Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - A super hero question { Challenging Antagonist }

Mark Skarr · 05-17-2019, 01:52 PM

A good villain isn’t made, they evolve. Also, they need to be the hero of their own stories. The best villains are reflections of the heroes they’re supposed to be the nemesis of.

Mechanically, there isn’t a formula to make a great villain—it’s not mechanics. There is no advantage or disadvantage that you can give an NPC that ensures they will be a great villain. There’s no collection of skills and attributes that makes them memorable. That’s all on the GM. It’s Role-Playing.

Gravitas was a megavillain in my Super San Diego setting. While he was a villain, he’s really only the nemesis of Shimmer. She has a deep hate for him. Not because of any, specific, thing he’s done, but because he’s willing to go further to protect those he dubs “innocents” than she is. He thinks nothing of wiping out an entire army, or even a nation, to protect “innocents.” To stop an alien swarm from expanding, he destroyed an entire star system, wiping out billions.

Shimmer wasn’t willing to do that. Gravitas was.

He’s not irrational. As he prepared to destroy another world to prevent a spread of the swarm, the manifestation of Pink (a deific-level megasuper) caused him to stop and engage the swarm at a local level as he knew how powerful Pink was, and her presence meant they had a better-than-average chance to defeating the swarm.

Oh, and to add more to this, Shimmer recently witnessed another person do the same thing, but had a much more personal view of the event. She was able to see the battle raging and could see that the Hero who destroyed the world did so only as a last option, and had done as much as they could to save as many as possible. Something Shimmer hadn't tried to figure out if Gravitas had done or not . . .. So, it's important to revisit events the villains have done, from different points of view.

On the other hand, a well-written and defined villain may not be a villain.

Asmodeus (yes, based on The Asmodeus) was meant to be a multi-arc villain. However, the party was able to negotiate with him very early on and agree that their ultimate goals weren’t at odds, and, if he’d help them, they wouldn’t, actually, be in his way.

So, he went from a Villain to an antagonist, and, ally. And he’s recurring to the point that they count on him for various background support. Betraying them would, ultimately, cause problems for his ultimate goal, so the Devil has been one of their staunchest and most reliable allies.

TL;DR:
The best advice I can give you is to create compelling villains. When your party seems to become fixated on one, focus on making them better. Find out what your party likes and doesn’t like about them and go from there.

05-17-2019, 01:52 PM	#6
Mark Skarr Forum Pervert (If you have to ask . . .) Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Somewhere high up.	Re: A super hero question { Challenging Antagonist } A good villain isn’t made, they evolve. Also, they need to be the hero of their own stories. The best villains are reflections of the heroes they’re supposed to be the nemesis of. Mechanically, there isn’t a formula to make a great villain—it’s not mechanics. There is no advantage or disadvantage that you can give an NPC that ensures they will be a great villain. There’s no collection of skills and attributes that makes them memorable. That’s all on the GM. It’s Role-Playing. Gravitas was a megavillain in my Super San Diego setting. While he was a villain, he’s really only the nemesis of Shimmer. She has a deep hate for him. Not because of any, specific, thing he’s done, but because he’s willing to go further to protect those he dubs “innocents” than she is. He thinks nothing of wiping out an entire army, or even a nation, to protect “innocents.” To stop an alien swarm from expanding, he destroyed an entire star system, wiping out billions. Shimmer wasn’t willing to do that. Gravitas was. He’s not irrational. As he prepared to destroy another world to prevent a spread of the swarm, the manifestation of Pink (a deific-level megasuper) caused him to stop and engage the swarm at a local level as he knew how powerful Pink was, and her presence meant they had a better-than-average chance to defeating the swarm. Oh, and to add more to this, Shimmer recently witnessed another person do the same thing, but had a much more personal view of the event. She was able to see the battle raging and could see that the Hero who destroyed the world did so only as a last option, and had done as much as they could to save as many as possible. Something Shimmer hadn't tried to figure out if Gravitas had done or not . . .. So, it's important to revisit events the villains have done, from different points of view. On the other hand, a well-written and defined villain may not be a villain. Asmodeus (yes, based on The Asmodeus) was meant to be a multi-arc villain. However, the party was able to negotiate with him very early on and agree that their ultimate goals weren’t at odds, and, if he’d help them, they wouldn’t, actually, be in his way. So, he went from a Villain to an antagonist, and, ally. And he’s recurring to the point that they count on him for various background support. Betraying them would, ultimately, cause problems for his ultimate goal, so the Devil has been one of their staunchest and most reliable allies. TL;DR: The best advice I can give you is to create compelling villains. When your party seems to become fixated on one, focus on making them better. Find out what your party likes and doesn’t like about them and go from there.