Dragon Ball Universe
Unofficial Tabletop Role-Playing Game
Adversaries & Villains
Different from Minions (See — Minions), Villains and Adversaries are real threats. These foes are built in a similar way to a PC, with some differences, and can usually contend with one or more on even footing. Go through the following step-by-step guide to create an Adversary for your players to fight.
- Think of the concept and who they are, and what species best represents them.
Are they a narcissistic and evil space emperor? Perhaps they’re a creation of a mad scientist out for revenge, or even a primordial force of nature bent on fulfilling its own desires. Give them a complex and deep motive, or have them be as shallow as wanting to be the strongest, it’s up to you. - Elevate them to whatever Power Level you think would fit them.
If you want the adversary to be very strong and pose a serious threat, consider having them be a higher Tier of Power than the party, or lower if you want to show they’re a technical fighter. - Give them Attributes equal to their level progression.
Ignore all options on the level up table except for Attribute Additions. Spend all Character Perks on Attribute Additions. - Give them as many Talents, Techniques, and Skills as you wish.
Think back on the concept and who the Adversary is. Then, give them as many Talents and Techniques as you think fits them. A soft limit would be half their Power Level in Talents and Techniques. - Give them fitting transformations.
Keeping your concept in mind, think on whether they need or would have any transformations, and what you want those forms to represent. Are they slowly evolving? If so, consider a Manifested Power that gains stacks during combat. Do they elevate themself in bursts of power? Try an Alternate Form of your own design. - Give them two or so Villainous Traits to show off their gimmick.
What sets this Adversary apart from others? Choose some Villainous Traits to give them an upper hand, to even the playing field, and to make them more interesting.
Let’s go through the process again with an example.
- Think of the concept and who they are, and what species best represents them.
I want to make a space pirate that is hiding their power. I’ll call them Garrance, because he’s really arrogant about his hidden strength. I think the race that fits him the best would be Half-Blood Saiyan, due to its bursts of power, and the fact that Saiyans are pirates in my setting. - Elevate them to whatever Power Level you think would fit them.
I’ll put him to Power Level 15, about equal to the party. - Give them Attributes equal to their level progression.
Since he has 8 Character Perks, and would gain 7 Attribute Additions, he will have 15 Attribute Additions, giving Garrance a total of +60 distributed across his Attribute Scores. - Give them as many Talents, Techniques, and Skills as you wish.
Garrance will have 7 Talents and Techniques to use.
He’ll have Archetype Focus: Physical because his fighting style is mostly fisticuffs, improving that aspect both in hitting harder and more often – since he’s all about brawn, Archetype Focus will improve his Force checks by +1(T). The Taunt and Arrogant talents, too, will make him tougher and more full of himself. Frenzy to show that when he’s mad, he’s a big threat, and Burning Anger to let his power really shine once that happens – that extra Ki will be good for a scary Ki Wager. Finally, Swaggering Wager, because he’s so arrogant.
For Techniques, I’ll give him a simple Beam with Accurate and Power Shot, then an Explosion Technique for when he’s losing.
And finally, he’ll have high Athletics, Concealment, Intimidate, and Pilot. Clairvoyance and Perception will be middling, to spot any sneaky fighters, but no Stealth, because he doesn’t think he needs it. - Give them fitting transformations.
Up to Super Saiyan 2 ought to fit, to really show how scary he is. And let’s also give him 2 stacks of Zenkai, because he’s been through many fights before. Depending on how his fight with the players goes, he could get his third stack mid-fight! - Give them two or so Villainous Traits to show off their gimmick.
Garrance seems like he’d have the “One Hand is Enough For You” and “Blood in the Water” traits. I considered giving him “Now I’m Mad,” but that’s a very scary trait to give to someone just coming out of a Swaggering Wager.
There is an important distinction between an Antagonist and a Villain. While both are Adversaries, they play different roles.
Vegeta in the Saiyan Saga is a Villain, but overtime, he shifts to an Antagonist when facing off against our heroes, then a tenuous ally in future sagas. However, Majin Buu and Super Buu (along with his continued fusions), are true-blue Villains. They have greater powers, are generally stronger, and are built up over the entire Arc as a true threat that needs to be taken out.
Below you’ll find the list of Villainous Traits to give your Adversary some spice and depth.
