We'd love to do another episode focusing on roleplaying tips or strategies for creating memorable villains in roleplaying games! What questions to ideas would you like to see us cover?
@radiantshocker68626 жыл бұрын
Matching villains with a proper Low, Mid and Grand Tier plan
@eckroattheeckroat42466 жыл бұрын
This is an awesome episode and definitely highlighted some spells I'd overlooked, but the spells are all higher level. This is great for an overarcing campaign villain, but do you have any recommendations for the lower tiers of play? Maybe for the big bad guy's lieutenant that the party first encounters, before meeting the boss.
@dungeonmaster31986 жыл бұрын
How do I write an enthralling evil monologue?
@hawkname12346 жыл бұрын
Writing good/realistic motivations for evil guys. So many villains are just Saturday morning cartoons.
@dragonmaster6136 жыл бұрын
Nice pinky & the brain reference at the top of the video.
@nofoxtugiv73775 жыл бұрын
K: "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Monty?" M: "I think so, Kelly, but where would we get a rubber duck and a garden hose at this hour?"
@telkei33656 жыл бұрын
Do not forget the chill touch cantrip No healing while on low hp is frightening
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Yes. Chill Touch is a terrifying spell, especially when many legendary spellcasters (such as Liches and Vampire Mages) can cast cantrips using a single legendary action. It's a great method to put damage pressure on the party, and also get ahead of power of the healer.
@SilenceForbidden6 жыл бұрын
"Karen cancel my 2o'clock I have too much scrying to do" funniest thing I've heard today, the idea of a villain who feels like the whole process is one big hassle is amazing.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Soon we are going to have to make up the stats for Karen, the Evil Personal Assistant, I think!
@hamstsorkxxor6 жыл бұрын
Lol, "Karen, cancel my 2 o'clock, I've got too much scrying to do" is the best thing ever! Let me introduce my new Lich-CEO villain, lawful evil, lobbyist of the worst kind, who works his poor undead workers to the literal bone in his evil factories. His objective his to crash the forgotten realms ecconmy via using cheap (i.e. free) undead labour to prduce consumer goods and flood the supply side market. He's not adverse to hostile corporate takeovers either. His ultimate goal is to establish a corporate monopoly, thus dominating all the poor peasants and workers. Your objective as a player is to S E I Z E T H E M E A N S O F P R O D U C T I O N and start a workers rebellion by distributing "Das Kapital" amongst his undead workers. Karen, of course, is his evil lieutenant, which has to be overcome by a series of "social boss battles" in which the players have to fight corporate negligence as well as government beurocracy and incompetence. There is of course a bunch of undead to fight as well: imagine a quest to go down into the downstairs archive in the basement, on the hunt for a complaint form (found in a locked fileing cabinet, guarded by the undead) that has to be filled in before you can even make an appointment with Karen. Might even have the cabinet be in a room with a sign that says "warning for the leopard" just for the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy reference.
@Bluecho46 жыл бұрын
I once had the idea for a Beholder who has a personal assistant, who naturally is a magically modified human of the beholder's own creation. She's been conditioned since "birth" to be fully loyal to the beholder, and knows all his secrets. She's also got a bunch of vials of magical mutagens into her back pocket, to be used in the event that her boss needs her to personally engage in a fight (which is not often). She's also the only one allowed to wear Slippers of Spiderclimb in the evil lair, so she can keep up with the boss. On account of all the obscene architectural verticality, as typical in beholder lairs.
@TriMarkC5 жыл бұрын
hamstsorkxxor Actually, there’s some great seeds to a mid-level villain here, who is controlled by the BBEG above. Villain would be like Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, who’s vision of the future is actually or approx commonplace in our real world. So yeah. legions of undead producing mass-marketed junk food & junk items. To some NPCs, cheap easy food & stuff would be paradise, so living lieutenants & cultists to carry out many of the tasks in world shouldn’t be too hard to find. And so it’s been growing overseas, not really hurting anyone (usually), but now it’s trying to get a foothold in your PCs country. Or PCs hired to investigate, and then hired again to stop them. I like it!
@stevespielman3 жыл бұрын
Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work, but I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I'm swamped.
@Snowy845576 жыл бұрын
If a spell lasts 24 hours, have him cast it before going to sleep each night. Sure he casts the spell every day but unless they attack him in his sleep he has all his spell slots.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Nice tip, a smart villain would certainly pull a trick like this one!
@TengrioftheCrimsonSky6 жыл бұрын
Nathan P I get this mental image of a villain saying their spells like a little Christian child praying before bed 😂
@Eunostos6 жыл бұрын
Strahd explicitly does that!
@Zililol6 жыл бұрын
The best thing I did in a game to freak out my players was set a timer on my phone, so exactly 1 hour into the game session my alarm goes off and I turn to a player and go "Hey, make a wisdom save". The reaction of `holy crap, you had a timer for a saving throw!?` was amazing.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
I'm stealing this idea! I love it!
@jft48206 жыл бұрын
That's a great idea I'm going to steal it!
@xRedivivus6 жыл бұрын
You’re a genius, I’m gonna borrow this idea
@Daoloth126 жыл бұрын
Zili holy shit BRILLIANT
@colinsmith14955 жыл бұрын
Was it meaningful? I *love* the idea of random, meaningless saves like this in a campaign where mysterious stuff is going down. Especially if the players know the villain can scry on them or the like.
Note that if you polymorph yourself into a fly, you have the intellect of a fly...
@dr.nerdfarious6302 Жыл бұрын
😅
@TuckBolt6 жыл бұрын
My villain is currently using the warlock's empowered familiar (as an imp) to follow the party around while invisible. They don't know.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Really fantastic sneaky trick. I like it.
@TuckBolt6 жыл бұрын
@@DungeonDudes I can't wait for them to get ahold of see invisibility or true seeing XD
@dantedrowson25115 жыл бұрын
Thats freaking AMAZING XD
@lafortya5 жыл бұрын
Classic. I did that back in 2nd ed AD&D. And the imp wasn't even always invisible. I kept dropping clues as sometimes the imp was shape shifted into a crow or a frog or a goat that I would mention as just part of the flavor text.
