Fantasy Villain ideas

[Gandalf970]

I have started a new campaign set in the City of Ptolus (not that important).  It is a city with a deep history and background with dungeons below and a more open dynamic.  I am not running this as high fantasy more of a dark criminal underground type of campaign.  One thing I am introducing is a patron/villain for the group.  

 

They have been treading water a little and I had hoped they would run with it and explore and do whatever they wanted.  I am introducing a Devil or Half-Devil named Deimos to them.  I am not sure if I tell them up front he is a devil.  I need to come up with a plot that he wants to accomplish (looking for ideas here).

 

I am going to lead the characters on this plot and perhaps let them decide if they want to continue (good idea?)

 

My question is what else can I introduce and add intrigue and drama.

 

Any thoughts and ideas would be appreciated!

[Lord Liaden]

One thing I would suggest, if you don't want them to know this NPC is devilish, don't name him "Deimos." Not hard to guess from that. 😈

 

Patron/villain who's also a devil? That kind of implies that any plot would probably be a deception on his part, maybe appearing as something good that's ultimately evil. Couple of things that come to mind:

 

The PCs are recruited by Deimos (using that name for now) to bring down a thieves/assassins guild controlling the underworld in the city. This guild is actually a rival to Deimos's own ambitions which he wants out of his way.

 

A malevolent cult draws magical powers from an unholy artifact, and Deimos sends the PCs to track it down and destroy it. Unknown to them the artifact also blocks more of Deimos's kind from entering this world.

 

If that's the sort of thing you're looking for, I'll try to come up with other suggestions. If not, if you could further define your intentions we can try again. 🙂

[Gandalf970]

21 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

One thing I would suggest, if you don't want them to know this NPC is devilish, don't name him "Deimos." Not hard to guess from that. 😈

 

Patron/villain who's also a devil? That kind of implies that any plot would probably be a deception on his part, maybe appearing as something good that's ultimately evil. Couple of things that come to mind:

 

The PCs are recruited by Deimos (using that name for now) to bring down a thieves/assassins guild controlling the underworld in the city. This guild is actually a rival to Deimos's own ambitions which he wants out of his way.

 

A malevolent cult draws magical powers from an unholy artifact, and Deimos sends the PCs to track it down and destroy it. Unknown to them the artifact also blocks more of Deimos's kind from entering this world.

 

If that's the sort of thing you're looking for, I'll try to come up with other suggestions. If not, if you could further define your intentions we can try again. 🙂

Lord Liaden I like the malevolent cult idea, I will rename him as well.  More ideas on this theme would be wonderful, thank you so much.

[ScottishFox]

A patron that is morally flexible can cause some angst and drama for the heroes.

 

Get some slam dunk heroes vs. evil missions out of the way and then start to drive them into morally dicey endeavors.  Something along the lines of secure funding for the orphanage by planting contraband on a political rival to make sure the patron's paying customers wins their election.

[MordeanGrey]

Having a patron who turns out to be a "bad" guy can be a lot of fun.

 

Long ago I had a fantasy hero game set in the Planescape universe. The party did several jobs for a shady NPC named Willum, who was actually a pit fiend in human form. He was charming and loved to manipulate the party.

 

At one time, he asked the group members (individually) if they wished to work for him ... when they eventually said "yes," he said, "then let it be so."

 

Turns out, he could grant wishes... 

[Ninja-Bear]

Don’t worry about the name Deimos. Players can be blind to clues. 😂 I would present him as a wizard of some sort. That is why he is sending the PC to gather pieces of the macguffin. If he’s a half demon, perhaps he is trying to get knowledge about his demonic half. Note too that he could use the PC’s to strike against other rival bad guys. How about his for one scenario. Deimos sends the PC’s into the sewers because he found out that an ancient temple was built over. The temple has paladins that in times past fought evil but now the sect is no more (and hasn’t been for a long time.)  He tells the PCs that there or tomes down there (which are true) that he wants (also true). The tomes besides general knowledge of paladin group also has esoteric knowledge of Demons which he wants. When the tomes are disturbed, naturally zombie paladins arise to protect said books. The thing is you can plant the idea that the paladins are good and later use that as a clue when you want to do the big Reveal!

