And if so would you give them thier own domain or put them in an existing one?
Yeah, him, I hate dritz. He'd turn evil eventually... muhahahaha
thought out characters in the RA Salvatore books then the poster child drow! At least Jaraxle does what his nature demands.
One PC even said he hoped Elminster would get attacked by a greater wolfwere pack which would visit such a horrifying specific violation upon his body that it makes me wince now to even think about it.
But seriously, I think Iuz might be a good candidate for imprisonment, given the amount of pain and suffering he has caused.
From film I would have to suggest Full Metal Alchemist's Dante, and Hoenheim of Light. Or come to think of it perhaps they are.
Crime: Manipulating multiple mass killings in order to obtain the Philosipher's stone, and once it's power was used up setting up another mass killing.
Punishments:
1) Having to race against the clock as the time they stole ticks away faster and faster after each time they gain the philosipher's stone.
2) Being helpless but to watch as thier son dies, and then bringing back a mockery of him that wears his face (sometimes) and blames them for it not being truly alive.
3) Their love slowly whithering away, and being replaced by hatred. And anyone they find afterwards either repeating the same slide into misery with, or watching die.
Realm, a pastoral - European steam age technological setting. Fairly high magic for physical effects only.
I don't think that's a good reason to send someone to Ravenloft... bad idea certainly, but a one-way trip to Barovia? Doesn't that seem a bit extreme?
No, actually I think it would show them first hand that Ravenloft is an effective campaign setting quite able to touch people's lives.
The thread is about who is evil enough to deserve a Dark Domain as his fate.
(And Drizz't at least is not a token drow - drow don't have to be evil, only it's the overbearing force of their traditional culture. In my vision of D&D, sentient mortals, conscient beings are humane, with free will, and so they are not born evil usually (or good).)
Ahem, I disgress. Maybe a thayan examplar or a silver flamme fanatical freak, to make a change.
Ahem, I disgress. Maybe a thayan examplar or a silver flamme fanatical freak, to make a change.
Hazlik was a Red Wizard of Thay in 2nd edition. In games I run he still is, if you consider him then you don't need someone else from Thay.
The thread is about who is evil enough to deserve a Dark Domain as his fate.
Dick Cheney?
Dick Cheney?
With a fate similar to Azrael's? Always #2, even if he does all the work?
Some peoples are juvenile... -_-;
The thread is about who is evil enough to deserve a Dark Domain as his fate.
(And Drizz't at least is not a token drow - drow don't have to be evil, only it's the overbearing force of their traditional culture. In my vision of D&D, sentient mortals, conscient beings are humane, with free will, and so they are not born evil usually (or good).)
Ahem, I disgress. Maybe a thayan examplar or a silver flamme fanatical freak, to make a change.
Some peoples? lol, whos the juvenile one...
To clarify, I hate drizz't because, after his appearence, every 14 yr old jumpin up and down at the hobby shop I used to play at who wanted to play D&D wanted to be a chaotic good drow. "I'm a rebel! After an existance of brutal torture and learning how to sneak attack at the age of 5, I want to go to the surface and save the world from injustice! Pika pika!"
Frustrating enough, but to top it off, WotC will be releasing a book entirely devoted to the drow, and most of it will be for 'player options'...
*slaps head* oy...
On the topic at hand again, I actually did sentance an old character of a person who played a previous game of mine to the mists. He became a true necromancer/pale master just so he could control all the undead in the world and destroy them. However, he also wanted to show his deity (a nature god) his true devotion to her first; he used the undead to take over a better part of the world and gave everyone a choice: worship his godess or join the undead in the bonfire. He now has his own sort of 'sub domain' in my current ravenloft game.
Actually in a planescape game I met a charicter who actually escaped from Ravenloft - but probably deserves to go back.
Mr. Whiskers. - Magical Animal (house cat) - Most house cats content themselves to slaugtering a few dozen level 0 commoners. Only Mr. Wiskers is a skilled enough of a epic necromancer to turn them into his personal undead army to rule the multiverse with, and only Mr. Whiskers looks so cute, white and fluffy while doing it. - Meow. (I should state that both the player & GM are damn wierd on this one.)
:evillaugh Szass Tam earns a domain righ next to Darkon...:evillaugh Sorry, sometimes my mind escapes me...
"Come play with me in disney land!" *reaches out*...
AHHHHhHhHHH!
That would be awesome! The amount of Negative/Necromantic energy given off in the conflicts would have every darklord in the mists watching with awe... or should i say envy!
I could also see the Dark Powers themselves showing up to roast marsh mallow's over the ensuing madness!
Can i watch too?! :evillaugh
I've been rewatching Masterpiece Theater's Bleak House on PBS; if they ever did a movie in Paridon, I would love to see Charles Dance's "Mr. Tulkinghorn" in it. That portrayal was Lawful Evil personified.
For those of us who haven't seen it, please explain. What did Mr Tulkinghorn do, and what would be the thing you would torture him with in Ravenloft.
While World Gothic is nice, I think I'm not the only one who would enjoy a Early Industrial/Victorian Domain, or cluster.
http://www.online-literature.com/dickens/bleakhouse/
If they weren't so immediately recognizable, both Ebeneezer Scrooge & Mr. Tulkinghorn would fit in Paridon as a ruthless money-lender and his equally ruthless solicitor.
That would be awesome! The amount of Negative/Necromantic energy given off in the conflicts would have every darklord in the mists watching with awe... or should i say envy!
I could also see the Dark Powers themselves showing up to roast marsh mallow's over the ensuing madness!
Can i watch too?! :evillaugh
And don't forget, there's nothing stopping Szass Tam from learning new spells (Can you imagine Azalin's frusatration at that :evillaugh
)On a parrallel basis, Szass Tam's utimate goal is to reunite Thay under his rule.
On one side, you have Azalin filled with jealousy at how easily another can harness epic magic and learn new spells. On the other you have Szass Tam equally jealous that Azalin, who is caught in an Ethropic Curse can Have absolute control over his Kingdom and still have enough time to plot his own escape, study the basic fabric of the demi-plane and have enough creativity to find loopholes in the basic rules of the world.
Also don't forget Hazlik. He's a red wizard and according to the timeline, he entered Ravenloft long after Szass Tam had become the Zulkir of Necromancy. could you imagine what he would do (A completely new stretch of Mulan inhabited land has just appeared in his neck of the woods AND it's ruled by a dude that could blow him to kingdom come with a single sneeze...)
Oh yeah
:evillaugh more evil ideas are emerging...I have played the Realms for about fifteen years and have never liked him, nor seen a reason for such a character to exist.
I'd send him to a very small domain with nothing to do and no contact with any other sentients.
The Realms would be better for it.
1. An Athasian female human bard (pocket domain lhiannan shee lord)
2. An Athasian male human fighter/earth cleric kaisharga (Athasian lich)
3. A male human ranger/psychic warrrior were-snow tiger (Isle of Terror domain lord)
And all of them were PCs at one point (2 of them from the same player)
Given recent events DC Comics' 52 series: I sentence Black Adam to the Mists. His actions have put him in the same category has the Emperor, Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, and Lord Soth (as in being responsible for the death of millions).
I'd have to choose people with poor spelling and poor grammar. In a world where 90% of communication is performed through a keyboard, those two aspects should have been perfected by now.
You're being *****y, kitten :D -- but keep in mind that there's no small amount of communication being done through texting and SMS, which unfortunately encourages a telegram-like style of omitting verbs or even shorter-character substitutions ("@", "2", "u").
Spell-checkers are also a distinctly mixed blessing when it comes to overall spelling-- it's very easy to type in the wrong word and not have it flagged because you spelled it correctly (to/too being a very common example).
Seriously this dude is hardcore.
As references:
Dark knight returns
No Man's land Vol 5
The Killing Joke
A death in the Family
Infinite Crisis
This guy makes Strad look like a pussycat...
Over the years, I have sentenced:
1. An Athasian female human bard (pocket domain lhiannan shee lord)
2. An Athasian male human fighter/earth cleric kaisharga (Athasian lich)
3. A male human ranger/psychic warrrior were-snow tiger (Isle of Terror domain lord)
And all of them were PCs at one point (2 of them from the same player)
Given recent events DC Comics' 52 series: I sentence Black Adam to the Mists. His actions have put him in the same category has the Emperor, Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, and Lord Soth (as in being responsible for the death of millions).
Please explain. I don't know who Black Adam is, nor what any of your charicters did to deserve the mists.
Home setting: Engel (Earth mid 24th century)
Home world description – It is Europe five centuries after the apocalypse wiped out all adults. The Vitus Danse (the disease that wiped out all of Europe’s Post upbeat population in a week,) cleared the world of the wicked technology users, but spared the innocent children.
Europe is guarded by the Angeletic Church led by the Pontifix Maximus, Peter Segundus – who for as long as anyone can remember has been 12 years old.
Neither the Pontifix nor the Engel are due to the use of pre-apocalyptic technology, what blasphemous heresy are you suggesting? The former is most certainly unrelated to the tax on children in rural areas called the Tenth. In which a band of tax collectors round up a tenth of the town’s children and take them away. Just what are you suggesting?!?
