I'm running a session and have been making a villain with a grant scheme that involves resurrecting a dragon, gaining the power of a God, and while I realized that was all cool, I want a goal for him besides destroy everything, or take over the world. Any ideas?
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Usually the thing that separates villains from others are the lines they're willing to cross to get what they want.
So the big question is what does he want out of life? Even Raistlin's quest to possess the power of a god is rooted in the traumas of his past. Lex Luthor is driven by a fanatic sense of inadequacy when he compares himself to aliens... especially Superman. So you need to get inside the villain's head and ask yourself... what drives him?
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Impressing the hero's girlfriend and thereby winning her heart. "Once I'm a God she'll have to date me!"
Wanting to bring utopia to the world, a world peace, and you'd need to be pretty strong to do that.
Power of a God is usually a pretty fine goal by itself.
There are of course several things that could drive one to want that kind of power. Fear would be one, simply wanting to be sure you wouldn't die and/or couldn't be killed. Wanting the power to get revenge against a specific person or group. Pride/feelings of inferiority could drive one to obtain that sort of power just to prove you could or as a means of keeping score against rivals. Needing the power to promote a specific ideology of some kind, this might involve taking over the world, but the taking over would be a means to an end. Bringing life back to a dead loved one is a fairly classic trope for this kind of thing too.
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Revive a dead friend/relative/lover.
Put a stop to what he believes is the world's greatest problem (but has either misidentified the true nature of the problem and/or overestimated its significance due to a personal history) despite an unacceptably high cost or collateral damage.
Prevent/confront a cosmic threat that he thinks is coming but nobody believes him. (Could be crazy and there's no threat, or he could be right and now the heroes have to face a new threat and they just offed the only guy prepared to deal with it.)
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Usually the thing that separates villains from others are the lines they're willing to cross to get what they want.
So the big question is what does he want out of life? Even Raistlin's quest to possess the power of a god is rooted in the traumas of his past. Lex Luthor is driven by a fanatic sense of inadequacy when he compares himself to aliens... especially Superman. So you need to get inside the villain's head and ask yourself... what drives him?
Depending on the version. My favourite Lex is the one who believes that humans will become complacent with Superman around and will never reach their full potential as long as he remains to band-aid problems the human race can work together to solve.
A villain just needs a motivation:
1) Power [obvious]
2) Love [return a loved one, gain love, destroy love or empathy]
3) Vengeance [obvious]
4) Acceptance [feels they've been persecuted, wronged by someone]
5) Greed [obvious]
6) Justice [twisted or otherwise, they want to exact some sort of justice, bring order to the world of chaos]
7) Fear [to spread fear, they're scared]
8) Desperation [see: Arthas the Lich King]
9) Self-Enlightenment [stealing knowledge perhaps, taking identities or memories to become the best they can be]
10) Destiny, Prophecy [to escape it or to become it]
11) Survival [maybe the last of its kind, wants to just live forever, stop a cosmic threat that may or may not be real]
13) Insanity [not touching this one]
14) Grief [obvious]
15) Rebellion [hates the status quo]
16) To be left alone [keeps getting pushed around by lesser forces and lashes out, keeps getting manipulated and used for its power]
Etc.
You can always twist and change things. The villain won't stop to achieve the goal and that line is generally what makes them a villain, but the motivation is what makes them a good one.
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His brother was killed in a war against a neighbouring country when he was young. He's amassing power to sieze control of that country and turn it into a good place. By force.
His childhood sweetheart was forced to marry a powerful noble, and he's hell-bent on freeing her, and taking her for his wife, no matter the consequences.
The dragon killed his father, and this is his revenge.
His wife died in childbirth and he lost his son. Nobody has been able to resurrect them, so he's going to do anything to bring them back.
- Obtain personal wealth/power: this does not need to mean "take over the world. I could mean magical research, this village/mine/mountain is mine, etc.
- Fulfillment of personal desires: So what if my hobbies include drinking blood, kidnapping young girls, and tormenting stray dogs.
