Villains - Building a Baddie

Twisted views. Dastardly schemes. Impeccable fashion. The kind of character you just love to hate ~ Villains are a central cog in any campaign. Whether they're plotting their next move in a deep OSR dungeon, advancing invisible clocks during a FitD downtime or just-so-happen to always be there to deliver a villainous monologue in your favorite story game, villains can be found everywhere. They're such a ubiquitous staple of tabletop games that someone's even running a year-long challenge to flesh one out! And today I'd like to step you through my own methods for making a menace, and some archetypes I've found pretty helpful! (Along with some roll tables to help you along~)

What I Mean By "Villain"

First I think it's important to clarify I'm using a deliberately broad net for the term "villain" - Something, something, every villain is the hero of another story. To me a villain in a tabletop campaign isn't necessarily an antagonist, just someone powerful, determined and a "mover and shaker." These are the counterbalances to the "heroes" of the party, the big players in the world - If you're familiar with Fallout: New Vegas think of Caeser and Mr. House. It's all very "Great Man Theory of History" adjacent, which makes for terrible factuality but decidedly memorable story telling. Overall, regardless of "moral" character, I'm defining villains in here by these four tenants:

> Villains Push Their Agenda - Villains have a goal, a momentum, a purpose. They're characters who want to see the world or the region or maybe just their life go a specific way, and they'll act on that momentum in whatever ways they can. The world of a tabletop game is never truly static, but the characters who make the biggest waves (outside of the party) are often our villains.

> Villains Think They're Right - This combined with the next point is what makes a villain truly "gameable." This doesn't mean they think of themselves as morally righteous or are completely immovable, but rather that at the start of a campaign (or somewhere in the middle if you want a twist villain) they are thoroughly convinced that what they're doing is their best option. While some villains are slightly beyond what we may think of as "want", they are nonetheless entities on a trajectory whose momentum is sure to send ripples through the setting. And the energy pushing that entity is the pure belief that this is what they should be doing.

> Villains Are Mutable - This may seem to contradict the first point, but it's key if you want non-lethal options in your adventures. To communicate is to be changed, and if you want a villain who the players can communicate with, maybe even talked down or at least talked around, being a degree of mutable is key. You just need to remember the Villain Thinks They're Right, so that communication either needs to be done in a framework the villain understands or needs to be so compelling as to shake that faith (You don't have to worry about what such a shaking of faith would look like, it's your players' jobs to convince them after all).

> Villains Should be Personal - I often tell people the first step I take when writing a villain is taking some belief I have or try to repress and turn it up to 11. Those unwanted nihilistic musings that existence is suffering? Take that to the logical conclusion and you have a villain who believes it's right to wipe out the universe. A political musing that actually a centralized government could work if managed properly? Let's see how benevolent the state is when you start writing this villain. In my opinion the best villains you'll ever run (much like the best NPCs you'll ever run) are ones that in some way you can relate to, or at minimum understand the logic of. When you've got a villain who's rotten to the core, but every once in a while think to yourself "Ahhhh but they kind of have a point though" that's when you're in the sweet spot.

Ignition of Villainy (or d12 Archetypes)

While thinking of Villains in terms of motivation can be helpful, I vastly prefer conceptualizing them in terms of archetypes that blend and weave ~ You can almost think of these as the type of inertia a Villain has - A cocktail of methods and motivations that culminate into their momentum. These archetypes are by no means exhaustive, definitely have some overlap and are relatively arbitrary. Heck, this list was originally 10 archetypes but I've bumped it to 12 because Silver Arm Press is right that the d12 needs more love. If you're just trying to fill a rogues gallery I'd say roll 2d12 for each villain and see where that gets you, beyond that roll to taste and maybe use some of the other igniters in the afterword if you need them. Some of the most compelling villains I've seen mix 3 or 4 of these characteristics and beyond so don't let these rolls limit you!

1 - The Rot - Entropy, decay, the inevitability of death. Love it or hate it, these are factors a player will always have to contend with. But what happens when entropy grows hungry? When death itself is no longer content balancing life, but seeks to totally subsume it? This is the Rot, and I've put it at the top because it feels like a powerful motivator to keep all other pieces on the board moving (including other villains). Perhaps it's an ever-growing horde of the undead sweeping across the land, or a hyper-mutating plague. On a less explicitly entropic scale, these are your omnipotent eldritch beings who seek to consume the universe, and your demons who will end the world if summoned. While giving the Rot a crown can make for a good villain in itself (think the Lich King from WarCraft), sometimes this villain is more omnipresent like a self-replicating computer virus. The Rot (much like the next archetype) excels at being abstract and looming.