The military is the Church’s Templars, its air force the five orders of Engel sent from God himself, who rally against the enemies of the church such as the rebellious Junk Lords (English secular warlords who use pre-apocalyptic technology to compete with the church), and the demonic Dreamseed – Demonic dire insects, (and some other species, but mostly insects.) seemingly spawned from nightmares.
Neither the Pontifix nor the Engel are due to the use of pre-apocalyptic technology, what blasphemous heresy are you suggesting? The former is most certainly unrelated to the tax on children in rural areas called the Tenth. In which a band of tax collectors round up a tenth of the town’s children and take them away. Just what are you suggesting?!? Everything is exactly as the church says it is – just ask them.
- Nabiel –
Nabiel was trained as a healer. He was an Engel from the order of healers, he was taught that he must, as one of God’s servant’s on Earth, love all mankind with equal measure. He worked to make sure that as many lived as well as possible while in his care. He appeared as an Engel (typical angel) with Snow white wings, and snow white skin interrupted by the tattoos of his order, and long flowing snow white hair. He acted with dedication and humility, and did his best to represent the Healing Engel.
Then came his trip to England, he saw the poverty that the Junklords were inflicting upon their citizens. They were starving and dying of disease, all while the Junklords wickedly lived in opulence. Pain starvation and Death awaited the children of England all for the simple crime of being born to the wrong parents.
It had long been the Church’s ambition to take England back, so this was his chance. He sparked multiple civil wars amongst the Junklords. He did this by killing their children, and implicating their rivals. He did it with no joy or sadism, but the simple logic of the triage. “How many innocent lives does it take to justify the killing of an innocent?” To Nabiel the answer was – two, by killing one to save two you are ahead one life. Doing the opposite, even if your action is inaction, you are killing two to save one. He was not cold in this – he cried and begged forgiveness, even during the act’s themselves. He cried himself to sleep every night, and took the slight comfort that in the end his actions would save far more than they killed.
Then when the civil wars had exhausted the various Junklords he signaled the Angeletic Church to invade. It was simple and he was put in a position to try and reconstruct England. His strategy was simple and historically time tested (though he did not know that.) He rounded up the surviving Junklord’s children and had them at a special boarding school in the heart of London. There they would be cared for, could be visited by their parents and raised in a moral environment. There they would unlearn being English secularists, and come to be good God fearing citizens and leaders of the Angeletic Church in England. That is they would grow up that way if their parent’s did not get out of line, if not – well accidents happen. This would be done without hesitation but not without regret, again Nabiel truly loves all people.
In the end he sacrificed himself to give the church to help the church capture a criminal. Was that enough, maybe, maybe not? If it was not enough he would find himself in the decadent Domain of Borca, watching it’s peasants starve under their aristocratic leaders.
I personally to make him fit in would strip him of his Engel wings during the day, only having them reappear at night, along with a coating of blood that he just cant get out from the nails. However the suffering of the masses would be his real torture. He would be more than willing to take drastic action to end it, which may lead to complications and suffering, which would lead to more drastic actions … and so on and so on.
Please explain. I don't know who Black Adam is, nor what any of your charicters did to deserve the mists.
I can't explain Tykus' characters, but Black Adam is an old Captain Marvel enemy (a sort of evil version of him, who also used the magic word "Shazam" to transform), who had in recent years become a sort of anti-hero (he followed a code of ethic-- just that it was more like the Hammurabi Code and pretty brutal by modern standards).
Well, in 52, after his wife and young brother-in-law were killed, he found out what country sent the killers after him and them-- and then went Old Testament Wrath of God on them. 2 million people dead.
And then things got *really* ugly.
Here's his Wikipedia entry, including how the whole 52 story played out.
Elminster.
I have played the Realms for about fifteen years and have never liked him, nor seen a reason for such a character to exist.
I'd send him to a very small domain with nothing to do and no contact with any other sentients.
The Realms would be better for it.
In my Grand Conjunction campaign, my players were hoping they'd end up on Faerun so they could see Elminster getting physically abused in a non-PG way by a greater wolfwere.
This didn't happen, but I share your disdain for Elminster. (In fact my disdain extends to all things Forgotten Realms-ish.)
"I got a cooooool idea!!!! Let's pile on dozens of character levels onto a single über-powerful character and then make him a complete rip-off of Gandalf! Yes!"
The Senior Brand Manager that announced WotC would discontinue Dragon & Dungeon magazines.
Amen!:P
Please explain. I don't know who Black Adam is, nor what any of your charicters did to deserve the mists.
Well, I don't need to explain Black Adam (sorry about that, I thought most gamers were also comic book/cartoon junkies :D ) as it's explained above (thanks, by the way). The very least I can give a quick rundown my entries:
1. An Athasian female human bard (pocket domain lhiannan shee lord)
This former PC, like so many, just happened to fail too many powers checks for little things (luck of the dice), hence, a floating pocket domain (an inn, actually, The Melodious Scorpion). The first failed check was for drinking and using a potion of undead control (2nd ed.), of all things.
I do want to get the stats for her posted, but, like so many things I want to do here, I either don't have the time or get distracted by a new project or idea.
2. An Athasian male human fighter/earth cleric kaisharga (Athasian lich)
I don't recall much about what happened with this guy.
3. A male human ranger/psychic warrrior were-snow tiger (Isle of Terror domain lord)
This guy I remember fondly because the player in question STILL complains about losing him and occasionally makes variants of him for the various campaigns (name included) he plays (not necessarily D&D). Suffice to say, the PC identified with tigers, was originally from Hordelands region near Rasheman (spelling?) of FR, and had a extreme hatred of elves. His final act of evil was to slaughter an entire village of elves (single-handedly, I had the other characters distracted). He (the player) was more upset by the fact that he (as the character) tried to make a bargain with the DPs (I had the Furies involved) and I (as the DM and DPs) twisted the intention without twisting the wording (as so often happens when he (the player) tries wriggle out of a sticky situation--he just keeps digging deeper). [The player, by the way, has threatened to walk out of my current campaign if the characters make a trip through Mists. But I keep reminding that there are plenty pockets that are willing to come to him. Personally, I think he's just afraid I'll send him to his original tiger-person's domain.]:D
In my Grand Conjunction campaign, my players were hoping they'd end up on Faerun so they could see Elminster getting physically abused in a non-PG way by a greater wolfwere.
This didn't happen, but I share your disdain for Elminster. (In fact my disdain extends to all things Forgotten Realms-ish.)
"I got a cooooool idea!!!! Let's pile on dozens of character levels onto a single über-powerful character and then make him a complete rip-off of Gandalf! Yes!"
I will answer this annoying FR hate again;
Elminster was always supposed to be a discrete and mysterious figure, a sort of Merlin who is a commentator of lores. TSR wanted Greenwood to say more on him that he would have.
And also, he is a sort of anchor for Mystra - so that she won't get too power hungry. He is cursed in a way, to live ternaly and always watch much more than act.
So, unlike what the haters say, he is not really munchkiny, as much as a certain greyhawk mage is.
I'd have to choose people with poor spelling and poor grammar. In a world where 90% of communication is performed through a keyboard, those two aspects should have been perfected by now.
I wonder if you got my Lynn Truss reference above.
Let's face it: she has power, people hate her, and she's probably hurting on the inside. She's a shoe-in for a CORE domain.
I'm sure Rumsfeld is there already (probably pretending - with a good degree of believability - that he's just a common undead creature). Also, we haven't heard anything about John Bolton for a while - he's probably loping around on all fours as a silver-hair-streaked lycanthrope trying to eat U.N. inspectors.
I wonder what will happen to Wolfowitz.
Paris Hilton
A desert domain, eh? ("That's hot.") :D
I can see Szass Tam earn a domain, after flipping through the novel "Unclean", I can honestly say that dude is hardcore
Sorry, sometimes my mind escapes me...
The Zulkir of Necromancy has appeared in another novel besides the Red Gold? What did he do in it for earning such fame as a hardcore lord of evil?
Oh oh oh, I think Rasputen should have his own domain! Unless of course that is that he was the basis for Azalin, in which case nevermind.
I thought Rasputin was the basis for Dominic d'Honaire (spelling?) ?
The puppet version from Team America would do nicely!
Featuring the two nations locked in eternal warfare:
Cameria, a united federation of states ruled over by the Evil Wizard G. W. Schrüb, who has such power he can annihilate any given kingdom with the press of a button, and ruthless enough that he can sentence thousands of the nation's young men and women to a relentless unwinnable quagmire by declaring war on a desert nation.
Choson, a scrappy wartorn small kingdom where children age unusually fast and are conscripted into the army at age 15. Fully one-fifth of the population languishes in death camps as the paranoid overlord, Kim the Betrayer, crushes all opposition to his rule. Kim is working on a prototype superweapon known only as the Sword of Kim, but this may be a codeword for some sort of war machine that can deliver fiery death to distant cities. Or it might just be a civilian power source for purely peaceful purposes that requires no intervention by any International Swordsmithing Energy Agency whatsoever.
Then of course (going along with the movie), you have the general who must rise up from a lowly slave back to glory, only to be confronted with the problem of either allowing Commodus to continue to rule or stage a military coup, and possibly become corrupt as well. Of course, allowing the Senate to rule may also be a bad idea. What a struggle.
It's a domain made in Heaven!
(Or maybe Hell?)
If it were, you'd have to send a large number of U.S. states there along with Essex.