Villainous Traits
| Trait Name | Trait Description |
| Dynamic Trait | Can’t find something that fits? Make your own! |
| One Hand is Enough For You | The Adversary begins combat with Swaggering Wager active, even if they don’t have that talent. This Swaggering Wager has your choice of restriction, defaulting to the third one, and will restrict the Adversary until they reach the Bloodied Threshold, where the second half of the talent will activate as normal. If the adversary has Swaggering Wager, they may be convinced to use it more than once per Combat Encounter. You may decide whether a Persuasion Check is necessary, or perhaps the Adversary must win a Very Hard TN Cognitive save. |
| Dauntless | When an attack would kill the Adversary or push them over a Health Threshold, they may reduce the damage taken by 75%. This may only be used five times per Combat Encounter. |
| Large and in Charge! | Increase all of the Adversary’s Physical Wound Rolls by +1d6(T), and their Soak Value by +1(T). They may also use their Force Modifier to calculate movement speed. |
| Now I’m Mad! | Whenever the Adversary reaches a Health Threshold, they automatically enter Rage, ignoring the Combat Session limitation. They must still forfeit their next turn as normal. |
| This Is Getting Annoying | For each Health Threshold reached, increase the Adversary’s Critical Range by 1, to a limit of 7. |
| Inspiring Commander | A Counter Action may be spent to have another ally re-roll a result after learning the outcome. Allies have +1(T) to all rolls. |
| Wrecking Ball | If the first attack the Adversary makes on their turn is Physical, increase all Energy Wound Rolls by +3(T) until the start of their next turn. |
| Dynamo | If the first attack the Adversary makes on their turn is Energy, increase all Physical Wound Rolls by +3(T) until the start of their next turn. |
| Terrifying Pose | When the Adversary uses the Dynamic Pose Talent, all enemies must make a Medium TN Morale Save. If they fail, they gain the Impediment Combat Condition for their next roll. |
| Tight-Knit Squad | On their turn, the Adversary may spend an Action to have an ally with Tight-Knit Squad immediately take an Action. Additionally, they may use the Dynamic Pose Talent for 3 Actions. Doing so gives all regular bonuses to the next ally in the Initiative Order with the Tight-Knit Squad Trait. These bonuses stack, but if the ally with the bonuses is attacked, they must make a Morale Save, TN Easy to keep the bonuses. Increase the TN by one rank for each stack of Dynamic Pose. |
| Super, Dynamic, Posing, ATTACK! | Dynamic Pose can now be used three times in one turn, with modified bonuses. Bonuses above the first one can only be gained by using Dynamic Pose in a row. 1. Double its normal bonuses, but they only affect Strike or Wound Rolls of the next attack. 2. The enhanced bonus applies to all the Adversary’s rolls in that attack. 3. The attack gains two free levels of the Energy Charge maneuver. |
| Dual Heat Attack | When this Adversary makes a Combination Attack, both them and the partner may spend another Action to combine their final Wound totals and reduce it by 33%. |
| The Dance of Inspiration! | Instead of affecting themself, the Adversary may instead use the Dynamic Pose talent to affect all of their allies. If the Adversary and any of their allies have the Tight-Knit Squad trait, the Adversary must pass an Easy TN Morale Save to successfully pose, spending the Action and failing to do anything but embarrass themself on a failure. Increase the TN by +2 for every defeated Tight-Knit Squad member past the first, and by another +2 if they are dead. |
| The Greatest Power and High | Once every two rounds, the Adversary may spend 6(T) Ki Points and Two Actions to stop time. They cannot gain any more Actions this turn. The Adversary then uses one of the following: – Their next action gains Superiority. – Make any combination of three basic Physicals and Energy Spheres, automatically hitting. These may not be wagered on. – Immediately move three times. |
| Terrifying | When this Adversary enters a Combat Encounter, or if they transform into an Alternate Form, all enemies that can see or sense them receive Impediment to their rolls. This can be removed by making a Medium TN Morale save as an action. The TN is reduced by -2 for every round that passes. |
| Parasitic Growth | As an Action, the Adversary can drain the target of a grapple, regardless of who started it. The enemy must make an Opposed Save that is chosen now; failing has them lose 1d8(T) Life and Ki Points, and restoring that much to the Adversary. If the adversary has Organic Consumption or Kiri Drain, they may use those traits instead. Successfully draining a target grants the Adversary +1(T) to all rolls for the rest of combat. They may only gain this bonus once per target, but it can stack. The Adversary also gains stacks by draining from population centers, which will degrade at -1(T) per Combat Encounter. |
| Blood in the Water | When any target is at the Bloodied threshold, increase this Adversary’s Wound Rolls against them by +1d4(T). Increase the size of these dice by one category for every Health Threshold they’ve reached after Bloodied, to a maximum of 1d8(T) at Wounded. The Adversary’s Wound Rolls are also increased by +2(T) if their target has the lowest current Life Points in this Combat Encounter. Disable these bonuses if the target has more Life Points than the Adversary. |
| Almost Immortal | At the start of their turn, the Adversary activates a Healing Surge that also restores Ki Points. When this Adversary is reduced to 0 Life Points, they are considered Defeated, but not dead. Roll a 2d10 percentile upon their defeat, and consult the table below: Regenerate in 1 Round Regenerate in 2 Rounds Regenerate in 3 Rounds Regenerate in 4 Rounds 01-30 31-60 61-80 81-00 The Adversary will regenerate in that many rounds and restore 15% of their Life and Ki Points for every round they took to regenerate. The only way to permanently kill them is to deal 100% of their current Life Points with one attack that engulfs them entirely. Ignore this part if the Adversary is truly immortal. |
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