@MstEli4 жыл бұрын
That's smart
@gabrielshepard32966 жыл бұрын
10:05 "Monty's Guide to Total Party Kills" ...I'd buy that
@zil56976 жыл бұрын
I think Simulacrum would be a great villain spell. In the "final boss fight" you have them start against the simulacrum (that can also cast invulnerability to offset it having low hp) burning all their best abilities, then your real villain shows up a few rounds later.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
I'd love to see the look on the players face when they slay the villain only to have the body melt into a puddle of snow!
@raikirah9756 жыл бұрын
I have done this -- can confirm their shocked and disappointed tears are *delicious*. Even better is using it to replicate the McGuffin NPC they needed to rescue from the BBEG's lair. BBEG escapes, but they think they've rescued the princess.... only to get home and have her melt from her joyful father's tear-filled embrace. }:-D
@TheLegoLord1005 жыл бұрын
You can see this actually being used (but without the invulnerability) in the dnd stream High Rollers, the storm/cloud giant bbeg used this not only to fight the party but also to be her face in social situations, as she had a few... problems going on with her body which the simulacrum didn’t have
@VulcanWolf2 жыл бұрын
"Sorry, heroes. Your villain is in another castle." 😁
@willieoelkers5568 Жыл бұрын
Ah, the classic “actually a Doombot” bit
@tyleremery70885 жыл бұрын
Random WIS saves against scrying are one of the most amusing things I've used against a party. DM: _throws a combat with lots of saving throws at the players_ Party: _kills the enemies and celebrates their victory_ DM: Make a WIS save.
@caleblenhardt98376 жыл бұрын
Minion: hey boss what you doing? Villain: just got my new rune of sending 7, so I'm sending to all my lieutenants Lieutenant sends message to villian Villian: new rune who dis
@Bluecho46 жыл бұрын
1) Scry is yet more useful when you remember that there are enchanted crystal balls that have Scry _built in_ . Your villain doesn't even need to BE a caster to employ one. Moreover, there are rarer variants of those same magic items that can Scry _AND_ do something more. Like Scry + Detect Thoughts. Or Scry + _Suggestion_ . Even Scry + Telepathy can be useful, for giving orders to the villain's lieutenants from afar. 2) Other good options for Contingency: Gaseous Form. Dimension Door. Far Step (from Xanathar's). Etherealness. Feign Death. Fly. Expeditious Retreat. Haste. All of these spells can be handy for the specific purpose of effecting escape. Which can be quite useful, when a fight isn't going the villain's way, and he needs to get out while the getting's good. If there is one spell I think many high level villains should have, it's Clone. Nothing says villain surviveability like having an extra life in his back pocket. Or, rather, in a secure, hidden fortress safehouse. It's the same reason why Lichs lean so hard on their Phylacteries. Best of all, Clone can be used to make the person come back as a _younger_ version of himself, which is a pretty neat side benefit to having an extra life. The PCs might think they've bested their old nemesis, and not even realize the young guy hanging around is that same nemesis.
@gabrialsperka4223 жыл бұрын
For phylacteries and clones and stuff, might I recommend utilizing the Demiplane spell? It's your own personal pocket dimension that nobody else can enter ^-^ plus you can access a previous one or make a new one each time you cast it, so now your lich can truly be unstoppable
@martijnvanweele62046 жыл бұрын
Matthew Colville made an excellent point on what to give your villains. Of course you have to follow the rules, but you are the DM, you make the rules, so you could create rules that allow them to be incredibly scary. Matthew Mercer, for instance, ruled that his final boss Vecna, by virtue of having ascended to godhood, had more than one 9th level spell slot. He himself suggested ruling that there exists some sort of 9th level ritual spell that can erase another spell from existance, which was in response to Vox Machina using Heroes' Feast a lot. Of course, you have to be fair, meaning that if you, as a magic user, ascend to godhood, you get access to more 9th level spell slot or a similar buff, and your players can learn this eraser-ritual too. He also suggested that, rather than making your villains scary per se, you can make them incredibly gimmicky. One ability he suggested, which I am definitely going to use someday, was the ability to switch the character's bodies, which means the players will have to exchange character sheets and play as the other's character. Not really all that dangerous, not all that scary, but very surprising and potentially loads of silly fun, which, really, is what D&D is about...
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Absolutely. The Dungeon Master does not *need* to be bound by the rules when making NPCs and villains, and Colville is wise to make this point. Especially with "godlike" villains -- homebrew away. However, by using the same abilities and spells as the players gives the world a layer of consistency and credibility. It can also create interesting dynamic where their actions are clearly telegraphed. Finally, there are so many interesting powers in the PHB to use for inspiration! More than anything else, I think both Matts do a great job of using the rules as a basis for creativity, extending the spells and powers to create something truly unique :)
@martijnvanweele62046 жыл бұрын
I completely agree, but I also love the creativity part of D&D. I personally think it could be a lot of fun to have a bonus list of spells (for instance) that you yourself made up that your players can use. You're not stepping outside of the rules to make your villain dangerous or scary, you're expanding the rules and adding ways for them to be scary that your players can use too if they so choose.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
I love the idea of homebrewing custom spells used by the villain they the players can learn after they defeat them.
@martijnvanweele62046 жыл бұрын
I love the idea of making the power of your opponent yours after defeating them. Unfortunately, I screwed up when I tried to do this once. I made a custom item which was essentially a flashbomb, which was used by my first ever big bad to escape (It was a glass bottle filled with several liquids. Smashing the bottle by throwing it on the floor anywhere within 30 ft. created a flash of light with a radius of 15 ft., forcing all creatures within range to make a DC15 dex. save or become blinded. I also gave the guy who used it a DC5 strength roll to beat when he used it, and it would not go off if he failed), except I forgot that I had put two more of them in a chest which the players could have used and/or taken to an alchemist to make more.
