Everyone likes surprises, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons players are no different. Sometimes, it makes sense to have an obvious antagonist who telegraphs their evil with every interaction. However, ✨that's not the only way to create a villain. 'Secret Villains' are antagonists the players don't initially realize are the 'bad guys.'

Cinema, TV, and books have all used this technique effectively. (OK, Scoobie Doo might be a little ham-fisted witꦆh its secrets.) Films like The Usual Suspects and The Wicker Man are famous for keeping viewers guessing and then turning their expectations on their heads. A secret villain hits hardest when it's someone the players truly don't suspect.

What Is A Secret Villain?

Secret villains (sometimes called "hidden villains") are a trope film, TV, and novel writers use to subvert their audiences' expectations. The trope works by keeping the antagonist completely hidden, misdirecting the 💜audience into believing the villain is just another low-level grunt. They might also have a trusted character turn bad 🌄at the right moment.

Secret villains also work in D&D campaigns. A skilled DM can make the players trust the wrong🅺 person or trick them into seeing only a thug where there's really a despot. Before the campaign begins, it's important to figure out major plot details (like who the bad guy is). The players won't get much story satisfaction from you randomly selecti🌃ng an NPC and claiming they were the bad guys all along.

A good secret villain may arouse suspicion from time to time. But before the big reveal, the players should never feel certain they've 🏅identified the villain. Generally speaking, secret villains fall into three categories:

• The dog did it: This setup uses a seemingly harmless character that the players love, trust, or mostly ignore. In D&D, it could be the innkeeper, a quest giver, or any NPC that appears to interact with the party in good faith. Include subtle hints that something's not right with this character. But keep it low-key.
• Hijacked by Ganon: This one gets its name from the Zelda series. A Link to the Past was the first Zelda game where the new villain, Agahnim, seemed like the real threat. Looming over him was the old familiar evil of Ganondorf. Only when the party defeats the low-level bad guy does the big bad show their hand. This can be a great way to reintroduce players to a more powerful version of an antagonist they met earlier.
• The man behind the man: The villain's gender is unimportant here. It can also be the "woman behind the woman" or any combination that works. The point is to loudly and obviously present one person as the bad guy. As the party uncovers the truth, they realize this person is just a flunky. The real bad guy is much more powerful but has been hiding in plain sight as a hired goon, thug, victim, or bystander.

How To Implement A Secret Villain

Some DMs use Dungeon Master Player Characters (DMPCs) as their secret villains. The difference between a non-playable character (NPC) and a DMPC is that the DMPC is part of the adventuring party. A secret villain like this can work. But 🔯DMPCs are dislike♑d by many players and DMs.

DMPC secret villains present several problems. One issue is that it's hard to tread the path of both player and DM. When your DMPC is successful, you risk resentment from the other players. When your DMPC fails at a task, you risk a different kind of resentment. You don't want your playe🌞rs to d🦹epend on a DMPC or resent the presence of one. Use DMPCs cautiously.

Another issue is that players have expectations of a DMPC. These DM-controlled characters are usually mercenaries or other adventurers who get bound up with the party for plot reasons. Having this kind of character turn out to be a traitor can be an excellent plot twist. But♑ it must 😼make sense.

The DM needs to create some prior scenarios that now force the player to think: Ah, yes. Of course, she was the bad guy all along. It can't feel lik🧔e an arbitrary "gotcha" moment. The hidden villain might disappear unexpectedly from time to time, know slightl🉐y more details about a crime than they should, or act nervous around certain topics.

Hidden Villain Ideas

There are countless ways to introduce a secret villain. The best ones have long tails of clues the player sees in a new light after the reveal. The best camouflage for a secret villain is a pre-existing evil force for the party t🅠o focus on. Most players will miss a carefully disguised bad guy NPC when th💜ere's a glaringly obvious evil in front of them.

A🐈 skillful DM can also lay the trail of c♚lues that initially point to either the wrong person or a lesser bad guy.