Villain Motivations for D&D Campaigns
Villains in D&D can take many forms, from disorganized goblins robbing caravans to Beholder masterminds ruling entire cities and everything in between.
Regardless of what villains oppose the party in your campaign, developing motivations for them gives your antagonists depth and adds richness to your world.
In this post, I’ll explore villain motivations and how to use them to create compelling opposition for your players.
Why do villain motivations matter?
The party has traveled for weeks, explored dungeons, and fought hordes of monsters to reach this point - the final battle. The villain is patiently waiting for them. He will stop them himself if he has to.
But before swords clash, he starts to monolog, setting the scene for the battle. In the middle of his grand speech, one of the players asks, “Why did you do it?” The evil mastermind replies, “...Uh, I don't know. I’m evil. So I do evil things.” Womp womp.
The main villain needs motivation. Why is the BBEG trying to take over the world? Why are they in conflict with your players? Why are they a BBEG?
But, you might ask, “Why does the villain need motivation before I start the campaign if the players aren't going to confront them until the end?” Easy - their motivation needs to be central to the theme of your campaign and therefore sprinkled throughout the entire thing.
Motivations tie the villain to the theme
Writing a campaign is similar to writing a novel, screenplay, or short story. It needs characters, a plot, an antagonist, and a theme.
Many people miss the last one because it is less tangible than the others, but it is, in my opinion, an essential piece.
Theme is the glue that holds a story together. It needs to be present in every encounter, at least a little. If the theme of your campaign is Freedom versus Tyranny, then you need to hit on that theme almost every session to make it stick.
If the theme is Freedom versus Tyranny, the BBEG is on the side of Tyranny, and the party is on the side of Freedom. Why is the BBEG trying to take away their freedom? This is the most important question - WHY.
People often confuse WHY with WHAT. I want to know what the BBEG is doing, but that is his action, not his motivation, and the motivation is more important than the character.
To create a realistic and compelling motivation for your BBEG, you need to keep a few things in mind.
Villain’s motivations come from their backgrounds
Just like your character, the BBEG’s motivation should be rooted in their background.
Was their family murdered, leaving them to fend for themselves? Did they grow up rich and start to resent the greed of the aristocracy? Did they have a vision of the future and will do whatever it takes to make sure that vision does not come true?
The BBEG’s background needs to motivate them down the path toward their current campaign of evil. Thanos, one of the best villains in recent movie history, wanted to erase half of all life in the galaxy because he saw his home planet die from limited resources. This drove him mad and set him on his journey.
Connect the BBEG to the party
It is more compelling to have a relationship with the BBEG before the party busts into his lair to kick some butt.
If they know what the BBEG is up to and why, the party can come up with arguments against it which leads to great role playing. And while most villains cannot be talked out of their plan, it's fun to try!
Thanos has several encounters with the heroes before the final confrontation. They take this time to flesh out his backstory and show that he is a force to be reckoned with.
Villains use flawed logic
The BBEG’s motivation is usually the result of flawed logic. They want to do something, and the only way they think they can achieve it is through evil means.
Let’s consider Thanos again. He wanted to erase half of the lifeforms in the entire galaxy because resources are finite. But with the power in the Infinity Gauntlet, he could easily have doubled the resources or made free and clean energy or anything else.
But he chose evil because, in his flawed logic, he thought that was the only way to save everyone, by erasing half.
Keep your villains real
People usually are not evil for the sake of being evil. Most wrong is done because the person doing it thinks it is the right thing to do for them. Almost no one would ever categorize themselves as the bad guy.
Even when dealing with fantastic realms of magic and monsters, we need to relate to things. Real-life motivations are so much more compelling than generic fantasy ones. This is the part of your campaign that needs to be grounded.
Now, the background that gave the BBEG their motivation can be fantastic, and the actions they take because of it can also, but the motivation needs to be felt and understood by the players or else it doesn’t connect.
Use villain motivations to level up your game
If you are stuck trying to create a motivation for your BBEG, you have to look to movies and stories for inspiration.
Do not leave this out of your campaign. Motivation is essential to your players' characters, so why wouldn't it be necessary for the BBEG?
