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Path of Villains
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In every campaign, you have conflict. In a roleplaying game, that may range from contests of skill and chance during the heroes’ downtime, or social engagements where they attempt to win friends and influence people, but sooner or later in an adventure things inevitably turn nasty. Sometimes that’s a throwdown against a gang of thugs, or an ambush of bandits or predators, or a mob of monsters, but if your adventurer’s life is to be more than an endless slog of random encounters somewhere along the line you’re going to need a villain.
What makes a good villain?
A villain can be a person or a monster, a politician or a priest, a demon lord or a dragon king, or just about anything else. What distinguishes a villain is not their raw power. Instead, what differentiates them from just another threat or challenge is that a villain is a part of the story just like the PCs themselves. They are not simply another pile of statistics and treasure waiting to be killed and looted. They are someone with plans and goals that intersect with the actions of the PCs. Sometimes they may be in a position to befriend the PCs, or simply meet them in a non-hostile context, before either really becomes aware of one another’s role in the ongoing story of the campaign. Making a memorable villain requires time and effort on the part of the GM, foreshadowing and articulating their villainy in a way that makes it memorable for the PCs as they start assembling the clues that lead back to the villain and uncovering their true nature. In any campaign, but especially a mythic campaign, what is worse than trying to build up a great villain encounter and having the players say, “Wait, who are you again?” when they meet for the big showdown.
Great Villains Need Great Names
Think about the classic tales of myth and legend, like the Twelve Labors of Heracles. Sure, he beat up a ton of monsters, but not just any monsters. He defeated the Stymphalian Birds and the flesh-eating Mares of Diomedes! He brought back the Girdle of Hippolyta and the Apples of the Hesperides! If your villain is going to be memorable at the game table, make them memorable and noteworthy in the game world. The villain should be someone the PCs have heard of, even if just in rumor or legend. Drop your villain’s name into general background information your PCs discover about the game world, or tavern tales or books they find. If they want to earn a mythic reputation for themselves, let them take down something that has a mythic reputation in the world! “Wow, you slew the Lizard-King Zakratha? Dinner is on the house!”
Even Bad Guys Have Friends
The action economy of a typical Pathfinder Roleplaying Game campaign with four (or more) heroes, often with sidekicks and pets and summoned creatures on their side, puts lone villains at a distinct disadvantage. Even if the villain is stronger as an individual than any of the heroes, one bad saving throw or status effect can knock the villain down for the count. If your villain is mythic and PCs are not, the mythic rules offer many resources to keep the villain standing through extra actions or avoiding (or recovering from) incapacitating effects. If PCs are mythic as well, however, the situation turns very much back in their favor against a lone villain. The villain path abilities described later in this product can help to remedy this situation.
Another solution, of course, is to avoid having a lone villain facing off against an entire party of heroes in the first place. Most villains will have minions, and mythic villains are no different. Their henchmen may be mythic themselves, be they loyal bodyguards, faithful (if ferocious) pets, cold-hearted assassins and spies, or even a ruthless (and perhaps treacherous) second-in-command. A villain’s allies need not be mere underlings, however. Besides whatever minions flock to their service, they may also be sought out by other villains of similar status to form a league of like-minded dastards working together. PCs might thus have to face the entire alliance of mythic villains at once, or even if one can be isolated and attacked alone the others might not be far behind with reinforcements. Of course, they may just as well turn on their erstwhile ally and try to eliminate them as well as the PCs that have been weakened by their encounter, taking up the mantle of leadership for the forces of evil. The occasional loyal ally might instead seek revenge for their fallen friend, either returning them to life or simply carrying on their foul legacy in their place.
Every Villain Needs a Plan
This is the key element of any villain. An opponent can have all the fame and power that he wants, like the monsters Heracles defeated in his Twelve Labors, but if they don’t have a plan then they’re just a famous monster. Overcoming that monster may be memorable, but it’s just an obstacle for the heroes to overcome.
Villains are different. Villains want to actually accomplish something. The villain in the Twelve Labors of Heracles isn’t any of the monsters. It’s really the goddess Hera, seeking revenge upon Heracles as the product of Zeus’ untamed lusts (not that it was Heracles’ fault, but that never stopped Hera), and her mortal proxy King Eurystheus. They’re the ones with the plan to bring Heracles down; the monsters are just their means to that end. Every villain needs a goal, a plan that will bring them success but at a cost too great for the heroes and the innocents they protect to bear. Some villains may be urbane and worldly masterminds and manipulators, while others are brutal rather than brilliant, their plans terrifying more for their grotesquerie than their genius.
In conceiving a villain, ask yourself a very simple question: What do they want? When you answer that question, make it something big. An everyday thug might rob a caravan, but a mythic villain wants to steal the crown jewels of the kingdom. A petty revolutionary might burn down a local temple; but a mythic villain wants to eradicate an entire faith. It doesn’t matter whether it’s realistic for the villain to believe they will reach their goal. All that matters is that they are willing to try like Hell to make it happen and that something, someone, or somewhere the PCs care about is in their way. For every villain, you just need to remember the four M’s: motivation, method, means, and milestones.
Motivation: Why does your villain have this goal? Just being evil is not a good enough reason. Neither is being crazy. Why is the villain crazy, or evil? What is the villain crazy about? How did they get that way? Some villains were born that way, others are products of their environment and upbringing. Some are heroes fallen from grace, others ascended from obscurity into iniquity? For a mythic villain, how they attained their mythic status is important for understanding their personality and how and why they do the things they do. A memorable villain is one that has a legitimate (or at least logical) reason for being a villain. Not every villain will be a well-intentioned extremist or someone with an idea that started out good until they took it way too far, beyond the moral event horizon, but it can be very satisfying to make your players stop and think that, no matter how awful the villain is, he might have kind of a point. You want villainy to feel intentional, purposeful, thoughtful, and premeditated, not just random mayhem.
