Matching villains with a proper Low, Mid and Grand Tier plan

This is an awesome episode and definitely highlighted some spells I'd overlooked, but the spells are all higher level. This is great for an overarcing campaign villain, but do you have any recommendations for the lower tiers of play? Maybe for the big bad guy's lieutenant that the party first encounters, before meeting the boss.

How do I write an enthralling evil monologue?

Writing good/realistic motivations for evil guys. So many villains are just Saturday morning cartoons.

Nice pinky & the brain reference at the top of the video.

Soon we are going to have to make up the stats for Karen, the Evil Personal Assistant, I think!

Lol, "Karen, cancel my 2 o'clock, I've got too much scrying to do" is the best thing ever! Let me introduce my new Lich-CEO villain, lawful evil, lobbyist of the worst kind, who works his poor undead workers to the literal bone in his evil factories. His objective his to crash the forgotten realms ecconmy via using cheap (i.e. free) undead labour to prduce consumer goods and flood the supply side market. He's not adverse to hostile corporate takeovers either. His ultimate goal is to establish a corporate monopoly, thus dominating all the poor peasants and workers. Your objective as a player is to S E I Z E T H E M E A N S O F P R O D U C T I O N and start a workers rebellion by distributing "Das Kapital" amongst his undead workers. Karen, of course, is his evil lieutenant, which has to be overcome by a series of "social boss battles" in which the players have to fight corporate negligence as well as government beurocracy and incompetence. There is of course a bunch of undead to fight as well: imagine a quest to go down into the downstairs archive in the basement, on the hunt for a complaint form (found in a locked fileing cabinet, guarded by the undead) that has to be filled in before you can even make an appointment with Karen. Might even have the cabinet be in a room with a sign that says "warning for the leopard" just for the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy reference.

I once had the idea for a Beholder who has a personal assistant, who naturally is a magically modified human of the beholder's own creation. She's been conditioned since "birth" to be fully loyal to the beholder, and knows all his secrets. She's also got a bunch of vials of magical mutagens into her back pocket, to be used in the event that her boss needs her to personally engage in a fight (which is not often). She's also the only one allowed to wear Slippers of Spiderclimb in the evil lair, so she can keep up with the boss. On account of all the obscene architectural verticality, as typical in beholder lairs.

hamstsorkxxor Actually, there’s some great seeds to a mid-level villain here, who is controlled by the BBEG above. Villain would be like Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, who’s vision of the future is actually or approx commonplace in our real world. So yeah. legions of undead producing mass-marketed junk food & junk items. To some NPCs, cheap easy food & stuff would be paradise, so living lieutenants & cultists to carry out many of the tasks in world shouldn’t be too hard to find. And so it’s been growing overseas, not really hurting anyone (usually), but now it’s trying to get a foothold in your PCs country. Or PCs hired to investigate, and then hired again to stop them. I like it!

Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work, but I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I'm swamped.

Yes. Chill Touch is a terrifying spell, especially when many legendary spellcasters (such as Liches and Vampire Mages) can cast cantrips using a single legendary action. It's a great method to put damage pressure on the party, and also get ahead of power of the healer.

Nice tip, a smart villain would certainly pull a trick like this one!

Nathan P I get this mental image of a villain saying their spells like a little Christian child praying before bed 😂

Strahd explicitly does that!

I'm stealing this idea! I love it!

That's a great idea I'm going to steal it!

You’re a genius, I’m gonna borrow this idea

Zili holy shit BRILLIANT

Was it meaningful? I *love* the idea of random, meaningless saves like this in a campaign where mysterious stuff is going down. Especially if the players know the villain can scry on them or the like.

Thanks

Note that if you polymorph yourself into a fly, you have the intellect of a fly...

😅

Really fantastic sneaky trick. I like it.

@@DungeonDudes I can't wait for them to get ahold of see invisibility or true seeing XD

Thats freaking AMAZING XD

Classic. I did that back in 2nd ed AD&D. And the imp wasn't even always invisible. I kept dropping clues as sometimes the imp was shape shifted into a crow or a frog or a goat that I would mention as just part of the flavor text.

That's smart

I'd love to see the look on the players face when they slay the villain only to have the body melt into a puddle of snow!

I have done this -- can confirm their shocked and disappointed tears are *delicious*. Even better is using it to replicate the McGuffin NPC they needed to rescue from the BBEG's lair. BBEG escapes, but they think they've rescued the princess.... only to get home and have her melt from her joyful father's tear-filled embrace. }:-D

You can see this actually being used (but without the invulnerability) in the dnd stream High Rollers, the storm/cloud giant bbeg used this not only to fight the party but also to be her face in social situations, as she had a few... problems going on with her body which the simulacrum didn’t have

"Sorry, heroes. Your villain is in another castle." 😁

Ah, the classic “actually a Doombot” bit

Hahaha! Maybe there could even be a "Greater Unseen Servant" spell who can take your Sending spells, play your favourite Bard songs, and help you remember all the NPCs contact information?

