Friendship is Dragons
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When we found the sorceress who had betrayed my family I blew her up by casting three lightning bolts at once at her before she could enact any plan or say anything. 139 damage.
Conquering Equestria is so easy a child could do it. She honestly came closer than any of the other villains at that time.
Destroying the magic wouldn't have helped her conquer Equestria, though, just maim it badly. She still was a kid (+whoever who'd listen to her) vs the Princesses and their army.
It's implied others could have done it (in particular, Tirek, from whom she got the knowledge in the first place), they just didn't see any reason to.
It's implied others could have done it (in particular, Tirek, from whom she got the knowledge in the first place), they just didn't see any reason to.
I think I like DWK's reaction, because it may have felt more correct if it were just Chrysalis in disguise.
This was before Spiderman Homecoming came out, like when Iron Man was still the only MCU movie at the time:
My old GM was running a WoD Vampire game and I was part of a party of newly made vampires. We learned a rival Prince was going after the current Prince of Waco, TX and were doing what we could to find him; and found him we did, or should I say her.
We learned that the rival would be the only vampire (aside from us) that would be attending a police banquet for the new Chief being named, so I went inside while the others waited outside (didn't want to start a fight around officers and all). Lo and behold, it turned out to be the very woman that turned us and was mentoring us the entire time. Needless to say, every player at that table had Parker's face when Michael Keaton answered the door at his date's house.
My old GM was running a WoD Vampire game and I was part of a party of newly made vampires. We learned a rival Prince was going after the current Prince of Waco, TX and were doing what we could to find him; and found him we did, or should I say her.
We learned that the rival would be the only vampire (aside from us) that would be attending a police banquet for the new Chief being named, so I went inside while the others waited outside (didn't want to start a fight around officers and all). Lo and behold, it turned out to be the very woman that turned us and was mentoring us the entire time. Needless to say, every player at that table had Parker's face when Michael Keaton answered the door at his date's house.
I love Chrysalis because she knows how to chew the scenery just right. She rules her scenes and she generally does a good job of staying within the region of "creepy" and "ominous."
I love Cozy Glow because no sane creature would choose permanently drain all the magic from Equestria in order to take over a school because she thinks that'll pave her way to being the Empress of Friendship.
I love Cozy Glow because no sane creature would choose permanently drain all the magic from Equestria in order to take over a school because she thinks that'll pave her way to being the Empress of Friendship.
Here's one for a failed villain entrance.
"Rise of Tiamat" is, as you might guess, an adventure about Tiamat freeing herself (selves?) from Hell to take over the world. It's the culmination of a scheme years in the making that all comes down to her appearing in an evil temple before the PCs' very eyes. And thanks to readied actions plus most of us rolling well enough on initiative to go before her being spent on enough spells to burn through her legendary saves (in 5E, a legendary save is the mechanic by which a boss monster can just declare that they succeed on a saving throw) before someone finally hit her with a Banishment, the fight ended before she ever got a proper turn.
"Rise of Tiamat" is, as you might guess, an adventure about Tiamat freeing herself (selves?) from Hell to take over the world. It's the culmination of a scheme years in the making that all comes down to her appearing in an evil temple before the PCs' very eyes. And thanks to readied actions plus most of us rolling well enough on initiative to go before her being spent on enough spells to burn through her legendary saves (in 5E, a legendary save is the mechanic by which a boss monster can just declare that they succeed on a saving throw) before someone finally hit her with a Banishment, the fight ended before she ever got a proper turn.
When I ran that, the party used all the useless gold 5E throws at you that you can't actually buy anything with, that they'd accumulated through the modules before that, to hire five young dragons to accompany them through the tunnels to the final battle instead of fighting in the big war outside.
Tiamat never even got summoned.
Tiamat never even got summoned.
Gold is not useless in 5e.
Seriously, I'll never understand that line of thought.
Seriously, I'll never understand that line of thought.
How did you manage that?
Tiamat is immune to all spells that are under 7th level. That means even a lvl 20 caster has at best 3-4 spells per long rest that can affect her.
And she is resistant to all those spells.
Furthermore, you can only Ready one spell per turn, and you can't Ready before the initiative is rolled.
That'd mean that for this to have worked, you would have needed:
-half a dozen caster (to exhaust her many Legendary Saves)
-all of said casters to use their highest level spell slots
-all of said casters to beat Tiamat's initiative
-all of said casters to survive Tiamat's Legendary Actions (Readying an action does not prevent Legendary Actions)
-Tiamat to fail her saves against every single of those spells, when she has huge save bonuses and advantage on all saves against magic
Is it what happened?
