I posted a Twitter poll just before my previous blog entry where I discussed the “dilemma” I was having with my Pathfinder campaign. I put the dilemma in quotes because part of me felt like I knew the answer. Apparently, 73% of people who took the time to answer my poll felt the same way.

Recap: I’m running a Pathfinder Adventure Path that currently has a Big Bad Evil Guy (BBEG) built into it. However, my players have grown to hate a character I had introduced. My issue was that the homegrown BBEG didn’t quite fit the story. Should I change the story to fit the villain? Or keep the story and introduce the new villain?

My players, without realizing it, answered the question for me. Before I’d even seen the poll results, I had a gaming session with my players. They are currently at sixth level and had fought their way deep into a dragon’s lair. The dragon was presumed dead, but as we all know, “it ain’t dead until you see the body, and even then you’d best chop it up.”

The next tunnel seemed to lead to the “main event”. Naturally, the PC’s were concerned. They felt there was going to be a dragon in there. But they all agreed on one thing – the BBEG I had introduced was probably going to be in there, sitting on the dragon’s head.

Injured characters were about to face a dragon, and for them, it was a blessing rather than facing the BBEG.

When your villain rates higher than a damn dragon, you keep that damn villain.

I have some work ahead of me. I have storylines to change, text to flavor. But in the end, it’s going to be worth it.