 players sharing the table but in different time zones affecting each other's gameplay! Thanks so much for replying, and for putting out such a succinct and comprehensive series. I've never GM'd myself but I have a group of friends and we all read the Warhammer 40k novels so I thought that would be a good place to start. But your videos always give me a "what if..." to think about, maybe instead of babysitting Zeus, I could put the immortal God Emperor of Mankind in a care home!
@Tmanowns
7 жыл бұрын
It's pretty much going on in a campaign I'm in right now. We've got about 20+ players total, who play on 5 different nights a week with two DMs. One of the groups is an evil group and apparently has been doing things across the world with a plan, and one of them is a paladin that was in my group until real life scheduling was conflicting for him. It's honestly really awesome, but a ton of work for the DM's, so we players help a lot with ideas and world building.
@gnarthdarkanen7464
6 жыл бұрын
That's a great set-up... IF (and a really big "IF" there) you can get the scheduling to work. The last time I was able to pull off something even similar was back when I was in the Navy... Being all assigned to the same ship, it was only rotating watch-sections (civilians call it "shifts") that ever got in the way of scheduling... When it works out, it can be done really well, and the big reveal is usually fantastic... When it doesn't... it can be even more awkward than a "big fizzle". :o)
@ijk9492
6 жыл бұрын
holy shit
@Co27Enigma
6 жыл бұрын
_GASP_ "LYSANDEROTH, you were behind all this!" "Yes it was I. My machinations lay undetected for years for I am a master of deception and"
@ethanotoroculus1060
5 жыл бұрын
*[DEAD]*
@monke1599
4 жыл бұрын
*takes off shirt* "Sexy..." Lysanderoth purred
@jowhy7243
4 жыл бұрын
i literally just watched a ProZD compilation before watching this video
@darienschnucker7354
3 жыл бұрын
Why he not say about the Nemesis being the Lover
@guicaldo7164
3 жыл бұрын
King Dragon sends his regards!
@COMBATKYLE4
7 жыл бұрын
Bumbling fool villain? Dont feed the darth jar jar theory guys D:
@suspicaxrohde2310
6 жыл бұрын
Are you trying to tell him to not support the TRUTH? /s
@aguyontheinternet4526
6 жыл бұрын
you know its true yet you live in denile
@KyrstOak
5 жыл бұрын
XD Nobody likes Jar Jar. Neither do I, really; dumb name.
@silvertheelf
5 жыл бұрын
Actually jar jar was going to be an actual villain but that scraped him because everyone hated him, he wasn’t going to be a bumbling fool as a villain and only acted as such as a character because he was trying to be the master minded villain, because everyone hated him they just quickly added a cannon fodder count as backup. Ask the original trilogy creators, they will reference jar jar as a villain enough that it’s evidence.
@omiorahman6283
5 жыл бұрын
Hazama from blazblue did it right
@SupLuiKir
7 жыл бұрын
Jar Jar Binks is the Sith Lord above Palpatine. George Lucas is a pussy for folding after the terrible reaction of Prequel Episode 1 and opting out of the Jar Jar Binks as Sith reveal and inserting Count Dooku in his place for the Yoda fight. It's such a grievance that the prequel movies that Lucas made can't be canon and are instead only illegitimately legitimized head-canons of the movie reviewers for episode 1. The real canon, which unfortunately doesn't have movies made for it, is the one where Jar Jar Binks is revealed as the Sith Lord.
@joshhaworth2155
7 жыл бұрын
Meesa going to destroy the Jedi now...
@breezeark9154
7 жыл бұрын
It's a legitimate grievous.
@angelvega2937
7 жыл бұрын
"How to create a cancellor Palpatine in a RPG" hahaha
@HowtobeaGreatGM
7 жыл бұрын
Goood... good... I can feel your ... power! Let it flow through you! Embrace the Dark Side.
@hunterlaven5113
7 жыл бұрын
Angel no it Griffith
@hindscarth360
6 жыл бұрын
Palpatine - "I am the Senate!" Mace Windu - "Not y- What the hell?!" *Palpatine screams as he blurs out of existence, a swirling portal opens mid-air and a cyborg-Palpatine steps out and turns his bionic eye on Windu* Cancellor Palpatine - "I AM CANCELLOR PALPATINE, THE INFERIOR CHANCELLOR HAS BEEN CANCELLED. THIS TIMELINE IS NOW MINE" *Proceeds to Ultra Sheev Spin*
@omiorahman6283
5 жыл бұрын
hunter laven Griffith did nothing wrong
@Boom__6678
4 жыл бұрын
@@HowtobeaGreatGM nah I'm good
@BrianRabadue
7 жыл бұрын
You mention the inconsistencies in the nemesis' character a lot, and I really wanna stress that those are vital. If the betrayal comes too suddenly or out of nowhere, it might feel cheap, or like you just took a good guy and made him the villain, you need to be able to point to those flaws and moments of doubt so that the PCs don't feel 100% cheated.
@Boom__6678
4 жыл бұрын
Cortana in halo 5 (what were 343 thinking) is a good example of the cheap betrayal
@TheHalo3vidmaker
7 жыл бұрын
Wait a minute... Sponsors the players with magic items, keeps close track of the players adventures making sure they tell him everything, sends the players out to help him while they adventure, has a romantic relationship with one of the players... HOLY SHIT GILMORE HAS BEEN A VILLAIN THIS WHOLE TIME!
@krzysztofbandyk168
6 жыл бұрын
A Rakshasa to be exact.
@KyrstOak
5 жыл бұрын
Gilmore? Not Gilmore Girls.
@louthinator
5 жыл бұрын
@@KyrstOak it's a critical role reference
@KyrstOak
5 жыл бұрын
@@louthinator Ah, thanks.
@magiv4205
5 жыл бұрын
*gets almost killed by a dragon and only survives because the players decided to go look for him first thing in the morning after taking a long rest* 'TIS AS I PLANNED! A FOOLPROOF RUSE! *coughs blood and passes out*
@remnantryku7112
6 жыл бұрын
Nemesis goes to “prove himself” and accidentally dies. Guess it’s an open world story now boys.
@omiorahman6283
5 жыл бұрын
Ryku Isaigana lol interesting
@Haurent
4 жыл бұрын
When you enter into an open world story you know the GM is at the ropes lol
@guy3480
7 жыл бұрын
so i did the "join me" cliche that villains do and the group i was DM for actually joined him... yeah I had this whole epic final battle planned out involving the players losing their weapons and needing to have a fist fight to the death with this orc overlord... nope they joined him and committed genocide against the elves and wiped them off the face of the entire universe instead. I literally did everything i could possibly think of to try and make them turn back against him. Killing elf children, slaughtering innocent villagers, killing other rebelling orcs, torture, I made him abuse women, mutilate babies, he had sex with corpses of those he killed, raped more than I could count... and they still saw the campaign to the end. That was probably the most brutal evil campaign I had ever been through as a DM. They said it was one of the most amazing dnd experiences ever so whatever as long as they had fun...
@gnarthdarkanen7464
6 жыл бұрын
guy3480, You are not alone... Many is the GM who has tried a "tropish hook" to twist the story for just a moment, or thought of a great joke to give the party pause... ONLY to find himself trudged through the god-awfulest, mind-warping muck imaginable... coming out of it only permanently, emotionally scarred and wondering "What the hell kinds of people do I hang out with???" I know all to well and somehow vaguely remember feeling your pain... some time in the distant past, when I (myself) might've had something like innocence. BUT that's Role Playing for you... And then the players will actually have the unmitigated gall (later) to ask how YOU got so twisted??? :o)
@wildebur
6 жыл бұрын
Yes, cutting of the arms and legs of the PCs and literally having their characters raped in-character sounds like BRILLIANT idea. What is wrong with you!? Legit, not trying to be a dick, but that's the literal WORST Game Mastering idea I've ever heard of, right above "TPK the players because they're not on track with the story.". What's next, is the villain gonna MUDA MUDA MUDA punch every character to death, then their souls go to Hell and get molested by Satan?! What kind of GM are you?! Of every goddamn way to "punish" the player characters, you think the orc should've FUCKING RAPED THEM AND LEGITIMATELY CUT OFF ALL THEIR LIMBS. What is wrong with you!? I dare you to try that shit with your friends' characters in a session, and see how they react. Fucking Hell, one of the main rules GM's always harbor is to let the players have as much fun as possible, not fucking drag them into a proverbial snuff film where their players are the main victims, being "punished because they trusted the villains" so they all feel like shit/are extremely creeped out and leave.
