by Michael T. Kuciak

   _Morgan and his band of adventurers strode into the throne room and knelt 
before the wizened king.

   "We have come in answer to your call, milord," Morgan said. "What is this 
blight your messenger spoke of, and who is behind it?"

   The king raised his head and looked Morgan in the eye.

   "An evil wizard has thrown a curse upon the land . . ." he intoned.

   "Oh, great, another one," Morgan groaned, rolling his eyes. "What a
surprise. Oh, well, what's _this_ one's name?"_


   One of the biggest keys to great adventure is a really nasty villain, one 
that players will go out of their way to confront and, with any luck,
defeat. In too many games and adventures, however, the villain is nothing
but a grocery list of powers and minions, a cardboard cut-out that the
players fight because there is nothing better to do with their time.

   To truly fire the players' interest and imagination, a good villain is in 
order. This villain must be vile enough that the players will want to throw
a wrench in his plans even if their characters are not getting paid to do
so. But how does one go about making an archvillain that the gaming group
will love to hate?

   The two key tools for making a genuinely despicable antagonist are fear
and hate. As a species, we hate what we fear, and we fear what we hate. If
you can create a character the group is afraid of, but despises so much they 
will still go after him, then you have succeeded in making an outstanding
villain.


Fear

   Fear is a good thing. Fear keeps the players on their toes, makes them
wring their hands and worry. Real fear helps players suspend their disbelief 
and identify with their characters. Fear makes for good roleplay.

   But fear is elusive in role-playing games. It is very hard to instill
fear in players sitting around a table with their friends in a well-lit
room. Getting players to scream and jump is nice, but that is just a part of 
fear's potential. Fear is getting players to worry about what will happen to 
the characters they value so much, to wonder how they will ever beat their
adversary, or to fret when they cannot seem to get out of a sticky situation.

   Here are some things villains can do to make your players afraid:

   Invulnerability. A good GM makes opponents challenging, but not so tough
that the players cannot defeat them. Indestructable villains lead to bored
and frustrated players. Every once in a while, though, the group should meet 
an adversary who is very tough to beat, or who may be stopped only in a
certain way. The characters may run like rabbits at first, but just watch
them sit down and fiendishly plot their opponent's demise as soon as they
catch their breath.

   For instance, I ran a CHAMPIONS* campaign with a group of malicious
heroes known as the Wrecking Crew. They had some tough fights, but they
always stomped the bad guys in the end. It became a pattern, and anything
predictable is in danger of going stale.

   One day the heroes ran into a group of villains called Anselum Defilus.
Anselum Defilus had less members than the Wrecking Crew, and the villains
were only marginally more powerful. However, through complementary powers
and teamwork, Anselum Defilus smoked the heroes like a cheap cigar. Twice.
My players hated these villains more than anyone else, mostly because they
were afraid of being beaten again. The Wrecking Crew eventually managed to
beat Anselum Defilus by tracking down the individual members and pounding
them when their friends weren't around to help.

   Even in the case of nearly invulnerable opponents, the villain must have
some flaw or secret vulnerability that allows the heroes to beat the
villain; if the villain is truly indestructible, there is no point to
playing. Even Smaug, the great dragon in _The Hobbit,_ had a chink in his
armor.

   High Intelligence and Cleverness. How many times have you seen a monster
or master villain described as a "genius," even though all he does is sit in 
a tower or dungeon, waiting for the PCs to come and smash the place up?

   I've seen this happen much too often, and it is entirely preventable. How 
is the average GM supposed to run a character who is more intelligent than
he is? Simple. Assume that a genius can figure out almost exactly what his
opponents (the PCs) are doing at any given time.

   What made Grand Admiral Thrawn of Timothy Zahn's _Star Wars_ trilogy such 
a deadly opponent? An uncanny ability to predict and act on the plans of
others through infallible logic and study of the art of his opponents'
culture. Zahn wrote Thrawn as a genius so he didn't have to resort to goofy
plots and overly-complicated plans.

   High intelligence can make a party jumpy and jittery, always wondering if 
the master vampire has yet again been able to guess their plans and lay a
trap. Just like invulnerability, though, a genius villain can become
frustrating if taken too far. When the players are just about to give up,
let the villain make a mistake. Even geniuses slip up. If the PCs are quick
to exploit the mistake, their final plan may succeed.

