Dungeon Master: Describing In-Game Items

Typically, descriptions of items, weapons and armor are kept short. In this way, D&D 5^th edition is no exception (the lists themselves are quite short for this edition). This, however, can be a good thing as it allows a wide variety of different descriptions for armor that has the same AC. I will cover a few different methods of describing such items ranging from strict to very loose. For discussion purposes, I will just go over both (I have used them both in the past, depending on the type of game at play). As usual, it should also apply to tabletop role-playing games other than D&D, but D&D will be the only one I explicitly mention. To display my points, I will focus on armor (since armors have stats) but they can be applied to any other kind of item.

Descriptions As They Are

I have to be honest, I typically am not really a fan of the different armors as traditionally described in game. The gold costs and AC values tend to be fine, but the actual armor appearance and name can sometimes turn into an argument (I say this as someone who has spent too much time listening to why studded leather armor is historically dumb). For this reason, I am generally in favour of describing the armors however is needed for the game being played.

Strict Approach

If the descriptions are extremely strict, the variations in the descriptions will be extremely tiny. Plate armor is plate armor, and that is all. For in world consistency, this system means the players can easily identify a rough AC for NPC's simply from their description. However, it also can make it difficult for some character concepts. If you have a fighter who is meant to look like a Templar wearing chain mail, but for combat reasons wants to wear plate, it can create a situation where the role-playing and character appearance directly conflict with the best choice for combat. For some weapons not directly covered in the rules, it can be difficult to find the closest analog for them.

Pros

• The world is internally consistent. Plate is always better than chain mail, meaning players can identify better equipped troops.
• There is no “inferior” quality chain mail.

Cons

• Players are restricted in how they can describe their character based on the armor they bought.

Very Loose Approach

The basis of this approach is that if you pay the required gold amount in the table, you can describe the armor however you want. There can be added restrictions, such as heavy armor must be made from mainly metal, but they are not required. The advantage of this kind of method is that players can look however they want and still be as effective as someone who used by the book descriptions. However, as a result, it can make it difficult to identify the AC of an NPC. It also places magic items into a weird position, since a +2 set of chain mail is now the same as a set that was bought using the price of plate (making it not as rare).

Pros

• Players are free to describe their appearance however they wish. The protection is always determined by how much they paid.
• Not every set of mundane chain mail will be of the same quality now, possibly adding to the immersion (minimum stat levels may be required).

Cons

• Internal consistency of the world is sacrificed, as it is now possible to have chain mail as good as plate armor.
• Differences in quality of the same armor type would need to be described to players instead of just the armor type (this means the description will be longer, taking up more time for play). These descriptions can be held back until the players ask for them, in order to save time.

Identically Stated Armor

If your player has a particular type of armor they want to use that is not in the list by default (maybe metal lamellar over chain mail), regardless of the approach, an analog will need to be found in the list. As a result, it isn't really making a new type of armor as re-skinning an old one.

Conclusion

I hope the above discussion at least got people thinking about these differences. Like everything in a tabletop role-playing game, the best choice will depend on the group. In general, I haven't seen the loose approach used very often, but I have had many games I enjoyed with it and wanted to mention it.  

Dungeon Master: Large Scale Battles

Somehow, in some way, large scale battles have a way of sneaking themselves into campaigns. Maybe the battle is just a backdrop for the events the party takes part in. Maybe winning the battle is actually the main goal of the adventure. Regardless, one way or another, they have a way of arising in my games. I hope to devote a little bit of time to talk about the different ways that they do and my humble opinion on how to handle them. As usual, this will have a slight focus to D&D, but it can apply to any tabletop role-playing game system.

Battles as Backdrops

I've already mentioned this in my introduction, but battles make good backdrops. In such a case, the party themselves probably won't be able to have much influence over the battle directly. They won't be commanding. They won't be managing. At best, maybe they will be merely trying to access a dungeon while by pure chance, a battle is occurring close by. Obviously, in this case, there won't be any large scale battle rules in this case, though special tables to decide if a scout is close by may be needed. The important part is that the players don't have much influence over the battle at all. The flow of events that make up the battle are fixed, but the players have their own little story that is running at the same time.