Key Questions: What threatens the end of all things? What makes it feel inevitable? What makes it feel like a distant ignorable problem? Who attempts to stop it from consuming all? Who worships it?

2 - The Weed - Where the Rot represents unchecked death, the Weed represents unchecked life[*2]. Living typhoons who destroy villages without an ounce of hate in their heart. The last of the dragons defending its millennial horde. The hungry T-Rex brought into the present day by weird science. The will in the forest eager to regress all into a verdant apocalypse. Kudzu. Princess Mononoke's Forest Spirit is a great example of this given the kind of form that can still be talked to.[*1] Americana/Colonialists stories may present the Weed as something to be tamed, slain and contained, but ultimately the Weed simply is. Much like how the Rot pushes a cast of villains forward, the Weed reminds everyone the world is constantly in flux and life itself is always a player at the table. You can also extend this out to things like impish treasure goblins jumping between portals or psychic kids with no control over their town-destroying powers. Things that don't necessarily want, but simply are.

Key Questions: What essential force/element poses a danger in daily life? What part of nature threatens the status quo by its very existence? What good does it provide? What ills? How does the current society bend and adapt?[*4]

3 - The Monster - Monsters aren't born, they're made. The Monster represents a villain whose shape was molded by a greater evil. (See this excellent Throne of Salt post; D&D Doesn't Understand What Monsters Are). While the Monster's current impact may be obvious and urgent, its root cause, the thing that made it, is often far more malicious and well established. They're a rogue cyborg who still thinks he's in a MiliTech simulation, or a vengeful spirit summoned from a wrongful murder. If you're familiar with Zedeck Siew's A Perfect Wife (and its haunting full release) you know the vibe. Importantly, not every Monster is a tiger with a bullet between its teeth. Take Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol, he's a monster born not of having a heart two sizes too small, but of being wracked by economic anxiety and watching others be crushed by capitalism so thoroughly that he forgot what it means to truly live - A monster defined not by greed, but by fear of the consequence of being poor. 

Key Questions: What malice haunts the setting that hurts common folks the most? What can it turn them into? What other villains have left ripples in their wake? Who had to suffer for society to be where it is today?

4 - The Cruel  - Some villains just want to cause suffering. Whether that's due to their own uncontrolled compulsions, being poisoned by jealousy or simply because that's how they get their kicks, the Cruel spares none. Where other villains might be able to appreciate a world where everyone is happy, the Cruel isn't satisfied until some are miserable. Maybe their fixation is on who should be miserable, or maybe it's a fixation on what type of misery, but the Cruel is a sadist by any other name. The needlessly twisted experiments of Professor Hojo or the apocalyptic delight of Kefka are both excellent examples. I think it's important to note this type of villain can start to feel overused and flat incredibly fast, so be intentional about how you use these magnets of misery.

Key Questions: Who has the power to inflict suffering? What cruelty would you like to highlight in the world? In what ways does it mimic more endemic normalized cruelties? 

5 -  The Shadow - History is tall and vast, and though civilizations may crumble they are bound to cast a Shadow. The Shadow is a remnant, a ripple, something from the past come to grip the present with its antediluvian hands. Sometimes they're an ancient wizard king who was long ago sealed away but whose roads the world still travels. Sometimes they're the hateful war-machine of an alien race that disappeared millennia ago. The Shadow wears the world's history as a badge of honor, and excels at making players feel how deep the well of time goes. For any Dragon Age fans reading, Corypheus is an excellent example.

Key Questions: What were the great ancient powers of your world? What has history deliberately obfuscated? What do people speak of as if it were only legend? What belief refuses to die?

6 - The Fanatic - Faith is a powerful thing. While Villains are mutable, the Fanatic's zealous belief may be the hardest to shake. They take an ideology like gospel into every waking moment of their life, and preach it with their every action. The Fanatic isn't necessarily religious; perhaps they fanatically believe that all consciousnesses would be better off merged, or that only through mortal combat can the true soul shine. Maybe their creed is to a country or a commander, but their excessive fanatical dedication is what truly sets them apart. Fanatics are especially juicy when underneath their zeal is a truth so profane that the players will scarcely believe it when the Fanatic tries to enlighten them. 

