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crazywolf
2011-01-25, 07:47 PM
ok the story:a level 1 campaign, the party learns that goblins are raiding local caravans and enters a goblin cave and massacres all the goblins and find the big bad guy a fighter who flees twice after being beatin brutaly by the partys barbarion

now, the fighter works for a necromancer who is trying to find a mask that will give him powers over death, the mask holds the soul of a ancient god of death who was slain and his soul locked into the mask by an anciant society of mages also known as the guardians, there are ruins that hold the key to finding the great temple which houses the mask
the necromancer is angrey because he was outcased by his master for necromancy and he i plan on him developing from a sniviling necromancer to a powerhungrey madman he hired the fighter because he needs some muscle

now my question i want to develop both villans and i need ideas how to develop them from low level thugs to recuring villans
i plan on both of them surviving to be recuring, so what can they do to get under the pcs skin i want them to say "arrh not him again" and to be glad when they finaly die so how can i do this?
in what order should i execute there villanis deads?

Paseo H
2011-01-26, 02:14 AM
Give the muscle a little more brains/cunning and have him be a front man for the necromancer, as a manipulator to twist the minds of people the PCs come across, in addition to being able to fight well.

In other words, turning the fighter into a Grima Wormtongue type can help flesh out both the fighter and the necromancer with the context of Lord of the Rings.

crazywolf
2011-01-26, 04:37 PM
ok thanks i planed on the fighter being a little smarter than average he has int 14
i planed on the necromancer doing something like having people rob graves for him and than eventualy turn them into undead too

DragonBaneDM
2011-01-26, 05:12 PM
Have the necromancer try to employ the party for a bit?

Also, latch on to something in one or two of their backstories and have the necromancer be involved. Did a bunch of zombies tear down the wizard's old school? Guess who raised them all in the first place!

As for the fighter, I'd say make him an ex Salt Sniper.

:smallwink:

Combat Reflexes
2011-01-26, 05:14 PM
Or go the cliché route: the poor thug is first bitten by a werewolf, then a vampire, etc. etc.

Also, I have found that every self-respecting recurring NPC must have access to short- or long-range teleportation, preferably in a dramatic way (Cape of the Mountebank!)

crazywolf
2011-01-27, 06:03 AM
those are some helpful ideas but how do the villans get payback on the pcs
the fighter got his eye cut out by the barbarion so how should he get revenge on them?

Lord Vampyre
2011-01-27, 07:57 AM
Now, that the fighter has actually been beaten by the barbarian, you should never actually involved in a fight with the party. Your best bet is to always have the party come upon him in the process of some nefarious scheme with lots of minions, and possibly a second in command that actually ends up fighting the party.

While the party is engaged with the lowly minions, you have the fighter conviently slip away. This will frustrate the PCs to no end, then when they finally catch him and actually kill him, they'll be excited.

As far as revenge is concerned, I'd have him kill someone that the party gets close to. Then the necromancer can turn that individual into some sort of undead.

Dr Pavo
2011-01-27, 08:21 AM
If a may add something... Building this arch enemy type o guy is more about making the players belive that Everything have to do with them, that will give them a feeling that they can trust no one, maybe let then think that after they kick their butts.. They will retread and stay out of the sight for a wile but... Instead if the party goes to some quest for a cohple days let them know that a huge hord of undeads attacked the city and stole a key to certain tower crypt etc where theres an item that would make the necromancer way more powerfull.. AKA rod of undead mastery (control twice the amount of undeads HD)... As for the fighter.. Make this alliance with the necromancer just a means to an end. Maybe... Becoming some sort of undead archi powerfull thing or that he really is the "chosen one".. For becoming the ultimate undead necromancer but he didn't reallice of his powers... And making him a dread necromacer perhaps? And in the end when they finally kill the necromacer(cleric or wiz) the fighter/dreadnecromancer will really reveal his nature.

Czin
2011-01-27, 08:25 AM
Or go the cliché route: the poor thug is first bitten by a werewolf, then a vampire, etc. etc.

