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The Sweater Golem wrote:Okay, I am thinking make the villain a castle. The current noble family that lives in the castle is into some pretty nasty evil magic. Some of the things inadvertently awakened the castle itself. The castle hears everything that goes on inside it, can create illusions anywhere on its grounds, and whispers into the ears of anyone inside. Over the last few generations it has driven the resident noble family quite mad, but they keep up appearances because the castle wants them to. Their prominence brings other important figures to the castle for parties and other functions. The castle hear all the whisperings that go on and knows almost every secret in the kingdom. It controls all the servants, many of whom it has found positions at other homes. By creating illusions of important figures it is familiar with, it creates more intrigue.
The noble family that has lived in the castle would seem like the villians at first and the PCs could take them out around level 13-14, but then the plotting continues and they eventually learn it is the castle itself.
Final BBEG battle could go two ways.
1) The PC's cast out whatever dark force has awakened the house and battle it. This might be too close to the evil outsider thing though (although you could go Fey)
2) The PC's battle the castle itself as a colossal animated object.
This is very cool, I could use haunts, which my group love.
The PFSRD just throws up dragons and outsiders at that level, I was tempted by the Rakshasa Maharajah but it didn't 'feel' very Taldor.
I was tempted by dragons but don't see how a CR20 dragon is going to bother with intrigue.
Personally, I like villains that appear to turn the rules on their head. I like having the PCs think they're getting ready to battle one thing, and it ends up being something completely different. The realization doesn't occur to them until it's too late.
For that reason, I think Rakshasas make excellent villains because they have deception and surprise built right into them with their ability to take human form. In my opinion, making them Taldoran is only a matter of backstory. Did the noble Taldoran family go on an expedition where they were killed by Rakshasas who then took their form and their property? As far as the locals, servants, etc. are concerned, they are the same people who just picked up some very sinister habits during their vacation. All you need to figure to figure out then is why a Rakshasa would want to spend their time in Taldor and not their home.
I also like giving mid-level monsters class levels to make them more powerful and more unique. It's a great way to increase the CR and create something memorable... exactly what you want in a BBEG.