Creating Awesome Villains¶

Need a memorable villain for your next D&D session?

Whether you’re building a campaign from scratch or scrambling to prep for game night, this guide gives you everything you need to create unforgettable villains, factions, and threats.

With tiered villainous threats, themed monsters, villain methods and schemes, and dozens of mix-and-match prompts, Foe Foundry makes villain design fast, flexible, and fun - even when the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide falls short.

Here are three examples of legendary villains for your D&D, 5E, and TTRPG campaigns:

Looking for the perfect legendary monster statblock to serve your villain? Browse our Monster Catalog or Summon a Handcrafted foe in seconds with the Foe Foundry monster generator.

Using These Tables¶

• Use these tables to inspire potential villains, foes, factions, and dungeon inhabitants
  • You can populate a sandbox-style campaign by rolling 1-3x for each tier
  • You can create a linear campaign by taking a single threat across multiple tiers of play
  • If you want some variety, you can roll twice and combine multiple threats together
• Use the Themed Monsters table to customize each threat. For example, a “Pillaging Horde” with “Danger from Above” might inspire a band of Manticore-riding Orcs pillaging the countryside
• Use the Villain Personality Traits section to flesh out the villain’s motivations with bonds, ideals, flaws, personality traits, mannerisms, and quirks.
• Use the Spicy Twists table to introduce unique twists on the threats and villains presented here
• Use the Villain Names, Villain Titles, and Villain Sidekicks tables to introduce the threat, foreshadow the villain, and make them memorable

Check out the Villain's Blog Post to see these tables in action!

Villains, Foes, and Threats¶

Use this table to generate D&D villains, factions, and major threats across all tiers of play. From petty outlaws and undead cults to apocalyptic horrors and ancient dragons.

d20	Threat	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3+
1	Criminal	Conniving Outlaws	Corrupt Mercenary Company	Global Crime Syndicate
2	Invasion	Pillaging Horde	Bloodthirsty Army	All-Conquering Emperor
3	Zealotry	Misguided Zealots	Arcane Inquisition	Unholy Crusade
4	Arcane	Malfeasant Mage	Profane Archmage	Archmage Illuminati
5	Wild	Skittering Swarm	Corrupted Forest	Primal Reawakening
6	Undead	Dark Necromancer	Vampiric Prince	Ancient Lich
7	Demonic	Demonic Cult	Demonic Infestation	Demon Prince
8	Draconic	Rampaging Wyrmlings	Imperious Draconic Overlord	Ancient Dragon Alliance
9	Fey	Doppelganger Snatchers	Cackling Hag Coven	Mysterious Faerie Princess
10	Elemental	Erratic Elemental Rift	Enslaving Efreeti	Rampaging Ancient Kaiju
11	Giant	Marauding Giant	Clash of Titans	Unbound Primordial Titan
12	Aberrant	Twisted Monstrosities	Thought-Stealers	Evil Moon
13	Corrupted Hero	Fallen Paladin	Oathbreaker King	Fallen Tyrannical Overlord
14	Celestial	End-Times Preachers	Fallen Angel	Divine Armageddon
15	Curse	Lycanthropes	Cursed Kingdom	Cursed Mummy Lord
16	Plague	Mysterious Deaths	Corrupted Arch-Druid	Worldwide Contagion
17	Revolution	Agitators	Civil War	Worldwide Revolution
18	The Deep	Sahuagin Raiders	Kraken Herald	Cthulhu
19	Psionic	Rogue Psion	Psionic Cabal	Psionic Overmind
20	Technology	Malfunctioning Constructs	Ancient Dreadnaught	Clockwork Machine-God

Themed Monsters¶

These themed monster tables let you quickly customize your villain’s minions, lieutenants, and dungeon denizens. Whether you’re building D&D 5e encounters or stocking a sandbox with flavorful threats, these combinations bring variety and surprise to your sessions. For example, a roll of “Dark Necromancer,” “Why Won’t It Die?”, and “Unwilling Allies” could inspire a Necromancer Mage who commands zombie Trolls and a reanimated Hydra. Delightfully scary!

