Rivals

Rivals are NPCs who oppose the characters and make their presence felt whenever the characters are engaging in downtime. A rival might be a villain you have featured in past adventures or plan to use in the future. Rivals can include more than just malicious entities—they might be unaligned folk who are at odds with the characters, whether because they have opposing goals or they simply dislike one another. A rival might be a third party the players inadvertently snubbed throughout their adventures, or simply a vindictive bystander who is convinced that the party is up to no good.

A rival's agenda changes over time. Though the characters engage in downtime only between adventures, their rivals rarely rest, continuing to spin plots and work against the characters even when the characters are off doing something else.

Creating a Rival

It's possible for the characters to have one or more rivals at a time, each with a separate agenda. At least one should be a villain, while the others might not be nefarious characters; conflicts with those rivals might be social or political, rather than manifesting as direct attacks.

The best rivals have a connection with their adversaries on a personal level. Find links in the characters' backstories or the events of recent adventures that explain what sparked the rival's actions. The best trouble to put the characters in is trouble they created for themselves. You can find sample rival ties in the Example Rivals table to the right.

To add the right amount of detail to a rival you want to create, give some thought to what the NPC is trying to accomplish and what resources and methods the rival can bring to bear against the characters.

Goals

An effective rival has a clear reason for interfering with the characters' lives. Think about what the rival wants, how and why the characters stand in the way, and how the conflict could be resolved. Ideally, a rival's goal directly involves the characters or something they care about.

Plans

The foundation of a rival's presence in the campaign is the actions the rival takes or the events that occur as a result of that character's goals. Each time you resolve one or more workweeks of downtime, pick one of the ways a rival's plans might be advanced and introduce it into play.

Think about how a rival might operate in order to bring specific plans to fruition, and jot down three or four kinds of actions the rival might undertake. Some of these might be versions of the downtime activities described in the --- chapter, but these are more often efforts specific to that rival. These actions might be a direct attack, such as an assassination attempt, that you can play out during a session, or it might be a background activity that you describe as altering the campaign in some way. For instance, if the characters pursue a specific artifact, the rival might learn of the plans and attempt to retrieve it first.

Example Rivals

Some elements of a rivals plans might involve events in the world that aren't under the rival's control. Whether such an event can be easily anticipated or not, the rival's plans might include contigencies for taking advantage of such happenings.

Assets

Think about the resources the rival can marshal. Does the character have enough money to pay bribes or to hire a small gang of mercenaries? Does the rival hold sway over any guilds, factions, or other groups? Make a list of the rival's assets and how they can be used.

Example Rival: Brogg Chak

The Chak clan is a small but powerful family of geonosians traders in the city, but years ago, they pulled up stakes and left overnight. Brogg Chak, the youngest scion, has now returned to restore his family's prestige.

In truth, the family fled because its members had been evading the city's requisite taxes. A corrupt official who was an ally informed the family that a raid on their business was going to be conducted, so they fled the city and began operating as smugglers. After climbing the ranks of their smuggling ring, Brogg—along with a small army of followers—has returned to claim his place among the elite of his former home city. He vows that he will succeed, or leave the city in ruins.

Goals

Brogg wants to become the most respected and most important merchant in town—someone to whom even the governing body must yield.

Plans

Brogg plans to discredit and ruin other merchants. His allies spy on his opponents, disrupting their trade routes, stealing their wares, and causing minor chaos. Brogg disrupts his own warehouses to avoid suspicion.

If Brogg's plan fails, he intends to use his forces to assassinate as much of the ruling body as possible, as well as his merchant peers.

Brogg's Plans

Assets

Brogg has a small fortune, some noteworthy skills in espionage, and a substantial following that is dedicated to him.