Players as Key Players

It is also possible that the players will be taking part in the battle as soldiers who will have an influence on the battle. They could be part of an attempt on a generals life. The players' influence won't be at the level of a commander, but their actions will affect the course of events. If they manage to hold when everyone else on their line routes, they may find themselves surrounded. The key here is that the characters have influence over the course of events in the battle (which means that multiple different courses of events are possible and have to be written in advance), but their influence isn't at the level of a commander. If the battle was a backdrop, the battle would always unfold the same way. Here, the players influence how the skirmish goes and perhaps even influence what objectives are accomplished, which may play a role down the line. They, however, have no influence over how the fighting goes for the flanking force, for example.

In such a case, there are no extra rules being applied to the game (the effect that the players' actions will have on the larger battle will need to be considered, however). The players will be fighting as normal (maybe with some low level soldiers to help buff out their ranks, allowing you to put more enemy soldiers) and talking to commanding NPC's as normal (trying to convince them against something foolish, or to let them go about their business if captured if they have no alignment with the other side, etc.).

Players as Commanders

This is when the players have full reign over the events of the battle. This is where tons of new rules are needed to decide the flow of battle, since the players decide on the strategies.

Pre-made Combat Rules

You have a favourite system for large scale battles? Great, that was easy. Just use it the same way. I do this quite often myself. This will most likely come from a tabletop war game or from an older version of D&D, if you are playing D&D. This is also probably the easiest way to find a good, deep system that will keep players' attention (it is possible to make a brand new system but more effort is required).

Making Your Own System

For me, there are a few things I like to look for in a large scale battle system. Having the player characters having noticeable affects such as bonuses is usually a big plus (though if players are used to war gaming, this may not be needed). There also needs to be a way to determine how many forces from the other side get wounded and or killed. I will provide an extremely simple system below to use as a starting point.

Simple Large Scale Battle System

1. Decide on prices for troops (good basis for D&D 5^th edition would be the skilled and unskilled labourers).
2. Decide on a dice for each type of troops (d4 to d20). Decide on movement speed to be used on a map (could be squares, grids, hex, inches, centimetres, etc.). Decide on a type of round system (the usual D&D system with movement and attack as a turn or is it a two part turn system. The first turn is moving the troops and the second is when both sides attack at the same time). This should be done as part of the adventure setup. Note: Not all dice may be used. 
3. Based on tactical advantages, a troop can move up a dice type. Multiple advantages stack until the dice reaches a d20. Alternatively, used advantage like D&D 5^th edition and just roll twice (in this case, no stacking).
4. For every bunch of 20 of the same troop, roll their troop dice. This determines how many of the enemy group that was in contact was wounded and or killed. If a group is less than 15 but more than 10, divide the roll by 2 (rounding down). If less than 10 and more than 5, divide by 3 (rounding down). If less than 5, divide by 4 (rounding down). For bigger battles, assign multipliers as needed to speed up play or use electronic tools. In the table below, I also give alternate multipliers.
   

   Number of Troops	Multiplier to Dice
   More than 15	1
   Less than 15 but more than 10	1/2 (3/4)
   Less than 10 but more than 5	1/3 (1/2)
   Less than 5 but more than 0	1/4

5. Resolve the wounded for both attacker and defender at once. This means both sides roll at the same time and then casualties are counted. If using the D&D style turn, movement after an attack is stopped until your next turn (this takes away some of the advantage of having the first turn). 
6. Go until a side dies, retreats or a condition is met. If the defender retreats, the attacker gains the location. If the attacker retreats, the defender keeps the location. 

Problem: Above rules mean at least one person will always be wounded or killed. If a one is rolled, roll a dice and if it's in the bottom half, no one was hurt and if it's in the top half, one person was hurt.

Problem 2: Above rules don't distinguish between wounded or dead. To fix this, round the number wounded or killed down to the nearest dice (d4 minimum). Roll the dice (if it is more than rolled previously, just use the same number as originally rolled). That is how many were killed. Alternatively, pairs of dice up to d10's can be used (one for wounding, one for killing).

Note: Technically, the above can be run as a free form system where both sides can act at the same time. In this case, the one reacting gets to decide actions unless they relinquish their right or the other side reacts in response. When all movement and attacks are used up or both sides have no actions left they wish to use but still wish to continue the fight, a new turn begins. The Dungeon Master can decide that the attacker failed at any time (to prevent simply standing in the same place), leaving all troops in the same position. 

