The Most Dangerous Game

[Undead Cabbage]

I was watching an old episode of the simpsons when this came to mind. What about an island of terror based off of the short story written by Richard Connell, 'The Most Dangerous Game"?

For those of you who do not know the story, the island is owned by a professional hunter who is remarked as being THE BEST at his game. In fact, he became so good, that hunting some of the worlds most dangerous creatures became boring to him. And so, whenever a human would become stranded on his island, he would treat them to a lavish dinner, keep them well rested, and then politely explain that he was to be released into the jungle to be hunted down like an animal. He hunted humans, because anything else was just to easy for him.

Would this not make an awesome island of terror? I'm thinking a monster hunter gone completely wrong. The dark powers have given him superior senses, an incredibly analytical mind, and an amazing shot, but in return he can never be satisfied on a hunt. And so, he hunts the very race, humanity, that he swore to protect when he was a monster hunter.

Or has it already been done? If so, please direct me...

[Jasper]

The closest thing i can think of is Verbrek and Timothys 'Last run' offer. If a human prey can make it to the border before he catches them they go free, if not....

ETA:

This would fit perfectly as part of the Steaming land cluster. You could have him as a legendary "Great white hunter" from Sri Raji who made his fame and fortune hunting the deadly animals of the Wildlands. Burnt out hunting the animals he goes slowly mad and sets up on a large island off the coast where rescuses a boat load of shipwreck servivors that starts the terror....

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

There's a pretty close analogue in the The Hunt Club. (One of the bright spots in Champions of Darkness.) Based in Richemulot, a group of sport hunters that specialize in "interesting" quarries that they capture, release, and hunt down to kill. Intelligent prey preferred.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Wonderful idea, Cabbage.

Heck, you could even take the hunter (was his name Zarov?) straight from gothic earth and make him a literal conversion.

Imagine what kind of bizzar shenanigans a man like that could get up to in a fantasy word, what with all the new varieties of prey available.
Or better yet, imagine him never getting to see such wonders at all!

Zarov sends out searchers into the outside world, seeking otu exotic beings to bring to the sialnd.
Yet the island is encased in a bubble of ultra-reality, not unlike the Smothering of Reason. Not only to supernatural powers fail, but creatures are transformed within the island. Lycanthropes become trapped in one form, mutations are revealed to be malformed but mundane animals.

[Undead Cabbage]

Imagine what kind of bizzar shenanigans a man like that could get up to in a fantasy word, what with all the new varieties of prey available.
Or better yet, imagine him never getting to see such wonders at all!

Zarov sends out searchers into the outside world, seeking otu exotic beings to bring to the sialnd.
Yet the island is encased in a bubble of ultra-reality, not unlike the Smothering of Reason. Not only to supernatural powers fail, but creatures are transformed within the island. Lycanthropes become trapped in one form, mutations are revealed to be malformed but mundane animals.

I like your thinking. Particularily if he is next to the wild lands (as Jasper suggested).

How about this. Whenever a human is trapped on his island, that human is slowly transformed into an animal that reflects his soul (sort of like the twisting in the Carnival). And so, whenever the hunter would finally catch his prey, it was because they were reduced to an unintelligent, non-exciting beast, thus ensuring his lack of satisfaction.

To be trully nasty, the hunter could be the only character in RL to be carrying around the fire-arms present in the MotRD.

I somehow see him particularily favoring monster hunters. For the first night of the players' stay, he could relate to them and perhaps even give them advice and creedence. And naturally, your average player would think 'hey, this guy is a monster hunter, of course he's on-the-level'. Later that night he 'proposes' the hunt.

Now here is another question, would it make a good realm, or a good adventure? Obviously, no party is going to fall for the same trick twice. Does it seem like the type of thing that should be laid out for the GM, or is it better as something broader for the GM to work with?

[The Lesser Evil]

This sounds something vaguely akin to Althea from the Isle of Demise, except she is trapped in a maze. Another variation might be doing a variant on that move Saw, with a haunted house filled with deadly traps. The PCs must find their way out alive. The lord is the owner of the mansion. A good weakness for the hunter darklord might be that he is not able to close the borders of his realm like many other darklords can. You might also look at the astral stalker monster from MMIII for some possible inspiration.

Hmm... After the party escapes the island (assuming they don't kill the darklord), there's a few twists that you could put into a sequel,

-A nemesis the heroes are chasing flees to the island, intentionally or unintentionally, to elude the PCs. A countdown ensues to whether or not they can get to their enemy before the lord of the island can. Perhaps their quarry has some item or information they desperately need...

-The lord of the island failed to capture the PCs, but what about their friends and relatives? It is a rematch, but this time their loved ones are on the line.

