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Villainous Compendium (5E)

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"There are no heroes; only villains who win."

Joel Cornah, The Sea-Stone Sword

What Is This?

More than 110 villains, henchmen, magical artifacts, and Quests ready to use in any Pathfinder or 5E campaign setting, supporting any challenge level.

Instantly-usable Villains, dozens more Henchmen, supporting NPCs, rumors and lore, Quests, and more.

If you're a DM/GM, this book will save you time and enhance your gaming sessions.  If you're a player, this book will give you inspiration, particularly for villainous PCs. If you're just a hobbyist, or a writer, this book might give you inspiration for storytelling.

Each villain is a ready-to-play, novel-caliber NPC with background, motivation, description, and more.  Lairs, hideouts, and other full-color maps round out each villain as its own full-featured chapter.

Enough rich content to fuel dozens, perhaps over a hundred, gaming sessions, immediately usable at your fingertips!

By the numbers:

  • >450 complete statblocks.
  • 43 Villains.
  • 68 Henchmen, Followers, & Retainers.
  • >40 Quests.
  • >200 Rumors & Lore associated with the Villain's nefarious acts.

Each villain is a full-featured character you can drop into your gaming sessions immediately, with zero additional preparation.  

The content provided for each and every villain should support 1-3 dedicated play sessions... so the book itself should support 30-100+ gaming sessions!

Each villain is a 10-50 page chapter unto themselves, and has all of the following: 

  • Complete statblocks, including Quadded Statblocks to support a wide variety of difficulty levels.
  • Background, motivation, appearance, combat behavior, and other "non-crunchy" character description.
  • 0-4 Henchmen, each with full Quadded Statblocks.
  • 1+ Quests dedicated to the Villain and/or her henchpeople.
  • Hooks to use to provide motivation or to get the PCs engaged.
  • Rumors & Lore to fuel character interest, give the Villain a real-world feel, and provide further hooks / incentives for engaging.

Villains

Each gets its own dedicated chapter of 20+ pages.

