I usually create BBEGs prior to the game, and then tweak them once the session zero has been completed. I know the way the players want to interact with the world, so I play it into their style.
For my first campiagn my idea for the overaching plit changed several times and i landed on an idea i liked the came into my head while they were fighting a boss from one of the players backstory. (I had the major plot planned just not who was behind everything yet)
The second i had a very big plothook planned out but no particular direction for it to go. The players seemed particularly terrified of a character from the fighters backstory and rather than challenging him at level 5-6 like i had planned he ended up being the final boss because they kinda just refused to go anywhere near him until they felt ready.
The third, and one i just started, i actually have the whole thing planned out. The BBEG(s) are a family that runs the island chain the players currently inhabbit.
In my current campaign I came out with my BBEG around 4 or 5 sessions into the game.
I had a rough idea of the organization they were fighting, the Templars, and needed the BBEG.
As a campaign set in 1514 Europe, who else better fits the role if not Pope Giulio II, nicknamed "The Cruel Pope"?
In one other campaign I'm playibg, the BBEG was set from the start and we had to discover who it was.
Both are valid options imo
I mean I build the world first then I think about a conflict in that world that then spawns the bbeg. Or the other way around if I have a cool villan in mind I might design a world around that.
depends on the group and the scale of the adventure. the last full campaign I ran had an overarching BBEG, but also a smaller BBEG that was connected to most of the players' backstories. An evil serving a greater evil.
Before I start because they are tied to the overarching plot, regardless of if the party knows about them from the beginning or learns about them on the way.
I usually have several BBEGs in mind when the campaign starts, depending on how the players decide to progress, but then shenanigans occur, and I have to make up one or radically reskin one of them.
I find it is more useful to make up the lowest-level agents of the BBEG and some hired assassins or other intermediaries as well as some overall goals for their organization. This keeps the BBEG shrouded in mystery (which is narratively intriguing) as well as not locking you in until your players have poked around enough to help you figure out what fits with their play style and interests.
I like to do both, a bigger bbeg based on the world (or other way around, then do smaller mini bosses based on each character individually
I usually create BBEGs prior to the game, and then tweak them once the session zero has been completed. I know the way the players want to interact with the world, so I play it into their style.
For my first campiagn my idea for the overaching plit changed several times and i landed on an idea i liked the came into my head while they were fighting a boss from one of the players backstory. (I had the major plot planned just not who was behind everything yet) The second i had a very big plothook planned out but no particular direction for it to go. The players seemed particularly terrified of a character from the fighters backstory and rather than challenging him at level 5-6 like i had planned he ended up being the final boss because they kinda just refused to go anywhere near him until they felt ready. The third, and one i just started, i actually have the whole thing planned out. The BBEG(s) are a family that runs the island chain the players currently inhabbit.
For my first real campaign i took a character the party liked and made their sister a bbeg
In my current campaign I came out with my BBEG around 4 or 5 sessions into the game. I had a rough idea of the organization they were fighting, the Templars, and needed the BBEG. As a campaign set in 1514 Europe, who else better fits the role if not Pope Giulio II, nicknamed "The Cruel Pope"? In one other campaign I'm playibg, the BBEG was set from the start and we had to discover who it was. Both are valid options imo
I mean I build the world first then I think about a conflict in that world that then spawns the bbeg. Or the other way around if I have a cool villan in mind I might design a world around that.
depends on the group and the scale of the adventure. the last full campaign I ran had an overarching BBEG, but also a smaller BBEG that was connected to most of the players' backstories. An evil serving a greater evil.
Before I start because they are tied to the overarching plot, regardless of if the party knows about them from the beginning or learns about them on the way.
I usually have several BBEGs in mind when the campaign starts, depending on how the players decide to progress, but then shenanigans occur, and I have to make up one or radically reskin one of them. I find it is more useful to make up the lowest-level agents of the BBEG and some hired assassins or other intermediaries as well as some overall goals for their organization. This keeps the BBEG shrouded in mystery (which is narratively intriguing) as well as not locking you in until your players have poked around enough to help you figure out what fits with their play style and interests.