This is when The Chessmaster villain has developed a devious plot that is prepared for anything the hero might do -- except for one glaring flaw. For some reason, the villain has not considered the possibility of a Heroic Sacrifice. After all, you'd never catch him throwing his life away to save a bunch of lazy ungrateful civilians who don't care about anybody except themselves. Heck, even saving your True Companions comes after saving your own life. Only an idiot would throw his life away like that -- and only because he didn't realize how much more profitable saving it would be. Well, sometimes that PR would be bad, but you only have to get him to where he can act secretly to get it out of him.