(It's *cousins* marrying.)
If you're trying to make a joke, you just botched.
(It's *cousins* marrying.)
The joke was intentionally inaccurate. As far as I know marriage between siblings is illegal in all but two U.S. states (and that requires them to be consenting adults), and all of the UK.
Your response was entertaining in itself. I suggest you go to Mordent and check in with a chirurgeon there. Your daily intake of nutrients may be irony-deficient. :P
The joke was intentionally inaccurate. As far as I know marriage between siblings is illegal in all but two U.S. states (and that requires them to be consenting adults)
Um, no.
If it's any consolation, you're probably funnier than Pauly Shore.
It's interesting too that Dilisnya sought out Boritsi during the Great Upheaval. Not that she's particularly closely related to him, but you can see that their family ties don't necessarily make for a healthy relationship.
I actually kept Commodus in mind as I wrote about Ivan Dilisnya for Gazetteer IV.
I thought Ivan's write-up seemed familiar somehow. I was subconsciously seeing the connection.
Elminster.
I have played the Realms for about fifteen years and have never liked him, nor seen a reason for such a character to exist.
I'd send him to a very small domain with nothing to do and no contact with any other sentients.
The Realms would be better for it.
With no booze or women.
*rolls eyes* Yeah, Elminster, that alcoholic womanizer...
:heehee 
I would send Richard Rahl from the Sword of Truth series to the Mists. He is a bit on the bloodthirsty side, for a hero. If he can build a statue that can make people immediately turn to his side and against their rulers (Faith of the Fallen), then why spend time with needless wars and slaughters and have him start mass-producing statues?
As an avid SOT reader, I agree. As much as I love Richard, he does fit into the Mists as a good "Moral Dilema" kind of Darklord. I would suggest Darken too, but just b/c he kicks so much ass!
Leopold II of Belgium
Crimes telling people he was running a charity for Africans but instead turned the Congo into a nation wide Sweat Shop/Rubber plantation with the entire populace as his slaves. His policy to keep his overseers who were European was to require that for every bullet spent they return with the African's hand they used it to kill, so some of them went hunting every now and again and would chop off the hands of a few random people to make up the differance.
The relevant wikipedia articles are here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_Free_State
I have thought of using him with a mix of Mask of the Red Death and D20 Modern and calling the campaign The Century of Monsters.
Why go for Mrs Winchester when you can have Hitler, Stalin, Papa Doc, Capone, and others. What do you guys think of that for a campain setting?
[Contemporaneously it was the Boxer Rebellion that swept across China, but there's always foreshadowing for the Communist takeover.]
Here is a real world one for either regular or Mask of the Red Death.
Leopold II of Belgium
Crimes telling people he was running a charity for Africans but instead turned the Congo into a nation wide Sweat Shop/Rubber plantation with the entire populace as his slaves. His policy to keep his overseers who were European was to require that for every bullet spent they return with the African's hand they used it to kill, so some of them went hunting every now and again and would chop off the hands of a few random people to make up the differance.
The relevant wikipedia articles are here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_Free_State
I have thought of using him with a mix of Mask of the Red Death and D20 Modern and calling the campaign The Century of Monsters.
Why go for Mrs Winchester when you can have Hitler, Stalin, Papa Doc, Capone, and others. What do you guys think of that for a campain setting?
That'd be interesting. Would it be the same characters the whole time? I can see them now... 99 and still adventuring!
That'd be interesting. Would it be the same characters the whole time? I can see them now... 99 and still adventuring!
Actually I would go with modern charicters just Mask of the Red Death rules. I love the theme of "be carful when you hunt monsters, lest you become one yourself." That is one of the conerstones of Ravenloft and I feel that it is just as relavent in a modern day setting, perhaps more so.
One person I'd love to see in Ravenloft or Gothic Earth is Elizabeth Bathory--the Blood Countess. This was a noblewoman that would slay virgins and then bathe in their blood because she believed it would keep her young. Worse still is that her activities were known to other nobles, but they didn't do a thing to stop her until she began targeting their daughters. Yes, I know there's a monster in VRGttWD based on her. But that's not enough. She was such a twisted, deranged human being that to not detail her is almost a crime itself.
That guy, by example - High Cardinal Krozen. Classic 'end justify means, corrupted religious leader. Would make a nice Inquisition Era style Domain.
Or that 'guy" - The Lord of Blades. If he somehow failed, perhaps, as a background. Maybe there is a classic frankeinstein (as in the novel) tale behind him...
The person who started the destruction of the lycanthropes in Eberron should definate have a nice little domain in the next edition. He didn't even care if they weren't evil!
To be fair, lycanthropes where threats... dangerous threats. There was a sort of 'blood furry' who overtook ALL and EVERY 'canthropes, every werebeings... turning them all in bloodthristy beasts. Even the rare good ones. All became monsters.
There was not really much choice to fight back... and sadly, fear made that somes good ones where killed.
A fight for survival, desesperate mad efforts...
One person I'd love to see in Ravenloft or Gothic Earth is Elizabeth Bathory--the Blood Countess. This was a noblewoman that would slay virgins and then bathe in their blood because she believed it would keep her young. Worse still is that her activities were known to other nobles, but they didn't do a thing to stop her until she began targeting their daughters. Yes, I know there's a monster in VRGttWD based on her. But that's not enough. She was such a twisted, deranged human being that to not detail her is almost a crime itself.
I was looking for her name, she seems the perfect first of a new kind of Vampire. Thieves of Years: Each time these vampires must kill their victim, there is no "only taking a little" with them. It does not matter how the victim dies only that the Thief of Years is responsible. Every time they kill a victim they steal 1/4 of the years that person's life that they would have lived without intervention. So they get more "juice" from an infant than a old man. They age a year a minute in full and direct sunlight, but they can just keep stealing years, some can suck them away like stealing breath but this leaves an obvious sign as the victim seems aged to a geriatric state in a matter of minutes. All of them can go back to todlers if they steal enough years, all of them except Mrs. Batheroy, she just can't get past those first crows feet arround the eyes. In regular Ravenloft I'd give her a new bit of the Core.
And while I agree with you about modern day villians for the most part Osama Bin Laden & Chucky Manson both get to compete with Elana Faith Hold in a 3 way religious war.
I was looking for her name, she seems the perfect first of a new kind of Vampire. Thieves of Years: Each time these vampires must kill their victim, there is no "only taking a little" with them. It does not matter how the victim dies only that the Thief of Years is responsible. Every time they kill a victim they steal 1/4 of the years that person's life that they would have lived without intervention. So they get more "juice" from an infant than a old man. They age a year a minute in full and direct sunlight, but they can just keep stealing years, some can suck them away like stealing breath but this leaves an obvious sign as the victim seems aged to a geriatric state in a matter of minutes. All of them can go back to todlers if they steal enough years, all of them except Mrs. Batheroy, she just can't get past those first crows feet arround the eyes. In regular Ravenloft I'd give her a new bit of the Core.
And while I agree with you about modern day villians for the most part Osama Bin Laden & Chucky Manson both get to compete with Elana Faith Hold in a 3 way religious war.
As far as Ms. Bathory goes, I think she was already done with in the Baroness of Blood novel and I think Ivana Boritsi was cast in her vein.
I think the religious zealot angle has been almost done to death in RL: Elena, Yagno, and that angel/zombie wannabe lord in the Amber Wastes (can't remember his name or the domain's name [I know, that's unforgivable as a RL fan])
that angel/zombie wannabe lord in the Amber Wastes
Diamabel
As far as Ms. Bathory goes, I think she was already done with in the Baroness of Blood novel and I think Ivana Boritsi was cast in her vein.
Actually, she reminds me of Lucretia Borgia (as does Borca in general). The Borgias were infamous in Rennaissance Venice, using political maneuvering and poison to attain the highest levels of power (a Borgia was even Pope for a little while). Bathory may have been in the Baroness of Blood (I haven't read it), but she's definitely a different villain than Ivana Boritsi.
Michael Vick (Kennel-master of Valachan)
any commonly known serial killer like say BTK (as a boogey man. I find them personally terrifying myself (serial killers as well as boogey men))
Who was that jerk over in Serbia? Milosevic! (As a darklord who butchers a relegious minority of his domain only to see them rise up as undead and overwhelm everything he had built)
and finally, Aliester Crowley, as himself. (Arcanist 1)
She wasn't particularly evil, just... very chaotic.
One time she took part in an assassin's game with water pistols and ended up getting picked up by the police because she posed for a few James Bond style secret agent photos in a photo booth. The photo developers saw her with a gun and immediately called the police. Turns out it was a pump action water gun in the shape of a Glock.
Another time she challenged me and two other lads to a height-peeing competition while we were staggering back from a pub, and she actually won.
I had a headache once and I couldn't stop complaining about it. She kicked me in the shins until my headache was the last thing on my mind.
For a while she was the Webmistress (spelling?) of the U.S. embassy website in Beijing, but she quit after Condoleezza took over the State department because, as she put it, "entropy was decreasing". Since then she's had a varied career as Pilates instructor, amateur actress, swimsuit and baby milk model (!), and once she outran several armed Chinese police while completely naked during the Communist Party's sixth Five-Year-Plan Plenum meeting in 2003 (though she was partially helped by the capture of the German embassy's press secretary, who was also naked and who held up the Chinese police for a few valuable seconds).