@bibbobella5 жыл бұрын
Also I mean many of the these mages are several hundred years old. I would almost find it weird if they hadn't at least attempted to make a few new spells as well throughout their years. Some more successful than others. Adding a few, not nessesarily powerful spells, could throw anyone for a loop! Why go with a simple chill touch? How about creating a level 1 or 2 spell that have an area of effect that apply the chilltouch spell on anyone inside that area thereby making it impossible for everyone to heal? I could see it as a combination between mirror image, find familiar and the trickster cleric's ability to create a clone that he managed to combine to some exstend. Creating a big area where several of him appear for a second and try to apply chill touch to everyone in the area before dissapearing again right after. Combining different spells together making them more powerful but also slightly more dangerous and experimental seems like fun if you ask me and seems like a fairly easy and understandable research for an arcane master to want to do. I probably wouldn't do two concentration spells in one because that just seems a bit too powerful in many cases but having a few fun spells and add a small twist to it by slightly combining something else into it seems like a lot of fun!
@LFielding076 жыл бұрын
19:12 - And that, my friends, is why Unseen Servant exists. They'll darn your socks, keep your ledgers, and make sure you are always on top of your lifestyle!
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Hahaha! Maybe there could even be a "Greater Unseen Servant" spell who can take your Sending spells, play your favourite Bard songs, and help you remember all the NPCs contact information?
@malkavian26 жыл бұрын
One of my favourite villain spells is the simple cantrip chill touch A necromancer laying that down on the party member that is being heavily smacked around and now the healer can’t help them is always a solid evil choice.
@jonathanblaine41216 жыл бұрын
Important to note that the full effect of the free Mind Blank is that you cast it with an unused spell slot *before* you prepare or meditate or whatever refreshes your spell slots. They weren't super clear on that. Good for any daily spell, like Goodberry.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Great tip!
@SinerAthin6 жыл бұрын
This is why; if my villain is not a deity or supernatural being of some kind; I always give them a wide array of support characters. Mortals need to sleep, rest and eat; and there's only so much they can do in a day. One of the most obvious things a good Evil Overlord would need is a good secretary! How else can you expect to run your Dark Empire?!
@DracherRu5 жыл бұрын
true, true... a good villain needs to delegate less important tasks so he/she can focus on the TRULY important tasks... secretarys to sort through the menial tasks of coordinating your dark empire... assassins to remove unwanted people... goons to do the heavy lifting... you know, the usual ^ ^
@theapexsurvivor95384 жыл бұрын
Secretary: Wizard (Div/Ill), Cleric (Know) or Bard (Lore) Body guards: Fighter, Monk, and (Anti-)Paladin Spymaster: Rogue (Mastermind/Assassin) or Bard (Whispers) High Chaplain: Cleric Master of Animals: Druid, Ranger (Beast Master), or Fighter (Cavalier) Marshal: Fighter (Battlemaster) Head Magician: Sorcerer or Wizard This should give a pretty good lineup of the guys you might have around your BBEG's lair at any given time, but who might also be sent out to accomplish tasks and be killed off by the party to make the final battle easier.
@damanrando76086 жыл бұрын
The "Showing up at an early part of the campaign" bit with the invulnerable monologue would be a great time to snatch a few hairs for a later bit of scrying as well... see also, someone if they get out and attacks you, when the attack bounces off, you reach out and take the player character by the hair and push them back, pulling a few hairs out as you do
@teradul24806 жыл бұрын
I really wanted more than just combat-revolving spells. Even Scrying tends to be used as a way to adapt to the party's tactics, even though Scrying truly is a great spell. I really wanted to see Guards and Wards in here. Your villain doesn't even need to know it anymore. Once you made it permanent, you can pemanently forget it, because any dispell magic situation only dispells a part of the spell temporarilly. And your villain can also cast it on LT's bases to make its empire even more of a pain. On the same vein, Hallow is an absurdly great spell to set up a base, and it only needs to be cast once. Contingency can also be great with Mislead to make a great escape without the party even realizing...
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Great additions to the list! Guards and Wards is such an impressive spell -- you can almost build an entire dungeon adventure or stronghold using it as the centrepiece of the villain's defence!
@Jay_Hendrix5 жыл бұрын
I adore the idea of the villain using mass suggestion on the players when they first enter their lair, telling them "Your journey is over. It's time to part ways and go home."
@danielp.22134 жыл бұрын
"...so often in D&D campaigns, we don't get the opportunity as DM's to really roleplay our villains in convincing and intelligent ways. Sometimes the only opportunity you have as a villain is the combat encounter where you get killed." SO TRUE. I had TWO major villains in early/mid-tier play of my homebrew campaign, one got chucked into a pit to the Shadowfel before they got to say anything at all, and the other was constantly being either berated/insulted by the party, or destroyed. These are some great tips using rules-as-written to provide DM's some breathing room to create some drama and conflict that I'll 100% use for mid-high tier play, and even early tier with big bads. One thing I do now - do the evil monologues during combat at the top of the round (like a "lair action") as well as on the villains turn. I also allow villains to talk as "free actions" even on players' turns. This ensures even if the party resorts to violence before any dialogue takes place, you can still get your plot and intrigue and character points in!
@sylvaincousineau50736 жыл бұрын
Glyph of Warding is another very interesting spell to protect your BBEG lair , when using the option to store other spells with it . I like the Blink + Blur combo , but it can get very frustrating for the players .
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Even as a trap it's very useful, but the ability to add a spell effect to it makes it a great defence for a well-prepared villain.
@Jay_Hendrix5 жыл бұрын
Ward a suggestion spell to leave the party and go home.
@johnunterzuber3296 жыл бұрын
Anything that removes plot armor makes a much better villain
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Agreed! Villains should survive because they are smart, well-prepared, ruthless, and full of surprises -- but not because they are protected by DM fiat. Players love it when they can learn and counteract apart the villain's abilities, it makes victory against them all the better!