Also, I have found that every self-respecting recurring NPC must have access to short- or long-range teleportation, preferably in a dramatic way (Cape of the Mountebank!)

And then he was eaten by mind worms who ate through his skull and laid eggs in his brain. Wait...wrong game.

Err...he was bitten by a radioactive...Gazebo and became Gazebo man, striking fear into the hearts of all adventurers!

olthar
2011-01-27, 11:17 AM
Now, that the fighter has actually been beaten by the barbarian, you should never actually involved in a fight with the party. Your best bet is to always have the party come upon him in the process of some nefarious scheme with lots of minions, and possibly a second in command that actually ends up fighting the party.

While the party is engaged with the lowly minions, you have the fighter conviently slip away. This will frustrate the PCs to no end, then when they finally catch him and actually kill him, they'll be excited.

As far as revenge is concerned, I'd have him kill someone that the party gets close to. Then the necromancer can turn that individual into some sort of undead.

That or have all of the fighter-party interactions occur in town where the fighter is working on evil plans but the party can't do crap about it because the guards would immediately jump on them for fighting in town.

If you want to make him look even more evil, then have him working with the guards for whatever evil plan. The guards will of course think he is a good guy doing some unrelated thing, which just makes him all the more evil.

The necromancer may be a better villain if the party never meets him. Forcing a bbeg to run away takes some of the danger out of them, and PCs often do stupid things like suicidally wade into a battle they have no hope of winning for 6 levels.

Cyrion
2011-01-27, 11:26 AM
Have them snipe someone standing close to the party as a recurring theme: The merchant talking to the party suddenlt goes down with a crossbow bolt or is consumed by unholy energy. The first couple of times, the party will think that the bad guys missed and hit the wrong target, but they'll eventually figure out that it's a deliberate attack.

Two results: A good party will go to paranoid efforts to try to prevent innocents from getting killed; this is something you can use against them. Also, people start realizing that being near the party is hazardous, so the party has trouble getting information, supplies, services, etc. because they've become social pariahs.

Sometimes the most effective way to take out a leader is to always assassinate his second-in-command...

Lord Vampyre
2011-01-27, 01:10 PM
Another great evil cliche' is for the villain to set the party up to take the fall for a crime that he has committed. He has now effectively killed two birds with one stone. He has accomplished his villainous deed, and gotten revenge on the party.

crazywolf
2011-01-27, 03:10 PM
those are all great ideas and i'm going to try a few of them thanks for the help

werik
2011-01-27, 06:37 PM
As far as your revenge plan is concerned I really liked Lord Vampyre's suggestion about taking a beloved NPC and transforming him/her into an undead. I'd like to graft that revenge plan onto my own though for maximum hatred effect from your PCs.

Step One: Insert appealing and powerful NPC that helps the PCs and becomes their friend in confidant. This NPC should be someone that could reasonably confront the whole party of PCs on their own without too much outside assistance.

Step Two: The necromancer and fighter capture and kill the NPC, reanimating him/her into a powerful and intelligent undead as was previously suggested.

Step Three: The villains send a letter to the PCs insisting that they arrive at a given destination at a given time to exchange the beloved NPC hostage for something that the PCs have gained in their quest.

Step Four: When the PCs arrive have your fighter and necromancer invisible (greater invisible if possible) and let the PCs stumble upon a now undead ally who seeks to destroy them. Let the NPC and his minions fight the bulk of the party, but have the fighter and necromancer strike upon the barbarian, bringing him/her to the ground. Have the fighter chop off something dear to the barbarian (as PG-13 a choice as one can be when chopping off a body part) and allow the necromancer to implant a necrotic cyst (Book of Vile Darkness) into the barbarian.

Step Five: Allow the Necromancer and Fighter to escape.

Congratulations! You have successfully enacted revenge upon the party! Their cherished friend and ally is dead and been horribly corrupted by evil magics, the barbarian has an ear (or somesuch) removed as a remembrance of his defeat, and you have implanted a secret weapon into the barbarian which you can fully utilize at a future date. If your party did not already hate these two, they certainly will now.

Note: This revenge plan is most suitable for PC's from 6th to 8th level.