d20 Themed Monsters¶

d20	Themed Monsters	Statblocks
1	Animated Constructs	Animated Armor, Stone Golem, or Iron Golem
2	Cursed Canines	Wolf, Death Dog, Dire Wolf, or Winter Wolf
3	Webbed	Giant Spider, Ettercap or Phase Spider
4	Dangerous Secrets	Gibbering Mouther, Hollow Gazer, or Aboleth
5	Gaze of Doom	Cockatrice, Basilisk, Gorgon, or Medusa
6	From Below	Hunter Shark, Chuul, Killer Whale, Dragon Turtle, or Kraken
7	Subterranean	Duergar, Darkmantle, Roper, Cloaker, Bulette, or Purple Worm
8	Eyes Everywhere	Spectator or other Eye-Monsters
9	Dangerous Liaisons	Incubus, Succubus or Cambion
10	Why won’t it die?	Troll or Hydra
11	Surprise!	Mimic, Rug of Smothering, or Doppelganger
12	Haunted Horrors	Shadow, Ghost, Mummy, Banshee, Wraith, or Mummy Lord
13	Moonlit Transformation	Werewolf or Werebear
14	Jelly	Gelatinous Cube, Ochre Jelly, or Black Pudding
15	Brain Devourers	Your favorite tentacled brain-eating aberrations
16	Dragons	Your favorite wyrmling, young, adult, or ancient dragon
17	Giantkin	Ogre, Hill Giant, or Oni
18	Elemental Forces	Earth Elemental, Water Elemental, Air Elemental or Fire Elemental
19	Devils and Demons	Hell Hound, Glabrezu, Rakshasa, Ice Devil, Balor, or Pit Fiend
20	Rooooar!	Saber-Toothed Tiger, Owlbear, Tyrannosaurus Rex, or Terrasque

d6 Ways to Use Themed Monsters¶

Want to know how to use monster statblocks creatively in your next encounter? This table gives you six ways to tie monsters into your villain’s plans: from unwilling pawns to hired muscle to bitter rivals. Whether you’re building a D&D 5e boss fight or spicing up your dungeon factions, these relationship dynamics add flavor, tension, and tactical variety.

d6	Ways to Use Themed Monsters
1	Hired or Contracted
2	Unwilling allies
3	Willing allies
4	Alliance of convenience
5	Unwitting pawns
6	Locked in deadly conflict

Villain Plots and Methods¶

While the 2014 Dungeon Master’s Guide includes helpful tables for Villain creation, the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide omits them entirely.

Foe Foundry goes further by offering threats tied to specific goals, themed monster minions, and flavorful motivations. Whether your villain seeks revenge, domination, or divine ascension, you’ll find plot hooks and encounter ideas ready to drop into your D&D campaign. Be sure to consider the Ideals and Bonds for inspiration in what motivates your villain on their villainous quest.

d20 Villain Goals¶

This table of villain goals is perfect for DMs looking to generate evil plans, dark ambitions, and campaign-worthy threats for D&D, 5e, or any fantasy TTRPG.

d20	Villain Goal
1	Form dark pact with ancient horror / eldritch being / dark god / evil empire
2	Unseal an ancient horror / Armageddon engine / trapped gods
3	Open portals to another realm
4	Subjugate nearby communities or kingdoms
5	Amass an unstoppable army
6	Infiltrate or infect a community / society / kingdom
7	Recover legendary artifacts of bygone power
8	Destabilize protective wards / temples / seals
9	Erect dread monoliths of absolute power
10	Slay a paradigm of virtue
11	Completely annihilate a rival / people / society / kingdom
12	Destroy everything
13	Secure a strategic location (stronghold, fortress, city, portal)
14	Convert or indoctrinate others to their cause
15	Master forbidden spells or rituals
16	Consume all resources in a region / continent / world
17	Amass a hoard of resources / treasure / powerful magical items
18	Pillage a region
19	Corrupt or mutate other creatures / people / beliefs
20	Reshape the world with powerful magic or natural disasters

d20 Villain Goals by Threat Type¶

This table summarizes the goals that are mostly closely related to each threat type, though of course you can be creative and make almost any goal work with any threat type.

