Revealing the Villain

[lagninja]

I am running a Play-By-Post on another site with some of my family and a couple of friends, and I need some help revealing my villain. Currently, he is what the players think is another player, but it is just me playing a DMPC for now, and I'm trying to keep as much railroading out of it as I can by rolling knowledge checks and then having the rest of the party decide. He's a Gnomish Wizard focusing on Item Creation for the party (Due to XP losses not mattering for him), and has aspirations for crafting Constructs. The world follows a skewed alignment system, where I'm pitting Law and Chaos against each other, as opposed to the normal Good v. Evil. I was thinking of running him as a Well Intentioned Extremist, trying to create a Utopia in the land, but I'm not sure how or when to make the reveal, and who long I should shift him away from the party's ideal.

[Red Fel]

I happen to like the "moment of triumph" reveal.

The PCs are working together to recover a powerful relic that can wrest control of blessings from the gods themselves. Their success will prevent this artifact from falling into the hands of villains. After struggle, strife, and turmoil, they locate the relic. The party Cleric reverently approaches its resting place, raising it from his altar. He turns to the party, his face radiating with beatific joy, as he explains how, with this, he will no longer be dependent upon his patron deity for his power. He can now forsake the fool and embrace his true destiny, bringing mortal order to a world dominated by gods. He beams happily at the party, eager for their assistance with his new undertaking.
Wham.

That's the idea. It accomplishes many goals. It hurts more. This is somebody who's been with you from the beginning until the very end. This is your buddy, your pal, your trusted ally. And all along, he was the real monster. It's more unexpected. You anticipate that the bad guy will try to stop you. When he doesn't - when you feel you've actually succeeded - your guard goes down. That's why it hits you so unexpectedly that the bad guy succeeds after you think you've won. It creates a new plot hook. If he betrays before the party completes its quest, he becomes a road bump along the path to quest completion. But if he betrays after, he becomes a brand new quest. The campaign gets an extended life expectancy.
Best of all, you can use those magic words: This time, it's personal.

[lagninja]

It's evil. It's diabolical. It's lemon scented!

I enjoy having them get doubled crossed after the Final Boss has been finished, but what if they join the Big Bad instead of turning against him?

[Red Fel]

It's evil. It's diabolical. It's lemon scented!

I enjoy having them get doubled crossed after the Final Boss has been finished, but what if they join the Big Bad instead of turning against him?

Do you mean the actual Big Bad (this not-a-PC), or the perceived Big Bad (the quest boss)?

If the latter, you have at least one "PC" who will remind them of their conscience, won't you? Certainly, you can't force them, but if he refuses to change sides, it might cause them to rethink it. And if he fails? He still betrays the party - or rather, the party has betrayed him! (He can even guilt them about it. "I trusted you! I believed in you!")

And if the former? I wouldn't worry too much about it. The betrayal should sting too much for the PCs to consider it. Alternatively, he knows and respects them too much to allow them to join him, which closes off that avenue.

[atemu1234]

I once had a big reveal by having the BBEG cast Mass Hold Person from behind, then steal an artifact, give an evil rant, then leave.

[danzibr]

I happen to like the "moment of triumph" reveal.

The PCs are working together to recover a powerful relic that can wrest control of blessings from the gods themselves. Their success will prevent this artifact from falling into the hands of villains. After struggle, strife, and turmoil, they locate the relic. The party Cleric reverently approaches its resting place, raising it from his altar. He turns to the party, his face radiating with beatific joy, as he explains how, with this, he will no longer be dependent upon his patron deity for his power. He can now forsake the fool and embrace his true destiny, bringing mortal order to a world dominated by gods. He beams happily at the party, eager for their assistance with his new undertaking.
Wham.

That's the idea. It accomplishes many goals. It hurts more. This is somebody who's been with you from the beginning until the very end. This is your buddy, your pal, your trusted ally. And all along, he was the real monster. It's more unexpected. You anticipate that the bad guy will try to stop you. When he doesn't - when you feel you've actually succeeded - your guard goes down. That's why it hits you so unexpectedly that the bad guy succeeds after you think you've won. It creates a new plot hook. If he betrays before the party completes its quest, he becomes a road bump along the path to quest completion. But if he betrays after, he becomes a brand new quest. The campaign gets an extended life expectancy.
Best of all, you can use those magic words: This time, it's personal.
Man oh man oh man. I *love* this idea! Next time I run or am in a campaign, this is happening.

Get one player in on it (rather than a DMPC). When the pivotal moment happens, the DM switches from the current DM to the one player, then the DM becomes a player.

[Red Fel]

Man oh man oh man. I *love* this idea! Next time I run or am in a campaign, this is happening.

Get one player in on it (rather than a DMPC). When the pivotal moment happens, the DM switches from the current DM to the one player, then the DM becomes a player.

Getting a player in on the big betrayal is one of the most gratifying things you can do, in my mind. It enables the player to retire a character if he feels it has grown stale, while still being an integral part of the story right up to the end; it gives the DM an exciting new plaything with which to taunt and distress the PCs; and it gives the rest of the players an entirely new reason to be invested in the plot.

I actually had a character concept that inspired this specific scenario. A Dragonborn Hellbred, former bandit-king-turned-dictator before his death, awakened (as most Hellbred do) with no memory of who he was. Over the course of his adventure, he remembers the truth, but keeps himself concealed (thanks to assistance from his patron, Asmodeus). The quest culminates with a search for an artifact that allows the wielder to take blessings granted by a deity away from that deity's control - effectively rendering them irrevocable. The party trusts him, because he's a goodly-good Dragonborn. He picks up the artifact, and promptly renounces Bahamut, knowing that the power of the Dragonborn blessing is now his in perpetuity. He then turns to the PCs and basically rants at them for not letting him remember who he really is, before the character gets handed over to the DM as the new BBEG.