- I'm already an obscenely wealthy king and perfectly happy with the status quo. Follow the laws mortal.
- This is my tower; just go away and leave me alone.
- She loves me, she just does not realize it yet.
- You destroyed my family, it's only fair I do the same to you.
Revenge isn't just for PC's, your villain can have been wronged in the past as well.
just finished re-reading the first vlad taltos novel
sometimes endeavors on a human scale can be just as villainous as taking over the world
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Well, in my campaign the main antagonist...
Get the Tome of Adventure Design. It's excellent at helping generate reasons for things, ranging from hiding something (physical objects, information, etc.) to gaining wealth, power, reputation, or even supporting other villains. XD There's MANY potential reasons and methods for villains to use.
...is made of fluffy kitten whiskers. Sorry, Rednal's actually in the campaign I was going to use as an example. Needless to say, they have an interesting motivation that isn't evil, with a goal that probably is.
But I find a realistic villain is rarely one who thinks of themselves as evil, although some will if they think they're working towards a greater good. Even your average racist genocidal lunatic honestly thinks they're doing the world a favour by wiping out whichever group they're attacking. A villain often thinks they're doing what's best, and that if killing off a few orphanages worth of children will save the world...well.
- Fear. Once you're a god, the list of entities you need to worry about drops off considerably.
- Pleasure or freedom. Once you're a god, you can do anything you want- or at least, if there are limits, they're far beyond any you could have even comprehended as a mortal.
- Paranoia. Kind of like fear, except if the villain has the chance to seize that power, other people do to. They're taking it so somebody worse doesn't- for some value of "worse".
- Agenda. Aroden meddled a lot in mortal affairs to promote humans. This villain might have a similarly narrow focus, benefiting one group at the expense of others.
- Atonement. Having done terrible things, the only way to atone is enough power to fix them- whatever the consequences.
Also, boredom.
not for light haha
Save the world (by any means necessary).
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Obsessive Compulsive Hatred: "I will not rest until every last water chestnut is eliminated from the face of the world!!
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A lot depends upon the role that the villain needs to serve in your adventure. There are a lot of motivations that work great for a monster/villain of the week but won't work for a villain who is supposed to drive a whole campaign.
For example, let's take the seven deadly sins (which could also be described as seven great adventure hooks):
Lust. This is mostly a villain of the week motivation. Bad guy wants to impress a girl, so he does X. Bad guy has an unnatural or unrequited lust for XYZ, so he kidnaps to satisfy his lust. It might potentially be a campaign-driving motivation but you would need some kind of grand object of affection. The classic version would be that bad guy sees the face of Aphrodite or some imprisoned demon goddess of great beauty and sets the world on fire in order to gain enough power to be a suitable match or to set the demon goddess free.
Gluttony. This might be a villain of the week motivation if you have some immoral delicacy (like blink dog steaks) in your setting or something that can only be appropriately satisfied in a manner that requires destruction. For example, if assassin vine berry wine only has the appropriate flavor when the vines are fed human flesh, you could have a villain driven by gluttony. The vintner or customer might be a good villain of the week but I don't think it could drive a campaign.
Greed. This is a good motivation for any kind of villainy but the more dramatic ones shade into pride. People do all sorts of things for money whether lying, robbing and murdering individuals or starting wars and plundering entire countries.
Sloth. This might be made into a villain of the week motivation but it's probably not going to make an epic campaign. For example, you might have a character whose inheritance or other desired goal requires a difficult but not dangerous quest or task. Rather than put in the work, the villain comes up with a fraud scheme to get what he wants. A late republic/imperial Roman patrician style villain who wants to recline on his couch and have slaves satisfy his every whim might also be a suitable villain though I tend to think the story will be villain of the week unless there is another motivation besides sloth. The interesting part about this kind of villain though is that the villain responsible for the plot may not be the main combat threat (and may not be a combat threat at all).
