Contrary to the subject title, I'm not talking about good-aligned NPCs, but rather good enemies. I'm running out of NPCs, and I can't keep blaming everything on Dervious or my Necro. However, I tend to be pretty mean when designing NPCs and my players are getting kinda sick of having to run for their lives when I start grinning. So, with that said, I figured we could share some good villains. I just got outta jail and people were moving my stuff around, so I gotta find my papers, but I'll have some of my own up here before sundown tomorrow. In that thought, I think I'm gonna include some NPCs that aren't necesarrily enemies.
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A crazy druid that won't let anyone with axes enter his wood. He's tired of people cutting down his trees. Anyone with any kind of axe whatsoever has to give the axe up or face his woodland wrath.
If the party defeats the crazy druid, and finds his hovel, they'll find easily 500 axes of various shapes and sizes, from halfling hand hatchets to the greataxes of the ogre tribes.
Some are actually magical weapons, but the p.c.'s have to do some rummaging. The whole hovel is a disaster area, with axes in the walls, axes hanging from the rafters, in the stove, under the mattress, you name it.
If they give up their axes without any hemming and hawing whatsoever, he gives them 4 potions of barkskin. The potions are good stuff, but they make the imbiber horrendously flatulent for 3 whole days after usage.
well, not knowing what kind of game you are running it is a bit difficult; but generally there are only a few types of villanous characters; archtypes if you will. While there are many villains that are loners or work in small teams; you also need some large organizations that have extensive area coverage and bite into a little bit of everyones lives who live with just enough hint of threat and enough decency and ligitamate business that the populous doesnt rise up to burn their house down.
Theives and assassins are always bait; simple stories like a known collector of such and such items has one of his prize items stolen - the reason could be by another collector for his private collection; or to sell it back to the collector, or for ransom; or maybe destroy it and leave it in the village square as a punishment to the collector; could be anything; pcs could be hired to find the thief or rescue the item; this could be a simple adventure or a long hook. Assassin can be used the same way; a npc friendly to the pcs and who have helped him out get killed in such a way that is horrible and is obviously no a crime of passion or such; perhaps the pcs are implicated or the pcs want to bring the guy to justice; a mob type organization could produce false witnesses and such and take a long time to clear things up, perhaps someone in the party is separated and kidnapped and threatened by some assassins then let go; warned off so to speak to not poke into something.
Organizations on the other hand; employ all sorts of legitamate and illegitamate persons; you have graft; extortion, ahem insurance payments, fencing, drugs and other bodily pleasures being marketed, maybe you got a guy named Lucky Charlie who runs 4 girls; collects insurance from his block and has a bookie working for him and a small time fence; he has 3 toughs to back him up and maybe sells some small time drugs. He pays off the local guard on his block and he makes his payments to his boss ontime and life is good so he struts around with a swagger making trouble and being the king of his hill so to speak; a guy like this and his small time operation could be all kinds of pc interaction; anything from he is beating up on the the girls for some reason; maybe disloyal; giving freebies, holding out and pc's just see a guy beating up a girl and interfere or maybe his bigger bosses are thinking to expand his territory and want a few jobs of loyalty done; so he hires the pcs to do a few jobs for him; could be legitamate or not; he might play straight or not, he might coat the job to look like just revenge that he is to weak to do; stuff like this is the heart and soul of villans. You dont always have to just have 2 antipaladins and assassin and a cleric of evil poison the local well to weaken up the people; quitely kill the local guard; the all walk in and beat up everyone and take over; giveing small amounts of antivemom to those who cow and submit; capture a few hostages and have a few profane sacrifices; but the pc aught to try to stop this sort of thing once in a while also; no subdle, but this type thing is a usually a one shot unless some escape.
If this isnt the sort of thing your looking for; I have lots more.
The Rogue Gallery in Dungeon would be a good place to look. Unfortunately, I believe it has been discontinued.
In my games, I always love big team fights like in the X-Men comics. A rival adventuring party can provide a good challenge for your PCs; perhaps it can start at low levels just trading jabs or nonlethal tavern brawling. This could escalate at higher levels as the two groups start competing for adventures, sometimes even going after the same goal for different patrons. Perhaps a grudging respect could build between the two groups if they have similar alignments. Conversely, this rival group could be completely antagonistic and it would only be a matter of time before insults and nonlethal combat in town becomes drawn steel and murderous intent in some other location, like an abandoned mine or a remote adventure site.
If you can tie these guys to some of your PCs' backstory, things become much more interesting for you and your players. Give them a level or two on average above the PCs to make your players think twice about starting anything.
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In my games, I always love big team fights like in the X-Men comics. A rival adventuring party can provide a good challenge for your PCs; perhaps it can start at low levels just trading jabs or nonlethal tavern brawling. This could escalate at higher levels as the two groups start competing for adventures, sometimes even going after the same goal for different patrons. Perhaps a grudging respect could build between the two groups if they have similar alignments. Conversely, this rival group could be completely antagonistic and it would only be a matter of time before insults and nonlethal combat in town becomes drawn steel and murderous intent in some other location, like an abandoned mine or a remote adventure site.
If you can tie these guys to some of your PCs' backstory, things become much more interesting for you and your players. Give them a level or two on average above the PCs to make your players think twice about starting anything.
Me too. I had Strahd come back after they killed him in Ravenloft, with the Daughter of Strahd, an anti paladin, and a bunch of goombahs.
And Strahd always escaped, he'd come back over and over. It was cheesy, but they loved it. Aaaah...the Strahd Squad.13 y.o. dungeonmaster Heathy...