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Writers Block.

Posted by TinyTim
TinyTim
member, 25 posts
Sun 19 Oct 2014
at 04:27
  • msg #1

Writers Block

So I'm getting a little writers block for a game that I am running IRL. Thought I might pop in here and see if there was any good advice. So far I have players in a VERY young fantasy world. Only a few gods exist and the rest are simply primal forces. This would be the age when artifacts are made and legends born. The players have been traveling as caravan guards and following a trail of clues that are leading them to a black tower. In this black tower I have various traps, monsters, wizards ect. Beyond the plot of this tower I have a great villain behind the villain sort of thing going. Just one small problem. I have no good solid villain. No goal for said villain to be trying to achieve. Just this tower with traps and monsters. I don't know about you guys but as a GM I try to hold myself to a higher standard.

Any ideas?
This message was last updated by a moderator, as it was the wrong forum, at 06:23, Sun 19 Oct 2014.
Jarodemo
member, 708 posts
My hovercraft
is full of eels
Sun 19 Oct 2014
at 05:30
  • msg #2

Re: Writers Block

In reply to TinyTim (msg # 1):

What do villains want? Power.

Does he want to rule the land? Accumulate wealth? Control dark and terrible magicks?

Decide upon a general theme and build from there. Is the villain human or some other race? Does he work alone or have an army? Is he physically powerful or does he rely on wits, cunning and trickery is he in fact a she?

You don't need to get too detailed unless the party actually meet the villain, but it should give you some ideas for story lines.
TinyTim
member, 28 posts
Sun 19 Oct 2014
at 05:47
  • msg #3

Re: Writers Block

In reply to Jarodemo (msg # 2):

The villain behind the villain wants control of all the major primal forces of the universe thus allowing him to become a god. To this end he has several pawns. The tower villain is one of them.

Seeing as he is a wizard type boss I think I will have him try to control a certain dark magic. The party will likely meet him in about 4 weeks so I am trying to get ahead of the curve.
DarkLightHitomi
member, 760 posts
Sun 19 Oct 2014
at 06:52
  • msg #4

Re: Writers Block

Caravan guards hired to protect something that comes as a pair. The parts were shipped separately. Villain needs them both and obtained the other half, now is after the PCs who have the remaining half.

If PCs are successful in their delivery, their employer needs them to obtain other half.

If they fail, then naturally they need to get the piece back.

The wizard needs these items for a ritual he is developing on behalf of the bigger villain. The bigger villain is trying to find a way to steal the power from a god in hopes of stealing the power from all the gods so as to become the sole god.
Gaffer
member, 1179 posts
Ocoee FL
40 yrs of RPGs
Sun 19 Oct 2014
at 12:42
  • msg #5

Re: Writers Block

DarkLightHitomi:
Caravan guards hired to protect something that comes as a pair... Villain needs them both... now is after the PCs who have the remaining half.


Or someones that come as a pair.

If the goal is for the PCs to go to the tower, there's nothing like an old-fashioned rescue hook.

So there were two caravans setting out (maybe from different towns) for the destination. Tower Villain intercepted the first at the rendezvous and made off with the Son or Daughter of the PCs old friend, the Merchant, slaughtering the PCs other old friends in the process.

The Daughter or Son in the PCs caravan wants the sibling rescued.

And you're off!
Ameena
member, 51 posts
Sun 19 Oct 2014
at 12:48
  • msg #6

Re: Writers Block

Maybe the Big Bad needs to perform some kind of entrapping ritual or something upon each of the different primal forces (or just outright destroy them) in order to obtain their power, but because each of these forces is different they each require a different method in order to capture/corrupt/dominate/destroy them. So he has his "pawn" guys, each of which is powerful in a different element/aspect of power (Fire, Air, Water, Darkness, Life, whatever) and has some level of understanding (and control) over their particular aspect. So the wizard guy who lives in this tower is just one of several of them, and chances are all the various traps and gribbly monsters inside his tower follow a theme (subtle or otherwise) along the lines of whatever his Primal Aspect is.

