Dust
2010-10-03, 10:47 AM
There's a lot of BBEG archetypes out there, from the Card Carrying Villain to the Fat Sweaty Southerner In A White Suit (no links necessary, we've all seen these). And while not every game needs one, a solid, iconic Bad Guy is often just as good for driving the plot onwards as the most enthusiastic group of PCs.
After a few years of roleplaying, I have developed my OWN theory of what traits are necessary for a memorable Bad Guy, which I have dubbed the 5 Ls. And they’re not as straightforward as you may think. I'd like to share these with you.
I hope this thread serves as inspiration to others – maybe several of you will even contribute by talking about your all-time favorite tabletop evildoers. Let's get right to it, and hopefully you'll be able to forgive my tendency to ramble. You may also want to settle in, this is a long read.
Look:
It's important the BBEG has distinguishing physical features, simply because something that catches your players attentions will help make them memorable. While the frills might have to do with their choice of clothing, avoid the all-concealing black cloak even on their first meeting; There is ALWAYS something more you can add. Perhaps every finger is adorned with a ring (depleted Rings of Three Wishes, or signet rings showing favor with different guilds, etc etc), which the individual caresses as he or she talks.
Perhaps they ride an armored elephant, or use a rather thick non-flammable wax to keep their hair slicked back to prevent their head from being caught on fire when slinging pyrotechnic magic.
A facial scar is not a memorable trait. Red leather clothing is not memorable. Wearing a breastplate made of giant clamshells is better, or a headpiece made with giant beetle mandibles that frame the NPC's jaw. The more unusual, the more memorable the character ultimately will be.
In addition, don't forget that evil is often signified by darker colors like black, or simple giveaways that might let your players know the character is evil long before any other NPCS would even consider it. As long as you're not plotting a great betrayal, they should meet the character and instantly have a hunch as to which side of the alignment spectrum he or she is sitting on. Never underestimate the power of shifty eyes or insincere smiles in making your players sit up and take note.
Line:
I've found taking a page from comic books and giving my Bad Guys a handful of one-liners has done wonders for them. It makes battles more intense when you have a BBEG who actually TALKS TO the PCs during combat, or at least has a few taunting platitudes up his sleeve.
For example, if you were Alan Moore, you might have a Line such as "I'm not a Republic Serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it thirty-five minutes ago." Sure, it's not as staggering in this form as it would be with context, but it is the phrase as much it is the delivery that send chills up the spines of your PCs. And it tells a lot about the character - in addition to being genre-savvy, the character who utters such a line is depicted as frighteningly intelligent as well as self-centered.
Write a few down and have them on hand during the game. Nothing as full-length as an entire monologue, which I've found actually detract from bad guy encounters as opposed to adding to the experience, but rather a few witticisms or character-summarizing phrases that'll cement the character in the mind of the PCs. My local group still talks about the minor scientist bad guy who, obsessed with one of the famous celebrity PCs, went so far as to attempt a kidnapping and use SCIENCE to actually gruesomely alter his own appearance to look like the PC. His line, repeatedly delivered in a shaky, whispery and apologetic voice, was "I-I'm your biggest fan....". I'm certain you can do much better than that!
Loathing:
Okay. So now you have your hit points and powers and stats all figured out, and the villain has been terrorizing the characters and the countryside. But do the players themselves really care? As a GM, we can sometimes forget that there are two personalities that the villain is fighting; the character and the player are separate. To be a memorable villain there must be an emotional and psychological connection with the players. They need to have personal stakes involved with the BBEG's defeat.
Have you, as a GM, ever encountered a gaming group that was reluctant to ever play Good aligned characters? They might joke about switching sides in a war or avoid going the extra two feet to ensure NPC safety. 'They don't act like heroes!,' you might cry to the forums, exasperated. And while good suggestions and advice might be given, this almost always points to the exact same thing - the players feeling detached from their characters, who are often supposed to 'do good' with no real compensation or reward, but stalwartly attempting to roleplay this. Altruistic characters might be good in theory, but in execution, it's often harder than you think. It's tough to really get the PCs unified on a common cause. Lucky for you, you've already got a common cause all figured out - your villain.
