168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons has numerous villains, each with their own stat block and usually loosely based around one of the core classes. When crafting your own villain, using these class mechanics can save you from having to craft an entirely new stat block from scratch while hoping that it's balanced.

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Within these core classes there are also💞 subclass abilities that lend themselves to villain🧸ous characters, and sometimes even directly built for them. When crafting a character with plans to take over the material plane and beyond, some subclasses are ideal for finding the perfect theme or combat ability that suits them best.

10 💝 🅺 Path Of The Zealot Barbarian

Xanathar's Guide To Everything

D&D: A Barbarian breaks down the door to a dungeon
Kick In The Door by Justine Cruz 

One of the more flavorful barbarian subclasses, the path of the zealot gives you the opportunity to use your campaign's deities or those from the Forgotten Realms in unique ways, depending on the themes of the campaign. A zealot barbarian would be unshakable in their beliefs, using them to justify any act as long as it realizes their goals.

The specific class abilities also make creating a villain using these features especially tenacious, as t🍌hey can be easily resurrected and even impossible to kill while raging. By making the barbarian a religious leader with zealous follower⛎s, prepare for your players to fight them again and again, even after death.

9 🌄 College Of Spirits ꦓBard

Van Richten's Guide To Ravenloft

A knight of the Circle summons ancestors
A Knight of the Circle Summons Ancestors via Wizards of the Coast

Although bards aren't typically seen as dangerous villains, the college of spirits gives bards a connection to the occult and undeath, which allows them to weave stories of terror or reveal hidden truths best left forgotten. Although less violent than other classes, a college of spirits bard might be more dangerous if left to their own devices.

The main focus of this subclass are the spirits the bard calls upon to empower themselves and their allies, which means how and why they draw on these spirits is crucial to making them truly a v🍌illain. Also, because you control them, you can decide which abilities from the spirit table take effect without relying on rolls, or even craft entirely new oꦿnes.

8 Dea🌠th Domain Cleric 𓄧

Dungeon Master's Guide

Summon Undead by Dallas Williams MTG Commander Legends Baldur's Gate
Summon Undead by Dallas Williams

Found in the Dungeon Master's Guide as a villainous class option, the Death Domain cleric makes an ideal antagonist in campaigns focused on religion and deities. Other than just a necromancer, a cleric of death seeks to use the powers of undeath to further the terrible goals of their god.

This makes it important to establish that it's their connection to their god that grants them their powers rather than through study or magic items. The more you deepen the lore of the prime deity they serve, the more hints you can give your players to somehow defeat the cleric.

7 𓆉 Oathbreaker Paladin

Dungeon Master's Guide

armored half orc swings a sword while riding an armored horse
Devoted Paladin by Chris Rallis

Another villainous option from the DMG, paladins who have forsaken their holy oath and turned their backs on their moral code become oathbreakers. Also, any paladin can become an oathbreaker, perhaps even characters that were once allies to your campaign's party.

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Establishing why this paladin broke their oath is enough t🌜o create the necessary backstory for this villain while providing a plot hook for your players to find and use against them. This subclass is also surprisingly powerful and, at high le🔯vels, can potentially take the party solo.

6 Drakewarden Ran🌸ger

Fizban's Treasury Of Dragons

DnD Shadow Of The Dragon Queen Cover Art via Wizards of the Coast
Shadow Of The Dragon Queen Cover Art via Wizards of the Coast

Although a low level drakewarden only has a small drake, at 15th level, it grows to a large size and can be mounted. This gives the ranger a terrifying presence as ꦓthey take to the skies, raining arrows on the party as their drake spews flames on the battlefield.

If you want to stay true to the Forgotten Realms lore, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:making the drake chromatic instead of metallic can hint at its evil nature. This type of villaඣin will likely be more of a loner, relying on the power of their drake to cause havoc or enact ജa pledge of revenge, and even just their silhouette in the distance is enough to cause panic.

5 🍎 🧸 Fiend Warlock

Player's Handbook

Dungeons & Dragons fearsome warrior brandishing dagger
Vanifer via Wizards of the Coast

A classic option for warlocks is to make a literal deal with a devil, doing the bidding of their infernal master in return for terrifying power. This can be to gather souls for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the Blood War, weaken a political opponent, or open a portal fro🀅m Avernus to the mateꦇrial plane.

Although this gives the villain a cliché vibe, it doesn't mean you have to rely on tropes to pull it off, especially when you consider any conflicting goals between patron and warlock that might give your players a way to drive a wedge between them. As with the best villains, this subclass can help you establish setting lore that acts as a hook for your players.

4 Mastermind Rogue ❀

Xanathar's Guide To Everything

A rogue steals a magical crown
Concept Art from Keys From the Golden Vault via Wizards of the Coast

Although less dangerous than a paladin in combat or le𝕴ss proficient w✤ith magic than a sorcerer, a rogue mastermind can do the most damage by acting as an ally or spy. By revealing or collecting the most volatile secrets possible, this rogue has far more power than swords or spells could provide in the short term.

This might be the most challenging subclass to roleplay, as it requires you to keep their motives, intentions, and even identity a secret until they can move 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:on to their heinous plans. However, they are the most satisfying to pull off when you rip away the mask and reveal that Pumpernickel Hopscotch was the bad guy🌠 tꦆhe whole time.

3 𒀰 Swarmkeeper Ranger 🐓

Tasha's Cauldron Of Everything

Drider MTG Art by Jodie Muir for the Adventures in the Forgotten Realms DnD set
Drider by Jodie Muir

Also containing a ton of flavor value, despite crawling insects𝐆, s🍷warmkeeper rangers can allow you to craft entirely unique villains just based on the type of swarm that they keep. A swarmkeeper might use locusts to ravage farmland, flies to spread a deadly plague, or spiders to drain their enemies.

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Despite the subclass ruling that the 𓃲swarms are intangible spirits, you can make them into real, s⭕ummoned swarms that act like swarming creature stat blocks. Other swarmkeeper abilities like Mighty Swarm or Swarming Dispersal give your villainous ranger protection against your players and can make them seem more of a threat aside from their swarms alone.

2 ෴ Aberra🐓nt Mind Sorcerer

Tasha's Cauldron Of Everything

A warlock in red cape emerges from darkness and tentacles in D&D.
Herald of Hadar by Valera Lutfullina

In horror campaigns witꦇh min🀅d flayers or eldritch beings, aberrant mind sorcerers can tap into their unknowable magic and cause terror wherever they go. These sorcerers might be the leaders of cults of Elder Evils and command armies of star spawn.

Their abilities can also be used to warn or alert players of their presence,💝 such as speaking directly into their mind or causing their flesh to deform in unique ways. A high-level ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚsorcerer could even use Warping Implosion to put pressure on your players to make plans that are highly strategic.

1 �ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ� Shadow Magic Sorcerer

Xanathar's Guide To Everything

Shessra, Death's Whisper by Marie Magny
Shessra, Death's Whisper by Marie Magny

Drawing power from the frightening realm of the Shadowfell itself, shadow sorcerers use this energy to call forth death hounds and harness darkness. Not only are Shadow Sorcereღrs hard to catch, but they👍 can be a mortal threat when they choose their targets carefully.

By leaning into the Hound of Ill Omen feature, you can make it a recurring character that stalks the party or reveals the presence of the sorcerer. Their 18th level feature can alsꦑo give them a powerful ability that reveals the extent and danger of their magic, amplifying their position as a villainou🌄s threat.

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