Now that you have figured out what makes your bad guy a bad guy, you can define why this particular goal is important for them. How will it benefit them? How will it change the status quo in the campaign world? Is the goal to appease some greater villainous patron, achieve immortality, serve as some crucial element of an infernal ritual, bring ruin on their greatest rivals, or just bring them wealth or power beyond imagining? Anything goes; you just need to know why your villain wants what it wants.
Method: How will they do it? Every plan starts with a goal, but when it becomes real is when the villain decides how he’s actually going to accomplish that goal. This is where ideas get put into action and you figure out what the villain needs to actually do. Their methods don’t have to be apocalyptic in scale, but each element needs to add up to something with a scope that exceeds the ordinary. Smaller pieces like bribery, seduction, mind control, robbery, assassination, rumor-mongering, expeditions to long-lost ruins, assembling the missing pages of an ancient mystic formula or sundered artifact all add up to the blueprint for the villain to achieve their nefarious ends.
Means: What resources does the villain have? Your villain may be someone with political power as a ruler or noble, or military power as a general or head of the secret police. Others may have the wealth to buy cutthroats and ruffians to do their dirty work, or be mad scientists creating their own armies. Cult leaders may command fanatical loyalty, or the desperate and depraved may sign away their souls in pacts with fiends from beyond. If you don’t want your villain’s plans to become a railroad of deus ex machina, you should have at least some idea what kinds of resources - whether in money or minions - the villain can call upon to get the job done.
Milestones: What are the steps along the way to WORLD DOMINATION? This is the easiest part of your villain’s plan to overlook. How will you (and, more importantly, your players and their characters) know when the villain is making progress? If the final goal of the villain is too far away, your players may very well lose focus on it and forget about why they even started by the time they get to the end. In addition, a plan that focuses solely around whether or not the villain achieves its final goal forces you into a win/lose scenario. Either the PCs win and the adventure is over, or they lose and the adventure is over.
Milestones are simply minor goals along the way that help the villain towards achieving their goal, or that even if they fail help show the PCs that the villain is serious and that there is more going on than it first appeared. They get to see the villain’s plans unfolding progressively and organically, and they can deal with each separate strand individually or can try to tie them all together and attack the problem at its root. Even if they successfully stop one part of the plan, the presence of other aspects of it continuing in the background, or that they must deal with in rapid succession, increase the sense of a dynamic campaign world and also give a sense of in-world aftermath to the awful things the villain is doing along the way. Even if the villain is ultimately defeated, his plan has had an impact on the world, and what has happened so far provides a springboard for other villains to take his place, either following the old villain’s plan or building a new one, even more diabolical than before, upon the ruins of their predecessor.
The Mechanics of Villainy
While it’s important to design a great story around your villain, in a roleplaying game eventually your players are going to want to take their shot at taking that villain down.
When the dice start falling, your villain should be a climax, not a pushover. The hard part is that, especially at higher mythic tiers, a party of 4 or 5 PCs has so many actions and deals out so much damage that even a villain that looks really tough on paper can go down like a house of cards under an avalanche of swift actions, free actions, extra actions, and more. Your grand villain may be a pile of rubble before he gets his first turn in initiative. The problem here is twofold. The first is that mythic villains with character classes and mythic tiers are built like PCs, but in most cases with less gear. They are trying to beat the PCs at their own game with fewer resources. They have the same kinds of mythic powers, feats, and path abilities as the PCs, but a smaller pool of items and (more importantly) a far smaller pool of actions. There’s no way they can keep up with the PCs unless they are so overwhelmingly stronger that the PCs have no chance to affect them.
The second challenge is mythic monsters with mythic ranks rather than tiers. They get a slate of unique mythic abilities and mythic Universal Monster Rules, and they get mythic feats, bonus hit points, and ability score increases that are similar to what PCs get as part of their mythic path. However, they mostly lack the basic slate of mythic abilities that all PCs get on top of their mythic path; their basic mythic abilities like amazing initiative, mythic saving throws, immortality, and more. Even their pool of mythic power is far smaller than the pool available to the heroes.
The design concept here makes sense: PCs are presumed to have multiple encounters per day, not just one, and ultimately you want the heroes to survive and the monsters to be defeated.
However, neither of those statements are true for a villain. Your villain showdown is a singular encounter that is qualitatively different from other encounters that PCs plow through along the way to victory, and you often want your villain to survive to live another day. There will come a day for the PCs to vanquish their foe, but until then your villain should not be playing fair. A villain should have rules to follow, because you don’t want the whole thing to devolve into a game of GM fiat, but there’s no law saying that the villains and the PCs have to play by the same rules.
Adding Villainous Path Abilities
The following mythic abilities represent talents that any mythic villain could have. How you use these abilities is up to you. They can be substituted for existing mythic abilities, added on piecemeal or ad hoc as options, or using the rules below to provide a structured advancement system for adding the abilities that will help make your villain stand up to your mythic heroes.
Should I adjust the villain’s CR? No. Mythic tiers and ranks and class levels have interesting interactions, but none of them get away from the basic action economy of multiple heroes vs. lone or outnumbered villains. If anything, the additional actions and ability to supersede defensive abilities inherent in the mythic rules has the potential to make your heroes even more unstoppable. The point of the villainous path is to help even the playing field for your villains and to help them provide a suitable challenge for your PCs, so the CR and experience point awards for your villains should not change.
Do you have to choose the villain path instead of a normal path? No. The villain path is a virtual path, so to speak, and modifies the base rules for mythic tiers and mythic ranks. If your villain has mythic tiers, she should still have her normal mythic path such as archmage, champion, trickster, etc., and can still use the Dual Path feat to adopt a second path.
