Villains Can Cheat Death (Without Taking Away Your Players' Victory)

I recently wrote a post over on my sister blog The Literary Mercenary titled Undercutting Death Can Undercut Your Story. And while I wrote this from the mindset of an author, there were quite a few references to RPGs and comic books about how introducing mechanics that render death mutable or reversible can have a major effect on your story's stakes, and with how seriously we take death as a consequence.

And this week I wanted to elaborate on this a bit for the Game Masters out there... because while it's true that what's available to the player characters is available to their enemies, if you're going to bring back a villain after they were killed then you need to do so in a way that doesn't feel cheap, or undermine your players' success, and which adds to the ongoing story.

Also, a shout out to Adrian Kennelly's supplement I'm Back! - 25 Reasons For A Villain's Survival for Game Masters who could use a bit of a kickstart on this topic.

It's a delicate balance... but you can manage it.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Should You Bring This Villain Back?

Its happens to all of us. Your players get lucky, and they sink a critical hit at a bad time. Or maybe you forgot about an ability on their sheet that stripped away your villain's exit strategy. Or for the first time in recorded history one of those one-hit-kill powers actually worked, and it dropped your big bad instantly. Well, you had plans for this villain in the narrative going forward, but the numbers made it clear that your players won this round, and your villain is dead.

First and foremost, ask yourself why they shouldn't stay that way. Aside from the fact that it would make your life easier as the GM, who in your ongoing campaign has a vested interest in that villain remaining on the mortal plane? And, perhaps even more importantly, what role are they supposed to actually serve in the ongoing narrative?

You had one job, Crassus... now go do it!

Take a moment, and ask who this villain is. Are they a hired mercenary who was just working for the real villain? Are they a servant of a cult, who might have access to relics or rituals that can bring back their servants? Or does this villain serve a dark god, or powerful necromancer, who might decide their minion has skills and abilities that would be too hard to replace at this stage of their plans? Did they make a deal with someone, or something that isn't going to let them out of it so easily?

All of that context matters. Because if your villain was just some guy who had a certain set of skills, but not a particularly rare one, then they shouldn't be resurrected unless the circumstances of their death were genuinely up in the air. If they fell off of a cliff and into a rushing river, then maybe they could survive, for instance. But if the PCs stabbed them to death, dismembered them, and burned their body, that villain is dead for sure. In that situation it's better to bring in a new villain who will take their place, and who might be looking for vengeance on those who killed that original bad guy. Maybe it's an old war buddy, an enraged father, a vengeful mother, an even more evil twin... someone who fills the role nicely, and who shows the party their actions have consequences, and what they do affects the story as it unfolds.

However, if this villain was truly difficult to replace either because of their unique power level, or you really wanted to build up more of the personal antagonism between them and the PCs, then consider using any of the absurd methods you have on-hand for resurrecting them. For example, could their parts and pieces be reassembled with dark technology, or terrible magic into some kind of angry cyborg a la Darth Vader, or an evil Robocop? Could they be truly resurrected by a patron, or a deity, who marks them in some way to remind them they have failed (perhaps removing a finger, like a Yakuza soldier, or marking them with terrible brands, taking an eye, etc.)? Or are they resurrected with a template added onto them, perhaps as a powerful undead, or some kind of horrible demon hybrid creature?

Or are they operating under a curse, like those who wield the Widowmaker, a terrible, corrupt weapon found in The Blade Itself for Hunter: The Vigil?

Give it a look if you haven't yet!

Now, the key here is that for this villain to come back it can't feel like you just hit the undo button behind the GM screen, and invalidated your players' victory because it was inconvenient to the narrative. This resurrection should clearly have come at some kind of cost to the villain, and it should be uncertain as to whether it will happen again. Even if you want to use resurrection or reincarnation as a kind of power for this particular enemy, the challenge will then become finding the thing that truly kills them for good so they stop coming back. But it should never feel like a victory (hard won or otherwise) is just being handwaved away because you couldn't be bothered to draw up a fresh villain, or to modify a story because you were operating under the assumption that this particular bad guy would be present and un-murdered for what comes next.

