Favorite NPCs/BBEGs to Use In Game

[blackjack50]

I have been wondering what everyone else enjoys to use as a DM. I have found I absolutely adore using the Martial Adepts as a higher level “cultist” type. They are really effective and can force a ton of checks. They also can be kind of squishy too. They balance well depending on how you as the DM play them.

Anyone else have favorite NPC/BBEGs to use?

[Unoriginal]

I have been wondering what everyone else enjoys to use as a DM. I have found I absolutely adore using the Martial Adepts as a higher level “cultist” type. They are really effective and can force a ton of checks. They also can be kind of squishy too. They balance well depending on how you as the DM play them.

Anyone else have favorite NPC/BBEGs to use?

Not sure if "favorite" is anywhere close what I feel toward it, but the Apprentice Wizard is pretty fun.

Feel like the statblock really capture what it's meant to be.

[blackjack50]

Not sure if "favorite" is anywhere close what I feel toward it, but the Apprentice Wizard is pretty fun.

Feel like the statblock really capture what it's meant to be.

How does it play against players in combat? Or is it more effective at role play?

[kingcheesepants]

I'd say that the succubus has become my favorite bad guy. I made a succubus at the beginning of a campaign I was in, she's been a recurring villain ever since and she always brings something fun to an encounter. They can shapechange to look like anyone, charm folks, go into the ethereal plane, use telepathy. They're so flexible and can cause such a great variety of mischief that they're a lot of fun to have in a game.

[Rule-Of-Three]

The older I got, the harder it became not to use diviners and sages as the true movers (and thus opponents) of the realm. The expression is knowledge is power, but in truth it's potential. This creates temptation, a theme that also ties back into knowledge, but tied in with evil. The forbidden fruit wasn't really an apple, after all.

It also sets the the PCs to be unwitting or even complicit agents of the antagonist, and come to know them well. As the reveal happens and the cloud is lifted from their eyes slowly, you can have a lot of dramatic interactions with real stakes.

Finally, they make really difficult opponents go nail down, and have some potent defenses on their own. Forcing a PC to have a 4 on their save or suck is nasty.

[Azuresun]

I have been wondering what everyone else enjoys to use as a DM. I have found I absolutely adore using the Martial Adepts as a higher level “cultist” type. They are really effective and can force a ton of checks. They also can be kind of squishy too. They balance well depending on how you as the DM play them.

Anyone else have favorite NPC/BBEGs to use?

I've used a couple of Knights as leaders of mook swarms. Giving everyone a d4 to their attacks is a nice force multiplier--or it would be if the Knight typically didn't get killed or incapacitated before they could use it. :smallsmile:

I also make a lot of use of the various NPC Warlocks (including Deathlocks), and how they balance out in an encounter--they throw out powerful spells early on to throw the party on the back foot, but they also naturally taper off as the fight progresses. Their lore makes them natural right-hand-people of powerful monsters, and if you were entertaining hopes of them surviving to fight another day, Misty Escape is such a good ability for that.

I also found some fan-made NPC Artificer statblocks, and the Alchemist has shown up twice, as an airship engineer in an Eberron game, and a headhunter poison-brewer in Primeval Thule.

[da newt]

Any high level caster can make for a very formidable opponent. My DM is partial to Wizards of various races and types, but any full caster can make for very interesting combat. So many spell options creates interesting and tactical combat. Throw in enough minions with interesting features, and you can dial up as much difficulty as you like.

We did have one very memorable encounter with a bunch of Martial Adepts - those little suckers are nasty when there are more of them.

[MrStabby]

I'd say that the succubus has become my favorite bad guy. I made a succubus at the beginning of a campaign I was in, she's been a recurring villain ever since and she always brings something fun to an encounter. They can shapechange to look like anyone, charm folks, go into the ethereal plane, use telepathy. They're so flexible and can cause such a great variety of mischief that they're a lot of fun to have in a game.

Yeah, I love these and usually have one or two in a campaign. I have found the trick to making them work (for me anyway) is to just discard the whole sexual element. Get people to perform evil deeds in echange for information on a treaure horde. Decieve a PC into thinking someone has wronged them then offer to exchange information that lets them get revenge in exchange for a small service. There are remarkably few PCs who won't be tempted by power when its offered. Only once has a paladin used detect evil and good on one.


I like to have a lot of low level caster NPCs, though I homebrew the sat blocks. "Druids" can be particularly potent and quite fun here. Entangle, heat metal, spike growth and thorn whip on a few support casters can make a fight much much harder and a lot more tactical. Great for having a big impact relative to their damage output.

For a BBEG I usually build around the mental stats being strong, at least at medium to high level. You need them to be smart enough to have a plan that is a threat, and resourceful enough to execute it. This tends to lend itself to casters though I won't make them a clear class but will tend to just build a spell list around a theme.

[Zeb_by_Proxy]

I adore using archmages, and high-level warlocks and rogues, not so much as BBEGs, but as antagonists. Someone who has goals that are opposed to the party's goals, but for relatable reasons. This ends up usually putting my party into situations where they move in and out of alignment with their antagonist and end up exploring what their characters are willing to compromise on, and what not. Unearths a lot of good role-play!

I find that a few of the 5e published modules (e.g. CoS, W:DH, BG:DiA) are particularly conducive to this style of gameplay if the DM and the players are both into it.

[Rule-Of-Three]

I adore using archmages, and high-level warlocks and rogues, not so much as BBEGs, but as antagonists. Someone who has goals that are opposed to the party's goals, but for relatable reasons. This ends up usually putting my party into situations where they move in and out of alignment with their antagonist and end up exploring what their characters are willing to compromise on, and what not. Unearths a lot of good role-play!

This exactly. The goal is not to have a BBEG to vanquish, but a character that pursues a worldview and vision that forces the players to consider what their own is, and is it worth being crushed/dismembered/having your brains eaten over.

[Unoriginal]

How does it play against players in combat? Or is it more effective at role play?

The one I used was a boss against lvl 1 PCs. Or maybe lvl 2.

Ended up arrogantly getting too close, used Burning Hands on all of the PCs and a bunch of his own mooks, which did nasty damage but not enough to kill anyone as every single one of the people caught in it (mook included) succeeded the save, then fleed until the Rogue managed to pursue and stab him twice.

Was a pretty fun encounter for me, and I think my players liked it too.