I saw her do something to a mouse she caught in the house. If the other mice were sentient and were watching this, they would clearly never come back into the house again. (It involved bleach and a trash can and some human fluids that created Hydrochloric Acid.)
For my money, I'd make her a fey and have her lead humans to their destruction... or at least their acute embarrassment.
I'd make him an Illusionist that gets access to really powerful illusion spells but then give everyone a +10 bonus to disbelieve. He might also be in line for the charletan prestige class.:D
Was she at least hot?:D
http://apolyton.net/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=5206637
This is a picture of her in Beijing reading Roger's Profanisaurus, a dictionary of swear words and rude expressions.
I'd say she was pretty good looking.
I am new to the Ravenloft forums so please excuse any faux pas or gaps in my knowledge.
I have had 2 ideas about fictional characters that would fit quite well as RL darklords
Dr Anton Phibes and Captain Obed Marsh
for those of you who dont know these characters...
Anton Phibes was the main character from the movies the abominable Dr Phibes, and Dr Phibes rises again.
He was played by horror legend Vincent Prince and the story concerns the aforementioned Dr Phibes's quest for vengeance.
Set in the 1920s Phibes was originally a doctor of theology and a famous organist, he was involved in a car crash with his beloved wife victoria, they were rushed to hospital but Victoria lasted only 6 minutes on the operating table and Phibes was pronounced dead (after suffering terrible burns), It later transpires that Phibes is not dead but is in hiding and has also gone completely mad and is currently planning his revenge on the medical team that he thinks has killed his wife.
He decides to kill them by using the 10 plagues of egypt from the book of exodus as his inspiration (for the curse of blood he drains every drop of blood from a surgeon while he is still alive), he is also a technical genius (in the mould of jigsaw from the saw movies) and not only builds the contraptions to exact his revenge but also clockwork musicians.
One of the eeriest things about Phibes is that when he speaks his lips dont move and his face is pretty muchy experessionless, this is because his injuries have deformed him to the degree that he must wear prosthetics and make up in order to go out and about, he is also unable to speak without aid (he has a microphone jack in his neck which is connected to a gramophone), it also possibly implied that Phibes is undead.
He also later returns in order to ressurect his wife using magic water from a hidden shrine in egypt that only opens once every x number of years and not only extends life but also returns the dead to life,he awakes only to find that a rival (a man several hundred years old called Byderbeck) is also searching for it.
Of course much of this wont be relevant to a gothic fantasy setting but at its core you have a theatrical darklord, whose crime was commiting cruel and undeserved vengeance, whose punishment is that either no matter what his efforts his wfe remains dead (a bit like mordenheim in that respect) or his final vengeance is always denied him. he could possibly have cleric , or more likely expert and some form of construct crafter class levels.
Obed marsh is a character from the HP Lovecraft story "The Shadow over Innsmouth" in Ravenloft the captain doesnt need to change much from his original counterpart,In RL he becomes a sailor called Obadiah Morass who encountered a primitive tribe on his travels and learned of their religion (they worshipped ancient powerful members of a renegade race of kua toa who in turn worshipped a godlike being from the Far realm possibly Thoon, a creature known and worshipped by certain enclaves of mindflayers), after being iniated into this corrupt and evil faith he returned to his home port town of Immund and preached his new religion, when he had a few followers he tried to convert the town by force and slay the clerics of the existing faiths (the DP begin to take note) they are repeled and flee to a camp on a rocky outcrop, there he uses his unholy divine magic to summon aid from his gods beneath the sea and the same night the town is attacked by the kuo toa (their clerics among them) and captain Morass rules the town as high priest, he bans all other faiths, makes human sacrifices of any who refuse to convert and worst of all the member of the cult begins to perform bizzare rituals that twist and mutate them into abberant human/kua toa hybrids in order that they will fully change into kuo toa and go into the sea and spend eternity in the service of their powerful rulers and their far realms master.
Those who refuse this "sacred honour" are forced into it (at this point the DP have seen enough and the mists roll in taking Morass, Immund and several miles of land and sea in the surrounding area into ravenloft.
Immund is now the only town on a small island in the sea of sorrows.
Obadiah Morass's crimes are obvious, his curse is that despite his potence as a cleric and the aid of his Kua toa masters best clerics and sorcerors, despite all the rituals he performs his transformation goes no further than making him a twisted hybrid and so he can never fulfill his greatest desire, to transcend his human form and go into the sea.
sorry the post is a bit long, thanks folks
SciFi Channel's Dagon is based on "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," for those unable or unwilling to go buy the collected works of Lovecraft. Might be easier on the brain, too. I learned more new English words reading the stories the man wrote than I did in my time at high school.
You can't go wrong with a Vincent Price movie.
I thinks safe to say that almost any of the characters Vincent price plays can be assured a one way ticket to the realm of mists, another suitable darklord candidate is Prince Prospero from the movie "Masque of the red death" (not related to the game :D)
SciFi Channel's Dagon is based on "The Shadow Over Innsmouth,"
I have that on DVD and can recommend it wholeheartedly, along with other Lovecraft adaptions (The Dunwich horror, which stars a young Dean Stockwell, (Al from Quantum leap), and also Reanimator starring Jeffery Combs, the man who set the standard for the portrayel of mad scientists) these films are not 100% true to the book but few book adaptions are (look at the LOTR movies,and worst culprit to date,the most recent version of the War of the Worlds, in fact I think the only movie Ihave seen that is true to the book is 1984 version of 1984 :D).
If my memory serves, Dagon has relocated innsmouth from new england to coastal Spain, and has made one or two minor plot adjustments, but all things considered it is a good film (the sequence where Ezekiel tells the protagonist the history of innsmouth is amazing although the old drunks accent is a little hard to understand and shows Obed Marsh (or Captain Combarro as he is named in this movie) doing some of the activities I mentioned above that get him and Innsmouth dragged into ravenloft).
As far as Vincent Price goes, name one of his characters that wouldn't be a good villian to use with this setting. Hmmmm, I say we compile a netbook that contains adventures based on his movies or good remakes of his movies. I've always wanted to see a "13 Ghosts" adventure. Of course, I do believe that a lot of them have been included in the setting already is some fashion or another.
http://apolyton.net/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=5206637
This is a picture of her in Beijing reading Roger's Profanisaurus, a dictionary of swear words and rude expressions.
I'd say she was pretty good looking.
\
Sorry to derail even further
, but naturally cute i guess, specially with the description of her person, you gave us :Dhttp://apolyton.net/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=5206637
This is a picture of her in Beijing reading Roger's Profanisaurus, a dictionary of swear words and rude expressions.
I'd say she was pretty good looking.
Uh, you may want to try a different link. Not everyone of us wants to register just to get a look at this newest DL.:D
Uh, you may want to try a different link. Not everyone of us wants to register just to get a look at this newest DL.:D
The way he described a tomboy girl, i did ;)
A Yahoo Geocities link, then: http://www.geocities.com/enixine/alliebrass.jpg
This was after I'd helped her disassemble her bed and move it into the living room. The people next door started banging on the wall because of the noise, so she started banging on the brass knobs of the headboard.
You know, just to join in the fun, etc.
Mischievous like a sithkin.
the villain in the movie "Boo"
From what you have written that sounds like a very interesting movie!
Here a few links to pictures and drawings of the characters I have mentioned, not my work unfortunatly but they give you the idea.
Anton Phibes
Disguise- http://www.filmreference.com/images/sjff_03_img1289.jpg
Real Face- http://www.ghoulishgary.com/cms/wp-content/gallery/illustration-monsters/GGillo-phibes.jpg
Obed marsh
http://images.facade.com/i/t/lovecraft/l/r29.jpg
And this is a YouTube video that tells of his return to Port taken from the movie Dagon.((May contain spoilers, If you have not seen dagon and want to watch it))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v1RMJOTlZw&NR=1
I have had another couple of Ideas, however these characters probably don't require a realm the size of nation as their own but maybe they could expand or add a little to an existing realm.
Another Vincent Price special :D
Edward Sheriden Lionheart.
Lionheart was a old school actor whose love of Shakespeare prevented him from appearing in any other production, known for his "vigorous" acting style, his critics could never find a good thing to say about him and always gave his performances bad reviews, his own opinion however was that he was the worlds greatest living actor.
Then came the critics circle award ceremony, Lionheart was totally convinced that his services to theatre were going to be rewarded and he would receive the recognition he deserved after 30 years on stage, he even walked up to receive the award but by unanimous decision it went to a brilliant newcomer and the critics took advantage of the occasion to humiliate him, crushed and humiliated he making a scene after the awards berating the critics and after his daughter asks him to come away and stop "helping them to hurt you more" he realizes what an embarrassment he has become and throws himself of the balcony into the river Thames.
This is not where the story ends, and Vincent is again larger than life itself in a role that he performs so well, the madman obsessed with vengeance.
How I see lionheart in Ravenloft,
Sheridan Chandos (Bard 10/ Aristocrat 2/ Expert 2)
Given the characters love of "The great Bard" I think a suitably ironic twist would be to make Lionheart, Ravenlofts version of Shakespeare, a playwright and actor whose constant bad reviews and smear campaign by several local merchants drives him to murder.
