Café de Nuit

Curious, as I was reading Joel's session recaps, I started thinking about tag teaming some of the wonderful characters of the Ravenloft world ... FOR EVIL! While many are darklords, there are certainly ways around that kind of thing, and really, this is more of a mental exercise than anything else.

What two Ravenloft villains would you enjoy seeing team up? What would they do? What hooks could potentially come from these?

One thing that I've always wondered was how to deal with Odaire once the Created is finished. In a previous campaign (Pirates!) I sent my PCs there and saw that Maligno had summoned up boogeymen from across the plane (and BoS) to frighten the children back into loving him! But that's neither here nor there. I figured at the end of that that Odaire would be either put back to Gothic Earth (like Gonzoron did) or absorbed into the plane in general. I put it in Borca ... and started thinking ...

What if Maligno survived, no longer a darklord now that the realm has been absorbed into the plane ... and he went to Invidia? And Maloccio and he struck up a friendship! The evil Dukkar boy-now-man stuck in Invidia and the toy who wants to be a boy. I just am fascinated with how they would react with each other and the story potential there.

That's my example. What do you folks got?

Not so much of a conventional team-up but more an amorous liason from afar. I was thinking, what if Dominic d'Honaire were to become romantically entangled with Jacqueline Renier and/or vice versa? Given that they're both after romantic affiliations of one kind or another and both are devious masterminds, it's not so far from possibility.

Of course, even if they could escape from their domains their curses (and perhaps also evil natures) would prevent each other from enjoying each other's company. Instead I think if they grew to have a thing for each other, it would be from afar through letter writing/penpals (and possibly through aliases or proxies). Dominic, especially, may act through his Obedient to pretend to be people he's not.

Imagine what a layered game of deception (not cat and mouse, more like Cat and Also Cat!) Dominic and Jaqueline could have at playing penpals. Perhaps alternatively teasing, helping, and hindering one another in grand games of tango. Imagine if the PCs were unknowingly working for the pair as couriers delivering their letters across domain lines!

And of course, with his ghostly attention to the mail going back and forth through the Core, Lord Godefroy could become a wild card and try to manipulate both sides for his own benefit.

Oh, another idea for a strange pair. Mordenheim and Easan the Mad. Both here are looking for cures to ailments that can't be remedied (whether through weird science or magic), and both have an affinity for creating weird and unusual constructs.

I can imagine the trouble bringing these two twisted figures would cause (and the adventure opportunities). I think it would be Easan who would initiate the first contact, perhaps by sending some of his own constructs to kidnap Mordenheim (or perhaps, Elise...) and bring him to Vechor. It would be ironic and interesting to see magical construct square off against weird science construct as Adam would naturally try to stop Easan's creations. Imagine what would happen if the PCs got in the way of such a fracas?

Easan on his second try, perhaps foiled by Adam's border closing, may end up calling and binding a few fiends to his service to get around the domain issue. Now the PCs must deal with the depredations of fiends in addition to the madness of the Created. A few might escape Easan's grasp and go wild with their own schemes in the Land of Mists. And while the characters and Adam are distracted by a few of the wild mage's rogue minions, those who remain loyal to Easan are successful in smuggling out Mordenheim and/or Elise out of Lamordia.

Henceforth, the heroes must chase after Easan's minions into the mad lands of Vechor, right into wild mage's backyard before Mordenheim and Easan do the unthinkable in the quests to end their curses.

The Lesser Evil wrote:Oh, another idea for a strange pair. Mordenheim and Easan the Mad.

*snip*

I really enjoyed this combo! What a fun little story could be woven between the two.

Once sound recording technology hits Paridon, we could start up a cross-domain studio-only band: Harkon Lukas on Lute, Andres Duvall on Harp, and Baron Evensong on Harpsichord. A quickwood tree serves for the drum track.

Mayonaka and Lord Soth could make for a daunting tag team.

Western vs Eastern corrupted noble warrior clashing in the moonlight on the walls of Nedragaard Keep when their sense of mutual respect inevitably boils over into fierce hatred?

Maybe Mayonaka might even find his true death?

Boris Drakov wrote:Mayonaka and Lord Soth could make for a daunting tag team.

Western vs Eastern corrupted noble warrior clashing in the moonlight on the walls of Nedragaard Keep when their sense of mutual respect inevitably boils over into fierce hatred?

Maybe Mayonaka might even find his true death?