@30ART55 жыл бұрын
@@DungeonDudes I actually thought of a neat little multyclass villain. A shadow sorcerer rogue. Give them a glif of warding that gives them greater invisibility and let them cast darkness with their sorcery points. Not only will the darkness impair vision, the villain can still see and get sneak attacks in on the party. If the darkness gets disspelled or broken, the glif still gives them invisibility.
@SerDerpish5 жыл бұрын
John Unterzuber or in the case of Invulnerability, mimic it 🤫
@krispalermo81335 жыл бұрын
One of the few games I played. Lich cast Dominate Person on the party's paladin, along with an Improve Charm Person. Guest who the paladin is now working for ?
@MonStarGuy6 жыл бұрын
I was most inspired by the Evil Personal Assistant. Basically like Shego from Kim Possible, or Mirage from The Incredibles. But perky.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Fantastic examples! We might have to do an entire episode on the Evil Personal Assistant, it's a great trope with tons of roleplaying opportunities.
@Lukiel6666 жыл бұрын
Dominate person the melee classes with low wisdom. Attack the healer with him.
@Cov1ngtonsGhOst5 жыл бұрын
Thanks, Satan.
@Cov1ngtonsGhOst5 жыл бұрын
Sincerely, a healer.
@VitorRedes4 жыл бұрын
That's kinda expected. Experienced players will buff their damage dealers resistance before combats with enemy wizards.
@Hazel-xl8in4 жыл бұрын
Lukiel666 well the “healer” is wearing heavy armor and has a shield so good luck with that
@roadlygo14614 жыл бұрын
So, I actually have this as a plot point in my game. Five Lvl 20 Bard Pirates essentially start singing sea shanties outside the gate of the port city they're docked at. Once they have drawn a crowd, they then all cast dominate person at max level to force 5 people to sing along with them. Then, they make them get on their ship and set sail for a new port. Their crew is essentially slaves/thralls under the dominante person spell that they Shanghai in each new port. Then, they sell/ransom them to their families, or bribe them, shame them, or otherwise coerce their crew into staying on the ship forever. One day, our intrepid adventurers are the target of their spells. For the ones who fail the save DC of 20, they become enthralled. For those who do save, their mission is to try and board the ship, deactivate the 8 hour long spell effect on their friends, and escape the shit without being caught AND before the ship sets sail. Otherwise, someone is going on a pirate theme side quest
@CharlotteMcGonagall6 жыл бұрын
“Clone” would also be another great choice. You thought you had defeated the bad guy? Wrong! He had a backup copy ready to go.
@revshad42266 жыл бұрын
One of my favorite combos of spells is Armour of Agathys, Flame Shield, and Investiture of Flame. The combo of them all deals a massive amount of damage to the melee fighters.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
That's a pretty nasty combination, with some nice defensive perks as well!
@Mystakaphoros6 жыл бұрын
I really like the idea of the villain having a secretary to manage their scrying time.
@skulltechstuff25306 жыл бұрын
Feeblemind. That is all.
@esbendit6 жыл бұрын
Contagion, appart from being a nasty debuff, has the chance of leaving the players reeling long after the encounter. It may even work as a nasty parting gift against whoever defeated the villain.
@sakisaotome67536 жыл бұрын
The funny thing is that invulnerability can be easily overcome by a level 1 spell cast as a level 1 spell. There are a great number of ways to foil this spell. But the funniest one one is by casting the level 1 spell Tasha's hideous laughter. The spell does no damage but forces the target to succeed at a wisdom saving throw. If they fail thru will find everything extremely funny and will quite literally ROFLMAO. this incapacitates them ending any concentration they are holding such as invulnerability. Another means to go around this is a poison attack such as carrion crawler mucus or oil of taggit. Simply Coat your weapon, make an attack. Land the blow. Since these are contact poisons the damage immunity is irrelevant. If they fail their Dave they will be incapacitated and they will lose concentration
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Many a mighty villain has been laid low by laughing!
@FzFx6 жыл бұрын
Or just attack the villain by everyone just to hold him by grapple, gag and then bound him to make sure no spell is cast, take all of his items, drop him in mud/cement/lava, and cook/cool until he is completely Han Solo-ed.
@mennoltvanalten72606 жыл бұрын
Force cage box version = free short rest Mind blank: Do on start of long rest, not end, saves a spell slot for the next day Have you thought about abusing Glyph of Warding by the way? It is basically a location bound, 200 gp, lvl 3 or higher Contengincy. Lasts forever though. This means that over time, someone can stuff their lair with hundreds of these to defend against intruders.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Glyphs of Warding are tons of fun when used intelligently. I love the idea of a villain installing these in their lair almost like magical "panic buttons" to cause myriad effects which aid their escape or protect their valuable assets.
@mennoltvanalten72606 жыл бұрын
I'm actually thinking about using them in a dungeon. The main issue is that, even though individually not seeming very strong, an evil wizard could layer thousands of these in his tower, moreso if he is smart and either has access to the plane of Earth or lives on a diamond mine, and not even a lvl 20 party should be able to break through that due to sheer attrition. The idea I have right now is that the party wishes to visit the shrine of a deity of forethought, planning and house defense (just gotta find a reason, probably an escort for someone who wishes to pray over an important decision). This place is of course embedded in a temple which resembles the goals of the god, and is hard to break into. And that will basically be the dungeon: Get into the temple. Of course the clerics will make sure that there are almost no actual deaths inside, wouldn't wanna get a bad reputation now right, which is why it is possible at all.
@mrmaat6 жыл бұрын
Trapping enough creatures inside a forcecage box for long enough would suffocate them. The spell says it "prevents any matter from passing through it". I would not recommend it as a substitute for Leomund's Tiny Hut.
@intelligence14wisdom225 жыл бұрын
@@mennoltvanalten7260 Evil Wizard: "what do you think we make dungeons out of? Gears and pulleys? What are we, gnomes?" But seriously, Glyphs of Warding and Guards and Wards are great dungeon design shortcuts. Now to get my party to a high enough level to use the spells against them...
