47 VILLAINOUS

PLOTS
to Ruin your party’s day

DECEMBER 13, 2014

BLACKSTONE ENTERTAINMENT, INC
 47 VILLAINOUS PLOTS

47 Villainous Plots to Ruin Your party’s

Day

Evildoer… Tyrant... Nemesis…

These are the people (or monsters) who drive your game’s narrative,
giving shape to the wicked plans you’ve come up with, and serving up all
manner of nasty plots and schemes for the heroes of the story to foil.
Whether they inhabit a dark, crumbling tower at the edge of civilization, a
deep, dark cave in the highlands, or the castle looming mightily over
oppressed lands, villains take many forms.

Below, we have divided the various forms a villain might take into 7
broad categories; the Villain Within, The Good-Guy (or Girl) Gone Wrong,
The Avenger, The Great Tyrant, The Hidden Master, The Nemesis, and The
Beast. While most villains will fall into a single category, some will match up
with two or more categories throughout the course of your campaign. The
Great Tyrant, once deposed, may become The Nemesis, while the Good-Guy
(or Girl) Gone Wrong, facing the loss of his or her greatest ally, could easily
turn into The Avenger. It is up to you how best to categorize your villains,
and to help you weave some new stories into your campaigns, each category
below has a number of plot lines (3 to 9) specific to that villain for you to use
in your campaigns.

Feel free to alter any of the below plotlines and their villainous

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masterminds to better suit your campaign.

I: The Villain Within: This villain is someone who the PCs know or trust –
perhaps even a member of their own family or inner circle. Having grown
up near or with them, they may find it hard or even impossible to believe
that this beloved – or at least trusted – person is the mastermind behind all of
these vicious plots and horrific deeds. The Villain Within can be motivated
by any number of goals – vengeance, fame, wealth, power, etc.
How to Use Them: The key for GMs/DMs is to keep them hidden for as
long as possible, dropping no hints at all in the beginning of the game. As the
game progresses, they will undoubtedly learn about the PCs long before the
PCs learn about them – after all, they are known to one another. Perhaps
they are unwilling to harm the PCs initially, and instead try to thwart them
non-violently or throw them off their trail through use of red herrings and
false leads. Begin to seed vague little clues into your story as the game
progresses, and allow the PCs to grow suspicious over time. When the big
reveal happens, you will hopefully have a table full of surprised or
disbelieving faces!

The Villain Within’s Most Dastardly Plots:

 1. Union. A father or older relative of one of the PCs is the leader of
the local miners’ guild. He has always looked after the miners and
their rights, protecting them, ensuring their wages remain fair, and
generally trying to make their lives better. Unfortunately, the
mine’s owners don’t care about all of that, and strive to drive down

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costs in order to keep profits high. Dangerous conditions, low pay,

and perhaps even the prospect of replacing the workers with slave
labor are all on their agenda. The Villain Within secretly runs a
labyrinthine network of assassins, thugs, and brigands to enforce
his motives and will. If someone crosses him – even a miner who is
suspected of aiding the mine’s owners – they are dealt with, and
harshly. The PCs might learn about the growing count of bodies
piling up around the local area, leading them to try and figure out
who is committing these murders.

 2. Inside Job. A father or older relative/family friend of one of the

PCs leads the local militia forces that protect the town. Over the
years, he has been secretly aiding local brigands to rob passing
merchants, giving them information on when they are expected,
and when they’re leaving, in return for a cut of the profits –
perhaps The Villain Within uses these profits to sate his own greed,
or perhaps to help pay for the militia’s wages. Either way, the
merchants are none too happy, the area’s reputation for
lawlessness increases, and the town’s militia is knowingly or
otherwise involved in the attacks. The attacks have recently turned
deadly, and the PCs decide to – or are hired to – investigate.

 3. Bedtime Stories. A female relative or family friend of one of the

PCs is actually a Witch who was burned at the stake – but secretly
survived – many years ago. The town is rife with legends of the
Witch, and none tell stories of her as well as The Villain Within.

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For years, farmers have been losing a calf or finding a dead goat in
their fields, and have thought little of it – it happened only rarely,
and could usually be blamed on natural occurrences. Lately
though, children have been going missing, and people whisper that
the Witch still haunts the lands. The Witch’s exact plans are up to
you, but could include vengeance (see The Avenger, below), dark
rituals, or some evil sacrificial pact with a far more dangerous
creature…

 4. To Find a Cure. The village priest helped to raise several of the

PCs after the last war made orphans of them. He or she took care of
them and other children for many years, protecting them from all
harm. He is now old and feeble, growing weaker by the day due to
the various maladies and illnesses of age. Unbeknownst to the PCs,
the priest has secretly been using some very dark magic in his
attempts to thwart the disease that is slowly killing him – magic
that requires blood sacrifice of rare monsters. So, he casts
summoning rituals to conjure up these monsters, and, not having
the strength to slay them himself, releases them into the wilderness.
He then sends the PCs out to kill these monsters his deity has
‘shown him’ in order to make the village safer. While they’re away,
he casts rituals that capture the essences of the monsters as they are
slain. These rituals increase in danger and frequency, and the PCs
notice there are new monsters everywhere these days. His next
rituals will require human sacrifice perhaps any human at first,
but eventually a particular human – it will be up to the GM/DM

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how to convince the PCs to continue do this priest’s bidding…

 5. Toymaker. The kindly old local merchant who has been bringing
toys to children during the holidays for more than 20 years now is
actually a criminal lord who controls most of the highwaymen and
thieves along the King’s Road. The PCs all know him as a good man,
someone who always brought kindness and cheer to the people,
even in the worst of times. A recent rash of murders along the
roads near town gets their attention, and the PCs soon begin to
learn of a vast organization of thieves, murderers, pimps, robbers,
and mercenaries that are behind it. The organization is expanding,
and is now beginning to demand tribute from the towns and
merchants along the road in return for protection. The PCs thwart
their evil schemes, eventually coming to the attention of the kindly
old toy-maker.