Tiamat is immune to all spells that are under 7th level. That means even a lvl 20 caster has at best 3-4 spells per long rest that can affect her.
And she is resistant to all those spells.
Furthermore, you can only Ready one spell per turn, and you can't Ready before the initiative is rolled.
That'd mean that for this to have worked, you would have needed:
-half a dozen caster (to exhaust her many Legendary Saves)
-all of said casters to use their highest level spell slots
-all of said casters to beat Tiamat's initiative
-all of said casters to survive Tiamat's Legendary Actions (Readying an action does not prevent Legendary Actions)
-Tiamat to fail her saves against every single of those spells, when she has huge save bonuses and advantage on all saves against magic
Is it what happened?
Well, they did mention winning the initiative.
And, I don't know how 5e handles readied actions (I've not really done anything past 3.5 and pathfinder), but if they were watching the ritual and were in position to get the drop on Tiamat as she was summoned, it would basically be "the second she pops out, blast her" surprise round type stuff.
And, I don't know how 5e handles readied actions (I've not really done anything past 3.5 and pathfinder), but if they were watching the ritual and were in position to get the drop on Tiamat as she was summoned, it would basically be "the second she pops out, blast her" surprise round type stuff.
did a session where I kinda ripped off Force Unleashed a bit.
party gets ambushed and captured, Villian shows up and starts gloating.. and then reveals that the ambush was a trap and one of the party members was a plant the whole time.. and 'thanks' him for his service.
"You have done well.. my apprentice."
Stab
"...But I have no further use for you."
party gets ambushed and captured, Villian shows up and starts gloating.. and then reveals that the ambush was a trap and one of the party members was a plant the whole time.. and 'thanks' him for his service.
"You have done well.. my apprentice."
Stab
"...But I have no further use for you."
For context. Legend of Zelda universe. Timelines collapsing into one. It has taken me. Aproximately FOUR times my villian has arrived to confront the party for them to have given even a SECOND of a pause to not immediately blast him with all of their magic.
And it took our magic wielding twili to punch him in the face for the bomb that is the villian's identity being another version of the current prince. And all it got was another punch essentially.
And it took our magic wielding twili to punch him in the face for the bomb that is the villian's identity being another version of the current prince. And all it got was another punch essentially.
Viralane Barvasi was a self-centred, philandering, yet ultimately not bad natured opera star who thrived on attention, and had a bad habit of sleeping with men who were already married. This bit her in the ass when she was caught by a vindictive woman who murdered her cheating husband and, with his death, placed a blood curse on Viralane, that instead of the fame and accolades she so desired, her performances would draw only derision and ridicule. Her wealth and fame dwindling rapidly, eventually abandoned by everyone except her devoted halfling maidservant, who she had publicly emancipated after she had been gifted to her as a slave.
Our party contained an oracle, whose curse was the result of cultists attempting to turn her into a vessel for their demon lord, to become an avatar of her on the material. While this was thwarted, she was stuck with an un-aging body, and no efforts or resources were able to free her from the curse of eternal childhood.
We met Viralane on a boat trip back to the party's home city, wherein Viralane approached our oracle with a curiosity about her curse, and the perpetual child offered Viralane her assistance in trying to find a solution to removing her curse.
Viralane's response: "Oh that won't be necessary, just hand over the artifact."
Turns out Viralane had already turned to a cult that had offered to remove her curse in exchange for retrieving an artifact we had recently come into possession of. We had no idea how she knew we had it, but we had grown fond of Viralane after spending time with her on the boat and even witnessing her curse embarass her when she tried to perform. For all our sympathy, we were betrayed, and our little Oracle was heartbroken.
It was one of the most gut wrenching moments our party ever experienced.
Our party contained an oracle, whose curse was the result of cultists attempting to turn her into a vessel for their demon lord, to become an avatar of her on the material. While this was thwarted, she was stuck with an un-aging body, and no efforts or resources were able to free her from the curse of eternal childhood.
We met Viralane on a boat trip back to the party's home city, wherein Viralane approached our oracle with a curiosity about her curse, and the perpetual child offered Viralane her assistance in trying to find a solution to removing her curse.
Viralane's response: "Oh that won't be necessary, just hand over the artifact."
