Filge from The Whispering Cairn was a great low-level BBEG, he got the PCs hating him on first sight!
But of course Vanthus Vanderboren is my favorite villain. He has got a nice background story revealed bit by bit throughout the STAP and he "evolves" from encounter to encounter. The PCs hated him and haven't had to see him at all, his mocking comments before he locked them in the smuggler tunnels were enough!
SO! You may remember my call for people to list out their favorite Dungeon magazine adventure sites a while back. I called that "STAGE ONE" of my secret project. This is STAGE TWO.
Who/what are your favorite villians who've appeared in Dungeon magazine?
My favorite villain would be Eli Tomorast (unless you're talking about authors, in which case I'd have to go with Nic Logue).
In anticipation of STAGE THREE, my favorite artifact that has appeared in Dungeon magazine is the Hand of Vecna. Because it's evident that you're working toward some sort of "Dungeon Clue", in which case I predict that Demogorgon did in Maure Castle with the Rod of Seven Parts. ;-)
Flame... Flame... Flame... and Flame: I think that's how many times he occurred in Dungeon, if you count twice in Old Embers Never Die.
The Master of Puppets
Grrr, this is hard
MistaRyte
Who/what are your favorite villians who've appeared in Dungeon magazine?
Igwillv, even though she hasn't appeared yet :)
1. Dragotha
2. Raknian/Theldrick/Bozal Zahol
|
Well, Kyuss of course. Although he only made a brief appearance in AoW, I still fondly remember his two point five page statblock.
Dark Myrakul from SCAP also caught my attention, as did Embril Aloustinai from the same campaign...
But above all else, I have to say that my favorite villain in any Dungeon issue was when Iggwilv appeared in Dungeon 149. I had been waiting for that statblock since the preview in Dungeon 138 and with the end of Dungeon I was afraid I would never get to see that statblock from an official source... thankfully I was pleasantly surprised to see her statblock in place when I picked up the issue... (seriously JJ, I've been waiting for that official statblock since "The Return of the Eight", if she doesn't appear in 149 it will never happen. Make my dream come true JJ, make my dream come true!)
Mr. Dory from the Styes.
Off the top of my head...
Darl Quethos (Library of Last Resort, Dungeon 132)
Krekie (Library of Last Resort, Dungeon 132)
Agrio "Wingclipper" Starkson (Wingclipper's Revenge, Dungeon 132)
Banba (Wingclipper's Revenge, Dungeon 132)
Lady Ashinana Vestang (Okay, probably personal bias, but I really liked her brand of "evil", Masque of Dreams, Dungeon 142)
Sehan (Once again personal bais but I like it -especially after drinking some, Dungeon 145-147)
Temauhti-Tecuani the T-Rex (Tides of Dread, Dungeon 143)
Desdemona/Ravenclaw (Mask of Diamond Tears, Dungeon 143)
Lashmire (Death of Lashmire 116)
Zenith (Zenith Trajectory, 102)
Malifustal the Night Hag (Melorn Hospitality, Dungeon 107)
Doratar Aeleth (quasi-villain, Melorn Hospitality, Dungeon 107)
Thessalar (Into the Wormcrawl Fissure, Dungeon 134)
Dragotha (Into the Wormcrawl Fissure, Dungeon 134)
Captain Arden Galen (Siege of the Spider Eaters, 137)
Malgarius (Root of Evil, Dungeon 122)
Andress (Tears for Twilight Hollow, Dungeon 90)
Vhalantru (Shackled City Path)
Laveth Daughter of Lolth (The Harrowing, Dungeon 84)
The Council of the Thorn (Natural Selection, Dungeon 85)
Ziki (Murder in Oakbridge, Dungeon 129)
King Bog One-eye (Throne of Iuz, Dungeon 118)
Warduke (No Adventure. Just him. Nuff Said!, Dungeon 105)
Marik Draven (Winding Way, Dungeon 117)
Balabar Smenk (Age of Worms Path)
The Maure Family (Maure Castle)
Prince Zeech (Prince of Redhand, Dungeon 131)
The Ominous Fabler (Prince of Redhand, Dungeon 131)
The Rogue's Gallery in Chimes at Midnight (Dungeon 133)
Victor Saint-Demain (Chimes at Midnight, Dungeon 133)
Almost Everyone in Kings of the Rift! (Dungeon 133)
Azurax Silverhawk (Threshold of Evil, Dungeon 10)
I'm sure I'm missing a bunch.