@dr.calibrations7984
6 жыл бұрын
Gryphon Phelps The Orc enjoys torture and rape. I'm the fucked up person for making him turn his sights to the exreamly powerful people who are aligned with him currently? I didn't make the guy. Hell if I were in the scenaro OP had put forth I probably wouldn't have let it get that far as I would just go down a genocide route not a Rape/tourture route. The OP tried and tried to get the party to betrey the dude by making him a gleeful rapist, a torturer, a genocidal dictator. But it crosses boundaries when i make the *Super evil dude* do something evil to the PC? In a universe where bringing someone back from the dead is possible? Lets not mention that they are *IN CHARACTER* okay with, and possibly partaking in this rape. Personally I dont care, If someone did it to me I would conclude that the guy who has been getting progressivly evil was probably going to do evil shit, and I probably should have picked up the warning signs that betrayal is oncoming. Bad guys tend to be untrustworthy, and considering that rape was established as fair game when they let it happen before then its fair game. They could have betrayed the villian like a villian does and continued their genocidal campaign. The OP was commenting on how disturbed he was by what they were doing and condoning. So I suggested that they reap what they sow. I dont understand why rape *suddenly* becomes taboo when it is lashed upon the PC? So theoretically you should be able to rape random villagers but not have that happen to you because its not okay? Thats like saying "I can stab anyone but its not okay for me to get stabbed back." As someone who has been raped IRL I can say it's not fun, and I probably would ask for the entire subject to be avoided, but i also wouldn't throw a fit if i said nothing and didnt even have my character intervene in a rape and then my PC does in fact get raped. The door goes both ways, if rape is in your DnD campaign then that means PC can get raped, same for tourture, drug addiction, STDs and any other taboo subject. Your a character in this world, meaning that you arent above the rules, if so why are yoy even playing this game? If you want to roleplay as this omnipotent God, then fanfics are far superior.
@wildebur
6 жыл бұрын
The thing is, though, I don't like playing as an omnipotent god. I want my characters to die if they deserve it, and I want the same for my PCs (i wont DM any that wont let their characters die). Being subject to the rules of the world is bloody important. I cover all sorts of terrible shit, and most of it is fine by me if it happens to the players, too. But really, you don't have to be playing as an omnipotent god for the GM to keep your characters out of rape. But... You have a good point with "I don't understand why rape suddenly becomes taboo when it is lashed upon the PC?". Perhaps if they've let it happen to others, then it's only logical that it could happen to them, sure. Personally, I would clarify to the PCs that they should be alright with the possibility of these things occurring to them, à la "You guys realize, if you're gonna let this shit happen in the campaign, it can happen to you, too, right? Realize that if I let this subject off the taboo list for NPCs it can happen to you guys too.", something like that, though really they should realize it on their own. Maybe that's too generous, heh. In this whole situation, though, you've convinced me that it's justifiable to rape the characters... I still wouldn't do it, though.
@dr.calibrations7984
6 жыл бұрын
Gryphon Phelps I'm glad that we are resolving this in a nice way. I would certainly make sure everyone is aware that if it can happen to an NPC then it can happen to you. If someone at the table were to say "hey I'm not cool with rape, drug addiction, tourture, ect." Then the topic wouldnt even be broached but if nobody sets a boundary and someone decides to make it a thing (I.E. they make their PC rape an NPC) then that opens everyone up to have it happen. But it would have long been stated that whatever befalls the NPCs is a potential PC issue as well. I'd probably even ask them if they're sure they want to take the story there. But if it's gonna be dark and twisted then Berserk rules apply. Personally I avoid that shit. I'll do gore and gritty easily even torture. But rape is just, terrible.
@moncala7787
7 жыл бұрын
What if instead of him revealing himself monologue style as he turns on them he's removed from the situation assuming he has successfully killed the players off. The players survive, but have a mini adventure in their wounded states trying to get back to town. Then they turn up looking for help from the nemesis unaware of his treachery. He's surprised to see them, but plays it off as assuming they died in the incident. If the players realize his part in based off subtle clues you give them they can get the jump on him, but if not he reverts to his previous role and attempts to set up a more surefire betrayal to destroy them all, and this time takes no chances bringing in some incredibly powerful forces to aid him, forces he might not fully control. And then epic final confrontation.
@Jake007123
7 жыл бұрын
I managed to do it three times once, in a D&D campaign. It was priceless, my little inner Maquiavelo was constantly laughing every session. Until a players used divination magic and found him buying the services of a Medusa that the same day attacked the party. Oh, but how I laughed until then...
@KyrstOak
5 жыл бұрын
@@Jake007123 XD
@kainan613
8 жыл бұрын
My head! It cannot contain the ideas! MUST. WRITE.
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
+kainan613 Yes! Get it out there!
@Harrow_the_Ninth
8 жыл бұрын
This stuff is diabolical. Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much.
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
+egoistic lily Hope I pronounced the name correctly. Glad it was what you were looking for!
@Roterstaub
7 жыл бұрын
I have a lawful good villain... Pitched him to a friend and their response was 'Holy shit it's ISIS'
@Chiller31916
4 жыл бұрын
Wouldn't that be lawful evil? O.o
@gambent6853
8 жыл бұрын
Aw man, this brought back some memories. I was in one group where our party was doing everything they could to stop this great and powerful evil that was going to engulf the world. We had a patron wizard who helped us throughout the majority of the campaign. We had been led to believe that in order to save the world, we needed to open the sealed portion to the Abyss and then kill the guardian on the other side. Turns out it was just our Patron Wizard's ploy so he could gain more power for himself; he was the evil we had been warned of, and the signs were there, but no one had caught on. He TPK'd us in a round and that's how that campaign ended. It was brutal, but memorable. The villlain who was once considered a friend is one of the most memorable antagonists there are. Awesome content by the way! I'm definitely subscribing!
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
Welcome to the table man! Sounds like an epic campaign! And such a tragic ending.
@TriMarkC
5 жыл бұрын
Gambent Aaaaand “he TPK’d is all in one round”! Wow! Brutal ending is right! In one round!! Now, if the GM allowed the players to carry on the fight as the progeny of those 1st chars (ala InfinityBlade), that would be epic! They’d know BBG was brutal (the players were there!), and they come thinking they’re prepared! Ha!
@mordirit8727
7 жыл бұрын
After coming back to a town they once saved, my PCs found out that the only priestess to Melora in town is a poor young woman who was among the people they saved from the orcs a year ago. The poor, poor girl claims to have lost her left eye and left hand on the hands of the cruel orcs, but is still very happy and grateful to the heroes who saved her life, and they all were quickly heart warmed by this figure. So happy that none of them thought of trying to remember if she really was among the dozens of citizens they rescued. They were desolated when she died on the third game, but were overjoyed when they found out in her temple a prepared spell glyph that only required adding a diamond to the center (which was also on the temple) to restore their dear friend to life. So overjoyed that again, no one thought to ask about why a mere acolyte of Melora has a powerful necromancy spell prepared in her house. Easiest inclusion of a Vecna worshiper in a group I've ever done =p Can't wait for her to kill one of them to usher the return of her King.