Are there other ways to add villainous path abilities? Yes. While the villain path is not a true path, it can still be treated as a path for the purpose of feats like Extra Path Ability and Mythic Paragon.
Villains with Mythic Tiers
When designing a villain with mythic tiers, the simplest method to incorporate the villainous path abilities is to modify the base mythic abilities table as follows:
Base Mythic Villain Abilities| Mythic Rank | Ability Bonus | Mythic Feat | Mythic Villainous Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | — | 1st | harder to kill, villainous power, villainous surge +1d6 |
| 2nd | 1st | — | villainous initiative |
| 3rd | — | 2nd | villainous recovery |
| 4th | 2nd | — | villain path ability, villainous surge +1d8 |
| 5th | — | 3rd | villainous saves |
| 6th | 3rd | — | triumph of the will |
| 7th | — | 4th | villain path ability, villainous surge +1d10 |
| 8th | 4th | — | never defeated |
| 9th | — | 5th | back from the grave |
| 10th | 5th | — | ultimate villain, villain path ability, villainous surge +1d12 |
Villains with Mythic Ranks
When designing a villain with mythic ranks, you could simply use the mythic villain path abilities listed below as new mythic powers, filling a creature’s normal slots for mythic special abilities. Alternatively, you can use the following table when designing a mythic creature to add these mythic villain path abilities as a separate set of special powers.
Mythic Villain Subtype Abilities| Mythic Rank | Ability Bonus | Mythic Feat | Surge Die | Villainous Ability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | — | 1st | 1d6 | villainous power, villainous surge ability |
| 2nd | 1st | — | 1d6 | villainous initiative |
| 3rd | — | 2nd | 1d6 | villain path ability |
| 4th | 2nd | — | 1d8 | villain path ability |
| 5th | — | 3rd | 1d8 | villain path ability |
| 6th | 3rd | — | 1d8 | villain path ability |
| 7th | — | 4th | 1d10 | villain path ability |
| 8th | 4th | — | 1d10 | villain path ability |
| 9th | — | 5th | 1d10 | villain path ability |
| 10th | 5th | — | 1d12 | ultimate villain |
Villainous Path Ability Categories
Some villainous path abilities slot very well into the normal format for mythic abilities that accrue in the course of gaining mythic paths or tiers, including replacing similar heroic mythic abilities with revised abilities tailored for the unique needs of the villains in your game. Others, however, give you the opportunity to tailor the specific mythic abilities you’d like your villains to have. Some are more suitable for martial villains and others more for magical villains, though most are equally suitable for either type.
The villainous path is mechanically speaking a virtual path, overlaying rather than replacing the villain’s normal mythic base and path abilities (if it has mythic tiers) or mythic subtype and mythic special abilities (if it has mythic ranks). However, in terms of power scaling for these abilities, you can use them similarly to mythic path abilities in terms of unlocking more powerful abilities as the creature reaches higher heights of mythic power.
1st-Tier or Rank Villainous Path Abilities
claim my soul, escape plan, flesh wound, harder to kill, incarnation of ancient evil, one step ahead, ritual return, subtle chains of bondage, undying hatred, unspeakable name, villain’s defiance, villainous initiative, villainous power, villainous reactions, villainous recovery, villainous surge, your children’s children
3rd-Tier or Rank Villainous Path Abilities
apparent demise, blood pact, bloody recovery, harrier of heroes, haunted hearse, impervious, nemesis, spirit of malice, villainous counter, villainous resilience, villainous saves
6th-Tier or Rank Villainous Path Abilities
back from the grave, bloodtheft, clone arranger, never defeated, triumph of the will
10th-Tier or Rank Villainous Path Abilities
ultimate villain
Villainous Path Ability Descriptions
The following abilities are presented in alphabetical order.
Apparent Demise (Su)
When the villain would be killed by any attack or effect, it may expend three uses of its mythic power to gain the effect of breath of life, with a caster level equal to the villain’s Hit Dice plus its mythic rank or tier. In addition to receiving this healing, the villain becomes invisible (as invisibility) while a persistent illusion is triggered to simulate the villain’s death. The illusion is a quasi-real shadow effect tailored to the situation of the villain’s apparent demise, so the villain’s remains and possessions feel solid and have apparent weight. Divinations used on the villain’s illusory remains reveal results as though cast on the actual villain’s body and objects, including magic item auras. The victim’s body and items dissolve into nothingness 24 hours after being created. Any creature closely examining them can attempt a Will save to disbelieve the illusion (DC 10 + 1/2 the villain’s Hit Dice + its mythic rank or tier + its Charisma modifier).
Format: apparent demise; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Back from the Grave (Su)
If the villain is killed, it returns to life 24 hours later, regardless of the condition of its body or the means by which it was killed. When the villain returns to life, it regains one-half of its hit points and its daily uses of mythic power but is not treated as if it had rested for the purpose of regaining spells or other abilities that recharge with rest until it has actually rested (including using the villainous recovery ability). This ability doesn’t apply if the villain is killed by a coup de grace or critical hit performed by either a mythic creature (or creature of even greater power) or a nonmythic creature wielding a weapon capable of bypassing epic damage reduction. This does not include a paladin’s smite evil ability. If the villain has 10 mythic ranks or tiers, it can be killed only by a coup de grace or critical hit made with an artifact.
Format: back from the grave; Location: Special Qualities.
Blood Pact (Su)
When the villain is killed, she arises 3 nights later as a vampire. If the villain had no mythic power remaining at the time of her death, she loses all mythic tiers and becomes an ordinary vampire. If she had mythic power remaining at the time of her death, she loses all mythic tiers and becomes a mythic vampire with a number of mythic ranks equal to the uses of mythic power she had remaining at the time of her death, up to a maximum equal to her mythic rank or tier in life. Alternatively, she may choose to retain her existing mythic tiers (up to a maximum equal to the number of uses of mythic power she had at the time of her death) and while becoming an ordinary vampire.
