Creating a Villain ._.

[Korsahrath]

Working on my RL campaign and wanting to start with my villain. I have my starting town which is the village of "Krofberg" that is featured in the RLDMG. But I want to create and in depth villain that is very, very detailed. I have read most of the sources that contain all the things to create one. But I can't think of anything. Any ideas?

[Hogan Van Monsterband]

First question to ask would be, what do your players want out of the game? If they're looking to punch on, that's going to be a very different villain than if they're into investigation or political intrigue.

[Manofevil]

It's also a good idea to look to established iconic villians for ideas and aspects.

Do you want an orgasmic torturer like Freddy Krueger?
A self-loathing grim reaper like Darth Vader?
A faceless voiceless killing machine like Jason Voorhees?
A creature of unbound ambition like Macbeth?
A soulless programmed killing machine like The Terminator?
A person of as much heroism as villainy like the Godfather, Don Corlione?
Maybe several aspects of several.
Villains are always the juiciest roles and a well made villain is always memorable.

[HuManBing]

...a dauntless apocalyptic hitman with an incomprehensible death philosophy like Anton Chigurh?

[Korsahrath]

It's also a good idea to look to established iconic villians for ideas and aspects.

Do you want an orgasmic torturer like Freddy Krueger?
A self-loathing grim reaper like Darth Vader?
A faceless voiceless killing machine like Jason Voorhees?
A creature of unbound ambition like Macbeth?
A soulless programmed killing machine like The Terminator?
A person of as much heroism as villainy like the Godfather, Don Corlione?
Maybe several aspects of several.
Villains are always the juiciest roles and a well made villain is always memorable.

The emotion that Vader brought to the table would be very awesome to incorporate in mine. My player's usually enjoy all aspects of dnd, so wherever I take the story would be no problem. They love role-playing and that love killing.

If I were to ask them what do they want to get out of the game (obviously trying to propose horror) how would I go about it?

[alhoon]

Just keep in mind, that you need to be very careful and in some cases lucky, to get the PCs find out about the depth of a very, very detailed villain. I.e. if you go for a Jason guy (Jason OBVIOUSLY being a mummy, not restless dead as some heretics would have you consider), then you need a lot of local people and torn pages etc etc for the PCs to learn the backstory.

Consider cut-scenes for the PCs.

[Korsahrath]

Well where should I begin on creating my Villain?

[Korsahrath]

What would be a suiting villain for Krofberg?

[Hogan Van Monsterband]

If I were to ask them what do they want to get out of the game (obviously trying to propose horror) how would I go about it?

Don't overthink it. Just say to them "hey guys, what do you want out of this game?" and go from there.

In terms of Krofburg itself, it's Barovia, so you're probably going to want the shadow of Strahd cast over everything. You need to decide if the PCs are coming in from outside (in which case it's a creepy, insular village) or natives (in which case it's a warm, welcoming place full of the same families they've all grown up with.) The book mentions that the Burgomaster and the parish priest get along, so if one of them's good, they both are (although, the corrupt mayor is pretty much a staple of small-town horror - if you use such a mundane villain, though, you need to make it such that the PCs can't just off him). It also mentions a newly-changed werewolf in the caves, so you could go with that - if you paint the werewolf as a tragic figure and play up the fact that this is someone they used to know and might be able to be saved, you could get some interesting stuff out of that.

[Korsahrath]

If I were to ask them what do they want to get out of the game (obviously trying to propose horror) how would I go about it?

Don't overthink it. Just say to them "hey guys, what do you want out of this game?" and go from there.

In terms of Krofburg itself, it's Barovia, so you're probably going to want the shadow of Strahd cast over everything. You need to decide if the PCs are coming in from outside (in which case it's a creepy, insular village) or natives (in which case it's a warm, welcoming place full of the same families they've all grown up with.) The book mentions that the Burgomaster and the parish priest get along, so if one of them's good, they both are (although, the corrupt mayor is pretty much a staple of small-town horror - if you use such a mundane villain, though, you need to make it such that the PCs can't just off him). It also mentions a newly-changed werewolf in the caves, so you could go with that - if you paint the werewolf as a tragic figure and play up the fact that this is someone they used to know and might be able to be saved, you could get some interesting stuff out of that.

d(^o^)b
Thanks!
I will think of something from that route. I want to have them more involved with the town, so a corrupt leader is perfect. But maybe I will take the detective theme for the forst couple of adventures. I was also tasking some notes of what I had in mind, posting it soon.

p.s. All pc's are native.

