Playing a mastermind villain

[ArqArturo]

My players in my Pathfinder campaign have faced off against rampaging white dragons, a vampire oracle, turned a blight druid from the path of evil to redemption, and unmasked a conspiracy of two evil clerics to destroy a dwarf hold. Now they're facing off (without their knowledge) to the most dreaded antagonist: A Mastermind. A puppet master, a conspirator, if you will.

The guy is slightly based on Lord Kubota (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0562.html), but more inclined towards Ozymandias, in which he wishes a better world, in his view ('A world without senseless death, hunger, thirst, disease, or conflict... A world of perfect order and obedience, a world where All have one vision, one goal, and One Mind')... And therefore, he is devoted to a Goddess of Undeath and Tyranny (in secret, of course. No one would understand why he is devoted to the Pale Lady of the Silver Tongue).

His cover is that of a nobleman, dedicated to charity and the unification of a once-united realm, now a bunch of bickering city-states. However, he sows dissent and silent death on those that prove troublesome to his goal and the goal of his goddess. He knows that those with magic can uncover his plot, so he takes great pains to avoid his cover being blown by:

1.- Use magic items to deceive others
2.- Has learned mundane ways to disguise himself
3.- Has two proxies to serve both as his representatives and, if it falls to that, bait (a doppelganger and a sorcerer)
4.- He contacts people that know people, that know people, that know people that can commit assassination/blackmail/attack those that get in the way of his Vision. He gives vague orders so as to avoid saying 'I ordered these men to find a way to kill you'.
5.- Helps his enemies out front, but attacks them indirectly, and not at them, but at their associates (NPCs that might be friendly to the players, but never at the players) through their proxies.

However, I've found myself with this: I need to know a good way to outwit my players when they suspect this guy is another cog in the conspiracy (he's not the only villain). This guy is supposed to be smart, and slippery, but unfortunately, one of my players is really good (both in roleplaying and in real life) to get you talking. I need, of course, some pointers as to make players guess, and be paranoid :belkar: as to who the real enemy is.

[nightninja101]

Go through associations of associations. Have something like "The Order of the Rose was mobilized today at the urging of the city council to bring the fight to the white dragons of the north."
This is the reasoning from bottom up.
-"Ozy" is on the ruling council
-he voted for the measure, maybe you could throw suspicion on those who voted against it to throw off the trail
-the Order of the Rose would be attacking something that Ozy supports, which throws suspicion off his trail
-your "talky player" might be suspicious of any direct opposition to the evil agenda on the part of Ozy, because he would think thats just what you would do to throw him off the trail of Ozy
-a good thing to do would be to do the same in terms of a motivation trail for the fall guy. If Ozy isnt replaced in the mind of the group with a more likely suspect, they will pursue him just because he is the best lead they have. A scapegoat is essential. Do the same sort of second tier association, an influence on an influence, to make it more real and less suspicious to your "talky player".

It doesnt have to be this situation, this is just an example of how to avoid suspicion while establishing in-game happenings. Anything Ozy does that is directly related to the conflict is going to be questioned, and possibly seen through. Proxies of action however, are far less likely to be questioned, especially if the group just "happens upon" the new info, where you feed it to them almost as an afterthought or an inconsequential detail.

I wish I could speak with you vocally on this, this part of GMing is what I enjoy most, and its difficult to get the full message across through text. If you know of some means where we could talk, that would be great!

[ArcturusV]

Hmm, my first thought, if this guy is properly paranoid, is that he sets up things so even if he's discovered, it looks like he's not a part of the conspiracy, but a victim of the conspiracy.

It's pretty easy to do this. Create some "Weakness". Create evidence that this weakness exists. Plant evidence that someone other than him has control of this weakness.

Could be anything from his "daughter" (Altered Succubus?) that has been kidnapped. To secret information about a checker past, maybe an addiction...

... heck, if you REALLY want to screw with them? Set up a bluff scenario. They know Dopplegangers are working for him at the point they discover that guy. Suggest that he is a shapechanger himself who disposed of the prior Nobleman (Who was actually involved) and he got sucked along in a web he didn't realize existed (Having done it only to take his obvious, open lifestyle, not realizing there was a conspiracy, and being forced to play along).