   Phobias. If the players are afraid of something in real life, use that
fear to your advantage. By this I don't mean locking people in dark rooms or 
dumping live spiders on the gaming table. However, villains who embody or
play on your players' personal fears will strike a chord.

   Maybe one of your players has a fear of snakes ("Snakes. Why did it have
to be snakes?"). Send the party up against the snake cult from _Conan the
Barbarian,_ or the Children of Yig in _Call of Cthulhu._ If the PCs are
captured, drop them all into a pit full of venomous snakes, then describe
the experience in excruciating detail. I guarantee your herpephobic player
won't hate any villain more than rotten snake worshippers.

   Another way to play on phobias is to introduce a villain with the ability 
to read minds and generate illusions. Several examples exist in super hero
and fantasy games, but the fear these villains engender is often expressed
as "temporary damage due to system shock" or some other rules-heavy cop-out. 
One would imagine that an opponent with this power would be feared, but most 
players laugh at them because they are not played correctly. These villains
can customize the fear for every member of the party and spread the hate
around evenly. By really getting into the role and exploiting the players'
real-life insecurities and phobias, you achieve maximum gaming impact. Play
it to the hilt.

   Remember to keep it tasteful, though. Some people have such strong
phobias that even role-playing against the objects of their fear is too
much. If you know or find out one of your players has such a strong phobia,
be mature and leave it alone.

   Insanity. Many people are afraid of insanity, and for good reason. The
insane are not predictable and don't always mesh with our expectations. They 
live in a world of their own, and play by that world's rules. In fact, it
has become a cliche for villains to be described as insane.

   Almost all of Batman's enemies are insane; that's why they go to Arkham
Asylum instead of jail. They are dark and frightening because their thoughts 
and actions are unpredictable. Why are the Malkavian Kindred of White Wolf's 
VAMPIRE* game and the Black Spiral Dancers of the same company's WEREWOLF*
game so shunned and feared? Because they are one and all off their rockers.

   Homicidal and sadistic impulses are evidence of insanity, not the disease 
itself. Take your players' crazy opponents to the outer extremes of the
wild, the bizarre, the nonsensical, and the frightening. Remember, the
insane follow logic just like anybody else, but it is a twisted, private
logic. If the PCs can figure out what the pattern of their madness is,
insanity can be a useful tool to defeating the villain.

   Friends and Power. George Orwell's novels _Animal Farm_ and _1984_ are
two of the most frightening books I have ever read. Political power can, in
many ways, be more deadly than magical or physical power.

   Let's say the PCs are part of the special law-and-order task force of a
fantasy city. They find out Abdeluh the wizard has committed murder and
plotted against the king of the city-state. The PCs get their gear together, 
wander out to the wizard's secret tower where she lives by herself in the
middle of nowhere, and fix Abdeluh's wagon. A nice, clean- cut, black and
white scenario. Whether they win or lose, the powers of goodness are on
their side.

   Now, let's just say that instead of Abdeluh living alone in the middle of 
the desert with only her familiar to keep her company, she lives right in
the middle of the city that the players are trying to protect. In fact,
Abdeluh is the court wizard, and has done many things to make her popular
with the royalty and city as a whole. Besides that, she wields huge
political power.

   Without casting any spells, Abdeluh can defeat the PCs. She can get them
fired, destroy their reputations, send the king's own guards or assassins to 
arrest or poison them, confiscate their possessions, imprison their loved
ones, and generally make them miserable.

   Why is this frightening? Because as a GM, you have made it absolutely
clear what will happen to the PCs if Abdeluh finds out they know her plans,
much less are plotting to act against her. The party will have to skulk in
shadows and walk on eggs the whole time they are rushing to save king and
country. One wrong move and the jig is up.

   Perhaps the party is fighting against the new, totalitarian regime. Or
they must stop a very popular political or religious figure a la George
Stillwell of Stephen King's _Dead Zone._

   With politically powerful opponents, the stakes are always high. If the
party does not succeed against conventional villains, they can always track
the bad buys down again later for a rematch. With popular, high-ranked
villains, the PCs get one shot. If they miss, the villain can crush them by
picking up the phone. Now that is fear.

   Paranoia. When the PCs have no one to trust and nowhere to hide, they
have much to fear. They will be afraid when the enemy has them surrounded
and controls the situation. The players will fear their character's
well-being when they doubt the most trustworthy of NPCs.