Absolutely. The Dungeon Master does not *need* to be bound by the rules when making NPCs and villains, and Colville is wise to make this point. Especially with "godlike" villains -- homebrew away. However, by using the same abilities and spells as the players gives the world a layer of consistency and credibility. It can also create interesting dynamic where their actions are clearly telegraphed. Finally, there are so many interesting powers in the PHB to use for inspiration! More than anything else, I think both Matts do a great job of using the rules as a basis for creativity, extending the spells and powers to create something truly unique :)

I completely agree, but I also love the creativity part of D&D. I personally think it could be a lot of fun to have a bonus list of spells (for instance) that you yourself made up that your players can use. You're not stepping outside of the rules to make your villain dangerous or scary, you're expanding the rules and adding ways for them to be scary that your players can use too if they so choose.

I love the idea of homebrewing custom spells used by the villain they the players can learn after they defeat them.

I love the idea of making the power of your opponent yours after defeating them. Unfortunately, I screwed up when I tried to do this once. I made a custom item which was essentially a flashbomb, which was used by my first ever big bad to escape (It was a glass bottle filled with several liquids. Smashing the bottle by throwing it on the floor anywhere within 30 ft. created a flash of light with a radius of 15 ft., forcing all creatures within range to make a DC15 dex. save or become blinded. I also gave the guy who used it a DC5 strength roll to beat when he used it, and it would not go off if he failed), except I forgot that I had put two more of them in a chest which the players could have used and/or taken to an alchemist to make more.

Also I mean many of the these mages are several hundred years old. I would almost find it weird if they hadn't at least attempted to make a few new spells as well throughout their years. Some more successful than others. Adding a few, not nessesarily powerful spells, could throw anyone for a loop! Why go with a simple chill touch? How about creating a level 1 or 2 spell that have an area of effect that apply the chilltouch spell on anyone inside that area thereby making it impossible for everyone to heal? I could see it as a combination between mirror image, find familiar and the trickster cleric's ability to create a clone that he managed to combine to some exstend. Creating a big area where several of him appear for a second and try to apply chill touch to everyone in the area before dissapearing again right after. Combining different spells together making them more powerful but also slightly more dangerous and experimental seems like fun if you ask me and seems like a fairly easy and understandable research for an arcane master to want to do. I probably wouldn't do two concentration spells in one because that just seems a bit too powerful in many cases but having a few fun spells and add a small twist to it by slightly combining something else into it seems like a lot of fun!

For phylacteries and clones and stuff, might I recommend utilizing the Demiplane spell? It's your own personal pocket dimension that nobody else can enter ^-^ plus you can access a previous one or make a new one each time you cast it, so now your lich can truly be unstoppable

Great tip!

Fantastic examples! We might have to do an entire episode on the Evil Personal Assistant, it's a great trope with tons of roleplaying opportunities.

Great additions to the list! Guards and Wards is such an impressive spell -- you can almost build an entire dungeon adventure or stronghold using it as the centrepiece of the villain's defence!

Even as a trap it's very useful, but the ability to add a spell effect to it makes it a great defence for a well-prepared villain.

Ward a suggestion spell to leave the party and go home.

Agreed! Villains should survive because they are smart, well-prepared, ruthless, and full of surprises -- but not because they are protected by DM fiat. Players love it when they can learn and counteract apart the villain's abilities, it makes victory against them all the better!

@@DungeonDudes I actually thought of a neat little multyclass villain. A shadow sorcerer rogue. Give them a glif of warding that gives them greater invisibility and let them cast darkness with their sorcery points. Not only will the darkness impair vision, the villain can still see and get sneak attacks in on the party. If the darkness gets disspelled or broken, the glif still gives them invisibility.

John Unterzuber or in the case of Invulnerability, mimic it 🤫

One of the few games I played. Lich cast Dominate Person on the party's paladin, along with an Improve Charm Person. Guest who the paladin is now working for ?

true, true... a good villain needs to delegate less important tasks so he/she can focus on the TRULY important tasks... secretarys to sort through the menial tasks of coordinating your dark empire... assassins to remove unwanted people... goons to do the heavy lifting... you know, the usual ^ ^

Secretary: Wizard (Div/Ill), Cleric (Know) or Bard (Lore) Body guards: Fighter, Monk, and (Anti-)Paladin Spymaster: Rogue (Mastermind/Assassin) or Bard (Whispers) High Chaplain: Cleric Master of Animals: Druid, Ranger (Beast Master), or Fighter (Cavalier) Marshal: Fighter (Battlemaster) Head Magician: Sorcerer or Wizard This should give a pretty good lineup of the guys you might have around your BBEG's lair at any given time, but who might also be sent out to accomplish tasks and be killed off by the party to make the final battle easier.