  1. MacCratchen: A wily yet hermetic gnome, tall and lanky for his type, who keeps a homeand quasi-fortress in a mountainside half destroyed by volcanic activity called Stonehaven.
  2. Gurtholoemeux: An underhanded bardic rogue who ventures from town to town, selling his myriad talents to all comers until he gains enough confidence and wealth to assassinate a wealthy mark and escape to his next city.
  3. Belsinquer: A halfling transmuter, obsessed with the legendary but impossible ability to polymorph anything into anything else at will, he seeks a mythical brazier whose fumes imbue the inhaler with this gift for a fortnight. 
  4. Portell the Butcher: This dwarf thinks of gore the way much of his stereotypical kindred think of stone: obsessively, professionally, and with great skill.
  5. Orrorox the Oracle: He’s not a good wizard; in fact, all he can remember at this point is Control Weather and some self defense spells. But it’s enough to maintain a complete stranglehold on a primitive and remote village. 
  6. Jassandra: A portly human druid / ranger, Jassandra is lazy, yet knowledgeable.  She makes as though she’s a wildlife enthusiast and activist, but in truth she cares naught for he forest and instead prefers the dwellings of the idle rich.  Has a particular talent for, and habit of, coaxing scions into giving of their estate, often to the bone.
  7. Emmeretelle: A shockingly compelling bardic illusionist, she often courts heiresses, either to seduce them directly, or to pimp them out to the seedy.
  8. Vitaponna Requelle: A half-elven product of a raid gone horribly violent, this mercenary fighter turned caravan guard: ruthless in the extreme, lending her talents out to the truly desperate or similarly evil for all manner of rape, pillage, torture, or worse.
  9. Ylgronne the Brazen:  A powerful, massive half-orc, she is a particular and practical sort of mass murderer: under the banner of adventurer or mercenary, she will form a band of likeminded opportunists to plunder a dragon’s hoard, or a goblin’s cave, or some similar hoax. 
  10. Drogdon the Ashamed: This tiefling antipaladin bears the trimmings of the devout, but is wracked by guilt and regret over incidents long past that were neither his fault not truly his own memories.
  11. Dronskilla: A mammoth-sized half-orc with a knack for beastmastery, she keeps to herself in the highland ice caves... occasionally venturing into a local settlement to restock raw materials for her cape and furs of choice, skinpelts.
  12. Nekshuss Malark: Seeks perfection in all its forms, but is ultimately disappointed when there inevitably are faults or frailties.
  13. Joquandus: Joquandus is a tiefling Witch / Necromancer who only animates and uses what he himself (or his minions) slay; their compounding approach to grave robbing has bled several small villages dry.
  14. Galameux deRhune: A dashing halfling cavalier who puts on airs as a Robin Hood styled vigilante, but ultimately is in league with oppressors and uses the goodwill of his patrons to undermine their plight and crush any resistance.
  15. Axillar the Penitent: A perpetually penitent believer, his faith is tested constantly by the desire to disobey, to give in to hate and lust and all manner of horrid things.
  16. Owynne the Wealthy: All that glitters may not be gold, but if you accumulate enough that glitters, some of it is certain to be valuable.  So thinks Owynne, the gnomish ruffian-turned-crimelord who is on a lifelong quest to gather as much wealth as possible, a goal that is by definition never satisfying.
  17. MacHummop the Mazemaster: This sage engineer enjoys enormous favor with a fruitful city, due in large part to having designed the path through the mountain that yields the only access to it.  He controls access, however, via elaborate, sadistic, and bloody traps, not unlike the serial killers in some modernday films.
  18. Sangitator of the Dry Cult: This title is actually something of an umbrella term, referring to the current membership and leaders of a somewhat loosely-organized cult that infests towns and then moves on after they have called too much attention to themselves. Sagitators are bloodpriest necromancers who use figured out a way to use blood like necrotic ammunition.
  19. Gottrack the Vibrant: Lithe and burly, charismatic half-orc who has made a career out of personal training.  However, in addition to being a Fighter, he’s an Illusionist who hypnotises his clients, either to take physical advantage of them, for social favors or influence, for monetary gain, or to acquire secrets and information.
  20. Vollen the Inscriber: Vollem operates a shop that custom-engraves gifts.  On the surface, it’s for keepsakes, or to mark a personal item with your name to prevent or deter theft. Deeper and darker is the cadre of more nefarious services offered: magic runes and inscriptions that cast spells on the unwitting victims or users.
  21. Druthall the Evoker: An evoker specializing in demolition sorts of spells and effects, his services are in demand from the mining and construction industries.  His sinister nature is that he’s also something of a union assassin: management hires him to produce worksite accidents that inadvertently slay key leaders of resistance and union kingpins.
  22. Murtence the Vile: A poisoner, curser, and all-around disgusting hag, Murtence was once royalty who gave it all up over a quibble with her family.  Of legendarily stubborn stock, she turned to a life of isolation and evil rather than admit fault and ask for forgiveness.
  23. Wutherford the Collector: He’s a collector, but of a particularly weird brand: he collects the most valuable and treasured element of others’ collections.  He delights not in the possession, but in the theft, and in the knowledge that his items are the agents of misery in those with the means to collect and know.  
  24. Bethennie the Beaux: Once a beauty queen, she aspired to heights too lofty: born to impoverished farmers, she tried to parlay her looks to feign nobility.  A spurned scion discovered her secret and scalded her with acid.
  25. Iskadelle the Innocent: A twin, she was sold into slavery as a child mistaken for her vile sister.  She has since made it her life’s work to seek revenge, for her own slight as well as for any who enslave.  Iskadelle is something of an anti-heroine. It just so happens that she’s an anti-paladin, too.
  26. Tressedelle the Mistress: Sister to Iskadelle, she has made huge profit from slavery, particularly of the kind involved in brothels.  Her continuing strife with her sister, whose villainous mission is in direct opposition to Tressedelle’s own life, have caused something of a turf war in recent months.
  27. Drethe: Drethe is a Sorcerer with a lust for power, no matter the cost.
  28. Nocturnne: An assassin who works for barter: a life for a life. Her payment is that her client must either kill someone she wishes slain, or themselves offer a death in payment. 
  29. Zonnue: Dedicated monk who lost everything because she was cloistered; she walks life now making those pay who take life for granted.
  30. Lillie the Lame: Hobbled as a sex slave to prevent flight, this half-elven monk now takes out her latent anger on betrayers and enslaves of all kinds.
  31. Vollanthe: This serene Druid wishes only for quiet, and will kill any who disrupt it.
  32. Chalyce, the Blood Maiden: A cult leader with aspirations to sainthood, Chaylce demands sacrifice to fuel miracles.  Her cult is churchlike in its devotion, but all flows through her, very little is delegated or credited to a divine power.
  33. Kryssenthe, the Immortal Veneer: Granted godlike power by a raiment of Artifacts, Kryssenthe is now convinced she is a goddess, and rules her church and followers accordingly.
  34. The Distrade Crime Family: This extended family includes Aldreany, the matriarch; Cillyn, the patriarch; Laucien, their son; Lia, their daughter; and advisors: Humphrey Hocklash, the sage; and Diesa Dankill, their financial and legal advisor. 
  35. Gloom: Gloom uses a hat of disguises to portray himself as a gnomish alchemist. In truth he is what we would in modern times call a drug dealer.  He pawns off his extracts to any who come to call, by calling them things like “uppers” (enlarge effects) and “speedballs” (haste effects).  Gloom particularly enjoys mischief especially against people who try to stiff him his payments.
  36. The Treason Sceptre of Ul-Gummyth: The rod that has toppled empires; imagine an evil vizier in sceptre form.
  37. Zealot's Censor: A battle aspergillum that induces religious fervor in those who wield it, to the point of devotional lunacy.
  38. Sepulchre Stave: “Lichstick” is the informal word for this potent necromantic artifact.  This sentient staff that also acts as a phylactery is ever in search of the ideal companion soul to spend eternity with.  The problem is, sentient though it may be, it’s also insane, and has ever-fluctuating standards that are impossible to meet.

