What have you done with canon darklords?

[mistshadow2k4]

Perhaps Jacqueline is also coming to the realization, whether it's really real or not, that something is stalking her, too?
Sort of like Hook's crocodile?

Perhaps....

[Undead Cabbage]

I haven't used him, but if I were ever to use Alfred Timothy I'd probably make it so that is isn't actually Nathan Timothy's child, but an adopted one that is unknowingly only an afflicted Lycanthrope. This doesn't really change Alfred so much as add a little more edge to his curse (perhaps something he can learn should the players ever bring him to his down fall).

It's for practicallity purposes for my own campaign, but I rule that the Headless Horseman was a lame stable boy in Lord Wilfred Godefroy's service who was decappitated for supposedly releasing Wilfred's best Stallion on his wife and child (thus the Headless Horseman's steed is the stallion that Godefroy shot). This is souly so I can tie the Headless Horseman into my campaign in Mordent, and even so the true background of the Headless Horseman was never defined. I also rule that Godefroy's allergen is a locket with the pictures of his wife and child inside of it.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

One of the darklords I changed was Jacqueline Renier. I frankly thought her falling in love with Henri DuBois was lame. The lost love curse has been done a bit too often. Instead I chose to expand upon her monophobia.

Come to think of it, you're right that Jackie's curse is pretty trite. Maybe I'll change it IMC, too, in a way that would play off the overall themes of lycanthropy and natural werebeasts' love-eat relationship with humanity.

Hmmmm... we know that Alfred Timothy -- a werewolf who loathes his human aspects -- is cursed so that he can't retain his bestial form when he succumbs to his primal emotions. Since Jacqueline is kind of on the extreme opposite side of the spectrum from Alfie-boy -- she loves her human form because of the pleasures, status, and influence it makes accessible to her, that no rat could ever know -- perhaps her curse could not only cause her to transform in the presence of humans she has deep feelings for (i.e. the DuBois thing), but also to be rendered unable to speak when she's in her hybrid form?

Most lycanthropes can talk if they're in half-beast shape, but perhaps it'd be fitting it Jacqueline could only speak in Rat-talk when she's not in her human guise. Rats are mundane animals, so they can communicate only very basic concepts -- "mine", "go away", "let's mate", etc -- so if Jackie loses her command of human languages in hybrid form, Ms. Social Elite is suddenly reduced to talking in cartoon-caveman monosyllables: an incredibly humiliating experience, for a woman who thrives on being the razor-witted party princess. Being the sneaky minx that she is, she's avoided having her failing exposed by staying in human form almost all the time (with occasional forays as a rat, whom nobody expects to speak Human ), saving her hybrid form for moments -- like when she's tearing Louise a new earring-hole or two -- when tempers have flared to the point where words are superfluous. But the fear that she'll slip up someday, and be exposed as a tongue-tied oaf in her hybrid form, causing her kin to dismiss her as no better than a common animal, would covertly eat away at the self-confidence she strives so very hard -- perhaps, all too hard -- to project to the world.

Yeah, maybe that could work. Two natural-werebeast darklords, one hating his human "weaknesses" and fearing his brethren will learn he's trapped by them at times; the other imagining herself far better than an animal, yet terrified her fellows will realize she's not "grown beyond" the lowest of bestial qualities, as all her social posturing and Skin-Twister playacting presume to boast. I like it!

[DeepShadow of FoS]

If you were to go that route, why not go all the way and reverse the languages? In human form she can only speak as a rat, while the only way to take on human speech is to become a monster.

I know, that completely changes the character's relationships, but it fits with your characterization.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

If you were to go that route, why not go all the way and reverse the languages? In human form she can only speak as a rat, while the only way to take on human speech is to become a monster.

I know, that completely changes the character's relationships, but it fits with your characterization.

I don't want to totally re-make Jacqueline, just put a twist to her curse that's a little more biting and original than the "can't have loved one" schtick. Being unable to communicate as a human amongst humans would destroy the character's role within Richemulot society, as well as exposing her failing to other wererats, who'd quickly remove her from power if they knew. Alfred can still assume lupine forms, he just can't enjoy them; Jackie can still "pass" for human, she's just unable to put the fear that she'll be exposed -- to her fellow wererats as a chittering animal, not merely to humans as a monster -- out of her mind and fully savor the lifestyle and prestige her pose makes available to her.

