I wanted to start this thread after going over the Design a Villian contest from the RPG Superstar. I want people to talk about the villians that they have created for the PC's to fight against. During my last campaign my DM allowed me to create a villian for my char, as part of my char's background. At the time I was playing a Half-Elf Female Bard who loved to give a Pirate/Slave Trader a very hard time.
Info on the Villian
Name: Nefarious
Race: Human
Age: Unknown Estimated to be mid 60's
Occupation: Pirate/ Slave Trader, over 50 years
Religion: Philosophy of Evil
Vessel: Large Airship crew of over 200 (airship DM's Idea)
History: Nothing known about him before he started pirating, Family, Origin and real name are all unknown. Lost right in in fight with my Char. (score one for me :)) He only employs the most evil from all the different races. He seeks away to obtain eternal life with out fear of death, without becoming a vampire or other undead creature.
M.O: Raids an area slaughters and eats all adults and sells the children into slavery, and take all items of great value and any artifacts they can find.
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When I make a villain, I have to answer a few important questions: Why is this guy evil? Why is he doing this? What does he expect to get in the end?
The bad guys with no reason for being bad guys are boring. The bad guys who are power-hungry are good. But bad guys who are pursuing evil goals for reasons that were once pure are better.
In the campaign I'm building, the main villains, Les Cinq Lances, were actually great heroes in the world's past, who lost one of their own, and gradually went to darker and darker methods to try and bring him back. And everything that the players are going through is due to the machinations of Les Cinq Lances pushing events in the directions they need to achieve their goals.
In my most well-planned and longest lasting FR campaign (about 3 sessions), the BBEG I developed was a former Netherese wizard bound to a pit fiend. Before that empire's fall, he had gained insights into the plans of Karsus and had a terrible vision of the consequences. He searched, year after year, to find a way to prevent the coming cataclysm. Finally, a powerful devil had brokered a deal with him in exchange for his soul. Of course, the bargain was twisted and came to nothing. Netheril fell, and the wizard was doomed to eternal servitude in the pit fiend's thrall. I don't remember exactly how I worked the next part out, but the wizard was still alive somehow (I don't think I'd made him a lich, but perhaps that was my solution), and the baatezu was trapped in an ancient vault-prison beneath the sands of the Anauroch. Of course, the plan was to release the devil, which is where the party would have to intercede. However, the villain was developed to be much more compelling and sympathetic. Too bad we never got close to finishing that game.
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One of the villains for my only finished campaign to date was a sort of necromantic terrorist who was also trying to resurrect a dead evil god. Farras Gane (his name) was perfectly ordinary-looking WITHOUT the benefit of illusion magic and dressed very plainly; no black robes, etc. This allowed him to move unnoticed through the city most of the game took place in. He was totally and utterly ruthless. He smuggled undead minions into the city, led a cell of a cult that caused all kinds of problems, and was generally a thorn in the PCs' side, but I think the most prominent thing he did was when the PCs tracked him down the first time. The party caught up with him having breakfast with his local bodyguard and sent in a group of city watchmen to make the arrest (their idea was that he'd probably make a break for it and so they covered the exits). The chain of events went down something like this:
Round 1: Guard Sergeant approaches the table where Farras Gane and his bodyguard, Phadimonius Te, are eating. Hepolitely asks them if they'd be so kind as to step outside so they can talk.
Round 2: Phadimonius Te quick draws a pistol from a concealed holster and shoots the guard sergeant between the eyes with a bullet made of gehennan morghuth-iron. Farras Gane stands up and blasts the most densely-concentrated group of diners with a fell-animated fireball, setting the place on fire, killing most of the people blasted, and animating them as zombies.
Round 3: PCs hear the gunshot, explosion, and screams, start moving in. Farras Gane gives the zombies the order to kill as many more people as possible and he and Phadimonius slip away in the resulting chaos.
Phadimonius Te was a drow pistoleer with several undead grafts, including a bodak eye under an eyepatch.
The things I liked about these two were:
1. Contrast. Farras Gane was very average looking, Phadimonius Te was distinctive as can be. Farras Gane was a spellcaster, Phadimonius Te was a warrior. FG relied on his own skills (in spellcasting and blending in) PT used every edge he could get.
2. Loathsomeness. Both of these cretins were perfectly willing to slaughter innocents whenever it was convenient, perform human sacrifices, etc.
3. Aesthetics. I could picture these two in my mind by the end of the game, and they looked cool. I could picture Farras Gane's 3-something, brown-haired, brown-eyed face, plain green tunic and plain brown pants and Phadimonius Te's eyepatch, pulled back stark white hair, inky-black skin, trenchcoat, weapon harness (he had a small arsenal under his trenchcoat) and elven chainmail. And by the time they caught up with these two and killed them for good, the players could picture them, too.
Most recently? I created an insane god of death, drawing upon the necromantic energies of millions of dead bodies, who appears poised to overthrow the other nine gods of the Empire that these Divines rule. Enter his grandson (a PC), and their friends. So far they aren't really officially enemies. He's even helped them out on an occasion or two, convinced (because he hasn't paid attention and they made no over moves) that family came first and they would join his side. They know he's a massive threat, and the good life Will Be Over if they don't stop him. The moment they tip their hand, it gets ugly....
Prior to that? I had an old, old man being assisted around by the party to follow an ancient prophecy to its end. Every where he went, fiery things would attack the PCs. They found out about the ancient Demons of the Elements, and figured that this was the Fire Demon attacking their aging charge. Then he got captured. When they went to rescue him? He turned into the demon.