Shapeshifter Villains

[Dr. Cliché]

A while back I had an idea for a group of villains for a D&D campaign, with the core idea being that each one was a different sort of shapeshifter. A Rakshasa, a Night Hag, an Ogre Mage, a were-creature, a Succubus, a Doppleganger, a Changeline, that sort of thing. I might give some or all of them them class levels (or at least the NPC equivalent of such), but insofar as possible I wanted them all to be natural shapeshifters in some form or other.

Anyway, with that in mind, I'm looking for inspiration with a few things:

1) Are there any other shapeshifters you'd recommend, either in 5e or from past editions?

2) The main thing I'm looking for is what sort of scheme(s) a group of shapeshifters might want to enact. I've had a couple of ideas of my own, but this forum has been a great source of devious ideas in the past so I thought I might as well ask. If it matters, I want the shapeshifters to be working towards the same ultimate goal, but they don't have to stay together all the time; working solo or in smaller groups is fine. They can also have non-shapeshifting followers and such, it's only the main villains that I want to be shapeshifters.

3) Potentially related to the above points, which shapeshifter do you think should be leading the group? I'd been inclined towards the Rakshasa but I'm open to alternatives.

4) Of course, if you have any other ideas or suggestions for this sort of thing, I'd be delighted to hear them. :smallsmile:

[Corran]

1) Are there any other shapeshifters you'd recommend, either in 5e or from past editions?
How about a shadow metallic (adult or ancient) dragon?

[Dr. Cliché]

How about a shadow metallic (adult or ancient) dragon?

Ah, that's a good point.

I hadn't considered dragons, since it's generally only the good (metallic) ones that can shapeshift. But I'd neglected the possibility of corrupted or undead metallic dragons.

[BruceLeeroy]

Deepspawn is a great monster to adapt from 3.5 for thise. Also the Oblex ooze from Modenkainen's.

This is tangential to your question, but I would say that a group of shapeshifters would be very cautious about exposing their presence as leaders or members of the organization - since the primary method for identifying shapeshifting applies to all forms of it. True seeing just wrecks all attempts at magical disguise, and once it's known that there is a cabal of shapeshifters around, Detect Evil can be used to find them by low-level investigators. Much better, from the shapeshifter's point of view, if their enemies don't think to look for shapeshifters at all, by using false organizations, proxy groups, charmed leaders, and physical disguises as layered defenses before needing to rely on their deceptive magic.

[Sorinth]

That's quite a disparate list, so it might be hard to find a logical reason they are all working together. So it might be better for the leader to be the true shapeshifter monster, with a couple shapeshifter underlings but most underlings aren't shapeshifters but still have that flavour through the use of magic items/spells/abilities.

For example, having the main villain be a Rakshassa with one or two Succubus Lieutenants, and a bunch of lesser minions that are Fiend Warlocks whose Pact was either with the Rakshassa or the Raskshassa boss who is still in the Nine Hells. The warlocks use Mask of Many faces which still gives them that can be anyone at anytime feel.

You could also consider Druids for shapeshifters, an evil circle of moon druids who work with lycanthropes and a barbarian tribe to attack civilization. Maybe even evil Pixies who use Polymorph to shapechange their minions.

[Dr. Cliché]

That's quite a disparate list, so it might be hard to find a logical reason they are all working together. So it might be better for the leader to be the true shapeshifter monster, with a couple shapeshifter underlings but most underlings aren't shapeshifters but still have that flavour through the use of magic items/spells/abilities.

For example, having the main villain be a Rakshassa with one or two Succubus Lieutenants, and a bunch of lesser minions that are Fiend Warlocks whose Pact was either with the Rakshassa or the Raskshassa boss who is still in the Nine Hells. The warlocks use Mask of Many faces which still gives them that can be anyone at anytime feel.

Not really what I was going for, sadly.

I understand what you're saying, though. Seems I neglected to think this idea through.




You could also consider Druids for shapeshifters, an evil circle of moon druids who work with lycanthropes and a barbarian tribe to attack civilization. Maybe even evil Pixies who use Polymorph to shapechange their minions.

Hmm, I was aiming more for a band of creatures where many are capable of taking different human forms, rather than all of them being restricted to animal/were-beast shapes.

Still, it seems my idea is dead in the water, so I'll bear this in mind. Cheers for the answer. :smallsmile:

[Sorinth]

Not really what I was going for, sadly.

I understand what you're saying, though. Seems I neglected to think this idea through.




Hmm, I was aiming more for a band of creatures where many are capable of taking different human forms, rather than all of them being restricted to animal/were-beast shapes.

Still, it seems my idea is dead in the water, so I'll bear this in mind. Cheers for the answer. :smallsmile:

Sorry, didn't mean to shoot the idea down. Assuming this is a homebrewed world and the monsters the are just supposed to have a human and monstrous form then there is an interesting take.

