Sinister Villians

[Super Squirrel]

My campaign is off to a good start. I have my goons, I have my equal pointed villians both one-shots and balanced. Heck, I even have Unphased; A 250-pt character who is nothing more than a Skill Normal with PD, ED, MD, PD, and Clinging resistant to throws through the roof.

 

However, despite having made nearly 14 villians for my campaign to keep it going for a while, I am lacking Sinister Villians. So far, the best I have is a partially built villian named "Demon King" who has a dimensional rift in his chest. He removes people he doesn't like by having his minions grab them and letting the "Demon King" expose them to the portal. I don't know where it goes yet but it is kind of sinister.

 

I guess I just don't think 'sinister' enough. What do sinister villians do?

 

I have an organization named VITAL, Villians for the Inhuman Treatment of All Lifeforms (It was a play on PETA), and I suppose this organization's ultimate goal is sinister but I'm still coming short on the sinister aspect of things.

[Hermit]

I guess it depends on what definition of "Sinister" you're going for

There is often a humor/camp factor. How campy/serious do you want it?

[Chaosliege]

We had a long running campaign once where the main vilain was a CEO of a major corporation. He would come up with horible plans to create chaos just so his company would make more money. Of course, since all of the illeagal stuff was done by contract vilains, we could never put him away. It was brutal watching this guy play the victim whenever we would manage to convince the police to check him out.

[Lord Liaden]

When I hear the term "sinister", there are certain implications that come to my mind. One is active malevolence. A sinister villain doesn't just want to get rich or achieve power; he has an active desire to commit evil acts, to torment, abase or corrupt others. Another is subtlety. The sinister villain won't stop at bashing heroes who get in his way; he'll kidnap them (or better yet, their DNPCs) to torture or brainwash them. He'll work indirectly against his enemies at first, through minions or allies; not just via direct attacks, but through blackmailing them or damaging their public images, or hurting those that the heroes care about.

 

A third implication is one of ominous menace. A sinister villain is not loud and flashy in his style, but darker, more restrained and brooding. Think Dr. Doom or Darkseid.

 

Let's take your Demon King for example. The name alone sounds like a natural for "ominous menace", and you already have minions working for him (who would probably benefit from a "demon" motif to their uniforms, powers or origins). The Demon King sends his enemies etc. through the portal in his body. So, what happens to someone who passes through the portal? The answer could go a long way to adding a sinister element to the character. It would be a little bland if people just disappeared through it and never returned.

 

Perhaps people in the other dimension are driven mad - it would definitely be sinister to have the Demon King expose an enemy to those effects, then dump the now-insane victim on his friends' doorstep. Perhaps the rift breaks the will of those who pass through it, turning them into slaves of the Demon King, which could be how he acquires new minions. Or the dimension may warp the bodies of those who enter, turning them into monsters; these could be obedient to the Demon King, or (the more sinister choice) may retain their normal minds and full awareness of what they've become. Of course, the rift may work both ways, allowing the Demon King to "pull" something horrific out of his chest - that should be worth a couple of extra dice to Presence Attacks.

[DrSavant]

Sinister Villians

 

The best Sinister Villians are usually the ones who use subtle, discreet tactics over a long period of time until the 'final phase of the plan' is ready.

Example;

(I was GM ing) an NPC named "White Witch" (Samantha Stevens Bewitched type) who had a hunted (Black Enchantress) These two got caught up in a fight on the streets of the western most part of the city.

It seems she needed to kill 1 person in each section of

town to achieve 'great power'. Well a PC happened along and tipped the balance, Black Enchantress was destroyed. But as a final DIABOLICAL act she used MIND CONTROL to have her spirit rest in White Witches subconscious, until she could recover.

I dropped subtle clues ,that something was wrong, over the course of several adventures. Finally the PC's & NPC's were captured by a Satanic Cult and were being prepared to be sacrificed on an altar to a Demon named "DIS-the Destroyer"

All the cumulative stress was too much for White Witch and she fainted, out came Black Enchantress and a large melee occured. (Nasty enough for you or would you like to hear more???)

