How would you change the brain into a dark lord?

[brilliantlight]

He is certainly evil enough so what act would you have him do to have the DPs turn him into one, what would be his curse and powers? What would his domain be like?

[thekristhomas]

He is certainly evil enough so what act would you have him do to have the DPs turn him into one, what would be his curse and powers? What would his domain be like?

I'm guessing that you mean other than his stated aim of defeating Dominc D'Honaire and taking over Dementlieu?

It's an interesting one, IIRC it has been suggested that through the vagueries of time within the Mists that the Brain and the Elder Brain are one and the same (except that the Elder Brain is, well, older) in which case Illithids everywhere, madness etc.

Other than that, I don't think one act would do it in as much as it would be one of a series of acts, in the vein he has been carrying on in, blackmail, extortion, racketeering and murder with the added bonus of mind control, maybe he victimises a particularly innocent family, or double crosses a Vistani, but it would be almost irrelevant as he probably wouldn't believe any of the superstition, he is a Lamordian after all.

IMHO he is already cursed enough, he is a disembodied head in a jar, incapable of any real sensation, his existence is pretty hellish (YMMV) If I were to curse him further, I would do so by focusing on what he wants now, power, and not the power he already has, over the minds of those he controls and over the lives of those he manipulates through blackmail and plots, but "real" power, he wants access to government. That is what I would deny him. In a similar curse to Harkon Lukas, who is doomed never to rule over a true "nation", I would curse the Brain to be denied access to the upper echelons, even in his own domain.

This could be done a few ways. If his domain were similar in nature to Dementlieu, then he might again find himself easily established amongst the criminal types, but unable to grasp at the higher levels of society for some reason (Top of my head the nobility are all psionic monks, nah).

Another way might be for there to be no "upper echelon" at least what the Brain, a Lamordian noble might recognize as one, with the population being all "lower class" in an endless slum operating like an urban version of Saragossa with gangs fighting and feeding off each other, the Brain being passed like a demented trophy between the warring factions as he decides the other side would be more useful minions for the time being

[brilliantlight]

He is certainly evil enough so what act would you have him do to have the DPs turn him into one, what would be his curse and powers? What would his domain be like?

I'm guessing that you mean other than his stated aim of defeating Dominc D'Honaire and taking over Dementlieu?

It's an interesting one, IIRC it has been suggested that through the vagueries of time within the Mists that the Brain and the Elder Brain are one and the same (except that the Elder Brain is, well, older) in which case Illithids everywhere, madness etc.

Other than that, I don't think one act would do it in as much as it would be one of a series of acts, in the vein he has been carrying on in, blackmail, extortion, racketeering and murder with the added bonus of mind control, maybe he victimises a particularly innocent family, or double crosses a Vistani, but it would be almost irrelevant as he probably wouldn't believe any of the superstition, he is a Lamordian after all.

IMHO he is already cursed enough, he is a disembodied head in a jar, incapable of any real sensation, his existence is pretty hellish (YMMV) If I were to curse him further, I would do so by focusing on what he wants now, power, and not the power he already has, over the minds of those he controls and over the lives of those he manipulates through blackmail and plots, but "real" power, he wants access to government. That is what I would deny him. In a similar curse to Harkon Lukas, who is doomed never to rule over a true "nation", I would curse the Brain to be denied access to the upper echelons, even in his own domain.

This could be done a few ways. If his domain were similar in nature to Dementlieu, then he might again find himself easily established amongst the criminal types, but unable to grasp at the higher levels of society for some reason (Top of my head the nobility are all psionic monks, nah).

Another way might be for there to be no "upper echelon" at least what the Brain, a Lamordian noble might recognize as one, with the population being all "lower class" in an endless slum operating like an urban version of Saragossa with gangs fighting and feeding off each other, the Brain being passed like a demented trophy between the warring factions as he decides the other side would be more useful minions for the time being

Well, it could be the result of his plan of overthrowing Dominic but the result would be him getting his own domain instead of taking over Dominic's.

