Spring Themed Villain

[DireSickFish]

So I have a bit of a "seasons" theme running in my games by accident that I want to expand upon. My first Villain was a priestess of Auril that was attempting to lead a town into following her during a long and harsh winter. They proved that she was not the only way to survive and she left when winter did.

The second is an Efreeti that chased a group of Azir that had "stolen" from him. This caused problems when the Azir fled through a portal accidentally opened up in the middle of town. The PC's had to diplomatically figure out how to best handle the 3 sides (Town, Azir, Efreeti). And ended up getting the Town and Azir to unite to expel the Efreeti. So he's sitting on the plane of fire for another day.

These first two villains epitomize the negative side winter and summer, to much cold and to much heat. For a Fall Villain I think an Undead like a Lich would work very well. Fall is the season of change, of passing into Winter and preserving a bounty. While undeath is change into a state that stays stagnant for to long.

I'm a bit stuck on what to do for a Spring themed Villain however. I think re-birth when I think of spring. Perhaps there is another angle to Spring that I could take? Any ideas on a big bad that could play up the Spring angle?

[Mattzewild]

When I think spring in a D&D setting, i think fey for some reason.

Maybe some sort of archfey, manipulating wildlife and causing general havoc?

[DragonSorcererX]

So I have a bit of a "seasons" theme running in my games by accident that I want to expand upon. My first Villain was a priestess of Auril that was attempting to lead a town into following her during a long and harsh winter. They proved that she was not the only way to survive and she left when winter did.

The second is an Efreeti that chased a group of Azir that had "stolen" from him. This caused problems when the Azir fled through a portal accidentally opened up in the middle of town. The PC's had to diplomatically figure out how to best handle the 3 sides (Town, Azir, Efreeti). And ended up getting the Town and Azir to unite to expel the Efreeti. So he's sitting on the plane of fire for another day.

These first two villains epitomize the negative side winter and summer, to much cold and to much heat. For a Fall Villain I think an Undead like a Lich would work very well. Fall is the season of change, of passing into Winter and preserving a bounty. While undeath is change into a state that stays stagnant for to long.

I'm a bit stuck on what to do for a Spring themed Villain however. I think re-birth when I think of spring. Perhaps there is another angle to Spring that I could take? Any ideas on a big bad that could play up the Spring angle?

An Evil Druid who wants to return the region where he lives to the wild, destroying towns and only leaving moss-covered ruins full of wild beasts and stuff like that...


When I think spring in a D&D setting, i think fey for some reason.

Maybe some sort of archfey, manipulating wildlife and causing general havoc?

The Fey are tied to the nature so it's normal to assume that, on earlier editions, the nymphs were separated into four varieties, one for each season. And there is also the Summer Fey and Winter Fey courts and all that vape side-effect stuff...

[CursedRhubarb]

When I think spring in a D&D setting, i think fey for some reason.

Maybe some sort of archfey, manipulating wildlife and causing general havoc?

I was thinking the same thing. Perhaps children from the town start to go missing then crops begin having trouble growing. Meanwhile, does it look like the forbidden woods are closer than they were last fall? Perhaps it's the town's imagination, or perhaps it's an army of fey, beasts, and magical plants...

[DireSickFish]

When I think spring in a D&D setting, i think fey for some reason.

Maybe some sort of archfey, manipulating wildlife and causing general havoc?

I like the idea of a Fey lot. Is there anything with a high enough CR in the books for a lvl7 or 8 party? Or are we looking at homebrew territory here?

Druid could work, they've had a scuffle with a druid in the past that was in their way of a logging contract. Could expand on that. It would be nice to give the party a way to talk the baddy out of it, or appease him if I go this route.

[DragonSorcererX]

I like the idea of a Fey lot. Is there anything with a high enough CR in the books for a lvl7 or 8 party? Or are we looking at homebrew territory here?

Fey... to not Homebrew you could apply the Eladrin Race to the Mage NPC, and give him some minions.

