[3.5] Horror Campaign Villain

[aphoticConniver]

I'm trying to come up with a good villain for my horror campaign, as the title suggests. Thing is, I'm using this campaign to teach my players some effective strategy. I'm only using things they have access to, so for classes I can use Initiators, and Incarnum.

I'm looking to use fear as a weapon. I've heard Unseelie Fey template can help with that, but I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. How can I abuse an undead-flavored Unseelie Fey, in tandem with the listed classes, to accomplish my goals? Also, are there any good homebrew classes that merge maneuvers with soulmelds?

[Nettlekid]

Are you ONLY using things that they have? Because there are a couple of fear-based classes that are perfect for a villain. There's the Nightmare Spinner from Complete Mage, and one that I like very much which is the Dread Witch from Heroes of Horror. That one gets the ability to bypass fear immunity and has a neat feature to delay the onset of fear, so it can stack fear effects and make them activate all at once.

If you're really very dedicated to using only what the PCs have...Why not use the PCs? We are our own worst enemy. Have a nightmare version of each PC manifest somehow, and make them fight themselves. Same weapons, same spells, same maneuvers, same soulmelds. You could either have several one on one fights, or a larger group fight.

[JoshuaZ]

I'm trying to come up with a good villain for my horror campaign, as the title suggests. Thing is, I'm using this campaign to teach my players some effective strategy. I'm only using things they have access to, so for classes I can use Initiators, and Incarnum.

I'm looking to use fear as a weapon. I've heard Unseelie Fey template can help with that, but I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. How can I abuse an undead-flavored Unseelie Fey, in tandem with the listed classes, to accomplish my goals? Also, are there any good homebrew classes that merge maneuvers with soulmelds?

Regarding homebrew, there's unosarta's Sapphire Blademaster
(http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=211182) and there's Krimm Blackleaf's excellent Blade Incarnate (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55977). There's probably other stuff out there but those are the two that leap to mind.

[aphoticConniver]

Are you ONLY using things that they have? Because there are a couple of fear-based classes that are perfect for a villain. There's the Nightmare Spinner from Complete Mage, and one that I like very much which is the Dread Witch from Heroes of Horror. That one gets the ability to bypass fear immunity and has a neat feature to delay the onset of fear, so it can stack fear effects and make them activate all at once.

If you're really very dedicated to using only what the PCs have...Why not use the PCs? We are our own worst enemy. Have a nightmare version of each PC manifest somehow, and make them fight themselves. Same weapons, same spells, same maneuvers, same soulmelds. You could either have several one on one fights, or a larger group fight.

I was actually planning on doing that for The Dragon to my Big Bad, but I still want to do a fear thing for my BBEG. I have for party members:
Crusader
Warblade
Marshal(w/a few Bard abilities)
Factotum
Totemist

I can't really swing shadow versions though, due to the low "magic" (read: spellcasting) nature of the campaign. I mean, I could flavor it as Necrocarnates shaping the souls of the living dead into carbon copies, but... it seems a bit shaky to me. The most important thing is the BBEG, however. This is a viral zombie campaign, so I want him to be Patient Zero. Kind of like Wesker, but more... monstrous. (Disregarding RE5 Wesker.)

[JoshuaZ]

I was actually planning on doing that for The Dragon to my Big Bad, but I still want to do a fear thing for my BBEG. I have for party members:
Crusader
Warblade
Marshal(w/a few Bard abilities)
Factotum
Totemist

I can't really swing shadow versions though, due to the low "magic" (read: spellcasting) nature of the campaign. I mean, I could flavor it as Necrocarnates shaping the souls of the living dead into carbon copies, but... it seems a bit shaky to me. The most important thing is the BBEG, however. This is a viral zombie campaign, so I want him to be Patient Zero. Kind of like Wesker, but more... monstrous. (Disregarding RE5 Wesker.)

Do you have access to Libris Mortis? There are a bunch of nice zombie variants there.

[Fyermind]

I'd look at expedition to castle ravenloft. It appears to have some of the elements you are looking for with it's zombie plague.

[Kane0]

How about this? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14007101&postcount=7)

Just change spellcasting progession to Maneuver/Soulmeld Progression.

[ArcturusV]

Well... the thing is, as I see it... fear should not be a mechanical thing you are looking at. There's so many ways to avoid fear. From resistance to enchantments/mind-affecting, to being a Paladin of 4th level, etc. Fear, as a mechanic in the game, isn't very good. Not only that, it often pisses off players in my experience. Most of them don't like being told "Okay, now you have to act this way". Probably the real reason why most adventure modules I've seen don't have the villains using things like Mindrape, Charm, Dominate, Geas, etc, unless it's VERY limited in nature and mostly a "If your players refuse to play along with this adventure NPC X will charm them into doing it..." sort of fashion.

So Fear, being used for a villain? Don't even look at classes and mechanics. Open up books about things like campfire ghost stories. Horror short stories, etc. Pick up what descriptions and actions are being used to instill tension and unease. Then just use similar aspects within your villain's scenery and behavior.