Remember that you can get creative with this! Just be sure that your resurrection feels well thought-out, appropriate to the story, and that the cost of it undercuts exactly how far the villain is willing to go to thwart the party... especially because their new lease on life may very well depend on them succeeding where previously they failed!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Dungeon Design Tips: Antagonist Action Economy (Never Fight Just One BBEG)

Every Game Master has been in this situation. The party has been working their way closer and closer to a final confrontation with a powerful enemy. They've bested their traps, they've slain their minions, and now it is time for an epic clash! But when the dice hit the table, the antagonist you spent so much time building up and preparing is roundly stomped into the pavement, left beaten, broken, and defeated in a matter of a few rounds (or sometimes less).

While there are a lot of factors that can go into this kind of defeat, one of the common threads between most of the stories you hear GMs tell is that they were running a 4-on-1 combat... and that's a losing scenario for most monsters!

No matter how powerful you think they are.

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

The Problem

The idea of the party facing down a single creature in battle, their combined strengths necessary to overpower it, is an iconic image. Whether it's a lich lord, a full-sized red dragon, or some other adversary, so many of us have been raised on this setup (both in games as well as in films, comic books, etc.) that we just assume that's the way things are supposed to be.

The problem is the numbers of your action economy just don't add up.

Now, for folks who aren't familiar with the term action economy, it's just a fancy way of saying the amount of stuff you can do on a single turn. For example, let's say you're facing down a necromancer lich. They are a potent foe with a nasty template, a slew of immunities, and a bunch of dire powers to draw on... but generally speaking, they can only use one of those abilities on their turn. So if the lich wants to cast a spell, they'd better make sure it counts... because the party wizard and cleric also get to cast a spell, and that's on top of having to deal with the angry barbarian charging straight at the lich, and the paladin who isn't far behind him!

Oh balls...

Typically the big bosses of the dungeon have fat sacks of hit points, a bunch of pre-cast buffs, monstrous templates, and enough magic items to help them become a threat to an entire party worth of adventurers... the problem is that they need to dodge every bullet the party fires, metaphorically speaking. If the party manages to land a status effect, to slow the enemy, to instantly counter their spells or abilities, etc., then no matter how powerful they're supposed to be it's going to be Good Night Gracie in a big damn hurry.

And while this can make the party feel like big time badasses, it can also make what should be a climactic battle feel... well, anticlimactic. And while I've talked about cover and firing lines, combining traps with combat, and even getting rid of doors in this series, I'd say this week's solution is one that will solve more than half of all the problems that Game Masters deal with.

In short, stop giving your players a single target to gang up on.

The Solution

Give your antagonists backup. That's it... that's the solution.

Whether your lich lord has a cadre of bodyguards to defend their person, or your fallen paladin is backed up by a conjurer and a sniper, the idea is that you are breaking up the laser focus of your party, and giving everyone a dance partner.

If the lich has an undead champion to guard their person, now the party members have to weigh the pros and cons of dividing their attention. Does the barbarian engage the undead black knight, hoping to keep him busy while the paladin closes with the necromancer? Or do the melee bruisers both double team the bodyguard, hoping to take him out quickly while the spellcasters attempt to contain the lich?

Forcing your players to make these decisions means they have a wider array of options, and they have to sometimes get creative with their strategies and tactics. For example, with multiple targets on different ends of the battlefield, would the wizard get more use out of spells that put a wall of iron between the party and the black knight instead of directly attacking the lich? With multiple enemies, does the cleric choose to buff the brawler going toe-to-toe with the bodyguard, keeping him in the fight longer so the paladin doesn't end up having to fight a two-front battle?

And the more antagonists you put on the board, the more choices your players are going to have to make. Not only that, but you are going to have more strategic options, and you won't have to focus so much on making any single antagonist powerful enough to face down the entire party on their own.

This is actually where we get into The Anti-Party, which can best be summarized as the Legion of Doom to your party's Justice League. If you have an evenly-matched party of antagonists with similar abilities, now your players have to get really creative in order to make sure they are able to best their foes.