[Axorfett12]

I like the idea of a Fey lot. Is there anything with a high enough CR in the books for a lvl7 or 8 party? Or are we looking at homebrew territory here?

Druid could work, they've had a scuffle with a druid in the past that was in their way of a logging contract. Could expand on that. It would be nice to give the party a way to talk the baddy out of it, or appease him if I go this route.

The highest CR fey in the MM is the Sea Hag at CR 2. Unfortunately, you are looking at homebrew. I reccomend a Dryad with Druid levels.

Alternatively, there was a Fey Folio one of the regulars was brewing. Ninja_Prawn I think.

[smcmike]

Bacchus - a cult leader embodying rebirth and frenzied celebration. Can be built off a Bard or a Druid template, or perhaps a Fey or Feylock. Completely mad, his goal is to basically throw the biggest party he can, then move on to the next town with whoever survives the festivities (not many).

[Joe the Rat]

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb
April Showers Bring May Flowers

Wind and Rain, Water and Weather. Djinns and Giants.


The season of flowers and new growth also suggests hatching swarms, and regeneration, and some very hungry blights (and Yellow Musk Creepers are surely in bloom).
Carrion Crawler Caterpillars and Grick larva and stirges and angry blooms that are totally not violet fungus with hats, all under control of some mad monster maker.

[gfishfunk]

Some quick ideas:

1. A high level druid that causes everything to bloom and grow, overrunning towns.

2. Germany (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmYIo7bcUw).

3. A water elemental spurned on by spring runoff (as in, snow melting from nearby mountains) that flood an area.

[Malifice]

Lathander/ Amanataur is the deity most closely associated with Spring (and dawn).

An evil priest of him works well.

[DireSickFish]

Lathander/ Amanataur is the deity most closely associated with Spring (and dawn).

An evil priest of him works well.

That would be hilarious because to defeat the Aurlite they needed to erect a sculpture and have it blessed by a priest of Amanataur. One of the party then converted to him.

What would an evil priest of him be like? I don't have the best grasp on him as he's new to me. I'm mostly a 3.5 lore buff. What would an evil priest of the sun go do?

[Axorfett12]

That would be hilarious because to defeat the Aurlite they needed to erect a sculpture and have it blessed by a priest of Amanataur. One of the party then converted to him.

What would an evil priest of him be like? I don't have the best grasp on him as he's new to me. I'm mostly a 3.5 lore buff. What would an evil priest of the sun go do?

"The sun is life and power. All must bask in its rays."

"Those too weak to withstand the holy light must perish"

"I glory in the sun, and will endeavor to bring my great and terrible light to all corners of the world."

[NecroDancer]

Spring is all about rebirth, so maybe have a Villians who is causing forest life to grow at an alarming rate, the villian itself can cast plant growth at will and has a regeneration ability. As already suggested you should go with a Druid/fey creature. Perhaps a fey bear with Druid levels?

[Naanomi]

I like plant monsters in general... treants, myconids... paired with appropriate fey and npc druids/warlocks... with a plot to reclaim nature from 'evil civilization' would be fun

[KorvinStarmast]

I'd suggest a Druid, Circle of the Land, either Forest, Grassland, or Swamp, whose area under her/his protection abuts a cultivated region that is prospering and growing. Classic conflict of Civilization versus the Wild. As minions, I suggest a barbarian clan/tribe that lives in his area (use Beserkers (cr 2) monster/NPC as a default for fighting minions ... ) If you pick Swamp, then ally the Druid with a clan/tribe of lizardfolk. Lizardfolk CR 1/2, but in large enough numbers they can become a problem.

To dig an inch deeper:

For the Swamp scenario apply the half dragon template (green) to the Druid, and otherwise build the druid as you would a PC Druid. (You can find the basics of the half dragon template in the MM, or in the free SRD on page 320).