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Reviews (0)
Discussions (2)
Customer avatar
Badger B March 06, 2021 12:14 am UTC
PURCHASER
I tried this link "Reward Stars: Why not obtain a zero-price copy here?"

but it fails
Customer avatar
Shawn P H May 30, 2019 9:34 pm UTC
This looks terrific and very useful but the price point is too high, in my opinion. I understand valuing your work high and given the work put it this, I'd expect it to be be more than the typical 4.99 price. None-the-less, $40 is is too high an investment. In any event, I wish you luck on this and hope I am wrong and you sell hundreds of copies.
Reply
Customer avatar
J. E May 31, 2019 11:52 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Hi Shawn--I completely understand.

From my perspective: All of my products begin life as a Kickstarter, and the price kind of revolves around that. Most of my books have incepted as a 100-300 page offering, and many of them became 800+ page behemoths during development and writing. Villainous Compendium is one of those: the pathfinder edition is 800 pages, and the 5E version 600 pages. I'm in this to break even, and to respect my KS backers, and I price my products in line with what I see out in the marketplace with that in mind. $4.99 typically gets you a small 32-page booklet; $9.99-$19.99 gets you a traditionally-sized 128-to-256 page book. $40 is high for a PDF, but not, I feel, for the value and content you're receiving. You may disagree, in which case I'd invite you to check out my Kickstarters, which are priced very reasonably for those who want in on the ground floor and don't mind a bit of a wait to receive. :)

I will also offer that all of my KS backers receive discount...See more
Reply
Customer avatar
Shawn P H May 31, 2019 1:25 pm UTC
Cool. I most certainly will check it out. Thanks.
Reply
Customer avatar
J. E June 05, 2019 5:37 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
An additional thought: there are other comparisons out there in terms of price point. E.g., a recent Kickstarter for a ~400 page book has a $30 pledge point for a PDF: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendarygames/ultimate-kingdoms-for-dnd-5e-or-pfrpg

As typically KS pledges represent a discount over what a product's MSRP will be, I'd expect this to end up being a $40 PDF at least at retail.

May not be a great example, as this particular product represents a compilation of a bunch of smaller things that are already published, so I'm sure the publisher has incentive to price it at premium, but still.

Just a thought. :)
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File Last Updated:
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This title was added to our catalog on May 21, 2019.