@Sethoshini956 жыл бұрын
i really enjoy giving my players weird powers, so in this campaign i allowed them to pick (after my approval) a +2 template. 3 out of 4 asked me (knowing i would say no) the Nigh-Invulnerable template (+20 Ac, immunitiy to basically every spell, fast healing equal to your total HP and a fatal flaw that can one-shot you if discovered). Guess what template the Villain gained?
@dantedrowson25115 жыл бұрын
😀😀😀😀!! What did he pick??? Thats amAZING
@snowman96316 жыл бұрын
Should make a video of 5 magic items for villains
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Yes! Great idea!
@purplemagi24146 жыл бұрын
well, we got one from this video, Crystal Ball of Telepathy
@snowman96316 жыл бұрын
Purple Magi I used a ring of “globe of invulnerability”
@Bluecho46 жыл бұрын
Ring of Protection Against Scrying and Detection.
@andyh27835 жыл бұрын
Great idea would love to see it dungeon dudes
@Kevlar-786 жыл бұрын
Great info guys. As a new DM(returning DM) this series is very helpful. Suggestion : Maybe you can talk a bit about how to put things in front of your character that allow them to be creative with their capabilities and how to manage the players magic in combat. To elaborate, I'm struggling with what spells can counter other spells (with the exception of counter spell). I want to create challenges that they can overcome using their tools creatively, but have trouble remembering what spells the characters have prepared , etc.. I don't want you be an adversarial DM, but want to run combat more tactically. Thanks in advance !
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the great comment, and welcome back behind the screen. If you haven't already, you should check out our videos on Running Combat, Spells and Spellcasting Guide, and the Actions in Combat Guide. In all three videos we have great tips for DMs and players on how to think more creatively in combat and magic, while also using the rules as an effective tool to SUPPORT creativity and improvisation. I LOVE you idea for a "clash of spells" episode where we talk about how certain combinations of spells might interact... we'll have to think about that one. Thank you so much for the awesome suggestion! -- Monty
@bigfootstoe13326 жыл бұрын
Hypothetically, the monk's quivering hand ability could still work through invulnerability, since it doesn't actually apply damage. Right?
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Yes, assuming the creature fails it's saving throw, it would still work.
@HundredYearsBoar7 жыл бұрын
I have a horrible habit of accidentally making my villains underpowered. Definitely an episode not to overlook!
@DungeonDudes7 жыл бұрын
Hundred Years Boar with these spells you may end up with the opposite problem. Hope your players forgive you.
@telkei33656 жыл бұрын
Dont forget chill touch!
@jft48206 жыл бұрын
Me too, and my group gets together so infrequently that I had forgotten how powerful the "Sharpshooter" feat is. My 3 player party (lvl 5) wiped out a max HP Chimera no sweat. But at least now I have a bench mark for what they can handle.
@obradinn74916 жыл бұрын
As a DM I often design my bosses as being mechanically complex to challenge those who just want to melt away HP. For example, I had a boss that every 33% health she lost, she'd resurrect the zombies in the room. If the players didn't damage them she'd blow them up for 2d10 of fire damage in a 10ft radius. This made the players consider positioning, tossing the zombies away from her range etc. And because this boss was a vampire she was very dangerous in her own right. Eventually they just used Sacred Flame every turn to stop her regeneration while they destroyed the remaining corpses. This is what I like to term "difficulty setting" in boss fights. The players can learn the mechanics quickly to make the fight easy or they can try to brute-force it and end up with a highly overtuned fight.
@TylerM_86_6 жыл бұрын
@@obradinn7491 sounds like you just created a WoW boss encounter? Doesn't seem very DnD to me.
@TengrioftheCrimsonSky6 жыл бұрын
Don't forget if your party is getting overconfident, start actually hitting their characters while they're down. Using necromancy spells to bring the dead characters back as allies. Also you can have Glyph trap spells much like in Skyrim.
@anttitikkanen59855 жыл бұрын
...Could You kindly make a "Think outside the Force Cage" -shirt? I'd buy that🤤
@purplemagi24146 жыл бұрын
Clone is pretty good if your villain has lots of time and money to use. it ensures that your BBEG will always come back.
@ricklongley91726 жыл бұрын
Snarky bespectacled secretary that's secretly the REAL bbeg running the show? YES PLEASE!
@paulcoy90606 жыл бұрын
Felicity Smoak? Or the secretary from the original Ghostbusters movie?
@pokenerd33406 жыл бұрын
Is BBEG Big Bad Evil Guy?
@gabrialsperka4223 жыл бұрын
@@pokenerd3340 lol yes
@johnferrara96246 жыл бұрын
My whole party minus the barbarian dumped strength. Maximillian’s Earthen grasp isn’t that strong, but for a stone golem to be able to control the annoying flies helps quite a bit.
@cyrilmartin56136 жыл бұрын
We escaped a forcecage created by a trap once in our group. I casted plant growth on a goodberry, then with transport via plant we escape using the goodberry as portal. Problem we had no choice but going back in a tree outside the castle so even if we haven't been captured it was a defeat
@crowsenpai5625 Жыл бұрын
One cruel combo with [Force Cage] is have the area under the [Forbiddance] spell beforehand. Forbiddance’s main effect is it wards the area to prevent all teleportation. So you have a lockdown spell where the only counter is teleportation magic, and use it in a teleportation-free zone. The ONLY way to stop it at that point is [Disintegrate]
@salroun726 жыл бұрын
Time stop to force cage to cloud kill. Brutal, efficient and just makes us players cry ;-; why though
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
It's a very tough combination, but I'm always shocked at how creative players get trying to find a way out! It's survivable for a creative, quick-thinking group of players with high level characters!
@salroun726 жыл бұрын
Dungeon Dudes it is always a challenge and that's what I liked about that combo. Truly makes us the players think about certain power combos. Gave me a lot to think about! Rock on dudes!
@patathatapon6 жыл бұрын
Immediately reminds me of Critical role, how differently things would have gone had Vecna just had the invulnerability spell.