Morale Rules

As part of determining events of a backdrop battle, or retreating of an enemy skirmish group when players are soldiers, or routing of entire sections of army, morale rules can be used. If you already have a favourite system for large scale battles but it lacks a morale system, great, you can use this one.

The rules I would use in such a situation would probably be the exact same as my other morale article, but instead a much larger group will end up routing. As the Dungeon Master, it will need to be decided if the entire group routes or only a portion. For portions, a d100 with modifiers can easily give us the percent routed after a success. If it is higher than a certain level, the entire group will route. To determine success or failure, look at the morale article.

Conclusion

I hope the above discussion and notes at least got the creative juices flowing. In general, having to have players command a battle does not come up often in my games, but when it does having a system in place really adds to the fun (though they also love war games). Even if that isn't the case, battles come up as backdrops or parts of the adventure and in such cases, I hope the above discussion helped. If there is a system you like to use, feel free to note it below.  

Dungeon Master: Low Value Item Lists

When I look at the item tables for D&D, I notice that there really aren't many items that are worth less than a gold coin. However, we know that in context (the lifestyle tables in particular), a gold coin is a significant amount of money. Over the course of this piece, I will be going over ways to add miscellaneous items not in the table that would help give silver and copper coins some use. Some of these may only pertain to Dungeons & Dragons 5^th edition, but most of them should be more universal.

Trinkets

In Dungeons & Dragons 5^th edition, there is the trinkets table that can be used for extra items. The issue is that some of the items are extremely strange and it would make sense that not every shop would have all of them. For this reason I tend to roll a couple of time for some obscure items the shop might have after using the items to construct a table (this table will vary based on campaign).

Souvenirs/Special Items

Depending on the location or region in a campaign, it would make sense for them to have certain goods that other areas might not. This can be something as simple as renaming the ales or slightly changing the prices for the same product in a region (importing costs). Depending on the characters that make up the party (maybe you have a party member who collects eating utensils from all the regions they visit) you may need to come up with specific items just for the party.

Impromptu Items

Sometimes you may have to think of the price for a mundane and cheap item on the spot. When it is something not covered in the usual table and not a weapon, the only real consideration needed is to decide on the price. Either a logical one can be decided on the spot (a fork of that quality would cost 3 silver), or rolling can be used to determine prices. Since the items I'm talking about here are rather cheap (a few silver or copper), using a quick roll to determine prices is an option as the players won't feel the variation too much (prices may reasonably shift with demand as well). The steps to do so would be:

1. Player asks for a miscellaneous item.
2. Choose a coin type (silver or copper usually for the kinds of items I'm talking about here, but it can be used for some more expensive items requiring gold or platinum as well) based on the item.
3. Choose a die type (I usually use a d4-d10, though a d12 or d100 could be used as well) based on the item. Optionally, you can choose to use just multiples of d4's instead (for less randomness).
4. Roll and calculate.

Of course, other ways can be used as well but the above is what I usually use as a guideline. The advantage of this is you don't have to worry about miscellaneous item tables for stores, since the players will ask for something in particular. If you feel inclined, you can make a note and use the same prices for the same items later (often a good idea for more expensive items, even if you add or subtract a couple of silver later) or re-roll prices (chalking up the difference to the economy).

Conclusion

I hope the above helps make copper and silver coins more useful in games. Since they are such small denominations (usually players deal with gold coins), these kinds of small items can be a great way to add specific characteristics to a character (a special pin, for example). The small price also helps encourage players to buy unique items, since they cost so little. In general, the system can also be expanded for more expensive items, but I felt it necessary to specificity address silver and copper coins.  

Dungeon Master: Battle Map vs Theatre of Mind

Well, since D&D 5^th edition allows both theatre of mind and battle map based combat right out of the book, I thought it was about time that I talked about the strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches. I will assume the game is being done in person, as virtual tabletops can take away quite a few of the setup disadvantages of battle maps. I personally employ both in my games, and will also talk about how you can combine the two methods. This piece is aimed for newer Dungeon Masters, but I hope the more experienced ones can participate in the conversation.

Theatre of Mind

Theatre of mind means the Dungeon Master will be describing everything. When run by a great story teller, this can be an absolutely wonderful experience and since it requires no physical materials, it is extremely versatile and light weight.

Advantages

• It's extremely versatile.
• It requires no physical resources, meaning it is highly portable and has very little setup overhead.
• It flows naturally from the rest of the game.
• Can easily be done online through VOIP programs.