For Forest, the if you like the half dragon idea, I'd stick with Green. For Grassland, Bronze. The half dragon template need not try to import any alignment. The alignment is per the PC, and Neutral if just fine for these purposes. (If alignment is even an issue).

[DragonSorcererX]

I'd suggest a Druid, Circle of the Land, either Forest, Grassland, or Swamp, whose area under her/his protection abuts a cultivated region that is prospering and growing. Classic conflict of Civilization versus the Wild. As minions, I suggest a barbarian clan/tribe that lives in his area (use Beserkers (cr 2) monster/NPC as a default for fighting minions ... ) If you pick Swamp, then ally the Druid with a clan/tribe of lizardfolk. Lizardfolk CR 1/2, but in large enough numbers they can become a problem.

To dig an inch deeper:

For the Swamp scenario apply the half dragon template (green) to the Druid, and otherwise build the druid as you would a PC Druid. (You can find the basics of the half dragon template in the MM, or in the free SRD on page 320).

For Forest, the if you like the half dragon idea, I'd stick with Green. For Grassland, Bronze. The half dragon template need not try to import any alignment. The alignment is per the PC, and Neutral if just fine for these purposes. (If alignment is even an issue).

The Half-Black Dragon makes more sense for the Swamp Druid, it fits more the terrain (look those monsters by terrain lists on the DMG), for the Forest one the Half-Green Dragon is ok! Also, everything is better with DRAGONS!

[Biggstick]

That would be hilarious because to defeat the Aurlite they needed to erect a sculpture and have it blessed by a priest of Amanataur. One of the party then converted to him.

What would an evil priest of him be like? I don't have the best grasp on him as he's new to me. I'm mostly a 3.5 lore buff. What would an evil priest of the sun go do?

Amaunator is all about the letter of the law, not the intent. He's specifically listed as Lawful Neutral in alignment, so he most definitely could have a Lawful Evil worshipper. Depending on how you want to go about it, an evil priest of Amaunator could go about taking over a town a couple ways.

This Priest of Amaunator is leading an army of "whatever you'd like" that all worship Amaunator. The army doesn't attack anyone, merely sets up camp a distance from the town (or sets up a perimeter if you want them to number that many). They have come with documentation that actually proves the town belongs the church of Amaunator. When the party attempts to reason with the Priest, s/he overwhelmingly asks for proof of ownership while providing plenty of documentation to support his/her case.

This can be intrigue driven by investigating the origin or validity of these documents. The priest of Amaunator that helped the party before might show up at some point to provide a bit of information about this particular member of the faith and his/her motivations for power.


The Priest of Amaunator enters the town near the end of Winter. S/he provides comfort for those after a terrible Winter, and actually converts some of the townsfolk to the worship of Amaunator. If the PC's ever attend one of the sermons the Priest gives, they might notice a bit of the subtext at these sermons. The Priest is actually breeding hate amongst the townsfolk, and uniting them against whoever runs the town. If you were to watch the Priest after any of these services, you might notice that he's handing out slips of paper to certain members of the congregation. If the PC's decided to follow the npc who was handed paper, they might witness the npc doing something to cause problems within the town or to slowly bring about the fall of the local town government.

All in all, this priest is attempting to convert the townsfolk to Amaunator, bring down the leadership in said town, and turn it into a theocracy. I'll admit this plot is similar to the Auril one form the Winter, but it might prove interesting considering the help they received from a priest of Amaunator earlier in the campaign.


Most of the other responses I've seen mention a Druid, and I definitely agree with most of those serving as a fine Spring themed villain. Returning the land to the wild is an easy concept, although it might be hard to actually capture that feel and still allow for a non-combat way to deal with the villain. (Only reason I bring up non-combat is it seems that your other villains were able to be dealt with in a non-combat way, making it appear that your players enjoy having that option.)

