Jonrea
2007-03-07, 07:44 PM
So basically, I was looking over the Giant's "Villain Workshop" and mentally followed the steps. To my [not so] surprise, I actually kind of liked what came out.
So. Campaign idea: grounded in a large archipelago [think Earthsea / British Isles / Indonesia / Caribbean] loosely set in a mid-Anglo-Saxon type time period. A lot of emphasis on fighting, belief in preserving self through honor and glory, arts highly praised, etc. [just some nice, down-and-dirty, honest, and rugged savagery with a good amount of actual culture mixed in]
OK, so the villain:
Step X: Race
This actually came kind of quickly and built on the pre-concieved character. Elan. Nice psionic immortal. The villain is a Psion (Shaper).
Step One: Two Emotions
Main motivating emotion: Amusement. The villain is not a bad guy out to cause trouble for every single person. He just seeks amusement; however, what's amusing to him may not be amusing to everyone else [when you've been around a couple hundred of years, wouldn't your sense of amusement become twisted?]
PC Reaction Emotion: Hate. This was the easiest part out of the whole process. The only real way anyone who's motivated our PCs to fight them was because they did something to piss the PCs off. The only forgivable thing to the PCs: doing something bad to them and getting away with it.
Oh, and definately stolen from someone else's post: whenever the PCs do ANYTHING semi-important, no matter what, they'll get a letter from the guy saying 'thanks for advancing my plans.'
Step Two: Villain's Past
Why does this elan seek amusement above all else? Just because he's immortal. He's been around a few centuries: plenty of time for past grudges to pass away, insults be forgotten, loves lost, interests fade, etc.
It changes someone's perspective when they've existed for so long. We see it in our own elders who haven't lived nearly as long this villain. After making yourself immortal and giving up everything to do it, when you finally get bored with life you don't go just ending it.
So, the villain seeks to amuse himself, and the world is his game.
Step Three: Villain's Scale
Well, originally when the PCs first encounter the villain, he'll be a small scale pit fight owner. From the cheering crowds collecting money, organizing grand battles, handing out trophies: nothing too villainous. However, as the PCs become a major part of the pit fights, he'll send them on a quest for some type of powerful weapons [suited to the PCs].
I'll let the super-PCs have fun dominating anything and everything for a while, then have the villain destroy said weapons. This will piss off the PCs enough that they'll take any plothook to kill the man. When they eventually do, they'll see the blaze with light [psionic energy], corpse change shape, and distort till it resembles someone else, not the villain.
Later they'll encounter the villain again, and the same thing will happen.
The villain's real scale is the world and a few planes, but the PCs will take a while to work up to that point.
So. Campaign idea: grounded in a large archipelago [think Earthsea / British Isles / Indonesia / Caribbean] loosely set in a mid-Anglo-Saxon type time period. A lot of emphasis on fighting, belief in preserving self through honor and glory, arts highly praised, etc. [just some nice, down-and-dirty, honest, and rugged savagery with a good amount of actual culture mixed in]
OK, so the villain:
Step X: Race
This actually came kind of quickly and built on the pre-concieved character. Elan. Nice psionic immortal. The villain is a Psion (Shaper).
Step One: Two Emotions
Main motivating emotion: Amusement. The villain is not a bad guy out to cause trouble for every single person. He just seeks amusement; however, what's amusing to him may not be amusing to everyone else [when you've been around a couple hundred of years, wouldn't your sense of amusement become twisted?]
PC Reaction Emotion: Hate. This was the easiest part out of the whole process. The only real way anyone who's motivated our PCs to fight them was because they did something to piss the PCs off. The only forgivable thing to the PCs: doing something bad to them and getting away with it.
Oh, and definately stolen from someone else's post: whenever the PCs do ANYTHING semi-important, no matter what, they'll get a letter from the guy saying 'thanks for advancing my plans.'
Step Two: Villain's Past
Why does this elan seek amusement above all else? Just because he's immortal. He's been around a few centuries: plenty of time for past grudges to pass away, insults be forgotten, loves lost, interests fade, etc.
It changes someone's perspective when they've existed for so long. We see it in our own elders who haven't lived nearly as long this villain. After making yourself immortal and giving up everything to do it, when you finally get bored with life you don't go just ending it.
So, the villain seeks to amuse himself, and the world is his game.
Step Three: Villain's Scale
Well, originally when the PCs first encounter the villain, he'll be a small scale pit fight owner. From the cheering crowds collecting money, organizing grand battles, handing out trophies: nothing too villainous. However, as the PCs become a major part of the pit fights, he'll send them on a quest for some type of powerful weapons [suited to the PCs].
I'll let the super-PCs have fun dominating anything and everything for a while, then have the villain destroy said weapons. This will piss off the PCs enough that they'll take any plothook to kill the man. When they eventually do, they'll see the blaze with light [psionic energy], corpse change shape, and distort till it resembles someone else, not the villain.
Later they'll encounter the villain again, and the same thing will happen.
The villain's real scale is the world and a few planes, but the PCs will take a while to work up to that point.