Format: blood pact; Location: Special Qualities.
Bloodtheft (Su)
When the villain confirms a critical hit against a mythic creature, it steals some of the target’s mythic power for its own, rolling 1d20 and adding its Hit Dice plus its mythic rank or tier against a DC equal to 15 plus the target’s Hit Dice and its mythic rank or tier. If this check fails to beat the DC, the target loses one daily use of its mythic power and the attacker gains nothing. If the check succeeds, the target loses a number of uses of mythic power equal to the weapon’s critical multiplier and these uses are temporarily added to the attacker’s daily uses of mythic power. A creature cannot have more temporary uses of mythic power than it has mythic ranks or tiers, and these temporary uses are lost at a rate of 1 per hour.
Format: bloodtheft; Location: Special Attacks.
Bloody Recovery (Ex)
When the villain is damaged by an effect that reduces it below one-half its normal hit points, or when an opponent confirms a critical hit against the villain, it gains fast healing equal to its mythic rank or tier for 1 minute. In addition, if it is affected by an ongoing effect that allows a saving throw, it can attempt a new saving throw to end the effect. If it is affected by an ongoing effect that does not allow a saving throw, it has a 50% chance to end that effect.
Format: bloodied recovery; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Claim My Soul (Sp)
The villain seals a pact with one or more evil outsiders to claim his soul upon his death. This requires a ritual taking 8 hours and functions as lesser planar ally, and the called outsider(s) take one-half the usual payment in exchange for this future service, reappearing 1d4 rounds after the villain’s death to claim his soul along with his body and any possessions. The villain can also stipulate that the outsiders claiming his soul must attempt to avenge his death; the amount of time they must spend hunting down the villain’s killers depends on the amount paid to them for their services, per the spell description, though the required payment is not increased because of the potential danger involved. If the villain is at least 3rd rank or tier, this functions instead as planar ally; if at least 6th, as greater planar ally; and if 10th, as gate, though in no case can the villain call an outsider whose Hit Dice exceed his own Hit Dice or level plus his mythic rank or tier.
Format: claim my soul; Location: Special Qualities.
Clone Arranger (Ex)
If the villain has a prepared clone, simulacrum, or similar duplicate body, including a corpse of himself that he has prepared with sculpt corpse to look like himself, he can store two uses of his mythic power within that duplicate. At any later time, the villain can expend one use of his mythic power as a standard action or two uses as a swift or immediate action to trigger a simultaneous greater teleport that allows him to exchange positions with the prepared duplicate. The villain is dazed for 1 round after using this ability, while the duplicate falls unconscious and is covered with a disguise self effect (even if it is a corpse duplicate) to look identical to the villain, including his equipment and any visible wounds or damage.
These uses of mythic power stored in the duplicate cannot be restored until the ability is triggered, though the villain can dismiss the effect as a full-round action while in physical contact with the duplicate. The stored uses of mythic power are lost but can be regained the next time the villain’s uses of mythic power are replenished.
Format: clone arranger; Location: Special Qualities.
Escape Plan (Ex)
When a villain uses the withdraw action, it can spend one use of its mythic power to take an additional move action at any point during the withdraw action. If the villain spends two uses of its mythic power, it can take a number of additional move actions equal to one-half its mythic rank or tier. It can use this move action to move as well as to open or close a door or perform any other move action desired. While using this ability, the villain can use move actions to drink potions. Until the beginning of its next turn, the villain gains the benefits of the Mobility and Wind Stance feats, and at the end of its movement it can make a Stealth check even if under direct observation.
Format: escape plan; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Flesh Wound (Ex)
Once per day, the villain can try to avoid serious harm from an attack by making a Fortitude save with a DC equal to the damage that would be dealt by the attack. If the attack is from a non-mythic creature or effect, the villain adds its mythic rank or tier as a bonus on this saving throw. If the save succeeds, the villain takes half damage from the attack and the damage is nonlethal. The villain must elect to use this ability after the attack roll is made, but before the damage is rolled. The villain can use this ability more than once per day by spending one use of its mythic power for each additional use.
Format: flesh wound; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Harder to Kill (Ex)
Whenever the villain is below 0 hit points, it automatically stabilizes without needing to attempt a Constitution check. If the villain has an ability that allows it to act while below 0 hit points, it still loses hit points for taking actions, as specified by that ability. Bleed damage still causes the villain to lose hit points when below 0 hit points. In addition, the villain does not die until its total number of negative hit points is equal to or greater than double the total of its Constitution score plus its mythic rank or tier.
Format: hard to kill; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Harrier of Heroes (Ex)
The villain gains a bonus on attack rolls equal to one-half its mythic rank or tier when it makes attacks of opportunity. In addition, whenever an opponent the villain threatens performs an action that normally provokes attacks of opportunity, such as spellcasting or using a combat maneuver, the villain can always make an attack of opportunity even if its opponent uses an ability or action that would normally avoid provoking that attack of opportunity, such as casting a spell defensively or as a swift action, making a combat maneuver with a feat such as Improved Trip, or grappling with the grab ability.
Format: harrier of heroes; Location: Special Attacks.
Haunted Hearse (Su)
The villain can spend one use of its mythic power as a full-round action to create a ghostly or ghastly conveyance that befits its true villainy. The ideal such vehicle is a crowflight carriage, as described in the Construct Codex and Gothic Campaign Compendium from Legendary Games, but for GMs lacking that resource, an animated object in the shape of almost any kind of vehicle suitable for bearing the villain can be substituted, though the total CR of the vehicle cannot exceed 3 plus the villain’s mythic rank or tier. Any construct created with this ability gains the frightful presence special ability, with a save DC of 15 plus the villain’s mythic tier and extending to a radius equal to 10 feet times the villain’s mythic tier or rank.
