Real World Ravenloft (Inspiration)

[Isabella]

I'm sure a thread like this crops up every three months, but who am I to break the trend?

My GM is always saying he can never use things from real life in his games, because no one would ever believe them. Here's my contribution to that list - the skins of Japanese Yakuza members, preserved because of the lovely tattoos on them. Imagine adding that to your PCs rolled treasure tables.


http://www.tokyonoyume.com/2009/11/asak ... ition.html

[vipera aspis]

This is fantastic. I can think of half a dozen uses for these already. So goodnight horses...

[Trike]

I did something similar in a game I ran awhile ago.

First, you introduce an NPC. Someone the characters like, an ally. You describe the tattoos covering the skin of the NPC. You shouldn't make a big deal of it. One or two mentions should be enough.

Then, at a later point. The PCs find the tattoos stretched for display in the villain's lair or pressed in a book.

You don't have to be totally heartless. Maybe the tattoo is small enough to be flayed off while the NPC is alive. It's unpleasant. But at least the PCs have the chance to rescue the NPC.

For a bigger tattoo, you've killed off the NPC. But you get that great scene where the PCs walk into an art gallery and realize that their friend's skin is hanging on a frame. Also, there are more than a dozen skins hanging in the same room. How many people have been murdered?

[Hazgarn]

In honor of the rather Ravenloft-ish atmosphere that greeted me while out walking my dog this morning, I'll submit the following...

Real life: A pregnant woman whose delivery is much overdue is given the advice of her doctor to take walks in hopes of inducing labor. While out, she is attacked and bitten by a dog, and promptly goes into labor.
This bit of fun happened outside of our house one holiday.
My Ideas:
+ A random roadside encounter, possibly with the woman's escort having been lost, driven off or killed by the creature that attacked her.
+ Part of the backstory of a brutish caliban NPC called "Mutt" due to his canine personality and features.

Real life: A house was built on a property that was once the site of an old cabin. Whoever built the house has taken the front of the cabin and built it into the wall of the entry room, complete with the door. One wall of this room is bare timbers from the cabin, the rest is constructed of more conventional materials. Recent remodeling has lead the owners to cover over the closet opposite the cabin door. So you have a door that doesn't open, and right across from it you have a closet with no door. Though the closet not readily detectible, the wall before the closet is often cooler due to the empty space behind it, and it is still accessible through a crawlspace in a nearby bedroom.
The area is rife with eccentric wildlife, with animals in vicinity of the house frequently acting oddly, with even squirrels and birds displaying an unusual amount of agreesion. Burrowing pests plague the grounds, and the property is home to a den of venomous snakes. There is also a pack of rowdy feral dogs in the area that have been plaguing the flocks of neighbors, and the remains of killed carcasses of sheep commonly attract the attention of carrion birds. So far the dogs have fled the sight of humans. So far.
This is the house my family lived in when I was in the third grade. While living there I was attacked by a turkey, a squirrel, gophers, we had one car crash due to striking a deer, and almost had another one when a vulture almost impacted the window, frequently heard bobcats prowling around at night, and there was a nest of freaking rattle snakes not ten feet from the front door. Oh, and one duck that belonged to a neighbor that liked to beg my dad's beer. The large population of stray dogs was due to being at the end of the paved portion of the road, which made it a convenient dump-spot for people abandoning their pets.
My Ideas:
+ What is the story about the old cabin? Were experiments done there? A past tragedy that has created a sinkhole of evil?
+ With the recent change in ownership and following remodeling, it's possible that that hidden closet isn't exactly empty...
+ Mad druid in the area?

Real life: There is an oaktree that has resisted any efforts by local woodcutters to harvest or clear it. Axes have broken and saws bent nearly backward on themself. One clever man who tried to weaken the base of it with fire claims to have seen the image of a woman staring at him from the flames.
This happened, according to my father. Not sure about the woman in the flames, but I have seen the sawblade, which was bent into a nice L shape. Only, it was a chainsaw.
My Ideas:
+ This tree once housed a dryad, but the creature was captured by a magic user and slain as a sacrifice in a dark ritual. Now this tree is haunted by the the pained echos of the dryad's spirit.
+ A woman was murdered and buried underneath the tree.

[Sareau]

I used to turn to the Weekly World News when in need of inspiration for plots, but am not sure that qualifies...
However, my Ravenloft is largely based on real world events and even uses a map of the world instead of the many disparate maps out there. Sawney Beane immediately comes to mind...