 6. The Secret Order. The town’s elder has ruled over the people
with wisdom and a firm but compassionate hand for many, many
years. Secretly, he is a high-ranking member of an evil cult who
aim to take over the kingdom – slowly though, and with great
secrecy. The elder’s son, lacking his father’s patience, wants the
cult to spread more quickly, and nearly ruins their entire plot. His
father knows he has to deal with him, or risk having the cult
exposed. Not long after, the elder’s son is kidnapped and murdered,
and the PCs decide to try and find the culprits responsible.
Eventually, they bring the kidnappers back for justice, but the men

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commit suicide before they can be questioned. This leads the PCs to
discover little by little the existence and motives of this insidious
cult. Unfortunately, they are informing the town’s elder of
everything they learn, and he realizes that he needs to thwart them,
and soon. For a man who is willing to have his own son murdered
to keep the cult a secret, there’s no limit to what he would do to the
PCs…

 7. The Good Servant. A PC’s henchman or underling, who has long

served with seeming loyalty, has ambitions of his or her own, and
uses his or her connection to the PC to further their aims. The
henchman/follower uses their knowledge of the PC’s movements
and intentions to steer largely clear of them, and feeds the PC false
information about the whereabouts of foes or quests to ensure the
PCs stay well clear of the henchman’s true plans and motives.
Alternately, the henchman will make deals with some of the PC’s
less-than-honest associates or allies using the same methods. The
henchman’s plan is planned out very carefully, and when the PCs
learn about a mysterious figure ordering murders and making a
play for power, the henchman will lead them all over the place
with false leads and dead-end clues – perhaps disposing of a few of
their own rivals along the way. This scenario of course requires an
established campaign with relatively high-level PCs who possess
henchmen or followers.

II: The Good-Guy (or Girl) Gone Wrong: This is perhaps the hardest type of

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villain to portray – but if you manage to nail it, you will likely have a player-
favorite on your hands. The Good-Guy (or Girl) Gone Wrong is a
sympathetic villain – one who is trying to accomplish something good, but is
willing to or has been forced to use increasingly foul methods to do so.
How to Use Them: The Good-Guy (or Girl) Gone Wrong can create a
game full of roleplaying opportunities for your players. Far from being
unsympathetic, this villain may still have some moral core, or at least limits
to what they are willing to do to achieve their aims. He or she did great,
noble things once, and haven’t simply forgotten all of that overnight. Decide
just how far they’ve fallen, and for a true challenge, portray that fall as it
occurs bit by bit to your players. This kind of villain can sometimes be
combined with the Avenger, making the Avenger a former hero/heroine of
some sort.

The Good Guy (or Girl) Gone Wrong’s Schemes:

 8. Triumphs. An old hero, who had once been a decorated
general, feels betrayed by the king or kingdom he once served.
Blessed with strategic brilliance and the loyalty of plenty of
veterans who likely feel just as betrayed, the old general decides
that justice must be served. He gathers forces, and strikes the soft
underbelly of the kingdom – attacking the trade roads and
undefended outer reaches, where the PCs happen to get caught
up. He is bent on domination – on distributing his own form of
justice to those he sees as enemies of the state, and his eventual
aim is to bring the whole land under his banner
 9. Pariah. A powerful priest, once regarded as righteous and holy,

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was betrayed by his order. He was cast out for one of any number
of reasons, and called heretic. Exiled to the edges of civilization,
he grew angry; perhaps at his order and perhaps at his god. Either
way, he used his knowledge of ancient powers to build an army of
fel creatures, and has attacked his homelands with fury, intent
upon the utter destruction of his former order or faith. The PCs –
one of whom should ideally be affiliated with the villain’s former
order – are sent out to stop him. They learn along the way that the
order has not been entirely truthful about the reasons for villain’s
exile, setting up a conflict of interest for the PC affiliated with
them.
 10. Fleeting Fame. An old adventurer who was once part of a
group that saved the kingdom has gone bad. Perhaps he felt
slighted that others in his group received more glory or fame for
their deeds, or perhaps the adventurer was unhappy with his lot
in life after the kingdom was saved. Either way, he begins his path
of destruction by murdering his old allies – those who knew him
well enough to stop him. The PCs come together to thwart the
villain’s plans, guided by one or more of the villain’s last
remaining allies. As a GM/DM, here is where you build a
connection between one or more of the PCs and these aging,
now-retired heroes – a connection that will serve as dramatic
fodder if and when the villain slays one of them. This kind of
campaign is filled with good plot twists and hooks, and as the
story unfolds, the players can discover any number of old secrets
– even lies – about the old heroes that change or challenge their

