The Bad, The Worse, and the Vile: The Art of Being Evil
How does a canny and evil villain torment and stop would be heroes from foiling their devious plot while keeping the game going? Below are ten ways in which a villain can torment the heroes of your campaign without actually removing them from the game entirely. Keep in mind these ideas exist as to challenge your players and give them good reason why they must stop this villain from succeeding. They should never be used solely to torment a player, that's just not nice.
Denial of Resources:
A lot of players don't realize it but there characters rely heavily upon the world around them for the things they need. Food, equipment, lodging, allies; even landmarks that help them find their way in the world. The trouble with sending a bunch of minions at the characters is the likelihood they'll fail, have their corpses stripped, and the stuff the villain has so painstakingly shopped for sold to empower the heroes. Such is the great flaw inherent in the use of attack minions. So, why not deny them the most basic means of equipping themselves against the villain? What if the villain threatened every merchant in the city that if they did business with the characters there businesses would be burned to the ground and there families slaughtered? What if the villain ensured that he was the only one in control of the food, water and basic needs of the people within his dominion? Think of ways in which you can force the characters to fight, scratch, and beg for every scrap of survival they can get. This tactic works great for villains that are actually rulers and generals of a dominion where they can have absolute control over the very resources the PC's need.
Go for the heart:
So the characters have likely proven themselves capable of fending off waves and waves of minions, smart enough to out think them, strong enough to defeat them, and savvy enough to talk them down. But, what about their grandmother, their father, or their girlfriend? What about any of their loved ones? The best way to go about this is to leave the heroes alone for a long time, they seem to progress forward relatively easily, and then quite suddenly they get a message that a good friend or loved one has been murdered. Should they go and investigate they'll get a rather clear message that the villain they've been attempting to thwart is behind it and if they continue trying to stop him (or her) then they'll continue to murder (or even imprison and torture) loved ones. This can stop all but the boldest or smartest heroes dead in their tracks as they're forced to deal with the threat that at any moment shadowy death can claim a loved one.
This idea merits an article all it's own to be explored fully. Just keep in mind that you demand back stories for a reason and any sign of affection a character has towards a non player character can be a point of weakness for a villain to exploit.
Take from them everything!
What if instead of sending master assassins he sent master thieves? What if the most feared and potent feat his bodyguards had was not power attack but improved sunder? A wizard without his spell book is just another weak man; a warrior without his sword is just a common brute. And who says you should limit yourself to gear? In a fantasy or science fiction setting there can be numerous different spells, toxins, diseases, psychic or supernatural powers that allow a villain to erase memories, remove skills, or permanently disable a character in some horrible fashion. Leaving characters stripped of power and gear can lead to some interesting opportunities for players to stretch themselves in ways they didn't think possible up until this point. It's also a fantastic way to lead into other means of torment to truly hammer home the rage the characters should feel for the villain they're facing.
Enter the Traitor.
Betrayal is an old theme for the vilest of things to do to another person. Dante's inferno even had a special level reserved for traitors. It's one of those things that is best set up after a long time but can happen spontaneously if you have the means to make it believable. Having a long time benefactor suddenly turn on the PC's after gleefully revealing how the pc's helped him serve his dark master can have a significant impact on the pc. The closer the npc was to the characters the more they'll question others who are close to them, and perhaps even each other. You can extend this by letting one of the players themselves "in on it" so to speak. But this takes an extremely mature group to pull off and can always backfire, but, should it succeed it will certainly be a game worth talking about for a long time. Another way to do this is have the villain always cloaked in a shroud of mystery, always masked, always in a dark corner, so in this way the characters have no idea just who the villain really is. So, when a benefactor they've come to trust reveals himself as the great dark lord they've spent so much time trying to thwart it makes the looks on the pc's faces all the sweeter.
Even in death you cannot escape.
In this scenario you've already killed one or more characters, but the story doesn't end. Why in a world where resurrection in one form or another is possible should a villain be happy with merely the destruction of a characters body? Resurrection as an undead minion is a pretty common way in which a villain can eliminate an enemy and raise a potent ally. Or perhaps the villain himself has some fingers in heaven/hell/Valhalla/wherever that allows him to deal with the character in a brutal fashion. Whatever is done keep in mind the character is already dead so he has little to fear. So put the fear into him.
This leads to some interesting scenarios where the game quickly leaves the world of reality and characters are given a glimpse of just what the villain is truly capable of. IF he can affect people even after they have made what the characters might view as the ultimate sacrifice then he is most certainly an unbalancing force in the world and must be stopped.
Everything you create will be unmade.
