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Mad Archwizard ill. by Crystal Frasier

The Mad Archwizard (aka the Insane Sorcerer) is probably one of fantasy roleplaying games’ most used villain archetype.  90% of the world’s dungeons have been excavated and populated by these nefarious personalities.  Many have turned to the cold embrace of undeath to continue their magical studies, picking up the Lich template.  Just as many (if not more) become victims of their success as some rare magic they have just discovered ends their mad obsession with obtaining arcane lore.  The trick is spinning the cliché into something new and original.

Once again, I would like to thank Crystal Frasier for providing the fantastic illustration accompanying this article.  Look for her work in an upcoming issue of Kobold Quarterly (I hope I can say that!).

Xephero Valderann

All I seek are exceptional apprentices to whom I can instill my great knowledge.  I invite all seekers of arcane lore to my school, the Arcane Academy, where I unlock their potential with the Art to become great wizards.  I am the 10^th headmaster of a long line of powerful wizards.  All one must do to enroll in my academy is to sign this application…

Background

The Arcane Academy has been around for around five hundred years and has a tradition of changing headmasters every fifty years.  Xephero is the tenth such headmaster, who has all had a reputation for being loony, but commanding a large measure of loyalty from his students.  In fact, no student to date has ever spoken about their time at the academy, merely stating that if one wants to know more they should apply with the headmaster.

The truth of the matter is that Xephero is actually the founding headmaster and is over five hundred years old.  Xephero has gone by many names, but he often reverts back to his original given name which he claims currently.  Xephero created the Academy because during his obsessive search for arcane power, he became cursed by the patron deity of magic.

Xephero had reached what he considered the pinnacle of mortal achievement in the studies of Arcane Lore.  Not one spell, ritual, or tome had escaped his research.  So he prepared an ancient ritual for communing with the gods, thinking to impress the deity of magic.

During his commune the deity of magic, Xephero demanded to be shown the divine secret of magic, thus ensuring his ascension to godhood.  The god of magic was enraged at Xephero’s hubris and placed a curse upon him:

You shall truly be known as the greatest wizardly instructor of the Art, for you shall be compelled to instill your vast knowledge upon any apprentice who seeks it.  You shall never be able to expand your precious knowledge, only share what you have learned thus far.  This shall be your fate until the Prodigy surpasses your achievements in the Art.

Motivations & Goals

Xephero is under divine geas to teach anyone who wishes to learn from him, but he makes an effort to seek out the most talented apprentices in the land to enroll in his Academy.  By doing so, he hopes to discover the prodigy destined to surpass him.  Every generation, he chooses his most promising student to become the next headmaster.  Then during a secret ritual, he traps the soul of the student in a crystal and possesses the student’s body, thus preventing anyone from surpassing his achievements.

When a student signs the application for enrollment, she is magically bound to defend Xephero from all threats while attending the Academy as well as being sworn to secrecy about anything she learns or hears within its walls.  With the magical contracts, Xephero hopes to ensure his continued existence free from external peril.

The life of a student of the Academy is harsh and full of work.  Xephero pushes the students to their limits and his motivation is twofold.  One, since he can no longer expand his arcane knowledge, he uses the students’ discoveries to increase his powers, though he has been unsuccessful at reproducing any student discoveries.  Two, he actually tries to make the students’ life as miserable as possible so they will quit and leave the Academy, keeping him from having to share his knowledge.

His previous research indicates that there may be an ancient artifact powerful enough to sever the geas the god of magic placed upon him.  However, since he is forever busy instructing apprentices, he is unable to look for it.  He has sent several groups of adventurers to retrieve it, but none have ever found it.  The years have not been kind, and Xephero becomes more fanatic every year the artifact goes unfound

Organization

The Arcane Academy is home for anywhere from ten to twenty students at any time.  The turnover rate is quite high, as not many students have the determination to subject themselves to the rigors that Xephero puts them through.