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perceptions.
 11. The Shackles of Power… A strong military leader or powerful
compatriot of the PCs – previously established as a worthwhile
ally and friend – begins to realize that his or her methods must
adapt to those of their foe. Slowly, and over the course of the
game, the PCs bear witness (from a slight distance as they’re
campaigning elsewhere) to this ally’s steady drift from firmness
and strength to cruelty and mercilessness. The change occurs as
events unfold – each new tragedy or loss suffered by the good
guys cause the ally to use more and more brutal methods to
counter those losses. Eventually, this ally becomes as evil as the
great foe – perhaps even more so. This sort of campaign is perfect
for players who like a bit of political drama, as it can show the fall
of a patriotic leader to vice and corruption, bit by bit.
 12. The Eternal Struggle. A powerful mage managed to defend his
kingdom from a great and powerful beast of some sort – perhaps
a demon or similar legendary creature. The battle was won, but
the mage decided that the foe would always pose a threat – one
that would long outlive him. Seeing no others who could defeat
the powerful foe, he decides to pursue immortality in order to
continue protecting the lands. In his quest for immortality, he
loses sight of his original aims, and slowly begins to fall further
and further from grace. Now, he has begun to see individual
mortals as mere pawns – and has convinced himself that
maintaining the greater good requires a certain amount of evil to
be committed. If that evil kills a few innocents, so be it.

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 13. Inquisition. A holy order of knights who once defended the

kingdom from a demonic foe have become a powerful political
and military force in the kingdom. Long ago, their demonic foes
were many, but they haven’t been seen in an age. Now, faced with
the threat of becoming obsolete, they begin to ‘invent’ demonic
influence amongst the common people in the lands, and hold
witch-hunts and heresy trials. Their aim may have been merely to
remain vigilant or even relevant, but their deeds are anything but
holy now. Innocents by the hundreds are burned at the stake, and
their trials have taken on a decidedly witch-hunt like flair.
Neighbors accuse neighbors and rival merchants make up false
evidence that the inquisitors of these ‘holy knights’ use to burn
more and more people. The PCs must oppose them, running the
risk of being condemned themselves. To make matters worse, the
demonic evil has returned, and now flourishes within the order
itself!
 14. Watchmen. A powerful lord has protected his people for
many years, keeping a barbarian or non-human enemy at bay,
and defending the border with all his might. Over the years,
though, this task has received less and less support from the king.
The lord has lost many men, perhaps even a son or two in the
defense of the border, and sees no end in sight. Eventually, the
lack of support hardens him, and he begins to commit worse and
worse atrocities – not merely on the enemy, but upon those who
he suspects of being in league with them. The PCs start out as
soldiers for this lord, and upon witnessing his increasingly vicious

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acts, have to decide what they will do about it. There are multiple
foes for the PCs to contend with here; the enemies across the
border, the powerful lord, and perhaps even agents and spies of
other powers seeking some advantage from the carnage.
 15. For the Chance of Freedom… A peasant hero once saved a
village from an attack by monsters or other foes, only to see that
village fall to ruin due to over-taxation and oppression by its lord.
Angered, the peasant hero tried to reason with the lord, only to
find himself imprisoned and tortured – his family exiled from
their homes. By the time he was freed from the dungeons, his
family had died of starvation and exposure, and he himself was
exiled from the lands. Years later, this peasant hero now travels
the realms, a zealous anarchist bent on overthrowing all rulers
and nobles once and for all. His methods are vicious, and he slays
all who disagree with his vision of the new order, murdering
anyone with more wealth than their neighbors, regardless of the
source of that wealth. His cruelty to the nobility is even grimmer –
torture, assault, and forced gladiatorial bouts between them
become the norm. His closest lieutenants can be portrayed by the
GM/DM as either cruel instigators who care nothing for the lives
of the people that they ‘free’, or true believers who believe
themselves to actually be helping the people. The hero himself
should have several good traits – honesty, protectiveness over the
weak, etc. that make him hard to outright hate. Your players will
have to make a lot of moral choices in dealing with this one,
including allying themselves with the kingdom’s less-than-stellar

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nobility.
 16. Purity. A religious knight was the sole survivor of a very
bloody, tragic battle, and became a well-known hero for the
things he endured. His experiences changed him, and he had a
vision – one where his deity assigned him the task of cleansing
the land of the unfaithful. He set about trying to convert non-
believers, but after being chastised by his own temple for his
methods, he left his order entirely. Journeying to the badlands, he
gathered a group of like-minded zealots and told them of his
‘vision’. They returned to the land, and began killing all those who
they found to be impure in their faith. Their crusade struck a note
with other religious zealots, and soon his army grew. Now this
army travels from one land to another, destroying temples
deemed idolatrous, murdering non-believers by the hundreds,
and killing priests who do not practice the most severe form of
their faith. His spies move about the lands ahead of him,
identifying places where sin and idolatry are rife, as well as
priests believed to be corrupt or too sparing with their judgment.
The PCs are caught up in all of this, and it is recommended that at
least one of them be a priest or at least a member of the faithful.
The knight himself believes he is chosen by his god, and his
‘visions’ can be anything from the delusions of a madman to
something more insidious… perhaps a Hidden Master is pulling
the strings on him?