Turns out Viralane had already turned to a cult that had offered to remove her curse in exchange for retrieving an artifact we had recently come into possession of. We had no idea how she knew we had it, but we had grown fond of Viralane after spending time with her on the boat and even witnessing her curse embarass her when she tried to perform. For all our sympathy, we were betrayed, and our little Oracle was heartbroken.
It was one of the most gut wrenching moments our party ever experienced.
Uh. Sounds like the lady was kinda dumb or hooked on the wrong stuff. I don't see any reason why she wouldn't have accepted the offer of an adventurer to help for free and then go back to the "pay the cult with the artifact" plan if the help didn't work.
Unless she had a time limit and thought she couldn't try to convince the oracle her imagine curse could be removed too.
Unless she had a time limit and thought she couldn't try to convince the oracle her imagine curse could be removed too.
What I forgot to note was that Viralane was a Mesmerist, so when she 'asked' our Oracle to hand over the artifact, she used suggestion, and she actually failed the will save. The rest of the party showed up before she could make off with it, but still.
You know, normal plot points.
Little hints come up as the Paladin meets with and helps the Princess as she goes about her plans to take back the throne. How magic infuses the air around this particular sleepy town. How the Crown provides free magical healthcare services to adventurers. How Karen Von Carstein, the Princess, has her own wanted poster, wanting her alive.
The Princess requires one last thing. Something only a man of holiness like our Lawful Paladin could retrieve. An ancient relic, guarded by a sphinx. After a grueling set of skill challenges (I couldnt have him fight the thing, he was like, level 3 at the time.) and a riddle, the Sphinx leaves him with the ancient relic. The Dead Blow hammer. A hammer made to fight Undead.
And when the Paladin comes out, he is ambushed, and has his blood sucked by Karen Von Carstein, last in line for the Vampire throne, usurped by a 'Witch' who just happened to be a nice, lawful neutral elf woman necromancer (more like a cleric that had necro spells, but same thing).
You see, the Princess needed the Dead Blow to combat the elves Deathless constructs, and had used the Paladin, who could go across the thresh-hold that did not allow anyone of any alignment but Lawful Good to cross.
Karen the Evil revealed to be Neutral Evil and a dead paladin left in a crypt to die of severe blood loss.
... That's how I revealed my big bad for the first Arc of my campaign.
Minor villain, but the face of the party's Bard when the jester he was mock-fighting as part of a street performance tore into his arm with what was apparently a toy wooden sword was memorable.
PCs went into a mansion to deal with an evil witch. At the foyer the witch walks out of the shadows on the top of the staircase and greets the party as futile, but she's willing to entertain a cat-and-mouse game.
The PCs immediately blast her with ranged weapons and spells. Two of them crit. She falls down the stairs and reaches the bottom face first. The party is thinking, "ok that was oddly easy".
The witch gets up, licks the blood from her lips. "Meow. Start running, little mice."
The party panics and runs out of the mansion.
The PCs immediately blast her with ranged weapons and spells. Two of them crit. She falls down the stairs and reaches the bottom face first. The party is thinking, "ok that was oddly easy".
The witch gets up, licks the blood from her lips. "Meow. Start running, little mice."
The party panics and runs out of the mansion.
I have a villain reveal that worked well and interesting because:
-everyone knew OoC that I was a villain
-the storytelling was backwards (Snowball!)
-it was during a boss fight...with someone else.
-later we revealed/added to backstory to a semi-villain reveal
So in Snowball, there are a few important mechanics to this story: everyone starts with a defining trait and you make rolls based off that; you have a chance to add levels to or add a new defining trait each 'scene'; rolls can have outcomes of 'you succeed in doing what you want to do and explain how', 'you don't succeed in doing what you wanted to, but you explain how you don't' and 'you don't quite succeed and the gm gets to explain how'; and the storytelling is backwards. So you start at the end, in this case everyone besides me in an escape pod, heading away from an exploding spaceship, going towards some planet... My starting defining trait was 'Eldritch Puppetmaster'. I said I was it in all senses of the phrase. I was an eldritch horror (or became one) who puppetmastered, I puppetmastered eldritch horrors, and I used to do a kid's puppet show called 'My Little Cthulhu'. ...During the course of the game, I also managed to puppetmaster the other players into doing what I wanted. (and this is why if I ever gm'ed a Snowball game, I would never let any player play a villain)
Anyway, as everyone has to act each scene before it was over, the first scene ended after I did a slight reveal as a growing, wriggling tentacle. Even in an escape pod they would never be safe.