That's a pretty nasty combination, with some nice defensive perks as well!

Thanks, Satan.

Sincerely, a healer.

That's kinda expected. Experienced players will buff their damage dealers resistance before combats with enemy wizards.

Lukiel666 well the “healer” is wearing heavy armor and has a shield so good luck with that

So, I actually have this as a plot point in my game. Five Lvl 20 Bard Pirates essentially start singing sea shanties outside the gate of the port city they're docked at. Once they have drawn a crowd, they then all cast dominate person at max level to force 5 people to sing along with them. Then, they make them get on their ship and set sail for a new port. Their crew is essentially slaves/thralls under the dominante person spell that they Shanghai in each new port. Then, they sell/ransom them to their families, or bribe them, shame them, or otherwise coerce their crew into staying on the ship forever. One day, our intrepid adventurers are the target of their spells. For the ones who fail the save DC of 20, they become enthralled. For those who do save, their mission is to try and board the ship, deactivate the 8 hour long spell effect on their friends, and escape the shit without being caught AND before the ship sets sail. Otherwise, someone is going on a pirate theme side quest

Yes, assuming the creature fails it's saving throw, it would still work.

Felicity Smoak? Or the secretary from the original Ghostbusters movie?

Is BBEG Big Bad Evil Guy?

@@pokenerd3340 lol yes

Yes! Great idea!

well, we got one from this video, Crystal Ball of Telepathy

Purple Magi I used a ring of “globe of invulnerability”

Ring of Protection Against Scrying and Detection.

Great idea would love to see it dungeon dudes

Glyphs of Warding are tons of fun when used intelligently. I love the idea of a villain installing these in their lair almost like magical "panic buttons" to cause myriad effects which aid their escape or protect their valuable assets.

I'm actually thinking about using them in a dungeon. The main issue is that, even though individually not seeming very strong, an evil wizard could layer thousands of these in his tower, moreso if he is smart and either has access to the plane of Earth or lives on a diamond mine, and not even a lvl 20 party should be able to break through that due to sheer attrition. The idea I have right now is that the party wishes to visit the shrine of a deity of forethought, planning and house defense (just gotta find a reason, probably an escort for someone who wishes to pray over an important decision). This place is of course embedded in a temple which resembles the goals of the god, and is hard to break into. And that will basically be the dungeon: Get into the temple. Of course the clerics will make sure that there are almost no actual deaths inside, wouldn't wanna get a bad reputation now right, which is why it is possible at all.

Trapping enough creatures inside a forcecage box for long enough would suffocate them. The spell says it "prevents any matter from passing through it". I would not recommend it as a substitute for Leomund's Tiny Hut.

@@mennoltvanalten7260 Evil Wizard: "what do you think we make dungeons out of? Gears and pulleys? What are we, gnomes?" But seriously, Glyphs of Warding and Guards and Wards are great dungeon design shortcuts. Now to get my party to a high enough level to use the spells against them...

Many a mighty villain has been laid low by laughing!

Or just attack the villain by everyone just to hold him by grapple, gag and then bound him to make sure no spell is cast, take all of his items, drop him in mud/cement/lava, and cook/cool until he is completely Han Solo-ed.

Thanks for the great comment, and welcome back behind the screen. If you haven't already, you should check out our videos on Running Combat, Spells and Spellcasting Guide, and the Actions in Combat Guide. In all three videos we have great tips for DMs and players on how to think more creatively in combat and magic, while also using the rules as an effective tool to SUPPORT creativity and improvisation. I LOVE you idea for a "clash of spells" episode where we talk about how certain combinations of spells might interact... we'll have to think about that one. Thank you so much for the awesome suggestion! -- Monty

Hundred Years Boar with these spells you may end up with the opposite problem. Hope your players forgive you.

Dont forget chill touch!

Me too, and my group gets together so infrequently that I had forgotten how powerful the "Sharpshooter" feat is. My 3 player party (lvl 5) wiped out a max HP Chimera no sweat. But at least now I have a bench mark for what they can handle.

