Memorable Villains

What drives the PCs on in their quest? Is it glory and treasure? A desire for power? Immortality?

If the players in your game are anything like mine, it is usually a desire for vengeance against a slight by the villain. We tend to be a vindictive bunch. How can you design a villain that makes the players cheer when he dies? A person who the players will follow to the end of the earth to destroy?

The easy answer is lie to them and trick them.

The last villain I ran in my game was Hugh. He was the captain of the guard in the capital city that fell when the Mind Flayers attacked from below. The players rescued him without realizing he had been compromised and was working with the Mind Flayers to foment civil war so they could establish a power base and take over the entire kingdom. After parting ways for a bit they met up again and he was in control of another city. Through various actions he showed his inconsistency, but the PCs had nothing to pin on him that was concrete.

The players developed a deep hatred for him because the players knew he was the villain, but the characters had nothing concrete besides odd feelings. When he finally was revealed to be the villain, they were happy and relieved that they could finally kill him. When the final encounter with Hugh came up, he used children as a shield (I hadn't counted on the amorality of one the players to resolve that situation so quickly) and the stroke that killed Hugh brought cheers around the table.

So have your villains show up early. Have them mislead and lie to the players. Put them in positions of authority that are just out of reach of the players so that they have to deal with them instead of outright killing them. Arrogance and being condescending also goes a long way towards irritating the players and making them hate the villains.