D&D Villains: How to Create a Good Villain
D&D villains are tricky to write. A deadly but personality-less dragon will not leave a mark like a recurring bandit that your players fight repeatedly. So, how do you bridge that gap and create a strong antagonist that your players will remember? Here, we’ll establish design philosophies and provide tips on how to create a good villain. Fit Your D&D Villains to Your Player’s Play Style D&D is a game, so D&D villains should fit the kind of game you're running for your players. Every group will prefer to play D&D in a different way. Create villains that complement the play style of your players. Let’s use the pillars of D&D: “Exploration, Social Interaction, and Combat” as a starting point to show how you can design bosses around play styles: Exploration: “The Dungeon Mimic,” a living dungeon fused to ancient ruins that feasts on adventurers. The boss would be beaten by, essentially, just delving into a dungeon! Every puzzle cleared, piece of lore discovered,...