action even in the middle of a mystery game. Perhaps the villain’s minions attempt to stop the PCs’ investigations with a good old-fashioned smackdown, or an old enemy takes advantage of their distraction to attack them (or their loved ones). Whatever the case, do not worry about sidetracking the mystery with scenes of combat or other action. You can always steer the players back to the main plot, and they’ll be all the more ready for it after a brief action-packed respite.
Types of Villains Villains in horror stories can generally be categorized into several broad types. Some villains will not fit easily into a category, some will fit more than one, and most have at least a few traits that don’t fit a specific category. Nevertheless, the following are useful generalizations; deciding which one suits the game you wish to run is the first step in developing an appropriate and memorable adversary for your PCs. The Hidden Danger: Perhaps the most common trope of horror, this villain is nearly impossible to detect. She kills from concealment and engenders mistrust and suspicion among all who would thwart her. In D&D, this is the archetype of the doppelganger, the werewolf, the mystically disguised assassin, the corrupt noble, or the cannibalistic witch masquerading as a kindly little old lady. This category also includes the subtype of villains who aren’t even aware of their own evil, such as the victims of demonic or ghostly possession or, in some instances, the aforementioned lycanthrope. This archetype is particularly appropriate for games with moods of betrayal and distrust, confusion, shock, or the weight of suspicion (see Mood, page 22). The Overt Threat: The opposite of the previous archetype, this is the villain that stands out from the crowd, that doesn’t care (or isn’t capable of caring) who notices it. Its arrogance might be due to sheer power and confidence, arrogance, lack of intelligence, insanity, or a simple lack of interest in its effect on others. Perhaps the villain holds a position of authority and doesn’t need to hide. Many of the relatively large creatures of D&D, such as giants or most dragons, fit into the overt category. So do many undead, dictatorial kings, church inquisitors, evil necromancers sequestered in their towers, most bestial humanoids (such as goblins or orcs), golems, and the utterly mad. This villain type is a particularly appropriate choice for games with moods of claustrophobia, desperation, helplessness, isolation, revulsion, or violence (see Mood, page 22). The Poor Fool in Over His Head: Sometimes, the greatest of horrors are unleashed by the most ignorant or the most well-meaning people—individuals who have dabbled in powers beyond their comprehension, or whose hubris
CHAPTER 2
While the PCs are the central characters of any roleplaying game, the villains are arguably almost as important, especially in a horror game. Random monsters, no matter how dangerous or grotesque, are rarely as powerful or memorable as adversaries with well-planned goals or burning motives. With sufficient planning and detail, a single villain can drive an entire campaign.
DREAD ADVENTURES
VILLAINS IN A HORROR GAME
has led them to believe they can tame the forces of the world itself. In most cases, it is the result of the individual’s actions that is evil, rather than the individual himself. But when he refuses to stop against all advice, he might become a true villain in his own right. This category includes the cultist who summons his demonic lord without taking the proper precautions to contain it, the sorcerer who attempts to cast a complex ritual for which she is not prepared, the petitioner who feels he can get the better of a devil or an evil god in a bargain, the summoner who makes a careless wish of an efreeti, or the classic Frankenstein archetype of the man who allows his obsessive need to complete some task to blind him to the repercussions. This villain is appropriate for games with moods of confusion, eeriness/incongruity, internal struggle, self-loathing, or the weight of suspicion (see Mood, page 22). These last three are particularly appropriate if it’s one of the PCs who made the mistake that unleashed the horror. The Normal Person: Given the plethora of supernatural horrors D&D has to offer, it’s hard to consider an average person to be all that scary. Then again, perhaps it is because the game provides so many truly horrific creatures as points of comparison that terrible acts committed by normal people truly strike home. As evidenced in the real world, a brutal crime can become even more horrible when the perpetrator appeared to be “one of us.” In a D&D campaign, a so-called normal person might still have access to spells or other potent abilities. For advice on using members of adventuring classes as villains, see page 30. As a particular shock to your players, consider making a truly average person—a commoner or expert—your perpetrator. Given the abilities available to most PCs, a commoner is never going to be particularly frightening as an opponent in face-to-face combat. Don’t try to make him so. Instead, play up the horror of his actions, and the investigation required to figure out who he is. Not every mystery must end with a terrible battle. If the PCs follow a trail of obscure clues and mutilated bodies to a house fi lled with furniture made of corpses, only to discover the killer is the fellow they met fi xing the roof on the general store, they’re going to realize to the core of their being that anyone is capable of the most horrific acts. (Take a few moments to research real-world serial killer Ed Gein, for example. That alone should suggest the sort of over-the-top horrors of which a “normal” man is capable.) Since the PCs will probably miss what’s right under their eyes as they search for a more traditional D&D villain, confusion is an appropriate mood here (see page 23). The Decoy: This is a bait-and-switch combination of the other techniques, in which one villain or type of villain appears to be another. This tactic can be extremely effective if used sparingly, either to give the PCs one last shock or puzzle or to change the course of a plotline just as the players feel they’ve figured it out. Decoy examples include the evil elf necromancer who is secretly a polymorphed blue dragon, a serial killer who seems to slay at random but is actually performing a summoning rite to call her diabolic patron, the rampaging giant possessed by an even more malevolent entity, the “demons” who are actually illusionist kobolds in disguise. Not every decoy is a more powerful being cloaked in a weaker one; it can
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