Disadvantages

• When dealing with complex situations (lots of players or monsters, 3 dimensional environments, etc.), positioning is easy to lose track of.
• Amount of choice given to player can seem less (since they don't have very precise control over movement).
• It can be difficult for players to know how far they can actually move in a turn, causing lost time when the Dungeon Master corrects them, and the player reconsiders their turn.

Solutions

• Whiteboards sketches or paper sketches to set the scene can help with positioning (at this point, it may be not much more effort to just use battle maps).

Battle Map

For the purpose of this article, this involves using a ruler and miniatures. Using battle maps means the Dungeon Master will have the battle setup with miniatures and maps, clearly showing the situation. They can also be used to describe a scene where there is no fighting, but the physical representation makes the layout far less confusing for players choosing which way to go.

Advantages

• Positions are shown for players, so they know exactly where they are.
• Seeing the scale of their characters compared to something can really fill them with a sense of dread or make them feel confident.
• Exact positions are seen, so complex tactics can be employed quite easily.
• Easily translates to virtual tabletops, allowing new features (such as field of view, showing only details the characters can see).

Disadvantages

• Physical resources are needed for the map and miniatures (depending on the budget and fidelity, it can range from printed maps and coins to plastic 3d tiles and painted miniatures).
• Setting up the map and positioning takes time away from play if you pause to do so.
• Finding/replicating or creating maps takes more effort from the Dungeon Master.
• If the chunks of the map are present on the table at once, meta-gaming is made possible (player can see the dead end up ahead). If you instead only show maps once the players enter line of sight, we are back to the issue of taking time to set everything up.

Solutions

• Putting together the maps ahead of time can save time during play (this is more easily done with paper tiles, as major chunks can be filed away and quickly brought out and connected). When using paper tiles, the Dungeon Master can prepare pieces in advance (while waiting for perception rolls, etc.).
• The location can be described (using the theatre of mind technique) to set the scene and describe details that cannot be represented by a battle map (room smell, for example) while the Dungeon Master sets up the battle map or adds tiles to it. Note: This is true when players enter a new room and are ambushed or attacked.
• If combat cannot be avoided or if your players initiated combat themselves, the time while everyone is rolling initiative can be used to set up the battle map. Note: Only saves time if you already rolled initiative for creatures in advance.

Using Both Together Without Virtual TableTops

For me, the dead time while setting up maps is an important detail to handle. Practice in setting up the battle map can become a factor, as it can minimize dead time. The actual act of laying the tiles down isn't the hard part, it's getting the right tile to the right spot so preparation (knowing which tiles go where to form the battle map) can make a huge difference in keeping the game rolling. I've found that players tend to like to look at the battle map when it has interesting features, and seeing it being put together isn't as damaging as it may seem. If done reasonably quickly, they see the details as they come up and get to see details you may have had described, making it more real.

Sometimes, one method cannot or should not be used. If your players just saw a single guard and are trying to kill him before he can react, setting up the battle map could be overkill (especially if you can't bring it onto the table in one piece). If he succeeds in raising an alarm, more will come and at that point the battle map could be very handy (handling 10 guards vs 5 player characters using complex tactics can be a real headache). Finding this balance is tough. However, if you are putting your battle map onto the table in a reasonable time, the players probably won't care (depending on players, they may appreciate the visual aids).

Using a Virtual TableTop

Using technology to assist can be a great help. In particular, if you can't get people to a table a virtual tabletop can become an incredible tool. Personally, I found my players prefer having real physical objects in front of them to a flat screen, even with the delays that come with the setup of physical objects. The line of sight feature is nice, but you can also build the map as players move using tiles (when doing so, having the right pieces ready to go cuts down on time).

Conclusion

Enhancing games through visual aids is a common way to help make games more enjoyable, and using tiles is the most basic of these strategies. Still, if used incorrectly (taking too long to set up, at the wrong time, etc.), it can be less effective than the good old theatre of mind. I hope this discussion was thought provoking or helpful. If there is something you feel needs attention or any other reason, feel free to comment.

Dungeon Master: Audio Enhancements

A little while ago I wrote about a few of the different enhancements that can be made to a role-playing game to make it more immersive. In that piece I mentioned that props and audio enhancements can be used, and I wanted to further expand on that. The below assumes you have some kind of computer or audio player close by (for search reasons, I tend to prefer using a computer). It also works best if you already have the session planned and just want to increase its impact through a small amount of carefully chosen sounds. If you are unsure if you should use these kinds of enhancements, then you should probably just focus on the adventure itself.

