Café de Nuit

I say, that is very good. Well done . Now we have a proper villain (not I that I disliked him before).

Thanks for your praise for 'my suggestion' some posts above, but I should make clear that it too was derived from other ideas before mine. It was not I the first to suggest 'rapist abuses'.

And the way you put it was very well done for it leaves all to the imagination of the reader. We know what you mean because we've read the rest of the thread, but I think it's not that obvious, so it's a good way to be.

Alex

Ail wrote:Thanks for your praise for 'my suggestion' some posts above, but I should make clear that it too was derived from other ideas before mine. It was not I the first to suggest 'rapist abuses'.

You're right. Re-reading through this thread, I recalled it was Gwenfloor's idea. Sorry, Gwen, for the omission (sp?).

Re-reading the whole thread, it seems that the members of the Frat will have a hard time with their new Gaz. Most of the DLs in the Nocturnal Sea had been mentioned here as having little to no background and as being one-trick ponies.

But it is Inza who wins the prize as the less-liked DL, leaving Hazlik and Tristessa (Who share the second place) behind by far. Other DLs that seem to need a serious fix are Von Kharkov, The Hags and Adam (Though making Mordenheim the DL seems to do the trick). Harkon and Tristen seem to need a small adjustment and they'll be good to go!

(That not mentioning the islands and clusters, where Malus and Tsien rule as the worst of their kind... However, while some of them seem to be fixable, there are some that are just plain expendable. It could make for a new thread: Which DLs/Domains would you simply discard, and which would you fix?)

As for Drakov's story, I haven't included HumanBing's idea yet, and though I have ideas for other three "chapters", I don't know whether to write them or not... I like the spot where I left the story, and I guess it would suffer from an anti-climax if I pushed it further...

WolfKook wrote:(That not mentioning the islands and clusters, where Malus and Tsien rule as the worst of their kind... However, while some of them seem to be fixable, there are some that are just plain expendable. It could make for a new thread: Which DLs/Domains would you simply discard, and which would you fix?)

Just because a darklord is hopeless as a good flavorful character doesn't mean the PCs can't have some fun kicking his/her 2D butt.

I mean, c'mon, if you don't like Malus, you can just let the PCs walk all over him. That puny 1 level of Fighter isn't going to do him any good in a fight.

I think Malus should have some levels of Cancer Mage from the Book of Vile Darkness. I think that would fit him.

Drinnik Shoehorn wrote:I think Malus should have some levels of Cancer Mage from the Book of Vile Darkness. I think that would fit him.

Agreed. I'm sure everyone's had that same thought process.

I think him and his domain would fit in better in "D20 Modern: Ravenloft" or "D20 Futureloft".

Or just any Cyberpunk game.

One thing I really like about wolfkook's Drakov background story is that is adds a lot to the character, and makes him work much better, without contadicting cannon material. I am quite pleased to hear we can expect more.

WolfKook wrote:Re-reading the whole thread, it seems that the members of the Frat will have a hard time with their new Gaz. Most of the DLs in the Nocturnal Sea had been mentioned here as having little to no background and as being one-trick ponies.

Which is part of the reason they need a Gaz. We're trying our best to add more dimension to the NPCs in question, while inventing new plot-threads to liven them up. Even one-trick ponies can learn new tricks if you tempt them with the right carrot.

Remember, it's never too early to start improving any of the previously-undetailed darklords whose names have come up on this thread. While those Clusters and Islands that were named in 3E products have a higher priority than the likes of Kalidnay or Nosos, we like to think that, in time, we'll get around to describing/converting even the most obscure corners of Ravenloft. So if any of you folks have come up with ideas for making a lame darklord interesting, as you read this thread, please write them down somewhere: in time, we may be asking for those suggestions!

Igor the Henchman wrote: Stezen D'Polarno
With due apologies to James Lowder. Maybe my opinion would be different if I had read those RPGA modules that spawned him. As he is, he comes up to be really, extremely, well... bland. Its even part of the concept.

Solution: give him an ongoing agenda and reason to be interested in foreign politics. He needs to be more pro-active, not sitting in his castle day in, day out in boredom.