Because of the contract, they are all required to defend Xephero to the death should any aggressors attack the mad Archwizard.  They are all wizards ranging from level 1 to 25.  Also, the contract swears them to secrecy, even after quitting the school, which leaves much mystery to anyone requiring knowledge of the interior or inner workings of the Academy.

The only way to free the students from being bound by the contracts is to find them and dissolve them with acid.  Once the contracts are dissolved, students will be governed by their own free will, which could mean they might defend Xephero out of self interest.

Hooks

The mother of an apprentice of the Academy, a noblewoman who serves as a priestess of the goddess of healing, has been receiving visions about her son.  In her vision, her son has been imprisoned in a cage of glass.  All of her correspondence goes unanswered from the Academy, and she fears the worst.

A power artifact is rumored to be held by an elder black dragon in the swamps to the south.  A band of worthy heroes are being sought to recover the Quill of Fate before the dragon discovers its fate and uses it.  The ancient relic is supposedly capable of rewriting one’s fate should he know what his destiny truly is.  The Arcane Academy is willing to store and protect the artifact.

The player characters are in need of a rare ritual to cure a deadly disease.  They have heard the Arcane Academy houses much lore and may have the ritual in question, but the headmaster requires enrollment.

Check out some other villains hiding out on the web this week:

The Core Mechanic’s Morgan Le Fay

At-Will’s Grebs Follyfoot

Listening to: Machine Head – The Burning Red – Nothing Left

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Here is the heroic tier version of the Tyrant King, Acario Macellarius IX.  I detailed the background, motivations, and hooks surrounding this nefarious villain in my Portrait of a Villain: Tyrant King article.  I have left out any details that I have worked into the character stats that would just further clutter the statblock, such as Feats and Class Features.

Acario deviates a little from a standard 10th level Elite, but this is because he is considered as the main antagonist and was built much like I would a player character.

Listening to: Nine Inch Nails – The Fragile – Into the Void

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Tyrant King ill. by Crystal Frasier

Acario Macellarius IX

These people survive because I have gifted them with law and order.  They who usurped this very throne upon which now I sit from my family a century ago had allowed the decadence benevolence to deteriorate my kingdom.  The borders shrank as invaders carved up the countryside unchallenged while the aristocracy grew fat and lazy on the taxes that never made it to the royal coffers.

The people should hail me as a hero for executing those noble thieves and reclaiming the lands that belonged to my ancestors.  But instead they hate me and speak of revolution behind closed doors.  Well, they shall repay me with sweat and blood as I forge a new empire!  Devils be damned…

Background

It has been twenty years since Acario Macellarius IX emerged from familial exile leading his infernal host against the descendents of usurpers.  It is now the thirteenth year of his sovereignty, having restored the throne to its rightful heirs.

Acario is the last of a lineage of an exiled king, Acario Macellarius VI, overthrown and banished by the aristocracy of his kingdom.  When exiled, the Macellarius family managed to leave with much of the kingdom’s wealth which bought them a barony in the neighboring kingdom where they sought refuge.  Many members of the family looked to infernal pacts to increase their power and influence.

Slowly, the Macellarius family expanded their influence and power within borders of their new home, eventually staging a nearly bloodless coup as the Macellarius IX had risen to be a prominent general in that kingdom’s army.  However, the Macellarius family had not forgotten about their ancestral home.

During their exile, the Macellarius family had maintained close relationships with sympathetic nobles as well as infiltrating the court and army with their agents.  When Macellarius IX marched upon the capital of his ancestral home, almost half of the nobles had been turned or neutralized along with the army.  However, there was a long and bloody succession war fought against the remaining units still loyal to the king pretender as well as the remnants of the losers of the coup from his home in exile.

Acario Macellarius is cruel and revels in power, ruling his burgeoning empire with the proverbial iron fist.  He was born and bred to be the Macellarius that returned the family to their place as the rulers of their ancestral kingdom.  He was corrupted as a youth by the infernal teachings of his mother, but quickly showed an aptitude in battle, becoming the youngest general of his home in exile’s history.