d20	Threat	Potential Goals
1	Criminal	Subjugate communities; Infiltrate society; Recover artifacts; Annihilate rival; Amass hoard
2	Invasion	Subjugate communities; Amass army; Annihilate rival; Destroy everything; Secure strategic location; Pillage region
3	Zealotry	Form dark pact; Subjugate communities; Infiltrate society; Annihilate rival; Destroy everything; Convert others
4	Arcane	Form dark pact; Unseal horror; Open portals; Recover artifacts; Erect monoliths; Convert others; Master spells; Corrupt beings; Reshape world
5	Wild	Amass army; Destabilize seals; Destroy everything; Consume resources; Corrupt beings; Reshape world
6	Undead	Form dark pact; Unseal horror; Infiltrate society; Recover artifacts; Destabilize seals; Erect monoliths; Annihilate rival; Destroy everything; Master spells; Corrupt beings
7	Demonic	Form dark pact; Unseal horror; Amass army; Infiltrate society; Slay virtue; Annihilate rival; Destroy everything; Secure strategic location; Convert others; Corrupt beings
8	Draconic	Subjugate communities; Amass army; Recover artifacts; Amass hoard; Pillage region
9	Fey	Form dark pact; Open portals; Infiltrate society; Destabilize seals; Erect monoliths;
10	Elemental	Open portals; Destabilize seals; Erect monoliths; Reshape world; Destroy everything
11	Giant	Amass army; Erect monoliths; Destroy everything; Secure strategic location; Amass hoard
12	Aberrant	Form dark pact; Unseal horror; Infiltrate society; Destroy everything; Convert others; Master spells; Corrupt beings; Reshape world
13	Corrupted Hero	Form dark pact; Subjugate communities; Amass army; Slay virtue; Annihilate rival; Destroy everything; Convert others;
14	Celestial	Subjugate communities; Amass army; Erect monoliths; Annihilate rival; Destroy everything; Convert others
15	Curse	Form dark pact; Infiltrate society; Destabilize seals; Corrupt beings
16	Plague	Unseal horror; Infiltrate society; Destabilize seals; Destroy everything;
17	Revolution	Subjugate communities; Infiltrate society; Annihilate rival; Secure strategic location; Convert others
18	The Deep	Form dark pact; Unseal horror; Open portals; Subjugate communities; Amass army; Recover artifacts; Erect monoliths; Destroy everything; Pillage region
19	Psionic	Form dark pact; Unseal horror; Open portals; Subjugate communities; Amass army; Infiltrate society; Convert others; Corrupt beings
20	Technology	Subjugate communities; Secure strategic location; Amass army; Reshape world

Villain Personality Traits¶

A well-crafted villain needs more than just stats and schemes. They need personality. This section helps DMs build memorable villains for D&D 5e and other TTRPGs by giving them compelling ideals, bonds, and flaws. Whether you’re designing a manipulative mastermind or a tragic fallen hero, these traits add emotional depth and roleplay potential to your campaign’s central antagonist.

d12 Villain Ideals¶

What does your villain hold dear? What is motivating their actions? Use these ideals to inform the villain’s Goal. Also consider how these ideals connect to the villain’s Bond.

d12	Evil	Lawful	Chaotic	Other
1	Domination	Logic	Change	Belief
2	Greed	Tradition	Creativity	Discovery
3	Ambition	Order	Freedom	Glory
4	Annihilation	Duty	No limits	Nation
5	Slaughter	Discipline	Individualism	Redemption
6	Vengeance	Nationalism	Defiance	Transformation
7	Cruelty	Justice	Innovation	Identity
8	Conquest	Loyalty	Spontaneity	Legacy
9	Hatred	Righteousness	Passion	Growth
10	Exploitation	Obedience	Rebellion	Transcendence
11	Betrayal	Regulation	Revolution	Destiny
12	Depravity	Conformity	Anarchy	Survival

d100 Villain Bonds¶

What does your villain care about? Use these bonds to create connections for your villain. This should help motivate why your villain is trying to accomplish their goals. These bonds can also add depth to the villain by giving them interesting motivations or backstory. Some of these bonds can also potentially make the villain sympathetic, such as if you roll “Family” and you decide that the villain is motivated to enslave a Deva in order to cure her sick daughter.