Ivana and Ivan
Poisons. When it comes to clashing swords with a poison-armed enemy, most PC groups either come very prepared, or are caught the pants completely down. Ivana's minions in a fight are likely her Ermordenung, also poison-users. Ivan's blockers are his Borrowed Men, likely also armed with poisoned gear, what with their boss's limitless budget and ability to create poisons at will. This turns the conflict against the darklord (and indeed, the whole adventure) into Poison Extravaganza. Poison in small doses is good. When its your villain's only gimmick, it sucks.

Solution: give them both some other strength that doesn't rely on poison. Sorceror levels. Sneak attack. Ability to shapeshift into vermin. Swarm control. Anything. Please.

I had a campaign called A Matter of Taste that dealt with this sort of thing. The PCs were native Ghastrians suddenly thrust into Borca. Ivan and Ivana discover that Ghastrian foodstuffs have no flavor, and are overjoyed--the food apparently doesn't trigger Ivan's curse, and Ivana wants to plant a poison that is so noxious none would normally dare eat enough of it to have an effect. Of course, Ivan and Ivana also want to be sure that the other darklord doesn't get the benefit of Ghastria. D'Polarno loves the newfound attention, and asks for the PCs to help broker a deal between the rock and hard place of the cousins.

The combat abilities of the three darklords didn't matter because they all become important NPCs--and sometimes allies of the PCs. Ivana became best friends with one PC, even. The PCs regularly met the three darklords in peaceful circumstances, even though they implicitly knew a single political misstep would be fatal. It was great fun.

Well, with things as they are in my country (Colombia) lately, I couldn't help myself, so here it goes, Episode IV:

The clerics had held power for less than a decade, and they were still trying to organize themselves into any kind of structure. However, as followers of a deity of deceit and treachery, they were more eager to backstab each other than to negotiate among them, and there was where we entered the picture.
We had made a name for ourselves for our successful advances and our harsh tactics. Even in the rare cases when the king's undead army was involved, we often got the upper hand, and finished our opposition completely. More so, with master Drakov as our leader, we had developed a new skill, which proved to be even more effective than our actions of the field: We had become masters of fear.
Indeed, when we stroked, we seldom left anyone alive, and those we killed, we did in the most gruesome way, using master Drakov's method of impalement, which had become our trademark. As a result, the sole mention of our name was enough to strike fear in the hearts of our victims, who often were cowardly enough to run in fear, leaving the holdings mostly abandoned, and the road open enough for us to raid, conquer, and punish those brave or foolish enough to stay and fight; we took advantage of our fame, and got a lot of patronage through it. Our coffers were getting filled, and our numbers were finally growing, as young men all over the country tried to join our ranks.
Officially, however, we still were an outlaw army, and no one wanted to do anything to do with us, at least not in the open. Our patrons supported us in the shadows, but denied any association with us, as being seen in our presence was enough to be accused of treason.
We were aware of the situation, and lived with it for a time. Master Drakov had not been raised as a simple brigand, though: He wanted a land of his own, and his outlaw condition deprived him of the possibility of having it. He was aware of that fact, and soon became frustrated, and tired, with it. It was common to hear him speaking very lowly about those worms, as he called them, and to witness his fits of rage whenever he heard that one of them would have condemned us, and our "barbaric ways" in public, while he secretly supported us in the shadows.
But one day, Uldorf Hirschen, one of our main supporters, one that had won a great deal of his position and power because of us, and who had even been called a "friend" by our leader, turned against us in the council, when confronted by it because of his encounters with master Drakov, he spurned him, saying that he was a bandit and a savage, and that our army was a threat to their society. So harsh were his words that they soon reached master Drakov’s ears. When he heard them, he paid attention, but his common fits of rage did not appear this time. He was calm, even cold. He retreated to his tent, and we didn’t hear of him until, the next morning, he sent a messenger to the council, with a letter he had written during the night. Once the boy left, he ordered us to prepare for the night: For the first time since he had taken control of the Talons, we would made a surprise attack.
We entered Hirschen’s estate as shadows in the middle of the night, and the cleric’s guards weren’t enough to stop us. Blood was spilt as we approached the walls, heads fell off as we stumped through the gates, and death followed us as we crossed the fields and reached the main house. Master Drakov ordered that master Hirschen and his whole family would be dragged before him, and we did so. The things that we did to them are not to be repeated: It is enough to said that the memories of those horrible deeds haunt me to this day, and that master Hirschen had to witness it all, while two of our men held him, for each time he passed out, master Drakov would call for a pause until he regained conscience. He had to witness it all.
We left Hirschen’s state just as the sun started to rise in the horizon. At our backs, the bodies of Uldorf Hirschen and his whole family stood, impaled, as in display. Ahead of us, a strange mist was rising in the forest that would supposedly grant us shelter.