III: The Avenger: This is a villain that – regardless of what or who they were

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in their previous life – has lost someone or something very dear to them. This
loss has driven them to the very ends of morality in their quest to either get
what they lost back, or to destroy those who took it from them in the first
place. Avengers usually begin their careers with some sort of specific goal –
i.e. getting the person/place/thing they lost back, or killing those who took
that person/place/thing. From here, they can quickly branch out, delving
further and further into their vengeance, beginning to go after those who are
indirectly connected with or related to their goal.
How to Use Them: You can have a lot of fun with The Avenger –
primarily due to the zealous, focused nature of their plots. It would be
advisable to make your players sympathetic to The Avenger in some way –
make his or her plight at least make sense to your players and their
characters. Use the person/organization that stole or killed the
person/place/thing The Avenger loved as a secondary villain – make their
motives or methods nearly or even just as dastardly, and force your PCs to
contend with them somehow. Conversely, you can make that
person/organization sympathetic as well, ensuring your players have to
unravel layer upon layer of grey area to get through the story. Opportunities
with The Avenger are many, and exciting.

The Avenger’s Master Plans:

 17. Once Broken. The old king of the land was overthrown by his
nephew, and exiled to some inhospitable land far from the
kingdom. His thirst for vengeance growing stronger each year, he
uses his once widespread network of informants and spies to keep
tabs on his nephew, and to spread discord and trouble wherever

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they go. Slowly, he builds up an army of barbarians, exiles, or

even non-human soldiers, and – rather than simply take his
kingdom back, his aim becomes its utter destruction.
 18. Last Rites. A good king has lost his only son, and in his quest to
find answers, ran across a mysterious figure who promised he
could bring his son back. Faced with the despair of a grieving
father, the king agreed, and allowed this mysterious figure to
perform his ritual. The prince was brought back to life, but he
was not the same as he once was. The prince – or rather the thing
that the prince had become, killed a number of peasants over the
course of several nights, eating their flesh afterwards. The locals
were terrified, and begged the king to slay the monster. When the
king couldn’t bring himself to do so, the people rose up and killed
the monster themselves. The king’s vengeance is swift and brutal,
and he begins killing his people in great numbers. Counseled by
the mysterious figure, the king believes his son can still somehow
be brought back, and will now do anything to make it happen.
 19. Forsaken Faith. A sheriff’s daughter died of the plague many
years ago, and his grieving wife committed suicide soon after. The
sheriff’s grief was made worse by the local temple’s refusal to let
her be buried in sacred ground due to the manner of her death.
After despairing at them over how the gods allowed his young
daughter to die in the first place, the sheriff knocked over the
sacred altar, and was immediately condemned as a blasphemer.
He slew several of the priests, and fled the temple with his wife’s
corpse. Hunted for years, he became more and more consumed

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with hatred against the priesthood. Eventually, he raised a small

army of like-minded warriors, building upon their own hatred of
priests/gods that they felt betrayed them in some way. The sheriff
and these godless men began hunting down every man and
woman of the cloth they found. He has now become a warlord in
his land, and mercilessly raids the surrounding territories, looking
for priests to slay.
 20. Broken Banners. A group of knights were betrayed by their
king, and abandoned – left to die in a fortress on the border when
the king’s army retreated before the foe. These knights either
spent time in prison, or else joined the enemy forces out of their
hatred and feeling of betrayal. Either way, they have now become
sworn enemies of the kingdom, and will stop at nothing to slay
the king and his entire family.
 21. Countrymen. A tribal chieftain’s daughter was enslaved and
subjected to many forms of vile cruelty by forces loyal to the PC’s
homelands. Eventually, she betrays her masters and leads an army
of her barbarian countrymen against the kingdom, bent on
slaying everyone in the land. The PCs – one of whom may be a
barbarian him or herself – must stop this Avenger before
everyone is dead and the whole kingdom lies in ruins.
 22. Vile Pacts. A villain, long ago defeated by some foe, survived
his defeat and great wounds, and spent years wandering the
darkest reaches of the realm, searching for a way to heal his
wounds and return to take vengeance not only upon his foes, but
upon those who failed to come to his aid. He made dark pacts

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with some very vile powers, and has now returned. Whether this
villain is master to these vile powers or merely a puppet is up to
the GM/DM; either way, the PCs will have to contend with both to
save the realm.
 23. The Curse. A witch was captured by a priest, and condemned
to die. During her long trial, she seduced the lord of the castle
where she was imprisoned, and eventually became pregnant with
his child. When it was discovered she was pregnant, religious
laws prevented the priest from executing her until her child was
born. The lord demanded the priest stay his hand, and that he
would keep the child if it was a son, so that he would have an
heir. She gave birth to a daughter, and – being abandoned by the
lord upon realizing she had not given him a male heir, was left
alone. Out of hatred for the witch, the priest paid soldiers to take
the child and throw it from the cliff that night. The next day, as
she was about to be burned at the stake, she cast a powerful curse
upon everyone in the castle. She was slain, but her vengeful spirit
remained, and soon, the entire land became desolate and plague-
ridden. The rains stopped, evil creatures began to appear
everywhere, and the people lived in terror. The PCs come to this
land and learn of its tragic curse – and must contend not only
with the witch’s evil spirit and the many evil minions in her
service, but the remnants old priest himself, who has become even
more zealous in his fundamentalist beliefs, and is filled with
unquenchable hate and despair.
 24. Birthright. A young prince was exiled from a land by his elder