Why Bother and Finding a Balance

I have used specially created sounds and props in my games before and they really do help add to the immersive qualities of the game. Instead of trying to describe a sound, they can actually hear it for themselves. Using it too much, however, means that time is pulled away from the game itself. It also takes some time to create this kind of thing and despite how great it can be, enhancements cannot save a bad session. I can't remember the last time I prepared more than 2 such sounds.

When I do use this method, I find using it sparingly really helps improve its impact. The sound that you choose to use is also important as it should be important enough to warrant the extra effort. You, as the Dungeon Master, also still have your natural abilities and if you are good at voices, you can still do them at the table. This kind of preparation should be done for sounds that you cannot reasonably perform at the table. It generally helps to save time a well if you have them play while you do your Dungeon Master describing of events.

Types of Sounds

Speaking

You can have one or two spoken lines recorded for when they first interact with the character to make the impression you want. I would not record every line for a villain, but having one line prepared to give the impression can work wonders as players can imagine that voice saying what you say. This is even more effective if you can do a voice that is fairly similar to the prepared line but missing the special effects.

One Time

Sometimes there will be one sound that you will need to use only in one specific situation for one adventure, but using that sound adds a lot to the game. Maybe your characters are fighting in the middle of a lake and you want to have an ice cracking sound. As rounds go by, you increase the volume. It is important that this sound actually add something big to the game (footsteps may be a bit much) and is meant to be at a memorable spot.

Atmospheric

Sometimes the sound you want isn't meant to be used in one specific situation, but a general track meant to set the atmosphere of a location. If you are going into a cave, maybe you want to make sure the players know how the echoing water dripping sounds like. In this case, the sound clip should be long enough to give them the impression of the area. In theory, you should be able to loop this track and use it as atmosphere (be careful about doing this as it can get annoying for a 2 hour session).

Harder to Get Started

It's also important to remember that as time goes on, you will have a collection of sounds you can use. As such, it will get easier since you no longer have to create them and can just use them as needed. Still, I'd suggest not going overboard here and using at most 3 (the focus should be the players).

How to Do it

1. Get an audio editor. Audacity is free and fairly good for this kind of thing.
2. Record the sound you want or get it from a sound library such as this one.
3. Apply the effects you want. If you are recording your own, you probably want to record just the background noise so you can use the noise removal tool.

Conclusion

I hope the above was helpful. When using these kinds of enhancements it can be difficult to find a good balance but when used for something important like the introduction of a villain or to drive home the number of followers in a secret cult meeting (complete with chanting), it can help make a game memorable and help engage the senses, especially when used sparingly. 

Dungeon Master: In-Game Legal Systems

Up until now I have been covering a bunch of small, isolated topics that relate to running a game and creating a world. Naturally, part of building a world is creating cities or making them come alive. One element that I constantly end up referring back to when I build a world is the legal system regions may possess. Though it may sound boring, I think it is extremely important when designing regions and cities. I will be exploring exactly why I feel this is the case as well as present the way I usually use it.

Why Bother?

Part of living in a society is being subjected to rules. By creating legal systems, there is an instant contrast from the natural wild your players may spend a lot of time in (especially when dungeon trekking is a core part of the story) and the cities they visit. Simply killing someone on the streets of a city will feel much riskier if they are aware of the legal system and guards present. It also serves as a contrast to mostly unguarded trails, where bandits are common and folks go missing. It can also serve as a way to really contrast cultures or regions.

Scale

The laws can be put in place based on region, ruler at the time (if area changes hands as part of a war, laws can change) or other factors (there may be laws of war). To make matters easier and to not have to make laws for every city you ever want to make, laws can be defined by the entire world (make the entire world have one set of laws, and then some rare exceptions) or by region. This will allow for uniqueness between cities while also making it easier for the Dungeon Master by not forcing them to explicitly define laws for everything (players can be told that unless otherwise specified, they follow the general laws).

What Should the Laws Cover?

