NationStates

Euroslavia wrote:

Good Villains

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When you are ready to design a roleplay, you need to come up with what the characters are going to try to accomplish. One of the many decisions you have to make is who the ultimate foe is. We don’t mean your average villain of the week, a throwaway grunt working for someone else, but rather whom that grunt is working for.

Good villains are very rare. Many times it is assumed that a huge amount of power and bad ‘tude are all that is needed. But power and attitude are only part of what makes a villain great. When it comes to developing that character into a bonafide, believable villain, a lot is frequently overlooked. It is not true that as long as they give the hero a bad time, they are golden.

There have been in various roleplays where, as a team, a group of RP'ers are faced with a supervillain. He has tons of power, but he is basically standing in the middle of the street yelling out a challenge to the heroes. While the fight maybe good and difficult, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Why would he risk his own neck when he can have his henchmen do it for him? Why is this guy, powerful though he may be, not quite believable as a worthy opponent? To begin with, he violates most of the rules a good, solid opponent should be founded upon.

Two good examples of the ultimate enemy would be Lex Luthor and Professor Moriarty. Rather than just copy these characters verbatim, let’s look at what you should do to create a good bad guy and the opposite, what should you avoid using as your chief nemesis.

Layers of Difficulty

As I have already mentioned, the bad guy sends other people out to do the dirty work. He has minions. The true villain knows that plans go wrong. Plans fail. People get caught. But no matter what happens, it will not be him that gets caught. Secrecy is another big part of the layers of difficulty. Players can beat up that henchman all they want, but if he doesn’t really know who the top boss is then he can’t tell. The true villain gets extra credit if the henchmen think they are working for someone else. Always frame your competition.

Resources

The big bad guy should not be easy to capture. What made Lex Luthor such an excellent foe is that he used his resources. Here was a well-respected citizen who was actually a chief mastermind behind a huge crime syndicate. Yet, because of his position in society, his support for charities, and of course his political connections no one believed it was him or if they did, proof was not forthcoming. Plus, if he was in a tight spot he used his wealth, power and his position within society to get him out of any difficulty that arose. He has teams of lawyers waiting for an opportunity to smear a hero, and he has never been afraid to use them. He also had other bad guys working for him, and many times it seemed as if the heroes themselves did his work for him. Your villain doesn’t even have to be rich to have these kinds of resources. A villain who is really just big and strong can intimidate people into working for him, or else. If he’s good enough then he’ll have the wealth someday, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t already a growing threat today.

If your villain uses these kinds of indirect tactics then your players will not be able to just attack him head on, or if they do there will be very bad consequences. They will have to work as a team within the system to prove his misdeeds, or attack him indirectly. And sometimes, the bad guy will win. It will be very fulfilling to them when (and if) they finally accomplish the task of putting him/her out of business for good. It’s not only wealth and popularity that can make a character a good villain. Moriarty for example was a brilliant man. And, part of that brilliance was the way he played his cards behind the scenes. He was never really noticed because no one knew who he was. He was a match for Holmes in everyway and, despite the fact that he rarely confronted Holmes directly his influence was always felt. A good villain sharpens the hero providing him a focus to prove himself, but he doesn’t have to be obvious to do it. Sherlock Holmes would not be an icon without his matching wits with Professor Moriarty.

Believability/Complexity

To be a believable character, even an evil one, has to follow a set of core values. Nobody really thinks of himself or herself as evil. Everyone follows some sort of internal guide as he/she continue through life. Take for instance, Magneto from the X-men ™. No one can deny he is the bad guy. But he truly feels he is doing the right thing. Righting the wrongs done to his people. Survival makes us do things we are not always proud of. Taken to extremes a “good act” does not always mean one that is right.

The Sheriff of Nottingham thought he was preserving order and “the way things are supposed to be” from the chaos and villainy of Robin Hood. He truly believed that some people deserved to live in luxury, and other people deserved to be downtrodden. Some people were meant to work their way to the top, and other people were there purely to be taxed. Your villains should believe just as strongly in what they are doing.

To create a truly successful evil doer, villain, or whatever you want to call him, he should earn people’s respect, and even their sympathy. This does not mean that we must like them or wish them well, but a good villain has to have something likeable and admirable about them. No one wants to be friends with Hannibal Lector, yet here is an absolute genius who can be very charming and disarming (literally I guess) at times. This is what makes him so incredibly dangerous.

To go even further, a good villain doesn’t always have to do evil things, at least not all the time. Take one of the most memorable villains of all time. Don Vito Corleone (the Godfather) was the head of a crime family. He was well capable of ordering someone murdered (or even doing it himself if he had to), having a prized animal mutilated to prove a point, and many other horrendous deeds. Yet, he was a good family man and looked out for his neighbors and friends. If there was someone causing problems in his neighborhood, they would either get an offer they couldn’t refuse or they weren’t around to consider anything anymore.

It doesn’t hurt to add some humor and compassion to your villain’s personality. Having a softer side does wonders and adds to his complexity. It also makes it a little tougher for the good guys to see the bad guys for what they are. Plus, don't forget to check out all sources. For example, catering to the discriminating villain's taste there are resources available online for all things evil.