[DireSickFish]

Most of the other responses I've seen mention a Druid, and I definitely agree with most of those serving as a fine Spring themed villain. Returning the land to the wild is an easy concept, although it might be hard to actually capture that feel and still allow for a non-combat way to deal with the villain. (Only reason I bring up non-combat is it seems that your other villains were able to be dealt with in a non-combat way, making it appear that your players enjoy having that option.)

I'm trying to push some non Combat and intrigue solutions with my next big bad actually. They were fully expecting the priestess to show up and smite them at the end, but that shoe never dropped. I had her fully stated up if they -chose- to fight her, but let them know that killing an Aurlite Priestess in her gods element might not end well for the party. As the Winter around the town would have gotten far worse before it got better.

The Efreeti by the rules would have killed the party, so the boss battle played out in the Astral Plane. As the portal to the fire plane closed it sucked up the Efreeti, his army of Salamnders, and the party's souls. To get back to the prime they had to follow life threads back to their bodies, and the Efreeti put 2 salamanders in their way.

I think if I have the main Villain and the druid circle corrupted it could work. Have to break the influence on members of the circle, and have help from druids that have either left or been kicked out of it. So they have this occult collection of Druids convinced to join in the cause to be able to reach the Druid Circles grove.

Can have the BBEG show up as some plants warped into his image, or in pools of water to taunt the party. His attention could be drawn for killing his apprentice in a former adventure.

They see a clear image of the staff he holds. The Staff of Seasons which is allowing him all this control over the forest. You are supposed to undergo 4 trials to unlock it's ever growing powers and prove yourself worthy. But our BBEG didn't want to wait that long and forced the power lose, but because he did so it is not controlled and corrupts his original vision. From strength to defend into the strength to conquer.

Assuming they beat the Villain and break the curse it reverts into the staff of Spring, because defeating the BBEG was the 1st trial to understanding.

Have to stat out some powers for it, work on druid NPCs, and figure out how I'm going to reveal information. Should be a good framework though.

[Biggstick]

I'm trying to push some non Combat and intrigue solutions with my next big bad actually. They were fully expecting the priestess to show up and smite them at the end, but that shoe never dropped. I had her fully stated up if they -chose- to fight her, but let them know that killing an Aurlite Priestess in her gods element might not end well for the party. As the Winter around the town would have gotten far worse before it got better.

The Efreeti by the rules would have killed the party, so the boss battle played out in the Astral Plane. As the portal to the fire plane closed it sucked up the Efreeti, his army of Salamnders, and the party's souls. To get back to the prime they had to follow life threads back to their bodies, and the Efreeti put 2 salamanders in their way.

I think if I have the main Villain and the druid circle corrupted it could work. Have to break the influence on members of the circle, and have help from druids that have either left or been kicked out of it. So they have this occult collection of Druids convinced to join in the cause to be able to reach the Druid Circles grove.

Can have the BBEG show up as some plants warped into his image, or in pools of water to taunt the party. His attention could be drawn for killing his apprentice in a former adventure.

They see a clear image of the staff he holds. The Staff of Seasons which is allowing him all this control over the forest. You are supposed to undergo 4 trials to unlock it's ever growing powers and prove yourself worthy. But our BBEG didn't want to wait that long and forced the power lose, but because he did so it is not controlled and corrupts his original vision. From strength to defend into the strength to conquer.

Assuming they beat the Villain and break the curse it reverts into the staff of Spring, because defeating the BBEG was the 1st trial to understanding.

Have to stat out some powers for it, work on druid NPCs, and figure out how I'm going to reveal information. Should be a good framework though.

In addition to the Druids who have broken away from the corrupted circle, you could have any Nature/Life Cleric or OotA Paladin NPC providing a bit of assistance to the party to broaden the feel. It still fits in with your potential theme, as this NPC Cleric or Paladin might have felt what was happening or received a vision from their deity that led them to this particular group of Player Characters. Maybe this NPC was a protector of the Staff, or they protected knowledge of how to interact with the Staff in a safe and acceptable manner.

