For some time now I have thought about making a villainous character. I don't have a single clue however of how to build the character into a villain? I figured this would be the right place to ask.

By building a villain I don't mean just making an evil character, but making the character into a character that upsets the world around him. I also don't need help to make the character scary, or a decent evil character. Characters that aren't just evil, but recognizable antagonists. Does anyone have any advice for me as I start down this path?

_________________
I am not weird, I am limited edition

if you want to go full on evil just make a necromancer that talks to the voice on the reg. be loyal to the city and it will support you with the means to do what you want.

that means nobody can fuck with you or they risk getting independence-day'd by tarkul. so then do whatever you want.

that's what the city is for.

_________________

ANT ALARM

ANT ALARM

I wouldn't say you can "do what you want". If you've any questions about how Tarkuul functions please PM me, Fiend.

_________________

I would suggest subtlety. Being clever. Instead of in your face evil. Also, evil doesn't mean doing everything mean and abusive every single minute. And might I suggest that the less PVP the better?

From your description it sounds like you're looking for a religious fanatic. The Eternal Order was great at the evil doing some good. (Yeah, yeah everyone hated their methods but at the end of the day, they did do their duty. They eventually paid for it in the end of course but they had a long run.)

Or the Banite groups that have been through Amia. Some of them were really well run. As were some drow houses that ran raids on the surface.

Did you know Oghma allows LE and NE? Get on in there and steal some books!

_________________


2015 Mr. AMIA with the Fabulous Estara ~ 2015 Best Developed SOB Character: Rith'tar

The scariest villains are the ones that don't bleed. And while there is a moment one should expect ones villain to lose, a good villain should for a while seem unbeatable. Ones you end up in PvP it will become apparent that the character bleeds, even if you win, and some of the magic will be lost.

I have already made the character though, now I need to figure out how to build it into a villain.

_________________
I am not weird, I am limited edition

play a good aligned character and simply disagree with popular convention
evil on this server falls into two meme camps
-overtly evil rdds who cannot make compelling characters
-im not evil [ im actually evil (but i dont do anything evil unless it is against an unimportant npc) ]
and both suck

_________________

I've condensed my usual spiel about playing a successful(or at least longer-lived) villain to a number a bullet points.

1. Have a freakin' point. So often people think being evil/a villain means only pissing other PCs off. That's the goal. That's how they measure their success. But it more often ends up in them being upset they cannot cause(what they consider) lasting damage, or a countdown until they piss off enough people that they all band together and take them down for good.

Think about interesting antagonists from fiction and media. They usually have a goal(s). They can vary wildly in how they go about achieving this goal, but a goal all the same. What's more is that they usually have compelling reason to their fuckery. They were wronged and are now trying to even up the score. They have an idealized vision for how the world should work, and are intent upon corrupting or beating it into that image. "Every villain is the hero of their own story." From some perspective, they should have a sensible or empathetic reason for that they do and at least a vague structure by which to measure their progress. They may not even be totally aware of the reasoning themselves, but to an outside audience, the people you play with here, there needs to be that kernel of purpose to your actions to make folk genuinely interested in working with or against you. Few people are here "just to fight bad guys," so it is silly to think that by simply producing a "bad guy to fight" you are providing some needed service in the larger arch of things.

2. Make something. Scorched earth and burned bridges do not build empires. You can be an antagonist all you want, but at the end of the day if all you've come to do in Amia is tear down what already exists, you likely won't last that long. As a player that's been here for a decade, I've seen it. And it's not an attack against violent, destructive, or overtly combative evil, it's simply me stating the fact that it does not often carry a story. And this server is all about a continuing story. The story of a lumberjack in a forest ends either when he cuts down all the trees or gets tired and goes home. Neither is really compelling and if you see evil character as that lumberjack, likely the same will follow for you. But if we extend it to why he's cutting down the trees--perhaps to build something--or the new trees he plants just so he can harvest them later, then you begin to have an actual villain worth their salt.

3. You're more than a hammer, (N)PC's aren't nails. Corrupt. Mislead. Use others. Shortchange others. Teach others. There are more ways to "upset the world" than measurably negative acts. The more you present yourself as a multifaceted entity, good, evil, it doesn't matter, the more likely it is for people to want to RP with you. If the only interaction people can have with your PC is a negative one, it is no surprise that over time both IC and OoC opinions of your character skew towards the negative as well. There is glory to be found in relieving people of their foolish altruistic notions, and more ways to do it than cooking up reasons to attack them. Show them that your way is better, that it pays the bills, and you'll find yourself in your own Legion of Doom in no time.

