When I design a campaign, one of the first things I ask
myself is: Who is the main villain going to be? DMs are always eager to create intimidating, tough,
unique, and slightly terrifying baddies. However, I find that very little
attention is paid to the main villain’s support team. Think about it, most PCs
have a very good support team. They have other PCs, often a mentor or a guide
NPC, sometimes they learn special skills or pick up special abilities from
adventuring, and often collect magical items that enhance what they can
accomplish. So where is the villain’s support?
Sure, the DM can always up the hit points and the armor
class, or give the villain a few items or special abilities, or also surround
them with lackeys and minions; but the real challenge, and perhaps reward, lies
in creating a true secondary villain. What do I mean by a secondary villain?
I’m talking about a mini-boss and the main villain’s right hand
man/woman/thing. Think of a secondary villain as the moat the PCs have to get
over or past in order to get the castle (main villain) beyond.
Pop culture uses the secondary villain frequently and
effectively. They are often first perceived by the heroes as the main villain
until they later realize, usually to their dismay, that another and more
powerful foe has really been pulling the strings all along. I personally
created a home-brew campaign once that had three secondary villains, all of
which the PCs thought were the main villain at some point. When they finally
realized that a fourth and much more powerful foe was behind all of the
problems, they freaked and I laughed.
If you need a little inspiration, or simply don’t quite
understand what I mean by a secondary villain, here are a few examples from
popular movies:
As the leader of Nockmaar’s armies, General Kael seems to
genuinely enjoy riding around and killing others. What else would you expect
from a man who fashioned his helmet out of a human skull and an animal’s jaw?
Even more intimidating are his skills in combat and strategy that allow him to
do this killing efficiently. General Kael answers to no one but the evil Queen
Bavmorda and even then you sort of get the sense that he is only humoring the
Queen until the time is right for him to claim it all. These sort of secondary
villains who do the grunt work for the more advanced main villains are cliché
but effective.
Boba Fett (Star
Wars Universe)
Sometimes you need to employ an undesirable to eliminate
an undesirable and such is the case with Boba Fett. It is also interesting to
note that here is a secondary villain (Fett) being hired by a secondary villain
(Vader) to serve the purpose of the main villain (Palpatine). And this
illustrates a good point, the number of layers you want to add to your campaign
is limitless. In D&D, having your main villain employ mercenaries or even
other adventuring parties makes for great story fodder and can eventually lead
to big confrontations, crossovers, and even double-crosses.
Saruman (The Lord
of The Rings Trilogy)
Here is an excellent example of a character that you
think is on your side and then turns against you at your weakest moment. These
kinds of secondary villains can be the most heart wrenching for your PCs,
especially if they don’t see it coming. It’s also an amazing process to try to
pull off an 11th hour betrayal with one of the PCs themselves! I’ve
had the privilege of witnessing a player, with my previous knowledge and
consent, secretly work against his own party the entire campaign only to fully
expose his treachery at the very last battle. It’s nothing short of delight to
see that “I can’t believe it!” look plastered over your players’ faces.
Snape (The Harry
Potter Series)
Just the opposite of Saruman above, the character of
Snape illustrates a secondary villain who you think is completely against you
from the beginning but ends up being one of your biggest allies. These sorts of
transformations may not be as shocking as their opposites but they do carry a
good amount of satisfaction for the PCs. There is no small sense of
accomplishment when players can struggle against an NPC, sometimes for months,
and then finally win them over to “the good side”. It’s also interesting to set
up the scenario where an NPC comes off as a villain but they are really just
trying to challenge or toughen-up the PCs for the trials ahead.
Nebula (The
Guardians of the Galaxy)
Here is a great example of the “what’s in it for me”
secondary villain. In Guardians, Nebula is hoping to attach herself to a main villain powerful enough to slay her father, Thanos. Thus she will work for
anyone and any reason necessary to accomplish that goal, even though she
herself may not be completely evil. These kinds of secondary villains bring a
lot of options to your D&D table simply because they are constantly
motivated by opportunity rather than emotion. This means that they can change
their allegiance several times a campaign depending on which side, or master,
may give them the best chance of reaching their goal. Something I've never
tried before, but might be extremely interesting, is a secondary villain
serving more than one main villain. (Would you call that co-main villains?)
Regardless of their background or nature, a secondary villain brings depth and dynamics to your campaign. Give them the weight and the respect that they deserve and I promise you they will pay off. Perhaps you might even come to realize, as I have in the past, that a secondary villain can be even more fun/interesting than your main baddie. (I smell sequel!)