Interestingly, no matter the system, players often take more affront to a villain who offends their sensibilities than their characters'. You might make the best Dr. Doom-esque mastermind ever, with the world in the grip of his hand, and the players will (likely) dutifully attempt to stop him as per the unwritten roles of roleplaying. But create a french underling with an annoying voice and a monocle, and a penchant for taking the PC's glory named Jean Eric Villon, and your players will be scrambling over the backs of one another trying to get a shot at him. Cultivate the art of making your PLAYERS loathe the villains, not so much their characters, and you'll end up with better bad guys. And this starts in the conceptual stages - don't intentionally try to tick off your players by say, breaking their equipment or taking their levels, because this goes against the rules of good GMing. Instead, make a backstabbing creep with diplomatic immunity and a know-it-all smirk and watch the magic. Consider Buddy from The Incredibles as a great example.
Limitations:
Part 4 of making a Bad Guy is sitting down and figuring out what they CAN'T do as opposed to what they can.
Hold on a minute, Dust, you might say, you got that all wrong. Your villain needs to have MOTIVATION and GOALS to be a believable character. WHY they do what they do is more important than what they CAN'T do.
And there is where I'd disagree. Sure, it's nice to have a rough idea of what your bad guy wants and why, but it's not truly essential for the tabletop experience. For a novel, sure - but not here.
A Bad Guy's motivation is rarely what makes them memorable three months after the fact. When your next game has rolled around, I can promise you that your group certainly won't be talking about how the last BBEG didn't get hugged enough as a child, or even if (s)he was a fallen paladin seeking redemption in all the wrong ways. Unless they themselves were involved in creating the Bad Guy's motivations, you'll be hard pressed to find players who actually care.
Still disagree? Quick, tell me Xykon's motivation, or The Joker's. How about Hannibal Lecter? Darth Vader? While you might be able to do it, the answer will almost always be a rather superficial reading of the character that'll take some thought. Some BBEGs are ones with complicated desires that don't always translate well to paper. Others are simply mustache-twirling evil and don't pretend to be anything more - Harry Potter was no less a good story because Lord Voldemort was a two-dimensional bad guy, and Vader was no less awesome when he still lacked depth and all he did was slice up Obi-wan, kidnap princesses, blow up planets, and choke people from across the room.
Don't focus on your Villain's goals and motivations - focus on their limitations.
A BBEG without limits is not actually a villain, it's a plot device, something we want to always avoid. Even if your campaign baddie is a cosmic all-powerful deity, there has to be some reason the PC's foe can't instantly obtain what he wants, and some reason he can't instantly stop the PCs as soon as they become a nuisance to him.
Furthermore, having a Villain with limitations drives the story onward. This is a big important part of this section, and I'm sorry it took me so long to get around to it, so I'll repeat myself here; A Bad Guy who makes his vulnerabilities known or allows his limitations to be discovered becomes instantly more memorable and the story will take new life, since more players will begin exploring these chinks in the proverbial armor. Having a nigh-unstoppable monstrosity in the woods chasing the PCs is one thing, but as soon as the players discover it tracks by scent and they can escape it by crossing running water, they'll begin formulating PLANS on how to exploit this limitation and ultimately overcome the Villain.
A political mastermind is always a good candidate for a long-term badguy, especially since the PCs can never hope to compete with him on the same playing field. Instead, give the mastermind an unrequited love with another NPC in the story, and watch your players' eyes light up as soon as they discover this fact and begin to incorporate it into their plans.
Madness is rarely a good limitation - always try to make it something tangible, and your villain's eventual downfall will be all the more memorable, thanks to the players feeling smug about USING WHAT THEY LEARNED to help overcome the BBEG. In fact, that brings us to our final point...
Last Stand:
Even in the early conceptual stages of villain planning, you need to be contemplating his final scene and possibly even death. There is nothing, NOTHING that takes the kick out of a villain faster than his final scene and last moments being uneventful. Imagine what an anticlimactic moment it would be if your favorite Bad Guy was permanently defeated off-screen by NPCs, how utterly let down you'd feel, and you'll get some idea of the scale we're talking here.