This I would LOVE to actually run! I've always wanted to run some of the Taiyoo stuff, and just never felt there was enough support ... but having this pairing show up while all the events of the unraveling of Sithicus in When Black Roses Bloom ... oh man, the epic clash then team up would be amazing. I love this quite a bit.

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Once sound recording technology hits Paridon, we could start up a cross-domain studio-only band: Harkon Lukas on Lute, Andres Duvall on Harp, and Baron Evensong on Harpsichord. A quickwood tree serves for the drum track.

Evil garage bands of Ravenloft unite!

The Lesser Evil wrote:Not so much of a conventional team-up but more an amorous liason from afar. I was thinking, what if Dominic d'Honaire were to become romantically entangled with Jacqueline Renier and/or vice versa? Given that they're both after romantic affiliations of one kind or another and both are devious masterminds, it's not so far from possibility.

Of course, even if they could escape from their domains their curses (and perhaps also evil natures) would prevent each other from enjoying each other's company. Instead I think if they grew to have a thing for each other, it would be from afar through letter writing/penpals (and possibly through aliases or proxies). Dominic, especially, may act through his Obedient to pretend to be people he's not.

Imagine what a layered game of deception (not cat and mouse, more like Cat and Also Cat!) Dominic and Jaqueline could have at playing penpals. Perhaps alternatively teasing, helping, and hindering one another in grand games of tango. Imagine if the PCs were unknowingly working for the pair as couriers delivering their letters across domain lines!

And of course, with his ghostly attention to the mail going back and forth through the Core, Lord Godefroy could become a wild card and try to manipulate both sides for his own benefit.

Take this idea, only ditch Dominic and replace him with Urik von Kharkov. It's a little sick, but it makes me giggle.

For my own idea, I'd love to see anyone attempt an alliance with Toben the Many. Absolutely anyone, but especially if it was someone else with a beef against Azalin. Toben gets bored, so I could see him going for it just for the novelty. The other party would be riding a tiger as far as getting him to stay on task, but I'm sure that the demiplane has plenty of people desperate, ballsy or insane enough to try.

Funny idea, Deewun.

IMC, I was thinking of teaming Nostalia Romaine and Talena Von Zarovich, in order to destroy Ivan. Of course, Talena has other motives... Two number twos, with a lot of power, and no restraint to domain borders.

And let me know if you have comments on my journals.

Joël

Hazgarn wrote: Take this idea, only ditch Dominic and replace him with Urik von Kharkov. It's a little sick, but it makes me giggle.

I do LOVE me some Kharkov. One of my favorites. As for Toben, I really gotta stop lagging and start reading up on him.

Joël of the FoS wrote:Funny idea, Deewun.

IMC, I was thinking of teaming Nostalia Romaine and Talena Von Zarovich, in order to destroy Ivan. Of course, Talena has other motives... Two number twos, with a lot of power, and no restraint to domain borders.

And let me know if you have comments on my journals.

Aw, shucks, that's what I was hoping for! I'm currently on session 49 of your campaign as I continue to get caught up.

Not sure how they would get along personality-wise, but who better for Dr. Mordenheim to get parts from than a woman with a massive stockpile of them, Jacqueline Montarri. Unlike her, Victor tends to use "every part of the buffalo" in his spare time.

I like to think that Malocchio Aderre and Ivan Dilisnya would make great friends, like a pair of sadistic man-children that like to play chess using humans a pices

Talum wrote:I like to think that Malocchio Aderre and Ivan Dilisnya would make great friends, like a pair of sadistic man-children that like to play chess using humans a pices

Give me Maligno in the middle, playing both sides, and you have a deal!

Dark Angel wrote:Not sure how they would get along personality-wise, but who better for Dr. Mordenheim to get parts from than a woman with a massive stockpile of them, Jacqueline Montarri. Unlike her, Victor tends to use "every part of the buffalo" in his spare time.

This is VERY intriguing! Mix that in the cult of Vecna wanting a new Hand and Eye (or HEAD GOLEM?!) and that has the makings of an incredibly cool story.

You know Aderre and Dilisnya hanging out together only reinforces the point that some people should not meet. Those two psychos would prove more harmful than Aderre and Drakov, at least there is a mentoring kind of relationship (at least to me) and not one where they would come up with a game that involves flare guns and bound people wearing gas filled life vests.

Kind of tangential to the discussion, but has anyone thought about how fun it might be (read: what kind of havoc might be wrought) if a few darklords were body-swapped with one another? I think I first thought of this in context with Alfred Timothy and Harkan Lukas, but I'm sure there's no end of amusing combinations here...