If you were compelled by mysterious circumstances to choose between one of these non-spellcasters as the main villain in a campaign, which would you prefer, a warlord or a master criminal? Why? What does it say about your style of game?

Depends on the setting and genre. In OD&D games, I prefer warlords as they fit more into the S&S genre in my mind.

In Warhammer, I prefer master criminals as much gameplay takes place within the Empire where I envision less warlord on warlord action...except maybe the Border Princes.

Quote from: Spinachcat;833076Depends on the setting and genre.

Absolutely. Warlords for the wilderness, kingpins for urban games, mix and match for games that mix and match.

Would it be possible to elaborate on the circumstances?

I think I'd prefer a warlord, for no better reason than I've had master criminals as Big Bads a good bit more often than I've had warlords.

Neither.  Warlords and kingpins exist.  The players choose to battle or ally at their desire.

I'm pretty much all-warlord all-the-time.

I guess around half my major villains are casters, but it's the warlords I most enjoy playing and most fondly remember. Halvath Cormarrin, Prince of Restored Nerath, was great, especially the climactic duel between him and his mortal enemy PC Varek Tigerclaw, who had just killed Halvath's wife and sister the previous day.
Warlord Yusan is a current major off-screen presence in my Wilderlands game.  His actions and plots drive a lot of the campaign. The good-guy warlords are major factors too.

One thing - warlord & master villain are not mutually exclusive, I think of Karameikos' Ludwig Von Hendriks the Black Eagle Baron as combining elements of both.

Quote from: The Butcher;833088Absolutely. Warlords for the wilderness, kingpins for urban games, mix and match for games that mix and match.

This.  It depends on what players make for characters.

Quote from: The Butcher;833088Would it be possible to elaborate on the circumstances?

This would honestly be appreciated.

Quote from: The Butcher;833088Absolutely. Warlords for the wilderness, kingpins for urban games, mix and match for games that mix and match.

This, plus you can combine them. Kingpins in the settled areas who control/advise warlords on the frontier. A frontier warlord can come in from  the frontier and become a kingpin in the settled area over time, maybe even from bringing in military forces gathered on the frontier.

Both have their appeal.

I did a big adventure where the layers ended up opposing a warlord. Actually a war queen, who was hellbent on re-kindling her peoples on-and-off war with the kingdom the PCs happened to be aligned with.

Her army was large and well organized. But was very lacking in magical support and had a notorious morale quirk. Whereas the defending kingdom was mostly disorganized, but could call on quite a few casters and the scattered militias were adept at forest combat.

Quote from: The Butcher;833088Absolutely. Warlords for the wilderness, kingpins for urban games, mix and match for games that mix and match.

Would it be possible to elaborate on the circumstances?

I actually left setting and genre open because I didn't want to limit it to D&D/fantasy, but let's say that once you have made your BBEG choice you can then choose any game and setting you'd like. What I'm really interested in is visceral choices and their explanation.

Quote from: Shipyard Locked;833146I actually left setting and genre open because I didn't want to limit it to D&D/fantasy, but let's say that once you have made your BBEG choice you can then choose any game and setting you'd like. What I'm really interested in is visceral choices and their explanation.

Viscerally, there will be no difference.

In my mind, when I am creating a BBEG, then it will be a Mastermind. One who is capable and expert at direct combat, strategy, tactics, politics, and public relations. My concept of a Mastermind Villain can be best expressed in the character of Char Aznable from the Mobile Suit Gundam series. He began as an ace combatant, then managed to master politics enough to rise in rank and power and popularity until he controlled the Principality of Zeon and bent that government to his will.

I'd go for the Warlord, as I believe it narrows the players expectations much more, in turn allowing for more opportunities to subvert and play with those expectations.

To elaborate, popular media shows criminal masterminds as using every trick in the book. They have a small army of henchmen for the brute force approach, can bring in a wide range of specialists, have political connections and are great thinkers and manipulators.

Warlords are perfectly capable of having all that as well, but they are far more often represented being all brutal, all the time.

Thus, many players will be far more likely to know, that facing a criminal mastermind, they have to cover all the angles. But going into a campaign aware they are facing a warlord, they are far more likely to assume that the primary battlefield will be open combat, effectively blindsiding themself.

Quote from: Shipyard Locked;833146I actually left setting and genre open because I didn't want to limit it to D&D/fantasy, but let's say that once you have made your BBEG choice you can then choose any game and setting you'd like. What I'm really interested in is visceral choices and their explanation.

In this case, my visceral response is warlord, because I like my fantasy epic. I picture a guy in black armor with a death's head faceplate sitting on a throne in a remote, well-defended keep, and sending forth legions of enemies against the PCs and hellbent on a power-mad gambit for Something Really Bad.

I'm a fan of Dark Overlords, and I think they can have a big role to play in sandbox games.

A warlord with a brilliant adviser (who may or may not be out for the Warlord's position).:-)

Warlords are usually short-term adversaries in my campaign.  They're the "easy" boss.  

Masterminds are the guys behind the scene, that often influence the campaign for huge swaths of it before even being discovered, and eventually get confronted in some climactic final battle.

I've done this plenty of times to good effect.