Building a Villain 101: The 5 Ls

[Lord Vukodlak]

Some of the best villains aren't even BBEG's but in the grand scheme minor villains of unspeakable evil.

In a recent adventure the party encountered a ghost in an abandoned house in a blood stained room. The skinless appearance of the ghost gave made them squirm. So the question for the party was why and the evidence in the room suggested a lot more people had been skinned their.

The parties investigation led them to a smuggler's ring. The criminals were smuggling pelts, the pelts of lycanthropes. Now I know what your saying don't lycanthropes revert to human form when killed? Yes which means the only way to get a werewolf pelt is to skin the person alive.

When the party finally tracked the gang to their lair the true depths of their depravity is discovered. The gang leader had a captured werewolf which he forced to bite kidnapped townsfolk who once infected were taken to that old house to be skinned alive.

They never spoke with the gang leader, never even learned his name.
But kidnapping people, infecting them with lycanthropy and then skinning them alive for fun and profit leaves an impression.

No grand schemes, no huge goals just gold and a horrendous way to get it.