[Vogonjeltz]

I'm a bit stuck on what to do for a Spring themed Villain however. I think re-birth when I think of spring. Perhaps there is another angle to Spring that I could take? Any ideas on a big bad that could play up the Spring angle?

Is a Druid too obvious?

If they can be at least 5th level, or have some special item (a staff or really any maguffin that lets them violate spellcasting rules if they need to be lower level) then they can cast Plant Growth. Maybe the goal is to have nature retake the land that was being sullied by the priestess of Auril, or perhaps some villager/group has been clearcutting large swathes of the nearby forest.

[Naanomi]

Spring also comes with other aspects of 'new life'... anything hatching from an egg could have a place

[smcmike]

Spring also comes with other aspects of 'new life'... anything hatching from an egg could have a place

Or building a nest!

[Ruslan]

Give your villain the Mobile feat. Yell "Spring Attack!" whenever he uses it.

[Safety Sword]

Some quick ideas:

1. A high level druid that causes everything to bloom and grow, overrunning towns.

2. Germany (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmYIo7bcUw).

3. A water elemental spurned on by spring runoff (as in, snow melting from nearby mountains) that flood an area.

I see your Germany (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmYIo7bcUw) and raise you The People's Choice (https://youtu.be/4zpYQJkBQp0)

[steeldragons]

I think you're on track with the 'rebirth" thing. That was the first thing that popped to my mind when you said "Spring."

Now, granted, we generally tend to think of this in terms of a "good" thing, particularly coming off of the bleak despair and [physical and spiritual] "emptiness" of winter.

But it needn't necessarily be so. I think the suggestions for fey and plant creatures is spot on. Take, if you would, the idea of a dark sidhe lord (or lady) who is interested in the rebirth of the world back into a land of fey. Bringing the fey out of thier -generally happy and carefree- "exile" from the Faerie world (Plane of Faerie/Feywild/whatever you like and your world uses) to reclaim the Material world?

This could be a fairly complex intrigue campaign. Not only given the fae's penchant for illusion and enchantments, but the general view that "bringing more fey and magic back into the world", marketed/propagandized as a rebirth or "Rennaissance of magic", perhaps, would be seen as a positive thing (possibly until it is too late to thwart). Your villain would probably have little trouble gathering/manipulating massive amounts of minions and followers and assistance (druids, mages, magical creatures who are not fae, many of whom may not even be evil -or aware they are assisting an evil goal, at all!) from both planes.

What seems, initially, to be -maybe- some miffed pixies, some odd angry rampaging treants, or a raiding band of disgruntled wood elves turns into large scale slaughter or combat against civilized lands, armies (not bands) of elves beholden to their extra-planar "betters" who are "retaking the world/saving Nature" from the destructive mortals, druids who are causing the borderlands to be re-swallowed by the forests, etc... The more fae exerting more influence over their limited domains, originally enchanted and lovely groves and grottos, take on a darker more violent slant the further their reach extends. Suddenly your plot reveals itself to be MUCH deeper and MUCH larger a problem and threat to the whole of the human/mortal world.

Give them some new vegetative creatures and fey-plant-magic weaponry (up to and including siege equipment): catapulting "bulbs" [bombs] that release yellow musk spores on impact, or giant venus flytraps (big enough to encase a human) spring from the earth and growth immediately, tangleroot vines on a massive scale, treant-firing massive bows that have giant leaves as arrowheads -turns out they can slice through stone and wood like butter, giant dragonfly-riding cavaliers with spider-silk-shooting "lances", etc...

Also, on a basic "thematic symmetry" level, if your fall is going to be undead (which makes sense), making your spring foe dark fae makes even more sense. The unchecked decay and metaphysical "death" of Autumn is just as dangerous to the Balance [of Nature, of magic, of the world, whatever] as the unchecked growth and rebirth of Spring.

I like it...
<goes off to plot a fae invasion/subjugation of the material plane for his own homebrew world>