Maybe he needs some kind of object in order to properly kick off his ritual for the Big Bad and that's what the caravan is delivering to him - whether the PCs realise that he's gonna use it for nefarious purposes is, of course, another matter, as is whether they choose to act on it, but if the wizard guy manages to complete what he needs to do then the Big Bad will have access to that power (maybe the ritual kills the wizard guy as he's no longer needed, ot suddenly deprived of his power source as the Big Bad now controls it, he dies anyway or the Big Bad just lets him die). Maybe the ritual just basically gives full control of that Power Aspect to the Big Bad, meaning natural forces (and spellcasters who make use of that element, and anyone else who might need it) can't access it and it's all under his control, so the more he gets, the more inherent parts of the world "belong" to him, and only by doing something-or-other can they be freed and made "wild" again, destroying the Big Bad in the process (we hope).

Or maybe the ritual thingys don't trap the Prinal Forces inside the Big Bad, but inside various items - weapons, armour, clothing, jewellery, mystical orbs, etc, and even once the power is freed from them those items retain a sort of "leftover" of whatever power inhabited them. And boom, you've got some powerful artifacts for use in future generations of the world, but which for now are probably being used by the PCs..."artifacts are made and legends are born" indeed ;).
Misty Reynolds
member, 199 posts
Life is deadly. So am I,
but only when crossed.
Sun 19 Oct 2014
at 13:31
  • msg #7

Re: Writers Block

Maybe underling bad guy wants to gather enough power to take over from big gad guy?
pfarland
member, 307 posts
Sun 19 Oct 2014
at 18:20
  • msg #8

Re: Writers Block

Jarodemo:
What do villains want? Power.

Does he want to rule the land? Accumulate wealth? Control dark and terrible magicks?

Decide upon a general theme and build from there. Is the villain human or some other race? Does he work alone or have an army? Is he physically powerful or does he rely on wits, cunning and trickery is he in fact a she?

You don't need to get too detailed unless the party actually meet the villain, but it should give you some ideas for story lines.


Do you want a cookie cutter villain or one that is realistic?

Very few "real" villains are evil just for evil's sake.

Look at Hitler, all the acts he committed, though BEYOND vile, we done for the sake of Germany.  They may have been ill thought out (declaring war on the US and the USSR); absolutely sick and stupid (his 'final' solution); and downright moronic (his idea of finding relics from a made up religion).

Look at Vlad Tepes, everything he did was in defense of Wallachia.

I can go on and on with real life villains.  Just about everyone of them did it for a reason (barring the truly disturbed ones).  Give your villains a reason for being bad.

The evil wizard in the tower outside town, the one that rules the land with an iron fist and punishes any infraction with a slow and horribly painful death?  He does it because he's trying to protect the town and surrounding countryside from the Orc hordes that are slowly making their way towards the town.  He has years to build up the strength of the settlement, but he knows he has to do it the hard way.  He kills so brutally and publicly to keep the people in line.  To focus them one following orders without question, something that will save more lives than he ends in the long run.  He is forging the people into a strong nation that can defend itself against the coming horde.

The man brutally murdering and sacrificing people in a ritual manner?  He found out that there was a demon that was getting close to escaping it's bonds.  One that would ravage the entire countryside.  The only way to strengthen those bonds was to brutally murder innocent people.  The ritual of innocent blood spilled in a painful and particular way, repairs those bonds.

Then you have villains like The Joker.  He's evil because of his insanities.  He literally can not help himself.  Is it right to murder him?  Is it ok to kill one to save many?  If it is, then my first two 'villain' examples might not be villains.  The might be heroes.  (This is why I don't agree with alignment systems.)

Not only do they make your villain believable, but they also offer plot hooks for future adventures.
Merevel
member, 825 posts
Gaming :-)
Very unlucky
Sun 19 Oct 2014
at 20:21
  • msg #9

Re: Writers Block

I have nothing much constructive to say to this, but I can offer a couple of videos? Extra Credits did a two part episode on villains fairly recently.
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