The important thing to remember here is that when you add multiple enemies, you should be diluting the power of the Big Bad and spreading it around. It also allows you to have boss antagonists who aren't either extremely powerful monsters (dragons, demiliches, etc.), powerful spell casters, or some combination of the two. For example, if you want to challenge your party with a bandit lord, you could have them as a decently high-level ranger, in an area that's full of traps they've set to give themselves an advantage. However, you could also give them half a dozen henchmen, or some kind of tamed monster threat to sic on the players. So rather than the entire party versus a single ranger, they have to deal with his arrows, his traps, but also the two dozen ghouls he's released from their cages, and his two bodyguards who are also taking pot shots at the party.

The more targets there are on the field, the wider the array of tactics the party will have to make use of in order to be successful. For example, does the evoker create a wall of fire to hold back the ghouls, buying their companions a precious round or two before the undead monsters close? Or do they sling spells back at the archers, trusting the front line fighters to hold the line? Does the barbarian's great spear come in handy due to its reach, and does the fighter stick close with them, using their shield to grant their companion additional protection from the rain of arrows above?

With so many additional moving parts, a battle becomes an actual battle, instead of a grudge match against one enemy. Not only that, but you have more things you can do as the Game Master than options that feel like dirty tricks, or which could permanently cripple player characters (rendering them permanently blind, giving them debilitating curses or diseases, destroying their enchanted gear, etc.). While you shouldn't make every fight with a boss (or mini boss) into the Battle of Helm's Deep, ask yourself why the head of an entire assassins guild, a feared bandit lord, or the head of a dark cult is standing alone against an entire hit squad coming for them... then ask who they would keep around just to make sure it's a fair fight.

Also, if you haven't watched any of my series Discussions of Darkness, check out episode 25 below, Don't Overuse The Game's Big Bads. Because if you're no longer trying to have just 1 antagonist taking on the whole party, it throws the party's plans into chaos because they now have to deal with a wider array of challenges coming at their faces.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post! To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

World of Darkness STs, Don't Overuse Your Big, Nasty Threats!

There's an old truth when it comes to horror movies; the less you see of the monster, the scarier it is. From the giant shark in Jaws, to the alien trophy hunter in Predator, to the xenomorph in Alien, every time we're left alone with our own imaginations we end up making something far worse than whatever the director and the special effects team could put up on the screen in front of us.

Part of this is that our brains seek out danger, and when lighting, tone, tense music, etc. tells us there's a danger, and we can't see it, it makes us anxious as we try to spot the threat before it sneaks up on us. However, familiarity breeds contempt. When you see a monster for the first time it can be horrifying, repulsive, and chilling. When you see it for the hundredth time it can be familiar, and even comforting in a strange way.

That's why if you're running a World of Darkness game, you should strive to save your game-specific big bads. Build them up. Make your players really sweat about them. Because if they're constantly showing up, pretty soon whatever edge they had is going to get pretty dull.

Consider using smaller, in-between threats to fill in the cracks instead.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

True Fae, BSDs, and Antediluvians, Oh My!

Every sphere of the World of Darkness (and the Chronicles of Darkness, as well) has different iterations on the same theme. There's which family you belong to (clan, tribe, seeming, etc.), which political organization you're affiliated with (court, order, covenant, etc.), which special pocket realm only your kind can access (the Umbra, the Hedge, and so on), and what special resource you harvest to power your magic (gnosis, blood, glamour, and so forth). However, there is one other category that often gets overlooked, and it's which special monster is your creature type's personal big bad?

If you're playing Werewolf: The Apocalypse then the one that's front-and-center are the Black Spiral Dancers, as they're a dark reflection, showing all the savage and corrupt things the garou could become. In Changeling: The Lost the True Fae are the Keepers who stole them, and the little gods who torment them, looming as large as a child's bogeyman. Vampires have to cope with the ancients of their kind whose power makes even the strongest of young bloods feel weak and frail, and mages in Mage: The Ascension have to cope with the Technocracy, who uses their immense power to take away freedom from others, sacrificing it for safety and security... or so they tell themselves.

Oh... oh we are in deep.

A problem I've seen a lot of Storytellers run into is that they see these personalized antagonists, and they focus on making what should be an end-of-arc villain, or something with a lot of build-up, into the garden-variety threat that their players are dealing with on a regular basis. And the effect is basically the same one you get in movies where the monster is in plain sight, standing under bright lights in more than half the scenes of the film.

Put bluntly, it loses its mystery. And without mystery, it's got no power over the imaginations of the players.

