Anime/Manga in Ravenloft

[Georg Kristianokov]

I was watching some of these shows on a web site (I don't think I can tell which), and I've deduced something:

Has anyone besides me noticed the fact that in the mid-90's, the way they draw the male and female heroes became similar?

[AlltheMyriadWays]

Monster is perfect for Ravenloft, aside from being set in the 20th century. The atmosphere is perfect: eerie, creepy mystery set in Germany and Czechoslovakia (providing old European buildings and streets) and plenty of Gothic themes.

The villain (Johan) is one I'd love to adapt as a villain in a Ravenloft game.

Also a series highly recommended if one has the time to invest.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434706/

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

Death Note, a guy with the ability to kill people and control their deaths to great degree. Truly a terrifying prospect when youplace it in Ravenloft. Though I see this protagonist as a Demon, making for a great archvillain for an entire campaign.

Hellsing for modern day Middle Earth.

I'm mostly been watching comedies lately and unless you want insane schoolgirls in Ravenloft, I'm out of material for now, heh.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Death Note, a guy with the ability to kill people and control their deaths to great degree. Truly a terrifying prospect when youplace it in Ravenloft.

The "death note" would make a better cursed artifact, leading one victim after another along the path of murder and gradual self-destruction, than a single bad guy, IMO.

[AlltheMyriadWays]

A manga from the same author as Monster, 20th Century Boys, has an excellent creepy villain. A mysterious, masked man who is known only as "Friend" builds a cult out of the childhood games and imaginings of a small group of childhood friends, beginning with the symbol of their secret club.


"Friend"

Considering that my prior Ravenloft game, whose plot 'leftovers' will be the source of the plot for my upcoming game, involved a group of children, I'm thinking of borrowing the idea. The implementation will be a little different though.

Instead of the villain merely structuring his actions and ideas around childhood creations and being fought by the children, the children (now adults) will be manipulated by the villain who is somehow capable of controlling the children via certain cues that originated in a childhood 'secret club'. Sort of along the lines of a long-lasting implanted suggestion.

[Isabella]

Oof. Can't believe I forgot this one: a manga called "Uzumaki" ("Spiral") by Junji Ito. It takes place in a town that seems cursed by spirals, starting out with just moderately creepy stuff and then progressing further and further into complete madness.


whoooooooooooo

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

Death Note, a guy with the ability to kill people and control their deaths to great degree. Truly a terrifying prospect when youplace it in Ravenloft.

The "death note" would make a better cursed artifact, leading one victim after another along the path of murder and gradual self-destruction, than a single bad guy, IMO.

Now that would work well. But, where would be Death Note have come from? I doubt it would have just appeared. I like the idea of a demon spreading out these books now and then.

Oof. Can't believe I forgot this one: a manga called "Uzumaki" ("Spiral") by Junji Ito. It takes place in a town that seems cursed by spirals, starting out with just moderately creepy stuff and then progressing further and further into complete madness.

I love that manga myself, though I feel the end was far to rushed and had me disappointed. The movie also has a few different twists on things and makes for more good material to draw from. I still find the Jack in a Box chapter somewhat creepy.

[Isabella]

Death Note, a guy with the ability to kill people and control their deaths to great degree. Truly a terrifying prospect when youplace it in Ravenloft.

The "death note" would make a better cursed artifact, leading one victim after another along the path of murder and gradual self-destruction, than a single bad guy, IMO.

Now that would work well. But, where would be Death Note have come from? I doubt it would have just appeared. I like the idea of a demon spreading out these books now and then.

Well, even keeping in mind that getting a name and face is much harder in a world without mass media (although a wizard with scrying would be pretty awful), having a death note in your game seems, well, terrible. For one thing, there's no way to send a warning shot at a PC - one the name is in the book, they just die. But that's nothing compared to the horror of what happens once the PCs get the death note. While it might be all well and good to watch a PC fall into evil, watching any villain who doesn't have a fake alias drop dead and the inevitable self-destruction of the party over who gets the note sounds like a campaign ender.

Now, a one shot maybe....

[DocBeard]

You could alter it a little-make the Death Note a touch less binary, or maybe have the Kira-wannabe have to preform some dread ritual to realize its full potential.

That said, the real meat of Death Note, at least for Ravenloft and similar settings, is in the spirit guy that caused the whole mess to begin with. It really shows not only how to do casual, bored cruelty without coming off like a bad celtophile bodace ripper novel, but is a great example of how a genie/demon/whatever can play the loyal sidekick and still turn the screws on their master/target.

Keeping vague in case of spoilers, but I think y'all know what I mean. Honestly the spirit character really bugged me until I found out about what he does at the end of the series-then, all of his actions and inactions kind of gel together and the character's more than just another empty "I'm so bored lets cause trouble lawls!" immortal.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

You could alter it a little-make the Death Note a touch less binary, or maybe have the Kira-wannabe have to preform some dread ritual to realize its full potential.