The TL;DR of all this is I would actually say don't even worry about making a villain. Make an antihero. Make a good character that just happens to do bad things, and the whole villain thing will follow on its own. A villain is what other people will label you. If you go after it yourself, if you set yourself up to be an adversary to people who've not even been given a chance to side with or against you yet, you'll more than likely end up in the sizable list of Amian "villains" who terrorized the Crags or Forest for a couple weeks, but were ultimately forgotten because there was no real point to their shenanigans beyond the want to create said shenanigans.

_________________

Man, the Banites were at their best when they were in your face, though. That's what got them famous, and infamous. Wharftown. Skull Crags. Guldorand. Same for the Orcus Cult, same for the Horsemen, same for BLACK, same for the Red Wizards, same for the Black Flag.



Make a villain. I applaud your efforts.

_________________
Davion Telemos - Monk of the Four Winds
Korthan Isharnos - Dragon Shaman of Thunder Spirit Zamasham

There is a book from the 2nd edition DM's handbook series that everyone should own and read if they plan on making a character (villainous or otherwise). It's extremely well-written and very helpful for making a well-rounded character of any sort: "The Complete Book of Villains." It's full of great ideas about motivation and methodology, networks and plotting. Try to find it and add it to your library, you will find yourself using it for any game and every character you want to make. It's very good for building believable, great characters of all sorts.

_________________
Rashad the Azure, Zakharan Merchant-lord Most Fair and Master of the Desert Wind
Loremaster Tukson Devers, Oghmanyte Wrestler of Knowledge and Child of the Passive Voice

(No tells for Rashad while I'm playing other characters please.)

The character is kind of created, the problem is making the character a recognized villain in game, by the community. If anyway wants to chat about IG or in PM's I'd really appreciate that. That way I'd tell you more about the concept than I am comfortable with on the forums, before the character is ready.

Thank you guys for the advice though, and I'll make sure to take a look at that book, the totally legit way *cough cought*

_________________
I am not weird, I am limited edition

I've tried a bunch of villain characters, here are some of my thoughts on what would make a generally successful villain:

1: Have a goal, preferably one that's not easily accomplished. It can be as realistic or unrealistic as possible, as long as your PC keeps working towards it and is able to keep events flowing to make progress towards it, then it's all good. Just be sure that the goal is something far reaching and will end up dragging people into whatever machinations there are. You should also decide for yourself if you want to play the fast and furious kind of villain that lives fast and dies young, or if you want a villain that will last. Both can be successful for certain.

2: Try to be open if you can. I've tried more niche evil villains (like traditionalist kobolds), the problem I run into with them is that they typically don't get along with non-kobolds or non-dragonkin, which limits avenues of associations. A villain who's willing to work with other neutral and evil groups helps keep the RP flowing, especially if they can keep the inevitable double-crossing and backstabbing in check. As a recommendation, try to be more ruthless than pointlessly evil. If someone does evil things for the evulz, even other villain characters will have a hard time trusting them not to betray them.

Also keep in mind that evil does not necessarily mean villain. I've played a non-villainous evil character before, he was mostly out for himself, but when introduced to some of the other villain PCs, he found them so crazy/psycho and they treated him horribly that he didn't want to be in with them, so he joined more neutral factions instead. Similarly, one of the best villain PCs I've ever seen was Chaotic Neutral.

_________________
I play:

I just realized first of all I have to build my character into someone being perceived as more menacing. Does anyone have any advice on how to do that?

_________________
I am not weird, I am limited edition

casual thuggary worked for me.

_________________

ANT ALARM

ANT ALARM

Pick on newbies hunting goblins. Works every time.

_________________
Elwyn Sabel - Laura Jarshall - Mordoc Ebonhand

Discord: Bhaalorian#5715

i opt for defensively solid menacing builds if im gonna b menacing, that way ppl rarely see you go down. If you go down you lose street cred.

So dex epic dodge, go ham there's a lot of builds with that.

_________________
bad man