Paridon should gain a new slum district that as well as housing many tramps and hobos (Who in the film are Lionhearts minions) also feature a very old and rundown theatre.
In order to justify his class levels of bard it is safe to say that due to his extensive experience on stage which includes many duel scenes, he is an accomplished fencer, his bardic abilities fit with his being a performer, any roguelike abilities and skill gained from his bard levels are also justified by his association with the down and outs of the slums, he is very well bred (explained by his Aristocrat levels) and is a scholar of the arts (his expert levels), his bardic spells should possibly be changed from being classed as arcane spells to psionic effects (although all the mechanics can stay the same).
His Crimes were numerous horrible murders (in the movie his murders all occur in the style of Shakespeare murders,in RL it can be a similar thing, he kills how the characters of his plays kill), His Curse is that no matter what he does his performances are never well received, he is doomed to be forever loathed and hated by critics, the Tramps however truly believe he is the greatest , but he wants the recognition of his peers and those whose opinion he cares about. His Perform (actor) skill checks always suffer a penalty (based on his audience's skills, perhaps the penalty is the number of ranks in perform, knowledge the arts, etiquette, literature etc x 3) in fact the more cultured and sophisticated the viewer the worse he appears to be.
Here is a link to how i imagine him to look
http://www.sketchythings.com/images/MKshots/Charcoal%20Price.jpg
My second idea is perhaps the most famous movie maniac of all time.
See if you can guess who it is.
Norkin Perman (Commoner5 / Expert2)
Norkin Perman is the mild mannered innkeeper of "the Red whirlpool" a very large and isolated Inn on a very quiet road in Mordentshire.
The Inn is usually empty but occasionally unfortunates happen upon the establishment and stay the night, they don't leave.
Just a short distance away from the inn, is the Perman family home, a small cottage that stands on a hill, when away from the house Norkin is nervous and agitated constantly looking up toward the cottage and its windows.
Norkin however has a dark secret, if anyone is staying at the inn whenever he goes to sleep he must make a will save (which involves him arguing with himself) to remain "normal" otherwise he unconsciously shifts into his other form, Nora Perman (Norkin's Mother) a female corpse (perhaps a wight) and will then proceed to murder anyone in the area whilst screaming at the victims, "dirty dirty, leave my Norkin alone, my little Norkin" any dagger held by Nora Perman instantly gains a high number of enhancements (especially keen and wounding).
If Norkin ever encounters a female he will be more nervous than usual and must make his will save every time he is alone, to prevent his "mother" taking over.
(Most of the names I give them are Anagrams or have associations with the original character, Sheriden is Lionhearts middle name and Chandos painted a very famous portrait of Shakespeare, Norkin Perman, is an anagram of the characters first name and the actors second)
watch this space as next time I might suggest the Chef famous all over the Ream of Mists for his unusual food, Hector Lannibel :D:D:D:D:D
He was practically a darklord already and all I can think of is that the writer's must have been channeling it subconciously when they came up with him.
He's already got some squid/crab monster curse, can't get with the girl/goddess he desires, can only touch dry land every 10 year's, has some carnival type twisting going on his ship and crew, controls a giant kraken, bargins with doomed souls into servitude for 100 years of slavery or death, can freaken grant wishes for soul's, and to top it all off he ripped out his own heart to not feel pain and lost all emotion, and it became his weakness as it can kill him and threaten him into servitude as well.
Heck from that list it seem's like he already is there.
Davy Jones from Pirates of the Carribian 2 Dead Man's Chest.
He was practically a darklord already and all I can think of is that the writer's must have been channeling it subconciously when they came up with him.
He's already got some squid/crab monster curse, can't get with the girl/goddess he desires, can only touch dry land every 10 year's, has some carnival type twisting going on his ship and crew, controls a giant kraken, bargins with doomed souls into servitude for 100 years of slavery or death, can freaken grant wishes for soul's, and to top it all off he ripped out his own heart to not feel pain and lost all emotion, and it became his weakness as it can kill him and threaten him into servitude as well.
Heck from that list it seem's like he already is there.
Actually, Barbossa struck me as more the DL-type in COTBP; Davey Jones always struck me as demon lord (and was the inspiration for my campaign's Demon Lord of Pirates, Captain of the Abyssal Layer/Ship Demonwing). However, Davey Jones' bargains with dying sailors can still be used to great effect with Ravenloft's own version to the Flying Dutchman (the original story, not the Pirates' version)--The Relentless. I can just see Captain van Reese doing something like that given what has ever been written about him.
Then you could have Star Wars/Ravenloft mini crossovers, to generate revenues for Wizards too.
Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars.
Then you could have Star Wars/Ravenloft mini crossovers, to generate revenues for Wizards too.
that is just sad.. and imo not what the thread is about..ROLEplay, not cash generation.. sigh
Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars.
Then you could have Star Wars/Ravenloft mini crossovers, to generate revenues for Wizards too.
PLEASE tell me that was sarcasm.
Well, I wouldn't call it sarcasm per se.
Maybe a mischievous little aside, perhaps? ;)
mike myers?
the brain that wouldn't die!(oops that's been done already!)
the care beasr & the cousins?
& the blob of course.
how a bout freddy cruger?
mike myers?
the brain that wouldn't die!(oops that's been done already!)
the care beasr & the cousins?
& the blob of course.
Thanks for mentioning Friday the 13th. There was also a series by the same name and that give me the following Soul to add to the Mists.
Louis Vaugerdy (french for Friday)
Occupation Wizard / Antique salesman.
Louis has done something amazing on Ravenloft, established reliable contact with another plane and he has been using it to bring forth several Hundred Magic items, (or perhaps channeling it's energy to enchant the antiques in his shop.) That realm is Baator. Louis Vaugerdy is a dedicated Diobolist and Infernalist, all the magic items work for their owners to do various good things.
For example a watch that freezes time for an hour, or a baby crib that will heal any condition, or a makeup kit that allows any one to temporarily get rid of their deformities. The only catch is you need to make a few sacrifices to get them to work, litteraly. The Watch has a small pocket knife attached which must be used to kill somone at midnight (the bonus 13th hour occurs between Midnight and 1:00 am.) The crib is from the Titanic and requires the water based deaths of 7 others before the crib will heal. The make-up kit belonged to Jhon W. Booth and needs the life blood of a victim to hide the deformities. Who said that Magic Items in Ravenloft needed to be rare? Louis will sell them to anyone, he won't even hide them or mention the "special" features, it's so much better when people find them out for themselves.
:confused HMB:
HMB's right. Friday in French is vendredi (yes, it's also undercase in French). Is "vaugerdy" some other language?
As a side note i think Palpatine qualifies as a darklord quite nicely, however he would be more at home in the galaxy of mists (for those who have not seen the thread I started about a possible high tech, no magic galaxy of mists, so that the DP can imprison beings from magicless universes and highly technological cultures.
failing that, a secret warlock that began as a minor aristocrat and manipulated his way to emperor by starting wars and using machiavellian intrigue to get the top, could easily be created, his name could be something like Dantius palthataine, Eldritch lord of darkness, he could ven have trained an apprentice known for his black armour and laboured breathing (and also has levels of Blackguard, no prize's for guessing who that is).
one final idea I had was Jigsaw from the saw movies, incarnated in ravenloft as a wizard/artificer who creates magical traps and puzzles to try and teach harsh lessons as he does in the movies, his DL curse could be that either A) no one passes his tests (he doesnt create them so that the victim has no chance of winning, and wants people to suceed), or B) everyone survives his tests but none learn their lesson (this would be a source of total frustrastion as its not in his nature to just kill them, it would mean that no matter how intricate or painful the lesson, his games are not working)
one final idea I had was Jigsaw from the saw movies, incarnated in ravenloft as a wizard/artificer who creates magical traps and puzzles to try and teach harsh lessons as he does in the movies
Kind of reminds me of the Dark Powers, actually. Except the DPs pick those who've earned it (not that the "victims" in the Saw movies were nice people themselves).
how a bout freddy cruger?
mike myers?
the brain that wouldn't die!(oops that's been done already!)
the care beasr & the cousins?
& the blob of course.
I thought the Nightmare Court was based on the dream demons from Nightmare on Elm Street. Is that wrong? And I thought horror movie serial killers, such as Mike Myers, were the inspiration for the Midnight Slasher of Karina. Umm, why the Carebears and the Carebear Cousins though? And I believe the blob has been done.
For those of us who haven't seen it, please explain. What did Mr Tulkinghorn do, and what would be the thing you would torture him with in Ravenloft.
While World Gothic is nice, I think I'm not the only one who would enjoy a Early Industrial/Victorian Domain, or cluster.
Mordent I believe is rather Victorian.
HMB's right. Friday in French is vendredi (yes, it's also undercase in French). Is "vaugerdy" some other language?
Nope I think that is just my bad spelling and how they prounounced it on the show.
Mordent is largely post-Renaissance pre-Industrial Revolution English countryside. Paridon in the Zherisian cluster is probably the closest to a truly Victorian domain--down to abject poverty, street vice, and industrial barons.
Actually, wasn't there another similar domain where the lord acted like an industrial baron? All I can remember is that he was the son of a druid, had a disease touch, and an abject hatred of nature (his father was a cruel druid).
