Adventurers who have found their place in the universe of dungeons & dragons often have to oppose crisp bosses and powerful bad guys. Meinmmo has some particularly powerful representatives that every player should know for you.
What role do villains play in dungeons & dragons? In the PEN-& Paper role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (DND), bad guys play a central role as opponents who offer the players challenges and promote history. They can serve as a pure string puller or as a challenging boss opponent.
Role players often speak of such opponents as a BGEG (Big Bad Evil Guy), which stands for the main antagonist of a campaign. The BGEG is a powerful enemy, the plans forge and puts stones in the way of the hero until it finally comes to the exciting final fight.
The Lore of Dungeons & Dragons offers a wide range of personalities and creatures that perfectly play this role. We have put together 10 most powerful opponents that every player should know.
Since the story between the editions of dungeons & dragons is partly different, the selection of characters is based on the opinion and experience of Meinmmo editor Alexander Schürlein. The background information should give a rough overview, which makes up the corresponding villain. Feel free to write us in the comments if your favorite floors are missing here.
Who writes here? Meinmmo editor Alexander has been at home in various PEN-&-Paper role-playing games for over 15 years. From Dungeons & Dragons to Pathfinder, Shadowrun, the Black Eye and Call of Cthulhu to the Black Catz, hardly any system is safe from him. His greatest passion is Faerûn in the DND universe, in whose world he has been experiencing adventures for years.
You can also meet some villains from dungeons & dragons in video games that otherwise have little to do with it – for example, Vecna has a place in Dead by Daylight:
Dead by Daylight: Dungeons & Dragons brings the nasty lich vecna
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Count Strahd from Zarovich
Strahd from Zarovich
Count Strahd von Zarovich is a notorious vampire prince who captivates players with his equally charismatic and uncanny charisma. He is cursed to rule over the Reich Barovia. Strahd was once born as a mortal noble, but fell into dark magic and went into a pact that turned him into an undead tyrant.
He is in love with Tatyana, a woman he loses again and again because she is born in different times. Strahd’s rule is characterized by fear, pain and despair. His Ravenloft Castle is an iconic location in DND, full of dangers, secrets and Gothic horror atmosphere.
With his vampire and magical skills that reinforce him and make him mostly immortal, he represents a serious threat to adventurers who want to oppose him. As it should be for a vampire prince, he does not make you straight away, but organizes an exciting cat-and-mouse game that makes players regularly despair.
Strahd is one of the most popular and best known opponents in the world of dungeons & dragons. It is part of many adventures and always appears in various books and media. With “Pirates of the Strahd” (Orig. Title: Curse of Strahd), he is even dedicated to an entire campaign book.
Zariel
Zariel
Zariel is a fallen angel and now the war ruler of the first layer of hell called Avernus. Originally, as a solar, she was a heavenly general who was driven by her overwhelming hatred of demons. She led an army of mortal warriors into the “bloody battle” – an eternal war between demons and devils.
But her hatred became her doom: she fell down to darkness and was finally transformed into a queue by Asmodeus, the top gentleman of the nine hell. Now she serves as a brutal ruler who fights endless demon hordes from the Abyss in Avernus.
She is an excellent melee who adds to her adversaries with mighty magic and her flail, which replaces one of her arms. She also masters the ability to look through any illusion and invisibility, which makes it difficult to outsmart it.
The players can deal with Zariel in the campaign book “Baldur’s Gate: descent to Avernus” (Orig. Title: Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus) – either to defeat them or maybe even redeem them.
On page 2 it continues with Demogorgon, Asmodeus and Orcus.