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brother who feared he would threaten his own ascension to the

throne one day. The prince left the lands, and vowed vengeance
upon his entire family, who had done nothing to prevent his exile.
He now returns with an army at his back, bent on taking over the
kingdom and ruling it himself. He will destroy everything in his
path, and take vengeance upon anyone who dares interfere. If the
PCs cannot stop him, he will effectively become a Great Tyrant,
setting the stage for continuing adventures as he consolidates his
grip on power, all the while losing his grip on his sanity.
 25. A Task Unfinished. An evil monster was slain by heroes not
long ago, and now that monster’s mate/parent/offspring wants
vengeance. The monster’s mate/ parent/offspring summons all
manner of vile servitors to its side, and sends them out to exact
revenge. The heroes responsible for the monster’s slaying are
hunted down first, and the PCs witness the murder of the final
hero, who tells them the story of the monster. The PCs must now
contend with the monster’s many underlings, who grow in
number and power daily, as well as the monster itself, whose own
power far outstrips that of its lost mate/parent/offspring.

IV. The Great Tyrant: This is the king, lord, or master of the lands, and his or
her methods and aims are oppressing the people at every turn. Perhaps they
use famine or violence as a governance tool, spreading terror or despair
amongst the common folk. Maybe they’re simply inept at management, or
horribly corrupt, and have entirely no sympathy for the effect their
ineptitude or corruption has upon their subjects.

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How to Use Them: Great Tyrants are easy enough to use as villains –
portray them as heartless, evil despots bent on breaking the backs of their
subjects. Resources are the primary strength of such villains – any villain
might have allies and wealth, but The Great Tyrant will have both, and more.
They will have money, political influence and military power of the sort no
other foe the PC(s) will ever know.

The Great Tyrant’s Evil Deeds:

 26. Heroes of the People. The lord of the land is desperately trying
to raise money and forces to help in a plot to overthrow the ailing,
weakened, or absent king. He is taxing the people beyond their
limits, resorting to all manner of ‘persuasion’ to keep his coffers
filled. There is a popular uprising around the time the PC’s are
children, but the uprising is crushed mercilessly, and many
people are slaughtered afterward. The PCs grow up in this
oppression, bereft of weapons (no despot in his right mind will
allow his people to be armed) and effective training, and have to
build their skills (not to mention their armory) as the campaign
progresses. To throw in an interesting angle, make one of the PCs
a bastard son or daughter of this lord, and either reveal this
information early on as a family secret/shame, or later on to really
throw that player for a loop (pick a player you trust to make an
effort to role play this, of course – it will only work if it is played
out well). Allow the PCs to become the heroes of the resistance,
perhaps even leading the final assault on the lord’s castle.
 27.The Power Behind the Throne. The old king has died, and his

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death was a suspicious one. The new regent has kidnapped the
king’s young heir, and now rules the kingdom him or herself. The
Regent is reviled and hated for the corruption and violence with
which he or she rules, and at the same time there’s a civil war
between two other claimants to the throne – a civil war that the
Regent secretly supports on both sides. In this maelstrom of strife
the PCs must protect their homes or families, choose a side (none
of which are really good guys) and fight to overthrow the evil
Regent, who, in his or her desperation, begins calling upon some
very dark allies for aid…
 28. The Broken Circle. An evil and egotistical sorceress has taken
over a wizard’s council, killing or exiling those who oppose her,
and filling it with her own supporters. She is now bent on
building an empire with her as its Empress. The PCs are initially
defeated in some way by her forces (driven from their homes,
made to watch their families murdered, etc.), and driven to exile.
There, they find one of the former wizards of the council who
knows her weakness, and sends the PCs on a number of
increasingly dangerous quests to find some item or weapon to
destroy her with. Unbeknownst to them, the Empress has her
sights set upon the PCs, and intends to thwart them at every turn.
 29. Knives. A cunning and ruthless Thieves’ Guild master has
decided he no longer wishes to share the city with the three other
Thieves’ Guilds. He declares war on them, and the streets and
alleyways of the city are filled with blood. The PCs must stop this
criminal lord from achieving his goal, as the power of any one

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man who controlled the city’s underworld – with its gambling

houses, assassins, and network of bribed watchmen and officials –
would be unstoppable. Portray the brutality of gang warfare in all
its bloody terror, from the murder of innocent shopkeepers to
streets teeming with thugs, not to mention all of the corrupt
officials who benefit from the many bribes they’re paid to look the
other way – or even go after their patron’s foes. You could have
the PCs work for such an official, who sends them after thieves
and lowlifes only from the ranks of the criminal lord’s rivals,
while freeing or protecting any of that lord’s own men.
 30. The Dark Queen. An evil queen is expanding her borders,
searching for a powerful artifact that will make her armies
invincible. Her methods are beyond cruel, and her armies utterly
merciless. The PCs must contend with a classic villainous ruler
here, thwarting her plans, facing off against her armies and
powerful henchmen one by one until they come face to face with
the queen herself. Such a campaign will allow you plenty of time
to really make your players hate this queen. Use every trick in the
book to portray her as pure evil, and – if you want to challenge
your players – throw in a henchman or two who are torn
between their loyalty and their own morality.

