Shapeshifter Villains

[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.

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.