Crafting interesting NPCs is one of the many challenges presented when building a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. When playing a prebuilt campaign, basic backgrounds may be provided for certain important characters, but often the prebuilt D&D content leaves plenty of room for creative flavor. This is especially true for villains and antagonists players will need to face during their adventures. Creating interesting, complex villains is an important part of building a good story, but making a bad guy who is both relatable and intimidating can be surprisingly difficult. Thankfully there are a few tips Dungeons & Dragons DMs can consider to help create interesting villains who pose a challenge to players both tactically and emotionally during the campaign.
When using a pre-built campaign with a notable villain, a Dungeon Master will want to read all the backstory and information available before moving forward with further character building. The information provided will usually include important backstory and D&D character alignment traits to help the DM play the character during a session. A Lawful Evil antagonist will likely enjoy playing games with the party and can be manipulated by using their own rules against them, as where a Chaotic Evil villain will have few reservations about destroying whatever is in front of them. Backstory often describes what caused the character to become a villain, whether it be a desire to impress others, a want for power, or an obsession with revenge. This origin story can help a DM get into the head of the Villain they will be playing.
After learning the basics about the D&D campaign's villain, the Dungeon Master can make revisions to create a unique campaign experience for their party. Often Dungeons & Dragons villains are built on general stereotypes seen in movies or books. This can be as simple as a character who wants revenge after their love interest is killed, or a jealous sibling who takes over a seat of power after murdering their brother or sister. However, to make these stereotypes more interesting, it is up to the Dungeon Master to flesh these characters out.
A Dungeon Master could choose to go in and write an entire backstory for a villain. Perhaps the love interest who died was killed by the villain on accident when a spell backfired, and now they kill anyone who finds out the truth. A jealous sibling could have snapped after years of enduring emotionally absent parents and favoritism geared at the sibling who gains power. Giving a human reason for a character's actions creates a more complex personality, and causes more tension in the D&D campaign's storyline.
Dungeons & Dragons Villains With Charisma Can Cause Chaos
While backstories are important for understanding a character's motives in Dungeons & Dragons, a villain's current personality is also important. While it can be tempting to portray the antagonist as a ruthless monster, an obviously evil character can be less interesting to face than a monster hidden behind charismatic smiles. A good example of this type of villain is Count Strahd Von Zarovich from the Dungeons & Dragons: Curse of Strahd campaign.
Strahd is a charismatic, calculated villain. He flatters others and enjoys playing with their emotions before showing his true colors. He can lure characters in with pleasant smiles and gifts, or torment them to madness in their dreams. Because he is polite and charming, breaking him down and forcing him to show his evil nature can be deeply gratifying, especially for players who have spent a long while attempting to destroy him while in Barovia. Sometimes the true evil in a D&D character isn't in how many people they've obliterated, but in the game they play beforehand.
Dungeons & Dragons Villains Hidden From The Party
An interesting way to take a party off guard is by hiding the villain. Creating red-herring characters can be done both in canon campaign modules and in homebrew settings. A Dungeon Master could set up a situation where a party travels through a kingdom and learns of a terrible, power-hungry king. He could be taxing the people to starvation, committing unfair hangings, or even terrorizing specific species or classes he doesn't like.
However, when the players arrive at the castle to take down the evil king, it turns out he has become a puppet for a more terrible evil, like a powerful wizard or even a god. By hiding the true antagonist, the D&D party could prepare to take on one thing and find themselves surprised when the challenge is much deeper than they originally anticipated, making surviving the ordeal a harrowing and cathartic experience.
Dungeons & Dragons Villains Should Grow And Change
One of the most exciting things about Dungeons & Dragons is how player actions affect the course of the story. Because of this, villains should have room for growth. Static characters are less interesting to interact with, and don't incentivize players to think creatively. Because of this, Dungeons & Dragons villains should have the ability to change. They could fall in love with a party member or form an obsession with them. They could become interested in the party's motives and reasons for challenging them. Having a villain interactions during an encounter with the party could affect how they react at their next meeting, for better or for worse. This can help a D&D villain act unpredictably, keeping the party on their toes, and making a more interesting story for both the Dungeon Master and the campaign players.
When creating a villain for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, the Dungeon Master will have to emotionally connect with the character, and understand the reasons for their actions. Because of this, DMs should avoid playing villains with actions or motives that cross personal boundaries. A good villain doesn't need to be a murderous monster, or act in uncomfortable ways to be terrifying. By creating a villain the DM can comfortably play, the overall Dungeons & Dragons campaign storyline will be more immersive, and provide better satisfaction to players when the carefully crafted monster is defeated at the end of the adventure.