   Why would the PCs fear everybody they meet? Plenty of reasons. The
villain may have mind control powers. There may be a fat reward for the
party, and everyone wants to cash in. They may be wrongly accused of a
heinous crime, like in _The Fugitive._ The town, country, or world has been
invaded by aliens like those in _Invasion of the Body Snatchers,_ or by the
RAVENLOFT(R) realm's doppleganger plants. The villains may be numerous, and
able to shape-change: for instance, the PCs may face a plague of vampires or 
werewolves.

   Whip up fear through the players' paranoia. Burn them again and again and 
again. Hound them and surround them. Have the party's best-laid plans turn
into deadly traps as their closest friends (or the people they thought were
their friends) turn them in. Let the master villain repeat verbatim things
the PCs said in private. Rattle the cage, and keep rattling.

   The Technocracy of White Wolf's MAGE: THE ASCENSION* game is a powerful
and terrible foe because they can replace anyone with a genetically or
cybernetically constructed spy. The PCs, literally, have no one they can
trust except each other, and even then maybe not.

   While they are fighting, the party should hate and fear everyone around
them. When the party finally beats the villains, the players should feel the 
weight of paranoia lift from their chests.

   Horror Show. Most people know fear from the usual horror books and
movies: dark nights, strange noises, supernatural creatures, and so on. In
certain sessions when everyone is in the right mood, those tired standbys
can actually work, and boy, is it a lot of fun.

   Just like phobias, use whatever frightens the players the most. If your
players are big fans of Clive Barker, throw in bizarre, grotesque villains
to your heart's content. Let them hunt vampires, Great Cthulhu, or ghosts.
Put the party in haunted houses, awaken the dead, trot out the psycho
killers, juggle severed heads. Do whatever floats your boat and has even a
slight chance of actually scaring your players a tiny bit. Go to town and
have a blast. In horror, it pays to go overboard with description.

   All of these things are useful in regular games, but to really scare your 
players it won't do to sit around a table in a well-lit room with the TV on
in the next room. Dim the lights, light some candles, play in the basement
or the attic. Softly play disquieting music. Do whatever you want, but try
not to ruin the mood by getting too corny. A little bit of props and
stage-dressing can go a long way.


Hate

   Hate is a strong word, and such a strong emotion can bring people to the
farthest, most harmful extremes of behavior. Hate may be a nasty thing, but
it can sure make role-playing games a ton of fun.

   As a GM, you must do everything in your power to convince the players to
hate your villains. Ideally, they should despise even the most powerful of
villains so much that the PCs will travel to the ends of the earth to thwart 
him. Make the players hate this villain so much they talk badly about him
even when you are not playing, so much they draw pictures of him and throw
darts at it. They must feel strongly enough to be willing to use up all of
their character's powers, items, favors, connections, and blood just to
bloody the villain's nose once.

   When a truly hated villain is finally defeated, the players feel an
incredible sense of satisfaction. They jump out of their chairs, yell and
high-five. The players know for a fact they have done themselves and the
gaming world a great service by defeating this villain. How many evil
wizards and orc kings can you say the same about?

   Here's how to convince the players to loathe a villain:

   Loved Ones. Watch the PCs get steamed when the villain threatens their
favorite NPCs. Let the bad guy kidnap their children, kill their best
friends, enslave their grandparents, or possess the mind of dear, old uncle
Joe.

   To get the players riled up, though, you have to play the NPCs as real
people who everybody genuinely likes or admires. You cannot just say, "Bob,
your character has a very sweet, old aunt, and Strahd von Zarovich just
kidnapped her," and expect anybody to really care. Play out scenes where the 
PCs talk with these people and get to know and like them. Have the NPCs do
consistently nice things for the party, and help them out in times of
trouble. Work up some actual good feelings about these imaginary people.
_Then_ kill them. G'wan, it's fun.

   Heinous Crimes. Villains, as a group, are people who are expected to do
very nasty, despicable things. Things no one would even think of doing.
Things that make villains less than human, that make them a blight on society.

   A few times I have played in games where the villains did nothing
terribly wrong. Every once in a while I run across an adventure where the
main bad guy is a bandit chief or something. Now, what player is going to
get angry about a guy who steals from merchants?