Actually, wasn't there another similar domain where the lord acted like an industrial baron? All I can remember is that he was the son of a druid, had a disease touch, and an abject hatred of nature (his father was a cruel druid).
Nosos, yeah. It seems like there are lot of "official" domains that never got so much as a mention in 3.x. Can't remember the details for Nosos, though, but I do remember an entry in one of the Book of S____ about the domain's industrial barons' children--two siblings that wind up destroying each other. And a "New Monsters for Nosos" article as well.
the care bears & their cousins I put down because they were ANYOING.
If anyoing were enough the Kender would not have DragonLance as their home setting. By the by, while we are on the subject of smallish annoying races in fantasy I'd say Oompa Loompas would be more deserving. I would love it if someone in any version would scream - "Stop singing you jugemental b******s!!! Poor Agustus could be DEAD up there, don't you think Mrs. Glump is suffering enough!!!!" Poor Agustus, that said after him and Violet the remaining children should have known the entire factory was a sugar coated death trap. It wouldn't be much of a strech to have them led arround the factory by Jigsaw from the Saw movies.
the remaining children should have known the entire factory was a sugar coated death trap. It wouldn't be much of a strech to have them led arround the factory by Jigsaw from the Saw movies.
Wow, I never thought of it that way...excuse me, my body's just gone into "brown" alert. :embarrass
Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett! Wait, I think they have already been done.
Were they? I remember "Burke and Hare" from the Books of S____, but that was more in line with the old practice of stealing bodies for medical colleges* to study anatomy. Sweeney and Lovett would likely be a vampire and a ghoul lord, respectively. Probably in Paridon (which is essentially Victorian London). Plus there is the fact that food in Paridon is
*Historical fact: Because it was illegal to cut up a corpse for study during the 1800's, the demand for bodies to further the burdgeoning field of medicine created a lucrative market for grave robbers. Not just valuables on the body, but the bodies themselves were also worth money. One way they'd get the bodies by the police was to put them in barrels of whiskey and smuggle them to schools that way. The alcohol that was left was then sold to the students at local taverns and became known as "rotgut."
EDIT: I'd like to add whoever thought of that Planter's commercial with the monobrow transvestite with the hairy mole. I've sworn off cashews thanks to that.
Were they? I remember "Burke and Hare" from the Books of S____, but that was more in line with the old practice of stealing bodies for medical colleges* to study anatomy. (snip)
Victorian + Stealing bodies for medical colleges brings to mind The good Doctor H. H. Holmes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_H_Holmes
To be brief he was a serial killer who stalked 1890's Chicago and was responsible for the disapearances of untold ammounts of tourists using his "Murder Castle". He would then sell the bodies to medical schools for a profit. His story is recounted in greater depth in the book The Devil in the White City as he was using the world's fair to lure victims. He perferd tourists as thier dissapearance would not be noticed for days or weeks as their friends and loved ones knew they would be out of town. Good for standard Ravenloft or Masque of the Red Death. (Historically perfect timing actually.) Now what to do with him ...
Actually I have wondered, when he is in his "little basketcase on wheels" form, is he corporeal?, is the true nature of his curse that he can be his true form, the grand and regal "10 foot tall road block" and lack substance or take a decrepit and useless physical form (which is probably how he would look if he aged normally but did not die), or is he always fleshless and just assumes this form as its convenient for his dealing with the mundane world (those that he does have) and lulls enemies into a false sense of security?.
Personally I think either of those is good!
I have always thought Ravenloft was missing a domain to correspond to China, it has Japan (Rokushima Taiyoo) and India (Sri Raji).
It could form part of an eastern continet that after a little realignment could also house Rokushima taiyoo and Sri Raji, you can split it then into several provinces and maybe have a couple of oriental darklords, it bears thinking about...
(on a final note just out of interest, Hazliks realm was once part of thay in faerun, was rokushima taiyoo once part of Rokugan? There is a similaritiy in the Roku part, also i think the Iuchiban would a good darklord (and intorduce an interesting prestige class for character who want an evil oriental magic user, the bloodspeaker).
Lo'Pan I think could work in that multi cultural Hong Kong type port very well almost operating similar to the movies.
I also like also how he had control of the criminal element in the movie and think that such an area offers the same outsider feel the movie had on Jack Burton.
Of course he also works well in pure China type setting!
As for the old man form I guess it was his only way of being solid as he could operate his wheel chair and touch both Wang and Jack while he was talking to them. Perhaps it is limited or like Barbossa in the PotC:tCotBP and he cannot taste or feel or really enjoy anything since the body is supposed to be longsince dead or such. It doesn't look like he could do much in it so maybe the only way he can use his powers is when he is insubstantal.
As for Rokushima Taiyoo I honestly am not sure if it was a part of Rokugan...
I have heard rumors of Rokugan being part of the Forgotten Relms setting... None of them ever confirmed by either of the setting books and I have both!
Course there is no reason you cannot use the Rokugan book with the setting. I do when ever it fits the needs and I still use the Oriental Adventures book as well.
I also like also how he had control of the criminal element in the movie and think that such an area offers the same outsider feel the movie had on Jack Burton.
Agreed!, If memory serves John carpenter originally wanted to make the movie in a wild west setting (in the footsteps of kung fu, an eastern western, to be honest I can see jack Burton as a cowboy very easily) but this was changed at some point pre production.
I also like the idea of a bustling eastern docklands riddled with crime and piracy, perhaps similar in style to Singapore in pirates of the Caribbean, its also a good way to introduce a triad/tong style organization into the world.
As for the old man form I guess it was his only way of being solid as he could operate his wheel chair and touch both Wang and Jack while he was talking to them. Perhaps it is limited or like Barbossa in the PotC:tCotBP and he cannot taste or feel or really enjoy anything since the body is supposed to be longsince dead or such. It doesn't look like he could do much in it so maybe the only way he can use his powers is when he is insubstantal.
WRONG!!!!!!
no only joking :D (see i am completely disagreeable!)
Its pretty much what I thought, he can either be powerful and grand but lack substance or be impotent and wretched but have physical form, I also agree about the Barbosa comment, he is solid but that's where the joy of substance ends, he is crippled (limiting his powers, maybe his palsy and possible arthritis make it hard for him to gesture and so he is magically handicapped as well), probably lacking in any sensation but pain (he is over 2000 years old), almost deaf (so his sense might be affected).
to modify his curse and make it more absolute, he could be a powerful wizard and has full command of his magic while in spirit form, however in addition to him being unable to interact with the physical world in person, his magic also suffers the same curse and he is unable to affect the physical world with his magic as well (his fireball spells would pass harmlessly over you), however any other spells that don't directly affect the physical world, such as enchantments, illusions (his blinding light spell, OK maybe photons are physical but its magic people:D), conjurations (his beholder type creature, and maybe his Chinese wildman/ogre).
There is a city near Kowloon (I think) called Hak Nam, the walled city, it is an embarrassment and is often swept aside, it is a crime ridden hell hole, with a massive drug and gang problem, I think a place like this could be a good neighbor for our Hong kong/singapore docklands, I also see these two different tongs in gang warfare and the rivalry between and Lo'Pan and the darklord of the walled city...Fu Manchu.
(Fu Manchus curse could be his desire and constant failiure to change the walled city into a powerful and grand imperial city, to wipe away the filth and turn it into a jewel of the empire, he rules the underworld through neccesity but however no matter what he does, it remains a hell hole, if he builds a park or statue it turns into a haunt of opium addicts, every palace and mansion he builds becomes a slum, drug den or brothel, he considers himself highborn and deserving of better(I think he is supposed to be a relative of the emperor of China) and yet is forced to watch his "kingdom" degenerate further and further into poverty decadence and corruption. Maybe levels of Monk and psion would suit him better than magic.)
There is a city near Kowloon (I think) called Hak Nam, the walled city, it is an embarrassment and is often swept aside, it is a crime ridden hell hole, with a massive drug and gang problem, I think a place like this could be a good neighbor for our Hong kong/singapore docklands, I also see these two different tongs in gang warfare and the rivalry between and Lo'Pan and the darklord of the walled city...Fu Manchu.
(Fu Manchus curse could be his desire and constant failiure to change the walled city into a powerful and grand imperial city, to wipe away the filth and turn it into a jewel of the empire, he rules the underworld through neccesity but however no matter what he does, it remains a hell hole, if he builds a park or statue it turns into a haunt of opium addicts, every palace and mansion he builds becomes a slum, drug den or brothel, he considers himself highborn and deserving of better(I think he is supposed to be a relative of the emperor of China) and yet is forced to watch his "kingdom" degenerate further and further into poverty decadence and corruption. Maybe levels of Monk and psion would suit him better than magic.)
Yeah I could definitely see such a scenario... Especially if we should say have the Lo'Pan type Darklords Domain more or less a little more hospitable. Then they can continually battle in a turf war. Fu Manchu type Darklord wants to build there on Lo'Pan Darklords turf because he A thinks that the Docks should be his by right of Royal claim. B Thinks that he could get out of his predicament if he only had the resources of the Hong Kong/Singapore location to build on. C And finally thinks Lo'Pan is not more then a thug with some skill using the name of a legend...
As for Lo'Pan Darklord he would probably have to have some motive beyond protection.