Once again good artwork as well as good motivation and a compelling tale all go a long way toward selling me on a villian. Here's hoping folks like the shiny black hats in the Dread Pagoda.
-GGG
Lashonna and Loris Raknian.
Here's hoping folks like the Black Hats in the Dread Pagoda.-GGG
From what I remember of our sleepy late night pillow-talk at Origins all those years ago, when Seeds was but a bubbling dream...they are some incredibly cool Black Hats!!! Can't wait to read it!
Are you planning an All Star Villain Reunion for the final issue?
Where do we begin???
1. Dragotha/Lashonna –the two of them are so entangled in the AOW with all their plotting against each other that you have put them together.
2. Eli Tomarast – the guy has demon hands…..DEMON HANDS!!! how can you go wrong with him?
3. Bazim –Gorag - from the Prison of the Fire-Bringer. One tough customer
4. Flame – Best reoccurring villain
5. The Union of Eclipses from Quicksilver Hourglass – an epic party of Undead intent on killing all life in the material plane – nice.
The question is unfair the list can easily go on and I haven’t included Adimarchus or the Cagewrights or Gith the Lich-Queen of the Githyanki. Heck I haven't even touched on all the great mid to lower level villains.
P.S. let’s not forget about that awakened whale from way back when!
Iggwilv, in anticipation. She is the greatest D&D villain of all time.
Lashonna.
Vanthus.
Balabar Smenk is the best low-level villain I've seen.
Zyrxog.
The drow priest in the Istivin arc--he was totally creepy and very memorable, though I can't remember his name now for some reason.
Dragotha
Balabar Smenk
Darl Quethos
Mr. Dory (the Styes)
Vanthus Vanderboren
Olangru
Vhalantru
Sharlocke the Arcanaloth (Diplomacy)
I enjoyed and quite a lot of mileage out of Brainy Loosemuscles and the late Dorl Tavyani (from "Vanity"), as well as the King's Players from "And Madness Followed".
Brainy Loosemuscles, mainly because he was such an over-the-top thug. I voiced him like Mr. Gumby from Monty Python, and the players all loved it.
Dorl Tavyani, not so much just the spectre of him who the players actually encountered, but more his role as a historical figure. Building on his legendary status (as described in the adventure), I have peppered the campaign ever since with more sites and relics related to him. And since the players know what an utter fake he was, it's become something of a running gag for them to foist these relics off on a particular collector they know and despise.
The King's Players, I liked just because they were so unusual. Instead of the standard Megalomaniacal Evil Cleric or Insane Wizard, the idea of a band of sinister (yet attractive and popular) bards who are putting on a play being a world-threatening evil, is just cool.
My campaign BBEG is Evard, as well, although he's more or less completely different from the version of him that appeared in Dungeon, so he probably doesn't count.
-The Gneech
Three for me really stand out, maybe because they're from my three favorite adventures (I've only subscribed since the relaunch). In no particular order:
Victor Saint-Demain (even if I can hear Logue's ego swelling from here)
Mr. Dory (so creepy; my players hated him instantly and couldn't wait to gank him)
Bog One-Eye (so creative and fun! I'll actually be running a slightly modified version of this adventure in about 6 months (give or take))
Three for me really stand out, maybe because they're from my three favorite adventures (I've only subscribed since the relaunch). In no particular order:
Victor Saint-Demain (even if I can hear Logue's ego swelling from here)
Jeez! Thanks a lot Zherog! Now I can't get out my front door! God! ;-)
Thanks for the Viktor shout out my man!
Narrowing it down to a single favourite villain is not easy.
Lashonna from Age of Worms has the sinister appeal.
And although it's only a low level adventure and she's not necessarily a villain, Arianne from Siege of the the Spider Eaters is hard to beat.
Although I do admit her appeal has a lot to do with the spider silk she is wearing on the front cover of that particular issue.
I am also looking forwards to finding out about Iggwilv. The campaign I am running has just reached epic levels and there's a battle brewing in the Abyss between Malcanthet and Graz'zt. Iggwilv has a role to play in that power struggle.
The Faceless One, from AOW “Three Faces of Evil" has got to be one of the creepiest villains. The nutty grimlock cult leader (can't remember his name) and Theldrick the Hextorite followed closely as effective enemy leaders from the same adventure.
Balabar Smenk from AOW "Whispering Cairn" made a good small time boss enemy. I liked his penchant for manipulation and intimidation. Filge was pretty bizarre, only surpassed by the Faceless One.