No. From the very first moment the idea is hatched, you need to be plotting your villain's last breaths. From Vader's redemption to the Nazis opening of the Lost Ark of the Covenant, how the final scene might go down is something you need to have on paper as early as possible. This scene will be the literal tombstone on the BBEG's memories, and you need to have an epitaph that'll be remembered.
Of course, PCs rarely let things so according to plan, and that's okay. Just make sure you give your Boba Fett a last line or dangerous few moments in the spotlight, don't simply let him get nudged to his waiting demise without a whimper or sound. You might think it cheesy, but the Wicked Witch's 'I'M MELLLLTTTTIIIIING' is one of the best-remembered villain deaths in all of cinema, and that's just her getting splashed with some water.
This scene is the culmination of all the player and character efforts and the last fight of the campaign. You can't afford to bring anything less than your A-game.
Remember the insane scientist character I mentioned in the Line example? From the moment that villain was conceived, I knew that as much as he might WANT to be the PC rockstar, he only had the looks, not the skill. (Oh look, Limitations at work, too!) Ultimately, I figured it would come down to the PC bursting onstage and interrupting the villain's concert before it began, and turning into a rock-off. That let me plan for all sorts of other events during the fight - four mechanical arms bursting from the mad scientist's back to control two guitars, an army of undead showing up as backup dancers and mooks, and the works. It sounds ridiculous, but it was a ton of fun for everyone involved. Sure, the PCs could have simply kicked him into a pit of lava at some point instead, but having a plan for a POTENTIAL finale is, I truly believe, a necessity. Consider Kefka's ascension to godhood or Norman Osborn getting impaled with his own glider while trying to kill Spider-Man, or the gasoline trailing behind the plane in Die Hard 2. Give your players a reason to say "This is for Sally," or even "Yippie Ki Yay..." at the big finish.
Conclusion:
So that's the formula I've been working with that has yielded great results for some time now; The Line, the Look, the Loathing, the Limitations, and the Last Stand. The five Ls that make up a great BBEG - it isn't always a winning formula, because there's never any guarantee that your players will connect on an emotional level with ANY aspect of your game, and a good villain is one of the hardest parts. We can't always identify the X-factor that makes players care about or disregard certain NPCs, and personally, I don't think I'd want to. But next time you start statting up Hans von Rabbit, Destroyer of Worlds, consult this thread and make sure you have these points covered - you might be surprised by the results.
After a few years of roleplaying, I have developed my OWN theory of what traits are necessary for a memorable Bad Guy, which I have dubbed the 5 Ls. And they’re not as straightforward as you may think. I'd like to share these with you.
I hope this thread serves as inspiration to others – maybe several of you will even contribute by talking about your all-time favorite tabletop evildoers. Let's get right to it, and hopefully you'll be able to forgive my tendency to ramble. You may also want to settle in, this is a long read.
Look:
It's important the BBEG has distinguishing physical features, simply because something that catches your players attentions will help make them memorable. While the frills might have to do with their choice of clothing, avoid the all-concealing black cloak even on their first meeting; There is ALWAYS something more you can add. Perhaps every finger is adorned with a ring (depleted Rings of Three Wishes, or signet rings showing favor with different guilds, etc etc), which the individual caresses as he or she talks.
Perhaps they ride an armored elephant, or use a rather thick non-flammable wax to keep their hair slicked back to prevent their head from being caught on fire when slinging pyrotechnic magic.
A facial scar is not a memorable trait. Red leather clothing is not memorable. Wearing a breastplate made of giant clamshells is better, or a headpiece made with giant beetle mandibles that frame the NPC's jaw. The more unusual, the more memorable the character ultimately will be.
In addition, don't forget that evil is often signified by darker colors like black, or simple giveaways that might let your players know the character is evil long before any other NPCS would even consider it. As long as you're not plotting a great betrayal, they should meet the character and instantly have a hunch as to which side of the alignment spectrum he or she is sitting on. Never underestimate the power of shifty eyes or insincere smiles in making your players sit up and take note.
Line:
I've found taking a page from comic books and giving my Bad Guys a handful of one-liners has done wonders for them. It makes battles more intense when you have a BBEG who actually TALKS TO the PCs during combat, or at least has a few taunting platitudes up his sleeve.
