When Halaster found him he destroyed Manshoon’s arm in a magical standoff, it was later replaced with a mechanical arm. He was seeking to overthrow Halaster but when the Spell Plague happened much of Undermountain was destroyed and the blue flames tore apart his mind. The second Clone lives in the Undermountain below Waterdeep and became the pupil of Halaster the Mad Mage. The first Clone returned to Zhentil Keep and acts as the leader of the spy network he had created called the Zhentarim and is striving to perfect his old Clone spell to get rid of the insanity that comes with having multiple clones. In the end, and to this day, 3 Manshoon clones live. Or, The Clone Wars for my Star Wars fans *Imperial March starts playing*. Much to their surprise, however, when the close awoke they immediately began killing each other to become the one true Manshoon creating what has become known as the Manshoon Wars. Immediately following his death, all of his clones rose simultaneously while the Lord and his Priest were only expecting one. In his obsession with the new spell he created, he fashioned nearly 40 Clones of himself, which came in handy when the same priest that helped them take down Baneservent joined forces with Lord Orgauth and killed him. They convinced one of Baneservent’s priests to help them kill his Lord and once he was dispatched, Manshoon took his place as Lord of Zhentil Keep.Īs Lord, he became extremely paranoid that one of the many other nobles would kill him to take his place, so he created the secret spy network known as the Zhentarim and created a spell that would allow him to avoid death, Clone. When Manshoon and Chess arrived back at Zhentil Keep, they found the seat was being held by Lord Ulsan Baneservent. Knowing Manshoon could not hold his father’s seat with his brother, he arranged for Asmuth to take a plunge off a bridge. Hearing the news, Manshoon and the others made their way back to the Zhentil Keep to assume their fathers’ positions.
During their leave, Chess’ father poisoned Harlshoon, Manshoon’s father, but Harlshoon managed to throw Chess’ father from the tower with the ultimate result of both of them dying. Long ago this powerful Archmage was born to Zhentil keep but when he came of age, he joined with his brother Asmuth and his friend Chess to prove themselves. I wish I was in on the design meeting that ended with one of the evilest DnD villains wearing beard pants. Manshoon the Many Faced with his beard pants. Here is my list of the greatest Villains in Dungeons and Dragons history and maybe these baddies will motivate you in creating an awesome campaign or serve as an outline for your own, homebrew villain! So, pick an amazing, memorable villain and decide how their plans affect the story as a whole.
Typically, the heroes don't drive the story but react to the Villain’s machinations. Villains are what drive the plot of a great DnD game, whether you go homebrew or a legendary villain, your players will be in awe.