@magiv4205
5 жыл бұрын
"missing left eye and left hand" Me: haha NOPE! *warning sirens going off in the distance*
@whiskeyfur
7 жыл бұрын
I think we have different definitions of masterminds... I call those types horde controllers. That's their only power, they control hordes of people and run over people/institutes/countries with them. And that's all they're good for. subtle? They are not. A true mastermind treats the world as a chess game. If he has to ingratiate himself with the characters, so be it. There's an another type you missed: The Other Guy is Worse. He's a villain, he's obvious about it, but he's been drafted to help the players because the other guy literally is the end of the world so.. it's kinda obvious who he'll ally with because after all, can't enjoy power if you are dead... And the players could be very clued in on that! they KNOW he's a bad guy. They KNOW he's going to game it to his benefit... hell, the paladin may be willing to kill him on sight! BUT....they NEED him for some reason to knock off mr. world destroyer. so it becomes a fun RP challenge for them to watch/convert him even as he's helping the party with the ultimate intent to take power.. or if he's smart about it, just ensure that world destroying isn't on the table anymore, then he makes his get-away. I did have the players surprise me by not only taking one such villain in but two.. recruiting the second as well. And they used the two villains against each other so neither had the advantage when mr. world destroyer finally died. And I'm sitting here looking at the players and thinking "well played guys, well played."
@magiv4205
5 жыл бұрын
One word: Raishan.
@pyro-toxin5102
7 жыл бұрын
my players have a message to give you. I won't say it cause it's rude. But me though.... THank you for all your diabolical help >:)
@minecraftcdiddy
7 жыл бұрын
So I played as the villain while GMing my game of GURPS, my character was a "galactic sheriff" but was truly the emperor of the most important evil faction. When my character turned and killed my baddest player, their faces of shock literally were straight out of the movies. Thanks again for your content and will continue to write my games with your advice.
@HowtobeaGreatGM
7 жыл бұрын
That sounds sublimely wonderful. Thank you for sharing! I'm glad I can help in a small way to make your games a touch better :)
@bainbonic
5 жыл бұрын
Okay but playing the character at 6:16 straight and making him genuinely an innocent bystander with fangs who wishes to help would be fucking hilarious.
@oliverwirth42
7 жыл бұрын
Nobody ever expected Jerry the hobo
@an8strengthkobold360
4 жыл бұрын
Who is *not* three kobolds in an over coat.
@Basiritz
7 жыл бұрын
On the other hand as the PC's get attatched to the Nemesis, the nemesis might find themselves getting attatched to the PC's.
@Jake007123
7 жыл бұрын
Yes, and that's why he tries to kill his lover first "So you don't have to endure the pain of watching all your companions die, my love. BYE", with a little smirk. Remember, he's the villain bastard who wants to destroy/conquer/etc the world/city/galaxy/etc. He is not a good guy and he is not going to throw away his years of planning for a simple feeling such as friendship or love.
@gnarthdarkanen7464
6 жыл бұрын
Yep... emotions... double-edged sword if the heart isn't strong enough to deal so well with them... Maybe somebody should make a law or something... :o)
@bibbobella
6 жыл бұрын
I could see him getting them into a trap where he could very easily kill them but instead plead for them to follow his plans. Not in a "You need to do this or you will die!!!" kinda evil way but in a "Please don't make me kill you! Just join me and we can rule together! I will even allow everyone you love to live!" Make a kind of sympatic leader that is so far out it is almost impossible to really back out at this point. Then when/if the players say no he will walk away despite knowing full well there is a great chance they might not actually die saying something like "Fine but I wont watch you get killed.." It could make him into one hell of an interesting character that the PC's might find hard to kill as well.
@KyrstOak
5 жыл бұрын
@@bibbobella Yeah. I like that idea.
@chrizzle45
4 жыл бұрын
Essek, if you know you know
@qloun
8 жыл бұрын
I feel so bad for my players now. Thank you so much for those great (and evil) ideas! subscribed and liked!
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
+Zulhilmi Mohd Nor Welcome to the table!
@TheCyberwoman
6 жыл бұрын
One edit, as a lady table top player, you have to reward the romance a little. It's a cliche, but one that we all want. Have the villain say something a long the lines of, I didn't lie to you about how I felt, and there's a place for you here if you will join me. It also adds some tension if they can tell there henchmen, kill the rest, but bring that one to me alive. Ect...or even tormenting them by trying to continue romancing them even after the betrayal.
@saulofontoura
6 жыл бұрын
I did exactly that in one of my campaigns, but it went terribly wrong... The PC actually betrayed the party and became the villain's wife! She really enjoyed it, but the other players were quite unhappy...
@TheCyberwoman
6 жыл бұрын
Saulo Fontoura I think that can be a good outcome, if it makes sense for the character. But at that point the player should have to roll a new character. And their old PC basically becomes an NPC. You might give them some opportunities to make decisions for their old character as things progress. But I consider a full turn like that to have a certain finality to it, and at that point the player should focus on a character that is a part of the party.
@oz_jones
2 жыл бұрын
@@saulofontoura amazing
@pst5345
Жыл бұрын
NO. No romance for you.😁
@GreenSabre187
Жыл бұрын
@@saulofontoura now that is awesome! Magical.
@GirlPainting
8 жыл бұрын
best example for a villan inside a party is on the show critical role....spoiler alerts.....clorota, the mind flayer. he uses the players to defeat the evil kavarn who enslaved his tribe of mindflayers, and once kavarn is defeated, he emediatly turns on the players "you served your purpose, and now its time to feed" ^^
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
+GirlPainting That is a great example! I think the challenge one has in that kind of situation is that DnD often prescribes 'alignments' for races. For example mindflayers are all evil... this makes it difficult for a party of experienced players to see the flayer for the evil. Matt is a great GM and so he managed to pull it off. I know my players would need a major reason to trust a mind flayer - even though I purposely ignore alignment for races. But yes. Good example.
@GirlPainting
8 жыл бұрын
in that case it was an accident that he evan endet up in the party in the first place. he was a random encounter planed for a later meeting. the players themselfs took the diplomatic aproach instead of an combad encounter because they had no f ing clue what to expect from a mindflayer. but they knew the hole time that his allignment is evil. but the enemy of my enemy is my friend took place in this case and so they went with it. the best part in my opinion was when they evan defendet him against lady kima and trusted him absolutly. that made the betrail at the end so much more rewarding.
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
Ah beautiful! Love it when that kind of play happens!
@Ultrox007
6 жыл бұрын
So, just like the assassins guild from Knights of the Old Republic?
@michaelc1626
6 жыл бұрын
Lol I just started watching CR and when I watched this video I thought Gee that sounds exactly like what's happening with Clarence so I bet he's the real villain. Kinda as if Mercer watched this video and took notes. Spoiler for Matt Mercer he's not as much of a creative genius as everyone thinks
@aczdreign1
5 жыл бұрын
I always have to back your videos up and replay them about 30 times because my mind fills with ideas and gets sidetracked with ways to implement some of your suggestions. Thank you for your work!
@amitblumenfeld7663
7 жыл бұрын
Greate poits, the only problem with the last kind of viliam, is when you players are paranoid and ploting to kill one each other.... i love my players ^_^
@llamallamapajama9571
5 жыл бұрын
18:24 ...unless it's Call of Cthulhu. Then EVERYONE dies.
@Bramzter
6 жыл бұрын
Goddammit i was victim of the second kind of villain you described. She infiltrated our inquisitorial acolyte group for like two missions due to being a old friend of my character and then she screwed us over by summoning a daemon we had to stop and tried to directly kill me. Most of it was my fault since i trusted that character like 95%. (I suppose that is a bad thing in a dark heresy game). We are still hunting her when the game was sadly put on hold.
@marvolofarhel1578
4 жыл бұрын
This was is very similar to what I was planning for my next game Bassically, the bulk of the campaign takes place in the only steampunk city in the mostly fantasy world. While everywhere else is classic fantasy, this city has hearts and factories and constructs, etc... the place is paradise, but the players quickly learn of a terrorist group with bronze dragon masks. The players deal with the local politicians to take down the organization, only to find that the terrorist was trying to take down the corruption in the city, and that same politician is now launching an airship invasion against the capitals of the world.