Tongue Eater, the werebaboon from SCAP “Flood Season.”
Kazmojen, the half-troll/half-dwarf slaver from SCAP’s “Life’s Bazaar.”
Pyllrak, the durzagon slave trader from SCAP’s “Life’s Bazaar.”
Duke Chupo from The Devil Box.
Huzzah! Ah but would Chupo consider himself a villain:)
Sigh, Chuppo had just come out of retirement in a devil box 2 submission...
Victor Saint-Demain (even if I can hear Logue's ego swelling from here)
we can hear it in England
Thanks for the votes for King Bog!
I remember the day I realized that everything fit together right. You could take that Titanic-templated toad, apply the Awaken spell and then even give him class levels. It was like I hit the jackpot inside my brain.
Once I had that figured, it wasn't long before I realized I could finally use the real-world Serpent Mound for his secret HQ. I was just flipping out about how cool it was all turning out.
It's funny, I held onto an Internet story about the Serpent Mound for two years before I was able to figure it out how to squeeze it into a D&D setting.
(Though I'm still kind of regretting the use of the super-high level orc soldiers for the army. Why'd I do it? I was just dying to get the Orc Shotput back into print.)
|
While I usually talk up the old school, I'll hold it 'til the end this time. Also, the recent stuff is great.
Pan'Phar the yak-man
Vanthus Vanderboren
Lashona
Prince Zeech
Loris Raknian
The Faceless One (best echo from the past in the whole of the paths, IMO)
Kaurophon
Evard
the dwarf wizard from Headless with all the simulacra
the sandman head from the DarkMatter adventure, for concept
and from wayback:
Talakara
in no particular order
Brother Abel (Unhallowed Ground, Dungeon #54)
Zhawar Orlysse (Ex Keraptis Cum Amore, Dungeon #77)
Dyrk the Redcap (redcap's Rampage, also Dungeon #54)
The drow priest in the Istivin arc--he was totally creepy and very memorable, though I can't remember his name now for some reason.
Derkoshan (or something like that)
He was awesome. He had no qualms with the PCs in our game - in fact, he treated them as guests: fed them fresh food and offered them what comforts he could; while wearing a mask of elf flesh. Oh, and the masachism thing? Imagine being the guests of honor at Hannibal Lector's house - you have Derkoshan.
My list in order:
1-Lashonna (She may be bad, but she feels good!)
2-Theldrik (Get ready to root for the bad guy!)
3-Derkoshan (Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah, getting creepy with it....)
4-Mr Dory (Your skins falling off of your face, Mr. Dory.)
5-Ominous Fabler (Ha ha ha ha ha !!! .... Shut Up!!!)
6-Darl Quethos (A lot of potential with this cat.)
7-Filge (Something tells me this guy isn't a licensed profesional.)
8-War Duke (Only the baddest man on the planet.)
Lashonna was just awesome. Heres someone that had executed a plan that took over three hundred years to coordinate, using the PCs as pawns the whole way. She's Lex Luther with power. You want kiss her and kill her at the same time.
Filge and Balabar Smenk were some favorites.
I love team fights, so Darl and his comrades and Kullen and his gang are favorites.
The Seventh Coil.
Ziki from Oakbridge.
Mr. Dory, of course, and all of the disgusting/creepy accoutrements that follow him.
The entire line-up of Chimes At Midnight.
This has to be Shahng from the Istivin trilogy: Wrath of the Abyss.
Duke Chupo from The Devil Box.
Dude he's an anti-hero!