V. The Hidden Master: This villain stays entirely in the shadows most of the
time, preferring to work through underlings if at all possible. The key to the
Hidden Master is that he or she is often someone with good reason to stay
hidden – either they are well-enough known to make the prospect of

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discovery too dangerous or they are cunning enough to know that heroes
often strike for the head of a serpent.
How to Use Them: Always remember: secrecy is their primary
motivation. The Hidden Master often hides in plain sight – sometimes they
are a known or respected figure who feels slighted somehow in their current
position. By acting from the shadows, they keep their enemies off-balance,
all the while using whatever legitimate influence or resources they have at
hand to subtly advance their cause. Perhaps they will even hire the PCs at
some point to go after some troublesome underling of theirs who has been
underperforming – in this way, they throw blame even further from
themselves, and mop up a few useless, dangerous, or incompetent henchmen
at the same time!

The Hidden Master’s Insidious Plots:

 31. Master and Pupil. An evil wizard has come to power,
dominating everything in sight with his magic, as well as with his
powerful military forces. The PCs are driven to exile by this
sorcerer’s forces. There, they find some exiled old sage who says
he knows how to defeat the wizard, and sends the PCs on a
number of increasingly dangerous quests to find some item or
weapon to destroy him with. The only problem – the old sage is
the wizard’s master, seeking to get his hands on the only weapon
that can harm his pupil and destroy it before anyone else finds it.
 32. Amalgamation. A powerful master of a wealthy merchant’s
guild is using his position as a staging point for his intended
takeover of the entire kingdom. Though he has coin enough to

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buy his own army, his lack of noble blood will prevent him from
taking the throne directly – so his plan is to put an easily-bullied
puppet on the throne, and rule from the shadows. To do this, he
needs to kill off the king and his family, as well as the lords and
nobles powerful enough to stop him, all the while slowly putting
his own people into power in strategic places. The PCs may, at one
point or another, even work for this guild master as unknowing
patsies for his schemes.
 33. Shadows of War. A king’s loyal military leader served him for
many years, but secretly despised the king’s compassion for some
of his foes. When the king’s sons reach the age of maturity, the
general decides that they, too, are too weak to rule effectively. The
general begins to manufacture a war between the kingdom and
some powerful neighbor, pulling strings on both sides of the
border to fan the flames of hatred. Publicly, he is seen preparing
for war, and condemning the rival kingdom’s deeds. He hires the
PCs to begin to spy upon the neighboring kingdom’s forces and
leaders, and even sends them on a few raids and missions to kill
or disrupt enemy forces. The PCs eventually realize there is a plot
afoot, and when they bring this information to the general, he is
shocked, and prepares evidence pointing to the older of the king’s
two sons as the culprit. The young prince is accused of treason,
and exiled. Hatred between the two lands continues to grow,
however, and the PCs once again find themselves caught in the
middle, suspicious of a deeper plot. As the GM/DM of this
campaign, be prepared to weave more than one layer of intrigue

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to cover the general’s tracks; ensure he appears to have nothing to

gain from any of this – perhaps he outwardly professes his hatred
of warfare to the PCs due to the death of one of his sons in battle
years ago.
 34. The Beast Below. A powerful, highly intelligent monster (a
beholder or similar mastermind would work well here) is bent on
taking over a powerful city or small but wealthy nation. Through
use of powerful charming spells, it lures various adventurers into
its lair with promises of wealth and glory, only to charm them
into believing they have slain it. When they leave, they are utterly
under its control, becoming the creature’s eyes, ears, and when
necessary – its hands as well. The creature has some of these
adventurers kidnap nobles, powerful merchants and religious
leaders from their homes and bring them to its lair, where it
weaves its charms over them as well. The PCs learn of various
other adventurers and heroes committing all manner of vile
deeds, but cannot determine the cause of it – the kidnapping
victims reappear suddenly, denying they were kidnapped at all
and in some cases, vigorously defending the adventurers/heroes
who kidnapped them. One of the PCs’ major allies is kidnapped as
well, and the PCs learn that something strange is going on when
he begins to act very strangely. This web of intrigue will work
best in a campaign centered on a large, wealthy city.
 35. Mirrors. A brilliant sage is determined to find an ancient and
powerful artifact said to confer immortality upon its bearer. He
concocts a scheme to fool various adventurers and heroes into

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searching for this item on his behalf, sending them out to ancient
ruins and dungeons in hopes of piecing together clues. If any of
the adventurers get to close to the truth, he has them slain. The
PCs are hired by a local lord to find a group of friends who went
missing a few months before. He suspects foul play, and the PCs
journey to a nasty dungeon where they find the remains of the
lord’s missing friends. This and other clues leads them to the sage,
who lies to them and tells them about a ‘great evil’ that the party
had unknowingly uncovered. He sends the PCs out to deal with
this ‘great evil’, all the while using them to find the artifact. The
PCs will eventually succeed in this task, and even defeat the ‘great
evil’ in a climactic battle scene. By the time the PCs learn the real
truth, the sage will have the artifact in his hands, and the
campaign will then center upon stopping him from using it,
taking it back, or finding some way of slaying him.
 36. The Great Game. A powerful noble wants to overthrow the
king and place himself upon the throne. To do this, he fans the
flames of war between two great noble houses in the kingdom,
and soon the entire land is rife with civil war. At the same time,
he hires foreign forces (human or non-human) to attack the other
side of the kingdom. The king’s forces are ill-equipped to deal
with this threat, and without the two powerful houses’ forces to
bolster his own, the king cannot stop this invading army. The PCs
will be hired by the agents of the king to try to deal with this
invading army. After many adventures, they manage to slow/stop
the invaders, bringing them to the attention of the Hidden Master.