@ganema9
7 жыл бұрын
I just held my first adventure as a GM where the villain was a Necromancer survivor from a war between Necromancers and, well, the good guys. She was a bit manical and crazy and had a Vampire, evil Cleric and a Death Night under her bidding, along with a bunch of undead. She wanted an orb that which had powers from the world itself. She was supposed to be the typical villain; however, after looking through the Monster Manual, I stumbled across the pages with Succubus/Incubus and I was like: aaaaah... So suddenly, this evil, lonely Necromancer was charmed from many years back to do this devil's bidding and in the end, when she was to be finished off, the charm ended and the PC's chose to spare her and trust what she was saying, they killed the Incubus and she made everything right. Well, until the authority captured her and executed her publicly and thanked the group for helping them all :P
@TheMento98
5 жыл бұрын
So less of a villain and more a tragic hero npc? At least my take away based on the end with the public execution.
@dienekes4364
3 жыл бұрын
One of my favorite characters was a Lawful Evil Drow Assassin (D&D 2e). I also had a Mage/Cleric (Lawful Neutral) that got powerful enough to take control of a city-state. The Mage commissioned the Drow to be the head of his secret police. It worked out SO well. Anyway, he was running in a party of characters where he was the lowest level character. The Lawful Good Ranger was constantly giving him crap, talking down to him, distrusting him, the usual racist stuff against the Drow. Daggar saved every member of the party at least once, most twice, and the Ranger 3 times during the several-session campaign. During the very last session, within a matter of about 20 minutes, every character died a horrible death. The Ranger was the last to go. Except, of course, Daggar, who just walked away. Everyone was PISSED. Oh, did I mention the player running the Ranger was my brother? Anyway, we were driving somewhere a few days later and my brother was still moaning and groaning about how unfair the DM was. On and on he went. I finally had to admit, just to shut him up, that Daggar had been commissioned, from the very beginning, to kill the party. I tried REALLY hard to find an excuse not to, to justify letting them live, but they treated my character so poorly that he was fine with just destroying them all. And the absolute beauty of the whole thing is that NO ONE knew that it was Daggar that slaughtered them all except the GM and me. I usually don't like running Evil characters, but that day was _GLORIOUS!_
@macoppy6571
Жыл бұрын
Step 1) Build trust of PCs. Step 2) Betray them. Step 3) Run like hell.
@talimusbellavance5101
6 жыл бұрын
I really loved the idea of the major enemy trying to get the party to trust him. But that got me thinking... What if the major enemy DOES pay off these henchmen to injure him so the party will help him, but the henchmen actually try to kill him for reals? It's a betrayal of the mastermind by his own henchmen, and now his plot to betray the party seems like a bad idea, and he'd want revenge on his henchmen. But with no other help to do so, he's forced to stick with the party that he hates or desires to kill. Him and the party systematically wipe out the mastermind's henchmen, and everything he's worked to build up, all the while he's secretly fuming about his awful situation. This might all lead to a powerful mcguffin that he'd steal in order to use it against the party, finally achieving what he wanted. That would be the climactic battle, with him occasionally spouting some monologue(during the fray, not halting the fray).
@Puptoon2022
2 жыл бұрын
Once my secret villain was a shopkeeper that they bought magic items from for a high price. “Wait he used all that money we gave him to summon Tiamat? Ohhh so that’s why he had so many magic items!”
@beatthegreat7020
5 жыл бұрын
I’m still convinced that you and Shad are the same person.
@Deppability
4 жыл бұрын
I literally thought that too! :D
@liwendiamond9223
6 жыл бұрын
One of the greatest vilains is the vilain that is actually quite reasonable and doesn't mind joining force with the players : Vilain 1 : Wants to pull a revolution a take over the kingdom. Kingdom ain't necessarily evil. Neither is the vilain, he just has thing personally against the current King, and the PCs are working for said King. Vilain 2 : Wants to utterly annihilate said kingdom with a super weapon. Vilain 1 goes to PCs and be like, "we need to work together to stop vilain 2, otherwise there won't be anything left to fight over." PCs be like "Okay" Then they kill Vilain 2 and gain access to the Super Weapon Then they fight over it against Vilain 1 and the PCs win again. Then, naturally, the PCs use the super weapon repeatedly to blow up not just this one kingdom, but also the entire world for the evil lulz, because Murder Hobos.
@Mathignihilcehk
7 жыл бұрын
What do you do when your players unintentionally become the super-villains? My party burned a village to the ground, enslaved the survivors, murdered almost everyone they met, and also sent one of their allied teams on an impossibly dangerous scouting mission that got them all killed. If the party started maniacally laughing, I would've known things were going exactly according to plan, but alas they thought they were the heroes... somehow. How do I either come up with someone MORE evil than routine genocide, or show the players that they are evil without giving up the campaign?
@xdragoonzero0
7 жыл бұрын
mathig nihilcek That's when you send the real heroes to stop them. If they still think they're they're heroes after slaying a team of good clerics and paladins (or w/e), they're still clearly not.
@Mathignihilcehk
7 жыл бұрын
The party had the advantage on level, had a dragon and a vampire as companions, and were, by default, 5 members. Even against 8 heroes w/ companions, I suspect they would've been engaged at long range, before they even had a chance to speak, and once they were killed, their home country would've been toppled leading the way to a very real chance for the party to literally take over the entire world. The alternative scenario I came up with was for the entire world of humans to immidiately band together to eliminate the greatest evil ever known. The dragon nation noticed this, and six dragons flew in to abduct the party. Half the party instantly threw down their weapons, because they liked the dragons, not because they were afraid. Ironically, those same half betrayed the dragons' trust and were basically executed by the dragons shortly therafter. I ended it just before (the next session would've opened w/ the execution) said execution could take place. No point in rubbing in their faces that the remaining members of the party were enslaved against their will, and hated by all of humanity. The enslavement wasn't that bad, though... they were basically gladiators, forced to fight pointless battles with no preparation or reward.
@Tmanowns
7 жыл бұрын
You already did that alternative? Because I was going to say maybe pull aside a player and ask them if they would be willing to play a player villain, and have them betray the party. After all, they're convinced they're the good guys. Have a god of justice essentially imbue them with divine power so that they can actually face the others and stand a chance, and really drive it in that they are evil. Alternatively have someone reveal themselves to be an evil necromancer overlord who thanks them for creating his new legions, and leave them be while laughing. After all, if he just leaves them be they'll just create more undead for him.
@colegaynor3638
6 жыл бұрын
"Unintentionally." Hehehe.
@talkingplant6581
5 жыл бұрын
mathig nihilcek make a “villain” who is obviously a good guy. *cough cough* undertale genocide route kinda. *cough cough*
@EnzolioLP
6 жыл бұрын
Sponsor Villain: Players go and shootup a bar chain because they got drug stashes in them. They were sponsored by a misterious figure in a dinner late at night and with no other choice they said yes. (characters were REALLY run down by that point and I just had to pick them up) Turns out that the "sponsor" is a Gangster that wanted to have other gangs irradicated to get his business started. With noone else left to sell purple Mint, they have now helped a Crimelord become the King of the city they swore to protect. Chaotic John Wick Hijinks ensues.
@Blackwing2007
5 жыл бұрын
A major campaign takes this to another extreme. There are multiple "super-villain's" each with henchmen hatching plots on their behalf (perhaps there is even a henchman or two that is a double agent between them) as they compete for the same, or conflicting, goals. At first the PC's are just the Scooby-gang. A bunch of meddling kids that keep thwarting unimportant lackeys in the grand scheme of the super villains. but utterly annoying to a henchman or two as they take out underling after underling. Then they take out a few henchmen, and catch the attention of the major players, who turn their resources more directly towards the nuisances. But then as they prove to be bigger and bigger threats to the super villains, some want them utterly eliminated, while others want to use them to eliminate rivals. Still another wants to corrupt them, and turn them into a weapon. In the end, the PC's have finally identified a super villain or two, and move to eliminate them, only to discover that the third super villain now has nothing but them to hold them in check. And who knows what other forces are now eyeing the power vacuum they have created.
