Back, you villain!
This week’s Game WISH asks about good villains. Always a fine thing to have in a campaign.
Sometimes the good villains are just so horribly loathsome that one gets a pure thrill of good-feeling from taking them down. The wizard Jamal in my al-Qadim campaign is one of these. He is a thief, a liar, a murderer, several different kinds of traitor, and a total misogynist pig to boot (don’t even ask what goes on in that man’s harim). He stole Juskinah’s father’s genie-ring and turned its genie, her father’s lifetime friend, against her father and his tribe. Now, that’s just slimy.
The matter of the genie has been resolved, but Jamal is still out there. One day, when she actually manages to have time, she’s going to do whatever it takes (probably quite a lot) to kill him. Oh, yeah.
Hedrack, from the late lamented Temple of Elemental Evil campaign, was a mighty fine villain as well. His excellence stemmed from total unpredictability. We never knew when he’d show up, whether he did or didn’t have his hand in whatever pie we were mucking about in, what he actually wanted or how we could deny it him. We were sure, mind you, that he had a rationale for everything he did. We just never could figure out what the hell it was, and guessing was a lot of fun.
I don’t have his measure yet, as the campaign has barely begun, but Dragonhunt’s Dark Eternal has all the makings of an excellent villain. He’s the roughest, toughest, scariest dragon around. He’s got that lovely touch of villainous arrogance that’s always a pleasure to foil. He threatens much that is dear to Renate’s heart. And he’s just filthily plausible, the nasty bastard.
Personally, barring a really impressive effort from the other Dragonhunt players, I don’t think Renate can take him down, any more than she could Hyuri. But it’s still going to be fun to try. If she’s terribly, terribly lucky, she might be able to fight him to a draw.
Powered by FireStats