Planning stages of a new campaign in Paris 1889

[Fido]

I've decided to begin planning a Masque of the Red Death campaign set in Paris in 1889, one hundred years after the French Revolution and during the closing days of the International Exhibition. More specifically, I'll let it all start at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

I'll probably make the player characters myself, handing the players their sheets and everything else they might need. I'm planning on using an English journalist, a Parisian law enforcer guy (a soldier), a young pickpocket (Artful Dodger style) and a professor at the Sorbonne University (a metaphysician) for player characters.

At the beginning of the campaign the journalist is at a top floor of the Eiffel Tower when a man picks up his baby boy, starts rambling, sweating and talking in tongues. The man climbs over the fence of the Eiffel Tower and threatens to jump down.
The pickpocket has just stolen the professor's watch. The Gendarme is trying to solve this case, while the suicidal man appears.

Hopefully the journalist character tries to calm the man down, saves his life and becomes the hero of the day. When they come down on the ground again, he is congratulated by everyone around.
The strange actings of the suicidal man are quickly forgotten.

When during the next week there is a wave of suicides with striking similarities in the city, the Gendarme character calls together some people that were near the Eiffel Tower at the time. Since it was a working day, the Exhibition was almost over and the day was also nearing it's end, there were not as many people as on the busy days. The Professor, the Journalist and the Pickpocket are all there at the Gendarmerie.

They are questioned etcetera etcetera.. They decide to find out what the cause of these suicides is.



I chose Paris because I think there are many interesting sites to visit during the adventure. I'm mostly looking forward to doing scenes in the Louvre museum, in the Notre-Dame cathedral, on the Champs-Elysées (where I'm going to have the best fashion designer NPC ever)

What I need is of course a reason for this wave of suicides. I was thinking along the lines of maybe a consequence of the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution.

This is the first time I'm trying Masque of the Red Death, so any help would be appreciated. I'm really new to this.

Thanks in advance.

[Malus Black]

First off, magnificent game-starter. Wonderfully cinematic.

As for the cause, the first thing that comes to mind is The Call of Cthulhu (the short story, not the game, although you could probably get a lot of inspiration from the game as well - Gothic Earth is essentially Cthulhu by Gaslight with less tentacled monstrosities), where sensitive people (artists and the like) around the world are driven to madness as Great Cthulhu stirs in His sleep.

Perhaps something slithers in the catacombs (it's Paris. You have to use the catacombs) beneath the city, waking up and spreading madness in its wake. An aboleth, perhaps, or something even nastier. To link it with the Revolution, maybe one party made a deal with it?

Or for a more gothic take, imagine that someone during the Revolution, fearing his side would fail, was so dedicated to the cause that he sacrificed his mortality and soul to give his side an edge. The character might have been a powerful wizard who became a lich, or researched vampirism, or drank werewolf blood, or any number of gruesome transformations. Either way, the character corrupted himself to bring victory.

The other side, however, were not entirely defenseless, and a skilled arcanist managed to bind the foe for - you guessed it - a century. He was convinced that, by then, he and his allies would have found a way to destroy the creature. Things, however, turned out differently. The arcanist and his powerful allies ended up on the guillotine, either because they were supporters of the monarchy or because they were caught up in the frenzy following the Revolutionaries' victory.

Either way, those who retained the knowledge of the bound monstrosity were nowhere near powerful enough to destroy it, so they left behind notes (coded, of course, so that only their side's supporters would understand the instructions). If you want to, you can go all Da Vinci Code with obscure riddles and hints left in important works of art (I'm sure there's plenty of Revolutionary artwork), leading to more clues and, eventually, the reveal of the creature's location and the spells that hold it.

The suicide victims could either be random, driven mad by the rising power, or they could be part of a cult revering the creature, and their deaths (perhaps unbeknownst to them - they might be urged by the spells laid down by their ancestors) fuel its rebirth. And, of course, the actual cult still exists, manipulating events to aid the creature's rise to power, remaining a constant thorn in the PCs side.

The campaign becomes a race against time to not only find the creature before it regains its full power, but also to procure enough power to either destroy it or bind it again. Or, if the PCs are sympathetic to its cause, maybe even aid it in remaking France in its image.

[Fido]

Thanks for the compliment.