Format: haunted hearse; Location: Special Attacks.
Hopeless Heroes (Su)
The villain’s presence is so potent and strong that heroes feel like everything is a struggle to defeat their nemesis, in spite of their best efforts.
Whenever one of the villain’s opponents spends mythic power to use an ability that directly affects the villain (including attacks and area effects) or directly counters or negates the villain’s action (such as with a mythic ability to block or evade attacks, counterspelling a spell, or rerolling a saving throw against an effect created by the villain), that opponent is affected as crushing despair for a number of rounds equal to the villain’s mythic rank or tier unless the hero spends an additional use of mythic power.
If an opponent triggers this effect again while the original crushing despair effect exists, the duration stacks and the penalties on attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls increase by 1. This ability affects only creatures whose mythic rank or tier is equal to or lower than that of the villain.
Format: hopeless heroes; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Impervious (Ex)
If the villain is affected by a non-mythic attack or effect that would normally ignore any resistance or immunity it possesses, it retains its resistance or immunity. This applies to unusual effects that ignore damage reduction, such as a paladin’s smite evil ability, though weapons that normally bypass damage reduction (such as bludgeoning weapons against the DR 5/bludgeoning of a skeleton) still do so normally. If the attack or effect is a mythic effect, the villain can spend one use of its mythic power to retain that resistance or immunity for a number of rounds equal to its rank or tier. This ability does not require an action.
Format: impervious; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Incarnation of Ancient Evil (Ex)
The villain carries within it the essence of ancient malice, a shard of some sinister soul long past that is now arisen again in an unsuspecting host. The villain bears an uncanny resemblance to that past villain and may in fact be that being reborn in the flesh. The villain continues to age normally but never takes penalties for aging, as if using greater age resistance, and cannot die of old age. In addition, the villain’s insights into the past and present allow him to use legend lore as a spell-like ability by expending one use of mythic power. If the villain is at least 3rd tier, it can instead use vision as a spell-like ability by expending two uses of mythic power. The villain always gains a bonus on Knowledge (history) checks equal to its mythic tier.
The villain can expend one use of its mythic power as a swift or immediate action to exchange a feat, language, or spell it knows for a different feat, language, or spell, representing some past piece of knowledge seeping through from the consciousness of its predecessor. It must meet the prerequisites for this ability, and the ability it exchanges cannot be a prerequisite for any other ability.
Format: incarnation of ancient evil; Location: Special Qualities.
Nemesis (Ex)
Whenever an opponent threatened by the villain expends a use of mythic power as part of a swift or immediate action, it provokes an attack of opportunity from the villain. If the villain has no remaining attacks of opportunity, it can expend one use of its mythic power to make one.
In addition, whenever an opponent expends a use of its mythic power as part of an action that targets the villain, includes the villain in the area of effect of a harmful effect, or otherwise directly affects the villain (GM’s discretion), the villain gains an additional temporary use of its mythic power. It must expend this use of mythic power before the end of its next turn or the additional mythic power is lost.
Format: nemesis; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Never Defeated (Ex)
The villain can expend one use of its mythic power as a free action to immediately end any one of the following conditions currently affecting it: bleed, blind, confused, cowering, dazed, dazzled, deafened, entangled, exhausted, fascinated, fatigued, frightened, nauseated, panicked, paralyzed, shaken, sickened, staggered, or stunned. If the villain is in combat and facing more mythic opponents than she has mythic allies, she can instead spend two uses of her mythic power to remove a number of effects equal to the number by which her mythic opponents outnumber her mythic allies. The villain decides which effect(s) to remove; other conditions remain, even if they came from the same spell or effect that caused the selected condition(s). The villain can use this ability at the beginning of its turn even if it would normally be incapable of taking actions.
Format: never defeated; Location: Defensive Abilities.
One Step Ahead (Su)
Whenever the villain is targeted with a spell or effect (including being included in the area of a harmful area effect) that can be directly and specifically countered or defended by an ability the villain possesses and has ready for use, such as a prepared spell (or spell slot for a spontaneous caster), the villain can expend one use of its mythic power to use that ability as an immediate action upon himself before resolving the original effect. The effect must target the villain, not other creatures or an area.
This ability can only be used during combat, but it may be used while the villain is unaware of his attacker or is flat-footed. If the villain is affected by a condition that prevents him from taking actions, such as being dazed, stunned, or unconscious, the villain can still use this ability by expending an additional use of its mythic power. The villain can also use this ability to use a potion, scroll, or other magical item with a suitable effect by expending an additional use of its mythic power.
Examples of spells that could be cast using this ability include: resist elements or protection from elements spell when targeted by an effect dealing that type of damage; shield spell when targeted by magic missile; protection from good against a charm, compulsion, or dominate effect; stoneskin against a weapon or natural weapon attack; death ward against an energy drain attack or death effect; freedom of movement when grappled or held; water breathing when forcibly submerged underwater; mind blank or nondetection against a divination; or see invisibility, true seeing, or invisibility purge when attacked by an invisible creature.
Spells or effects that are generally useful as defensive abilities but not specific to the attack being used, such as mirror image, invisibility, or displacement, and multi-function effects that are only partly related to the attack being used, such as using elemental form I or fire shield to gain resistance to fire, are not suitable for use with this ability.