[bluesguy]

In my current campaign (and a previous one) the player's provided very detailed backstories.  In the current campaign one of the character has a kindly grandmother, the only one in his large family that encouraged him to become a bard and learn to weave magic with his spells.  I immediately decided she was the villain and most of the rest of the family were villains as well.  The character's father was a piece of work, but he was trying to get his son to escape (run away) because he knew about grandma.  Grandma is a high priestess of one of the evil god's in the world.  It took almost a year for the players and their characters to find/figure out who was behind all the troubles.

[Gandalf970]

7 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

Don’t worry about the name Deimos. Players can be blind to clues. 😂 I would present him as a wizard of some sort. That is why he is sending the PC to gather pieces of the macguffin. If he’s a half demon, perhaps he is trying to get knowledge about his demonic half. Note too that he could use the PC’s to strike against other rival bad guys. How about his for one scenario. Deimos sends the PC’s into the sewers because he found out that an ancient temple was built over. The temple has paladins that in times past fought evil but now the sect is no more (and hasn’t been for a long time.)  He tells the PCs that there or tomes down there (which are true) that he wants (also true). The tomes besides general knowledge of paladin group also has esoteric knowledge of Demons which he wants. When the tomes are disturbed, naturally zombie paladins arise to protect said books. The thing is you can plant the idea that the paladins are good and later use that as a clue when you want to do the big Reveal!

This is great Ninja-Bear I really like this and will run with this for a little bit.  Thanks to Bluesguy, Scottishfox, Lord Liaden and MordeanGrey!

[Ninja-Bear]

Oh and here’s some more and with some of LL’s idea too.  The Book reveals that the is a key in 3 (or as many) pieces as needed. The book can have maps where these keys are and any other info as needed.  The key is what’s used to open the Gate to the demonic world. You could also search for ritual, spells, components or what not. And as a bonus if or when the players are on to Deimos, you can have them run against him to stop his plan! Naturally he’ll have other adventurers to help.

[Steve]

If you want to throw a twist into things, Deimos could end up being a charmed/mind-controlled pawn of someone else. He is not actually a villain, but someone behind the scenes is pulling his strings. This lets him be a patron, then a villain for a time, then turn out to be okay to work with after all, once the charm is broken.

[archer]

You might try introducing the players to Deimos through a street tough who speaks with an accent.

 

Think of a NYC native cabbie accent, something roughly like: "Yeah, dere's dis new guy name of 'Lord Die Most' who is movin' in on da city. Supposed ta be a real up an' comer. I could intraduce ya for just a bit of coin. I hear he's lookin' for some ah, 'versatile', talent rather than just muscle like me. Seems like you guys would be perfect."

 

The people from his organization, most of them coming from the streets, call him "Lord Die Most'. And indeed, he does from time to time kill underlings who've disappointed him.

 

Then you could eventually let him reveal that his name is actually "Deimos" and he just got tired of trying to correct peasants who couldn't learn to pronounce his name. By that time. the players might be more used to his presence and not immediately make the connection between his name and the fact that he's likely a demon.

 

Of course if you're one of those many GM's who hate trying to do accents, nevermind.

[Lord Liaden]

To make Deimos a longer-term fixture in your campaign, it could be helpful to craft a series of adventures he could send them on with a benevolent pretext, but which actually advance his hidden agenda; but leave clues your players may start piecing together. For example:

 

Deimos tells the PCs a local government official is corrupt, and wants them to steal records from his home that will prove it, so that Deimos can expose him. The official is indeed corrupt, but Deimos wants the evidence to hold over him to force his compliance. The players may eventually notice that he was never removed.

 

A local woman has been sentenced to be burned alive for witchcraft. Deimos assures the PCs the charge is false, and sends them to break her out of prison before the sentence. She actually is a witch who works for Deimos and knows who and what he is, and he wants her out before she tries to buy her life with what she knows. But she won't live long afterward -- her sloppiness in getting caught means Deimos considers her a liability.

 

A plague is sweeping the PCs' home city. Deimos says he believes the plague was deliberately introduced by malevolent forces, and they must retrieve rare herbs/a hidden artifact/etc. from a dangerous place, in order to break it. Everything he says is true... but he omitted mentioning that he's the cause of the plague. After the plague is lifted rumors spread from unknown sources that Deimos was responsible for curing it, which greatly enhances his reputation in the city.