True, making it something other than a "bang-you're-dead" outcome would be far more appropriate. Maybe it'd put the target in danger of suffering a freak accident, a la the Final Destination movies, rather than simply having them keel over? Then, instead of a bunch of NPCs' dying for no discernable reason whatsoever, you'd have a string of weird "accidents" to account for, followed up by bizarre, deadly hazards that "spontaneously" imperil the PCs, each one more lethal and harder to elude than the last.

[AlltheMyriadWays]

You could alter it a little-make the Death Note a touch less binary, or maybe have the Kira-wannabe have to preform some dread ritual to realize its full potential.

True, making it something other than a "bang-you're-dead" outcome would be far more appropriate. Maybe it'd put the target in danger of suffering a freak accident, a la the Final Destination movies, rather than simply having them keel over? Then, instead of a bunch of NPCs' dying for no discernable reason whatsoever, you'd have a string of weird "accidents" to account for, followed up by bizarre, deadly hazards that "spontaneously" imperil the PCs, each one more lethal and harder to elude than the last.

I'd suggest running it a bit more cat and mouse than Death Note. The only lead that could possibly allow the PCs to get anywhere would be by connecting the user, personally, with those they've killed (this Death Note user won't be able to target individuals entirely anonymously as there is no mass media). This makes a direct confrontation much more likely, once the PCs have pieced the right things together.

As such, if I were using the Death Note in my game I would not center the plot on identifying the user, but catching them. Their identity (the basics at least) would inevitably come into the PCs hands (assuming they know how to nose around), but having a direct confrontation with the user at that point (unless it's a one-shot) would be anti-climactic.

Since the Death Note lets you reach out and touch people so well, it's much easier to keep on the run/in hiding geographically speaking. Once the PCs have gotten the identity of the user down, the user should begin targetting them and trying to use the Death Note to manipulate them (and people around them) while trying to remain out of direct reach. This is much more easily done if the Death Note retains its capacity to manipulate its victims prior to death. Unfortunately that particular ability also doesn't work well if it is no longer binary (because the events leading up to their death are now much less specific).

If they can't manipulate victims prior to death, a whole bunch of fun moral dilemmas and new ways of plotting are removed, which would be part of the reason I'd run the Death Note in the first place.

Then again I'm strongly biased. I always thought that rule should have played a much bigger role in the series.

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

I'm a little rushed at the moment (sorr) but one thing I noticed is that no one else seems to have thought about placing a Death Note in Gothic Earth. Maybe it would work better there? The Red Death may have placed an item similar to the Death Note on Earth and someone innocently stumbles upon it and accidentally causes a death, maybe someone close to them. This pattern continues for a time as they hear coices whisper in their ear, urging them to move on and perhap suplant ideas of others that may be truly responsible for the deeath of their loved one. A simple idea, but the holder of the item will be cursed in turn in that as they continue to kill, their own death comes ever closer.

The mystery voice would replace the Shinigami (God of Death) Ryuk (I do like the use of the word dragon in his name, lol) and perhaps the item switches to several people over te course of events. One possesser dies, another takes his/her place. It is feasable in the Victorian-age world where the occult and such mysteries were a great draw toward the common man. Seances, spirit reading,s fortune tellers anf freakshows were in great abundance (though most were charlatans). So perhaps a charlatan who has stumbled upon something real and do not realise it? They keep their own form of innocence while killing others without realising, others of a more sinister creed learn of this and then kill the holder and take it for themselves to put and end to those they see as obstacles.

It is worth thinking about and maybe expanding upon, discussing, etc.

[Isabella]

This pattern continues for a time as they hear coices whisper in their ear, urging them to move on and perhap suplant ideas of others that may be truly responsible for the deeath of their loved one. A simple idea, but the holder of the item will be cursed in turn in that as they continue to kill, their own death comes ever closer.

I don't really think this bit is needed. Part of the point of the Death Note was how fast it corrupted anyone who started using it. In the end, Ryuk wasn't really needed for the Death Note story to work - sure he was a plot device in a few parts, but everything that happened in the end was a direct result of Light's actions.

[Georg Kristianokov]

I've been reading Chrono Crusade. It could work for a 1920's Masque, but I'd suggest getting rid of the cuteness and some of the action.

Normal People Shouldn't Jump 30 Feet In The Air!

[Leliel]

The point of the Death Note, I think, was that by itself, not a corrupting influence. It was just so powerful that any man, good or not, would become corrupted as an indirect result of using it.

All in all, a perfect set-up for Ravenloft.

And before I go-try Parasyte-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasyte-And D.Gray-Man-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D_gray_man

That first one is particularly ironic, since as a race, the Parasites are not inherently evil.