Key Questions: What's a pervasive belief in your setting? What's its most extreme form? What existential problem can only be answered by faith? Who or what do the people look to when they need hope in a hopeless situation?

7 - The Order - This villain is all about promise and compromise.[*5] They promise a better world that they can imagine, one that rights the wrongs ever-present in this one, one that is far less chaotic and cruel. They offer the promise of control, of certainty, in exchange for little compromises along the way... until you look back and realize you've handed all your freedoms away to a police state. I find the Order is at their best when they see the players as an asset to be bribed rather than a threat to be extinguished - Autocrats love keeping muscle around, and the players are no different... Just as long as they're willing to tow the line (which most players I've found will eventually hit a break point for). When in doubt, the Order isn't above a little back stabbing. It's for the greater good after all.

Key Questions: What failings of the old Order are ever-present that a newer Order promises to solve? What fears and anxieties of the general population does the Order intentionally embellish and intensify? What power base exists that craves a leader to protect and speak for them?

8 - The Opportunist - Where the Order thrives on centralized control, the Opportunist thrives on anarcho-capitalist chaos where shipments get lost in the hurry and souls are sold for survival. These are your black market dealers, your shadowy corpos, your info-brokers and your mercenary companies. They're motivated by profit and accumulation, and they believe a peaceful harmonious world has no place for them. The Opportunist is always eager to detonate a powder keg, and may even warm up to the players if they start looking like a box of matches. Sometimes they're reservoirs of important information and equipment, other times they bring down the hammer on the players for a fee (and often remind them "it's nothing personal"). Destiny's Spider and Metal Gear's Jetstream Sam illustrate just how different the dynamics of an Opportunist can be.

Key Questions: Who's keeping resources flowing in the background? Who's got the most to gain from the current status quo being disrupted? Who's always there to remind you that "money makes the world go 'round"?

9 - The Mirror - To sum the mirror up in a word they're about truth. Cold, hard, honest truth. They're a reflection of a truth the players themselves may not want to admit. For the Christopher Nolan fans out there, this is the second half of "you either die a hero, or live long enough to watch yourself become the villain."[*3] D&D's increasingly iconic Vecna shines as perhaps one of my favorite mirrors - There's very little that materially separates Vecna from a D&D adventurer besides skill and enough time. Though on a less villainous scale, these are your Red Hoods, your anti-heroes pushing at the edges of what the hero party is willing to do for their goals.

Key Questions: What do the players' actions really say about them? What are their desires? What path are they really on given enough time? Given one misstep? What are the players lying to themselves about? How is the Mirror more honest than them? What is the small divergence that separates the two?

10 - The Romantic - Love needs no introduction. Where the Fanatic is blinded by belief and the Opportunist blinded by greed, the Romantic can only see the world through an authentic and genuine love. Maybe this is the tainted love of a vampire yearning for his lost beloved, or the eco-terrorist determined to right the world by painting it over with flowers. Magneto from the X-Men franchise can be seen as a spin on this, his actions motivated as much by a love for mutant life as the grief of being a holocaust survivor. In many ways the Romantic and the Order are Mirrors of each other, the key difference is where the Romantic is driven by love, the Order is driven by a need for control.

Key Questions: What betrayal or loss has cut you the deepest? What would you sacrifice anything to protect? What must never happen again? Who has the most to lose? Who's already lost it?

11 - The Methodical - Where the Fanatic experiences ecstasy from the world's secrets, the Methodical does their best to crack them. Their thinking always three steps ahead, their plans always having back-up plans, their actions as calculated as a chess master. The Methodical's detachment and careful planning allows the mere loss of a queen to be water on their shoulders if it sets up their check-mate. These are the endless riddles of Savathun or the plans within plans of Albert Wesker. To the Methodical, knowledge is power and method keeps out the madness.

Key Questions: What secrets of the world are begging to be cracked? Who seeks to use the rules to break them? What "games" does society or the universe play that someone would want to master? Or circumvent? Who is confident they have it all figured out?