Motivations & Goals

Acario is consumed with expanding his dominion.  He has already conquered two kingdoms and is preparing to launch a new campaign against the realm on his southern border.  But before he continues his conquest, he is overseeing the construction of his new seat of power, a mighty fortress that perched on a cliff overlooking the fields his ancestral home.

Acario was raised to believe it to be his destiny to become the emperor of the known world and sees himself as a benefactor, bringing law to the lawless.  Acario has re-written the law to conform to his vision and has ensured that his laws have been posted in the taverns and common areas throughout his kingdom, as it is in fact the law to do so, regardless to the reality that very few people are literate.  He ensures the law is enforced through a large constabulary.

To keep the peasants happy, and therefore reduce the chances of revolution, Acario has established weekly tournaments and games to distract his people from their miserable lives.  Some of these games are brutal gladiatorial contests between prisoners and slaves.  It was during one of these weekly events that Acario met the woman who he has decided to make his queen.

The Macellarius family is disgusted at his interest in this woman, Erin, who is a commoner from one of the outlying villages, thinking she is below his station.  His family has encourages Acario to marry a noble and take Erin as a mistress, but he will not hear of it.  Acario has courted Erin for a little over a month now, and she has developed feelings for him as well; they plan to wed by next summer.

Organization

Acario Macellarius IX possesses the crowns of two kingdoms, but has gutted their original infrastructure and established his own.  After wiping out much of the old aristocracy, he divided his lands into duchies and appointed trusted family and associates as dukes to govern their operations.  These dukes are supported by a small bureaucracy of officials including tax collectors, magistrates, and advisors.

Acario also maintains a large and well trained standing army which has garrisons located strategically throughout his burgeoning empire.  To maintain civil peace, Acario has also created a constabulary chosen from the most ambitious locals.

The army that marches with Macellarius IX strikes fear into the hearts of his enemy because of his hellish royal guard unit known as The Possessed.  The Possessed are men who have voluntarily (or otherwise) allowed the spirit of devils to warp their mind and body.  The ritual to create The Possessed was acquired through a pact with a devil, for which he still owes his first-born son.

Acario also established a network of spies to watch his trusted dukes as well as root out troublesome antagonists and revolutionaries.  The spy network is called the Steel Web by those aware of its existence due to the fact that no one can escape it once caught.  The Steel Web has usually have members on the local constabulary to assist it in apprehending suspects.

Hooks

Young men and women have been forced into slavery in outlying villages to participate in the weekly games sponsored by a particularly malevolent duke. The PCs must stop the slavers as well as fight in the gladiatorial event to win the slaves’ freedom.

The PCs have been asked to join the constabulary to help keep the peace (and help the Steel Web keep an eye on them). The PCs uncover a cabal of warlocks performing ghastly experiments on pregnant women. If the PCs defeat the cabal, they recover a royal charter to perform the deeds signed by the king.

The Steel Web has deemed the PCs a threat to sovereignty and has dispatched a unit of The Possessed to hunt them down. If the PCs are successful at defeating a Possessed, the devil within him makes a deal to trade information for his freedom. If the PCs barter, they discover that Acario plans to perform a ritual on his innocent queen that will transform their first-born into an avatar of a powerful devil.

The PCs have been recruited by a resistance movement to overthrow Acario. Their first task is to infiltrate an outlying fortress, neutralize the night watch, and raise the portcullis to allow the revolutionaries to storm the fortress with minimal casualties.

The PCs are sent on a secret diplomatic mission to obtain an alliance between the resistance and the realm to the south. Unfortunately, the Steel Web has caught wind is attempting to frame the PCs for an assassination.

The resistance has finally taken the battle to Acario and the PCs must face the tyrant on the field of battle. But Acario is not just a man any longer, he given his mortal shell over to his infernal master and the PCs must defeat him before the devil fully materializes on this world.

