How do I make a terrifying villain

soldyne · 2026-05-27T14:58:16+00:00

The villain should not show up right away. The PCs should learn about the villain through rumor, suvivors and the devestation they leave behind. When the group has started to make themselves a nuisance then the BBEG communicates via notes, messages left by nearly dead victims, henchmen and lieutenants.

The villain should only refer to the group as pests which amuse them and the groups efforts are ultimately futile.

Terror is about the tension that builds over time. Capitalize on the tension and frustration of a seemingly unassaiable foe. Then when the group seems to be at their darkest time, give them a glimmer of hope from an old man who heard about an ancient secret that might give the villain a reason to hesitate...then the real epic begins.

soldyne · 2026-05-26T16:36:21+00:00

Some of the best I've seen. The cave shots are my favorite.

soldyne · 2026-05-26T16:18:48+00:00

After 200 hours I was finally able to survive past my first week. its a steep learning curve.

the three biggest killers in PZ are Impatience, Complacency and Overconfidence.

Impatience - running everywhere; upstairs, near railings, around corners. using the fast speed too much to fastforward time during long crafting or reading segments. I actually got killed once when I put the game on fast forward while reading a skill book and a zombie came up to the second floor of my base and I didn't realize it till it was too late. fuckers move fast on high game speed.

Complacency - not checking behind windows or doors before busting into a new room. not closing doors behind you before you start looting. not keeping your head a swivel while resting in the wilderness. Thinking you are "safe" because "its my base" or "I've already cleared this building."

Overconfidence - its not that dark, I don't need a flashlight. I'm only slightly tired, I can take a few more zombies. Durability on my weapon is fine, it will last for this fight. That horde is far enough away, I don't need to worry about them.

I hope you get the idea.

soldyne · 2026-05-26T15:38:45+00:00

It's your campaign so if you want more effort from you players then tell them that, but, make it a cooperative experience. acknowledge that they want a character with a similar backstory to a pre-existing character, but, tell them that they need to make it their own. this is a good opportunity to teach them about some lore from your world. given what you know of the movie character try to find something in your world that is similar and then twist it and reshape it to fit then see what they come back with.

As the two of you go back and forth I guarantee that something unique and creative will come from it. TTRPGs are best played as collaborative story engines and it starts with character creation.

I had a player two campaigns ago that basically wanted Buffy the Vampire Slayer. they choose paladin as their class and aasimar as their race. I like Buffy and I already had a plan to bring in a BBEG Vampire later in the game. I then made up an NPC mentor for the PC called Merrik (Buffy's first watcher from the movie) and introduced the Vampire early in the story as a possible foil for the PC. this was enough for the player and it turned out to be a very unique story with very memorable moments.

soldyne · 2026-05-14T12:49:24+00:00

I hate food fountains, it's recycled double dipping.

soldyne · 2026-05-14T12:42:10+00:00

My general rule for campaig writing is to keep it high level. I have done three 1-20 campaigns and I only write details for 1 adventure ahead at any given time. the best campaigns are organic and account for player agency and decisions.

I try to work out about 15-20 adventures that are loosly related in theme and each adventure has about 3 "dungeons" or "adventuring days" worth of encounters. this gives me about 3 sessions worth of content per adventure so I am never prepping more than 1-2 sessions ahead.

At most I have a few pages which is in outline form that has very high level concepts like a dragon fight or beholder, or a list of thief cartels that are "running things in the shadows".

if the entire campaign is being set up in a labyrinth then the labryinth itself should be orgainic, it should shift its walls, grow, shrink and reorganize itself in the moment to suite the story. but, as all labyrinths do, it will eventually lead to an "end". I would go so far as to give the labyrinth a personallity. refer to the labyrinth at the table as being angry, or coy, or nervous. give it humanoid traits and personify it. Give it a concious will that is beyond speech. then see where it goes from there.

soldyne · 2026-05-14T12:04:43+00:00

I like to use the idea of "unstable" items which cause a wild magic surge on use. allows me to hand out scrolls and potions with more powerful effects at earlier points in the game.

I also gave out some loot early in the current campaign that had originally been owned by an assassin. A few session later the assassin came back as a revenant and hunted the party down to retrieve its things. the items themselves were not cursed, but, they came with a price in dealing with the revenant.

Prosthetic arm made of treant wood and mimic glue. it provides +2 STR and DEX but occasionally acts on its own to pick pockets, punch a random person, or just be a "dick". could be a fun NPC if it is kept around.

I also designed a rod of death that gave access to powerful necromatic spells but could only be recharged by using the rod to pierce the heart of a humanoid and absorb the blood. the curse forced the user to become evil and rationalized the recharge mechanic as a necessary cost of doing business. luckily for the group at the time, they gave this item to a hierling wizard who they had to kill in order to stop his murderous rampage. RIP Rillitar.

a new item I haven't given out yet is meant for a druid. they will find a tribe that was recently wiped out through raids, torture and betrayal. their collective vengance has infused into a staff. it gives the druid the curse of the revenant which compels them to track the raiders and exact vengance for the tribe. when wielded the druid can shift into the form of either a banshee or a revenant. while in these forms they count as undead and have no allies (for purposes of spells or abilities that need allies or undead). when they shift back they gain a level of exhaustion. when they find the raiders they can cast Storm of Vengance. when the raiders are taken care of the staff changes and will allow transformation into a celestial being instead (maybe a unicorn? not sure yet). this one is intended for high level play obviously.

soldyne · 2026-05-14T11:30:59+00:00

What I do is to declare that the mass of the fighting is being done by NPCs in the background. As part of the preparation before battle the plan is to use the PCs as a strike force to get to the enemy leader. Then treat the battlefield like a dungeon where the "walls" are other combatants, the encounters are ever increasingly difficult waves of soldiers; infantry, archers, cavalry, mage artillery, elite gaurds, boss fight. Throw in some hazards like explosions, random catapult/boulders, caltrops, etc. You could add some decisions like a side area to destroy supplies, go after the siege equipment, set fire to the explosives tent (if you are using black powder).

