A villains promise

[Pr6i6e6st]

Hey guys! Wondering if I can get some brainstorming going on here for something. kinda wondering what promises one BBEG could make to some other not-as-BBEG to get them to help him. Just looking to flesh out the story a bit farther. These are who I have for notable badguys so far.

BBEG Lord Immerick, a wizard who centuries ago, once ruled a kingdom that was destroyed by a plague carried by modrones. He stays alive with a collection of clones he stores away in his own personal demiplane. Commands an army of deep gnomes and duergar and dwarves who wield fiery swords, fire grenades and flame throwers under the title "firebat brigade" ranking from firebug, to firebat to firedrake. Lord Immerick, through advisory of a priest who is secretly a voice for demogorgon, intends to capture all the modrones, then kill them all and primus at the exact moment in hopes to rid the realms of the source of the plague.

Lord Immerick has employed 4 peoples:

A deep gnome who goes by the name Gorbin Dulac, acts as immerick's treasurer/accountant/finance manager kinda thing. Offers up 20 platinum for each Modrone brought to him alive. Owns ALL the magic shops after being employed by Immerick. Stays inside the chest cavity of a shield guardian, leaving people to assume he's anything but a little svirfneblin.

A a duergar named Donder Bleakscalp who lives in the underdark, beneath a set of mountains we're calling the gray mountains. Donder is a slaver who wants to be the new deepking. He has neogi working along side of him. Together the gather mostly dwarves and gnomes and force them to mine in their tunnels for gems, ores and oils. Donder has an apparatus of the crab which I'm going to give a burrowing function and a magic map for his tunnels.

A hobgoblin warlord named Mglubyet Ichtrodar. He's been given a periapt of wound closure, and with some help from lord Immerick, has crossed the globe, gaining command over all of the other goblin tribes, or destroying them if they denied him.

A death slaad whom lord Immerick has the control gem of. This death slaad and those underneath it guard his demiplane and castle. Probably don't need too much for this guy.

So yeah, I'm just trying to think of something a little deeper than just henchmen. So maybe if the PC's are cunning enough, they could resolve things without needing to fight as much. Because so far, they've got armies to go up against, which can be fun in moderation, but boring after too many similar scenarios.

Thanks for the advice beforehand guys.

[ruy343]

Whatever you do with this campaign, make sure that L. Immerick always talks in limericks.

Regarding your henchmen, you've asked a very broad (and a bit difficult to decipher) question, that I don't think many can help with. After all, they're your characters in your world, so we don't know what they might want that would ensure their loyalty to the villain.

That said, family is a big driver for most adults in our world, and is most often used as a means of providing motivations to characters on TV shows. Do they have a diseased son that they wish to save? Are they hoping for wealth to pay off a slave debt for their uncle or other family member? Are they seeking immortality so that they will never have to face the shame of seeing their baby brother who they accidentally killed while experimenting with powerful magic (who has actually forgiven them, but they don't know that)?

Play around with some of those flavors a bit, and see if a family tie might give you guidance. Also, take a look at this: http://www.giantitp.com/articles/rTKEivnsYuZrh94H1Sn.html for some more villainous advice (it's under the gaming section of this website, in case you were wondering).

[Unoriginal]

What about a succubus businesswoman who provides inter-planar ressources, be it material, mercenaries, info, and the like?

He promised her a powerful artifact, or to conduct a ritual in a certain place at a certain time, in exchange of her help, along with the monetary payement.

Little does he know that she's actually on the payroll of Hell/the other Lawful forces, because she's not crazy enough to want to destroy Law on an universal level, and so she is working to sabotage him.