Or for a more gothic take, imagine that someone during the Revolution, fearing his side would fail, was so dedicated to the cause that he sacrificed his mortality and soul to give his side an edge. The character might have been a powerful wizard who became a lich, or researched vampirism, or drank werewolf blood, or any number of gruesome transformations. Either way, the character corrupted himself to bring victory.

What about Louix XVI, the king in 1789? As he lay on the guillotine in 1792, he cursed the French peasants. A hundred years after the storming of the Bastille, he said, everybody decendant from one of the leaders of the Revolution would die. Die, just like all the noblemen they themselves had led to the guillotine.
Maybe Louis XVI was a powerful arcanist, like you said. Maybe he has indeed become a lich or something similar now. I'll think about it.

The characters could trace the people who comitted suicide back to the Revolution, using libraries, genealogies etcetera to establish the link.

I love your idea about the clues hidden in paintings. I could perhaps try and edit Romantic paintings from the period with Photoshop and give Louis XVI tiny horns or make his fingernails longer or something else that's subtle enough to go unnoticed at first.


The Revolutionaries of 1789 knew about Louis XVI being a powerful and evil arcanist, so they took his curse to heart and kept notes about this to warn the people of a century later for the danger to come. These hints are hidden in paintings, on the back of painting, in the covers of books, engraved in statues etc etc.. These tips lead to the true location of Louis XVI's grave and to the secrets of it. (The grave in the cemetary is a dud, because it would be too dangerous to bury a powerful arcanist in a public place. )

The deaths of the people in Paris indeed fuel the rebirth of Louis XVI as a lich.
Louis was the leader of a powerful cult (which still exists secretly, as you said) that is a thorn in the party's side, from as soon as they find out that the party is trying to thwart Louis XVI's rise to power.



Thanks, man. Wonderful idea's.
Any other ideas are very welcome, of course. Any NPC's I should use in the game? Like the French President of the time, a fashion designer, ... Any other famous French people from the time?

All and any ideas are more than welcome. It's the first time I'm trying something as ambitious as this.

[NeoTiamat]

I would personally advise against using Louis XVI as the enemy. Near as I can remember my history classes, he was more incompetent then anything else. More of a sad historical joke then an evil tyrant.

A much, much nastier fellow can be found in Robespierre.

Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre - famous leader of the revolution, sometimes called the Incorruptible, a fanatic of revolutionary change. Highly intelligent, very charismatic, and profoundly loyal to the concept of revolution. He was finally sent to Madame Guillotine in 1794.

Perhaps as he was sent off to the guillotine, he swore a curse against all of France, and those that betrayed the revolution. On the centuries' anniversary of the start of the revolution, the Revolution will begin anew, and this time, Robespierre will not be prevented by weak and cowardly men.

The suicides could be the descendants of the members of the Convention who conspired to have him killed. Robespierre himself might have become a powerful ghost (I like high-rank ghosts personally), who is waking up, and plans to begin the Revolution again.

If you want to add some more factors to the campaign, you could deem that the awakening of Robespierre (a powerful fourth magnitude ghost), other, older things in the Parisian Catacombs are stirring.

Perhaps in addition to the suicides, there have been spates of undead attacks? Perhaps people are disappearing from their homes? Or maybe the fact that the catacombs are being awoken has caused the undead that live there to displace other residents (wererats perhaps?) who are now forced to the surface.

You can do a lot with this.

[Malus Black]

I actually thought of Robespierre when I wrote my last post. But, like with Louis, he's pretty much a very obvious choice, which can be a two-edged sword (on one hand, it's neat for PCs to face down major historical characters. On the other, it's often exactly what they expect). So, for a completely unexpected twist, you could have the real villain be Marie Antoinette (or the reanimated corpse thereof). Sure, she might have been perceived as an air-headed, pampered noble, but what if she really was a powerful witch who ruled the country through machinations both magical and mundane, with Louis a dominated marionette-king.

The Revolution may, in fact, have been instigated by members of the court who realised her power and tried to dethrone her (a plot which rapidly spiralled out of control). Or maybe the inner circle of the court were all minions of the Red Death (which they perceived as the Devil), and they were opposed by a powerful and secretive Church order (the Knights Templar would be the obvious choice, but, again, you have the two-edged sword issue. Maybe the Rosicrucians would work, because there you'd have the whole magic aspect integrated). As NeoTiamat said, you hardly lack options.

