Kai and I had a discussion, and this was its end result.
PapatymisonN: ... I think we need to start up Villains 101.
PapatymisonN: Teach stuff like "Villains have weaknesses", "Villains don't believe they're villains", "Villains don't have to have ALL the power, just the RIGHT power", stuff like that.
Lithaladhwen: You'd think it would be obvious.
PapatymisonN: You'd be surprised.
Rule one: Villains are people. You are a person. You are good at some things. You are also weak, and you are not invincible. You care about some things. After that, you do stuff. -The exception to this being villians who truely believe themselves to be immortal and/or invincible. There is also the villian who is determined to the point of caring about nothing but their own goals.
Rule two: Villains don't think they're villains. They believe what they're doing is the right thing, despite it being clear to any others that it's not. The exception to this is criminals with a concense. Sometimes, it's interesting to see the villian try and justify why he's doing what he's doing, despite knowing it's wrong.
Rule three: Villains have feelings. They care about some things, and don't care about others. They have to make tough choices, and always are affected by their own decisions. Exceptions include most of the undead, sentient golems, and emo kids.
Rule Four: Villains CAN be all-powerful, but it's far more interesting to make them not. That way, they're far more interesting and can add an opportunity to give them added depth. It's easier to take a character seriously when there's evidence of more going on than "OMGZ most powerful sorcerer in the lands, bitch." Counterpoint: Sometimes, being all powerful leads to the explaination of how said person got that way, leading to the quest for knowledge on how to beat them- Making doing so that much more satisfying.
Rule Five: Villains usually want more than one thing. This is largely a result of having had an entire life of being a person before taking a life of villainy. Want to take over the world? Who cares. What's the real agenda? What do you do with the world once you have it?
Rule Six: Villains are fun to watch. Whether they're charismatic, funny, snide, or just plain insulting, they have to be engaging or no one will care. And no one will want to play if they don't, at the least, have an opinion on the character.
Shini sez-
Villians are hard to do right- That includes even minor, nameless one shot villians. Those new to GMing should try and start with such, however, and when they have a good, strong concept, move on to someone who's aspirations are a little higher, and perhaps slap a name on that mofo. Another thing is that it's okay for your villian to think that he's the most powerful being in all creation, but it's not okay for you to think he is. Don't try and empower your villian to the point where he should be able to take the PCs effortlessly- Unless, as mentioned above, part of the plot involves finding the correct way to defeat him. I'm a fan of making the PCs think creatively- The very first battle with General Vaniyakna ended when he was thrown off a ledge into a river below his castle. Granted, he came back, but everyone was satisfied.
Dramatic endings to villians are a plus- Recently, in End of the Chaos, Idran rolled a natural 20 when shooting a villian in the stomach, after the party had shitty rolls all night. Idran had history with this villian, making it appropriate and very fulfilling to simply let that be the finishing blow. This leads into the next point: Villians exist to be defeated. Do not get caught up on them and forget that. <p>
<div style="text-align:center"></div></p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=kai@rpgww60462>Kai</A] at: 9/23/06 19:38