Lets say the characters first adventure ever was pretty standard stuff, go into cave kill small baddies. Pretty simple, but, they made a few friends learned what their characters can do and went off on a great adventure. Well, now they've made an enemy and he decides to replace the small bad guys the pc had helplessly slaughtered with very large, angry, and well equipped bad guys. Well, in short order they'll annihilate the town and make it look as if the characters first adventure never occurred. If you repeat this for just about everything the characters do they'll feel powerless and incapable of halting the world's troubles in any fashion or form. And of course with the introduction of magic and technology you can go so far as to erase people’s memories of their deeds or replace them entirely with the villains own heroes stealing the thunder from them. The villains greatest triumph isn't simply defeating his enemies but crushing them while history forgets they even existed.
This idea is great only in games where characters are trying to lay the foundations for a new and better world, or at least trying to make a reputation for themselves. Of course if they're trying to lay low and trying not to be known a clever villain can still work with this by removing their anonymity, by taking off their masks the villain exposes them to the world in all its temptations and horrors. An extremely good thief doesn't want the world that he's stolen a particular amount of gold or a special piece of technology. But, the villain has exposed him, removed his anonymity to history and so in the light he is far less of a threat to the villain then if he simply remained a nameless thief.
A Curse/Pox Upon Thee!
Curses are fun. The more difficult to remove the more rage that will build over your villain and the more driven your characters will be to stop him. Of course in all fairness you should show the characters previous victims of the bad guy’s attentions. A woman who spurned him might have a horrible disfigurement while a man who mocked him might only be capable of screaming out praises in his name. These horrors that await the characters should hopefully unnerve them and let them know that fates worse then death await those who cross the villain even in the most minor fashions. In modern settings various creative toxins can be used to the same effect.
In any case the important factor in this idea is the idea that there is a cure. Whether in the villain’s personal possession or in some far off land where no common mortal dare tread there should at least be the promise that a cure for the terrible affliction exists somewhere. In this way the characters are forced to either face the villain afflicted with these curses or take the time and resources to search for a cure while the villain happily continues being evil. If the curses are actual deteriorating effects then the characters face a real dilemma as they’re forced under a time limit to complete either course of action. This level of stress puts a lot of strain on the character and a clever villain will use the distraction to his fullest benefit.
You're under arrest…for murder!
If we take a look at the normal activities of a fantasy adventurer we can find that many of those past times are highly illegal in civilized nations. Murder, desecration of the dead, armed robbery, conspiracy, illegal magic use, illegal firearm use, essentially you can just make up some obscure law (preferably with a death penalty but life imprisonment will do in a pinch) and inform the local authorities, a particularly effective tactic if your villain is the one in charge and arrest the characters. If they don't resist you can hold a public trial and brandish them before the people as terrible villains and enemies of order. If they do resist you can have them ostracized by even the common folk as to aid them means certain death. For even more delicious irony even the characters former allies can turn on them as their crimes become clear. Suddenly all the good the characters have been doing turns out to have hung them before a trial has even begun.
The Path you tread will be paved in hate.
The trouble with a reputation is that it's difficult to break once it's made a good and epic deed can often be remembered or be forced to remember. But what if everywhere the characters went a bad reputation had already arrived? At best merchants would overcharge them the common people would spurn them and the authorities would keep a constant watch and possibly even harass them. At worst the townsfolk will rally and chase them off with torches and pitchforks (or even guns). IT could be a group of imposters going ahead of the characters and wreaking havoc and causing trouble for them. Or it could be a very clever propaganda campaign that perpetuates a bad reputation around the characters.
Whatever the case the characters should feel like someone is intentionally trying to sabotage them. So they have to work that much harder to gain allies and resources. The idea is to surround the heroes with enemies, pen them in and make the villain look heroic when he finally gets around to removing them permanently. Of course when and if the heroes are vindicated the rewards should far exceed the hardship endured. Or perhaps they will be eternal outlaws depending on your setting.
Temptation
The final and most insidious method if that of temptation. The heroes have seen the armies of the villain, seen his limitless wealth, his great power. He can make their wildest dreams come true; give them anything, anyone, and anywhere they desire. All he asks is that they kneel. It's an idea older then betrayal and is a common theme in every major epic tale. Tempting the whole group is best done first. That way you can tell which characters will spurn you right off and which ones are likely to be interested and can be turned on their allies. It's a foolish villain who doesn't see the potential strength and power in the heroes. So why not use it? Why not offer them something they desire in exchange for that strength? If they've already dispatched the minions then you have room for more and they weren't worth the time anyway to be so casually slaughtered by the heroes.
And even if they don't see it your way right now you can torment them in other ways to show the villains true strength. Only the most foolish or courageous heroes would dare refuse his offer. And if only one or two of the heroes troupe agrees to it they can always prove their loyalty by slaughtering their former comrades, they only held them back anyway.
Keep in mind these are merely ideas. You can expand on each in a number of different ways and you should carefully consider each one before using it. These ideas are meant to be used to torment player characters and give them motivation to act against the villain. Never should they be used just to give players a hard time and never should they be used to punish players for acting their character. And remember a good villain always saves his best assassins for last.
