How they're made
All about maing the villains
Villain clichés tend to be much flatter than character clichés and can be as simple as:
Goblin
If you’ve read a fantasy book or two or have played other roleplaying games you might have a good idea of what a goblin is and what they are capable of doing. However for the uninitiated this is not very helpful. Let's add some details:
Organizational grouping
This tells us how many to expect at any one time. Some examples of are:
Solitary
It lives and fights alone.
Group
Usually seen in small numbers, 3 to 6 or so.
Being slightly out numbered could put the player characters at a slight disadvantage. Perhaps 1 or 2 points of general disadvantage.
Horde
Where there’s one, there’s more. A lot more. Being laughably outnumbered could put the player characters at an even greater disadvantage!
For this example goblins come by the horde.
Add cliché advantage
For villains the cliché advantage is mostly used as a measure of how much disadvantage it takes to render them incapable of acting. Optionally, It can also be a measure of how much disadvantage a character is at when facing the villain.
In the case of goblins, their cliché advantage will be 1
Instinct
Always good to know why a villain does what it does.
A goblins’ instinct is to multiply
Special
What’s so special about this villain? Do they have a trick up their sleeve? A special attribute? A fatal flaw? Maybe there is nothing special about them at all.
Goblins, however, are sensitive to light
Size
Don’t fool yourselves, size matters! It can be an advantage or disadvantage, assigned by the GM, when squaring off against villains that are larger or smaller than the characters. It can also be a factor when Especially and assigning villain consequences. Here are some example sizes:
Tiny
Half to a quarter of small.
Small
Half to a quarter of your average human.
Normal
Your average human.
Large
It’s much bigger than a human, about as big as a cart.
Huge
It’s as big as a small house or larger.
Goblins are small.
Consequences
This is a list of what the villain is most likely to do when encountered. Be sure to include one or more Deal damage consequences and state the reason and how much disadvantage it inflicts. When it's time for the GM to assign a consequence this is the list to pick from for a goblin:
Charge!
Call more goblins
Retreat and return with (many) more
Deal damage: Spear for 1 disadvantage
Description
Anything else that’s important to know about the villain goes here. It can be a written description or one or more tags or both. Here are some tags to get you started but feel free to make up your own:
Magical - It is by nature magical through and through.
Devious - Its main danger lies beyond the simple clash of battle.
Amorphous - Its anatomy and organs are bizarre and unnatural.
Organized - It has a group structure that aids it in survival. Defeating one may cause the wrath of others. One may sound an alarm.
Intelligent - It’s smart enough that some individuals pick up other skills. The GM can add tags to reflect specific training. Ex. mage
Hoarder - It almost certainly has treasure.
Stealthy - It can avoid detection and prefers to attack with the element of surprise.
Terrifying - Its presence and appearance evoke fear.
Cautious - It prizes survival over aggression.
Construct - It was made, not born
Planar - It’s from beyond this world
At the very least a goblin is intelligent.
So in conclusion, behold a goblin in all its splendid glory:
Goblin Horde (1)
Instinct To multiply
Special Sensitive to light
Size Small
Consequences
Charge!
Call more goblins
Retreat and return with (many) more
Deal damage: Spear for 1 disadvantage
Description [Intelligent]
Nobody seems to know where these things came from. Elves say they’re the dwarves’ fault, dredged up from a hidden place beneath the earth. Dwarves say they’re bad elvish children taken away at birth and raised in the dark. The truth of the matter is that goblins have always been here and they’ll be here once all the civilized races have fallen and gone away. Goblins never die out. There’s just too damn many of them.