Forum Eye for the Big Bad Evil Guy

[Chauncymancer]

Well, technically it's the Small Bad Evil Guy.

The first miniboss in my upcoming campaign is a gnome rouge/illusionist with the resources of an up and coming thieves guild and a taste for the fancy. A magical james bond villain of sorts.

My question to you is: What interesting rooms/features can I include in the thieves' guild to play up his visual theme?

[Toliudar]

If you want them to know that they're dealing with an illusionist:

Texture texture texture. Magic mouths that welcome visitors. Walls whose pictures change and move around. Mobile distortions in the air that seem like invisible people moving around (but are in fact unseen servants, or else just programmed illusions).

Make sure you throw in at least one or two improbable-but-real elements (A stuffed and intelligent dragon's head mounted on a wall that breathes fire if you give the wrong password. A gelatinous cube. Whatever) so that players don't just assume that everything is an illusion.

And if he's truly a James Bond villain: shark tank. Gotta have a shark tank.

[Dragonsoul]

And if he's truly a James Bond villain: shark tank. Gotta have a shark tank.

Acid Shark tank (With Fiendish Template, letting it take Levels in Warlock....)

[lorddrake]

If you want them to know that they're dealing with an illusionist:

Texture texture texture. Magic mouths that welcome visitors. Walls whose pictures change and move around. Mobile distortions in the air that seem like invisible people moving around (but are in fact unseen servants, or else just programmed illusions).

Make sure you throw in at least one or two improbable-but-real elements (A stuffed and intelligent dragon's head mounted on a wall that breathes fire if you give the wrong password. A gelatinous cube. Whatever) so that players don't just assume that everything is an illusion.

And if he's truly a James Bond villain: shark tank. Gotta have a shark tank.

With lasers?

Well, I understood that the OP wanted some feel for the place. I pictured the most cheesy place ever. Gold everywhere (candelabra and handles), nice wood and ivory. I'd put a lot of jewelry on the character. However this may be a trap to the DM. Players will want to steal everything not nailed to the ground. Just a friendly warning.

[Nerd-o-rama]

With lasers?

Well, I understood that the OP wanted some feel for the place. I pictured the most cheesy place ever. Gold everywhere (candelabra and handles), nice wood and ivory. I'd put a lot of jewelry on the character. However this may be a trap to the DM. Players will want to steal everything not nailed to the ground. Just a friendly warning.

Players can't steal illusory bling, though.

Unless they're Thief.

[Fayd]

Also, have everything be a uniform shade of lime green. That will REALLY throw them off. Most things have some variation in color, but a uniform color over things gets really odd, really fast. And lime green just makes it all the weirder.

[tiercel]

Depends on your power level as to how far you take this idea, but there is always the "cult of personality" narcissist bad guy...

He keeps body doubles of himself around. He disguises minions (important or otherwise) to look like him... with mundane disguises and with magic (change self, alter self, polymorph). He has illusions of himself around, that he casts, that are item-produced, that are laid as magic traps. He project images himself. He uses mirror image. He also keeps a lot of mundane mirrors around. (Or maybe you have to reach him through a Plane of Mirrors.)

He keeps statues of himself around. Some are just statues. Some are magic traps. Some are animated objects. Some are golems.

Even killing the guy might play into his hands, particularly if he's got a simulacrum instead or is waiting to be revived as a clone -- assuming you haven't just been duped again by an illusion/double/polymorphed patsy.

Potential bonus points if the actual bad guy looks NOTHING LIKE the image that all his minions, illusions, disguises, statues, and copies bear.

Either way, your PCs might feel they've just run into an Agent Smith Burly Brawl even if there's only one real BBEG, and it mightn't ever be trivial to be sure they've really gotten the guy they're after in the end.