Make the world a place where monsters and magic used to be common, but magic is dying out, and with magic dying it's becoming harder and harder for monsters/fantastical creatures to reproduce. This gives a reason for random monsters to find each other and form a group, they are trying to save magic and all monsters. They shapeshift into human form in order to survive because they have to live within human society as there is no where else to go. The trick in this case is making them actual villains since the party likely has the same goal of fixing magic. The monster villains are trying to accomplish it through widespread human death, and the PCs and some friendly shapeshifters are looking for other ways.

[Verble]

I could see a Hag being the 'Grandmother' that adopts these strangers into her family/coven. It could be that each of the lesser figures have their own henchmen and that Grandmother is the mastermind behind it all(if the party even figures that out).

[Satori01]

Hags are great for this. One there are a number of different Hags, and Hags are easy to buff, by placing them in a coven.

In my homebrew I have a Queen with a coterie of Handmaidens, all are Hags. All change their appearance constantly, but often look like sisters.

The members of their organization (it is less a kingdom, and more the plotters to create a kingdom), know to treat all orders from a Female leader to be as from their Queen, because no one ever truly knows what their Queen looks like, and the Handmaidens are legion and nasty.

Nearly every D&D book with monsters in it has a new Hag variety in it....which gives me a lot of RAW options. 🕺

[Spiritchaser]

I’ve only ever done shapeshifters as singular arch villains, I’ve never tried doing a group before, however:

How could a group like this fit into the larger meta plot of your campaign?

These guys are going to be pretty potent, and as deceivers and manipulators, could be well suited to shifting the politics of a region. Do you have regional powers in conflict?

Here’s a potential twist: two regional powers are engaged (or are about to be engaged in) a long running conflict that brings all the horrors of war (Add reasonably legitimate cause for strife). More importantly to the cabal, it’s going to make it impractical to mine down and excavate an ancient <unpronounceable> buried beneath the borderlands.

The cabal has chosen to infiltrate the regional powers, stop the war, free up the site of the old <unpronounceable> spend a few years (or months, whatever fits your timeline) excavating it, then cackle maniacally as the <unpronounceable> does <whatever it does>

You can have the cabal engage the players in helping stop a war

You can have multiple reveals. The party could discover that some of the less careful members are really interested in a “mine” after the peace... even then the PCs might agree to work with them, as a greedy bastard who wants to make a profit from peace isn’t obviously evil. In fact, having one cabal member be”all about the mine” right from the beginning might be more interesting narratively... and the cabal can use them as a foil to gain support for peace from those who might profit from the mine. Subsequent reveals that these members are shapeshifters can raise the stakes. A final revelation about the fact that the mine isn’t a mine, but actually the buried ruins housing the terrible <unpronounceable> should be possible as well.

If you carry this long enough you could even have a last battle in the ruins deep below the surface, desperately trying to stop the <unpronounceable> from doing <whatever it does>.

At the very least they can wrestle with the problem of killing the evil that is stopping the war.

Edit: almost forgot: the cabal could all wear amulets/pins/broaches/whatever which are similar and can be open or hidden, depending on how easy you want to make this (easier is usually better) these devices must be regularly sprinkled with 25gp worth of diamond dust every 8 hours or so (which is consumed) to maintain their magical effect: nondetection.

[blackjack50]

2) The main thing I'm looking for is what sort of scheme(s) a group of shapeshifters might want to enact. I've had a couple of ideas of my own, but this forum has been a great source of devious ideas in the past so I thought I might as well ask. If it matters, I want the shapeshifters to be working towards the same ultimate goal, but they don't have to stay together all the time; working solo or in smaller groups is fine. They can also have non-shapeshifting followers and such, it's only the main villains that I want to be shapeshifters.:

So. I love this question. I’d say...what would YOU work toward if you were a shapeshifter with evil intent? It is sort of like the ring of Gyges from Plato’s The Republic. It makes you invisible and talks about corruption. So I love the idea of corrupting invisibility (and that inspired a certain other ring in a fantasy setting hehe). And shapeshifting is kind of like that in some ways.

So. Put yourself in the shoes of an enterprising young criminal. Why are you a criminal? What are your motives? Are you inherently evil? Or made that way? Then go from there.

Personally? The idea that you can be anyone would have you committing a LOT of murder. Murder for hire and murder for power. All to gain money and influence for power. So assassins and thieves that slowly grow into an organized racket. Then work your way up to the levels of enemies you want players to deal with.

[Dr. Cliché]

(Sorry for taking a while to reply.)


Sorry, didn't mean to shoot the idea down.

It's fine. I have a lot of spur-of-the-moment ideas, so some of them are bound to fall apart when it comes to details. :smallwink:



Assuming this is a homebrewed world and the monsters the are just supposed to have a human and monstrous form then there is an interesting take.