Again, probably not exactly what you were looking for. But it's by far the most effective way to use Horror and Fear in games I've seen. Toss out the rulebook on it. Get theatrical with it. Let the fear be something your players feel, rather than the characters. If you have to use mechanics, use them as props. The wizard who uses simple effects like Ghost Sounds, Ventriloquism, and Minor Image to screw with players, rather than casting Fear or using Intimidate Checks.

This also plays into your goal of effective strategy. Strategy is all about the mental. TACTICS are mechanical. And tactics in DnD aren't very deep. But strategy is all about knowing how people tick, outwitting them, and making them play into your hands. A villain that preys on the mental weaknesses of the players, not by Will Saving throws and Spells/Effects, but by simple deduction, acting, and psychology, is a far better strategist.

And if your players learn that lesson, and realize they got cowed by someone who never had to roll a die at all, and learn to apply that? Then you've got the lesson well covered.

[aphoticConniver]

Well... the thing is, as I see it... fear should not be a mechanical thing you are looking at. There's so many ways to avoid fear. From resistance to enchantments/mind-affecting, to being a Paladin of 4th level, etc. Fear, as a mechanic in the game, isn't very good. Not only that, it often pisses off players in my experience. Most of them don't like being told "Okay, now you have to act this way". Probably the real reason why most adventure modules I've seen don't have the villains using things like Mindrape, Charm, Dominate, Geas, etc, unless it's VERY limited in nature and mostly a "If your players refuse to play along with this adventure NPC X will charm them into doing it..." sort of fashion.

So Fear, being used for a villain? Don't even look at classes and mechanics. Open up books about things like campfire ghost stories. Horror short stories, etc. Pick up what descriptions and actions are being used to instill tension and unease. Then just use similar aspects within your villain's scenery and behavior.

Again, probably not exactly what you were looking for. But it's by far the most effective way to use Horror and Fear in games I've seen. Toss out the rulebook on it. Get theatrical with it. Let the fear be something your players feel, rather than the characters. If you have to use mechanics, use them as props. The wizard who uses simple effects like Ghost Sounds, Ventriloquism, and Minor Image to screw with players, rather than casting Fear or using Intimidate Checks.

This also plays into your goal of effective strategy. Strategy is all about the mental. TACTICS are mechanical. And tactics in DnD aren't very deep. But strategy is all about knowing how people tick, outwitting them, and making them play into your hands. A villain that preys on the mental weaknesses of the players, not by Will Saving throws and Spells/Effects, but by simple deduction, acting, and psychology, is a far better strategist.

And if your players learn that lesson, and realize they got cowed by someone who never had to roll a die at all, and learn to apply that? Then you've got the lesson well covered.

This. This is exactly what I want to do to them. I want to make them shake at the mere mention of the villain's name. But, I also don't want to be unfair, and simply put them up against a threat they can't possibly face or run from. The current party is all at level 1, and, as I said, in a setting where there are almost literally no true spellcasters. Factotums are pretty much as strong as they get, besides one or two archmages. What would you suggest for, say, a strong combat class? I'm already formulating ideas of how to break the Crusader... >:D

[ArcturusV]

Well, presuming you are doing this around a table?

One thing to watch for is your volume. Know when to drop towards a quiet voice, know when to not. It's a simple trick you learn when telling campfire ghost stories that can be used to lure people in and create the appropriate mindsets where they can be effected as you wish. It's hard to explain without being able to demonstrate.

Usually this gets done in sort of a sudden shift change. For example, as you describe something setting wise, scene, room, visuals, smells, sounds, etc. You drop your voice quieter and quieter, just slowly. This causes people to strain to hear you. They pay more attention, details are grabbed up by their minds that much easier. It makes them lean forward a bit. And when you see them start to lean forward you know you have their attention. And when they're lured in, talking in a normal voice, or a loud voice, can create a startle that marks a sudden shift from Description to Action. Simple scare to use, and a cheap trick. But it works, even against people who know about it.

Having something which has DR of a sort, especially at low level, can be a way to play up fear theatrically when they meet the villain. For example, if you have something like DR 5/Bludgeoning, simple as that, nothing overly complex. Your "Villain" is a free willed skeleton who is dressed up like a human (Think like the old Invisible Man, for the bandaged face/glasses, trench coat, etc, get up from head to toe). And when the players meet this skeleton villain, several blades are sticking out of the skeleton's clothing/body. The guy has obviously been impaled by several swords, is laying "dead", etc.

The "guy" suddenly blinking to life. Standing up, with those blades still in it. Pulling out one of the blades and giving a masochistic moaning of pleasure... this throws people off and immediately creeps them out. THIS sort of thing. Particularly with proper description and voice tricks. It's also a valuable clue towards the nature of the enemy. But mostly they are going to freak out over "Oh crap..." if you deliver it right. Throw them off the track of thinking it's a Skeleton by having it react as if it had flesh. It gets stabbed and mentions something like exquisite pain, feeling alive, and getting the blood pumping.

... you'd be surprised how simple and silly something like that actually is and how it works.