[HuManBing]

Just a quick addendum to the Drakov idea: I am surprised by how many people prefer him as he's currently designed - if that works for you, by all means keep him as per the original. Personally, I do think his character as it stands lacks quite a bit of the three-dimensional internal conflict that most other darklords have.

I was looking for a way to explain his actions as a rational individual. In my version, his seeming bloodlust is a punishment for the violence of his past, so there is at least some logic to his actions. As it currently stands, he needs an execution every dinner time, and he launches his forces on crusades that are doomed to failure. The only curse he feels is the inability to succeed in his depravity - I see no nobility to his goal or any reason to sympathize with him.

Simply put, his current despotism is held to be part of his initial personality. I want to make it part of his curse instead.

Either way, we've been through this before in the earlier Darklords thread and I'm not keen to repeat it here. I'm just posting a little tweak that I made on the off-chance that somebody finds it worthwhile.

[Grigg_Deadbreaker]

I had a large write up a while ago for Tristan Hiregaard that involved reconciling a lot of non-canon material into a workable canon background. The basic gist was that Tristan became trapped in Ravenloft when he murdered his first wife (who had gone mad when her child was stillborn and deformed, and she continued to care for it as though it was still alive) without being under the compulsion of his father's curse. THe curse was made flesh when the Mists took Nova Vaasa, and Malken was born to its own sentience.

[Lord Cyclohexane]

Personally, I happen to like Drakov the way he is. But I also really like your idea, HuManBing. I might modify it a little, but I do like the idea of him being locked into creating these wars to continue his own life, though I might change the mechanism. For example, instead of having the bloodshed just magically feed back to him, I might have his slow aging based on some elixir based on the extract of a Death's Head Tree, which only grows in areas of extreme bloodshed like a battlefield. That's something easier for the PCs to find out about and, perhaps, foil (or poison). Of course, should Drakov die, does that necessarily mean that he'll cease being Darklord?

[mistshadow2k4]

I like your idea too, HuManBing, but I'm not sure if I'll use it or not yet. IMC Falkovnia is much more like Wallachia and Drakov more like Vlad Tepes. His history shows that humans don't need an excuse like that to be as bloodthirsty as Drakov -- actually, if you study the history of Vlad Tepes, you'll see that Drakov is rahter toned down next to him. Yes, he was bad that even fiction writers usually don't dare go that far.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

I agree with Mist's opinion, as I think that Drakov is a critical, historically-grounded example of how you don't actually have to be a wizard or an undead or otherwise supernatural to be a darklord-caliber bloodthirsty S.O.B. In addition to that, he's a vivid demonstration of how acting like a brute-force thug -- even a really, really vicious one -- is an exercise in futility, within the Land of Mists.

[Undead Cabbage]

On the note of Drakov, the following is my take on him. I by no means wish to be rulesy in a thread about changing the canon material.

I like your idea too, HuManBing, but I'm not sure if I'll use it or not yet. IMC Falkovnia is much more like Wallachia and Drakov more like Vlad Tepes. His history shows that humans don't need an excuse like that to be as bloodthirsty as Drakov -- actually, if you study the history of Vlad Tepes, you'll see that Drakov is rahter toned down next to him. Yes, he was bad that even fiction writers usually don't dare go that far.

I'll give you he has similarities to the stereotypical Vlad, which isn't that bad since RL does work with quite a few stereotypes. But I'd argue that the historical figure (a character who is increasingly hard to find reputable information on) has some significant differences from the RL Dark Lord. On the relation between Wallacia and Falkovnia, Falkovnia is a predator nation, whereas Wallacia was an obstacle for larger forces (i.e. the Ottoman Empire). Barovia is by far the most like Wallacia. Of course, this difference may just be the Ravenloft Twist.

One thing to keep in mind about Drakov is that he may enjoy brutality, but he isn't out-right stupid. In relavence to Azalin he may appear so, since Azalin has an unearthly intelligence. But otherwise his intelligence is 15, and in his past he was said to be a military genius. Drakov isn't a mindless Barbarian who only cares about carnage.

Drakov is a Warlord, through and through. He lives, breathes, thinks, feels, and loves war, much in the same way that a painter would love art. It doesn't give any details about Drakov's past, but it's an easy guess that it was a troubled one. I imagine that War and conquest for Drakov were the only things that brought meaning into his life. Relating back to the painter who would pride himself and bring meaning to his existance through the creation of a portrait, Drakov does so through conquest.