Wrath. Anger, revenge, etc is another classic motivation suitable for any size story. Angry people have done things ranging from fraud and assault to murder or genocide. In a fantasy world, you might also have people angry at gods or powers who concoct campaign-worthy schemes to injure them. How do you injure a god or demon lord? Odds are pretty good it's not going to be healthy for anyone involved in the scheme.
Envy. Envy is another classic motivation for any size story. Envy could motivate someone to (like Hextor) sell his soul to the powers of evil in order to equal or best a brother. Or it could inspire a more mundane confidence scheme. Pick the story you want to tell and envy will probably work.
Pride. Pride is another motivation suitable for any size story. In an adventure of the week maybe it motivates the traveling barbarian to murder the king's doorman rather than doff his cap or surrender his sword. (Wanted, dead or alive). In a grand campaign, it might cause a villain to imagine that he can bind Grazz't and bend him to his will. Result: Iuz or whatever terrible thing you feel like.
Of course, you don't have to limit yourself to just one. It's been a while since I read Dune, but Baron Harkonnen definitely hits lust, sloth and greed (and probably collects the whole set but like I said, it's been a while since I read the book).
...seems like "why" the villain does what they do is going to add much remembrance as opposed to "what" they do.
I...I don't like water chestnuts...they're disgusting...its like eating styrofoam or plastic...
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I want some mad evil genius to carry out Stitch's master plan of stealing an entire civilization's left shoe.
Try designing a few sample character concepts as non-villains. Maybe even heroes. Determine some normal things for them to want, and what they wouldn't be willing to do to get those things. Then figure out what would make them feel justified in doing those things.
Maybe finding a letter from a long-dead family member would re-inspire a quest for vengeance. Maybe a sign from an evil god could spur someone to greater pride. Maybe they've just really really really had enough of their life going badly when they tried to play nice. Whatever works to push them over that edge, once you figure out where it ought to be.
Because the most compelling villains are the ones who want the same little things we all do, because we can see ourselves in that temptation to do things the wrong way, and still hate it.
Had a Vampire Prince for a Requiem chronicle who's main thing was Sloth.
He took over the city because he was sick of people always telling him to do things. As Prince he could delegate everything and spend the rest of his eternal unlife relaxing and lounging around in silk robes. He manipulated various factions into half killing each other and when everyone in the city was half dead him and his buddies walked in and declared him prince.
Of course there is Thanos, in marvel comics, who's whole motive is a rather extreem case of trying to get the attention of the girl he likes. "I'll become a god and kill half the universe. Then she'll notice me"
Imagine a guy who falls in love with Phasmara or Urgathoa.
What would that guy do to get the attention of the Goddess he's obsessed with?
Wealth, comfort, and the power to make sure no one can take them away.
Defeating mortality is a popular one: everyone fears death, and even once one becomes a lich, you fear death by violence or accident.
And of course, the root of Evil is selfishness - the willingness to take a shortcut through someone else's happiness to obtain your own. Nearly any goal can be twisted to Evil this way.
Boredom.
To see if he can.
Overconfidence in his abilities that lead to a superiority complex where every goal he has is merely a matter of time. So he goes on more and more extravagant goals both to find challenge and to fill his vainglory by seeing the praise from others.
At some point, he just decided to step onto a larger stage and start fighting toe to toe with gods.
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Sloth. This might be made into a villain of the week motivation but it's probably not going to make an epic campaign. For example, you might have a character whose inheritance or other desired goal requires a difficult but not dangerous quest or task. Rather than put in the work, the villain comes up with a fraud scheme to get what he wants. A late republic/imperial Roman patrician style villain who wants to recline on...
Sloth probably works better if you're not having a villain per se, but a cultural antagonism - the decaying kingdom sort of thing. It's not necessarily going to be a campaign that ends with a showdown with a BBEG, but it could be something that generates a whole slew of plot hooks.
