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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Halfling in the Playground
     
    ElfMonkGuy

    Join Date
    Jan 2007

    Default Sneaky Villains...

    This might belong in gaming...But I was helping TheForestAuro with some stuff for a loner villain against a party of pretty powerful characters.

    Since this BBEG is several levels higher than the party average, but by himself, his best chance is to fight them one-on-one. To that end, we worked up a couple of magic items to help him shape the battlefield--like a glass model of a house that comes with a small glass key. If the house is set on the ground and a command word spoken, a 20-foot-square force cube springs up around it, trapping anything around it inside the box. However it is controlled by the person who has the glass key--a word to activate, a word to deactivate, and the catch is, the house cannot be moved while activated and cannot be destroyed. BUT, if you break the key, the house is destroyed, too. With some planning, it's good for isolating a character for a straight-up-and-even fight.

    Another tactic this villain employs is invisible caltrops. I will now pause while the reader considers the implications of that.
    Eldest of the Orphans of Shojo
    He will be missed.

    "I, too, swore the oath when I assumed command of the Sapphire Guard, but I feel it is foolish to risk universal destruction for a promise to people I've never met." ~Lord Shojo

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  2. - Top - End - #2
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    PirateGuy

    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Sneaky Villains...

    Seems good, but might there be a more social/role-playing/organic way to pull the party apart? Does this guy have good diplomancy/bluff? Maybe he could talk someone one of the characters trusts into somehow convincing the character he had to go and do something alone (hard to be more specific without more details). The item seems like it will work fine, but I always find it's more interesting to try to get the characters to do what you want them to do without having to resort to "here's a magic item that you've never heard of."

    Invisible caltrops are a cool idea!

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Halfling in the Playground
     
    ElfMonkGuy

    Join Date
    Jan 2007

    Default Re: Sneaky Villains...

    Well, heh. Alkalus' tactics are more...physical. He arranges the battlefield to his advantage. And, in this case, his goal is not to kill the party--they just happen to oppose what he's doing. He even likes a few of them, and, I understand, helped them out a couple of times.
    In this case, though, the villain 1) won't oppose the party until they oppose him and 2) considers a clean escape equal to a victory. He can accomplish his real goals without bloodshed, and would actually prefer to do so. It's a case where if the villain can make a clean escape, he wins. And so his major tactics involve attrition and delaying the party so he can get away. I just happened to really like my idea for invisible caltrops--I actually cracked up when I got the idea for them, and they're which is pretty useful, considering one party member has 60-ft-per-round movement. Invisible caltrops just seem to be one of those things that can make a party realize they are up against a *very*devious person.
    Last edited by Igan; 2007-02-10 at 09:40 PM.
    Eldest of the Orphans of Shojo
    He will be missed.

    "I, too, swore the oath when I assumed command of the Sapphire Guard, but I feel it is foolish to risk universal destruction for a promise to people I've never met." ~Lord Shojo

    Non-Paladinal Advisor and self-portable peanut gallery of the Hinjo Fanclub.

    All hail Hinjo, new Lord of Azure City!
    Spoiler
    Show

    All: HAIL!

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Pixie in the Playground
     
    SwashbucklerGuy

    Join Date
    Dec 2006

    Default Re: Sneaky Villains...

    he..I lioke this idea
    I am a fan of in that order

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Eighth_Seraph's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Water Tribe, South Pole
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Sneaky Villains...

    Well, it depends on whether you want Alkalus to make a clean escape. If so, then have the party stumble upon him when least expected, giving them a slight chance of pulling together and realizing what's going on before he can run. If not, then have the party realize that he's nearby and let them plan in infiltration or assault, putting our friend Alkalus between a rock and a hard place, if possible.

    It would also depend greatly on his emphasis and build as a character. Is this the BBEG that manipulates everything to work for his advantage, keeping his hands clean and watching everything play out, or does he take things into his own hands, sneaking into facilities and crushing those in his path? That's a big aspect of BBEG decision-making.
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