Statblock

I have created several statblocks for Acario Macellarius IX, spanning the three 4e Tiers: Heroic, Paragon, and Epic.  Due the length and complexity, I don’t want to overwhelm this article, so instead I will release the statblocks throughout the week.  I am also working on a 3.5/Pathfinder statblock.

Just to give a taste of how I built Acario, he is based upon the Avenger PC class multiclassed with Warlock and wields the executioner’s axe.  Acario definitely shares powers from those classes but I have also created three original powers that are unique to him.  Check back later this week to see his statblocks.

Villainous Thoughts

First I want to give a huge shout-out to Crystal Frasier who created the fantastic illustration accompanying this article.  Many thanks for providing me the art!  Please go check out more of her work at her website, Clockwork Amazon, as well as her illustrated Mutants & Masterminds campaign setting, Emerald City Guard, over at Atomic Think Tank.  I can’t say enough about how much I appreciate it!

It is very difficult to create a villain that is at once system/setting generic while actually providing enough detail to use the character in a game.  This is my first hard attempt at doing so and I think I came pretty close to my mark, but still feel I could improve.

If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to sound off in the comments section.  Also, be sure to check out my partners in villainy:

At-Will - The Song of Flame: Savis Rayn

The Core Mechanic – Portraits of a Villain: Sir Mordred

Exchange of Realities – Villain Spotlight: Zora Aldebar

Listening to: Meshuggah – Chaosphere – Neurotica

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So I’ve got a so-called villain strapped to the operating table (he wouldn’t stop squirming while I was using the scalpel) because I was wondering what makes them work.  What’s makes them tick (tick-tock, tick-tock, like an evil clock!) so speak.  It seems to be a fad these days, to be chillin’ like a villain.  As I mop up (more like smear it around) the pools of blood this dastardly fellow leaked (how uncooperative he’s been!), I try to listen (he was screaming the whole time) to the notes I recorded during my dissection.

Anyways, I should let one of my trusted assistants finish cleaning up, I know how much they like to chew the fat while working.  Hey, don’t forget to put those organs through the grinder before they spoil! Where was I?  Oh yes, my notes… well I present my written report on the composition of a villain.  DAMN IT MINIONS!  Chew with your mouth closed, you know how much the smacking of lips irritates me!

Disclaimer

We all like to build the most effective villains for our games, but some components work better in different atmospheres.  If you’re game is a light, humorous poke at the supers’ genre, then a truly nasty demon villain that eats babies may not be appropriate (or it may, depending on your group…).  The underlying point is to use the components that work for you and forget the rest.

Antagonists vs. Villain

Let’s get one thing straight; villains are the bad-asses of the bad-guy universe.  If you look at the bad-guy universe as a Venn diagram, the big circle is the general antagonists set and then a much, much smaller circle, a subset of the general antagonists, is the villains.  Villains are a special breed.

Antagonists

Antagonists are anyone who becomes obstacles in the player characters’ path.  They could range from the diligent guard blocking access to a location (just doing his job) to the thug who beat up one of their grandmas and left her for dead.  It could be the bard in the corner singing out of tune so loudly that the PCs cannot hear what the thief in the corner is saying to her boss.  An antagonist just someone (or something) like makes life more difficult, but doesn’t necessarily have a lasting effect on the campaign.

The Villain

Actual villains should probably remain relatively rare in a campaign, otherwise they lose their effectiveness.  The single factor that make a villain distinct from lesser antagonists is the fact his goal(s) is the direct anti-thesis of the PC’s ultimate goal(s).  A villain is the arch-nemesis of the player characters, and he actively tries to defeat them.

Mechanisms of Good Villains

I have collected, preserved, and placed in labeled jars full of formaldehyde some of the common components of effective villains.  These are some of the most rotten elements that comprise many of the most hated and feared villains.