[Karma]

Because someone had to say it!!!

 

You have trouble coming up with 'Sinister' Villians?

Physical Disadvantage: Left handed (very infrequent, slightly imparing) 0 pts.

There you go, 'Sinister' villian.

(Ducks various rotted foodstuffs trown in his general direction)

[Hermit]

Re: Because someone had to say it!!!

 

Originally posted by Karma

You have trouble coming up with 'Sinister' Villians?

Physical Disadvantage: Left handed (very infrequent, slightly imparing) 0 pts.

There you go, 'Sinister' villian.

(Ducks various rotted foodstuffs trown in his general direction)

Funny you mention that, seriously....

I thought of making an Energy Projector villain whose special effect was firing from only his left hand. What's more, he claimed to be of 'royal blood' (This would be a Brittish Mastermind type) and sought to take over England despite his bastard birth.

 

Sinister indeed

[KA.]

Super Squirrel:

 

You haven't told us the tone of your campaign, and that would help, but here are some general guidelines for what (I think) you are looking for.

 

1) Sinister Villains do not just rob banks, kidnap the wealthy, and try to take over the world.

 

A truly sinister villain has some agenda that is too evil to comprehend.

 

Example: The Demon King (a truly Sinister Villain should be impressive enough for a "The" at the start of his name) is collecting souls through the portal on his chest.

 

Even while stealing some ancient artifact, he is collecting souls toward some goal.

 

When he reaches the correct number (100, 1000, 666?) the portal will expand and release an army of demons or some major mystic power, etc.

 

The scary part is, he doesn't have a counter floating over his head like on a video game.

 

Who knows how many souls he has already taken?

Or what the 'magic number' is?

Any time he takes someone, all he says is "Soon. Soon."

 

Any given soul could be The One that will release the end of the world.

 

2) A Sinister Villain does not just pop out of the box every session or two, get in a fight, and get sent to Stronghold.

 

A Sinister Villain gets away more often than he gets caught, and even when he is not the center of the adventure, he is always in the background. As the players are wrapping things up at the end of a session, drop something in like:

"The newspaper reported that a shipment was stolen from the Museum of Natural History. The Museum is still trying to determine what exactly was stolen, but the two guards on duty disappeared without a trace. The security camera showed a figure that resembled The Demon King.

 

3) A Sinister Villain is not content to wait for the Hero to show up and punch him. The Hero may find that it appears that someone is trying to find out his Secret ID (if any) by whatever means are appropriate for that villain.

 

In the case of The Demon King, the team mystic or an mystic type NPC could warn the Hero that dark magic was being used to probe his 'aura'.

 

4) Once the Secret ID is uncovered, the Sinister Villain will never be so crude as to leak it to the press or expose it publicly. The Sinister Villain will now take the opportunity to harass/frighten/endanger the Hero while in his Secret ID.

 

5) The Sinister Villain always manages to gain control of someone close to the Hero/s. Through Mind Control, Cloning, Impersonation, or deliberately planting an agent.

Once this occurs, the GM has the chance to let the SV use information that the hero thinks no one else knows.

 

And then there is always "The Betrayal!"

 

The SV's agent slips something into the Hero's food or drink that causes him to:

a) sleep through a team meeting that he was supposed to attend, causing suspicion to fall on the Hero, since the group knows someone is out to get them

lose his powers during a critical fight (can have same side effects as 'a'. "Hey Mighty Man, why were you holding back when we fought The Demon King? Are you working for him now?")

c) lose control of his powers in ways that make him appear to be going 'rogue' (see Red Kryptonite)

 

or

 

The Betrayal takes the form of helping to kidnap, seduce, or otherwise harm another NPC or better yet DNPC.

"Where's Lois?"

