Question about stating up enemies & mentors. Mentors should be level 5 & enemies one level higher than the character.
What about stats? Should I just create the character as normal and only boost up the level (with leveling perks), but not touch stats at all? Or should they get some free increases?
Totally up to you.
I’ve a question too…
It suggests that Enemies turn up primarily in town, but wouldn’t that limit roleplay and emergent story from the tests that the enemies evoke? I mean, the town phase it meant to be less roleplay-y and more procedural, even when the players are pushing for some non-dungeon roleplay. So how are some of the ways one can involve a PC’s enemy during the town phase that aren’t simply mechanical effects?
I love breathing life into these relationships, and in BW they are a staple for antagonism of a players BITs. Should we be using the same principle with enemies and BIGs?
I think the idea is that Town is a break from intense role-playing at the beginning, but then at the end when it’s personal business time things can start to hit the fan again (prompting more adventure). So maybe let the players relax, reequip, attempt to recover, and when everyone has their feet under them again (as much as they can) that’s when you say “Oh by the way, your enemy is in town” or “As you finish polishing your skills with your mentor he sighs heavily, something seems to be on his mind” or something like that.
Not sure where you’re getting that they only turn up in town. TB p. 99 – “Enemies can appear at the discretion of the GM at any time during an adventure or in town, but they often crop up in town.”
IIRC, enemies are related to Circles, so I would tend to have them as social foes. They could be rivals in the same Church of Law for example, both nominally on the side of Light, but in reality in opposition over interpretation of canon, or fighting over the same paramour. And because the foe is always a higher level, the kind of opposition can get really ugly, in the best possible way. 
Um, I said primarily in town, which as suggested by the quote on p.99 is their usual disposition. As MB infers, its a circles thang, which is a town-based roll. Thanks JB, that’s some good advice, I’ll think I’ll go down that road.
Is there a reason you couldn’t bring up an enemy as a twist? I mean, beyond a Circles twist. If it makes sense for the enemy to do so, you could pull a Raiders of the Lost Ark, for example, and have a party member’s archrival show up with reinforcements to steal the idol they’ve found.
Yeah, that’s what I was picturing in my head too as I was reading about enemies. However, you probably want to build up the enemy’s character with a healthy portion of in-town “what a jerk” moments before he cuts you off in a dungeon or turns out to be the big bad or anything like that. Gives you a better story arc, don’t want to be jumping to the climax prematurely 
Oh yes. Though it could also be a moment of “wait a second, what are you doing in this dungeon?” followed by the enemy thumbing their nose at the PC and running off with treasure.