Format: one step ahead; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Ritual Return (Ex)
Even if the villain is killed, it can commune with the living and be returned to life by performing a mystic ritual. This requires a mystic séance requiring one hour and a successful Knowledge (religion) check with a DC equal to 20 plus the villain’s mythic rank or tier. If the ritual is performed in the presence of the villain’s remains, the villain can answer questions from one creature per day as if that creature had cast speak with dead (using its own Hit Dice as the caster level). If the villain’s body is not present, it can instead answer questions as if that creature had cast contact other plane, treating the villain as if it were a creature from the Astral Plane. The villain can subtract its mythic rank or tier from the percentile roll the creature uses to determine whether an answer to its question is obtained. The villain is not obliged to lie or give random answers, but any result other than “true answer” means that the creature communing with it has misunderstood its reply or that its answer has been garbled due to psychic interference across the planes.
In addition to allowing the villain to communicate with the living, it can be revived from death in a manner similar to raise dead, resurrection, or true resurrection. This first requires a mystic séance, as described above. At its conclusion, the creatures wishing to revive the villain must provide the material components for the spell, and for each 1,000 gp of the material component cost there must also be a blood sacrifice by any creature, which must be willing or helpless, of 2 points of Constitution drain. A creature taking this Constitution drain may substitute accepting a permanent negative level in place of 1,000 gp of the material component cost of the spell. If the creature that damaged the villain during the combat in which it died is present and willing or helpless, its sacrifice of Constitution or a negative level counts double for this purpose, or triple if the creature dealt the killing blow to the villain.
An item that dealt damage to the villain in combat while it was alive can be substituted in place of an equal gold piece value of the diamonds usually required as the material component of the spell. If the item dealt the killing blow to the villain, its value is doubled for the purpose of this ritual. Using the item as the material component for this ritual destroys the item unless it is an artifact, legendary item, or mythic item.
Format: ritual return; Location: Special Qualities.
Subtle Chains of Bondage (Ex)
You bind a nonmythic helpless creature’s mind and heart to you, breaking its will, bending its mind, and reshaping its thought to be your willing, obedient minion. This mental conditioning requires multiple successful Intimidate checks. Each check requires 8 hours of interaction with the creature (reduced to 1 hour if you expend one use of your mythic power), which can range from conversation to whispering in its ear as it sleeps to outright torture. Only bonuses that apply for the entire 8 hours (or 1 hour) apply to the check. A creature imprisoned with no reasonable hope of escape is considered helpless for the purpose of this ability.
You must succeed on a number of successful Intimidate checks equal to the target’s Hit Dice plus its Wisdom modifier. If it has a permanent bonus on saving throws against fear, add a number equal to this bonus to the number of successful checks required. Each time you fail an Intimidate check, you add two to the number of checks required to break the target’s will. If you ever fail three consecutive checks, the number of successful checks reverts to zero and you must begin again.
Once you successfully complete the required number of Intimidate checks, the creature swears to you a Vow of Obedience (see below; monk vows are described in Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Magic). As long as your minion can see and hear you, as a standard action you can cause it to become exhausted, nauseated, panicked, or paralyzed for 1 minute times your mythic tier. A successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your level + your rank or tier + your Charisma modifier) negates this effect. You can do this as often as you wish, but if you do it more than once per day the save DC decreases by 2 each time after the first. If your minion is wearing some object bearing your symbol, you may expend one use of your mythic power when tormenting him in this way, forcing him to roll his saving throw twice and take the worse result.
Breaking this vow causes your minion to break down mentally, falling unconscious for a number of minutes equal to your tier after taking the offending action. When your minion awakens, it is shaken for a number of hours equal to your mythic rank or tier but it can attempt a saving throw (as above) to break free of its vow. You may command any number of minions in this way, so long as their total HD do not exceed twice your level plus twice your rank or tier.
This is a mind-affecting effect but is not magical and cannot be dispelled, though it can be removed by greater restoration, limited wish, miracle, wish, or repeated use of modify memory (a number of castings equal to the number of successful Intimidate checks made when breaking the target’s will). The mental compulsion can be detected with a successful Sense Motive check against a DC of 25 plus the mythic tier of the creature’s master.
Format: subtle chains of bondage; Location: Special Qualities.
Vow of Obedience
Restriction: Choose a character to be your master. Your master is typically an NPC, but at the GM’s discretion it may be another PC. You are forever considered to have a Vow of Truth in regards to this master; if you possess a Vow of Silence, you may speak freely with your master, and your master only. You automatically fail saving throws against any mind-affecting effect used by your master and you must obey any command addressed to you by your master, immediately and to the best of your ability. This obedience includes violating other vows, performing alignment violations, or the execution of such suicidal actions as willing starvation, dehydration, or voluntarily failing a Fortitude save — usually after performing a coup de grace upon yourself at your master’s command. You may never attack your master, nor command or suggest that others attack your master (including creatures you have called or summoned), even if you or your master is under the effects of a charm or compulsion effect, unless the effect is a mythic effect and its creator has a higher mythic tier than your master. You are always considered flat-footed against your master.
Benefit: A character with this vow increases his ki pool by 1 ki point for every 5 Hit Dice you possess (minimum 1). In addition, whenever you are affected by a charm or compulsion effect used by a creature other than your master while you have line of sight to your master, once per round you can spend 1 point from your ki pool at the beginning of your turn to suppress the effect. This does not require an action. If you do not have a ki pool, you can do this for one round per day for every 5 Hit Dice you possess (minimum 1). Even when the effect is not suppressed, if you are given a command that directly contradicts your master’s orders, you become dazed until the end of your turn.
Vow of Truth
Restriction: A character with this vow is not allowed to deliberately speak any lies, including bluffing, stating half-truths with the intent to deceive, exaggerating, telling white lies, and so on. This applies to all forms of communication. If presented with circumstances where telling the truth would bring harm to another, the monk remains silent. Many monks of this vow also take a vow of silence to show their commitment.