For example, if you were Alan Moore, you might have a Line such as "I'm not a Republic Serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it thirty-five minutes ago." Sure, it's not as staggering in this form as it would be with context, but it is the phrase as much it is the delivery that send chills up the spines of your PCs. And it tells a lot about the character - in addition to being genre-savvy, the character who utters such a line is depicted as frighteningly intelligent as well as self-centered.
Write a few down and have them on hand during the game. Nothing as full-length as an entire monologue, which I've found actually detract from bad guy encounters as opposed to adding to the experience, but rather a few witticisms or character-summarizing phrases that'll cement the character in the mind of the PCs. My local group still talks about the minor scientist bad guy who, obsessed with one of the famous celebrity PCs, went so far as to attempt a kidnapping and use SCIENCE to actually gruesomely alter his own appearance to look like the PC. His line, repeatedly delivered in a shaky, whispery and apologetic voice, was "I-I'm your biggest fan....". I'm certain you can do much better than that!
Loathing:
Okay. So now you have your hit points and powers and stats all figured out, and the villain has been terrorizing the characters and the countryside. But do the players themselves really care? As a GM, we can sometimes forget that there are two personalities that the villain is fighting; the character and the player are separate. To be a memorable villain there must be an emotional and psychological connection with the players. They need to have personal stakes involved with the BBEG's defeat.
Have you, as a GM, ever encountered a gaming group that was reluctant to ever play Good aligned characters? They might joke about switching sides in a war or avoid going the extra two feet to ensure NPC safety. 'They don't act like heroes!,' you might cry to the forums, exasperated. And while good suggestions and advice might be given, this almost always points to the exact same thing - the players feeling detached from their characters, who are often supposed to 'do good' with no real compensation or reward, but stalwartly attempting to roleplay this. Altruistic characters might be good in theory, but in execution, it's often harder than you think. It's tough to really get the PCs unified on a common cause. Lucky for you, you've already got a common cause all figured out - your villain.
Interestingly, no matter the system, players often take more affront to a villain who offends their sensibilities than their characters'. You might make the best Dr. Doom-esque mastermind ever, with the world in the grip of his hand, and the players will (likely) dutifully attempt to stop him as per the unwritten roles of roleplaying. But create a french underling with an annoying voice and a monocle, and a penchant for taking the PC's glory named Jean Eric Villon, and your players will be scrambling over the backs of one another trying to get a shot at him. Cultivate the art of making your PLAYERS loathe the villains, not so much their characters, and you'll end up with better bad guys. And this starts in the conceptual stages - don't intentionally try to tick off your players by say, breaking their equipment or taking their levels, because this goes against the rules of good GMing. Instead, make a backstabbing creep with diplomatic immunity and a know-it-all smirk and watch the magic. Consider Buddy from The Incredibles as a great example.
Limitations:
Part 4 of making a Bad Guy is sitting down and figuring out what they CAN'T do as opposed to what they can.
Hold on a minute, Dust, you might say, you got that all wrong. Your villain needs to have MOTIVATION and GOALS to be a believable character. WHY they do what they do is more important than what they CAN'T do.
And there is where I'd disagree. Sure, it's nice to have a rough idea of what your bad guy wants and why, but it's not truly essential for the tabletop experience. For a novel, sure - but not here.
A Bad Guy's motivation is rarely what makes them memorable three months after the fact. When your next game has rolled around, I can promise you that your group certainly won't be talking about how the last BBEG didn't get hugged enough as a child, or even if (s)he was a fallen paladin seeking redemption in all the wrong ways. Unless they themselves were involved in creating the Bad Guy's motivations, you'll be hard pressed to find players who actually care.
Still disagree? Quick, tell me Xykon's motivation, or The Joker's. How about Hannibal Lecter? Darth Vader? While you might be able to do it, the answer will almost always be a rather superficial reading of the character that'll take some thought. Some BBEGs are ones with complicated desires that don't always translate well to paper. Others are simply mustache-twirling evil and don't pretend to be anything more - Harry Potter was no less a good story because Lord Voldemort was a two-dimensional bad guy, and Vader was no less awesome when he still lacked depth and all he did was slice up Obi-wan, kidnap princesses, blow up planets, and choke people from across the room.
Don't focus on your Villain's goals and motivations - focus on their limitations.
