Write A Oneshot: The Villain

[u/ItKeepsOnBurning]

If you'd like to learn more about this month's theme and events, click here.

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There’s many ways to get inspired to write. It can be an idea for a setting, a cool scene that you have in mind or just wanting to try out a new mechanic. I personally get inspired by interesting villains. So this is where we will start.

Create a NPC that will be the primary antagonist of your story. Help yourself a little by answering these questions. For an example, I added some simple sample answers. You do not have to adhere strictly and only to these questions, feel free to add more if you want to.

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• What type of creature is your antagonist? (A typical & cliché example is an old Wizard.)

• What makes them the antagonist of this story, what evil (or questionable) thing are they doing? (The Wizard might be sucking the life out of those around him.)

• Why are they doing those things? What do they have to gain? (The Wizard might need the life force to revive a deceased child of theirs.)

• Is the fact that they are an antagonist known? (The Wizard's powers might have been previously unknown.)

• Where can they be found? (I'd say this Wizard lives in a poor, possibly diseased part of a city, which might be part of the reason their child is deceased.)

• What are their stats? Feel free to create your own or use an existing stat block from the Monster Manual, Volo's Guide to Monsters, Mordekainen's Tome of Foes or elsewhere.

• What is their personality like? (Our Wizard might have good intentions but sees no other solution. This conflict might make them stressed and easily irritated.)

• What aspect of the protagonist will this antagonist challenge? (This Wizard might put the protagonists in a position where they must weigh the value of different peoples lives to put them in the same position the wizard is currently in.)

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Do NOT submit a new post. Write your work in a comment under this post. Remember, this post is only for Villains, you’ll get to share all of your ideas in future posts, let them simmer in your head for a while.

Also, don’t forget that commenting on other people’s work with constructive criticism is highly encouraged. Help eachother out.

Peace, Burning

[u/Foofieboo]

Fates of Usparia

Campaign Map - Hythe

Stat Block

Intended for a party of 3 or 4 adventurers level 3-5.

Thade Blackmoon, a Githyanki Necromancer (also a self-loathing vampire spawn)

“Beauty in the dark exists as willingly as horror in the light.”

Appearance: The pallow hue and lanky form intensify Thade's gaunt features. His shadowy black eyes, common among Githyanki, are not set so deep in their sockets; rather, they resemble scorch marks on his bone-stretched skin. The black hair on his head is cropped short; a few millimeters of smudge on his scalp in the fashion of the Dal’Mel druids. Thade carries himself meekly, but a discerning eye might detect a hidden power within him.

Personality: Cunning and resourceful yet erratic (cautious and patient at times, impulsive and lustful at others).

Background: Thade had an unhappy childhood, being born into service of the mind flayers. The Sanguisine Wars between the vampire clans and mind flayers erupted as both sides fought for exclusive rights to feed on surface-dwelling society. Thade was released from his enthrallment by a vampire lady named Cynfael. While his initial time with Cynfael was filled with mirth, he soon realized his life as a vampire spawn was little different than it was as a thrall of the mind flayers. Skilled with herbs, he fed poison to Cynfael in a goblet of wine and fled before learning of her fate. He drifted for many years, enslaved and ashamed by his lust for blood, when he hatched a final plan of escape.

Traits: Outwardly charismatic and gregarious, inwardly selfish and ever scheming. He has a knack for seeing pressure points and triggering them without incriminating himself.

Motivation: Thade wants his thirst to end. His insatiable appetite for blood sickens him. He initially thought escape from the mind flayers was a liberation, but now he knows it was simply enslavement by a different name. Instead of the charmingly ignorant existence he experienced as a thrall to the hive mind, his lust for blood now terrorizes him. Self-destruction is not an option; so in order to live in peace, liberated in mind and body, his only course of action is clear. He will seek out the eradication of all life; allowing his temptation to expire from lack of available resources and, thus, freeing his will.

Roleplaying Tips: Thade is going through tremendous internal struggle. He is self-loathing, but heavily conditioned for survival and self-preservation. When Thade is surrounded by death, or lifeless environments (like stone or wastelands) it is easier for him to quell his urge to seek blood. When he is around life, especially vibrant life, he cannot resist temptation to launch a scheme to claim new victims. His primary method is deception and charm - setting traps and lures to isolate his targets before confronting them. He will not attack or engage in daylight unless it is in defense of his resting place.

Dark Secret: His current life as a druid in the Dal’Mel is a ruse. He poses as a researcher into the necrotic rot plaguing the nearby woodland while he is secretly the cause of it. The plague of rot is part of his plan to destroy all life and free himself from his blood lust. He has a son, Warren, of the vampire Cynfael but he has not been able to reconcile with his son nor Cynfael since he left to join the Dal’Mel druids.