GGG
|
From the Shackled City:
1. Vhalantru
2. Adimarchus
3. Triel and Tongue Eater
From Age of Worms
1. Lashonna
2. Balabar Smenk and Filge
3. The Faceless One
From “recent” (3.5) issues
1. Mister Dory
2. The escapees from Chimes at Midnight
3. Lady Dromdal and Peck from Shut In
From “classic” (2E) issues
1. The scarecrow and the bar lgura from The Unkindness of Ravens
2. The Marid from Deep Trouble in Telthin
3. The imp from Knight of the Scarlet Sword
Of the past few years, here are a few of my favorites villains, the issues they appeared in and the adventures therein:
Tyralandi, female half-fiend nymph ranger / thrall of Graz'zt (#95: Porphyry House Horror & #146: Serpents of Scuttlecove)
Wulvera, female halfblood yuan-ti bard / thrall of Demogorgon (#95: Porphyry House Horror)
Maliss, male halfblood yuan-ti ranger (#105: Racing the Snake)
Warduke, male human fighter (#105: Critical Threat)
Syrgaul Tammeraut, male human ghost fighter / sorcerer (#106: Tammeraut's Fate)
Hezzrack, male imp wizard (#119: Unfamiliar Ground)
Mio the Scorpion, female human monk / fighter (#120: The Obsidian Eye)
Mr. Dory, male human corpse creature rogue / cleric (#121: The Styes)
Balabar Smenk, male human rogue (#124: The Whispering Cairn & Age of Worms Overload)
The Faceless One, male human wizard (#125: Three Face of Evil)
Zyrxog, male mind flayer sorcerer (#127: Hall of Harsh Reflections) [I am changing Zyrxog to a psion (telepath) for my game]
Loris Raknian, male human fighter (#128: The Champion's Belt)
Dragotha, male wyrm red dragon dracolich (#134: Into the Wormcrawl Fissure)
Lashonna, female very old vampiric silver dragon (#135: Dawn of a New Age)
Kyuss, male god (#135: Dawn of a New Age)
I've been so consumed with reading, re-reading, and running the Age of Worms campaign that many of the issues after #135 have received only cursory readings. Since Yuan-ti always catch my eye and I've been looking forward to this adventure since it was previewed in the Savage Tide overview, I must include:
The Seventh, female yuan-ti anathema (#146: Serpents of Scuttlecove)
Even though she hasn't appeared in Dungeon but only graced the cover of #121, I also must include:
Iggwilv, Witch Queen of Tsojcanth
Her scholarly works will be one of the many things I miss come the demise of Dragon.
|
My favorite henchman so far was TongueEater the were-baboon; my players especially enjoyed finding him gloating over a severed head. Drakthar the vampire bugbear was pretty cool, too. He was one of the few battles where the PC's were pretty sure someone was going to die, and the survivors probably Dominated on top of that.
top 10, and a lot of these are old school
10. Iuz
9. the Githyanki lich queen, who my party pwned in 4 rounds of combat. (i hate bigby's crushing fist)
8. Warduke, just because he's so cool in a 14 yr old reminiscent sort of way
7. Rary, the traitor
6. King Snurre
5. Flame
4. #3's wife, the suel lich queen
3. The king in White, the lord of the Ghouls (thanks wolfgang)
2. acererak, the great devourer
and finally:
1. Vanthus Vanderboren. this is what is really cool about this guy: he's the main villain in the first episode, and for what he does to the party, and his mocking superority, what he does to his family for power, the badass look when they finally meet him, the back story, the RP potential. this guy has everything. i love playing this guy to the hilt. he's got clear motivations, he's selfish, mean, despicable, cruel, and does it with a panache that cannot be equalled. he's utterly ruthless and sell's his own family out for power. this is a guy who would kill his own grandmother if he could make a buck. he's unapologetically evil. he has totally embraced his evil and cannot be redeemed. he enjoys it that much. whoever wrote this guy deserves a pat on the back. thanks for creating a bad guy my players can't wait to destroy utterly.
5. The Union of Eclipses from Quicksilver Hourglass – an epic party of Undead intent on killing all life in the material plane – nice.
Thanks! Considering the span of time this thread covers, wow, I'm amazed that a creation of mine is able to shine in such august company. As I said on the favorite site thread, warms my heart to hear my little adventure at the end of time mentioned here at the end of Dungeon time.
Lashonna comes in first, with Prince Zeech at second in a photo finish. These two became so important, IMO, because they came to represent the different kinds of evil that not only would allow, but encourage the Age of Worms.
Though I could hardly believe it, my players were fully taken with Lashonna, convinced she had nothing but their interests in mind. And why wouldn't they? For all intents and purposes, she seemed just like another guiding hand (a la Allustan or Manzorian). She was even revealed early on to be a silver dragon. (Thank you for throwing a curveball to all those metagamers, my party most of all!) One player even refused to believe it when Balakarde revealed that she was a vampiric dragon! With Dragotha lined up as the BBEG--or so it would seem--Lashonna had a role usually reserved for some of Hollywood's best twists. (Keyser Soze, anyone?) I even had her off one of the dear friends of our party, a fellow adventuring NPC since EaBK, who was transformed into "Maralee." Simply unforgettable.