Perhaps he knows his connection through the Emperor and simply wants revenge against the Imperial Blood Line by trying to kill him.
What ever the suitable replacement for the girl with green eyes is that the Lo'Pan Darklord needs perhaps the Fu Manchu lord knows of it and kills or hinders that more out of spite. Lo'Pan if he was physical and able to use his true power could have crushed his influence in his boarders but neither can close thier boarders so it is the tongs that act as guards and preform all the aggressive acts.
P.S. Yeah Lo'Pan could definitely have some sort of magical restriction while he is insubstantal, (Especially since he only used illusions and such and maybe a protection spell of sorts...) but that could explain his cronies, The Three Storms, His Guardian beholder type thing, Or the Hairy Ogre, are like his big hitters while he is so weakend but they draw some immortality from him and are bound to him in some fashion. Also don't forget the mystery creature that Eggshen said to after hitting it with those magic things, "You will come out no more!" after it ate that unlucky Chang Sing guy.
Especially if we should say have the Lo'Pan type Darklords Domain more or less a little more hospitable
Not just more hospitable but also because its a port and thus a major trading post it is much wealthier, ironic considering Lo'pans desire is not wealth but freedom from his curse, while Fu's motivation cannot be realized without the wealth that Lo'pan has little regard for.
Fu Manchu type Darklord wants to build there on Lo'Pan Darklords turf because he A thinks that the Docks should be his by right of Royal claim. B Thinks that he could get out of his predicament if he only had the resources of the Hong Kong/Singapore location to build on
Also he might feel that because he is of the emperors blood he automatically is entitled to any imperial lands, not too mention that with the wealth generated by the docklands he could rejuvenate all of his dominions, in the walled city the only source of wealth is crime, but the side effect of wealth generated by crime is that the place degenerates into a cess pool as drugs, robbery and prostitution make the place unbearable.
And finally thinks Lo'Pan is not more then a thug with some skill using the name of a legend...
As for Lo'Pan Darklord he would probably have to have some motive beyond protection.
Perhaps he knows his connection through the Emperor and simply wants revenge against the Imperial Blood Line by trying to kill him.
Even if Fu knows that Lo'pan is the genuine article, he would still consider him an unworthy upstart, If i remember correctly Lo'pan was cursed because he fought AGAINST the first emperor of china when he was uniting the warring states, and since Fu is a direct descendant of that emperor he considers Lo'pan nothing more than a failed rebel who lost his kingdom to the more magnificent and deserving first sovereign emperor, fu probably feels "you lost the war millenia ago, my ancestor defeated you! your lands belong to me by right of conquest".
Lo'pan on the other hand is immortal but has not learned patience, his curse grates on him and the knowledge that Fu has been responsible for killing several green eyed girls that could have freed him is motivation enough (not that self prevention is not adequate motive) and as you say he may also want vengeance against the imperial bloodline.
What ever the suitable replacement for the girl with green eyes is that the Lo'Pan Darklord needs perhaps the Fu Manchu lord knows of it and kills or hinders that more out of spite. Lo'Pan if he was physical and able to use his true power could have crushed his influence in his boarders but neither can close their boarders so it is the tongs that act as guards and preform all the aggressive acts.
I like the idea of the place being deadly to anyone with green eyes (the same way that red hair is in Forlorn),anyone arriving with green eyes will have Fu's men trying to kill them (just to thwart Lo'pan) and Lo'pans men trying to kidnap them (and then ultimately kill them), not a safe place to be for the emerald eyed.
I also think that if Lo'pan were not cursed he would crush Fu, (Fu is a powerful martial artist and possess many psionic powers, he is probably a match for the 3 storms but Lo'pan is thousands of years old and a very potent sorcerer not to mention maybe having fiendish qualities "a bodhisatva of the underworld") and Egg Shen called lo'pan "a creature vast, dark, destructive power, perhaps before his curse Lo'pans magic was very destructive, he destroyed fortifications with fire and lightning and was only defeated by the greater magic of the emperor himself, however as he is now "only an evil dream" his magic is also insubstantial and dreamlike, and as you say he is only seen to use illusions and conjurations, maybe enchantments too, but any destructive magic or magic that allows him to subvert his curse of formlessness and have a physical effect are insubstantial (mage hand, fireball etc, in the film he requires the assistance of all 3 storms to heat that sword and levitate Gracie law and Miao Yin so they could touch the orb on the ceiling, a simple task for a sorceror as powerful as he is claimed to be)
The Three Storms, His Guardian beholder type thing, Or the Hairy Ogre, are like his big hitters while he is so weakend but they draw some immortality from him and are bound to him in some fashion.
Again i agree, but i personally think that should be the case of all summoning magic anyway, technically the summoner is the summoned link to this plane.
The 3 storms I think are probably independent beings, possible immortals that fanatically serve Lo'pan and have persisted in this even in his weakened state, they are not bound to him magically but are bound in servitude (hence Thunder kills himself when he finds out he is dead), the hairy ogre thing (a Chinese wildman) is probably a wild creature that he captured and either mentally dominates or has trained and domesticated again i don't think this is a summoned creature, however his beholder type thing is as he can speak through it, scry through it and is in obvious distress (and knows without being able to see it) when Weng chi stabs it in the head.
I think this topic might require a new thread on the creation of these Chinese flavoured Domains, A new domain thread would be interesting anyway.
how a bout freddy cruger?
mike myers?
the brain that wouldn't die!(oops that's been done already!)
the care beasr & the cousins?
& the blob of course.
I know I keep returning to your post but I did think about the Mike Myers suggestion a bit more, and I do think you are being a bit harsh. I mean while Goldmember was beating a dead horse the first Austin Powers movie was good and in any case that is hardly worth a trip to Ravenloft in any case.
Just Kidding I know you meant of the Halloween movies, but that got me thinking of the Friday the 13th franchise. Mrs. Voohees would make a great Dark Lord (well Lady, but you get my point.) I would make it so that she is cursed to bring her son back for a week at a time for her sacrifices of other people's children. That said the spirits of those she kills could take revenge out on her son when he disappears again. Every time she can selfishly bring him back for a visit and then every time he can dissapear again knowing that fresh tortures await him from those she killed to bring him back. What does everyone think of this set up?
Just Kidding I know you meant of the Halloween movies, but that got me thinking of the Friday the 13th franchise. Mrs. Voohees would make a great Dark Lord (well Lady, but you get my point.) I would make it so that she is cursed to bring her son back for a week at a time for her sacrifices of other people's children. That said the spirits of those she kills could take revenge out on her son when he disappears again. Every time she can selfishly bring him back for a visit and then every time he can dissapear again knowing that fresh tortures await him from those she killed to bring him back. What does everyone think of this set up?
Ashe a howwr... ::cleans up:: Sorry. As a horror fan I love it, and I'd have to agree that Mrs. Voorhees was more of a monster than Jason; he was mentally retarded (while alive) and probably had no concept of right and wrong, but she knew what she was doing. Schizophrenia aside (hearing her son's voice telling her to kill) she was too in-control to claim "innocence by reason of insanity."As for Jason...what was he, exactly? A dread revenant? Some unique creature?
on a non-related note in big time in little china there was a character that could inflate to a humongous degree(he died from over inflation in fact)
As for my vote...well, I've always found Season 3 Lionel Luthor from Smallville to be a villain worthy of the Mists. He's flawed and does a lot of evil things by proxy, but he's led by there tragic circumstance: he's dying and wants to find a cure, by hook or crook. I could see him with an Island of Terror, dying at the end of every month--only to come back again as someone else, someone devoid of any power at all and possibly sans any memory of how to regain any minions or power base he may have had before. How frustrating it would be for him to know that he might possibly find a cure...but only if he were alive long enough to get there!
Of course, now he's moved to a lighter shade of grey since then and isn't as deserving of the Mists.
Ever notice how you never hear anymore from fallen darklords of the Bush administration?
I'm sure Rumsfeld is there already (probably pretending - with a good degree of believability - that he's just a common undead creature). Also, we haven't heard anything about John Bolton for a while - he's probably loping around on all fours as a silver-hair-streaked lycanthrope trying to eat U.N. inspectors.
I wonder what will happen to Wolfowitz.
Peter Culliford: Chief Executive Officer of Pentex Incorperated (Werewolf the Apocolypse)
Crimes: Infernalism, repeated murder, Twisting thousands of humans into super-powered/possessed broken ones via intentionally poisonus products, intentional environmental destruction as part of a master plan to ruin the environment so badly that the only safe places to live would be inside his companies compounds.
Really the only thing that I would do to him is drop him into that domain ruled by the werewolf darklord who worships the wolf god (can't remember the name right now). They would torture each other as he knows a lot ways to organize people and kill werewolves, and wolfweres (go after the kin - less wolves overall means less of a population of wolfweres). That and extensive silver mining. As for his twisting, it had occured in the home setting. Give him the powers of an Illithid (AKA mind flayer) but not the tentacles or biting head. That said he still needs brains to eat, it's just a lot messier, and the Psionics would make him a very effective leader.
A very complex situation indeed.
the monster from the "lephrcaun" movies!(I think that's how you spell it)
?? Are we talking original "Leprechaun" sequel (the 7th, actually) or just a similar name?