Basically what we are advocating is the creation of a master villain who is 3-dimensional. Giving the character layers beyond just a powerful punch and mean disposition will add layers to your world and make it worth the chase. There is a whole world out there waiting to be exploited. Let’s get moving and create the ultimate foil for your team of players. They will appreciate the fight even more…

Catsfern wrote:Hello everyone, yes you read that one right I've never done an rp before but i sorta want to join one. I have a bit of a character for myself in mind but don't really know how to get started or how to join one already established if anyone has some suggestions that would be great

Neu Engollon wrote:Some welcome you to just start posting without permission, but those RPs are rare these days and usually don't last long.

Shwe Tu Colony wrote:

Neu Engollon wrote:Some welcome you to just start posting without permission, but those RPs are rare these days and usually don't last long.

I used to prefer running these since I have really permissive entry requirements, but I found that roleplays where you can post without asking seem to not receive as much traffic, or maybe that's just because I'm too exotic or wasn't nearly as well established in those earlier days.

Oppermenia wrote:Hi, so I'm wanting to expand the scope of my nation in my fictional world, Kegyeleem. Like, have a lot more territories have been under Opppermenian rule and modern day territories sharing a monarchy with Oppermenia, being either federated or sovereign states of the Crowned Democratic Union, maybe have an Oppermenian Commonwealth Union, etc. Something more like Great Britain on the scale of world importance. However, I don't wanna just create my own puppets for this, and it would be hard to get nations to apply for things like this.

So, how could I do something like this and actually get people interested?

Mount Kadar wrote:My personal problem with roleplaying is the fact my character is on a planet with no space craft other than satellites and no space ship production due to war so I kinda have no idea how to get into roleplays if I have no possible way to get there in character.

Oppermenia wrote:Hi, so I'm wanting to expand the scope of my nation in my fictional world, Kegyeleem. Like, have a lot more territories have been under Opppermenian rule and modern day territories sharing a monarchy with Oppermenia, being either federated or sovereign states of the Crowned Democratic Union, maybe have an Oppermenian Commonwealth Union, etc. Something more like Great Britain on the scale of world importance. However, I don't wanna just create my own puppets for this, and it would be hard to get nations to apply for things like this.

So, how could I do something like this and actually get people interested?

95X wrote:Hello! If you've never heard of me, that's because I'm historically most active in NS Sports, Change the Channel in Forum 7, make an occasional political entertainment post on NSG, and now active in another area of NS with a different nation.

Stupid question that forum searches didn't answer or timed out trying to answer: is there such a thing as "outside the known multiverse"? Or has the overall NS multiverse definitively answered what the size of the universe/multiverse is?

If it's helpful to finding an answer, I RP that the NS multiverse exists within a computer simulation and my nation is a poorly-RP'd nation within it, "RL" is the craziest conspiracy theory imaginable to its residents who would laugh uncontrollably at the thought.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts or suggestions.

Snoodum wrote:Let me elaborate. To start off, how does one keep military sizes fair? Well, it would seem logical to limit population sizes of the various countries on a map. How does one do that fairly though? Which country would take agree to have a low population? That would limit military size. Surely people can't just say 'I have x people'? I'm not sure on this and how to regulate this.

Assuming population has been worked out though. How would one calculate military size and capability? obviously if a country has, say 100,000 people, they aren't going to be able to have 100,000 tanks and planes and helicopters and whatever but different countries place different amounts of emphasis on their military. Some military is given a lot of money and so has lots of good equipment. Some is not. How is that fairly calculated and regulated?

What about technologies that would wipe everyone out? Nukes and other WMD's I understand. Don't use them unless given express permission by the target. (Could be fun RP possibilities) What about other weapons that realistically there wouldn't be time to react? Lets say a country has a missile that can go ten times the speed of sound or something (hypothetically of course). Would one use the same system of asking the target how many ships are sunk (for example)? What if the target wants none of them to sink? Would the missiles all miss. Seems unlikely that such a thing would happen. Would the missiles not be used? Why not, seeing as they are so good?

How does one make room for futuristic tech? Ask if the tech is god-modding? That seems like a big constraint to imagination and fun RP but maybe you think otherwise. Please, tell me if this restriction seems a good idea.

Oppermenia wrote:Hi, so I'm wanting to expand the scope of my nation in my fictional world, Kegyeleem. Like, have a lot more territories have been under Opppermenian rule and modern day territories sharing a monarchy with Oppermenia, being either federated or sovereign states of the Crowned Democratic Union, maybe have an Oppermenian Commonwealth Union, etc. Something more like Great Britain on the scale of world importance. However, I don't wanna just create my own puppets for this, and it would be hard to get nations to apply for things like this.

So, how could I do something like this and actually get people interested?

Hey, wanna join Diarcesia? We are a RP group consisting of nations that were part of Diarcesia at some point in their history. Already an independent nation? No problem, storylines can be wrought to flesh out your lore, whether with respect to the greater Monarchy Diarcesian or to forge your own destiny? Still a self-governing dieresis within the Monarchy? Still no problem, for there are a lot of opportunities to interact with your fellow diereses with your own twist!

95X wrote:Hello! If you've never heard of me, that's because I'm historically most active in NS Sports, Change the Channel in Forum 7, make an occasional political entertainment post on NSG, and now active in another area of NS with a different nation.

Stupid question that forum searches didn't answer or timed out trying to answer: is there such a thing as "outside the known multiverse"? Or has the overall NS multiverse definitively answered what the size of the universe/multiverse is?

If it's helpful to finding an answer, I RP that the NS multiverse exists within a computer simulation and my nation is a poorly-RP'd nation within it, "RL" is the craziest conspiracy theory imaginable to its residents who would laugh uncontrollably at the thought.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts or suggestions.