@fantell6 жыл бұрын
I just like that villains can use scry to find out who messed with their plans. All it takes is some trace evidence, a bloody sword left behind with the heroes blood on it, for example, and they are going to find out everything. Unless your players are super paranoid and expect or guard against practically anything, there is always a way to figure this stuff out.
@iskandarthegreat04878 ай бұрын
6 years later and I'm still referring back to this video when I get near the end of my campaigns 😁 thank you for all your amazing work Dudes!
@DragonKnightJin6 жыл бұрын
For a one-shot idea I had, that turned into a 2-parter.. I think I'm going to steal that Invulnerability idea, but tweak it a bit. Seeing as the guy they might fight at the end (Up to the party to decide if they want to) is an Avatar of their god.. I'm thinking that if the players want to go for a surprise round, I'll let it happen. Then, when the dust settles, they can see there isn't a scratch on him. In fact, he's just finished getting into his battle gear, and prepping to have at them. Sure, it might sound like it's cheap. But so is trying to suckerpunch the BBEG when he hasn't done anything yet.
@GregTom26 жыл бұрын
Kind of makes me want to set up an entire campaign around a Mage's Guild or magical college of sorts, where all players are encouraged to be wizards, and divination and defense against scrying makes or break the adventure.
@noahhelsee13406 жыл бұрын
I'm going to use these for the next session I am planning. Thanks so much.
@johnrossman66793 жыл бұрын
All these spells we used a lot in the D&D 2E when I was in the Army in the 90's. The DM loved intrigue and some of his villains use these spells to great effect.
@lionbryce101016 жыл бұрын
"Choose a spell of or lower that you can cast, that has a casting time of 1 action, and that CAN target you." Fireball, or similar, when I die
@1manApocalypse_CP4 жыл бұрын
The D&D equivalent of martyrdom.
@melamber98236 жыл бұрын
I like the sending option but in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist they have an uncommon magic item called "paper bird" which is uncommon and you actually write a message and it flies to the recipient. very handy and can be used by non spellcasting villains.
@zhoupact85676 жыл бұрын
Ohhh. That would be... nice. The party has the night before made the plan that they will try to play a prank on the main dude. Then as they get the saving trow and make themselves ready to do their play, maybe even just letting the thing take effect instead of trying to defend against it. And instead of the scrying the players get slammed into a tree or hit by a fireball. The villain sitting in the middle of their camp eating a meal.
@zhoupact85676 жыл бұрын
Oh and can you imagine. If you have the party try to look at the Villain and the result is them seeing him right behind themselves with a rather angry look on his face just glaring at the players back. You wish to scry on me? Fine, as a price I will take your eyes. Just as they turn around theres fingers Itatchi style grabbing for your eye. .
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Yup, a villain that has Truesight will be able to see scrying sensors around them. A smart villain might want to use this against the characters to intentionally spread misinformation or deceive them instead of using Mind Blank to merely hide all the time. You can then terrify the characters using spells like Dream and Project Image to send the taunting messages to them!
@Wineblood6 жыл бұрын
Forcecage and sickening radiance, it's basically TPK on tap.
@noFace001065 жыл бұрын
There's a lot of potential for the dream spell 5th level. Your villain can taunt the PC's in their sleep, potentially cause psychic damage and prevent them from being well-rested. The villain can hold an npc or PC's sleep hostage to get them to work for the villain. With a short rest and a few minions a level 9 Warlock can target the whole party.
@japelma34576 жыл бұрын
I love Forcecage. We were finishing up a game with an epilogue, and my Warlock had become a prominent crime boss. The Monk was kind of a vigilante a this point, and was forced to try to stop me. We decided that we wanted an epic battle between the two of us. He was winning, so I cast Demiplane to a demiplane I had made before (a shrine to my Patron) and ran inside. The Monk followed me in, but I was hiding, and when he found me I cast forcecage on him. I was close to the door at this point, and he was near the back, so I didn’t get stuck. I left the Demiplane, and as both have a 1 hour duration, the demiplane expired before the forcecage did. A week later, I came back, and the Monk was unconscious. I used Create Thrall to make the Monk my enforcer/slave until my character was eventually killed in the next campaign by my new PC.
@digifreak904 жыл бұрын
Interesting thing about Invulnerability, it only block damage, also concentration on spells instantly ends if the caster is incapacitated. So, theoretically you could end someone's invulnerability by simply targeting them with something like Hold Person, which inflicts paralysis and, by extension incapacitates the target. (so long as they fail their wisdom save against the spell) And now I'm imagining the grand villain of a campaign revealing himself in a dramatic manner while being invulnerable early in the campaign, but didn't realize the party had a Divination Wizard who'd rolled a terrible roll as one of their portents that day, and so lost their invulnerability and got destroyed by the party due to the paralysis making every melee attack a crit.
@rlee11856 жыл бұрын
Freaking love pinky and the brain
@TriMarkC5 жыл бұрын
I’ve watched this episode 3-4x now, because so many ideas keep bouncing around in my head!! But, it also makes me wonder & wish for a whole series on BBEG strategies!! Just as many creatures have standard strategies if X or Y happens, and just as you laid out in this video, it would be awesome to have a combinations of spells (buff, debuff, def, off) that various types (read classes, races) might use would be awesome!
@pyrosaniac6 жыл бұрын
The way you guys talk to each other reminds me of Wayne's World and I kind of love it.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Party Time! Excellent!
@funnyman69746 жыл бұрын
Party on Garth.
@TKilgannon6 жыл бұрын
Another good spell for villains - Clone! Basically a back up body in case they do get ganked by your players. The villain may also make clones of his/her/their most important generals and minions.
