Using the Three Villain Model in Your Campaign

I was recently listening to the latest episode of Sly Flourish’s Lazy D&D Talkshow where Mike Shea talked about building resilient plots for your villains, the article you can read here. I found myself inspired by Mike’s discussion of building a plot centered around three villains, and decided to write my take on a three villain centered campaign, peppered with insights and other inspiration. For me and my writing, all good things come in threes and villainous factions are no different. If you did not know, I really like villains; not because I root for the bad guy, but because they often offer a great foil for our heroes to face and can come with unique motivations and goals of their own. Nearly all villains fall into one of these three categories.

The Brute

First up is the brute–all action and little thought of consequences. This could be a group of goblin raiders who have come in search of food and fun, or a group of thugs looking to shake down a local merchant. They strike quickly and often without warning, relying on the element of surprise. They take almost no steps to cover their tracks and have very little in the way of organization or planning. Sometimes these organizations are small-time crooks looking for some quick coin, but they could scale to a large army of barbarians or even undead if you need a large-scale threat. They are easy to track and their motives are often immediately clear. The greatest weakness is that the brute often does not have the foresight to have a plan if things go poorly, leaving them at the mercy of scheming players.

The Scoundrel

Next up is the scoundrel. This particular villain has a bit more class and intellect. As far as criminals are concerned, these individuals conduct their illicit deeds with much more business savvy. These could be anything from racketeers to bandit lords or even money launderers. They are able to plan ahead and exhibit a fair amount of care for covering their tracks. But they can still make mistakes and leave clues for the players to follow. Deciphering their motives can be a bit more difficult than discovering those of the brute, but they can be sussed out given time and research. A large-scale threat could be a pirate captain or a corrupt noble who is pressing his people for coin. A scoundrel’s greatest weakness is that they think they are smarter than they are, often leading to mistakes and not being able to have a contingency.

The Mastermind

Finally, the mastermind. While the scoundrel may possess a tactical mind, the mastermind is a calculating tactician. While the brute is playing tic-tac-toe and the scoundrel is adept at checkers, the mastermind is playing 4D chess. This is a highly organized, brilliant organization that could take many forms–from a thieves guild to a circle of assassins to a highly secretive order of mages. They cover their tracks well and are able to spin elaborate webs to trap their foes and carry out their goals. This does not make them immune from making mistakes or failing to foresee the tampering of the party. Tracking them requires time, patience, resources and luck. A large-scale threat could be a secret cult embedded at every level of society, bent on bringing about the end of the world. Their greatest weakness is being discovered before they can enact their plan or, like the scoundrel, believing they can outsmart the party at every turn.

Using the Three Villain Model

A simple way to start off a campaign to have all of your villains connected might be to have a group of goblins attack a local village (the brute) only to find out that they are being paid off by a local merchant who wants to eliminate his competition (the scoundrel) because he sold his soul to a devil who is trying to corrupt the village (the mastermind). 

But you do not need your villains to be connected at all. It’s your choice. And you can introduce them in different ways. For example, the campaign begins with the party uncovering a plot to overthrow the king, perpetrated by a mysterious order (the mastermind). While investigating this plot, the party discovers that the royal exchequer is embezzling funds (the scoundrel) who then blackmails the party. As these two plots reach a boiling point, an army of gnolls (the brute) descends upon the kingdom, throwing it further into chaos.

When writing these villainous factions, you’ll want to ensure they each have their own goals and motivations and are working towards them as the players are investigating or pushing the plot along. It is also possible that you run a game with all three factions as masterminds or all three factions as brutes. Miix up the motivations for these factions. Perhaps they are working towards the same goals or perhaps they have goals that have nothing to do with one another. The choice is yours.

Enjoy running your villains!

Take Heart! 

Karington Hess

Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games