@Ranar999
8 жыл бұрын
What do you think about the motive of your nemisis? Do you strictly think s/he should be evil, or something more complicated. For instance I am thinking of a nemisis who is trying to save humanity but through questionable means.
@brobuscus1152
8 жыл бұрын
+Ranar999 It's usually seems generic if your villain is bad for the sake of being bad. So yes, you should have some sort of interesting "nugget of good" in that character.
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
+Ranar999 So this is a debate I used to have in scriptwriting, and that I've had with film producers on the various films I've worked on as as Script Editor. In my humble opinion the motive of an evil character should ALWAYS be that they want ultimate power - through money, ownership, manipulation, and power. If you look at feature films where the villain is kinda bad but because he had a bad childhood, or because he is misunderstood, or because he is fighting for what he believes in - do you ever feel - after watching them win a sense of justice? Ambiguous villains who are evil because of circumstance rather than choice leave a pyrric victory. I like my villains to be evil because they are evil. My favorite villains: Skeletor, Grand moff Tarkin, Bazmorda, Moriarty - none had reasons other than they believed they were right in doing what they did which was evil. When you add in someone like Darth Vader... he was super cool as the evil knight who was saved by his son. When we learned of his super epic emo journey of betrayal and pouting as a young kid who was cradle-snactched by a horny noble... he just became a pathetic individual who should have gone to a shrink. So I would say villains are bad because they are power hungry. The reason is irrelevant. Unless you are role-playing a therapist fighting the world, who cares why they became evil. Unless they became evil as a result of a great evil... aka Emperor Palpatine is the Nemesis and Vader is just a villain.
@Zergsays
8 жыл бұрын
+How to be a Great Game Master That's funny, I'm actually the exact opposite. The tolkienistic "evil for the sake of being evil" becomes a little trivial for me. I prefer the boundary between good and evil to be unclear and for characters to have depth enough for their actions to make sense in other ways than "I seek power for the sake of power". The actions of many of the characters from a Song of Ice and Fire seem absurdly evil, but we understand why they do what they do from the perspective of them as humans.
@Ranar999
8 жыл бұрын
+How to be a Great Game Master Interesting.....my nemisis I have in mind is definitely going for ultimate power. And he can most definitely be considered evil. He does not care who has to die or suffer as long as he reaches his goal, which is basically total domination. But it is because he believes that he is the only one who can save humanity from itself as well as other powers, and he will not rest until he achieves that goal.
@Ranar999
8 жыл бұрын
+Zergsays I think we are seeing this shift to more grey characters happening in our media with stuff like Breaking Bad and A Game Of Thrones. I do find grey characters more interesting than black and white, but I also feel there is a place for Good Vs. Evil. If there is just vonstant grey even that can be stale, look even to A Song of Ice and Fire. We have villains like Jamie Lannister but we also have ones like Joffery or Ramsey. What I think I am trying to say is that there is a place for both in story telling.
@Demadragon
6 жыл бұрын
I love playing my villains as "oh, he is totally a bad guy, there is no way to misunderstand that, but right now he is allay to players". It feels pretty good when "well, i dont want to do what this obviously evil guy tells me to do, but on the other hand - he asks us to save city from famine... We should work with him to get what is he trying to do!" It shifts dynamic in a fun way. "Winning" transforms from "dont let bad guy do his thing" into "get information about his thing before it becomes too late, and you were part of it."
@thornfalk
7 жыл бұрын
I wasn't sure how to do the forsaken god nemesis I've had planned for months now, and this just gave me the perfect idea. He;s just going to pit the lesser forsaken gods against the party and keep informing them until he's allowed inside their stronghold, from there he will keep showing up randomly sketching out the walls. Being the god of knowledge he'll say something like "Oh , im just admiring the architecture. Things have changed in the past 200 years." Once they not only trust him, but let down their guard around him he will give them one last tip and demand he go with. The god they are currently gearing up to fight (Chaos god) will suddenly be at their door while the party is off on some menial task. When they return all will be well when the nemesis is suddenly impaled and "killed" wherein he will lie to the party about how he has some long last magic allowing him to stay alive through merging his soul with someone else's. If anyone takes the bait I will give them 2 resist roles if they fail both, they die and get a note saying "You have died. You are now the god pretending to be you." By the end of the session the reveal should come naturally with the player being visibly messed up, and the character being awkward and off kilter. If they do pass the check the guy stands up, snaps his fingers, and an army of demons will show up while he monologues about how stupid the party is and how hes the mastermind and none are better than him.
@OFTRVlog
7 жыл бұрын
good advice, gave me a lot of good ideas on playing Strahd by having him help the players along before revealing his true form.
@Ralndrath
7 жыл бұрын
I love the nemesis villain, in two campaigns that I've run they were the very first character the players met, both times they were senior members of the organisations they worked for, helping them in their mission (one was deep undercover, the other their pilot) They played my players like a fiddle (or I did) One Ulysses in my Dark Heresy campaign the pilot got them captured and sent half way across the system to take part in a scenario which rips them of their weapons. The reveal of him was pretty epic and I intended him to die at the players hands but the circumstance (The GMPC almost killing him) Made it he escaped, they HATED him after and wanted more than anything to hunt him down (he wasn't the main villain more a henchmen as you described) The other was Loki from the MCU inspired one who again manipulated the players into his scheme. When he revealed himself as the baad guy it too was pretty epic. He was so likable when he eventually asked the players if they wanted to join him, they did! Which derailed the campaign completely but it allowed for an awesome battle with a huge interdimensional eldritch abomination. Although I found it hilarious when the players got upset when he implanted them with some magic which basically would kill them instantly if they tried to betray him. I was like: "He's the villain, what did you expect?" lol
@Maric18
6 жыл бұрын
i once pulled off an npc backstabbing the players so well, that the player himself lost trust in me :(
@Maric18
6 жыл бұрын
actually it was an evil npc who the player knew was evil who was defeated and had to retreat, so they found his plans for spells that would penetrate the impenetrable shields, so they used the arcane principle used in the spell to guard the spells, luckily one of the arcane researcher knew how to do that. aaaand well ... turns out the researcher was a minion of the villain (well an extorted good guy actually) and they had just been fooled into introducing a vulnerability into the invulnerable magic circles of protection... the plan :yer and his character both were trying their best to protect and he was personally (too) invested in seeing himself succeeding in beim smarter than all those stuffy old wizards who told him that nothing could penetrate their shields ... and he really trusted his likeminded friend who believed him about the secret project of the evil villain... ah yeah, manipulation and deception :3
@Awesome_Force
7 жыл бұрын
Great video and ideas. I've always enjoyed running evil characters myself, so having a diabolical nemesis plotting like that will help make running a game more enjoyable for me. Thanks for the ideas.
@HowtobeaGreatGM
7 жыл бұрын
Anytime! Happy to help!
@RylanLove
7 жыл бұрын
"The bumbling idiot is actually the nemesis" ...Jar Jar Binks?
@AvaByNight
7 жыл бұрын
I'm planning somthing like this for my actual VtM-Round :D Soon the Players will find a crying 10 year old girl next to a dead body. But her tears are blood, clearly a vampire. she tells them, that she didn't know, what they are talking about, there was a strange men and the next she remembered only that she woke up in a near street and searched for mommy and daddy and then there was this other men and she was so hungry and then she... bite him. it was so tastefull. A really terrible story and I know my players and their chars. They will take care for her. What they don't know: she's an centuries year old vampire and this newborn fit well in her plans. and it will be interesting for her to play the little child that doesn't know shit. I know, I'm a monster, but it's VtM, personal horror. :D
@bankasai3120
5 жыл бұрын
Player Nemesis, I had the players assisting an otherworldly patron who up until that point, fed them power and rewards. However, upon defeating my “Villain”, I had the players betrayed, losing half their levels because they lost the favor of this Patron. The patron, a Jester in disguise, who turned out to be a Tiefling who was attempting to become a god, then sent several assassins to handle the players, and the betrayal was unexpected because of their Patron’s “Holy” Powers were unmatched and righteous. Made for an interesting TPK, that was followed by an actual god reviving them to deal with their blunder.