As for NPCs, there's a vast gallery of historical characters to pick from (and imagine the possibilities you have with visitors to the International Exhibition), but that aside I insist that you do an Alan Moore and use the Chevalier Auguste Dupin from Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen should be required reading for all Masque DMs ).

[Le Noir Faineant]

Your campaign really rocks, Fido!

While I think that you really have a good and solid plot with Louis VVI as the major villain. Especially with the new *Marie Antoinette* movie opening in Europe this winter, your players might have very concrete ideas of what is supposed to happen.

The rest depends really on what you want to happen:

A mass panic because of a man who cuts his own throat in the middle of a crowd, weeping children who lead the heroes to their house to discover their suicided parents, or, as a prelude, one of the PCs cutting himself when shaving and nearly dying of the wound... And then, after weeks of recovery, doing that voyage to the Tour...

A brillant plot really, I am going to steal it...

Maybe if you could tell how you want to set up the campaign - how long shall it be, for example?

Apart of that, in shameless self-promotion, here's a piece of a QtR article that I have in the pipeline that you might find useful. (Remember that Poe's stories about Auguste take place in the 1830s...)

A new look on La Lumière: Poe's Cabal

La Lumière's activity has grown with the development of the French colonial empire, although its cells mostly operate alone and independent from the main organization. Only three individuals, Poe, the German Theodor Mommsen and the French journalist Emile Zola know the location of all the quabals in Europe. It is rumoured that there are also cells hiding in Asia, even in Japan, but no exact evidence has been found on this so far.



Jesajah Dupin

LN male human

MotRD 3.5: Soldier 5/Parson 3/Exorcist 2

Living Death 3.5: Parson 8/ Exorcist 2

2nd Edition: Detective 5/Parson 5


Background

Youngest son of the world-famous Parisian detective Auguste, and born in 1832, Jesajah Dupin devoted his life to the fight against crime. It was not before the autumn of his life that he realized the supernatural complexion of the evil he had been struggling with, and at the age 67, he became member of the catholic clergy in Rome.
Desperate to investigate the true form of the threat he had been sensing during all his lifetime, Dupin undertook many journeys as the Vatican's private ambassador in Europe and North America.
Eventually, one of of his travels along the American East Coast, he was contacted by an old man presenting himself as an old friend of his father, a certain Mr Poe.
This meeting marked the point of the begin of Dupin's involvement in the affairs of the secret organization known under the name of La Lumiere...


Current Sketch

Dupin has Poe's closest advisor and private secretary, and can mostly be found near his master. In Boston, he usually pays visit to the different small catholic communtities and interviews clerical representers in order to gather information for a book about the catholic mission in Pennsylvania, as he tells them. In truth, Dupin is investigating and testing who his cleric colleagues could indeed be a servant of God, and who has comitted himself to serve the evil entities that so easily poison the hearts of men...


Combat

Having been an apprentice of the famed Spanish weapon master Don Jaime Astarloa in his younger days, Dupin still prefers the blade over the gun. He keeps a long walking stick with him, ready to use this tool like a rapier if necessary. Dupin will try to solve a conflict peacefully if possible, and never kill a human being. Against Minions of the Red Death, however, he will strike with all his force, when he identifies them – even in public.


Lair

Dupin has no regular home, neither in Europe nor in America. He usually rents a room in one of the lesser known hostels, and keeps a cheap living. If possible, he tries to get a room in the environs of a city, where he doesn't attract too many suspicious eyes, but can disguise himself as a fellow ornithologist.


Dread Possibilities

Whenever a party comes near Poe or the catholic church of New England, it will attract Dupin's curiousity. He will help the group if he thinks the characters' motives are honest, but do what he can if he realizes that they act out of an ill intent.
Dupin seldom acts as Poe's envoyee on special missions and might run into the players on one of his journeys.



Charles Baudelaire

CE male human

MotRD 3.5: Dandy 4/Performer 3, Ghost Rank 5

Living Death 3.5: ?
To be frank, I have no idea how LD rules treat monsters – if the the Ravenloft d20 rules found in Denizens of Dread are applied, I would recommend a Dilettante 10, Ghost Rank 5.