[Korsahrath]

These are all notes. Very basic just jotted them down as I read. I will read them in order from the thoughts that came to mind. (Reading Krofberg, themes and all that good stuff)

-Nikolai Badunas pranks have been beginning to get out of hand. There is a big traditional wine harvest that is coming up soon, but Nikolai has gone overboard, poisoning krofbergs livestock. The Kamii tribe knows of another vistani group capable of curing the "blue fungus."

I think this best fits with the detective theme.

-People are getting really ill don't know why. Pc's investigate. Who did it? (maybe Nikolai was paid by the corrupt burgomaster and burgo is being controlled by true villain; making an even more perfect way to make this a detective style adventure)

As one of the npc's that I thought I could make work with the party, he is a young boy who has stolen some rare weapon that was introduced by the Vistani that no one could afford. Maybe a pistol (this could be a cut scene). This boy admires the party and wants to help his town. Later on this problem could probably make way to party by him being cursed, and maybe party wants to help. Just ideas.

So the villain that could possibly fit is one that had a troubled life in krofberg and maybe wants to get back at them. Just not exactly sure. What are your ideas?

[Nukdai]

What motivates him to steal, why pranks? is it his upbringing or is he just a turd? He admires the Party a family never had? why go bad? a curse what brought it on was it justified? Even Adolf Hitler believed he was doing the right thing......

[Rotipher of the FoS]

If you want to integrate new villains into the community, you might provide a hint or two that the villain is out there, but not actually have the PCs meet them until their heroes have completed an introductory adventure or two. That'll give you leeway to customize the villain to be a better foil for the characters, once you've seen a bit more of the personalities and talents your players are giving them.

If your next villain is going to be, say, a cruel tax collector who works for Strahd, you might have a villager mention that they really, really need the PCs to track down whatever's killing his livestock, or he won't be able to pay his taxes next week. The innkeeper refuses to give a luxury-loving PC the best room, because the tax collector is due to arrive soon, and always claims it for himself. The burgomaster can be poring over financial ledgers when the heroes meet with him about a mystery they're investigating, and he seems more worried by those than by what the PCs are doing. After the druid PC talks the villagers out of killing all the bears in the area, for fear of werebears, the proclamation of a bounty on bears is posted, with the signature of Strahd's local tax agent...

Long before the PCs actually meet the villanous tax collector, they'll have begun to form an idea of what he's like, and why he's not someone they're likely to get along with. Even though he's a homebrew NPC, not one from the RLDMG, he'll slip into place within the setting - a thorn in the heroes' side - just as if he'd belonged there from the start.

[Korsahrath]

If you want to integrate new villains into the community, you might provide a hint or two that the villain is out there, but not actually have the PCs meet them until their heroes have completed an introductory adventure or two. That'll give you leeway to customize the villain to be a better foil for the characters, once you've seen a bit more of the personalities and talents your players are giving them.

If your next villain is going to be, say, a cruel tax collector who works for Strahd, you might have a villager mention that they really, really need the PCs to track down whatever's killing his livestock, or he won't be able to pay his taxes next week. The innkeeper refuses to give a luxury-loving PC the best room, because the tax collector is due to arrive soon, and always claims it for himself. The burgomaster can be poring over financial ledgers when the heroes meet with him about a mystery they're investigating, and he seems more worried by those than by what the PCs are doing. After the druid PC talks the villagers out of killing all the bears in the area, for fear of werebears, the proclamation of a bounty on bears is posted, with the signature of Strahd's local tax agent...

Long before the PCs actually meet the villanous tax collector, they'll have begun to form an idea of what he's like, and why he's not someone they're likely to get along with. Even though he's a homebrew NPC, not one from the RLDMG, he'll slip into place within the setting - a thorn in the heroes' side - just as if he'd belonged there from the start.

Once the pc's end up vanquishing this tax collector, wouldn't Strahd resond to this?

[herkles]

remember, you don't have to kill your people to remove them. For example the tax collector could be sent off to another area, or he/she could lower the taxes a bit, or they could come less frequently. remember death is only one opition.