@johnfegebank6728
6 жыл бұрын
An interesting villian to run (but probably more minor than long term) would be one that the PC's are completely aware of their evil doings and all, yet they have some sort of detrimental blackmail over them that allows them to stay near the group with a safeguard around him, perhaps he might tell a beloved NPC something that makes them despise the group and break them emotionally. That way, the PCs can only watch as this villain hordes his power over them, doing subtle yet horrific actions along the way, so the only way to get rid of them is to accept the consequences of their actions or to try and make them suffer "an unfortunate accident".
@jordanbanks7576
5 жыл бұрын
What if you try to bring a Villain into the party but your PC’s kill him right away and it derails your story? My PC’s wanna kill everyone they meet and it’s hard to keep them from doing so without rail roading the campaign which they get really frustrated and sometimes quit playing due to the railroading so I don’t really know what to do because I don’t want to force them into a campaign but they don’t pick up on hints & clues I leave them I’m currently in a campaign where one of my players have a character building arc I’m trying to plan it out so each player has some character work for RP purposes because they can do really well at RP but they focus more on Combat instead of RP to get information as a DM I find it hard to give information when they kill the NPCs
@allisonfields3108
5 жыл бұрын
In my current campaign that I'm DMing, there is no main villian or antagonist. There are many enemies and badies, certainly, but the main quest revolves soley around someone who made a mistake and is working to rectify it. I've come under a lot of fire for this in certain forums, but it's been working out wonderfully. There will be a final boss, but it's manifested out of the mistakes players and npcs have made, and self reflection and growth throughout the campaign will be the answer to defeating it. It won't appear until the very end, and it won't make itself known prior to that. Am I totally dumb for not making a main big bad for the players to defeat?
@MrAkirabilly
7 жыл бұрын
The best villains start out as allies and betray the players for greed, power or they are forced to through blackmail and brainwashing.
@Blueeyedguy2369
4 жыл бұрын
I’ve got my campaign where the king and queen are actually part of the team of the main villain. But they seem so sincere because of their stories that have been passed down for a couple centuries about how they defeated the main villain.
@Profpickels22
5 жыл бұрын
Actually the best villains are ones with a cause. You know the villain who thinks if I just kill this person the world will get better. Better yet it could be a villain that everyone just hates but overall the villain is super nice and friendly.
@rockyfalldownstairs
4 жыл бұрын
“Do you have the DSM?” “We got it sir!” “Good, that’s one less loose end.”
@HuffleRuff
6 жыл бұрын
I never liked the "pure evil" villain. No one is that black & white. Even Hitler had a good side to him.
@TheTSense
6 жыл бұрын
After 8 weeks in rl my group found out that the forest guardians they are helping mean with "harmony of nature" nothing else than "total genocide of man" and the undead they are fighting were the man, woman and children murderd by the forces of the forest. The Villian, the undead "Champion of Old" was actually a hero from 600 years ago, given life again by hope and preyers of the people to protect the world from darkness. It sure was strange when this undead used so many holy skills and never tried to kill the players, only to stop them.
@Knightfall8
7 жыл бұрын
I came looking for tips; turns out I already designed my villain almost exactly like what the video describes (the player nemesis)
@GregTom2
7 жыл бұрын
I'm planning to eventually run a game where the villain is the Quest giver. The players are gradually witness to more and more questionable actions as the guy goes on a slippery slope, with a motive that seems quite good at first (finding some way to cure his young daughter) and actions that seem rather harmless (laying a trap for a werewolf hiding in the village), but progressively degrade (think very disturbing medical / magical experiments, and hiding his deeds from the local mages guild by fabricating evidence to get others arrested). There would be two quests planned. One where the players follow along with his instructions, and are made to do absolutely awful things. One where they ditch him and report him to the competent authorities are help bring him down. The players wouldn't know about the two prepared storylines, so the whole fun for the GM would be to see how far the players are willing to go before they think "hang on one moment... why are we doing this again?", and how they deal with a villain that is actually betrayed _by them_ .
@whensomethingcriesagain
6 жыл бұрын
My golden rule is show them early and show them often, really develop them as a character
@Dadutta
6 жыл бұрын
the ultimate villain is baron harkonnen from dune
@JeremJarnex
8 жыл бұрын
the sponsor the party thing is really good for if you make your villian a triple agent, have him /actually/ being evil but claim to the heroes that he is a double agent it's a bit obvious though since inception kept hammering in that plot device and i'm sure it's still stuck in our heads
@JeremJarnex
8 жыл бұрын
+Reiza oo! i didn't watch any harry potter until two years ago but i remember they used that bumbling idiot deal in their first movie
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
+Reiza Yup. None of these ideas are new, it's how we execute them that makes them special!
@TriMarkC
5 жыл бұрын
I’ve been planning on using the party’s Benefactor as the Mastermind, but now I’m going to leave the door open with a few clues that perhaps the quiet bumbling liaison is the actual Mastermind. Gives me options later.
@samkibbey6321
5 жыл бұрын
Could that spoiler alert have come any later? 😂
@dankatz5224
8 жыл бұрын
Cracking video! It's a truism that stories are made up of human encounters, means and motivations, strengths and weaknesses etc. but this video really helped me understand what this means in practice. Bravo!
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
Wow thanks so much, glad you found it useful.
@shannon8847
5 жыл бұрын
I'm reminded of a story of a wonderful villain someone created. I'll try to do it justice. They started off with these level one PCs that discovered this terrible evil and an npc that employed them to defeat it. Overtime this NPC became a sort of den mother appearing randomly to help in there time of need and just as quickly disappearing. Eventually they became strong enough to fight the major villain and the beloved NPC of course comes to help. When they get into the final room of the castle the NPC reveals that his mind and body is being controlled and the reason he disappears is because of the control. He's been grooming them to defeat him and the players realize they have to kill their friend.
@JohnAWoods-ui3gp
4 жыл бұрын
I know this is an old post, but hopefully either the OP or someone else may read this and be able to help. I have been searching for a post that I saw in the past that was similiar to this story you mentioned. What I remember is that the land had an evil king and the party was questing to defeat him. Along the way they met an NPC who became a companion of theirs and would help them, teach them, guide them, etc. He would leave the party periodically, and return soon after. (When he was away the party would either hear of another evil act of the king or would actually see the king.) Eventually they are ready and reach the evil king and find that he is the npc that has been helping them prepare. He is being controlled or influenced and in his moments of sanity he does everything he can to help them defeat him. He has spent the entire campaign preparing them to kill him because he know that he must be stopped. I'm not sure if we are talking about the same story, but either way if you can point me towards the post that you were referencing it may help me with my search. Even if it doesn't help I think it will be a good read nonetheless.
@liwendiamond9223
6 жыл бұрын
I'd like to add one more type of "Villain" to the list that's not use all that often, but if used well can make for some really interesting stories : The Calamity Something is about to happen or is happening that the players have no realistic chance to stop entirely or at all. Their primary goal is not to defeat the Calamity, but to endure it and help others endure it as well. We're talking stuff like : An island nation is set ablaze by the sudden eruption of a volcano. A divine war between Heave and Hell spills into the material plane. (The premise of Diablo for instance) The Fallout scenario, where nuclear war turned the entire world into a hostile wasteland and the game is about day to day survival. These type of scenarios don't require a overarching supreme vilain in the classical sense. You can add one, as it never really hurts to have good physical vilains to defeat, but the point of the Calamity is that this vilain is the premise itself. Its the setting, the very nature of the world in which the PCs must carve a life of their own.
@ChristopherWalrath
6 жыл бұрын
Hee hee hee (he laughs maniacally). Thank you for the idea. This will be brilliant.
@deusexmaximum8930
6 жыл бұрын
I'd love to listen to this guy do an audiobook.