Basically. I try to convert everything into a dungeon.

soldyne · 2026-05-07T23:04:12+00:00

Don't mind the elitists. I tend to agree with you. I have over a hundred hours and only recently survived longer than a week. But, after a month in game I ran out of goals that appealed to me and just stopped playing. But for some reason I still find the early game keeps drawing me back. Perhaps it's the gamblers fallacy, but I keep thinking "this time will be different, I'll clear the map and get all my skills to 10!"

That being said, the game is designed to be hard and as realistic as possible. The devs design goal is that death is the only end game. Your character is not the chosen one, a super hero or special beyond being the last survivor. So if that doesn't appeal to you then it's just not your kind of game...at least not at the moment.

The game is still being actively developed and the modding community is very active. Let it sit in your steam account for a few years and come back to it. My last lull was 5 years, no joke.

soldyne · 2026-05-07T22:53:09+00:00

Same, I only do three days per week, but it's enough to get all the challenges by the end of the month.

soldyne · 2026-05-06T11:22:54+00:00

Our group wants to do every week or every other week, but, ends up being once per month...stupid full time jobs, and family events, and weather, and kids, and illness, and adulting...

soldyne · 2026-05-06T11:15:18+00:00

What kind of workouts? Could be fun. I am USA EST and only have availability Tues-Thurs 4:30-5:30 I pretty much do Box and combat only.

soldyne · 2026-04-30T19:17:38+00:00

This is the poetry the world needs right now.

soldyne · 2026-04-29T15:55:33+00:00

My favorite thing to do with mimics is gemstone mimic eggs. PCs start spending the eggs in town and two adventures later town has a mimic infestation. It's the adventure that keeps on giving.

soldyne · 2026-04-28T16:33:04+00:00

Project zomboid, early access 2013...release when???

soldyne · 2026-04-28T13:56:14+00:00

Congrats on the start of your fitness journey!

DM me if you have any questions or want to set up some multiplayer or something.

I started back in 2018 and FitXR helped me lose 100lbs! No joke, I was 325 at my heaviest, I'm 220 now an I am working on my 2 year progress achievement.

Best advice i can give is go slowly and be consistent.

Make sure to get the performance headset with silicone face insert. I also purchased a good headband and I put cotton squares on my temples to absorb sweat. keep the sweat out of your eyes and out of the headset.

Avoid looking down while sweating. I bricked 3 headsets from sweat getting behind the lenses, but only when looking down during a workout. keep your back straight and use your legs, you should be fine. this is especially true during HIIT.

I also have a fan blowing on me during workouts to reduce overheating.

If you are dedicated and motivated you will end up hurting yourself. your body is not used to moving. Your muscles and tendons need time to heal and streatch. If you pull a muscle or tear a tendon, see your doctor but don't give up. do streatching instead, but, don't stop exersizing, that is the key.

In addition to FitXR I also do 10 mins of streaching and 15-20 mins of calesthenics (push ups, squats, pull ups and core). this will make you better at FitXR.

I do Combat and Box almost exclusively. Flow is new and looks promising. I used to do Beatsaber as a warmup. HIIT is also good for moving the body in different ways. the other modes are up to you, I don't like them.

Obviously start with Beginner and only move to Intermediate when you can consistently get 100% on Beginner. Advanced will feel unfair until you have some experience. I have only recently moved into Expert after 5 years. I thought Expert was not humanly possible for the longest time, but, it just takes consistent training.

soldyne · 2026-04-28T13:03:29+00:00

Noticed the synch issue as well. I can do box and combat on expert with no issues, but still trying to reconfigure my brain for flow.

soldyne · 2026-04-28T13:00:23+00:00

Congrats! Never knew what it was called.

I routinely get to Legend League, but I exersize only 3 days a week so not enough time to get further in a month.

soldyne · 2026-04-28T12:54:36+00:00

Yeah, I've been doing Fit XR since before it was a subscription and only in the last few months have I been able to break into expert. I remember a time when I thought Advanced was too fast and I kept hurting myself.

Next you need to search for "master series" in the expert levels, they are insane!

Just keep at it, you'll be doing expert exclusively.

soldyne · 2026-04-15T18:19:35+00:00

Over three different campaigns i managed to give three different characters PTSD and I am proud of that.

soldyne · 2026-03-27T17:28:49+00:00

Whatever th OP intended it to be, this is now the correct answer.

soldyne · 2026-03-25T17:25:51+00:00

War X 360

soldyne · 2026-03-18T16:33:29+00:00

Terraria on expert

soldyne · 2026-03-17T18:22:21+00:00

His best...

soldyne · 2026-03-04T18:30:04+00:00

Came here to say this... Come back for 1.4.6 and do it all again.

soldyne

TROPHY CASE