As a DM I often design my bosses as being mechanically complex to challenge those who just want to melt away HP. For example, I had a boss that every 33% health she lost, she'd resurrect the zombies in the room. If the players didn't damage them she'd blow them up for 2d10 of fire damage in a 10ft radius. This made the players consider positioning, tossing the zombies away from her range etc. And because this boss was a vampire she was very dangerous in her own right. Eventually they just used Sacred Flame every turn to stop her regeneration while they destroyed the remaining corpses. This is what I like to term "difficulty setting" in boss fights. The players can learn the mechanics quickly to make the fight easy or they can try to brute-force it and end up with a highly overtuned fight.

@@obradinn7491 sounds like you just created a WoW boss encounter? Doesn't seem very DnD to me.

Thank you!

Party Time! Excellent!

Party on Garth.

Welcome! Thank you :)

This was a great move. Unfortunately in 5e teleport is now a 7th level spell, and thus ineligible for Contingency :(

@@DungeonDudes But there are alternative spells that offer similar effects. - There's Gaseous Form as one option, although the players can still potentially damage the villain until it moves beyond their range. 10 ft. movement speed is kind of meh. - Fly, although I guess the players might also have access to flight by this point Alternatively, the villain could use Polymorph and turn himself into something so tiny, the players might mistakenly believe he's gone. Like a gnat. Invisibility or G. Invisibility might also work if the players aren't expecting it. Huh... now that I look more closely, they really did limit your options for Contingency quite a lot, didn't they?

Feign Death, dimension door

@@Draeckon gaseous form takes a minute to cast if i remember correctly. It wouldn't work if it requires the time to only be an action.

It's a very tough combination, but I'm always shocked at how creative players get trying to find a way out! It's survivable for a creative, quick-thinking group of players with high level characters!

Dungeon Dudes it is always a challenge and that's what I liked about that combo. Truly makes us the players think about certain power combos. Gave me a lot to think about! Rock on dudes!

Thank you! let us know if you use them in your game, and how it went!

Force cage and insect plague would be more mummy'esk ;D

The D&D equivalent of martyrdom.

You make an EXCELLENT point here. Sometimes the villain is just an antagonist with goals that conflict with the party. Two completely well-adjusted nations lay claim to a city, both with legitimate reasons. Two organizations disagree about whether or not a controversial secret should be made public. Two groups of adventurers seek the same prize. In any case, that doesn't mean they can't make use of all the spells and tactics in this video!

I love that as well. The villain for my current adventure finds death unfair and wants to open the realm of death for every past soul to get a second chance. He doesn't know that the god of the dead plans to overtake the material plane this way, but that's a different story. :P

😀😀😀😀!! What did he pick??? Thats amAZING

Hose Clamp Vecna already used Force Cage and was scrying on the party constantly. He also used sending and whatnot.

Let us know how your party manages to survive (or not!)

I'm more into the story aspect hero's overcoming terrible villains, and being the ones to turn the tide even if most of the world may never know they where saved from disaster. Or they fight their way through a sea of undead at the head of a desperate army or last stand in the capital just to finally confront the vampire who is both a warrior and powerful necromancer with his body guard of the dead kings of the people he's conquered and finally cast him down. The Demon is the big villain of the story he has many plots in the works to be uncovered and hopefully stopped before he brings ruin. The Vampire is an allay of sorts he serves as a powerful underling but has his own plans and ambitions that he wants to see fulfilled, the party is going to be fighting against two powerful forces at once, it should be a lot of fun and hopefully a good story with plenty of twists for them and me. Player's are the element of chaos in my otherwise ordered universe. :) I'm planning on giving them a chance to play with a deck of many things this next season and the adventure has just started, I'm playing with how it'll work. It's more about the suspense and the gamble of what they might draw, it could be a magic item, it cold be gold. It could be a confrontation with Death, where if they can prove their mettle, and will to live not only is he bested but he tells them a secret. Maybe he warns them, or gives them a hint to a magic item that can help them succeed later on in the campaign. (In this case the reaper is a powerful warrior in the form of an ancient king or knight of ledged, more fitting for a party like this when everyone fights. The Void but instead of getting wiped, they get teleported into the big villains layer, they get to meet him maybe have a conversation, get a sense of how dangerous he is not just to them but the world. Plus a sense of how far away he is from them at the moment, just how beneath him they truly are and for a paladin to be confronted by not only a demon but one who has possessed a powerful dragon and get a glimpse of his plans its very humbling and terrifying, Hopefully it makes them think. "WE HAVE TO FIGHT THIS!? HOW!?"

Yup, a villain that has Truesight will be able to see scrying sensors around them. A smart villain might want to use this against the characters to intentionally spread misinformation or deceive them instead of using Mind Blank to merely hide all the time. You can then terrify the characters using spells like Dream and Project Image to send the taunting messages to them!