Next scene! ...Which is to say, shortly before the previous scene. Backwards storytelling. We were all barricaded in a room. One of our party members had electricity powers, so he made the barricade more deadly. ...And then we heard a cry. A little girl beyond the barricade. But it was already un-passable! Our telekinetic said they could lift her, but not pass the barricade. But we rolled and spotted a ventilation shaft, of course big enough for a human...but it had a fan in it. So our 'air-blade' user destroyed it and the lasers in there (last party member, btw, is a 'master swordsman').
So our telekinetic brought her through...and bungled his roll. In a way where he got to decide. "So...I guess she doesn't come through?" he said. "No, have her come through...and turn into an Eldritch Abomination when she does," I suggested. He agreed, and the party got their boss fight. As everyone else focused on her, I turned into a bigger, meaner, possibly greener eldritch horror. Stuck between two horrors, the telekinetic tried to chuck the ex-girl at me with his powers. ...And I ate her and got bigger. It was a nasty fight, but the end had already been known - the party escaped to the escape pod, blew up me and the rest of our spaceship, but one of my tentacles made it on board.
Anyway, that was most of my reveal. The previous/next/whatever scenes I did minor evil acts that slowly had made the party forced to barricade themselves. In one we started with a dead body, and I had my first act stealthily removing my knife from the back.
-everyone knew OoC that I was a villain
-the storytelling was backwards (Snowball!)
-it was during a boss fight...with someone else.
-later we revealed/added to backstory to a semi-villain reveal
So in Snowball, there are a few important mechanics to this story: everyone starts with a defining trait and you make rolls based off that; you have a chance to add levels to or add a new defining trait each 'scene'; rolls can have outcomes of 'you succeed in doing what you want to do and explain how', 'you don't succeed in doing what you wanted to, but you explain how you don't' and 'you don't quite succeed and the gm gets to explain how'; and the storytelling is backwards. So you start at the end, in this case everyone besides me in an escape pod, heading away from an exploding spaceship, going towards some planet... My starting defining trait was 'Eldritch Puppetmaster'. I said I was it in all senses of the phrase. I was an eldritch horror (or became one) who puppetmastered, I puppetmastered eldritch horrors, and I used to do a kid's puppet show called 'My Little Cthulhu'. ...During the course of the game, I also managed to puppetmaster the other players into doing what I wanted. (and this is why if I ever gm'ed a Snowball game, I would never let any player play a villain)
Anyway, as everyone has to act each scene before it was over, the first scene ended after I did a slight reveal as a growing, wriggling tentacle. Even in an escape pod they would never be safe.
Next scene! ...Which is to say, shortly before the previous scene. Backwards storytelling. We were all barricaded in a room. One of our party members had electricity powers, so he made the barricade more deadly. ...And then we heard a cry. A little girl beyond the barricade. But it was already un-passable! Our telekinetic said they could lift her, but not pass the barricade. But we rolled and spotted a ventilation shaft, of course big enough for a human...but it had a fan in it. So our 'air-blade' user destroyed it and the lasers in there (last party member, btw, is a 'master swordsman').
So our telekinetic brought her through...and bungled his roll. In a way where he got to decide. "So...I guess she doesn't come through?" he said. "No, have her come through...and turn into an Eldritch Abomination when she does," I suggested. He agreed, and the party got their boss fight. As everyone else focused on her, I turned into a bigger, meaner, possibly greener eldritch horror. Stuck between two horrors, the telekinetic tried to chuck the ex-girl at me with his powers. ...And I ate her and got bigger. It was a nasty fight, but the end had already been known - the party escaped to the escape pod, blew up me and the rest of our spaceship, but one of my tentacles made it on board.
Anyway, that was most of my reveal. The previous/next/whatever scenes I did minor evil acts that slowly had made the party forced to barricade themselves. In one we started with a dead body, and I had my first act stealthily removing my knife from the back.
One time between scenes, our swordsman suggested we get a new trait based off being friends in the knights templar, but I had betrayed them, presumably to become a cultist. ...But he bungled the roll. He said, "So I guess we weren't friends," but I suggested, "No, we were friends, but I was not the one to betray them." The GM thus allowed my getting the trait 'Knight Templar', him getting the trait 'The Only Sane Templar', and the Knights Templar turning into a Cthulhu cult. Yay!
...I have another favorite villain reveal I had planned, but the game never got to the point they were revealed... I am thinking of re-using the plot and do not want to mention online.
In fact, any stories about villain reveals that worked well (or failed in spectacular fashion)?