In most narrative games,
it's expected that we're playing the heroes
but as players
we're also attracted to really good villains,
the kind of characters
you could almost agree with
if it weren't for that whole
wanting to destroy the world thing.
*Meow*
Yikes.
So today, Eddie's back
to talk to us about how to play a villain effectively in an RPG
without being a jerk at your table
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While hanging out with Eddie at Gen Con last year,
he
somehow
managed to turn many a conversation
toward professional wrestling
which if you know Eddie at all happens all the time.
Amongst these chats
he mentioned
that the way villains are portrayed in the squared circle
really helped him to understand
how to play them in games
ranging from Pugmire
to vampire the masquerade
So, what did he learn?
How do we
create great villains when we're role-playing with our friends
particularly if you're a player
rather than a game master?
Well, let's start by calling back to the episode
we did a bit ago
on boundaries in tabletop games
If none of your players
want to see a particular brand of villainy in the game
You just don't bring it
period
you may think that your idea for a character
that tortures people in interesting ways before killing them
will help your character be established as appropriately vile
but if someone's uncomfortable with torture being portrayed at the table
It's best to work on the character more
and find a different angle for your villain.
Now obviously the biggest reason to do that
is because you want everyone in your game
to have a good time and feel safe.
But there's another reason
which leads to the second point.
The players have to
on some level
want to engage
with this character
a well done villain is when your players look forward to running into
even if it's just to give that dastardly do wrong or if their comeuppance
If a player is portraying a villainous character
then there does need to be more explicit sympathy
because then
the other players need a compelling reason
why they'd even put up with the villain in the first place,
even
if everyone
is also playing a villain
Maybe it's something obvious like a shared mutual goal
or something more complicated
like characters who believe they can reform the villain
But the best villains
have to have a spark
of something You can relate to
even if you don't agree with them
too much sympathy however
can push a character to antihero territory
or even just to
hero who's also kind of a jerk
This is a fine line
and one especially hard to tread
if players are portraying villainous characters
because one of the big narrative techniques we use to recognize villains
as villains
is that usually
they're not
our point of view characters
at the end of the day?
no matter how good the reasons
the villains goals
need to be generally recognized
as bad and
This is the reason
that villains like fan OHS work so well
although he thinks what he's doing is right
and has justified it to himself as morally sound
the Protagonists of the story
realized that destroying half of all life in the universe randomly
is wrong
heroes
find different solutions
which takes us nicely to Game Master villains
because while players who portray villains
Inherently have certain narrative functions
since they are still a protagonist
a game masters villain
is an antagonist
and therefore has some different narrative rules
as their goals are usually more intertwined with the direction
the GM wants the story to go
an effective game master villain always reinforces
why the character is a villain
and if they do the right thing
it's for the wrong reasons
when they join forces with the good guys
It's most likely to betray them in the end.
And if they think at last
the villain might give up their nefarious ways
They encounter a temptation.
That's just too strong
and given to the dark side again
Now, of course your villains don't always have to do this
but if they consistently don't
they aren't really villains anymore
from the perspective of the narrative and
Another great narrative point
that we can take from professional wrestling
is no matter how entertaining the villain is
remember that their ultimate purpose in the game
is to lose
and that doesn't mean that the villain needs to suddenly become an idiot and
ruin all of their own plans
Some of the best villains
are characters that are on the brink of achieving everything
only to have one bad day
against the group of determined protagonists
and when villains inevitably lose
they should lose
Big
because these are characters
whose fails are designed
to make the heroes
look good
not to mention
Nobody's ever happy
when they have to compromise with the villain
particularly one that does nothing but hurt people
and that's
maybe the most important point
a well-crafted villain
takes actions
because they think that it's beneficial to themselves or their goals
and not out of pure sadism
Sure,
villains can take sadistic actions,
especially if they've had a long rivalry with other characters
But sadism just for the sake of sadism
is the fastest way to turn your villain into a creep
not believable cream at that
after all
even the most
evil people
do think that they're the good guy
or at least can justify their actions to themselves
So unless you want to create some cartoonish enemy
or 80 slasher film monster
The villain has to have a motivation
other
than just hurting people
in fact the villain probably only cares about the heroes
because they're the people
who keep getting in their way.
In the end,
whether you're a player or a game master
you want to make your villain
a person
someone the heroes have a relationship with
and a villain in a tabletop game
should be fun
both to interact with
and to despise and
If you hit the right balance
not only will players cheer
when the villain is ultimately defeated
But they'll also ask for them to come back again
to ruin more of their days.
No
no Zoe
I mean at the table
narratively,
not in real life
see
good
Wait, no, no. Nope Wow.
Ah, so that's where the leftover eggnog went.
You are lucky it's delicious, cat.
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