In this respect, Drakov is your definitive Darklord. The Dark Powers have taken away from him the one thing he desires most: War. I imagine that is why he is cruel upon his subjects: his natural desire for conquest has built up so much that he takes it out on those he can reach. If Drakov were ever to be allowed to conquer other nations, I'd bet he'd let up on his own subjects. He may even gain their respect, as opposed to their fear.

But once again, this is just my take. HuManBiNg, you're idea does work well. I would just argue that Drakov isn't broken or out of the definition of a Darklord per say.

[HuManBing]

Oh yes, another change to a darklord who has nothing to do with Talons

In my campaign, Azalin starts off as a L18 lich before the Conjunction. I ruled that once he left the demiplane during the Grand Conjunction, he went up two levels. (Back in the days of 2nd ed, these were just normal mage levels, but in 3rd ed I favor giving him two prestige levels in Archmage.) The actual reason for this could vary. If the GC lasted only a few days, then the reason was that his prior research had netted him a lot of experience, which only kicked in after he was free from Ravenloft's Dark Powers.

However, I liked the idea of making the other campaign settings squirm a little. (Let's see the self-righteous Harpers maintain their vaunted neutrality when DP checks and Fear and Horror stalk the land - bwahaha!) So I made the Grand Conjunction last much longer. In some campaign settings, it lasted a few years or a decade. In one campaign setting (my home-brewed campaign world, the Enixine) it lasted about a generation.

Azalin set up domicile in Knurl in Greyhawk, not far from where he was "born" as a human. I'm still working the details out (my GH knowledge is not that great) but I want the PCs to go challenge him there while he's ensconced in his kingdom of old.

This campaign would be similar to a series of battlefield engagements and infiltration missions, like Red Hand of Doom. A time component could be that the PCs have arrived shortly before Azalin is attempting a Power Ritual to increase his salient abilities and ability scores (as per DiceFreak's Lich template). They are not just trying to get to him - they need to get to him before he reaches Epic level.

[mistshadow2k4]

In my campaign, Azalin starts off as a L18 lich before the Conjunction. I ruled that once he left the demiplane during the Grand Conjunction, he went up two levels. (Back in the days of 2nd ed, these were just normal mage levels, but in 3rd ed I favor giving him two prestige levels in Archmage.) The actual reason for this could vary. If the GC lasted only a few days, then the reason was that his prior research had netted him a lot of experience, which only kicked in after he was free from Ravenloft's Dark Powers.

Good idea, I think I'll do that too. I had the GC lasting about a month myself -- a full lunar cycle. You know how both the Vistani and witches time evrything by the moon? That just sounded right to me.

I never paid attention to that Azalin being from the world of Greyhawk though; too many darklords seem to come from canon game worlds, and I assume that there a lot more worlds out there. Those I kept as coming form canon game worlds were Hiregaard, Hazlik and Zolnik. That was aobut it, really.

[alhoon]

Elena chooses to be an evil jerk. If she didn't rely on her paladin powers supplied by the dark powers and just took a step back and looked at what she was doing, she'd realize that SHE is the evil in the land. It's her "I have powers, so I must be right" attitude which makes her evil.

Necropost here but I randomly found that thread and I had to say:
Along with her insistence on burning villages and blaming it on a "dragon" she has fabricated to make excuses.

In any case, this thread is as relevant now as it was in 2006. So I don't feel bad about raising it from the dusts of history.

[IrvyneWolfe]

In my campaign Meredoth is from a homebrew world I'd created a few years ago. Essentially it's similar to where he's from canonically, a powerful group of mages ruling over a continent sized city-state. Part of his curse (other than a lack of genuine creative ideas) is that the people of Graben are so backwards that there's literately no one who can communicate meaningfully with him.

One of these days when my ravenloft games have an excuse to go there the heroes will either kill or redeem Elena Faith-hold. No more of this holding pattern of her being so stupid she doesn't realize she's evil. A suppose a third choice is that she finally sees that she's evil and begins lashing out in angry denial. Maybe have Theokos become the new Dark Lord (in my head canon he's the spirit of a former advisor to Elena ho she executed for various hideous crimes done in her name when she still had paladin mojo).

Also I'm going to have Drakov finally unseated during a future campaign and Falkovnia turn into a domain in a constant state of revolution with the new Dark Lord being a revolutionary who is trying to turn it back into a functioning country using the same kind of brutality that was Drakov's signature. Meanwhile there's chaos everywhere, the crops aren't being harvested and lovecraftian monsters are starting to stalk the forest. Famine becomes common in the core, and the full force of all this leads up nice to the time of unparalleled darkness.