"I don't know. She went out for a walk with Jimmy Olsen, but that was hours ago!"

 

In conclusion, the Sinister Villain takes away the hero's sense of security. He makes the hero worry about what he might be up to, even when the villain isn't doing anything.

 

KA

[Super Squirrel]

Thanks KA that helps a whole lot. There are two parts of this problem, the "what do sinister villains do" and the "how do I build a sinister villain"?

 

Take The Demon King for example. He has that EDM, Usable on Others power (which may become a transformed). Should he have lots of attacks, should he be +100 points compared to the heroes, or should he have lots of followers and such?

 

I want my sinisters to initially show up as part of a multipart event. My game is very episodic. There is three part episode that ends with an event that goes partially successful in the villain's favor. This is later revealed to be connected to a master villain who has not yet been indentified.

 

I'm just looking at my villain write-ups at this point and realizing they just aren't sinister at all. I'm trying to get that 'true evil' feel to them and could use some help there.

[Hermit]

I like the ideas we've seen on possibly transforming the victims. Perhaps, within that lays the seeds of a plot? What if the Demon King observed the heroes, tried tofigure out who was close to them , and then transformed those self same people into lesser demons bent on testing the heroes further, and breaking their morale? It might take the players time to realize who these first demons WERE...

Then they have to ask who's behind this?

And then, what's the goal?

 

Find out what the Demon King wants, and you've probably got a good chapter by chapter story going on with that sort of thing. It has been done before (or similar things) but it might indeed be ominous.

[Crimson Arrow]

Hey, Hermit, your character wasn't going to be called "Ben D. Sinister" was he?

 

I like Super Squirrel's character idea. There was a character in "Creatures of the Night: Horror Enemies" for 4th Ed. who had the ability to warp people into demons. He was some kind of fundamentalist preacher IIRC and he "exposed" the demons masquerading as normal people. All he was actually doing was using his Transform power. I can't remember if he knew that's what he was doing or not. The idea was that the heroes would end up looking demonic, but their minds were unaffected.

 

The gateway in the chest thing reminds me of "Master Pandemonium", a West Coast Avengers villain. Again, my memory of him is not brilliant, but I think he had a hole in his chest shaped like a downward pointing star, from which he could summon demons. I also have a vague recollection that his four limbs were actually demons and could be detached.

 

I think a lot of the other posters have come up with great ideas on what can be considered "sinister". Lord Liaden's quite right about corruption. Perhaps that should be Demon King's trait.

 

Does he corrupt them bodily, spiritually or both? I think that choice would very much alter how he operates. Is he obvious, turning people into monsters, sneaky, warping their personalities, or does he go the whole way? An even more scary option would be if he can do all three. Imagine the surprise if the players assumed all he could do was warp their bodies, only for one of their teammates to stab them in the back.

 

As a further note, I have a dim recollection that Master Pandemonium kidnapped the heroine Shooting Star and replaced her with a shapechanging demon. Just an idea.

[Superskrull]

Originally posted by Crimson Arrow

The gateway in the chest thing reminds me of "Master Pandemonium", a West Coast Avengers villain. Again, my memory of him is not brilliant, but I think he had a hole in his chest shaped like a downward pointing star, from which he could summon demons. I also have a vague recollection that his four limbs were actually demons and could be detached.

-snip-

As a further note, I have a dim recollection that Master Pandemonium kidnapped the heroine Shooting Star and replaced her with a shapechanging demon. Just an idea.

 

Yeah. Your memory is dead on there. Master Pandemonium was this evil guy looking for the fragments of his stolen soul. It was all Mephisto & John Byrne's fault, too. He really could have been intriguing but he mostly came across as dull.

[Superskrull]

Sinister villains are great fun for the GM. Like the others have said, everything is done to further THE GOAL. Sinister Villain kicks a puppy, it's for the goal. Sinister Villain harvests the souls of promiscuous teenagers with a reanimated psycho, it's for the goal. Sinister Villain is only shown to drink diet cola, it's for the goal. Sinister Villain is revealed to be the father of PC, it's to further the goal.