@SolomonCaineReaper6 жыл бұрын
Personally, I hate evil villians. Of course my villians are evil, but I don't like it when they know that they are evil. But a villians who is doing good, and doesn't realize that he is being hunted, or doesn't realize that what they are doing is wrong. An alchemist trying to turn death into a myth, but is creating monstrosities and abominations. A wizard taking children away from terrible homes and giving them to new ones by turning them into toys. A druid animal rights activist.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
You make an EXCELLENT point here. Sometimes the villain is just an antagonist with goals that conflict with the party. Two completely well-adjusted nations lay claim to a city, both with legitimate reasons. Two organizations disagree about whether or not a controversial secret should be made public. Two groups of adventurers seek the same prize. In any case, that doesn't mean they can't make use of all the spells and tactics in this video!
@ichdu00144 жыл бұрын
I love that as well. The villain for my current adventure finds death unfair and wants to open the realm of death for every past soul to get a second chance. He doesn't know that the god of the dead plans to overtake the material plane this way, but that's a different story. :P
@sarahtorgerson96586 жыл бұрын
I don't know if this is something anybody else on here has done, but with low level players, I like using Harm to show just how dangerous the villain can be (mostly only when he needs something from them)
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Great tip. Harm is an awesome spell to really terrify the players with a bunch of damage without killing them off!
@stevethepirate28755 жыл бұрын
In some cases my villains were at their worse once they were dead. Years and years of laying magical traps upon their strong hold, many of which only function if he isn't present or dead. Cursed items, their curses hidden by illusions that fail when the mage died. But spell-wise, by far the worse was a ring. Ring of the Nine Hells. Sounds impressive, but was really pretty simple. (Immunity to fire, Darkness, speak with devils, and once per day the wearer could summon in three Imps. Also should the wearer die, the ring returns to the Nine Hells along with anything in a 30' radius that didn't make a save. Usable by only Lawful Evil.) A party that is blind, half-poisoned from being attached by imps, and having fireballs rain down on them from multiple scrolls he carried. was devastating. But then when they fought their way through, surrounded the mage and killed him to suddenly have a gate open up and get sucked in was devastating plus ten. Then again there was the Necromancer's book of spells. Shudder.
@castellanspandrell8914 жыл бұрын
Played a game where we met one of the major villains really early on. We tried to fight him immediately but he was able to Counterspell us easily. Really helped him come off as intimidating and forced us to agree to his demands instead of just fighting him.
@DGray-gl3ed6 жыл бұрын
Some more neat tricks with scrying: The target can fail their saving throw on purpose. Your villain can use this to their advantage when scrying on their minions, setting up a sort of spy network they can access. Warlocks recoup spell slots on a short rest. This means they can cast scrying a heck of a lot more than any other caster. If they have 2 spell slots per short rest (the minimum spells slots to learn 5th level spells), then that's up to two scryings cast each hour and 40 minutes. With four slots each short rest, that's up to four scryings cast each two hours and 20 minutes. This makes for a very good lieutenant character whose only job is to scry.
@talongreenlee77045 жыл бұрын
Contingency to cast Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere on yourself after dropping to below 25% health is a really good way of keeping your flimsy wizard alive. Also, you can use sleet storm in order to break your villain’s concentration on invulnerability.
@biiill5259 Жыл бұрын
One thing you can do with your villain is give them spells and abilities that are completely homebrew. Jonny from oxventure does a really good job with that for his villain liliana. She has a knife storm spell. Portals, the ability to summon a cloud face that she can see, talk and cast spells with
@jafrica6 жыл бұрын
Great video! I'm going to try to work some of these tips into some D&D adventures I'm writing. Can't wait to see more of your videos.
@joshtrue65216 жыл бұрын
I have given my mystic villain some similar abilities, nomadic mind gives him a kind of scrying, nomadic chameleon and step cover invisibility and teleportation, mastery of light and shadows for an army of shadows that create more shadows, access to the wizard spell animate dead, mastery of fire and weather for straight damage and area denial.
@drinksanddice64286 жыл бұрын
Scrying YES!! My world's big baddie already has this, it'll be great when my party begins to tamper with their plans.
@onemisterfranko6 жыл бұрын
I am SO going to steal this video for all my big villains. I have a powerful vampire and demon who would love to show up and do this stuff. I have 2 paladins, one vengeance and conquest. I have a cleric of the forge too. :)
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
Let us know how your party manages to survive (or not!)
@onemisterfranko6 жыл бұрын
I'm more into the story aspect hero's overcoming terrible villains, and being the ones to turn the tide even if most of the world may never know they where saved from disaster. Or they fight their way through a sea of undead at the head of a desperate army or last stand in the capital just to finally confront the vampire who is both a warrior and powerful necromancer with his body guard of the dead kings of the people he's conquered and finally cast him down. The Demon is the big villain of the story he has many plots in the works to be uncovered and hopefully stopped before he brings ruin. The Vampire is an allay of sorts he serves as a powerful underling but has his own plans and ambitions that he wants to see fulfilled, the party is going to be fighting against two powerful forces at once, it should be a lot of fun and hopefully a good story with plenty of twists for them and me. Player's are the element of chaos in my otherwise ordered universe. :) I'm planning on giving them a chance to play with a deck of many things this next season and the adventure has just started, I'm playing with how it'll work. It's more about the suspense and the gamble of what they might draw, it could be a magic item, it cold be gold. It could be a confrontation with Death, where if they can prove their mettle, and will to live not only is he bested but he tells them a secret. Maybe he warns them, or gives them a hint to a magic item that can help them succeed later on in the campaign. (In this case the reaper is a powerful warrior in the form of an ancient king or knight of ledged, more fitting for a party like this when everyone fights. The Void but instead of getting wiped, they get teleported into the big villains layer, they get to meet him maybe have a conversation, get a sense of how dangerous he is not just to them but the world. Plus a sense of how far away he is from them at the moment, just how beneath him they truly are and for a paladin to be confronted by not only a demon but one who has possessed a powerful dragon and get a glimpse of his plans its very humbling and terrifying, Hopefully it makes them think. "WE HAVE TO FIGHT THIS!? HOW!?"
@Nixoth6 жыл бұрын
Running my party thru a dungeon delve in a mummy lords pyramid. Totally using force cage and cloudkill in the final battle
@dantedrowson25115 жыл бұрын
Force cage and insect plague would be more mummy'esk ;D
@ascapedgoat84626 жыл бұрын
Simulacrum and Clone are also good spells. As one of my villains said “A good cart driver brings a spare wheel.”