If you're going to use these big bads to raise the stakes of your game (which you should, it's what they're for), you need to take the time to actually draw out their legends. Keep them in the shadows, and let the PCs learn about them slowly. Have them move around one another in a tightening circle, but without coming to blows until there's been enough buildup that the tension is really starting to show on the players' actions.

Give Me an Example?

Let's say that you are running a Werewolf: The Apocalypse game. Your players have formed a relatively young pack, and they're hungry for glory. What better way to give them that glory than for them to defeat a noted Black Spiral Dancer (or an entire pack of them)?

That's your goal as the Storyteller... but that's not where you start the game. That's where you want to end things. Once you have that end game, you work backwards.

It's easier when you know where you're going.

Start at the end. Who are these infamous villains, and what relationship do they have to your young werewolves? Is one of them an uncle, aunt, parent, or brother who fell to the Wyrm, and a PC needs to slay them in order to put their soul to rest and purge its corruption? Is one of them a former mentor? Or for a more thematic connection, is one of them a dark mirror of a particular PC, showing what they could become... and maybe deep down what part of them wants to become?

It's a concept very similar to The Anti-Party, it just happens to work really well with werewolves.

Once you know who your villains are, build up their history. Give them a reputation, like I talked about in The Small Legend, and figure out what your players will learn about them.

For example, the head of the pack may have been noted Silver Fang Konstantin Romanoff, considered a shining light among his tribe. In his desperation for victory, and to prove himself, he traded his pride and his morals a little at a time. Now he fancies that his eyes are open, and that he has become the true king he was meant to be. A Wyrm Lord who will rule the polluted ashes of the new world... a werewolf Dr. Doom, if you're looking for a simple, gothic comparison. At his side the former Get of Fenris champion Ragnar Thorsson, whose brutal rages consumed him from within until eventually he declared his fealty to a power that never asked him to hold back. Den Mother Lorna Dane pledged herself to end the hostilities, and to spare the lives of the young, becoming a twisted version of the gentle soul she'd once been. And so on.

Once you know what your villains are, and what their reputations are, plant clues in the game for your PCs to learn more about them. Figure out which NPCs are going to be knowledgeable about these villains, and who will big-up their legend. If they have a personal connection to the PCs, ask if the villains were thought dead, but it turns out they're alive, but wicked. Then, once you have all of that information, ask what your PCs have to deal with before they even find out who and what the true villains of the story are!

It's all connected!

If your pack of Black Spiral Dancers are the big bads, chances are they have corrupt kinfolk working under them. They may have purely mortal servants, attack teams of fomori, first response teams from a Pentex subsidiary, or a dozen other servants carrying out their plans, as well. While individual pack members might be considered lieutenant villains of different arcs of the story, have the PCs come across clues about them. Maybe they're tracking down a group of dangerous kinfolk to question them, only to find them torn apart to the last man, expended shell casings all over the ground and silver slugs in the walls showing that whatever did it simply would not stop. Or perhaps the PCs find a powerful ally mortally wounded, and the ally tells them about the creature that hurt him so badly. Lower-level villains might talk if they're captured, or the big bads might even send messengers or communications to the PCs, either threatening them or congratulating them for their strength and cleverness in foiling their plans.

Once you have all of that set up, let your players work their way up the chain of command, getting in the way of the villains' plans, learning about them, and building up to a big conclusion. But do not skimp on the reveal of the bad guys' legends, or the presentation of what they're capable of. Let your players marinate, and really drink in exactly how much of a threat this could be for them.

While the above example uses corrupted werewolves, you could do the same thing with the True Fae in changeling, Methuselahs and Antediluvians in Vampire, or most other big bads that a game provides you with. If something is supposed to be a serious threat, and a major force to reckon with, take your time with it. Spool out their legend, let the players explore, give them little bits of story here and there, and show how other NPCs fear and respect these forces. Much like how most of the cast of a film talks about John Wick, you need to make these baddies your bogeymen.

And the less you have them physically there, but still present in the narrative, the more effective they tend to be.

For More World of Darkness Content!

If you enjoyed this week's post, and you'd like more World of Darkness or Chronicles of Darkness content, consider some of my supplements below!

