Cool/interesting BBEGs [Any]

[SilverLeaf167]

So, here you can discuss your most creative/interesting BBEGs. The topic is supposed to have more of the subtler power-behind-the-throne types, rather than just brutes with big swords. Of course, those can be posted too, if there's something special about them.

I haven't really used this yet, but I'm planning to do so in my next campaign. The BBEG is a necromancer. No, that isn't very unique. BUT, he mostly sits around in a carriage, pulled by undead horses and protected by undead warriors. The undead are masked as normal beings with a powerful illusion. So, the necromancer pretends to be a traveling noble, wandering around the world for various reasons. He becomes (or is supposed to) a good friend of the PCs, often asking them about their plans for the near future. He uses this information to plan ahead and gather minions/unsuspecting brutes to thwart the PCs.

Bah, now that I actually wrote this, I really have to stat him (or her) up...

Oh, BTW: if other people are still just planning, like me, feel free to share ideas and advice if they want it. I personally would like some ideas

[Fax Celestis]

These two remain some of my favorite BBEGs ever.

[SilverLeaf167]

Okay... you seem to have some experience with necromancers, so I guess I'll ask you for help. What feats should a level 15 Human Sorcerer have to be proper at necromancy, and if possible, charming etc.?

[Zaydos]

Mine was an ullitharid cerebromancer focused on Kineticist powers. Fought the PCs 3 times, and showed up 3 more times (one of which was an enemy mine situation where they actually helped him stop a rebel illithid cult that wanted to unleash Cthulhu). I used the DMPC to help kick-start the story with him (he was the DMPC's best friend before he committed heroic sacrifice and came back as an ullitharid). He would talk to the PCs, even frequenting the same magical inn on one occasion and sitting down to have a chat.

The PCs loved the final battle and afterward had a campaign goal of going into the depths of Ilsennsine's domain to pull his soul free from the god's grasp. They were going to get to, too, in 4 more levels when the campaign ended.

[Marillion]

Baron Faulker.

In a world where magic is a subtle force that doesn't have the power to make people disintegrate, this guy has the power to make people disintegrate. And a whole slew of other nasty powers too. He's literally got no soul left. He chases us relentlessly across the continent. And his subjects love(d?) him.

He's basically the Terminator, we have his magic book, and he is extremely angry at us.

[DMGreg]

I've run a few BBEGs that I've been particularly proud of. One in particular stands out in my mind, though. His name was Pardo, a merchant who more or less owned three large trading cities in one of the primary nations of my setting. The trade empire was built over the course of centuries by generations of ambitious men. Pardo took ambition and added to it a level of ruthlessness that made him hated at my gaming table. His family had passed down, through the course of nearly three thousand years, a piece of the Staff of Drion, an artifact the adventuring party needed to reconstruct to stop the even bigger BBEG. Unfortunately, the family deemed the piece of the Staff an artifact of an earlier age, but discounted the more fanciful stories of its origin and purpose. That is, until my party inadvertently revealed to Pardo that even the most fanciful family legends fell short of the truth and that the staff was required to (literally) save the world. Needless to say, Pardo refused to turn it over, demanding a bounty in excess of the GDP of the entire nation. Long story short, the party recovered the piece of the artifact but failed to kill Pardo, who remained a thorn in their side for the rest of the campaign. Years later, in different campaigns, I'd have their characters run across merchants from the family empire and the players would still curse Pardo's name. He was easily the most successfully hated villain I used in that campaign arc.