2nd Edition: Poltergeist


Background

Historically, Baudelaire was one of the authors that discovered Poe's literary value and introduced him to the European cultural scene. Like Poe's, Baudelaire's life was dominated and destroyed by poverty and drugs. Yet, Baudelaire's poems are darker, neglecting any goodness in man – a hope that Poe, een in his darkest moments, never seems to have lost. That is the reason I found it interesting to use him as a villainous counterpart to Poe in my games.

Charles Baudelaire, enfant terrible among the French artists, spent too much time in the slums of the French suburbs and in the arms of women of ill repute not to attract people of even more wicked moral and kind.
The more absynth he drank, the more whores he loved, the more poor Charles Baudelaire's mind became twisted and scorned, and finally he died of an overdose.
A villainous gangster and dealer to whom Baudelaire had owed a debt, thought to make fun of his remains and stole his urn from the grave. In an old farmhouse near Marseille, he dared to open the urn. - This was the mistake of his life,as Baudelaire's ghost sprung from the ashes and devoured him...


Current Sketch

The essence that arose from Baudelaire's remains bear the fearful power of the uttermost hate, and destruction and pain are its only message.
Baudelaire's mad spectre has become somewhat like an oracle for the quabalists of the Six-Fingered Hand, an object of cult – and the few French members of the organization visit the ruined farmhouse which he haunts to receive his orders – this is what they interprete from his mad ramblings.

Baudelaire has become the stuff of local legends, and the quabalists that guide his lair have already made plans to transport the ghost's remains to a safer place where the madman would attract less attention – but all that have tried to get near the poet's urn have been punished with death by his bloodthirsty spirit.


Combat

Baudelaire hates the scent of life itself, and its only goal is to destroy or to pollute everything around him – he will fight until he is banned, and will not content with anything else than bringing the party to a painful end. Should anyone ever really manage to destroy him, Baudelaire will try to curse him with his last breath.


Lair

The small, abandoned farmhouse in which the commanders of the Six-Fingered Hand occassionally receive the vision and riddles from the “Oracle of Hate”, as they call Baudelaire's rambling spirit now is heavily guarded by strong-armed quabal adepts. They have begun to make a pseudo-military base out of the old farming ground and control the roads that lead to the farm disguised as French policemen.


Dread Possibilities

The old farmhouse will not remain in secret forever – too much has the arrival of the quabalists disturbed the routine of the local peasants. The local magistrate might send the PCs to investigate the recent forming of a paramilitary group in the region, or whatever the gathering of quabalists might seem to him.
Alternatively, the PCs could stumble into the action – maybe they get lost on their way and end up in the haunted house, or maybe they are treasure hunters that want to loot the ruins from any valuables...


A new look on The Six-Fingered Hand: Baudelaire's Quabal

Originating in Italy, the Six-Fingered Hand today has its main bases of power in the dirty ports and suburbs of southern France. After the fiasco of Krakatoa, the quabal seems to pursue a new plan: For months, the lesser member – thugs – have been searching the Provence for all kinds of unholy things; on their search, they have, more or less casually, stumbled over Baudelaire's remains. But his isn't the only ghost they are isolating and protecting in that strange way, that seems sure...

BTW, a general idea: You might want to use the *Broken Sword* video game soundtracks while gaming. My own group loves their spooky sound.

[Garudos Celestar]

What if you play up the fact that King Louis, Maria Antonia, and Robespierre lost their heads... and have the villain be a Brain in a Jar (or, in this case, a Head in a Jar)? Probably a bit too weird for Gothic Earth, but a scene in which the PCs finally find the preserved head (which had been spirited away after the execution) and see it open its eyes could be kind of intriguing. Shades of From the Shadows...

[NeoTiamat]

Isn't there some kind of head that is actually a Lich? Not a Demi-lich, something weaker, a Rosh-Peger it's called. I seem to remember seeing one in one of the Kargatane Netbooks, not sure where else is shows up.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

What if you play up the fact that King Louis, Maria Antonia, and Robespierre lost their heads... and have the villain be a Brain in a Jar (or, in this case, a Head in a Jar)?

wow... I really like that one. A twist on the "hitler's brain in a jar" cliche.

[Le Noir Faineant]

For the record, consider this campaign idea offically stolen by me.

[Fido]

I'm thinking of about five to ten sessions maybe?