Vampire: The Masquerade

If you need secondary villains and minions to pepper your story with, consider the following titles:

- New World Nights: 100 Ghouls For The American Camarilla

- New World Shadows: 100 Ghouls For The Sabbat

- Children of The Night: 100 Animal Ghouls

And those who are looking for a unique method to get information to their players might want to check out this piece, along with the audio drama of its introductory short story below!

- 100 Resources and Rumors to Find on SchreckNet

Werewolf: The Apocalypse

Perhaps the game line I've created the most content for to-date, those looking for unique NPCs should check out the following bundle, which has all 13 tribes, Black Spiral Dancers, as well as kinfolk for the mokole!

- 100 Kinfolk Bundle

- 101 Savage Kinfolk

Those who need additional villains (especially villains that can be used in multiple genres of the World of Darkness) should consider:

- Evil Incorporated: 10 Pentex Subsidiaries

Lastly, if you're a fiction fiend, I was part of a Werewolf anthology not long ago. Check this one out if you'd like to see even more tales told across the setting by myself and fellow contributors:

- Tales From The Moot

Changeling: The Lost

The game I've been doing the most work on lately, the ongoing tales from these supplements are also getting their own audio dramas! So if you enjoy listening to them, consider subscribing to the Azukail Games YouTube channel so I can keep the publisher greenlighting them!

- 100 Mourning Cant Dialects, Phrases, and Meanings

- 100 (Mostly) Harmless Goblin Fruits and Oddments To Find in The Hedge

- 100 Strange Sights to See in The Hedge

- 100 Hobs to Meet in The Hedge

- Buyer Beware: 10 Goblin Markets

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

The Plague: An Antipaladin Concept

The bells were tolling again, the streets empty of all but the dying and the dead. The tavern was shut up tight, the doorman wrapping a butcher's mask round his mouth and nose before looking on the stoop. Everyone had to roll back their sleeves to show a clean set of wrists, the veins untainted by the bloodrot. Some refused, and others simply left, walking among the coughing wretches through clouds of incense that did nothing but sting the eyes, and cover up the stink of the bodies.

"Anyone find what's bringing it?" Shamus asked, his hands clasped around his cup of popskull.

"Probably in the water," Ginny laughed, hiccoughing slightly. "If that's so, then I'm safe."

"Doomsayers claim it's a curse from the dark ones," a stranger said. With his long, pale hair and his burning green eyes, he was certainly handsome. There was more to him, though. A presence lurked around him; an air of violence like a half-feral beast. He drank from his cup, leaving a few swallows behind.

"They always say that," Ginny muttered, tossing back the rest of her drink.

"They do," the stranger said. He plucked up his glass, and handed it to the barkeep.

"You want another?" he asked.

"No," the stranger said. "One for the all-sorts barrel."

"Damn waste," the keep said.

The stranger's grin grew wider, showing his strong, square teeth. "It's for luck."

"Gods go with you," the keep said, tossing the last of the drink into the communal barrel.

"I shan't need them," he said, pulling up his hood as the doorman unbarred the main door. "But my thanks all the same."

Careful... that barrel's got a bite to it.

The Plague

Antipaladins are the chosen warriors of the fell powers. Corrupt, wicked, and brutal, they are the hands of the dark lords and old gods who seek to quench the light of the world, and to topple the bastions that stand against the horrors that lurk in the shadowy places of the world. This much is known.

While there are some antipaladins who assault the foundations of civilization with sword and flame, bellowing their war cries and spilling blood in the open, others use more subtle weapons. For while all of these dark warriors are immune to the touch of disease, there are some who nurture these foul contagions at their bosom. These creatures spread pestilence with a brush of their hand, foul the air with every laugh, and a single kiss from their beautiful, corrupt lips could spell death for an entire city.

They are the Plague.

The Mechanics of The Plague

All antipaladins are immune to the damages and effects of disease at level 3, but these conditions still fester inside them, turning them into breeding grounds for sickness and rot. An antipaladin who purposefully inflicts diseases on themselves (either through exposure, contagion, or similar effects), becomes a walking repository of sicknesses. Everything from bubonic plague, to leprosy, to mummy rot lurks in their blood and on their breath, waiting for someone who gets close enough to touch them. Or even, in some cases, just to breathe the same air.