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He sends his own forces to deal with them, and sends assassins to
slay the king’s only son and heir while the PCs are busy dealing
with their own assailants. Bereft of his heir, the king’s position
becomes even weaker, and now the two warring houses set their
own sights on the throne. The PCs will have to protect the king,
deal with the various warring factions, and eventually deal with
the Hidden Master himself.
 37. Bloodline. A very old and powerful witch has decided that she
is weary of her eternal existence, but due to some ancient curse
she cannot die. She performs an ancient and dark ritual to seek
some way to end the curse. She learns that she must find and slay
all of her own female-line descendants but for one – a specific
female-line descendant who possesses innate magical talent of
her own must remain alive so that the witch can pass her curse
on to the child. As she is over 500 years old, and her last child
was born over 470 years ago, it should suffice to say she has lost
track of her descendants. In order to remove this curse, she uses
her underlings to enlist the aid of genealogists and historians who
travel from village to village, searching for her bloodline (perhaps
they claim they are doing a census?). Once a descendant found,
they call in bandits/monsters/etc. to kill everyone in the village.
They repeat this process over and over again – as the GM/DM you
can use the cover of a civil war or some other catastrophe to help
conceal their acts for a time. Eventually, when the PCs learn of the
killings, as well as the traveling historians/genealogists who
precede every attack. The PCs will soon discover the child that is

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being sought, although they won’t immediately know why. They

must protect her from all harm, even as the witch’s forces
continue to close in on them from all sides. In the end, only when
her underlings have utterly failed will the witch reveal herself.
The GM/DM may wish to create some other NPC who knows the
witch’s secret, and who figures out that simply killing the child
will foil the witch’s plot. Whether your players will allow an
innocent child to be slain (particularly since this won’t actually
stop the witch) is another matter entirely…
 38. Guardians of the Gate. The last free member of an ancient evil
race wants to free his brethren from some ancient magical prison,
and has a plan to do so. To accomplish this, he must first unleash
a terrible power or force upon the world (zombie apocalypse, a
dragon, a demonic army, etc) that had been guarding the gates to
this prison. The PCs are called in to deal with the problem. The
Hidden Master works feverishly to open the gate, racing against
time (the PCs will eventually defeat the terrible power or force he
unleashed) and discovery. The PCs will soon learn that the gate
this power or creature guarded is imprisoning something even
more dangerous, and they themselves must find some way of
preventing the Hidden Master from opening it. Any number of
ancient orders responsible for guarding the gate can become
allies here, or even enemies if they believe the PCs are actually the
Hidden Master’s minions.

VI. The Nemesis: This is a villain with a bone to pick with one or all of your

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PCs, and he’s got the resources to make their lives hell. Any of the other sorts
of villains can eventually become The Nemesis; all it really takes is for the
PCs to thwart a plan or become a thorn in his or her evil side. He or she
doesn’t have to contend with world-changing plots, politics, or necessarily
managing legions of underlings. All they think about, morning, noon, and
night, is destroying the PC/PCs. For The Nemesis, it’s very personal.
How to Use Them: Though rarely used as the primary villain in a story,
the Nemesis can easily be ranked among the deadliest, as his or her motives
are clear, precise, and very limited in scope. Use The Nemesis sparingly, and
don’t allow a quick resolution. Allow The Nemesis to grow (in level and
resources) with your PC(s), and be there to thwart them time and again.

The Nemesis’ Tactics

 39. Take a Back Seat. The Nemesis will combine forces with the
primary villain of the campaign, serving as a leading
henchman/officer in that villain’s forces. The Nemesis’ personal
knowledge of the PC(s) makes them ideal for hunting the PCs
down, and predicting their every move. Every major plot string
will find The Nemesis at its conclusion, with each encounter only
building upon the hatred between the PC(s) and The Nemesis. In
the end, The Nemesis may even betray the primary villain, seeing
them as a liability in The Nemesis’ ultimate goal of killing the
PC(s).
 40. The Ruse. In this scenario, The Nemesis masters his or her own
burning hatred of the PC(s) in order to get close. This of course
requires a Nemesis whose face is unknown to the PC(s). They pose

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as a close ally or friend – perhaps even someone in need of their

help. The Nemesis follows their every move, learning about their
friends, their enemies, and their weaknesses. At the most
inopportune moment of all, they betray the PC(s), proclaiming
their hatred and their deception all at once. This may serve to
make the hatred go both ways, as such an unforeseen betrayal is
sure to leave a mark – be sure as well that you allow the PC(s) to
survive this betrayal, if only just barely. This way, vengeance can
one day be theirs.
 41. An Enemy of My Enemy… The Nemesis hates the PC(s) with a
great passion, but must first contend with someone who wants
The Nemesis him or herself dead as well. In this case, once The
Nemesis is firmly established in your game, an enemy shows up
who commits such horrible acts of evil that all parties are
immediately threatened – the PC(s) and The Nemesis alike. Now,
the great foe will serve as the primary villain in the campaign,
and at some point, either the PC(s) or The Nemesis him or herself
will realize that the only way to defeat this great foe is to do the
unthinkable – and join forces. With the added drama of a former
– and likely future – enemy within their ranks, the PCs will face
off against this great foe. Once the final battle is over, The
Nemesis can either turn on the PC(s), or go his or her separate
way, depending on the needs of the story as it develops. Either
outcome should be very interesting for your players.
 42. Nowhere to Run. The Nemesis, rather than go after the PC(s)
directly, instead goes after NPCs in your campaign who hold some

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emotional value to your players – family, friends, or loved ones.