@lux8398
7 жыл бұрын
Bravely Default. Those of you who have played it know exactly whom I'm talking about. I designed my own nemesis greatly after them and it worked like a charm.
@MrSephirothJenova
6 жыл бұрын
where the Fairy Flies, am I right?
@lux8398
6 жыл бұрын
Silverman Yeah. Great game with a fun plot line.
@dragonstryk7280
7 жыл бұрын
Player Nemesis: I've used this one, and it is AWESOME. Okay, so my idea was that the villain was wearing an amulet that made his alignment undetectable (Most PCs only ever use Detect Evil, especially if they have a Paladin). So what he did was hire the PCs as a part of the church of Abyiar (Goddess of healing). Their mission was to go down into dungeons filled with evil things, destroy them, and retrieve various artifacts for the church, either to be preserved in the case of holy relics, or destroyed, in the case of ancient evil things. Oh yeah, they fully armed the bad guy, and provided his whole bankroll. I kept this going all the way from level 1, until level 10, when he straight up murders the party's cleric (She had been pursuing a romantic relationship with him. Not on me, this was her push, I just went with it. Yeah, they were married, and had a kid, which he took with him). The group survives solely on the Rogue having Boots of Teleportation, but the cleric had to be left behind. Using his newfound powers and monetary might, he begins to crush all before him, and establishes a dark kingdom. I remember the Paladin being the one to work out where he'd gotten the funding for everything. God they were enraged. *wistful smile*
@Maximillian1329
7 жыл бұрын
I had an idea for a Nemesis for my group, I was wondering what you think of it. They're fairly new players, this would be their second campaign. The premise is that they are part of a guild in a large, prestigious city, a guild that is paid to go around the continent and assist others with their problems. Since the PC's are starting at level 5 (Pathfinder system) they're obviously low ranking guildmembers, apprentices of a sort. So they have a mentor who's a much higher rank than them. This mentor goes with them on quests and aids them, becoming their friend along the way. But, in reality he's actually got far more sinister ideas in mind, and perhaps after the third or fourth scenario quest, he betrays the PC's and attempts to kill them / leave them for dead while returning to the guild and blaming them for betraying him (he'll have an accomplice that will act as a witness) so the PC's get kicked out of the guild if/when they return (It will be very far away from the town, probably requiring a long journey) and thus they will have this character that they hate, one who they thought was their friend. Obviously PC's are unpredictable, and this will likely not go exactly as planned, and possibly not even remotely close to what is planned, but that's the general idea I'm hoping to work around. Tell me what you think!
@dm4life579
8 жыл бұрын
I already got a shady character joined the group and he is proving to be very useful. Some of the players actually suspect him, but he is slowly gaining their trust. I wasn't thinking of turning him into a villain but you really tempted me.
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
+Infinite Bladez hehehehe... sounds perfect!
@lucianheart3727
8 жыл бұрын
This is great advice. subscription imminent.
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
Imminent? Can we figure out how to make it actually happen? :p Welcome to the table, please share and chat. We don't bite.
@lucianheart3727
8 жыл бұрын
It's already done, hahah. I'll share, certainly!
@HowtobeaGreatGM
8 жыл бұрын
Bravo! Welcome! Welcome!
@BenemitC
6 жыл бұрын
One of our players was actively playing the villain for some quests until he openly turned against us. The GM talked with him about it beforehand. It was a long con. This was the most shocking reveal I ever experienced.
@Cypher10110
8 жыл бұрын
I've got a villain in-the-works, and this video has helped his master plan come closer to fruition! Mwhahaha :)
A Couple Questions: 1: Could You Have A "Villain" That's Not Actually Evil, Presumably Because The Player's Are Evil? 2: Is It Feasible To Have A Group Of People As The Villain, Rather Than One Particular Person?
@honeybear278
4 жыл бұрын
Another Suggestion. Make a Player the Arch Nemesis. (Only possible If the Player works with the gamemaster. ) In our group this was devastating when WE found Out.
@gnarthdarkanen7464
6 жыл бұрын
I love this kind of thought-worthy content. It's great advice/suggestions for real working and functional campaign related material. I would like to point out (regarding truly remarkable villainy) that practically speaking, there's really no substitute for a confederate player... Pre-agree and discuss regularly with said confederate the role of the villain, and how it pertains to actions in the game as well as the general politics and surroundings... The best trick is to manage most of these conversations AWAY FROM THE ATTENTIONS OF OTHER PLAYERS... At least, try to avoid unwanted attention before the "grand reveal"... It should be understood (of course) that the confederate's character is very likely destined for a miserable demise... SO no hard feelings and a "workable relationship" with a player might well be worth "valued in-game rewards" for his character(s)... even to some degree in future games (it was a fairly popular incentive when more than one player figured out how the "favoritism" worked during character-building)... Suddenly, I was up to my eyebrows in treacherous bastards...lolz. (so do be fair while you're at the instigating)... Another fine point around this, (particularly from HOWTOBEAGREATGAMEMASTER) is what might your feelings be in regards to a "Co-GM"??? That is to say, two GM's technically partnered to help run the campaign... Whether it's a seasoned GM' veteran aiding in rule-deciphers and some "suggestions" along the judgment calls while a "Noob-GM" is actually "running the game" all the way to a tailoring of game-style that eve allows some party-splitting antics (as long as the two GM's stay relatively on-task)... like splitting up in a castle or maze/dungeon crawl. :o)
@jackburton37211
4 жыл бұрын
diabolical...
@chaosmastermind
4 жыл бұрын
You know, the betrayal thing can also be inverted for a great ending. For your Darth Vadar example. Darth Vadar loved the MC Luke because Luke was his son. He tried desperately to convince Luke to join him so they could rule together. He didn't want to kill him.. he loved him. He was willing to sacrifice all of Luke's friends in the process because they were no concern to him (and were rebel enemies). In the end.. instead of continuing his evil plans, HE betrayed his own plans for love. And that was one of the most glorious endings in anything.
@TheFaytkaiser
6 жыл бұрын
There were some great pointers in here for the game I am working on, but I have a big sort of twist that you might like. I am calling this particular archetype "Secret Hitler." The Nemesis is introduced as a victim/sponsor, whos ultimate goal is some kind of social change. He HIRES THE PLAYERS to do all sorts of jobs (In my case, morally corrupt King and abundance of gangs in the kingdom) to literally actually help make things better. Act 1 ends with Nemesis being made King (somehow, left the means fairly open ended) Act 2 involves the PCs dealing with the kingdoms more external threats, and otherwise building all the side and PC specific plots. Act 3, BIG TWIST, Evil King reveals himself, makes PCs enemies of the kingdom, and PCs have to fight through a morally grey stew of enemies and former allies to stop the Evil King from doing the MacGuffin or whatever. I have all that planned out, but it is irrelevant to the theme. A big side theme for this particular nemesis is generally morally grey chojces, henchmen, and villians. Just thought I would throw in my 2 cents and you might enjoy the concept. Thanks for the awesome videos.
@FaithfulSwordsman1
7 жыл бұрын
Reminds me of a GM who basically did this, but pulled a "Heathcliff" (Sword Art Online Villain) with his on PC. Of course we all thought he was doing it cause he just wanted to play a PC too, but guess not. The Final Battle was even better, going against A PC.
@johnathanross4387
2 жыл бұрын
Anyone watching this in 2022 who also happens to be watching critical role??? This is giving me really scary vibes of Lord Esteros!!!
@Mr.Monster1984
6 жыл бұрын
I once was DMing a demon campaign for only one player. He was my sister's boyfriend and we played every night . His character saved a mortal girl from becoming a vampire's ghoul. They fell in love and was really emotionally invested, since we played everyday and he was the only player. After they went through many adventures and stuff, I had him discover she was the villain. He got so angry and emotional confronting her in game that I changed all my plans and had her show proff she was beeing framed and she was innocent, he was really relieved. That wasnt what I had planned but I didnt have the heart to do it.
@rateeightx
5 жыл бұрын
What If You Has A Villain In A Romantic Relationship With One Of The Players, But It Was Actually Real Love On His Part, So He (Or She) Tries To Spare Said Player While Killing All The Others?