1. I explain some general features of Masque of the Red Death. Character meet at the Tour Eiffel and get to know each other. They come across a strange happening or two. Maybe they witness someone who commits suicide. They commit themselves to investigating the matter. Two or three NPC's are also met in this session. (the employer of the gendarme character, a widow of someone who recently killed himself, blabla) I try to set the mood a bit with some general encounters. No link with Robbespiere yet.


2. The characters visit the Louvre museum (or something). The journalist takes some pictures there and later discovers that there are things on the pictures that he didn't notice before. Something weird is going on. There are probably ghosts in the museum.
When they come outside the museum, they witness a crowd gathering in the Champs-Elysées. A man cut his own throat in the middle of the street. See what happens here. Use the fashion designer NPC.
The PC's are later spoken to by a man, Auguste Dupin. He invites them to his home and tells them a tale about the Revolution and about some suspicions he has about this. He gives the PC's a lead and advises them to dig up Robespierre's body from the catacombs. If the PC's think this is a crazy idea, Dupin does this himself the next night. Robespierre's head is missing.
The catacombs could be a possible small dungeon run.

3. More killings. This time a man also killed his entire family and ran frantically through the street with a machete knife, before throwing himself on the blade. Auguste Dupin advises the characters to check the background of the people that died. It appears that they are all decendants of opponents of Robespierre. (All NPC's that killed themselves have the same last names as Robespierre's opponents. I love Wikipedia. Really.) Hah! I could even let my players find this all out for themselves, if I give them access to google and wikipedia.
In this session, the group is attacked on the streets by peasants. These have a sort of glaze over their eyes. (they're dominated by Robespierre)

4. The gendarme's employer wants him to make haste in his investigation before more people are killed. The journalist's employer sends a telegram stating that he wants him to write an article about the strange killings in Paris.
By now, Robespierre himself has found out that the PC's are onto him. He can't be stopped, so he attempts to have one of the characters kill himself. (The shaving incident. I suppose this happens to the professor.)
When the PC's go back to Auguste Dupin, they find that he has hanged himself. Auguste left a suicide note in which he states that Robespierre is definitely behind this. He also tells of his one weakness: ...

... I'm at a loss here.




How do the PC's confront Robespierre? I'm not too fond of the brain in a jar idea (too weird, indeed), but maybe Robespierre could have become a lich (who holds his head in his hands) or something, I could work with that, I guess.

Particularly, how exactly do they find out about Robespierre? How do they confront him and where?

I suck at this kind of details...

I'm only sprouting ideas here. :/



Rafael, feel free to steal these ideas, just keep me informed on how you implement them. I could use your experience :p

[Jonathan Winters]

Hey Fido!

Great ideas!

I really like the shaving incident thing!

Just want to mention: Unless you have different players than I have, they usually prefer choosing their own characters.
What I would suggest is for you to mention that, for example, you need at least a detective OR say you need at least one of those four classes. Let them know a little what kind of classes will be best for your game. It still gives them control of who they play and you won't end up with four soldier characters. And you won't have people around the table unhappy about the fact that his shootist has nothing to do.

Also, yes they might expect Robespierre, but not if you have a couple of red herrings first... Any other French great psychopaths or what-not’s come to mind? Whatever did those Jack the Ripper killings a year ago seems to be in town?

Robespierre's weakness?
Just throwing ideas here...
His body needs to be put to the guillotine again (after being grossly stitched up) while someone reads something related to the French Revolution? And you need to do this as his head-carrying ghost is after some more victims. BUT he realizes what is happening and shows up for a final combat at the last minute?

Let us know how it turns out!

Patrick

[Le Noir Faineant]

Nice campaign layout, Fido, really!

As to Auguste, keep in mind that he should be about 110 in 1899; your players might know that. Funny to roleplay such an old crone.

As to the implementation, I am not sure yet, though it will most likely have to do something with vodoo...

Robespierre could be a ghost like the *Red Jack* villain - I in your place would use the entire module as addition to the campaign. Preparing a MotRD campaign can be sooo time-consuming...

Anyway, really, let us know what you do about it - please, if you find the time, write a campaign journal! Your idea really caught me!

[Fido]

I just noticed that the Louvre is detailed in a Kargatane netbook from 1999 called Crossroad of the Gothic Earth. I don't know if it's still available on the internet somewhere and I haven't read it yet, but it should prove to be useful.

[Le Noir Faineant]

Should still be available at the Kargatane website...