At the current rate of progress, I expect to have the text ready for pdf conversion by the end of May. Stephen has whipped up a fantastic cover (kudos, dude!), and various contributors have submitted an inspiring collection of information, stories, and artwork (my deepest thanks to you all). Doppelgangers will never be dismissed as one-trick-pony monsters again, and folks who may not have considered them "Gothic" enough for Ravenloft will have plenty of cause to think twice!
But, as often happens, there's one area of this netbook which is sorely in need of fleshing out, that I simply won't have time to tackle on top of both the main text and the Nocturnal Sea project: reference material!
Like the classic TSR and Arthaus Van Richten's Guides, the VRF:D could use some creepy quotes from real-world literature, history and/or folklore, to evoke the proper (paranoid!
) ambience with readers. Moreover, as a kind of monster which was invented specifically for the D&D game, there aren't any obvious non-game sources which DMs can consult, while designing scenarios involving doppelgangers. There are thousands of books, films, comics and tv programs out there providing ideas about vampires, lycanthropes, and other creatures derived from real-life mythology, but for Zherisia's inhuman imposters, inspirational reading is a rather limited resource.So, rather than ransack the shelves of book and video stores myself -- and thus, delay this netbook even further
-- I'm making an open-ended invitation for folks to submit their recommended (and non-D&D) references and/or quotations I can cite in the doppelganger book. Ideas should be sent to my e-mail address with "[VRF Challenge]" in their subject headings, and your message should include your FoS Forum login. Whoever submits the greatest number of ideas I accept for inclusion in the VRF:D will receive one current hardbound RPG gamebook ($25-$35) of their choice, my treat! Remember that, as doppelgangers are not drawn from folklore, the classics of mythology or Gothic literature aren't the best places to go looking: scifi and suspense-thrillers will be more fruitful hunting-grounds. Be aware, also, that Ravenloft adventures involving these imposters will tend to fall into three categories:
1) The "Who Goes There?" suspense-scenario of isolation and paranoia, as seen in Campbell's science fiction short story of that title and in loads of contemporary serial-killer flicks.
2) The "Fight Club"-style venture into psychological horror and shattered identity, in which even the protagonists' own nature and sanity are thrown into doubt.
3) The "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" conspiracy theorist's nightmare, as seen repeatedly on "The X-Files" and in such aliens-among-us sources as Wyndham's "The Midwich Cuckoos".
Quotes and references will be chosen for the VRF:D netbook based on the needs of individual topic-chapters (quotes) or on their relevance to D&D's doppelgangers (references), as well as those standards applied to other FoS netbooks (e.g. not too raunchy, silly, or long). If two people happen to send me the same reference, the first submitter will be given credit for it (first come, first served). If you submit a reference which is so obscure that a Wikipedia or amazon.com search can't dig up a handy summary, please also include a brief statement as to why you think it's appropriate for the doppelganger-book, so I have a basis for comparison with other submissions. No entry taken from actual D&D game products or novels will be considered, as the goal of this Challenge is to broaden the scope of DMs' inspirational reading beyond what TSR/WotC have had to say about doppelgangers.
All submitters whose entries are included in the VRF:D will be credited in the finished product. Entries must arrive in my hotmail mailbox by 1:00 am EST on Saturday, May 26th, to be considered.
Good luck, everyone!