Zeech was a fantastic NPC, whose role was so perfect, in that the party had to restrain themselves constantly, desperately fighting off the urge to depose the tyrant, and "free" Redhand. He's never a true threat to the PCs--at least, in combat--but what he represents is a tense, twisted security for Redhand, that the PCs are loathe to admit is the best thing for Redhand at the moment. He and Loris Raknian came to represent how power without conscience was the clarion call to invite evil into their hearts and lives.
Dungeon has helped to redefine the villain in fantasy literature, IMO. These two provide complex examples of how a villain doesn't have to be a creep with a curly mustache, tying maidens to railroad tracks (though check out Nemein Roblach's pic in TINH!) Way to go, guys!
Cannot help but bring up the Germanicus sisters, not villians as such maybe... oh, and "Mr Perfect" from the second adventure... the guy with a vorpal blade, wight armor and a ATTITUDE -you will want to have m chidlren, who has better genes than me? Noone!!
Yeah Luciallia, and Avacia Germanicus, wasnt it?
Elixir of immortality...
Another, that wizard.. master of the white flame, had a prince turned into a beholder. Nazir, fairly certain that was the name.
Oh and that short treck, a djinni bottle... except it wasnt a djinni at all, just a tricked flame wizard :D
Or another side treck, the wagon and its 2 imps (wasnt it?), tricky as hell before they figured out what was wrong :D
Oh yeah, and that slayer from dungeon#47, assassin within... so its ok now? ...after putting together the incriminating evidence.. lol
The trickster from gangwolf, poisons and all is wort a mention.. at the minimum! Oh YES, and DONT forget the "barber" from that same issue !!! (49)
Yes, and last but not least. Certainly a issue of great humiliation... when the players killed the little crystal dragon in Dragons delve £62, for just throwing snowballs at them.. they felt like horrible insensitive monsters afterwards :D
#45 had some awesome ones too... rudwilla witch & mother of some halforcs.. and gritzel that "oracle". lol
And my eternal love for morda, in witches brew #67
Udo the fleshgolem in love, issue 61
Agrovale, the skeleton warrior in A Rose for Talakara (Dungeon #25) will probably always be my favorite.
Other memorable villains include King Bog One-eye in Throne of Iuz (Dungeon #118), Sosias in Home Under the Range (Dungeon #134), and Sharloke in Diplomacy (Dungeon #144). Also, all of the AP villians have been great! Khullen, Filge, Balabar Smenk, Theldrick, The Faceless One, Telakin, Zyrzog, Loris Raknian, Bozal Zahol, Ilthane, Mak'ar, Lashonna, Prince Zeech, Darl Quethos, Dragotha, and Kyuss in AoW. Vanthus, Rowyn, Olangru, Manthalay, N'glothnoru, Khala, Cold Captain Wyther, and the Seventh in ST so far.
I'm not sure whether Iggwilv can really be considered a major villain in the pages of DUNGEON magazine. I mean she has been featured in adventures, but never as a villain of the PCs (I think). The same goes with her in issue 149. I assume her role is that of someone helping the PCs out rather than interfering in their plans.
Vanthus looks great on the next cover of DUNGEON and was certainly a great villain in the earlier parts of the STAP. These days though, he seems more and more like just a patsy/pawn of Demogorgon rather than his own man/demon/undead, which is a little disconcerting given how powerful he is.
Can't wait to see Demodragon in issue 147. Fantastic.
Damn, I didn't even come up with a list.
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
|
Thanks! Considering the span of time this thread covers, wow, I'm amazed that a creation of mine is able to shine in such august company. As I said on the favorite site thread, warms my heart to hear my little adventure at the end of time mentioned here at the end of Dungeon time.
5. The Union of Eclipses from Quicksilver Hourglass – an epic party of Undead intent on killing all life in the material plane – nice.
Check out the web supplement to Fiendish Codex 1: Hordes of the Abyss. I brought back the Union and tied them to Kanchelsis, the Abyssal god of vampires.
It was cut from the book, but it lives forever on the Internets.
--Erik
|
|
1) Prince Zeech (Age of Worms)
2) Balabar Smenk (Age of Worms)
3) Warduke (Dungeon #105)
4) Vhalantru (Shackled City)
5) Faceless One (Age of Worms)
6) Lady Thifirane (Shackled City)
7) The Whisperer (The Styes)
8) Mr. Dory (The Styes)
9) Mak'ar, the Harbinger of Worms (Age of Worms)
10)Kaurophon (Shackled City)
Not much love for my group favorite. Harbringer (SP?) from “The obsidian eye”