Make the world a place where monsters and magic used to be common, but magic is dying out, and with magic dying it's becoming harder and harder for monsters/fantastical creatures to reproduce. This gives a reason for random monsters to find each other and form a group, they are trying to save magic and all monsters. They shapeshift into human form in order to survive because they have to live within human society as there is no where else to go. The trick in this case is making them actual villains since the party likely has the same goal of fixing magic. The monster villains are trying to accomplish it through widespread human death, and the PCs and some friendly shapeshifters are looking for other ways.

Hmm, that's an interesting take. I like the idea that the monsters are using their ability to look human for plain survival as much as infiltration.



I’ve only ever done shapeshifters as singular arch villains, I’ve never tried doing a group before, however:

How could a group like this fit into the larger meta plot of your campaign?

These guys are going to be pretty potent, and as deceivers and manipulators, could be well suited to shifting the politics of a region. Do you have regional powers in conflict?

Here’s a potential twist: two regional powers are engaged (or are about to be engaged in) a long running conflict that brings all the horrors of war (Add reasonably legitimate cause for strife). More importantly to the cabal, it’s going to make it impractical to mine down and excavate an ancient <unpronounceable> buried beneath the borderlands.

The cabal has chosen to infiltrate the regional powers, stop the war, free up the site of the old <unpronounceable> spend a few years (or months, whatever fits your timeline) excavating it, then cackle maniacally as the <unpronounceable> does <whatever it does>

You can have the cabal engage the players in helping stop a war

You can have multiple reveals. The party could discover that some of the less careful members are really interested in a “mine” after the peace... even then the PCs might agree to work with them, as a greedy bastard who wants to make a profit from peace isn’t obviously evil. In fact, having one cabal member be”all about the mine” right from the beginning might be more interesting narratively... and the cabal can use them as a foil to gain support for peace from those who might profit from the mine. Subsequent reveals that these members are shapeshifters can raise the stakes. A final revelation about the fact that the mine isn’t a mine, but actually the buried ruins housing the terrible <unpronounceable> should be possible as well.

If you carry this long enough you could even have a last battle in the ruins deep below the surface, desperately trying to stop the <unpronounceable> from doing <whatever it does>.

At the very least they can wrestle with the problem of killing the evil that is stopping the war.

Edit: almost forgot: the cabal could all wear amulets/pins/broaches/whatever which are similar and can be open or hidden, depending on how easy you want to make this (easier is usually better) these devices must be regularly sprinkled with 25gp worth of diamond dust every 8 hours or so (which is consumed) to maintain their magical effect: nondetection.

Some nice ideas there, thank you. I know it's a minor detail, but I especially like the idea that the shapeshifters were items of nondetection and also that said items have limits and need to be periodically 'recharged'.

As for the rest of the campaign, I'm afraid I actually haven't decided much yet. I'm currently in the middle of running a different campaign, so right now I'm just messing around with a few potential ideas for subsequent campaigns.



So. I love this question. I’d say...what would YOU work toward if you were a shapeshifter with evil intent? It is sort of like the ring of Gyges from Plato’s The Republic. It makes you invisible and talks about corruption. So I love the idea of corrupting invisibility (and that inspired a certain other ring in a fantasy setting hehe). And shapeshifting is kind of like that in some ways.

So. Put yourself in the shoes of an enterprising young criminal. Why are you a criminal? What are your motives? Are you inherently evil? Or made that way? Then go from there.

Personally? The idea that you can be anyone would have you committing a LOT of murder. Murder for hire and murder for power. All to gain money and influence for power. So assassins and thieves that slowly grow into an organized racket. Then work your way up to the levels of enemies you want players to deal with.

This is also a great idea. A group of shapeshifting assassins who gradually grow into a more powerful and organised unit makes a lot of sense.


Thank you all for the ideas so far. :smallsmile:

[False God]

3) Potentially related to the above points, which shapeshifter do you think should be leading the group? I'd been inclined towards the Rakshasa but I'm open to alternatives.

They all actually take on the same humanoid form and they all meet masked (the masks could give away which is which, but isn't necessary) and different ones lead for different tasks. That way the "villain" can appear to be in multiple places at the same and if one of them is ever killed, the "villain" appears to still be alive and well. After a period of time a new shapeshifter is recruited (through intermediaries) so the organization never really knows which one they're talking to/about/taking orders from.

[togapika]

Honestly, I'd make the were-creature a halfling who is somehow a were t-rex. He could act like a human child and ingratiate into the party as a spy. When the time is right he goes from small halfling to OMGWTFBBQ DINOSAUR

[Mjolnirbear]

Eberron might have some of the inspiration/information you were looking for.

Droaam is a monster nation led by the Daughters of Sora Kell, a legendary trio of hags. They're innovators: they feed their nation with troll meat, keep the peace with gnoll mercenaries, subvert other nations via criminal activities, and gain information via Daask, an organized crime syndicate using various monsters.

Another group of criminals is the doppelganger and Changeling (whose name escapes me but its one of Sharon's main gangs).

Either might consider a collaboration on a temporary project with the Lords of Dust.