While any antipaladin can store disease within themselves, what makes a Plague different is that pestilence becomes their primary weapon against society. They come not as fearsome conquerors, but as travelers. As merchants. A simple soldiers of fortune. They clasp wrists with gate watchers, bed down in common houses, wash their hands in public founts, and make sure they rub shoulders during festivals. They bring corruption from within, allowing their disease to weaken a city, or even a nation, and for exhaustion and paranoia to set in.

Then, and only then, will a Plague descend. Either as a savior to take away the suffering in the name of their dark masters, or as a conqueror to spill the sickened blood in the streets, and to burn the bodies as a charred offering to the gods of illness and rot.

Do you smell that? It smells like about 3 Fortitude saves to me.

 

In addition to this underhanded, devastating strategy, a Plague is still just as dangerous when confronted openly. Those who spill a Plague's blood may find themselves riddled with disease, even if they are triumphant. And if the Plague can call on contagion with a touch of their hand, their battle may have a lasting legacy, turning the warriors who stood before him into bearers of his sickness.

One of the only notable features of a Plague is that they tend to work alone, or with others of their ilk. They may be immune to the ill effects of their own pestilence, but the same is not true of their servants and allies. So while they may be supported by servants of foul gods, or plague cults, they are just as harmful to any living allies as they are to their enemies. This rarely bothers most Plagues, though... those weak enough to be sickened will simply be made carriers in their unholy wars.

Advice For A Plague

If you're going to put together a Plague as a player character, the first thing I would suggest is reading 5 Tips For Playing Better Evil Characters. Because if you are a walking pestilence, you need to make sure you are not a hindrance to your allies just by being part of the same party. In these instances using pathogens that are bloodborne might be more useful, allowing you to pick and choose your infections carefully. You may also have more of a reliance on the Cruelties than a Plague set out as an antagonist, as it gives you greater control.

The other thing you should have, to really sell yourself as a threat, is a collection of allies who are helping you in your missions, or who know about you. Because a Plague isn't just your run-of-the-mill antipaladin; they are significant threats. They are the bearers of pestilence, and even if their true names aren't known, people will spin tales about them. The Red Lady with her sweet, corrupt kisses. Grinning Death, whose friendly smile and strong handshake steals the life and strength from anyone it touches. The Gray Man, who spreads rot in his wake, felling even the strongest of cities. Someone with that kind of rep should have allies (or at least acquaintances), which provides you avenues to seek aid through, and it also helps build up your Small Legend. More about that in Character Reputation in RPGs: The Small Legend.

If you're looking for places to find some allies, you might want to check out:

- 100 Prisoners For A Fantasy Jail: Jails are perfect places for a Plague, as the closer quarters and inescapable nature allows them to spread their filth. Saving someone from your own pestilence could make them quite a loyal follower.

- 100 Pirates To Encounter: The black ship of the Plague Doctor would be an ideal platform for an antipaladin looking to spread their filth along the waves, and dozens of other crews would make potent allies for such a dark warrior.

- 100 Random Bandits to Meet: From the servants of the Darkskull, to the blackguards who follow the Man-Eater, bandits aren't always picky with their company. Greed and lack of morals can make them particularly useful for a Plague... especially if he takes over the gang himself, using them to spread his corruption far and wide along the roads.

Lastly, if you liked this character concept, then you might also want to check out The "Compassionate" Antipaladin, as well as The Pill-Popping Paladin. The latter, in particular, could be useful when combined with a Plague.

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned For More!

That's all for this installment of Unusual Character Concepts. Hopefully this one gave you something to chew over, whether you're a player, or a game master.

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my most recent collection of short stories The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Humble Peasant, The Greatest BBEG of All Time

Lots of DMs wrack their brains for great bad guys. Villains that will make their table tremble in fear, and whose very name will only be spoken in whispers. However, there is a potential for truly horrifying antagonists all around them. All you need to do is read the tale of Humble Peasant.

Never get into an arms race with the DM. Never.