@spedwyrm74276 жыл бұрын
Contingency- cast Maze on self, (as long as they fail their int check or are allowed to voluntarily fail it until ready) heal and ready equipment and abilities, before returning. Used this to great effect in a number of encounters, fun and unexpected results abound.
@1217BC6 жыл бұрын
Contingency only uses 5th lvl or lower spells, not 8th lvl maze
@seanvigil28996 жыл бұрын
Great video guys! This really is helpful to keep bbegs alive.
@grandadmiralmowthelawn5113 Жыл бұрын
I really like this new, more casual atmosphere in the video. it's really engaging 😄
@thomasestes57476 жыл бұрын
In 3.5 I contingencied a teleport spell if I fell below 25% hit points.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
This was a great move. Unfortunately in 5e teleport is now a 7th level spell, and thus ineligible for Contingency :(
@Draeckon5 жыл бұрын
@@DungeonDudes But there are alternative spells that offer similar effects. - There's Gaseous Form as one option, although the players can still potentially damage the villain until it moves beyond their range. 10 ft. movement speed is kind of meh. - Fly, although I guess the players might also have access to flight by this point Alternatively, the villain could use Polymorph and turn himself into something so tiny, the players might mistakenly believe he's gone. Like a gnat. Invisibility or G. Invisibility might also work if the players aren't expecting it. Huh... now that I look more closely, they really did limit your options for Contingency quite a lot, didn't they?
@boitata26175 жыл бұрын
Feign Death, dimension door
@30ART55 жыл бұрын
@@Draeckon gaseous form takes a minute to cast if i remember correctly. It wouldn't work if it requires the time to only be an action.
@Telsharbuu6 жыл бұрын
Globe of Invulnerability shouldn't be overlooked, particularly if your PC have discovered Counterspell.
@DungeonDudes6 жыл бұрын
You bet. This is a very potent "problem" spell to throw at a party of spellcasters, as long as the villain can keep up concentration!
@TheCinderfang5 жыл бұрын
I do agree with your opening statements. Playing by the rules players have access to really helps me enjoy it more. It's no fun it I hand wave everything
@windhelmguard52956 жыл бұрын
one neat application of being able to scry and telepathically comunicate with the pllayers is that the vilain can use this to seriously screw them over. like star off by scrying on them and warning them of danger, making them think that thee voice they are hearing is a benevolent force, once they start buying it you slowly drop cryptic messeges that they will fail to make any sense off because there is no sense to be made here, hell once they do star ttaking the warnings of the voice seriously, you could even sukker them into fighting other npc's that the vilain wishes to get rid off, like "beware the guy who wears X"
@MLDeS1006 жыл бұрын
I wanna see Mercer use this in crit role
@Takapon2186 жыл бұрын
Hose Clamp Vecna already used Force Cage and was scrying on the party constantly. He also used sending and whatnot.
@OldSchoolGM944 жыл бұрын
Worth noting is a Monk's stunning strikes can end the Invulnerability spell. It doesn't need to deal damage and it inflicts stunned which is an incapacitated condition ending concentration
@orwin54452 жыл бұрын
Brought here from your "spells as plot hooks" episode and I just gotta say, you've come a long way with your production value. I would like to see a follow up including spells from the later released sources.
@RedwoodTheElf6 жыл бұрын
A villain with the ability to craft magic items could simply make a scrying item like a crystal ball. That eliminates the Spell Slots problem. Not to mention additional magic items (Like a custom enchanted statuette that can cast Contingency twice a week, in the long run saving them on their material components costs)
@WolfmanXD3 жыл бұрын
My personal favorite spell to cast as a dm is glyph of warding. Whenever my party is fighting a caster bad guy, I always place a couple of these around the battlefield, basically like magical landmines. And the best part is that you don't need to concentrate on spells cast through the glyph, and they can't lose concentration. I'll use it to do something like a slow spell, or wall of earth, or the like.
@colinhofer78306 жыл бұрын
So like saraun's eye, the glass seeing stones, having no volcano to destroy ring, and wraith-world pretty much hits most these things.
@Wolfphototech4 жыл бұрын
I enjoyed the references at the beginning . *Please do a sequel for this video .*
@Prince__Teclis6 жыл бұрын
This is helpfull for someone who's gonna start being a DM for a group after Christmas. Cheers,
@smilingjay98636 жыл бұрын
Totally gonna use some of this. I am going to be running a campaign where all the players are Drow in Menzoberranzan coming up here. The players are going to have to contend with some pretty powerful spellcasters during their adventures, and all of these ideas are solid, especially for the higher ranked members of the College Sorcere
@mezlabor6 жыл бұрын
I put dimension door on a hand signal contingency so a quick escape was always a hand signal away. The other thing you may want villains to try is Private sanctum it makes it impossible to scry inside a villains sanctuary and also makes it impossible to use any kind of teleportation in there. No Dimension door, No teleport etc.
@ryanmeakins29935 жыл бұрын
this was great video :) helped me work out a lot of things with how to make my villains work without having to use too much "DM magic"
@zombiejokiller13446 жыл бұрын
One of the best ideas I have had for contingency is that when you drop below half health cast the first level spell false life (gain 1d4+4 temp health) as a level 5 spell (gain 1d4+4+20) the twenty as it gives 5 extra temp hp per level over 1
@karlmeszaros43236 жыл бұрын
That was really well done. Sly Flourish tweeted out this link. I'm glad I followed it. Combat is my weakest point,
@dragonnova21635 жыл бұрын
i've never played 5e before and i'm designing a character(sorcerer because my gm recommend it) for a oneshot/maybe expands into a full campaign and having watched this video I think my response to a mind flayer wil be force cage cloud kill
@davidm57466 жыл бұрын
Another Fav Spell combo - Wall of force/Cloudkill/Reverse Gravity/Prismatic Wall