I agree he is very much cursed but I think the Dark Powers would give him another on top of that. Soth, for one, was already cursed before he earned his own domain. I agree with your additional curse. Another way of doing it is that anyone who has any real political power is immune to his mind control powers. The slum idea is certainly interesting and unique.

[Deewun]

I've always been of the opinion that you do not get what you want in Ravenloft. You want to control a country and are a power mad entity, tough. But that isn't a fun answer to this good question.

If given his own domain, he'd have to be brought into the mists, or do some act that would make the mists swallow him up. I think the latter would probably be a more interesting story, so I'm going to go with it. The act I think that would finally get him I think would be the destruction of the "facade" that everything is fine and working in Dementlieu. I think he sparks a Civil War. French Revolution, Tale of Two Cities style. Tale of two Brains. He makes all the people he has connected in his web of control start attacking and burning down the universities and higher establishments, out of rage or having finally lost his patience. As Dementlieu burns, the Brain is absorbed by the smoke and mists surrounding him, and finds himself in a new domain.

The new curse would have to be something that keeps him from getting what he wants. I like the idea of a land of slums, with no political power, a place where being the "ruler" doesn't matter. I also think it would be interesting to send him somewhere with people without civilization. A neanderthal or perhaps savage land. And he has to work from scratch. Yeah, use a little bit of the DC characters Monsieur Mallah and the Brain. No matter how advanced he may help his country get, they'll never achieve heights that make ruling them "worth it."

It is a fitting end to finish his story, though not a particularly interesting one from a campaign world building perspective, I suppose. I do really like the image if Dementlieu burning because of the Brain getting fed up, though.

[The Lesser Evil]

Right now, the Living Brain is more like a foil than a full character in its own right. I think you need to do some rounding out of the Brain's character to make it a darklord. We need to distinguish him from both the Illithid Godbrain and Dominic d'Honaire. Like the Godbrain, Rudolph van Aubrecker is pretty far removed from the embodied human experience and immobile. However, unlike the Godbrain, Rudolph doesn't seem to be particularly bothered by this turn of events. OTOH, like Dominic, Rudolph is essentially a spoiled brat with jumped up mental powers, though Rudolph seems more about acquiring power than abusing it.

In any case, it doesn't strike me as the Living Brain is cursed from its perspective. It is disadvantaged, certainly, but it considers itself of a higher order than normal humans. However, there are two instances of it becoming agitated. One was when it was in Mordenheim's lab, it became increasingly bitter as Mordenheim was unable to communicate with it or realize what it had become while he experimented on it. The second time was the realization it couldn't grab everything it wanted because Dominic d'Honaire had gotten there first.

Since the second instance is already in play, I suggest we return to the first when considering what the Brain's domain would look like. Since it exalts itself above humanity yet ironically gets upset when it is not recognized as such an entity (as with Dr. Mordenheim, it could influence and control but not really communicate with him somehow), I suggest the Brain become "discovered" but then venerated and studied some kind of miracle of science or perhaps even as some kind of avatar of a great cosmic consciousness. A cadre of neuroscientists and psychiatrists gather around it and study it, building power upon what they learn. Yet the Brain is never really recognized as an entity in and of itself; it can influence and direct but is never truly able manifest its own will in conversation.

A second or alternative element to the curse is the introduction of fear. As it is right now, we don't have any indication that the Brain experiences any fear at all, even in the face of Dominic d'Honaire. I suggest the element of fear be introduced as a curse. And the primary way to do that is through exposure. Not just exposure of the Brain as a Living Brain, but something deeper on an existential level. Exposure as human, specifically a reminder of what it was once, simply the spoiled son of the ruler of a backwater land. To effect this fear, an entity from Rudolph von Aubrecker's past should come back to haunt him- perhaps an old friend or loved one he once betrayed. The Brain as darklord needs a foil- just as he was once a foil to a darklord...

The boating accident that took the lives of von Aubrecker and his friends has never been fully explored. But what if the baron's son had done something... terrible to save himself? And he just about died anyway? Perhaps, from the briny deeps, a revenant of some kind.

