Use Villainous Heralds in D&D

Mike talks about the value of heralds who announce villains far and wide. Click "Show More" for details and links.

How to Create Pay-Per-View Worthy Adventures or "How to Stop Worrying and Start DMing Like Vince McMahon"

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[NoFunAllowed]

"My master bid thee welcome" is a go to line for those really villanous heralds for me haha

[jonathangarrison]

I can't help but think of the Mouth of Sauron. Great advice, as ever!

[GlenHallstrom]

"...they were forced to eat Sir Robin's heralds. And there was much rejoicing."

[TonyCrenshawsLatte]

Oh man, just hearing about Thumper's antics had me in tears. 😂😂😂 For the party that actually had to deal with the heraldic bunny rabbit, Thumper must have turned the "love to hate" dial all the way to 11.

[dallinpoulson]

Just finished your Return of the Lazy DM audio book. I’ll definitely listen over and over, it was great!

[SpeakingJargon]

Ooh, I'm running Curse of Strahd and I think Rahadin would be a good fit for this role. I think this fits Strahd's aloof, haughty persona better than him simply showing up and announcing himself.

[joelfabes]

Great advice! I love adding ways to communicate things about the world and about its secrets that have more character than "you ask your friendly NPC and they deliver 1 serving of lore."

[herryoung]

I’m definitely going to use this! And my players are going to be so mad! Thanks for the tip!

[richmcgee]

FWIW, Alternative Armies just released a 28mm scale miniature of a "Canadian Paladin on Winged Moose" so there's a fine start for White Moose conversion. The catalog photo of the silly thing even has white fur. It's like they listened to this very video for inspiration. :)

A winged moose would be most accurately referred to as a Pegamoose, of course. :) Still nowhere near as a the Pamola, though - imagine Zeus or Thor with a moose head and the wings and feet of an eagle.

[DalePoole]

Hey, I like this idea. Nothing like being able to rub the characters face in the villain's business without giving them an immediate, direct way to retaliate.

[razorboy]

What a great idea and thank you to linking to the reddit threat - it was wonderful!

[clemfandango]

I did this with Rahadin in Curse of Strahd

[freyahaz]

I'm so glad I bought return of the lazy dungeon master it's absolutely amazing. Hats off to you man for all the good work you're doing!

[MrB_Chamberlain]

Thumper sounds more creepy than his boss, to be honest.

[SonOfSofaman]

Oh this is going to be fun! The possibilities ...

[Khaldryn]

Hear me and rejoice. You have had the privilege of being saved by the great Thanos. You may think this is suffering, no. It is salvation. The universal scale tips toward balance because of your sacrifice. Smile. For even in death, you have become children of Thanos.

[blzbubb]

Do you feel it's possible to overdo the herald? For instance, in Rime of the Frostmaiden employing several of the NPC's as heralds for Auril to help bolster her threat level to the characters. As a rule of thumb, how many heralds would be appropriate for a module length campagin?

[HellGrimo]

That was pretty funny idea, good job!

[andrewburgess]

Oh that is so much more fun that a braggart villian. Foreshadowing and clues rolled into one "oops shouldn't have said that..." NPC Or attach a bard hypeman to rival adventuring party.

[Frederic_S]

A GMed a module once that had the herald of the BBEG in it, a chester. He confronted the hero’s with an ultimatum, he insulted the characters and try’s to intimate them. But worst of all he was talking to a dead goose all the time … the holy animal of the paladins goddess …