A table to help you avoid your own clichés…
Coming up with villainous factions that serves as the main antagonist of a campaign, or a classic “side-quest-threat”, comes easy for me most of the time. But some days I’m just stuck with writers block and can’t think of anything better than “hmm, what about an evil cult?“, only to immediately realize that my last five adventures also featured an evil cult. I guess I’ve got a favorite type of antagonist…
That’s why I thought I’d force myself to write a table like this, because I know it will help me (and you hopefully) to come up with new ideas with just one dice roll. The faction descriptions aren’t very detailed and their goals might seem a bit vague, but I personally find that to be the best type of “source material”, because it leaves room for my imagination while at the same time giving me a solid foundation to build off of.
You will also notice that the factions aren’t tied to any specific universe or lore, they are system neutral, so that you can use them in any game and any world. Need a group of gritty mercenaries? Done. How about a mysterious cult that’s perfect for a horror-themed quest? Easy. Plus, having a diverse array of villainous factions they might not have heard of before helps keep your players on their toes. They never know what’s coming next, and that’s half the fun.
I hope that this D66 table of villainous factions add some jet fuel to your campaign prep. If you like it, be sure to check out our NPC generator, and our list of D66 Dwarven stronghold names.
D66 Villainous factions
Just roll 2D6 and have the first one be your tens digit and the second be your ones digit. A roll of 5+3 would be “53: The Blackened Flame”.
| D66 | Organization Name | Description | Overall Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | The Black Talons | Skilled mercenaries specializing in ambush and sabotage. | Seize strategic resources to expand influence. |
| 12 | The Red Veil | Secretive guild of assassins skilled in poison and disguise. | Control the criminal underworld through fear. |
| 13 | Gloom Riders | Nomadic raiders mounted on dire wolves. | Plunder and subjugate rural villages. |
| 14 | The Silent Hand | Illusionist thieves skilled in bypassing magic defenses. | Accumulate legendary treasures and artifacts. |
| 15 | Iron Chain Cult | Slavers using dark rituals to subdue their captives. | Enslave towns for arcane rituals and dark trades. |
| 16 | The Sand Vipers | Desert warriors revered for their serpent taming. | Establish a fortified desert kingdom. |
| 21 | The Ebon Claw | Pirate crew practicing necromancy. | Dominate and raid coastal cities and trade routes. |
| 22 | Moonlit Covenant | Cult venerating the moon, suspected to harbor lycanthropes. | Perform a potent lunar ritual to gain divine power. |
| 23 | The Ember Fist | Militant pyromancers seeking arcane secrets. | Ignite a volcanic realm as their sanctuary. |
| 24 | The Withered Rose | Noble house entangled in forbidden magic. | Usurp the throne using dark alliances and schemes. |
| 25 | Hollow Knights | Cursed knights yearning to break their enchantments. | Regain their mortality through dark quests. |
| 26 | The Broken Circle | Rogue druids exploiting natural forces for malice. | Taint sacred groves to disrupt natural balance. |
| 31 | Frostbite Clan | Icy barbarians with a thirst for conquest. | Invade and occupy temperate lands. |
| 32 | The Masked Court | Manipulators pulling strings behind noble houses. | Install puppet rulers to manipulate kingdoms. |
| 33 | The Soul Reapers | Clerics dealing in souls and dark bargains. | Harvest souls to fuel a dark ascension. |
| 34 | The Iron Gauntlet | Armored, relentless bounty hunters with zero tolerance. | Eliminate crucial high-value targets to boost reputation. |
| 35 | The Whispering Shadows | Spies adept in blackmail and information gathering. | Leverage state secrets for political power. |
| 36 | The Jade Scepter | Mystic scholars obsessed with hoarding ancient relics. | Collect and secure magical artifacts for leverage. |
| 41 | Sable Company | Ruthless archers with no qualms about dishonorable tactics. | Secure and enforce dominance over borderlands. |
| 42 | The Ashen Brotherhood | Fanatical monks dedicated to a harsh, austere god. | Establish a theocratic state under their god. |
| 43 | The Crimson Dawn | Dawn-raiding bandits disrupting trade. | Take control of vital trade routes and chokepoints. |
| 44 | The Oathsworn | Twisted paladins enforcing their corrupted virtues. | Spread their flawed brand of justice across lands. |
| 45 | The Gilded Serpent | Alchemists specializing in lethal toxins. | Corner the market for deadly poisons and brews. |
| 46 | Stonehearth Syndicate | Greedy dwarves monopolizing precious minerals. | Control and exploit rich ore veins and mines. |
| 51 | The Stormhawks | Warriors mounted on giant raptors, patrolling the skies. | Demand sky tolls and establish aerial dominance. |
| 52 | The Verdant Chain | Elf isolationists using guerrilla tactics. | Seal elven forests from external threats. |
| 53 | The Blackened Flame | Heretical mages wielding dangerous fire magic. | Incinerate sacred woods to defy traditional beliefs. |
| 54 | The Sea Wraiths | Cursed sailors in ghostly ships, seeking vengeance. | Sink trespassing vessels to claim the seas. |
| 55 | The Howling Daggers | Thieves using enchanted wind instruments for robbery. | Steal rare and powerful musical relics. |
| 56 | The Searing Quill | Covert scholars discrediting academic establishments. | Undermine respected academies to seize intellectual power. |
| 61 | The Silver Skulls | Death cultists using gruesome symbols for rituals. | Create a territory under the shadow of undeath. |
| 62 | The Riven Shield | Disgraced soldiers turned to mercenary work. | Overthrow the kingdom they once failed to protect. |
| 63 | The Bloodied Spear | Tribal hunters keen on savage rites and trophies. | Prove their tribe's supremacy through brutal conquest. |
| 64 | The Forgotten | Banished citizens yearning to reclaim their lost city. | Take back their ancient homeland at any cost. |
| 65 | The Sundered Chain | Warriors specializing in anti-magic tactics. | Eradicate magical practices for a mundane world. |
| 66 | The Last Oath | Failed knights seeking redemption through dark quests. | Regain their honor by completing forbidden quests. |