-The lord of the island has found a prey that turns out to be more of a predator, perhaps a fiend of some sort. The lord can't handle it by himself, so he calls for the only ones who ever beat him. The darklord points out that if this predator escapes his realm, it will mean doom for many innocent people. The characters have a moral dilemma: whether or not to help the evil man who wanted to have their heads decorating his walls at one time.[/i]

[Brandi]

There's been a few movie versions of The Most Dangerous Game: the 1932 version (with an added female shipwreck victim played by Fay Wray) is generally considered the best. Try and find one of the uncut prints that shows General Zaroff's trophy room...

There's also an el cheapie version called Bloodlust (1961), with a bunch of teenagers being hunted (almost 2 decades before Friday the 13th) and reportedly only notable for the presence of Robert "Mike Brady" Reed, and two (count 'em) Eurosleaze versions by the prolific Jesus Franco: The Perverse Countess (1973) and Tender Flesh (1998); both star Lina Romay, as the nude victim in the first (hunted by an equally topless female Zaroff!) and as the female Zaroff-type in the second (reviews suggest she might've been getting a bit old to go topless by this time). None of these three are held in high esteem, unless maybe you like ta-tas and/or Jesse Franco.

[Manofevil]

I also remember an episode of 'The Incredible Hulk' TV series based on this story. It'd be interesting to see how this DL would deal with a vampire or liche if he got one accidentally.

[JinnTolser]

I love this idea, but I could never use it because most of my players have seen The Pest, which spoofs this idea. And so they wouldn't take it seriously, and would keep cracking jokes about the movie...

But it is a very Ravenlofty idea. I like the curse of his quarry slowly turning into animals, therefore denying him the triumph of catching human prey. I also agree that he should be unable to close his domain borders.

Just know that if you happen to have a PC that's a con artist and looks like John Leguizamo, the adventure is doomed.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

On a grimmer note, IIRC there was a real-life serial killer who borrowed that story's idea, and pursued his victims (abducted prostitutes) through the Alaskan wilderness with a hunting rifle. The case is discussed in one of those true-crime books by seminal FBI profiler John Douglas. :-/

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Ugh... there's a bad trip down cinema lane.
I've seen both The Pest and the 1930's Most Dangerous Game. I can safely say, both stank horribly.
Any adaption of Zarov will most definitly have to avoid the cheesy 1930's phrases like "First the hunter hunts, then he gets da lovin'"

One might want to put the transformation on a clock. Something like, each hour, the victim makes a Will saving throw to avoid being turned into an animal. But also, each hour, Zarov comes closer to finding his prey - something like a progressivly expanding power that makes the tracking easier and easier until, in the end, they prey is cornered.

I'd say it would eb a good idea for someone like Zarov to have the ability to close the borders - not to keep people out but to keep them in.
Just like in the book, characters cannot escape Zarov - they are trapped in a kill-or-be-killed world. Just like cornered prey, the players must turn and fight.
The winner will sleep in the most comfortable bed they have ever had.
The loser is fed to the dogs.

[Corrupted_Loremaster]

Another variation might be doing a variant on that move Saw, with a haunted house filled with deadly traps. The PCs must find their way out alive. The lord is the owner of the mansion. A good weakness for the hunter darklord might be that he is not able to close the borders of his realm like many other darklords can.

The Butcher's Street Boarding house (I believe that's what it's called) from the DM's guide, was something I poked around with the idea of making into a domain, but was never overly happy with any ideas I had for it, might just work quite well for this. Not overly familiar with Saw's villian, but the the character associated with the house already is shallow enough that one could do just about anything with him.

[Fido]

Makes me think of The Incredibles, really.

That movie was so awesome...


Actually, this would be pretty difficult to play on a long term basis, I think. Either you win or you lose. You get killed or you kill. What's left to do after that?

[Undead Cabbage]

It sounds like this island of terror would be like the Headless Horseman's road, or Odiarre: its a cool thing to do once, but the second time the players already know everything and the gig is up. As fido said, it definately wouldn't be a long term realm, especially if the PCs eventually turn into animals.

However, to be fair, they'd have to return to normal after exiting the island.

The very idea behind Zarov's island was that it was designed to take in boats, but not let them escape. I like Scs' idea of him closing his boarders keeping things in, but not keeping things out. How would the border closure look? Sharp rocks at sea maybe?

[ScS of the Fraternity]

I suppose that might be the best. He is on an island, so that's half the battle already. The standard storm, sharp rocks, winds preventing fliers, ect...
Perhaps an added lure - a light like in the book that draws ships into the deadly shoals.

As for replay value, yes, Zarov is a one trick pony. If the DM really likes him, I suppose there's nothing that forces you to make him a true domain lord. Once beaten, he might escape (over a waterfall? into a burning building? a swarm of deadly toe-weazeles?) only to return - this time stalking the PCs through the mists.