 

A 'good' sinister villain should leave a wake in the history of your world. Pick an event or so he engineered in the past and make sure the players find it out. Have other villains look scared when his name is used.

 

 

One great move is to give him some shred of sympathetic trait. He's a fallen good guy, has a weak spot for fine arts, whatever. Give him that, and almost every time, someone is gonna want to 'help' him. At that point smile and let the 'bonding' begin. Have him show doubts as to the rightness of his path. Have him confide in the character, saying he reminds him of the path he didn't choose. have him seem truely remorsefull and lure in the hapless player. Then crush the PC's hopes, shoot his dog and burn down the local orphanage. Make the PCs hate him and burn with righteous anger.

 

it's all in fun, after all.

 

Remember, a beautiful face and honeyed tongue may hide a serpent's soul and poison bite.

[Super Squirrel]

Its all about the points

 

Yeah, but how do I get them point wise set up? I mean what skills and powers do these guys have to make a good sinister guy? What kind of disadvantages do sinister villains posses? That is what I'm really in need of right now.

[Superskrull]

Re: Its all about the points

 

Originally posted by Super Squirrel

Yeah, but how do I get them point wise set up? I mean what skills and powers do these guys have to make a good sinister guy? What kind of disadvantages do sinister villains posses? That is what I'm really in need of right now.

 

What Sinister Villains spend points on...

 

1) Pre, Int & Ego

2) Skills, lots of 'em. Occult skills for occult/mystic ones, Science/Tech skills for the technologicals, Pre skills for all of them. Acting and Oratory for style, High Society for poise and often some artistic/musical skill where they are secretly brilliant. Tactics, Analyze and Teamwork with his minions are common.

3) Attack & Defense They almost always outmatch the heroes, requiring teamwork and intelligence to beat. Whatever level your PCs are, these guys are a notch above it.

4)Location, Manpower and the cool toys needed for evil schemes. These guys aren't just gonna rob banks, they have suspacial fortresses, 'beowolf clusters of atomic supermen' and whatever plot device they need for Evil Scheme #423alpha.

5) Flexibility, give these guys a nice tasty multipower of dirty tricks and back it up with a VPP full of "something I designed just for you, my old foe!" and other sneaky things

 

Where they get those points...

Something about them just screams Psych Lim. Try Megalomaniac, Must Always Remain In Control, Devoted to Elder Gods, Overconfident, Vengeful, Patient, Scheming or Manipulative.

DF is good. Often whatever reshaped them into Sinister Villain mode left a mark like parted your hair with a blowtorch or 'souless creature' or inhuman beauty.

Hunted, 'cause they don't play well with others, but not by more powerful beings, leave them to things like Watched -my dark masters.

Secret ID is good, or DNPC beautiful daughter/noble son/frail human wife

vulnerability/dependence/susceptibility -usually, the high-power ones have a weak spot, be it some armor flaw or a need for dark rituals or fatal allergies to Disney-flavored children

Villain bonus, cheesy, but hey, dress him up with some good history and a purpose in your game and he'll look just fine, regardless of the points.

 

and remember, he's going to interact with the rest of the campaign world and react to the actions his enemies take. He's not sitting in room 24 level 4 of module V-3 Tower of the Dark Lord, he's striding around plotting, ranting and sipping fine wines while he crushes the hope of the planet.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Its all about the points

 

Originally posted by Super Squirrel

Yeah, but how do I get them point wise set up? I mean what skills and powers do these guys have to make a good sinister guy? What kind of disadvantages do sinister villains posses? That is what I'm really in need of right now.

