Designing Your Villain’s Vault

Where does your villain stash their cash?

That’s the topic of a brand new weekly mapping challenge starting today on the Roleplaying Tips Discord called 5 Minute Map Fridays.

Because villains need money to support their operation, lifestyle, and goals. And many settings only operate with physical currency, be it coins, bank notes, or other “bearer owns it” type currency.

So, the villain must protect their physical wealth, and often a well-defended or deceiving place is the solution.

Here are d4 vault design tips to help you turn such places into fantastic adventures:

1. Killer Location

Taking a page from Sun Tzu, the most powerful defense is choosing terrain that naturally favors the defender.

What we want to do then, is first find a fantastic spot on our map that puts the villain’ vault into extreme or unfriendly geography.

A classic tactic involves burying the vault under a lot of water.

Altitude also poses juicy dangers.

Look at your villain’s stat block. Any immunities there? Make an immunity the environment. For example, a black dragon might be immune to acid, so put the BBEG treasure horde in a lake of acid.

Bonus points if you can put the vault dungeon in a dangerous location within a dungeon that’s in a dangerous location. It’s “turtles” dungeons all the way down.

2. The Villain is the Best Defense

Tzu also says: A defense that adapts is more formidable than one that is static.

Traps and hazards work great. Especially ones that respond to party actions.

However, before the intrusion even begins, add a mechanism that allows only the BBEG to enter unharmed.

For example:

  • Magic runes or glyphs keyed to the villain
  • Biometric signature like a thumbprint or retinal scan
  • Command word only the BBEG knows
  • An amulet or signet ring

3. The Worst Trap

Have your BBEG use the trap players fear most:

Treasure loss.

If characters trip the wire, trigger the rune, or step on the plate, then the vault’s hoard disappears.

Maybe a teleportation circle gets activated, or a sliding floor drops it all a level down, or it turns invisible.

4. Map Tactics

Getting down to 5 foot squares, here are a few map design tips to help further protect your villain’s valuables:

  • Block Line of Site. Make PCs doubt they’re in the right when they first enter because the don’t see the object of their mission. This hesitation can buy you a couple rounds to summon guards and other defenses.

  • Add 2 Secret Doors. The first door allows your villain easy access in case of intrusion or alarm.

  • In real life, most rich folk would not want to confront armed and deadly thieves. But in TTRPG, our villains are often intrinsically tough. They’d be their own best vault defender.

    The second door is for a quick escape. Players will see the first secret entrance and might want to block it. But our BBEG anticipates this and has another way to get out fast if needed.

  • Think 3D. Move loot to the vertical. Up or down, I don’t care. This causes characters delays.

  • Split the Party (and the Loot). Divide, then pick’em off. Use walls, obstacles, rooms within rooms, and so on to separate PCs.

Join the Challenge

Hopefully these tips give you ideas on how you might design a unique and fun-to-play dangerous villain vault.

First choose the best location, and use that to inform your terrain and environment. Then think about how a tough villain could intervene and stop the looting. Last, make a tactical map that increases the challenge.

How about you? What tactics have you successfully deployed to protect your villain’s vault?

A;lso, if you enjoy making maps, consider joining the 5 Minute Friday Map challenge, starting this week with a villain’s vault.

Cheers,
Johnn
roleplayingtips.com
https://discord.gg/6MxTRAqQ76
Have more fun at every game!

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