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Villains

In Last Odyssey, a Villain is a kind of Antagonist that is defined by something called their Ambition. A Villain’s Ambition is a singular goal that they will pursue at all costs until they are defeated or until they achieve it. Not all Ambitions that Villains might have are sane, realistic, or even achievable, but they will be broad and dangerous enough in scope to motivate the player characters to stop them. Example Ambitions include becoming emperor of the known world, resurrecting a lost race of beings, or destroying all magic in the universe. A Villain will earn Anima in the event that they fulfill their Ambition. Whatever else happens as a result of this will be up to the GM, but a Villain winning will inevitably change the course of a campaign. Villains could become Monsters with a Domain if appropriate, or they could choose a new Ambition and keep going. However, due to the addictive power of Anima, no Villain is ever satisfied with what they have already achieved, and they will not stop until they are well and truly defeated.

New Villains created by the GM begin with 5 Anima. There are four circumstances under which a Villain will earn more:

• For each Anima the players spend in order to thwart the Villain’s Ambition, the Villain will earn 1 Anima. This includes Anima they spend to succeed in skill challenges.
• Every time the players advance the Villain’s Ambition of their own free will, knowingly or otherwise, the Villain will earn 1 Anima.
• Every time the Villain achieves their Ambition, they earn 5 Anima.
• Every time a player character uses Anima during combat against a Villain, the Villain earns the same amount of Anima the player character spent.

Villains can spend Anima to subvert player goals for the sake of their Ambition by taking the following actions:

Name	Cost	Description
Interrupt	1 Anima	A Villain may take one additional action during, before, or after another character’s turn.
Intervene	3 Anima	When the narrative or mechanics indicate that a player character would succeed at doing something to thwart a Villain’s Ambition, such as after a skill challenge, the Villain may make them fail instead. This also includes successful rolls made during combat.
Kill	3 Anima	If at least one player character is downed during the Paradigm Phase, a Villain may grant them True Death. This counts as a paradigm action when used.
Summon Eidolon	5 Anima	A Villain may summon their eidolon. The same rules apply for a Villain’s eidolon that apply for a player character’s, including that the Villain must spend 1 Anima per round to keep their eidolon on the field, with the exception that the Villain may summon their eidolon as a reaction to a player summoning theirs before the player’s eidolon can act.
Sacrifice	10 Anima	A Villain may grant a player character True Death out of combat.

Nothing else that a Villain does requires Anima besides what is listed above. Villains are dangerous and unpredictable, and GMs should play them that way. They and their minions will show up at inconvenient times, causing chaos and bringing the Villain closer to their Ambition. As such, there are a few kinds of actions that Villains will always succeed at when acting to achieve their Ambition:

Name	Description
Influence	Villains are adept at navigating the sociopolitical landscape to get what they want. Laws will change, organizations will grow or diminish in power, and important people will behave differently due to a Villain’s intervention.
Recruit	Villains may not be likeable, but they tend to be charismatic, and are capable of swaying people through deception, intimidation, or offers of wealth or power. Players will witness NPCs fall in line with a Villain’s plans almost as though they were spellbound.
Deceive	Because they are often human beings or similar creatures, Villains are adept at hiding in plain sight. They can disguise their presence, even appearing at first to be potential allies for the player characters, and are good at misleading others to further their plans.
Murder	While the player characters can stand up to Villains, ordinary people cannot. Villains have no qualms about killing NPCs if they wish, and cannot be defeated in combat unless the player characters are directly involved.
Destroy	If necessary, Villains are willing to burn buildings, artifacts, landmarks, or even entire settlements to the ground. If a Villain has gathered enough power, the GM can make this known to the players and up the stakes by having them destroy an existing location in the overworld.

To create a new Villain to add to their campaign, the GM should go through the following steps:

1. Decide on a concept. Write down a summary of what kind of person they are, if they are a person. What do they look like? What quirks do they have that distinguish them from others? Every Villain also begins with 5 Anima.
2. Choose the Villain’s Ambition. While some Villains will seem as though they sprang fully formed from the ether ready to do evil, it is also advisable for the GM to write down a little bit about why the Villain formed their Ambition in the first place, and at what point in their life they became infused with the power of Anima. The GM should also write down a few actions the players could take that would advance the Villain’s Ambition and therefore earn the Villain Anima.
3. Choose the Villain’s elemental type, creature type, and the tier of each of their Forms.
4. Calculate each Form’s statistics, and choose their ordinary combat abilities and paradigm actions.
5. Create the Villain’s eidolon. Give the eidolon an elemental type, an eidolon archetype, and calculate its statistics. A Villain will have 3 points to spend on the attribute scores for its eidolon multiplied by the tier of its first Form. None of these scores can be above a 15. If need be, you should also determine which statistics it buffs and debuffs.
6. Give the Villain underlings. Who is their second in command? Do they lead a faction? Create statistics for a few Elite enemies that represent their most trusted accomplices.