Villain Strongholds

VILLAIN STRONGHOLDS The villains of your campaign can—and if your players are using these rules, probably should—have their own stronghold, which grants them villain abilities which will help them threaten PCs with strongholds. GMs, you are encouraged to play fast and loose with what counts as a stronghold for these purposes. Probably the best answer for this is “wherever the bad guy keeps their treasure.” They also grant the villain’s minions 5 special abilities under the premise that everyone trains harder and fights better when they have a cool base. Types of Villains and Minions We could get very noodly indeed here with many kinds and types of villains and minions, but I want to keep it simple, so we go by the Rule of Three. Villains fall into three broad categories—necromancer, shaman, warlord—and minions fall into mindless servants, rampaging hordes, and tactical phalanxes. This covers a lot of ground, but obviously it doesn’t cover everything, so feel free to adjust these terms and abilities to fit your adventure. Although it may seem obvious that a necromancer would command mindless servants, it need not be so. The abilities of the villains and minions aren’t designed to synergize in any particular way. A necromancer may command a savage horde, and a shaman may command mindless servants. All the abilities will be useful, without any combination turning the encounter into a rout. At least, not on purpose! Minions require a leader, though that leader need not be present on the battlefield. Like the heroes’ stronghold abilities, these villain and minion powers are granted through training and a connection with the land itself. If the party finds itself fighting a band of goblins who seem to be critting more often, it’s a sign that they come from a nearby goblin stronghold and serve some villainous leader! Probably a hobgoblin. This is a dramatic way to introduce a villain and hint to the players that there must be a nearby enemy stronghold! The players fight undead or goblinoids or cultists, or bandits and they seem much more...capable than the normal beasties they’re used to fighting. When these enemies charge into battle, they call out something that sounds like it might be a name? Maybe capturing one would be a good idea. Question it. Oops, it didn’t survive long enough to spill the beans. Well, all will become clear once the heroes penetrate the enemy stronghold and fight the leader of these creatures. 5 This book assumes a “minion” is any flunky working for a villain. It doesn’t necessarily mean “a 1 hp enemy” from the 4E rules, although I am a big fan of that rule. Villain Examples NECROMANCER Lady Sariel the Vampire Queen, Cult Leader Special Ability: As a reaction, make a Wisdom check after a minion takes enough damage to kill it. The DC is 8 plus the number of Hit Dice of the minion. If successful, the minion does not die and drops to 1 hit point. SHAMAN Lizardfolk chieftain, Troll Shaman Special Ability: Minions who can hear you gain advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects. WARLORD Bonebreaker Dorokor, Bandit king Special Ability: As a reaction, when a minion dies, issue a command to your other minions. Those who can hear you gain a reaction they can use to immediately move again. Minion Examples MINDLESS SERVANTS Undead, Oozes, Constructs Special Ability: Gain an extra 10 feet of movement. SAVAGE HORDE Orcs, Goblins, Demons, Thugs Special Ability: After moving at least 20 feet, the next attack this minion makes is a critical hit on an 18–20. TACTICAL PHALANX Hobgoblins, Lizardfolk, Devils, Cultists, Bandits Special Ability: If an enemy’s attack kills an ally, all minions adjacent to that enemy can make an opportunity attack against the enemy