Benefit: A monk with this vow increases his ki pool by 1 ki point for every 5 monk levels (minimum +1). You gain no benefit if you do not have a ki pool.
Spirit of Malice (Su)
When the villain is killed, she arises 2d4 days later as a ghost bound to the site of her death. If the villain has at least two uses of mythic power at the time of her death, she can instead arise as a ghost bound to a specific object of personal significance. She can manifest anywhere within 100 feet of that object, can hide incorporeally within the object regardless of its size, and can use her malevolence ability to possess a creature carrying the object, even if it is stored in an extradimensional space or if the creature is using a non-mythic effect that normally blocks possession or direct mental control, such as protection from evil or an antimagic field.
Format: spirit of malice; Location: Special Qualities.
Triumph of the Will (Ex)
A villain can exert its will to force events to unfold according to its grand design by expending one use of mythic power to reroll a die roll it has just made or to force a non-mythic creature to reroll a die roll it just made. The result of the second roll must be accepted even if worse. If the villain is in combat and faces more mythic opponents than he has mythic allies, he can use this ability as a free action rather than an immediate action, and he can apply the difference as a bonus to his own reroll or as a penalty to the reroll of an opponent. He can also attempt to use this ability against a mythic opponent whose mythic rank or tier is lower than his own by rolling 1d20 and adding its Hit Dice plus its mythic rank or tier, plus the number by which the villain’s mythic opponents outnumber his mythic allies, against a DC equal to 15 plus the opponent’s Hit Dice and its mythic rank or tier. The villain can use this ability after the results are revealed.
Format: triumph of the will; Location: Special Qualities.
Ultimate Villain (Su)
A villain must have 10 mythic ranks or tiers to select this ability. The villain regains uses of mythic power at a rate of one use per hour, in addition to completely refreshing its uses each day. In addition, whenever the villain expends uses of its mythic power it can make an Intimidate check to demoralize an opponent within line of sight as a free action, with a +10 bonus if the opponent is not a mythic creature. If the Intimidate check exceeds the DC by at least 10, the severity of the fear caused is increased as follows: DC +10, frightened; DC +20, panicked; DC +30, cowering.
The villain can overcome immunity to fear in non-mythic creatures by exceeding the DC by 10 and in mythic creatures by exceeding the DC by 20. This increase stacks with the above-listed increases for each category of fear.
Format: ultimate villain; Location: Special Qualities.
Undying Hatred (Su)
When the villain is killed, it arises 1d4 rounds later as a corporeal undead creature, as if create undead had been cast upon the corpse. If the villain had at least one use of its mythic power remaining, it may choose to return as an incorporeal undead creature instead, as if create greater undead had been cast upon the corpse. The villain forfeits any class abilities or mythic abilities when it arises as an undead, though it retains fragments of its memories in life. The villain must be humanoid to select this path ability.
If the villain is at least 3rd tier, it may choose instead to arise 24 hours later as a revenant (see Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2). The villain may retain its mythic ranks or tiers and any ability score increases, hit points, mythic abilities (including villain path abilities), or mythic feat slots that go along with them by expending one use of its mythic power per rank or tier it wishes to retain. The villain must reassign any mythic feat slots to feats possessed by a revenant or to purely mythic feats whose prerequisites it meets as a revenant. The revenant forfeits all of its former class and race abilities.
If the villain is at least 3rd tier and you are using the Advanced Bestiary from Green Ronin Publishing, the villain may arise as an undead creature with a dread undead template instead of as a revenant by expending two uses of its mythic power times the CR modifier of the template the villain adopts. Adopting a dread undead template allows the villain to retain its class and race abilities.
Format: undying hatred; Location: Special Qualities.
Unspeakable Name (Su/Sp)
Like demon lords and the witch-kings of legend, you know when others dare to speak of you or your fell deeds. You hear your name and title whenever it is spoken, regardless of distance, and you can expend one use of your mythic power to use scrying as a spell-like ability targeting the creature speaking your name. If your scrying is successful, you can expend an additional use of mythic power to deliver a message to the target as sending.
If you have at least 3 mythic ranks or tiers, this ability functions across planar boundaries. Spending one use of mythic power allows you to use greater scrying on the speaker. If you succeed in scrying on the target, you can spend one additional use of mythic power to use project image as a spell-like ability. The image appears at the location of the scrying sensor, which is considered the point of origin of the spell. If you scrying sensor is dispelled, so is the project image.
If you have at least 6 mythic ranks or tiers, if you successfully scry on a creature you can also read its mind as detect thoughts, and you can spend one additional use of your mythic power to discern location on the speaker. If a creature says your name three times in a single breath, you learn that creature’s true name and can expend two uses of your mythic power to possess the target if it fails a Will save (DC 10 + one-half your level + your mythic rank or tier + your Charisma modifier). The target gains a +2 circumstance bonus for each step its alignment is away from yours (these bonuses stack). If the creature successfully saves, it is immune to possession attempts made by you for a year and a day. A failed save establishes a mental connection between you and the target, as dominate monster, but you may also read the target’s thoughts as detect thoughts or use its senses as share sensesAPG at any time simply by concentrating. If the target is within a non-mythic effect that blocks compulsions or possession, you can bypass that effect for 1 hour by expending one use of your mythic power.
As a swift action, you shift your consciousness into or out of the target as magic jar. If you prepare spells, while you are possessing the target you may grant one or more prepared arcane or divine spells to the possessed creature, as if you were a cleric using imbue with spell ability.
