Not every enemy is one you can, or should, hack down in bloody ruins. Some are even on your side, while it suits them. This can be a hard concept to get across in a tabletop style game- that not everything can or should be killed if it opposes you. Sometimes, the person you hate the most is the one closest to you- they’re your boss in the City Guard, your cruel prince, or a rival in the Adventurers’ Guild. A start to all of this is establishing with your players early on that just killing people doesn’t solve the problem, and probably gets you executed. Having this foil be clever enough to avoid doing anything that makes them an enemy of the state, while undoubtedly being an enemy of the players’ characters, will make them memorable. Having this foil share some goals with your party will also make them hard to come to blows with. An excellent example is Deputy Chief Madeline Wuntch from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. She is a tyrannical boss, given to tormenting the beloved Captain Holt and forcing him to make decisions affecting his staff, pressing him to the point of obedience to his chain of command, furthering her aims. This peaks (spoilers) at the end of Season 2, when Wuntch gives him publicity and a blank cheque for resources on a high-profile claim. Holt and the team assume that she’s trying to make them look wasteful and incompetent, and try their hardest, eventually bringing in the bad guy and throwing it in her face. She responds that she truly wanted to see him succeed- and then promotes him to a different department, away from the team and against his wishes. So, make your foils petty and incredibly powerful. Make them mess with your players’ families and friends- don’t have the villain kill them, have the villain raise their rent, or buy their house and (legally) toss them out. Have your villain untouchable and completely aware of it, willing to flaunt that in people’s faces. Don’t make them kick the PCs’ puppy... make them adopt the puppy and treat it perfectly, but don’t allow the PCs access. Make them an absolute and complete jerk, with very little your players can do about it (but make sure they’re able to do something about it, in the end). I mean, slaying a dragon and gaining millions of gold pieces is okay, I guess, but have you ever been able to bring down a true villain and succeed against all of their plotting? Amazing stuff! (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 6 December 2018) Categories All Comments are closed.
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AuthorI'm Luke. He/him pronouns. Archives
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