A thought just struck me, and like a repeat offender, I thought I'd share it here.

We have seen that Vlad Drakov is almost entirely secular. He does not understand the nature of the Demiplane, and does not realize he is doomed to forever fail. He does not begin to regret his actions.

Can we play upon this ignorance to maybe give him a special power?

Maybe... just maybe... he's the only darklord that can leave his domain.

There needs to be some control over this, of course. Perhaps he can leave but begins to lose Con at an alarming rate unless he kills people by the sword. (This could tie in with the previous proposed curse that I mentioned.)

Why bother with this? Well, we've already seen that he's sort of an agnostic as far as redemption goes. It just doesn't even occur to him that what he's doing is objectionable, or that there are better ways of being a ruler.

Secondly, he's clearly a useless ruler... but he has one hidden strength. At the front of an army, he's a strong, charismatic leader, and his one redeeming situation shines through. Men will kill and die for him. His armies can triumph (at least for a while) against insurmountable odds.

So why not give him a special power to (temporarily) go beyond the edge of his realm and lead his men in battle? It's what he does best, and those occasions may give him the few moments of glory he needs to prop up his otherwise multitalentless career.

There we go. Have at it.

That's an interesting idea. It would certainly explain how he can stay so ignorant of his circumstances; he would otherwise surely know that something's up when he tries to lead his army into Darkon and an invisible barrier knocks him off his horse! Don't forget that in the RL DMG (IIRC) it also says, in reference to darklords being able to close the borders, that they can "force others to share their imprisonment"--but Drakov cannot do this.

Actually, that gives me a way-out idea to take that notion even further: what if, as a totally non-canon alternative, Drakov wasn't the true (or perhaps not the only) darklord in Falkovnia? What if he were actually a figurehead, and the real Falkovnian darklord was somebody else who happened to have arrived from Krynn along with him?

If so, Vlad Drakov's temperament and behavior could be reinterpreted as somebody else's curse. He'd be a proxy -- one specifically chosen because he's such an utter incompetent -- put in place by the DPs, so the true darklord would be left seething in the background, powerless to stop Vlad's bungling. Not unlike the Rokushiman darklord's situation, except that there's just one bad ruler to blame instead of a bunch of sons, and the true darklord could still be alive to watch it all happening.

It's not a way I'd personally care to go IMC, but as long as we're reinventing lame darklords, it would be a sly way to deal with Drakov.

Well their twins, of course, Drakov the incompetent who we love and know so well, and Drakov the competent and true Darklord. This latter is cursed to watch the former destroy his name and reputation. For the great general is caught between death and life as a first magnitude ghost with no power to manifest himself let alone to lead his armies out of Falkovnia to victory. The man in the iron mask or a Mordenheim-von Aubrecker redux would be variations on the theme.

Not a bad idea, HuMan. It could even lend a special piquancy to his curse-- he can ride into the forefront of battle, leading his men, maybe even achieving personal triumphs which rally the troops-- but always, always he is driven back to Falkovnia, adding to his frustration and inability to be taken seriously as a military power.

Oh, and a followup: as frustrating as his campaign against Darkon is, the DPs do spare him capture-- but not for his sake. Azalin has noticed Drakov's peculiar ability and would just *love* to conduct some research on it...