I'm currently in the process of making a complete rewrite/update of the classic adventure Neither Man nor Beast, fleshing out the domain while also making it more similar to the original Island of Doctor Moreau and its various adaptations.
Markov is going to have some new abilities. His library will be correspondences with Mordenheim. The beast-men subgroups will be fleshed out and new hybrids added. Maybe add an optional chapter where Markov attempts to turn one of the PCs into one of his Broken Ones and then return him/her to human.
If any one has ideas from their own experiences with this adventure or domain, I would be grateful and will consider including them.
Thanks.
Last edited by Denizen on Thu Apr 02, 2020 3:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I would add more pigs, and maybe some pig broken ones. Markov began his work on pigs and it was some of his best. To really get to the horror, and perhaps a way to figure out who Dr Fran really is, have their later in the adventure turn up some dead pigs who all have the face of a woman (Markov's wife).
Also, maybe replace some of the stuff on his shelf. The references to other lands is fun and all, but seem really out of place, especially on Markov's bookshelf.
I would add more pigs, and maybe some pig broken ones. Markov began his work on pigs and it was some of his best. To really get to the horror, and perhaps a way to figure out who Dr Fran really is, have their later in the adventure turn up some dead pigs who all have the face of a woman (Markov's wife).
Great idea. Maybe it's a consistent mutation in his pig breeding. A reminder of what he did - courtesy of the Dark Powers.
Also borrowing a concept that was used in the failed Richard Stanley adaptation of the Island of Doctor Moreau and the original book, perhaps there is a special creation that Markov made that can actually kill him permanently.
Maybe one night on a made whim, Markov tried to recreate his wife from pigflesh to relieve his loneliness or to beg forgiveness from her. The Dark Powers obligated. They placed her maddened soul within the new creation he was stitching together on his surgical table. And when it first opened its eyes, it immediately recognized him and croaked his name. It then clawed him badly, giving him a wound he didn't heal from. It took many of his Broken One minions to drive it off into the jungle. It is still at large on the island, and is the one thing that Markov fears the most. Since then it's undergone further mutation and is now larger than a horse carriage. Maybe it has the ability to absorb other Broken Ones into its flesh to increase in size and power.
The book has a little easter egg in the formed of the Ruined Monastery. The module mentions it belonged to the Guardians who used to watch over the Tapestry of the Dark Souls (from the novel of the same name.) As of the end of that book (which takes place in 735 BC according to domains of Dread), the spirit of Jonathan (the son of Morgoth) and his mother Leith seemed to be inhabiting the abandoned monastery, as he is shown interacting with Jonathan's still living girlfriend Sondra, whom as of that time was living across the Tepestani border in Linde and had apparently come for a visit. The interaction seems to be a pleasant one, and both the ghosts having sacrificed their lives in the fight against tne necromancer Morgoth (a character unrelated to the necromancer darklord of Avonleigh named Morgoroth), making it unlikely they would be hostile towards the living. We don't have any indication what happens to the ghosts or Sondra in the years afterwards, including the Grand Conjunction. Neither Man Nor Beast makes no mentions of the ghosts, which may either be an oversight or just an indication that they had passed on since then. If so desired, one could include the ghosts, perhaps having a more malicious bent since being cut off from Sondra. Or the Ruined Monastery could form a safe spot to rest. If the DM running the module was not familiar with the Tapestry of Dark Souls novel, or if the DM didn't want another piece of unconnected scenery hanging around, the Ruined Monastery could be repurposed to lace the the adventure with plot threads of the DM's own creation. Alternatively, you could have the Ruined Monastery be a former hideout of the monks guarding the Tablet of Life, perhaps being abandoned to a siege by the broken ones.
Another thing for the DM to decide upon was what the culture of the previous human inhabitants of the Abandoned Villages were like, if one were so inclined to put any sort of detail into them.
The whole "shipwrecked never intedning to go there" hook could possibly be altered to be less rail roady. A DM may want to include the lost Markovian colonies- investigating the disappearance of the colonists could be an alternative plot hook than the whole shipwreck railroad. There was at least one lost colony- from Lamordia that vanished in 748 BC- a year prior to the date given for Neither Man Nor Beast in Domains of Dread. There may also have been a lost colony from Dementlieu, I can't remember. In any case, the shipwreck could still occur, but at least the characters would have at least have a reason for being in Markovia other than happenstance or the will of the Dark Powers/GM.