For those having trouble with the font in the attached image, the concept goes as follows. An arrogant adventurer tried to take something from humble peasant, because what is he going to do? He's just a peasant, after all. Well, humble peasant kills that adventurer for trying to steal from him, then keeps his magic weapons, armor, and associated gear. That adventurer's party tries to revenge itself upon the humble peasant, and through luck, determination, and the use of the first dead adventurer's gear, humble peasant slays them as well.

The problem is that humble peasant now possesses a huge amount of wealth, and high-quality gear. More adventurers come to try and take it from him. So humble peasant puts up fences, and traps, to keep them out. He buys exotic animals, and even makes deals with local monsters to protect his property. In time, humble peasant has accidentally become the lord of the black hill, where dozens of bands have gone to die.

Who Is Your Game's "Humble Peasant"?

You don't need to have humble peasant in place when your game begins (although that is totally an option). However, keep an eye on how your players treat the NPCs around them. Are they courteous, and kind? Do they give their gold to noble causes, and to help rebuild destroyed settlements? Or do they attack people for no reason, and get their way through bullying and brutality? Keep track of who your PCs wrong, and what patterns they display. Because those patterns may come around to bite them.

Who knows what lengths peasants will go to for vengeance?

As an example, say one member of the party got into a bar fight with a local over a disagreement. The local was unarmed, drunk, and not a threat to the PC, but he pulled his sword and ran him through anyway. The law was notified, and the party has guards looking out for them, but what kind of avalanche did that one action cause?

As a for instance, the peasant's son may have dealt with his grief by going off to war. Something he never would have done, were his father there to stop him. He molds himself into a great warrior, becoming an unparalleled scout, and a vicious slayer of men. After his discharge, he begins hunting for the adventurers who killed his father that night. Maybe he comes on them in the shadows, but he might befriend them first. Get them to trust him. Then, when he's on watch, he cuts their throats one by one. As Garrick the Great chokes on his own blood, he looks into the hard face that was so much like the forgotten drunk's as the son whispers, "Tell my father hello, when you see him in hell."

That's just one example. It's possible the dead peasant's wife takes all the wealth they have, venturing deep into the woods where it's rumored a powerful witch lives. She gives her everything to curse those who slew her love. Perhaps his daughter decides they can't rely on such bloodthirsty mercenaries as a nation any longer, and gets involved in politics. She eventually rises to a position of prominence, and uses all the resources of her office to hunt down the party who was involved in this crime. There are a hundred different courses a single action could end up taking. So watch who your party is kind to, and keep a tally of who they attack, who they kill, and what unkindnesses they perform. For it is those actions that will be the genesis of the antagonist once referred to as humble peasant.

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday post. Hopefully it got some of the DMs' wheels turning, and it's got players going back over their PCs' actions in their heads. If you'd like more content from yours truly, then check out my Vocal archive, or head over to the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio where I and fellow gamers offer advice, lore, and a few laughs along the way. To keep up on all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, if you'd like to help support Improved Initiative, head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page, or click this link to Buy Me A Coffee! Either way, you'll have my eternal gratitude, as well as some sweet gaming swag as a thank you!

The "Compassionate" Antipaladin

A paladin's fall from grace is one of those stories we all dread, but simultaneously want to see. There's something compelling about someone struggling for perfection, falling short, and then deciding to embrace their moral terminal velocity to become a perversion of all the things they'd once stood for. Some paladins fall out of pride, some out of envy, and others because of greed, or lust. But what happens when a paladin takes the left hand path not because of a human failing, but because of a core virtue taken to an extreme?

That is the Compassionate Antipaladin, and it's where the story of Ezekiel Cairn begins.

You have to earn that black armor.

The Life (And Death) of Ezekiel Cairn

In life, Ezekiel was everything you would expect a paladin to be. Selfless, devoted, charitable, and he was always willing to extend a hand before reaching for his sword. He was loyal to his compatriots, fair in his rulings, and he understood the value of life. Whenever he was forced to fight, he dug his enemy's grave with his own hands. That way he never forgot the burden he carried on his hip, and in his heart.

As with many paladins, Ezekiel sacrificed himself to protect his friends. He passed with no regrets, and pleased that he had done his duty well. And, as one would expect from a virtuous man who had worked so tirelessly for the benefit of others, he was richly rewarded by his patron in the afterlife.

Long days on the beach, with nary a sunburn in sight.