12 - The Perfected - Some people are just that good. The Perfected is beyond superhuman in some aspect, whether that be intellect, strength or even the subtle art of manipulation. Maybe the Perfected was born this way, or maybe they fought tooth and nail to be the best they could be. Either way now that they have it, they plan to flaunt it however they can. Their perceived superiority can't be understated, though whether they seek to perfect others or enjoy being the diamond in the rough is up to you. Moriarty makes running a criminal underworld look effortless, Kerrigan's powers allow her an unprecedented near-messianic control over the swarm, Adrian Veidt collapses his genius plans with the click of a button, Omni-Man can't help but remind you what humans have to do to imitate a fraction of his power. How does your Perfected cut through the world like a hot knife through butter?

Key Questions: Who needs to prove something to the world? Who feels they're the only one who can save it? Break it? What perfection would contrast the brightest against your muddy world? What power breaks all the normal rules?

I don't think any of these archetypes are particularly compelling (or even really complete) on their own, but squish two of them together and the villains start writing themselves. For instance getting the Rot and the Fanatic might yield a villain who believes a plague cleanses the mortal soul, and thus seeks to spread it with an army of half-dead cultists. If you get the Cruel and the Opportunist consider the kind of mercenary who loves the pay but is really in it to hear the screams.

Need an extra little twist? Here's d12 more minor additions:

1 - The Puppet - This Villain is currently serving the plans of another villain. Whether they're an eager servant, an ignorant pawn or just biding their time until the moment is right to strike is up to you...

2 - The Chosen - Some greater force or miraculous has chosen this Villain as its champion.

3 - The Twist - This Villain hides their true nature well and will aid the party how they can until the time to pull back the curtain is right.

4 - The Beautiful - This Villain brings an arresting beauty, a silver tongue or an incomparable artistic talent to their schemes.

5 - The Blood - At the start of the campaign this Villain is related to the players in some way, either by blood or creed.

6 - The Inferior - This Villain is (or at least is convinced) that they're playing second fiddle to something or someone else, and part of their quest is to one day be "good enough." This could manifest as a bumbling C-Lister as much as it could a Perfected with wild insecurities.

7 - The Duelist - This Villain revels in one-on-one rivalries, and likely will select a party member as their perceived adversary. Maybe this means they constantly ask for a sparring match, or maybe this means they'll leave that character cryptic clues to follow.

8 - The Sealed - At the start of the campaign this Villain has been sealed away in some capacity, either in a dungeon, or a prison, or in cryo-sleep etc. Bonus points if you can bait the players into being the ones to unseal them.

9 - The Heir - This Villain has recently inherited a position of power (or something else incredibly important) that is relatively sought after.

10 - The Brazen - This Villain thinks they're hot shit and they're going to make sure you know it. They revel in taunting the players and proving their prowess over others.

11 - The Playful - All the world's a play, and this Villain is just rolling the dice. They treat everything like a game and may leave many decisions to chance.

12 - The Vile - This Villain in heart or affect is just absolutely abhorrent. It feels like disgusting you must be a goal.

I plan on doing a little follow-up to this post at some point about what I call the Pyramid of E.V.I.L. ~ It's a (very general) rule of thumb I use for setting up villains who are all in conflict with one another thus making the world feel increasingly dynamic (Essentially each of the 4 tiers is progressively bigger, and they are in order "Entropy - Visionaries - Independents - Lighters") but we'll save that for another time!

What do you think? Got any villains burning in your brain? Thinking of how your favorites might fall into these archetypes? Let me know!

[*1 : If you think the Forest Spirit isn't a villain, remember we're defining villains by their ability to completely upend the status quo ~ Even if they may be "right" they're a villain to someone.]

[*2 : For Destiny fans, the Rot is the Sword Logic and the Weed is a the Bomb Logic]

[*3 - Some other classic villain lines that apply to the Mirror are "we're not so different you and I" and "all it takes is one bad day"]

[*4: OF NOTE: In many ways the Rot and the Weed are two sides of the same coin and so questions about one may apply to the other - They're separated here to denote how much society has grown accustomed to it, where its momentum originates, and what an end state looks like. A world consumed by Rot will finally "die", while a world engulfed in Weeds is far more like our own.]

[*5 : This Villain was originally the New Order, but I realized the archetype works well for the established order as well ~ So if you roll two of these consider who's the dysfunctional established Order, and who's promising to fix it with their New Order.]