If you do it right, you can play him up as the Victim. Particularly since they'd know (Or suspect) that there is a grand conspiracy out there. Contact Other Plane to figure it out? Eh, Gods in DnD don't know everything. Detect Evil? Well, he was forced to do evil acts for so long that he is already marked as Evil, despite regretting it, for plausible deniability? Zone of Truth? Heck, you can get around that easily enough even without items.

[BowStreetRunner]

Use the ploy that Palpatine used during the Clone War.

Have an underling (Count Dooku) who sets himself up as the BBEG to give his master's enemies a real, identifiable target to focus on. This alone should help reduce the potential for discovery, as everyone will believe they already know who the arch-villain is.
Then, just to be doubly sure, have the underling regularly attempt to implicate his master's enemies as co-conspirators in the BBEG's plots. This can be a total win-win scenario for the arch-villain, because...


If the PCs believe the implications, then they end up fighting someone who should be an ally because they believe them to be bad.
If they see through the implications, then they will be more likely to believe the arch-villain is actually a victim of similar accusations rather than actually the BBEG's master.

[malmblad]

It looks like everyone is focused on being a mastermind in game. But you have to do it out of game also. You have to foster an environment conducive to the intrigue you're trying to portray. You need the players to have limited trust between each other. Not paranoia. But the same sort of trust you'd have with another person. You may trust your friend to fix your car but not your house. Its about what a person knows or doesn't and how that alters your perception of them.

How do you do this in a game? Control the flow of information. The GM is the purest form of info the players have. If the players have to start relying on each other for info these natural trust boundaries start to appear.

*Split the players up if their characters split up. Then have the players play the telephone game when they regroup. Players WILL relay info of their encounters wrong, sometimes intentionally because they really really want that magic item. Most times they just speak with a personal filter that excludes what their brain thought was unimportant. Sometimes they do actually mishear you.

*Pass notes. Make it a habit. If players are used to getting notes when it's only their character that experiences something (like a passed listen check) it creates another expectation to share information. 99% of the time use notes with legit info for the character to share or not share as they see fit. But that 1% can make for amazing red herrings. My favorite red herrings are:

- Stare pensively at note while silently counting to 10 then announce there is a small band of goblins behind the door 100xp
- Look suspicious, immediately eat note. Deny everything 750xp
- Take a deep sigh of resignation, write something/anything pass back 100xp.

All my players know that occasionally, I throw out red herrings and occasionally a player outs my attempt. They also know that the other players filter the info unintentionally or otherwise. Just be judicious with it. The paladin of the group probably has less to hide than the shadowy thief. It doesn't work to see the player with the Paladin freak-out and eat a note. But the thief... These are meta-game techniques definitely but it's better than using fiat to put the proverbial bloody knife in a character's hand to create the paranoia in game. That's just unfair to the player and easily categorized as a ruse by the other players.

With dopplegangers running amok, all it will take is one character to be alone. Take that player aside to run the encounter privately (just don't take up more than 5-10mins to do it). You don't need the character to be taken over by a doppleganger. You just need the other players to think that. Let them make their own assumptions. Come back to the table with a huge grin on your face. Actively avoid eye contact when questioned about it. Pass notes to the player (now the player with the Paladin can eat the note)

Also if a player guesses your plot to the detriment of the game. Change the villain on the spot. Heck develop 3 or 4 characters that could be the BBEG but don't decide which one is the real one until you have to. Players can only guess what's going on. And if you haven't determined who the BBEG is then how can they? Don't make it easy on them. Listen to their theories. Alter your game accordingly. Players make some pretty amazing guesses, lots of time they are better than what you thought. Steal them. Granted you still need to give them the satisfaction of victory at some point. Just don't make it easy. Be fluid. Never give them all the information.

When I run a game that involves mystery or intrigue, my group rarely splits the group. Never leaves anyone alone. The players relay their plot theories in hushed whispers and they love every second of it. They know eventually they are going to win (or at least be presented with the chance to), but they also know I'm not going to make it anything but easy.

As a GM you are the tier 0 player. Abuse that status. Just don't do it at the expense of the other players' fun. You need to be the mastermind and not just run an NPC who is one.