You can also use these bonds to connect the PCs to the villains in interesting ways. For example, if you roll “Sense of Injustice” you might decide that as a child, the villain’s family was treated unfairly by a corrupt noble. Perhaps that same noble harmed one of the PC’s families as well, or one of the PCs is related to the corrupt noble.

d100	Villain Bonds
1-20	Selfishness - “What do I care about others? I’m the only one that matters”
21-30	Nihilism - “Bonds just weight you down. To truly be free, you must break your chains”
31-38	Entitlement- “I deserve to be the strongest/richest/wisest/most powerful”
39-46	Revenge - “I will avenge what happened to me at any cost”
47-54	Rivalry - “I will surpass my rival and show everyone I am better”
55-62	Sense of Injustice - “What happened to me is wrong and can never be forgiven!”
63-70	Revanchism - “Our people suffered a humiliating defeat that must be avenged”
71-75	Belief - “I’ll do anything for the true cause/belief/god!”
76-80	Oppression - “__I clawed my way out of bondage and I won’t ever go back to serving another”
81-85	Race/Class/Community - “Everything I do is for the betterment of my people/community”
86-90	Family - “Family is everything to me. What wouldn’t I do for my family?”
91-95	Love/Friendship - “Everything I do is for him/her!”
96-00	Duty - “Honor compels me to this course of action. There is no other way.”

d12 Villain Flaws¶

Use these flaws to justify why the villain acts the way they do. Play up these flaws during interactions with the villain and give the PCs a chance to learn these flaws in advance. Resourceful PCs may find a way to use them against the villain.

d12	Flaw
1	Those who oppose me are not worthy of being considered sentient
2	If I want something, I have to do it myself. Everyone else is incompetent
3	I am inflexible in my thinking. It’s my way or nothing.
4	I hear veiled insults and threats everywhere.
5	I am fanatically obsessed with my goals and I don’t care what it takes to achieve them.
6	I must prove myself to my former mentor who betrayed me
7	The gods blessed me with glorious purpose, and nothing shall stand in my way.
8	I am suspicious of everyone and trust no one.
9	I judge others harshly, and myself even more severely.
10	I am haunted by visions of my glorious destiny that only I can perceive.
11	I carry the blood of an ancient and powerful being, making me superior to lesser mortals.
12	I hoard every trinket, magic item, and piece of junk I’ve come across .

d10 Villain Personality, Mannerisms, and Quirks¶

Use these personality traits and mannerisms to make your villain distinctive. Some of the quirks can add a humorous element to the villain, which some PCs will love to insult.

d10	Personality	Mannerism	Quirk
1	Manipulative	Speaks to imaginary friend	Fears they will be slain by a dwarf
2	Deceitful	Whispers	Acts aloof and mysterious
3	Sinister	Prone to predictions of doom	Claims to be descended from an important figure
4	Vicious	Constantly adjusts clothing	Breath that would make a troll flinch
5	Arrogant	Speaks in rhymes or riddles	Always looking over their shoulder
6	Superstitious	Taps fingers anxiously	Laughs neurotically
7	Haughty	Overly elaborate gestures	Smells strongly of cinnamon
8	Easily Angered	Squints	Thinks out loud
9	Sadistic	Always eating or drinking	Collects trophies from victims
10	Zealous	Overly friendly and outgoing	Despises waste

d10 Villain Relationships¶

Use these relationships to connect the villain to the PCs. This will provide a natural motivation for the PCs to engage with scenarios involving the villain.

d10	Relationship
1	The villain is a former mentor or student of the PC
2	The villain and the PC are childhood friends
3	The villain and the PC are long-standing rivals
4	The villain and the PC served together as soldiers / servants / slaves / prisoners / students / acolytes and were treated harshly
5	The villain and the PC are blood relations (parents, siblings, children, cousins, uncles)
6	The villain once saved the PC from a horrible fate, or vice versa
7	The villain was once responsible for protecting the PC, or vice versa
8	The villain and the PC are former lovers or spouses
9	The villain and the PC are the only survivors of a great tragedy (plague, battle, raid, monster attack, disaster)
10	The villain once committed a grievous misdeed towards the PC, or vice versa

Spicy Twists¶

You can use these spicy twists to frame or shake up how the threats above are presented. For example, if you roll “1: Villain is actually trying to stop an even worse threat” on the Spicy Twists Table and have rolled “2: Invasion” and “11: Giant” you might decide that the All-Conquering Emperor is trying to unite the disparate kingdoms of the continent in order to face the Elder Titan that will be freed on the next celestial eclipse in ten year’s time. When your players learn this information, they may decide that the emperor’s ends do justify the means they are using, or perhaps they will decide that the Elder Titan must be stopped in some other way.