[jamesfirecat]

Well clearly his curse is Pinky who constantly ruins all of his plans at the last moment and yet manages to live a much more stress free and enjoyable life yet... oh wait different "Brain", never mind

[Manofevil]

NARF!

[brilliantlight]

Right now, the Living Brain is more like a foil than a full character in its own right. I think you need to do some rounding out of the Brain's character to make it a darklord. We need to distinguish him from both the Illithid Godbrain and Dominic d'Honaire. Like the Godbrain, Rudolph van Aubrecker is pretty far removed from the embodied human experience and immobile. However, unlike the Godbrain, Rudolph doesn't seem to be particularly bothered by this turn of events. OTOH, like Dominic, Rudolph is essentially a spoiled brat with jumped up mental powers, though Rudolph seems more about acquiring power than abusing it.

In any case, it doesn't strike me as the Living Brain is cursed from its perspective. It is disadvantaged, certainly, but it considers itself of a higher order than normal humans. However, there are two instances of it becoming agitated. One was when it was in Mordenheim's lab, it became increasingly bitter as Mordenheim was unable to communicate with it or realize what it had become while he experimented on it. The second time was the realization it couldn't grab everything it wanted because Dominic d'Honaire had gotten there first.

Since the second instance is already in play, I suggest we return to the first when considering what the Brain's domain would look like. Since it exalts itself above humanity yet ironically gets upset when it is not recognized as such an entity (as with Dr. Mordenheim, it could influence and control but not really communicate with him somehow), I suggest the Brain become "discovered" but then venerated and studied some kind of miracle of science or perhaps even as some kind of avatar of a great cosmic consciousness. A cadre of neuroscientists and psychiatrists gather around it and study it, building power upon what they learn. Yet the Brain is never really recognized as an entity in and of itself; it can influence and direct but is never truly able manifest its own will in conversation.

A second or alternative element to the curse is the introduction of fear. As it is right now, we don't have any indication that the Brain experiences any fear at all, even in the face of Dominic d'Honaire. I suggest the element of fear be introduced as a curse. And the primary way to do that is through exposure. Not just exposure of the Brain as a Living Brain, but something deeper on an existential level. Exposure as human, specifically a reminder of what it was once, simply the spoiled son of the ruler of a backwater land. To effect this fear, an entity from Rudolph von Aubrecker's past should come back to haunt him- perhaps an old friend or loved one he once betrayed. The Brain as darklord needs a foil- just as he was once a foil to a darklord...

The boating accident that took the lives of von Aubrecker and his friends has never been fully explored. But what if the baron's son had done something... terrible to save himself? And he just about died anyway? Perhaps, from the briny deeps, a revenant of some kind.

I like the first with the addition being that the experimenters are immune to his power nor can he give orders to others concerning them. He can't have them killed or harmed in any way, any time he tries communicating any orders concerning them he is blocked. Otherwise his powers act as normal. So he is reduced to being little more than an experimental animal most of the time and can't do anything about it.

[tomokaicho]

The brain is villainous, but not truly villainous. You need to be a special type of evil to be a Darklord, and the Brain is more unfortunate than he is evil.

What is the difference between the evil of Dominic and the evil of the Brain? Well, unlike Dominic who has a choice about whether to dominate the minds of others, the Brain must either control the minds of others or die. After all, he is just a brain in a mechanical contraption.

Might the Brain become a Darklord one day? Yes... if he ramps up the evil. That said, the Brain probably does not know what a "Darklord" is conceptually, and just believes that Dominic is the hidden political leader of Dementlieu rather than some sort of spiritual menace at center of the nation.

[Garudos Celestar]

One thing that has always slipped off the radar because of the Brain's conflict with Dominic is his relationship with Victor Mordenheim - after all, the Brain is well aware of Mordenheim's role in making him "what he is today." Perhaps his darklord curse places him back in the hands of either Victor himself or another mad scientist... one who turns out to be immune to his mental powers (unlike Alexis Wilhaven) and can periodically perform experiments on him. He can engage in his manipulations when his captor turns to other projects, but always is in fear of ending up back on the table for the next round of studies...