   Make your villains memorable as the meanest of mean, the lowest of low.
The bad guys should torture peasants, burn crops, spread lies, ruin
reputations, release plagues, and steal candy from a baby. Because
role-playing is a game, it takes more to upset the players than it would
take in real life. A villain must do something very, very bad for the
players to care whether he gets his just desserts or not.

   Bring it Home. Try naming a player who truly, honestly gets upset when an 
evil wizard curses the land, or steals a king's powerful magical item. Go
ahead, try.

   Now, name a player who gets upset when the wizard casts a curse on their
characters, or steals their most powerful magical items. A PC who would not
blink an eye to watch an entire city burn down might gnash his teeth at the
sight of his own house on fire.

   Unless your players are all excellent role-players and the whole group is 
an order of paladins, no one cares when the villain does mean stuff to other 
people. It just gives the PCs an excuse to beat him up. When the villain's
guns turn to the gaming group, however, watch the temperatures rise. If the
villain does something vile to the PCs and they still don't care, let him
keep stealing, bullying, and harassing them until they do. Be malicious
until the group is riled up, then keep going.

   When the party treks off into the wilderness or flies off into space
after the bad guy, they will have a personal reason for seeing the villain
brought to justice.

   Personal Hatreds. Always keep in mind what upsets the players in real
life, and carve your villains to fit that hated image. If your players are
concerned about the environment and ecological destruction, dust off the
Giant Evil Corporation from any of the cyberpunk games or Pentex from
WEREWOLF: THE APOCALYPSE.

   Give your villains the exact qualities that you know your players hate in 
other people. Arrogance, racism, sexism, closed-mindedness, lying, bullying, 
selfishness, greed, immaturity, or stupidity can all make the PCs really
want to get their hands on that bad guy. Perhaps while their characters are
beating up the villain, the players are imagining someone from real life
getting their due. If so, you are doing your job as a fiendish GM. That is
what escapist entertainment is all about.

   Again, be tasteful and mature about playing on your players' emotions. If 
a player is upset, hold back on the villainy a bit. There's no point in
losing friends by driving players away.

   Betrayal. There is one, sure-fire, big gun way to get your gaming group
to hate somebody - pull out all stops and betray them in the most heinous
manner possible.

   If the party rescues the damsel in distress, watch their reaction when
she implicates them in crimes, blames them for deaths or failure, or accuses 
them of being part of a larger plot all along. If the heroes save a reporter 
from certain death, let the weaselly reporter promptly turn around and
expose their secret identities for an easy Pulitzer. Make them find out that 
their mentor is evil and manipulative, and has been playing them for fools
since the beginning of the campaign.

   There is nothing, nothing, nothing at all that makes players' blood boil
than a nicely-crafted betrayal. They will stop at nothing to give what they
got, to even the score, to serve up a plate of revenge.

   Hate and fear are best used in conjunction. A single trait to make the
players hate or fear the story's villain will work nicely. Blend two or
three together with a strong character and you will have a memorably
despicable villain. Let's look at some examples.

   Why are Nazis such great villains? Because they controlled a totalitarian 
state with a nearly unbeatable military force and committed unspeakable
atrocities in the name of a racist and insane leader. As you can see, the
traits mix well.

   Try mixing and matching fear and hate ideas. Greed, arrogance and
insanity? Sounds like Batman's arch-enemy the Joker.

   Bram Stoker's _Dracula_ is another standout villain. Dracula was not just 
a Wallachian knight, he was a cruel and despotic ruler who put both his
worst enemies and most loyal followers to the stake by the thousands and
dined to the sounds of their tortured screams. Four hundred years later, he
traveled to London to kill and possess the women closest to Harker and
company. When they struck back, Dracula dodged and tricked them every step
of the way, all the while arrogantly flaunting his incredible undead power.
As icing on the cake, the whole story drips with the best horror show
conventions. Wow, what a villain!

   Bring out the best in your bad guys by giving them a style and character
all their own. Make each adversary distinctive, sinister and easily
recognizable, so the PCs react strongly whenever the villain or his minions
show up. A word, a phrase, an image, a _modus operandi_; these will bring
flesh and blood to that cardboard cutout, and make your next NPC a
full-bodied, three-dimensional, monstrously evil villain your players will
love to hate.


* indicates a product produced by a company other than TSR, Inc.