Cult of Personality

Many villains become powerful leaders and influential people of station through their commanding presence and charisma.  They may use sex appeal or oratory skills (no it’s not the same, pervert!).  This usually means any dialog with a villain should be real and memorable.  Not to mention the hoards of zealous followers willing to lie down and die for their liege.

Truly Threatening

If a villain doesn’t pose an honest threat the player characters, then he’s a mook (as opposed to a villain).  A villain should strike fear into the hearts of the players, not just their characters.  A villain actually uses sound tactics in and out of combat and he orders his minions to do the same.

Corresponding Intensity

This is really a reflection of the game’s attitude and atmosphere.  A villain should be just as intense as the player characters (or more so if they are a bunch of gimpy roleplayers).  If the characters see the world as black and white (and they are white), then the villain is the blackest black.  If everything is seen in shades of grey, this guy is nebulous too.  If everything is tongue-in-cheek comedy, then the villain should be dark humor.

Shattered Mirror

This is a reflection of the player characters.  Sometimes the best villain is a photographic negative of one or more player characters, or what they believe in.  The villain should be a perverse mockery of all the good traits of the characters.

Lingering Humanity

Some villains still possess a shred of their humanity (or elvenity, or whatever) that they had before they became the cruel bastard they are now.  Perhaps they have a soft spot for children (or gully dwarves), or like ice scream an awful lot.  This is a great way to get players to feel sympathy for a villain.

Twisted Endings

So your players have slain the big bad evil guy, but wait… this guy was actually the good captain who was undercover trying to find the real bad guy?  Oh yeah, the truly despicable villain will throw the player characters with excellent red herrings.  What did you just say, you’re my mother!? Nooooooooo!!

Tragic Origins

Give the player characters a greater understanding of their nemesis and have them discover the tragic origins of the villain.  Perhaps he grew up in an orphanage where the Sisters of Mercy wouldn’t give him any ice cream but would pound down pints of Cookies’n'Cream in front of him, oh the torture!  So now he will drown any nun he sees in hot sticky cream.

Hidden Enemy

Occasionally is it can be fun keeping the villain unknown and working from the shadows.  The player characters are always baffled until he finally slips and makes a mistake.  Then you reveal the villain in all her glory, hopefully crushing the PCs’ spirits with hopelessness.

Scaling Power

Usually, I am not a proponent of scaling elements in the world with the progression and power of the player characters.  I like an organic or natural world.  But the natural world isn’t completely static, and an ambitious villain will most definitely progress in power too; quite possibly at a faster rate than the PCs depending on how unscrupulous she is.

Memorable Name

Well you can’t have a terrifying villain with a hokey name, unless that’s the atmosphere of the game.  If your villain has been designed properly, merely using the name in normal conversion should elicit emotional reaction from your players.

Cinema & Novels

Let’s face it.  Roleplaying games are NOT movies or books.  That’s a good thing, because playing an RPG is dynamic art that always creates a unique experience because you (and the rest of your group) are the one creating it.  It’s just that some of the tools and techniques used in cinema and novels don’t work as effectively when used right out of the box.

Presentation & Revelation

Directors and authors often center parts of their stories away from the protagonists and focus on the activities of the villain.  This is great because it allows them to develop the villain’s character and compel the [passive] audience to connect with the adversary.

Game Masters do not have that luxury.  It is fairly difficult to switch away from the player characters during the game to narrate the devious actions that the villain is doing.  Besides killing the pacing, it also destroys the suspension of disbelief by showing things that is impossible for the characters to know (and of course this information can then be metagamed).

However a clever GM can reveal the villain’s machinations, history, and depth of character to the player characters through the accounts of interviewed witnesses, scrying, dream sequences, scenes of aftermath, and other recreations of the villain’s actions.

Check out some other insightful posts about villains on The Core Mechanic and At-Will!

Listening to: Tony Iommi – IOMMI – Time is Mine fet. Phil Anselmo

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