@jackeldridge4225
4 жыл бұрын
Players PARANOID! My group broke out people from a political prison and took half of them on as crew. One was responsible for blowing up a galactic pleasure cruiser, another is a spy for a rival race, and only two were good guys. (A visitor, and the NPC they were looking for to rescue from wrongful imprisonment.)
@whiskeyfur
7 жыл бұрын
The bromance... Yea, you don't know my players. :) They would look at that story and go, "uh huh, riiiiiight..." their characters often KNOW better. And on a lark I'll throw someone at them with that huge story trying to guilt them.. only for the PC's to tell'em to stuff it. Dumb villain went to smart villain to get ideas on how to infiltrate group, finds out that advice was very BAD advice.. and smart villain ends up with one rival less.
@WhateverMaster505
7 жыл бұрын
I have a Player Nemesis and a Never Present Villain in my homebrew =). Player Nemesis is a Succubus infiltrating the party and reporting back to the Never Present.
@skylarneal5844
3 жыл бұрын
Of course. This happens every time. I’m trying to improve my dming skills so I look up some advice for world building, character building, villains, etc. then I’ll spend an hour avoiding your vids hoping for multiple perspectives but in the end... I always come back, I always like what you have to say better. I should stop wasting my time and just watch your vids first I guess. Nonetheless love the content!
@CJ-ek6qc
Жыл бұрын
Weird video, honestly. You started out sort of explaining the different roles and archetypes, which was solid, and then you just sort of spun into a 15 minute rant about a very specific type of betraying/backstabbing character and claiming how they're just the "best". I didn't get it. Boiling a player nemesis down to this oddly specific infiltrator was very reductive and just took up most of the video when you could have talked about a number of interesting concepts.
@boris978
6 жыл бұрын
Excuse me sir, but I am entirelly new to D&D and so I want to ask you a question ?: How do we create a nemesis player? Is he a real PC being role-played by another player whose intentions we REALLY don't know, because the player never told us, or is he a NPC who is being played by Game Master ? And also: Can Game Master arrange random npc encounters, just like that, e.g. when travelling ? Can those NPCs be those evil nemesis ? And also: When the party meets the what would be a nemesis, do they have to know his intensions and is it the game master controlling the nemesis, like a player would any other PC ? Also: When the PC dies, does he die forever ? Also: When the nemesis actually betrayes the party, but nobody wins do they separate, and then Player Nemesis is being played as Mastermind ? If you answer I sincerely thank you for you help. Yes I know I am late !
@seccrecc67
2 жыл бұрын
Adam Ant the Ranger finds a horse breeder/trainer to buy horses for the entire party. I as GM really played up this breeder/trainer as a professional who specialized in warhorses. I knew the party had a ridiculous amount of wealth on them, so I was trying to convince them to burn some of that off. This was a mistake. Later they would be adventuring into caverns for weeks. How was I to get them to part with the horse's. A horse thief! Who steals the horses in the dead of night. (This was very difficult to pull off). This much higher level master thief, became a recurring nemesis. Stealing bags of holding and overly powerful items (keeping my game balanced). I invented a annoying laugh to alert the PC's to the escaping rogue. Lots of fun.
@ZazairS7N
5 жыл бұрын
WHOA WHOA WHOA no Neil Caffery was not evil he was chaotic neutral.
@Retroloft556
4 жыл бұрын
I went way overboard on my character. I was the antithesis of all the other player characters, had the long goal in mind, built up my empire, and executed my plan at exactly the right time. Fucking force powers foiled my plans. No anti play for Jedi Powers in the long run.
@giuliafornaciari9235
4 жыл бұрын
(Long post ahead but it's worth it) One of my DMs pulled the ultimate bamboozle on all of us. When he started DMing, he created a homebrew campaign with a party where the main villain was a CE College of Glamour bard. This guys was a pompous, arrogant, self-absorbed, overdramatic son of a bitch who couldn't even use a sword but damn, was he good with words and hot damn, was he an absolute psychopath. He manipulated two kingdoms into obtaining an extremely evil artifact with the aim of ultimately getting his hands on it himself...but the artifact had the condition of having to be given up volutarily. The first time he wasn't successful, but the second time, he won. That campaign, for one reason or another, was never finished. One year later, the same DM calls us, different party, to finish what he started. He had new ideas, he was a great DM and I hopped in with...well, a Bard. And my first mission was to find a guy and say I was there on behalf of [insert name of the Bard here]. My character was the Bard's most beloved pupil, friend, ally and confident. She was aware of around 60% of the shit he was doing, but couldn't care less (CN) and when she could, she gave him a hand. What he felt for her was genuine and he really did consider my character the best thing ever happened to him. She had seen everything nice he could actually do when he was in a good mood or just very, very drunk. The Bard shows up some time later. Nobody else in the party had any ties to him, so his global celebrity face allowed us a very fun arc in a city, before another party member joins in...the only survivor of the previous party, now a Redemption Paladin. Who remembered the Bard exactly for who he was before lunging at him, sword in one hand and a Smite Evil in the other. The Bard hastily explained why he was in town and, long story short, in the finale of that arc, sacrificed himself to thwart the evil guys' plan. My character was devastated, but he donated to her the evil artifact (unbeknowst to the rest of the party) and his most prized possession: his violin. The Paladin was tied to another npc in the previous campaign, who showed up at the end of another arc to help us. She was an elf baelorn (a good lich) and his previous lover, so when she asked for help retrieving an artifact, we were more than happy to help. Turns out...SHE was the BBEG. And we found out because the resurrected Bard shot her head off her neck with a gun, then teleported us away while she was regenerating. The artifact she wanted was the ring of a particular god. He explained that all he did during his 4000 years of existence (he was half-celestial) was to stall the baelorn's attempts at destroying reality, as she had gone completely crazy after losing something. He had done terrible, horrifying things to get enough power to do this and was aware he could never stop, not even in death. He made plans to resurrect himself just for that case. It had become his only purpose in his life. He asked for help and us, the Paladin and even previous NPCs reluctantly accepted him in the gang. Final fight, 12 levels later. We find out what was stolen from the baelorn. Her feelings and purpose...and the culprit entered the room with a pompous, arrogant, self-absorbed, overdramatic flair. The Bard made her go crazy to cover up his steady gaining of enough power and retrieving artifacts, to return to his previous existence...a God. We had the real BBEG with us all the whole damn time and helped him almost destroy the world. But the secret to bring him down was to challenge him with an important remnant of his mortal life...and the only thing existing in the world was the violin the Bard gave to my character. He literally gave his pupil the key to his own demise because he couldn't bear the thought of destroying the most beautiful thing in his life. (We won and I took revenge on my DM by making him cry his eyes off when I sang 'Stand By Me' while helding the dying body of my character's best friend in my arms. I still haven't forgiven the son of a bitch for how he played with my feelings but DAMMNNNNNNNN that was good.)
@dumptruck5138
6 жыл бұрын
The greatest villian of all time is definitely Lord Teletubby from my Garry's Mod campaign. He can change his form to the many different Teletubbies at will, and achieved World domination. Now my brother, who is playing as Kermit the frog, must join the Team Fortress to defeat Lord Teletubby and his armies at Zimbabwe, the capitol of the world.
@harmonlanager2670
7 жыл бұрын
My favorite nemesis was in our Call of Cthulhu game. At this point, the PCs have stopped a few Great Old Ones from coming to Earth (Hastur and Cthulhu specifically). The Mythos took notice and Nyarlathotep, the Trickster God, came after them. He was an absolute delight to use in the campaign because, unlike the other threats they faced, he came after them personally. He'd kidnap loved ones, turn insane PCs into cultists, and would play them against each other.
@baltsosser
6 жыл бұрын
I'm working up a campaign now where the individual will be revealed to be the big bad of the lower level campaign...is actually just a henchmen in the larger organization. I can't wait to see how this all turns out. I don't know myself yet.
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