A BBEG without limits is not actually a villain, it's a plot device, something we want to always avoid. Even if your campaign baddie is a cosmic all-powerful deity, there has to be some reason the PC's foe can't instantly obtain what he wants, and some reason he can't instantly stop the PCs as soon as they become a nuisance to him.
Furthermore, having a Villain with limitations drives the story onward. This is a big important part of this section, and I'm sorry it took me so long to get around to it, so I'll repeat myself here; A Bad Guy who makes his vulnerabilities known or allows his limitations to be discovered becomes instantly more memorable and the story will take new life, since more players will begin exploring these chinks in the proverbial armor. Having a nigh-unstoppable monstrosity in the woods chasing the PCs is one thing, but as soon as the players discover it tracks by scent and they can escape it by crossing running water, they'll begin formulating PLANS on how to exploit this limitation and ultimately overcome the Villain.
A political mastermind is always a good candidate for a long-term badguy, especially since the PCs can never hope to compete with him on the same playing field. Instead, give the mastermind an unrequited love with another NPC in the story, and watch your players' eyes light up as soon as they discover this fact and begin to incorporate it into their plans.
Madness is rarely a good limitation - always try to make it something tangible, and your villain's eventual downfall will be all the more memorable, thanks to the players feeling smug about USING WHAT THEY LEARNED to help overcome the BBEG. In fact, that brings us to our final point...
Last Stand:
Even in the early conceptual stages of villain planning, you need to be contemplating his final scene and possibly even death. There is nothing, NOTHING that takes the kick out of a villain faster than his final scene and last moments being uneventful. Imagine what an anticlimactic moment it would be if your favorite Bad Guy was permanently defeated off-screen by NPCs, how utterly let down you'd feel, and you'll get some idea of the scale we're talking here.
No. From the very first moment the idea is hatched, you need to be plotting your villain's last breaths. From Vader's redemption to the Nazis opening of the Lost Ark of the Covenant, how the final scene might go down is something you need to have on paper as early as possible. This scene will be the literal tombstone on the BBEG's memories, and you need to have an epitaph that'll be remembered.
Of course, PCs rarely let things so according to plan, and that's okay. Just make sure you give your Boba Fett a last line or dangerous few moments in the spotlight, don't simply let him get nudged to his waiting demise without a whimper or sound. You might think it cheesy, but the Wicked Witch's 'I'M MELLLLTTTTIIIIING' is one of the best-remembered villain deaths in all of cinema, and that's just her getting splashed with some water.
This scene is the culmination of all the player and character efforts and the last fight of the campaign. You can't afford to bring anything less than your A-game.
Remember the insane scientist character I mentioned in the Line example? From the moment that villain was conceived, I knew that as much as he might WANT to be the PC rockstar, he only had the looks, not the skill. (Oh look, Limitations at work, too!) Ultimately, I figured it would come down to the PC bursting onstage and interrupting the villain's concert before it began, and turning into a rock-off. That let me plan for all sorts of other events during the fight - four mechanical arms bursting from the mad scientist's back to control two guitars, an army of undead showing up as backup dancers and mooks, and the works. It sounds ridiculous, but it was a ton of fun for everyone involved. Sure, the PCs could have simply kicked him into a pit of lava at some point instead, but having a plan for a POTENTIAL finale is, I truly believe, a necessity. Consider Kefka's ascension to godhood or Norman Osborn getting impaled with his own glider while trying to kill Spider-Man, or the gasoline trailing behind the plane in Die Hard 2. Give your players a reason to say "This is for Sally," or even "Yippie Ki Yay..." at the big finish.
Conclusion:
So that's the formula I've been working with that has yielded great results for some time now; The Line, the Look, the Loathing, the Limitations, and the Last Stand. The five Ls that make up a great BBEG - it isn't always a winning formula, because there's never any guarantee that your players will connect on an emotional level with ANY aspect of your game, and a good villain is one of the hardest parts. We can't always identify the X-factor that makes players care about or disregard certain NPCs, and personally, I don't think I'd want to. But next time you start statting up Hans von Rabbit, Destroyer of Worlds, consult this thread and make sure you have these points covered - you might be surprised by the results.