Of course, as the GM/DM, you must establish this emotional value
early on through gameplay – it won’t work if new, irrelevant, or
previously unknown NPCs are killed off. Once the Nemesis kills
them off, your players will have all the motivation they need to
focus all of their efforts on finding and killing The Nemesis. This
kind of emotionally-charged campaign is best played out without
mercy, or compassion – the GM/DM needs to take the gloves off
early, and leave them off.
 43. The Gambit. The well-established Nemesis has something the
PC(s) desperately need – a cure, secret and much-needed
information, or an item of some sort, and they are forced to either
negotiate or perform some task for him or her in order to get it.
This has to be something of great importance as well as something
the PC(s) can’t simply steal or take for themselves. The negotiation
or task will no doubt eat at your Players’ pride, so you as the
GM/DM must not run this scenario frivolously or too often. Once
successful, the Players will expect the Nemesis to deliver – after
all, no Player in his or her right mind would negotiate with a
known liar and oath-breaker and expect otherwise. It is up to you
as the GM/DM to decide.
 44. The Death of the Nemesis. In this scenario, your PC(s)’
Nemesis has apparently breathed his or her last, disappearing in
some way as to make confirmation of their death impossible. For
this to work, you have to have your Players’ trust – done
incorrectly no one will buy it. The PCs go on about their merry

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way, facing whatever threats and adventures you deem fit. After
an appropriate amount of time, you make the Nemesis (who
survived but was badly and permanently scarred or disfigured)
strike back, and hard, only when your Players least expect it. In
this way, you are able to bring back a great villain in a surprising
and unexpected way. Don’t use this more than once, however,
and try to keep it believable – no one will buy the Nemesis coming
back after being eaten by a dragon or falling from an airship two
miles above ground, for instance.

VII. The Beast: This villain is, simply put, a force of nature. The Beast is
primarily motivated by some terrible hunger, or an almost primal drive for
violence and destruction. Rather than rely solely on henchmen, plots or
schemes to advance their cause, The Beast uses direct violence or wanton
destruction. Good examples of The Beast would be a werewolf that haunts
the moonlit fringes of civilization, a dragon that destroys entire lands or
kingdoms, or a zombie (or better yet, horde of zombies – The Beast can be a
plural villain in that regard) that hungers for flesh. The Beast can just as
easily be the environment, even the world itself – so long as its existence
threatens the PCs and the realm greatly.
How to Use Them: This is a villain best suited for a shorter campaign, as
his/her/its utility is largely based on their horrific or monstrous nature. As
The Beast archetype relies largely on direct violence or terror, thwarting
them in most cases will have to be handled pretty directly. Portrayed
correctly, The Beast can be used to great effect by terrorizing your Players
with the sheer savagery or the mysterious nature of their attacks or difficult-

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to-find lair.

The Beast’s Desolation

 45. The Dead Tide. A massive zombie horde is slowly ravaging its
way across the land of the living; its own numbers increasing
with every village and town overrun, and the PCs find themselves
in their path. One fortress after another falls to their unending
advance, and the PCs have to fight a campaign of attrition in the
truest sense of the word – after all, the horde consists of perhaps
millions of zombies. They must find ways to slow it, to chip away
at its numbers, all the while slowly learning more and more about
its origins – possibly even its solution. Adventure after adventure
will show the players the utter futility of trying to fight the horde
head-on, forcing them to adapt their strategy, tactics, and even
the way they think as the zombie horde devours one city after
another. For a truly apocalyptic game, it’s hard to beat zombies
for sheer terror and unrelenting pace.
 46. Infernal Wrath. A dragon has awoken, or otherwise come to
the PC’s homeland, seeking destruction on an epic scale. Again,
here, rather than allow the PCs to face it head on, it is imperative
you portray the dragon as a force of nature, all but immune to
any of their weapons or spells. As the dragon burns town after
town, slaying the PCs families, allies, and friends, they will be sent
upon a quest to find an ancient dragon-slaying weapon – perhaps
it is a holy lance, or legendary arrow, or powerful war-machine
left by the titans or dwarves of old. Until they have this weapon or

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method in hand, they are more or less powerless to stop it. Others
will try to find this weapon as well – either to use it themselves or
perhaps even to destroy it – blaming the weapon or artifact for
the dragon’s wrath in the first place!
 47. The End is Near. In this scenario, the end of the world – or
something that looks an awful lot like it is occurring right before
the PCs’ eyes. Earthquakes, volcanoes, fire from the heavens,
demon-spawn on the march – whatever the scenario, it is clear
that bad things are afoot. The entire campaign from this point
onward will revolve around the PCs thwarting this doomsday
scenario. Adventure after adventure will see your campaign
world get destroyed one piece at a time; this sort of campaign will
entirely and permanently alter your world, so be aware of this
before you embark upon it.

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