Wasn't there a 2e leprechaun? I would swear I saw one in the 2e MM.
Leprechauns were in both 1E and 2E.
Not just him but his pursuer, too.
not as a dark lord(I at least don't think it would fit very well)KING KONG!
I agree, it would be a very poor Darklord - for the same reason that, most slasher type monsters would.
As discussed above there needs to be a core human motivation, one that makes the players say "there but for the grace of ... We'll say Grumush, today, its been a while since we did him, 'sides earlier this week it was Lythander, then Glittergold, then Loth and Ezra last week, so yeah I think today I'll say ... But there for the grace of Grumush go I."
So King Kong is not appropriate for Gothic horror. On the other hand a traveling sideshow where there was a showman willing to display barely controlled overwhelming force of nature, thought to be an impossibilty. Who foolishly believes he can controll the creature, with no thought to the hundreds if not thousands of lives he endangers by bringing such a creature to civilization, that's somone for the mists.
(insert picture of Jack Black.)
Why? Becouse Punpun was made with Bending if not Straight out Breaking differnt rules of the game.
Allso due to the fact punpun loses to a None Epic broken character and cant do a damn thing about it.
2) The PHD People who allways say "SCIENCE IS ALLWAYS RIGHT!"
Why? Becouse most of the time Science/Math is wrong. it looks good on paper never realy works like that in the Real world however. Though on there 100th try they tend to get something to work.
3) The Mythbusters.
Why? Read example 2, Allso due to the fact some of the crap they "Bust" is craply poorly done, or They just ignore it and continue on. along with alot of other things
4) People who give a Huge damn about Spelling/Grammar on the internet.
Why? Becouse if they cant figure out that u = You and B**** about it for days on end WHEN they do know what it means = Dumb as hell.
5) People who get Shouted at for asking a question even if its a dumb question
Why? Becouse EVEN I Have been in a brain fog before
6) People who just sit there and will do nothing but try there best to annoy you, Aka someone who likes/loves to troll.
Why? ... Do i have to Answer this?
7) The "Science / Number Guys/girls" On the OP Boards
Why? Becouse of reason number 2 / 3, It might look good on Paper, but it never works in the real World.
8) The People who allways bring up or Shout at someone who says "Fighters dont suck .."
Why? Becouse such people are useoly allways a Combination of all the above. of not most. They bring up grammar/spelling errors and make it into a big deal.
Or they just bring up random crap that makes you go "Why the hell dos this matter? Oh Noz! I didnt take Cleave!" Pointless arguement, Cleave shouldnt be the focus point (Or any other 1 fighter build/feat)
9) MySelf
Why? Becouse EVEN I Follow my above Rules which i hate, That and im just plain evil. I Commit a hella lot of sins without even trying. I Have to try HARD just to be a nice guy, tho im told when i am a nice guy. Im sweet and handsom. Which makes me think more.
10) Evil people
Why? Becouse EVIL SUCKS!, If we talk from a Power Hungry person mind (Like Myself?) Then Evil sucks becouse it kills off its own members. Which means less people to fight for you, Which means your giving the other side a Higher chance to Win. along with alot of other reasons.
(Joins Good guys even if it means having to deal with Tree hugging hippys, even tho he is a Powerhungry mule)
1) The Creators of PunPun
Why? Becouse Punpun was made with Bending if not Straight out Breaking differnt rules of the game.
Allso due to the fact punpun loses to a None Epic broken character and cant do a damn thing about it.
Hmmm? Forgive my age-related query, but what the heck are you talking about?
2) The PHD People who allways say "SCIENCE IS ALLWAYS RIGHT!"
Why? Becouse most of the time Science/Math is wrong. it looks good on paper never realy works like that in the Real world however. Though on there 100th try they tend to get something to work.
Depends on the math you're looking for. It would be more appropriate to say that many of today's scientists (not all, mind you) are too ego-driven to accept new idea. To give a few examples of ideas that were thought as ludicrous when they were first proposed: Barringer Crater, Arizona is an impact crater; plate tectonics; Big Bang theory; volcanoes vs. history
3) The Mythbusters.
Why? Read example 2, Allso due to the fact some of the crap they "Bust" is craply poorly done, or They just ignore it and continue on. along with alot of other things.
While I haven't caught many of the episodes, some of the stuff they've covered I thought was common knowledge about the myth.
4) People who give a Huge damn about Spelling/Grammar on the internet.
Why? Becouse if they cant figure out that u = You and B**** about it for days on end WHEN they do know what it means = Dumb as hell.
Spoken like someone who would use "internet grammar" on his high school/college term papers (which by the way is NOT a good idea).
5) People who get Shouted at for asking a question even if its a dumb question
Why? Becouse EVEN I Have been in a brain fog before
I have to agree with you on that one. I had a college professor (Norm Kearney, RIP) who said: "There are never stupid questions. The only stupid questions are the ones that never get asked."
6) People who just sit there and will do nothing but try there best to annoy you, Aka someone who likes/loves to troll.
Why? ... Do i have to Answer this?
Forgive me, but this entire post of yours is coming off in tone like you are the said troll. :P And yes, I would like you to answer that. :D
7) The "Science / Number Guys/girls" On the OP Boards
Why? Becouse of reason number 2 / 3, It might look good on Paper, but it never works in the real World.
What? You haven't watched Numb3rs? ;)
8) The People who allways bring up or Shout at someone who says "Fighters dont suck .."
Why? Becouse such people are useoly allways a Combination of all the above. of not most. They bring up grammar/spelling errors and make it into a big deal.
Or they just bring up random crap that makes you go "Why the hell dos this matter? Oh Noz! I didnt take Cleave!" Pointless arguement, Cleave shouldnt be the focus point (Or any other 1 fighter build/feat)
To say nothing of your spelling errors.
9) MySelf
Why? Becouse EVEN I Follow my above Rules which i hate, That and im just plain evil. I Commit a hella lot of sins without even trying. I Have to try HARD just to be a nice guy, tho im told when i am a nice guy. Im sweet and handsom. Which makes me think more.
Then you're my opposite, I wish I had commited more sins. Women only see me as a nice guy.
10) Evil people
Why? Becouse EVIL SUCKS!, If we talk from a Power Hungry person mind (Like Myself?) Then Evil sucks becouse it kills off its own members. Which means less people to fight for you, Which means your giving the other side a Higher chance to Win. along with alot of other reasons.
You know, until recently (my own campaign) I didn't know there was another alignment to go with Lawful Stupid: Wimpy Evil.
(Joins Good guys even if it means having to deal with Tree hugging hippys, even tho he is a Powerhungry mule)
Hey, it's working for Lex Luthor. (Not really, but it just sounded good to say.)
4) People who give a Huge damn about Spelling/Grammar on the internet.
Why? Becouse if they cant figure out that u = You and B**** about it for days on end WHEN they do know what it means = Dumb as hell.
Well, I would banish you, the darklord of poor spelling, to the domain of native speakers who write worse than non-native. It's typical darklord behaviour: one person's evil or laziness makes a lot of others (the readers) to suffer. YES we can understand what you want to say, but it would be easier to concentrate on that if we weren't distracted trying to understand what you wanted to write in the first place.
I TRIED to avoid the troll, but I just could not.
2) The PHD People who allways say "SCIENCE IS ALLWAYS RIGHT!"
Why? Becouse most of the time Science/Math is wrong. it looks good on paper never realy works like that in the Real world however. Though on there 100th try they tend to get something to work.
Yes, it's a good thing we were able to get the internet to work using prayer.
Wes (new to this part of the forums, old to the novels, never had the opportunity to play the game.)
the blob(yes,again with the blob)
the crawling eye
or the crawling hand(see apropriate movies)
Look up the "Beast of Bray Road" on Wikipedia. Be a good short story, at least. With a half-decent backstory, could have another werewolf lord.
Wes (new to this part of the forums, old to the novels, never had the opportunity to play the game.)
I have always considered it highly coincidental that these sightings were so very close to Lake Geneva Wisconsin, right about the time that TSR was producing the most product lines & starting to get into financial troubles. Any chance it could have been a really imaginative game designer up to some spirited hijinks? ;)
Orochimaru? Broli? (too much anime).
Light Yagami of Deathnote would be great I think, a world in where he can kill everyone except those that persue's him for justice since he cant reveal their names, in turn he's always the unofficial target of the law(since the authorities has no or little that his notebook is the one that cause the deaths).
For fun, I would drag Alice of Touhou project, put her in that place where the demented Pinocchio is residing and I am sure she will crack down in a few days.:D She is also not target of persecution since she is loli I guess.
I would also drag Yuyuko Saigyouji of Touhou project to Sithicus, surely Soth will take care of her, as his new banshee... *ahaha.... ahahahaha... BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!*
The managers of this new unified board ?
Could we all stop overreacting and calm down a bit on that subject?
Could we all stop overreacting and calm down a bit on that subject?
Just found out about the fate of these boards. That was just a joke, by the way. The smily in my previous post is a good clue
---
C'était une joke... pas exactement comme si je capotais, en passant...
Au juste, qui capote ici? ;)
Joël
(Let's say that when you assisted to MONTHS of fanrage... You can become exaspered.)
most drow a pc party runs across is likely to be evil, doesnt mean a drow pc must or cant redeam themselves.
btw mists???
Joël