 

All right, let's analyze this:

 

Sinister villains tend to have an intimidating "aura" about them that's very unsettling: how they look, sound, act, etc. Most should have fairly high PRE, and master villains should be capable of substantial Presence Attacks. Most shouldn't have high COM, though, and some will be downright ugly, except those who specialize in deception and seduction (see below).

 

Sinister villains do a lot of lurking in shadows, especially minions who run their boss's errands, so Steath and Shadowing would be appropriate. Other infiltration skills like Security Systems or Concealment may also apply. Some villains will be skilled in extracting information from unwilling subjects, so should probably have Interrogation (often passing into torture - very effective to roleplay. Ever see the movie "Marathon Man"?)

 

As far as Powers go, the SFX for sinister villains will tend to be dark and shadowy, vicious and bloody, or otherwise have frightening connotations. Some examples would be Darkness and Shadows (both as the Darkness Power and SFX for other attacks, although a shadowy or misty Change Environment does wonders for creating mood); Killing Attacks (various kinds of bladed weapons, or fangs and claws for animalistic villains); BODY Drains or NNDs that do Body (choking smoke or fumes, poisons or diseases); and Invisibility. Some attacks are frightening if they're large and lethal enough to kill a normal instantly (making an effective demonstration that the villain means business), while others are more terrifying if they're slow but continuing (choking gasses, strangling tentacles, or poisons with Gradual Effect but visible results, like convulsions or uncontrollable bleeding).

 

Note that many of the above are for strong-arm villains who threaten heroes directly. Another major type of sinister villain is the one who seeks to deceive a hero or DNPC, setting them up for the right moment to strike, or trying to seduce them to the Dark Side. Besides high PRE and COM, these villains will usually have Persuasion and/or Seduction, and often Disguise and Acting. Powers include Mind Control, Mental Illusions, Telepathy (to learn secrets), and Shape Shift (to take a pleasing form, or the appearance of someone the victim trusts).

 

Disadvantages will often be psychological, which really help define the sinister villain: Casual Killer, Sadistic, Likes to Play With/Torment Victim, Loves to Frighten, Treacherous, Enjoys Deceiving/Outthinking Opponent, Seeks to Corrupt Others, and so on. Distinctive Features are common for the more grotesque villains, or those who have an "aura of evil" about them. Occasionally a slightly impairing Physical Limitation makes sense (Missing Body Part, Limp, No Fine Manipulation due to unusual limbs, etc.). Susceptibilities and Vulnerabilities are usually no different from other villains with diverse origins, although supernatural villains tend to have them vs. Light, Fire, or Holy People/Places/Relics.

 

Hope that helps.

[KA.]

Re: Its all about the points

 

Originally posted by Super Squirrel

Yeah, but how do I get them point wise set up? I mean what skills and powers do these guys have to make a good sinister guy? What kind of disadvantages do sinister villains posses? That is what I'm really in need of right now.

 

To add to what has already been said.

 

Sinister Villains need to have powers that are creepy, powerful, or creepy and powerful.

 

When I was designing a demonic, overbearing type villain, I gave him the ultimate nasty villain power:

Desolid with Invisible Power Effects!

 

You can make them 'vulnerable' to Magic or Holy Items, etc. etc., but until the players figure out what is going on they will be awed. "Nothing we do seems to stop this guy!"

It also allows the villain to just appear inside places.

Unless someone is watching to see that he phased through the wall, they will be redoing the locks, adding new security systems, etc. etc. and none of it will do any good!

 

Another great power for a Sinister Villain is Mind Control with creepy special effects. If you can find any, try reading some of the reprints of the Fu Manchu stories by Sax Rohmer.

There would usually be a female character that had been under Fu Manchu's control at some point in the past.

Suddenly, in the middle of the story, the female character would stare into a fire and see Fu Manchu's face staring at her. In moments she would be hypnotized and doing Fu's bidding. Really creepy stuff!

 

More later,

KA

[TheEmerged]

Never underestimate a good PRE score. Nothing says lovin' like a 12d6 PRE attack before any modifiers