I once had a villain who was actually a PC from a previous campaign. He was a tiefling who had been shunned by society first in cheliax, because tieflings are seen as a singn of weakness for their parents (a really cool piece of fluff in my eyes btw) and then in most other countries for the more obvius reasons.
The whole ordeal made him hate the concept of fate, wich lead to a "I have to become the most powerful so no one can decide my life." Once he had left behind most mortals, he realized that the gods still ruled his fate and that of everyone else.
So he went on and tried to create an atrificial starstone to simply make EVERYBODY into gods to even the playing field.
Since he figured that once he was a god, he could just fix everything he had broken, he followed this goal with ZERO caution or restraint.
Sadly the campaign never progressed to the point where the PCs would have been confronted with his reasoning.
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I want some mad evil genius to carry out Stitch's master plan of stealing an entire civilization's left shoe.
The Villain, as a child, was in some accident that deformed his left foot.
At low levels, the players have to stop thefts of shoes from different sources.At mid levels, the players have to stop the destruction of guilds and suppliers of shoe creation.
At high levels, the players have to infiltrate the Villains fortress, and stop him before he can use all the shoes to cast a spell that will deform everyone's left foot.
One of my favorite villains I ever made was a human lich. He was stealing all sorts of magic items from everywhere because he wanted to open a permanent gate and had no idea how to do it(wizard with 0 knowledge arcana). This gate was to be located at the deepest part of ocean leading to the elemental plane of fire. Why? Because he was curious. He actually wasn't evil but simply had no idea it would kill everyone. As an immortal undead being he had forgotten that water was necessary for life.
The first Storm Queen: "These people hurt me. I'm going to get god-like power to hurt them back." "These people hurt me, and the rest of the village let them. I'm going to make all their lives a living hell. I don't care if I have to plunge half the continent into darkness to do it."
The second Storm Queen: "This world brings nothing but suffering, and it must be stopped. Obviously, the best solution is to kill everything so nothing suffers ever again."
Sloth probably works better if you're not having a villain per se, but a cultural antagonism - the decaying kingdom sort of thing. It's not necessarily going to be a campaign that ends with a showdown with a BBEG, but it could be something that generates a whole slew of plot hooks.
Sloth. This might be made into a villain of the week motivation but it's probably not going to make an epic campaign. For example, you might have a character whose inheritance or other desired goal requires a difficult but not dangerous quest or task. Rather than put in the work, the villain comes up with a fraud scheme to get what he wants. A late republic/imperial Roman patrician style villain who wants to recline on...
I have seen a good use of a sloth based character that entered into final boss stages of decisions.
IT was the "The Lazy King", where the (Starting) protagonist was a demon lord based off of sloth, and he was the most powerful simply because he was durable and lived for such strange aeons that no one could really compete- everything else followed their hot desires and died before getting to that stage.
Of course, that character only got interesting as a 'final boss' when the sloth was also tinged with melancholia- he grew tired of being woken up by heroes seeking to kill a demon lord, demon lords looking to gain power, and subordinates seeking to usurp him. So he wanted to freeze the world so no one would ever bother him again.
So that is an angle to work with- one that simply grew tired of this world's existence, and has unimaginable strength that can accomplish it. Of course, that is both an advantage and disadvantage. As a creature of sloth, it could easily wait thousands of years for some doomsday weapon to mature and finish cooking. But he of course would not mobilize very effectively against a last ditch effort to stop this attempt. Done well, and you can touch upon undertones of the Old ones from lovercraftian works.
I want some mad evil genius to carry out Stitch's master plan of stealing an entire civilization's left shoe.
"He will be irresistibly drawn to large cities, where he will back up sewers, reverse street signs, and steal everyone's left shoe."
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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A big one for a villain who wants "cosmic" level power is a desire to "fix" everything - once they have the power they can remake the world into their version of perfection.
A classic one is the person who wants to end death - without realizing that this leaves a lot of suffering in the world, forever.
Another could be to establish a government where people like the villain end up in charge, usually labeled a meritocracy. It's just what "merit" means that changes from despot to despot.