 

Time didn't have much meaning in the after world, but it seemed like he'd only just allowed the weight to truly drop from his shoulders, when he felt a pull. His comrades were trying to resurrect him. Deciding that his duty wasn't done yet, Ezekiel heeded the call, and returned to his broken, bloody body, coughing his way back into the world to take up the fight anew.

Death Was Only The Beginning

Returned to life, and with renewed vigor flooding his limbs, Ezekiel stood with his compatriots once more. For a time, he fought all the harder, knowing for a fact what awaited him in the heavenly realms. Worldly concerns seemed lighter, and less important than they had before. Hardships were easier to endure, and even arduous tasks were easier to complete.

For a time, anyway.

An irritant slipped into Ezekiel's mind, though, and began building an ugly pearl. The heavenly realms were eternal, and pure. The gods meted out punishment and reward based on the actions of a mortal's life. Yet, for all the promise, the world was full of terrors, and pain. Children with empty bellies forced to steal, cringing from the hands of abusive parents. The weak violated by the strong, their screams answered only with harsh laughter, and sharp blows. Jealousy, hatred, envy, and greed ate away at the finest souls, turning virtuous youths into corrupt old men. All at once, the cycle of mortality no longer seemed like a beautiful promise. It was a punishment. A hobbling wheel full of unnecessary suffering and torment, where no one reached the end free of scars and blood.

His duty was clear. Ezekiel would break the wheel, and murder the world.

The Elements of a Truly Threatening Villain

We've all seen the villain who plans to kill everyone in the world, but rarely does that goal make sense. After all, if the villain destroys the world, then where is he going to live? In the case of the Compassionate Antipaladin, though, he's making the ultimate sacrifice, in his mind. He will commit the unspeakable horror of wiping out every life in the world, so that others can remain pure to attain their reward of heaven. Worse, he is knowingly sacrificing his spot in paradise in order to do this great and terrible deed.

Because when your path gets dark, you own that shit.

 

As an individual, the Compassionate Antipaladin is frightening. His zealousness, combined with an array of brutal abilities, is enough to give any group of adventurers pause. However, the idea that drives him, combined with his charisma and zealousness, can be hideously persuasive. The rhetoric could, all on its own, lead to horrors. Paupers who drown their children before hanging themselves. Riots as the poor are slaughtered in droves to send them to a safer, warmer place. The formation of an army of martyrs who want to take on the selfless role of shepherding the world's populous on to the place where everyone receives their just rewards.

That's where the true power of the Compassionate Antipaladin comes from; the combination of twisted logic, and the determination to continue on until the job is complete. As an individual, this kind of antipaladin is a force to be reckoned with. If he forms alliances, and gains a following, then it's possible he could take serious steps toward achieving his stated goal. Whether he's given a battalion of infernal creatures at the behest of a demon lord, resurrects a fighting force of the dead, gains the service of his own murder cult, or some combination of all of these, this sort of character could easily swing heavy as a campaign's Big Bad.

A villain with goals on this grand a scale is also notoriously difficult to put down, and keep down. Demonic overlords aren't likely to let someone like this stay dead for long, especially if he's a useful tool. So if your party does manage to kill the Compassionate Antipaladin, an evil resurrection with dire results (and possibly adding a new template for additional challenge) is an option. Or, if your villain refuses to stop, then he may become a Graveknight. For those of you unfamiliar with the creature, it's like a lich for melee characters, whose raw determination and refusal to be stopped by something as paltry as death, imbues their armor. Their spirit, trapped within the steel they once wore and able to regenerate from nearly any defeat, makes them nearly impossible to kill for long.

DMs, if you've been looking for a monster we can sympathize with, but who still has one of the highest-stakes motivations out there, have fun with this villain! Also, if you're looking for more tips on memorable bad boys, you might want to check out Under The Black Hat: Tips On Writing Believable Bad Guys, and Tips For Playing Evil Characters (Your DM Might Allow).

And for more tips on paladins of all sorts, take a look at 5 Tips For Playing Better Paladins!

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned For More!

That's all for this installment of Unusual Character Concepts. Hopefully this one gave you something to chew over, whether you're a player, or a game master.

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my most recent collection of short stories The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!