History has shown that laws can be very different from region to region. However, since we are talking about role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, there are going to be certain activities that we have to explicitly consider. These are:

• Killing people (Is killing someone legal if it is in the form of a duel, in self-defence, defending your honour, just because you felt like it and you are higher standing or any combination of the above?)
• Assaulting people (Same reasons as above, but instead of killing them just hurting them)
• Stealing (Does the amount stolen factor into the punishment, and are there different types of stealing like stealing from a temple, that are considered worse?)
• Carrying weapons (what, where and who)
• Trespassing (Yeah, this is mainly for the sneakers)
• Using magic (Where and under what conditions is magic legal?)
• Worship (Is it illegal to worship certain gods like the god of murder?)

The reason for those in particular is because those elements directly influence the options players have to pursue their goals and touch upon every class (combat, stealing/trespassing and magic use). You also have to consider:

• What are the consequences for committing a crime?
• How are criminals prosecuted? If framed for a crime, is there even a chance to defend yourself?
• How are the laws enforced? Do guards show up for everything and take you to jail, or can you get a bill in the mail for petty theft? How many guards will there be if the players try to attack someone?

The above three considerations need to be considered for every law the world may have. There are some, such as weapon carrying, that will also need to have accommodation systems in place (if I arrive there, do I give my weapons right at the gate or is the place I am staying at responsible after the gate keepers give me a 1 day pass).

You can also add more laws on top of the sections I listed to give each region or system their own identities. They can also be more specified. For example:

• One city allows weapons to be carried but swords are reserved for the nobles. Anyone in violation faces fines but travellers can keep their weapons in the place they are staying without repercussion. Players can move weapons from one place to another (if they decide to switch inns for some reason, etc.) but need to carry a paper given when they entered the city.
• There is a very strict class structure that involves certain colours being worn by certain classes in society. Breaking this results in fines and/or jail time. Travellers, not being part of any classes, can largely ignore them unless they own property in the area (owning property will make you part of society). Regardless, noble colours cannot be worn by travellers unless they are foreign nobles.

Conclusion

I believe the use of the above system to create legal systems has helped me create better worlds and has benefited my games. This is because it allows different areas to feel inherently different and puts explicit consequences on crimes that characters living in that world would know about, creating a sense of risk. The checks themselves to be discovered would need to be made on a per-crime basis, but this method has helped me and I hope it helps you as well. As always I'd love to hear if you agree or disagree. Happy holidays.  

Dungeon Master: Creating Antagonists

When playing an adventure, there is some kind of adversary you are usually trying to overcome. Often times it is a big, ultra-powerful baddie that takes an entire campaign to kill. However, there are other ways to create antagonists for your players. I purposely avoid using villain here because, really, they may be perfectly respectable people and had the tables been turned, the hero of the story. As I am always interested in having antagonists ready to go (you never know when a game of D&D will break out), I will be talking about some major things I consider when creating antagonists as well as how the choices and planning can have wider reaching effects. The overall scope of this piece goes can be used in any kind of role-playing game and will focus on the character side of antagonists, instead of mechanics. I hope it helps.

Tone

The way the conflict is set up for the players will set the tone for the campaign being run, though this could be done intentionally as well. Very few would suspect the big bad lich hatching a plan for world domination using an army of unicorns. However, the choices made reach beyond that. When having players that like to experiment and think outside the box, I don't want to rail road them. However, general outlines still help in making the entire plot seem planned (though adhering to them strictly is usually a bad idea) and one element that stays relevant regardless is the personality of characters.

I will be going over a few specific elements I use to make an antagonist. When thinking about them, it is best to see them interacting together in forming the character of the antagonist.

Preliminary Considerations

When designing the personality of the antagonist, their strength can play a role in how things will run. Naturally, with an extremely powerful lich players will need to avoid direct contact. However, if the main baddie is actually a low level noble (as in level 5 when the party is level 9) who instead uses bodyguards and plotting as their strength, the dynamics change. Even though the personality of the antagonist in this case is separate from the outline of the adventure, their motivations and methods they use to achieve them have a significant effect. You can also try building them using the “Traits, Flaws and Bonds” stuff from this edition of Dungeons & Dragons, but I generally prefer to approach that kind of thing more generally (particularly for antagonists, that generally benefit from being more complex and deep. For less important characters, I've found “Traits, Flaws and Bonds” to allow for quick creation of characters). You could use that system on top of something like this (usually it isn't hard to pull them out of the below, but sometimes using a different system as a base and adding what is missing helps save time).