Your possession lasts for 24 hours, though you may expend one use of your mythic power each day to renew it. You can possess only one creature at a time. If a creature dispels or blocks your possession with break enchantment, dispel evil, protection from evil, or a similar effect, the caster must succeed on a caster level check (DC 10 plus your level plus your rank or tier); if this check fails, you can expend one use of your mythic tier as a free action to attempt to possess the caster as if she had spoken your name three times. Casting an area spell that blocks possession does not carry this risk unless the caster touches the possessed creature.
Format: unspeakable name; Location: Special Qualities.
Villain’s Defiance (Ex)
The villain gains Heroic Defiance as a bonus feat, and in addition can extend the duration of this effect by expending one use of its mythic power at the end of its turn, delaying the onset of the harmful condition or affliction until the end of its next turn. It can continue extending this effect as long as it continues to expend uses of its mythic power. The villain can also activate this ability more than once per day by expending one use of its mythic power with each additional use. It can use this ability to delay the effect of multiple conditions or afflictions simultaneously, though it must expend mythic power separately for each.
Format: villain’s defiance; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Villainous Counter (Ex)
When an opponent of the villain expends mythic power, as an immediate action the villain can expend an equal number of uses of mythic power to negate the opponent’s mythic ability. If the villain has already used its immediate action for the round, it can still use this ability but must spend an additional use of its mythic power. If the opponent was attempting to use a power with limited uses per day, the negated use does not count against that number. The villain must be aware of the opponent, and the opponent’s mythic rank or tier must be lower than the villain’s or this ability has no effect.
Format: villainous counter; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Villainous Initiative (Ex)
The villain gains a bonus on initiative checks equal to its mythic rank or tier and on its turn can spend one use of its mythic power as a free action in order to take an additional standard action. This additional standard action can’t be used to cast a spell. If the villain has the dual initiative special quality, it can use this ability during each of its turns.
Format: villainous initiative; Location: Initiative.
Villainous Power (Ex)
A villain gains a number of uses of mythic power equal to double its mythic rank or tier. The villain also gains additional temporary uses of mythic power at the beginning of any combat encounter equal to twice the number of mythic opponents it faces in the combat. These additional uses of mythic power must be used during the combat encounter or within 1 minute after the encounter ends or they are lost.
A mythic villain can also expend uses of its mythic power to gain temporary hit points. For each use of mythic power it expends, it gains temporary hit points equal to its mythic rank or tier times the number of mythic opponents it faces. These hit points stack with themselves and with other sources of temporary hit points, and they last until expended or until 1 minute after the encounter ends.
Format: villainous power; Location: Special Attacks.
Villainous Reactions (Ex)
The villain can take a number of swift or immediate actions each round equal to 1 plus one-half its mythic rank or tier. If an opponent provokes an attack of opportunity from the villain, the villain can choose to take an attack of opportunity in place of one of these swift or immediate actions.
Format: villainous reactions; Location: Special Qualities.
Villainous Recovery (Ex)
The villain gains Heroic Recovery as a bonus feat, and it can use this feat more than once per day by expending one use of its mythic power with each additional use. If the villain rests for 1 hour, it can expend one use of its mythic power to regain a number of hit points equal to one-half its full hit points and regain the use of any non-mythic special abilities that have a limited number of uses per day. This is treated as 8 hours of rest. If the villain rests for 8 hours, it can expend two uses of its mythic power to restore itself to full hit points.
Format: villainous defiance; Location: Defensive Abilities
Villainous Resilience (Ex)
Whenever the villain is affected by an effect or condition that causes ability damage, ability drain, temporary negative levels, or temporary or permanent penalties to ability scores, it reduces the effect by an amount equal to one-half its mythic rank or tier. In addition, as a full-round action it can expend one use of its mythic power to remove a permanent negative level or a number of points of ability damage or drain equal to one-half its mythic rank or tier.
Format: villainous resilience; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Villainous Saves (Ex)
Whenever a villain succeeds at a saving throw against a non-mythic spell or effect, the villain is completely unaffected by it even if that spell or effect normally has a partial effect on a successful save. A villain can expend one use of its mythic power to use this ability against a mythic effect, as long as the level of the mythic spell (or the mythic rank or tier of the creature that created the effect, if not a spell or spell-like ability) is lower than the villain’s mythic rank or tier.
Format: villainous saves; Location: after saving throws.
Villainous Surge (Su)
Whenever a villain calls upon its mythic power to add its surge die to add to a die roll it has made, it modifies the result by adding the number of mythic opponents it faces and subtracting the number of mythic allies it has in the encounter, with a minimum bonus to the roll of +1. In addition, as long as the number of mythic opponents exceeds the number of mythic allies, it can use this ability as a free action rather than an immediate action.
Format: villainous surge; Location: Special Attacks
Your Children’s Children (Su)
When the villain is killed, it may revive itself from death in a manner depending on how many uses of mythic power it had available to spend at the time of its death. Using this ability does not take an action, and the revival happens 1d10 x 10 years after the villain’s death.| MP Spent | Revival Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | reincarnate |
| 2 | raise dead |
| 4 | resurrection |
| 8 | true resurrection |
| +1 | reduce time before revival by 10 years per use of mythic power expended |
Any creature that harmed the villain during the combat in which it was killed must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 plus 1/2 the villain’s Hit Dice + its mythic rank or tier + its Charisma modifier); the creature that dealt the killing blow takes a −4 penalty on this saving throw. Those that fail their saves acquire a hereditary curse, passed down to each successive generation in their family, taking a −4 penalty on saving throws against curses, divinations, fear effects, and mind-affecting effects used by the villain. In addition, the villain can spend one use of its mythic power as a full-round action to use locate creature as a spell-like ability that detects any creature afflicted with this generational curse. The DC to remove this curse is equal to 11 plus the villain’s Hit Dice plus its mythic tier; the DC is increased by 4 for the creature that dealt the killing blow and her descendants.
Format: your children’s children; Location: Special Qualities.