d6 Spicy Twists¶

d6	Spicy Twist
1	Villain is actually trying to stop an even worse threat (roll or pick from the next level tier to choose the threat)
2	Villain is an unknowing puppet of another threat (roll or pick from next level tier to determine who)
3	Villain is engaged in a destructive conflict with another villain (roll another threat to determine what)
4	Villain is hiding in plain sight and is protected by “respectable” society
5	Villain is beloved by the local populace and hides their true hideous nature
6	Villain realizes error of their ways and seeks to make amends

Naming Your Villain¶

Giving your villain an evocative title or nickname can help PCs remember the villain and can also foreshadow much about the villain before the PCs have even met them. For example, “Archmage Jorax the Dark Storm” paints a very different picture than “Lady Confessor Zasha the Snake”, even if the players have never met either of these potential villains.

d20 Villainous Names¶

d20	Names 1	Names 2
1	Morgana	Grima
2	Ulara	Drego
3	Varga	Krull
4	Iskana	Hirok
5	Zoraal	Vakesh
6	Ivara	Zoraan
7	Hilda	Jorax
8	Zasha	Krik
9	Rina	Morak
10	Margeta	Tulko
11	Sarenia	Morozo
12	Sorak	Zrax
13	Tiramel	Krell
14	Ziraak	Vidrid
15	Ophelia	Egrim
16	Brielle	Ulfgar
17	Jirwyn	Nattias
18	Nayra	Endric
19	Silla	Rogar
20	Halisera	Cullen

d20 Villain Titles¶

d20	Nicknames 1	Nicknames 2	Physical Nickname	Insulting Nickname
1	The Great	The Lionheart	The Scarred	The Mediocre
2	The Magnanimous	The Golden Hawk	The Giant	The Spendthrift
3	The Wise	The Owl	The Stammerer	The Fool
4	The Conqueror	The Iron Fist	The Hunched	The Blunderer
5	The Bold	The Thunder	The One-Eyed	The Reckless
6	The Just	The Silver Scales	The Lame	The Blind Judge
7	The Merciful	The Gentle Hand	The Red Beard	The Weak
8	The Terrible	The Dark Storm	The Bald	The Coward
9	The Glorious	The Radiant	The Hawk-Nosed	The Gaudy
10	The Cunning	The Fox	The Squint	The Snake
11	The Benevolent	The Warm Sun	The Tall	The Pretender
12	The Fierce	The Dragon	The Short	The Kitten
13	The Pious	The Saint	The Whistler	The Hypocrite
14	The Tyrant	The Blood King	The Trembling	The Puppet
15	The Resilient	The Unbroken	The Fat	The Stubborn
16	The Cruel	The Viper	The Gaunt	The Sadist
17	The Defender	The Shield	The Mute	The Wallflower
18	The Ruthless	The Iron Blade	The Swift	The Bully
19	The Enlightened	The Beacon	The Clumsy	The Dimwit
20	The Invincible	The Immortal	The Left-Handed	The Mortal

Villain Sidekicks¶

A sidekick is a great way to introduce or foreshadow the villain to your party early in an adventure. Feel free to play up the ridiculousness, pettiness, or general annoyance of the sidekick. Your players will love to hate the sidekick and that will drive engagement with the main villain themselves.

d12	Sidekick
1	Cackling Flameskull that maniacally chants the villain’s central ideology
2	Prideful Pseudodragon that shares visions of the villain’s great deeds
3	Spectral floating eyeball that frequently pops in on the PCs to spy and deride them
4	Shield Guardian butler that projects the villain’s voice through Magic Mouth
5	A lickspittle bard (use Cult Fanatic stats) that spreads elaborate tales on behalf of the villain and mocks the PCs
6	An enslaved dragon shapeshifted into a talking bird, forced to serve the villain
7	A skilled bodyguard (Assassin or Spy), disguised as a sniveling servant that constantly sucks up to the villain
8	A stern and capable assistant (Mage or Priest) that keeps the villain’s plans on track
9	A Knight that angrily defends the villain’s honor against any naysayers
10	A disgraced former hero (Veteran) who failed to defeat the villain and now serves them
11	A sarcastic immortal skeletal jester (use Goblin stats) cursed to serve the villain
12	An illusionary Simulacrum of the villain that monologues at length

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