Motivations and Goals

The motivations and goals of the antagonist could be one of the most important parts of creating an antagonist. Simply, your players may not actually be 100% against a character in your world but only disagree on one specific issue (if your world is more politically based, this may happen more often). Once the current issue is resolved and a new one arises, it may make sense for the old antagonist and the players to be allies. Even if the motivations of your antagonist are completely against the characters (see lich trying to kill everything living), the antagonist's attention may not be on the players because the players have been careful not to be discovered or because the players have not actually acted against the antagonists motivations. This will naturally interact with the personality of the villain, as it will determine what they do if there is no hope of success in their goals anymore (do they fight the party to the death or surrender?).

Personality

The obvious part of creating the personality of an antagonist is thinking about their mannerisms as well as values. However, a character may have multiple motivations and goals that sometimes conflict. In such a case, deciding which goal is most important may fit into their personality (why is one goal more important?). It also helps me to break this into two different parts. Thinking about the mannerisms and outward actions of a character separate from their internal thoughts and decision making process can make sense for characters that lie a lot, for example. Even if they don't, making the decision that the character you created is perfectly honest is still an active decision between these two parts (even the almighty undead lich may have some secrets that are used internally for decisions but never mentioned externally). In one sentence, what does this character know, how do they make their decisions and how do they try to seem?

The methods the antagonist uses to advance towards their motivations are also extremely important. Your antagonist could be an honourable and good person, but their motivation puts them in direct conflict with the players. When I say methods, I also don't mean specifically how they wish to achieve their goal as this may change over time. What methods are off the table? What is this antagonist not willing to do in pursuit of their goals? If your antagonist starts noble and then gets progressively more evil as they become obsessed, this can change. Remembering this helps me take the correct actions in a scenario as well as help define boundaries for antagonists.

Other Things to Considerations

Since each antagonist is different, there may need to be special considerations. Examples include fears and special weaknesses. In both these cases, they will also feed back into the sections mentioned above but would be specific things under the “Preliminary Considerations” and “Personality” (they affect the strength of the character as well as their personality).

In a general sense, any character can be created using this kind of system but often times I find it too involves for character you may only see once (“Traits, Flaws and Bonds” work great for these in D&D 5^th edition). If your game is taking place over the course of one battle where your characters are trying to survive and get their pay, the entire opposing army may be considered an “antagonist” and as such have their own goals (what they want to take) and personality (how is there morale and do they expect an easy fight).

Conclusion

I believe considering the strength, the motivations and goals as well as personality (mannerisms, outward actions and inner thoughts/decision systems) when creating antagonists is important. It helps ensure sure they are well defined and consistent. It can be used regardless of system and though is planned, can be done without railroading players. I hope this helped and if there is anything you wish to add, feel free to say so in the comments.

Examples

Evil Undead Lich

Preliminary Considerations: Very strong.

Motivations and Goals: Kill everything living. Avoid discovery. Stay alive (by which I mean undead).

Personality: Arrogant. Knowledgeable in arcane matters. Lacks business sense. Doesn't trust minions and prefers to do things itself if risk is small enough. Tries to allocate resources as optimally as possible (won't go after players until they actively oppose the lich). Nothing is off the table in terms of pursuit of goals. Will outright lie, including assuming identities. If goal cannot be accomplished, will leave while trying to cause as much damage to opposition (those that wrong it) as safely as possible. If choices needs to be made between its goals and its undead life, it chooses its undead life.

Noble

Preliminary Considerations: Weak. Strength comes from army of bodyguards. Always has at least two ranks of bodyguards in all directions when moving from place to place (assuming square grids, 24 guards). Probably built as low level rogue with emphasis on “noble” skills (if goal is to have players take them out, should be able to be reduced to 0 HP in less than a round).

Motivations and Goals: Get fame and fortune. Help those they deem as “worthy” get more prosperous. Stay alive as long as possible. Optional: Prevent enemy from damaging their kingdom/state.

Personality: Cowardly. Actively will delegate tasks they see as “below them” to other people. They will not actively try to kill or assassinate anyone, except in self-defence through their guards. Their preferred method always involves their goals being put forward and accomplished through the legal system. If confronted in combat, they will try to run away. Talks down to those not of royal blood or not within a profession they deem as acceptable (mainly successful merchants). Slightly paranoid about people trying to kill them (wears heavy armour, despite not having the strength for it), but trusts their guards and staff.