After much thought on the subject, I'm planning on removing Necropolis from my campaign. It really does little to contribute to the gothic feel of Ravenloft, and nobody is going to be stupid enough to actually enter the place. (At least nobody in my party) In short, it serves no other purpose than an annoying obstacle, and reservoir of undead--not like there are not enough of those in Ravenloft already.
My thought was the entire place was actually so infused with negative energy, that it was sucked into the negative energy plane. For weeks, there was what appeared to be a hurricane comprised of The Mists above the city, (or to put it more accurately, where the city had been) as the demiplane sucessfully strove to make sure more stuff didn't get sucked in. Now, what is left behind, when the Mists clear? The possibilities:
1) Big gaping hole, like the Shadow Rift, except (for now) it doesn't go anywhere...
2) Blighted, twisted wasteland--pick your flavor.
3) The Mists reform a dead, empty duplicate of Il Aluk. This is likely the version I'll go with... What can I do to give the place some dreadful feel to it, without being cliché, however? I don't just want to dump a bunch of ghosts and such hqve the typical haunted city. Maybe the place has some
sentience, But I want it to inspire dread, but not enough to prevent the place from being (eventually) resettled.
Ideas, anyone?
Getting rid of Necropolis...
I like the thought to get rid of Necropolis, and its good you are changing things and aren't afraid to do so. Now, a dread feel, hmm. well I don't know if this is a dread feel, but how about after the destruction of Necropolis, something happened to some of the people, and they are turned into very fast moving hunting zombies, like in that old 80s movie, "Night of the Comet." They only appear at night, b/c they can't stay in the sun, like vampires, and feed off flesh, or whatever you want. And the remaing living people in the land fight to end their existence. Heck, you could make a campaign on this.
Forgotten Son of Lord Vasili
Re: Getting rid of Necropolis...
Make it a ruined city with a twisted mind of its own, that can change its layout at will and that has illusionary people running around, so that it can feel like a real city againVan Owen wrote:3) The Mists reform a dead, empty duplicate of Il Aluk. This is likely the version I'll go with... What can I do to give the place some dreadful feel to it, without being cliché, however? I don't just want to dump a bunch of ghosts and such hqve the typical haunted city. Maybe the place has some
sentience, But I want it to inspire dread, but not enough to prevent the place from being (eventually) resettled.
Ideas, anyone?
. Turn it into the craziest maze Ravenloft ever saw, and get your players lost in it This would of course come to Azalins attention, so the players may encounter several Darkonese exploring parties who are trying to find out who's an illusion and who's not
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Malus Black
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Since you say that you want Necropolis to be settled I'm going to assume that you have ignored Death and the Shroud etc. If not, the settlers have a nasty problem.
One way to alter Necropolis could be to have the city become one vast Phantasmagorum, but one that is relatively subtle and careful, so that it doesn't frighten away settlers. Small, odd events such as candles suddenly extinguishing or alleys becoming narrower, longer and darker than they seemed, and so on.
Another idea could be to have the former citizens become unique geists, craving nothing more than to experience life again, if only through watching others live. This might manifest as wraithlike creatures seen out of the corner of your eye in dark rooms, hearing phantom sounds such as laughter, weeping or whispered voices, and other small things which would be disturbing but not downright hostile.
I'll try to think of more later.
One way to alter Necropolis could be to have the city become one vast Phantasmagorum, but one that is relatively subtle and careful, so that it doesn't frighten away settlers. Small, odd events such as candles suddenly extinguishing or alleys becoming narrower, longer and darker than they seemed, and so on.
Another idea could be to have the former citizens become unique geists, craving nothing more than to experience life again, if only through watching others live. This might manifest as wraithlike creatures seen out of the corner of your eye in dark rooms, hearing phantom sounds such as laughter, weeping or whispered voices, and other small things which would be disturbing but not downright hostile.
I'll try to think of more later.
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream
-Edgar Allan Poe
Is but a dream within a dream
-Edgar Allan Poe
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ScS of the Fraternity
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That's a pretty good idea Glim. I'm getting the idea of a couple of encounters.
The PCs exploring the streets, suddenly hearing the sounds of a small child laughing in the distance. Turning into an alley, they see a shadow of a little child against the far wall. Around the opposite corner rolls a leather kick-ball, which stops at the feet of the nearest PC. The group hears a distant giggle:
"Wanna play?"
The PCs exploring the streets, suddenly hearing the sounds of a small child laughing in the distance. Turning into an alley, they see a shadow of a little child against the far wall. Around the opposite corner rolls a leather kick-ball, which stops at the feet of the nearest PC. The group hears a distant giggle:
"Wanna play?"
Evil Reigns!!!!
Death, and the worst of the negative energy got sucked back to the Negative Energy plane. I'm not telling my PCs that however.... This Il Aluk is merely a copy. The geists idea sounds really good. Maybe the city also takes on an entirely different form at night? I'm thinking back to Bleak House on a massive scale...Since you say that you want Necropolis to be settled I'm going to assume that you have ignored Death and the Shroud etc. If not, the settlers have a nasty problem
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Jasper
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Ypu could pull a Forlorn on it and turn it into a city out of time.
Present day- A huge flash of black light envelopes the city in its wake. Those who investigate a few days later find the shroud gone along with Death and all the undead. The city itself is renewed back to its former glory with barely a day's decay pased since Its demise. Locals report seeing strange phantoms sceens in the city. A street will sudenly decay 100 years and be litted with bones and blood only to revert back a moment later. Some report seeing ghostly bands of people running and screaming out of abandoned bulidings but no sounds eminate from them.
A few day later still-the remains of the first exploation team are found. There bones seemed oldy aged and marked as if chewed on. A tattered journal reveals the cities fate.
DM stuff-
A undead scientist in Necropolis has been ablw to create a time machine to send himself back before the doomsday to warn and evacuate the city. His device however backfired and instead of sending himslef back in time it thrust the city ,moments before doomsday device went off, into a pocket time. Death, being so close to the machine when t it went off, was pulled along too but was transformed from his coporial self into a formless mist only able to bring those allready dead back to life (In my games his power is tied to the number of undead in the city . So no undead= very weak).
The city is still semi ancored to temporal prime and allows adventures to enter and exit the pocket time at one of the four times in the cities life during one of the phantom shifts.
1.Days of Anarchy- With the outsdie world cut off by the walls of time the city erupts into a den of chaos. People start hording supplies and a small plague sweeps the city due to lack of fresh water and sewage killing a few hundred. This rages for several years as various factions fight for power.
2. Totalitarian rule- About five years after the fighting starts a ruler emerages from the lower class. This glorified thug rules with an iron hand and a dull wit. A few years after his rule nearly all supplies are deminished causing a mass starvation across the city. A few desperate souls turn to canabilisum . Death sees this and turns them into Ghouls and Dhasts adding them to his slowly growing undead army.
3. The plague- With most of the poulation dead and the rest hiding away with what merger foods they can find Death unleashes his undead army into the streets. Within days the city is over run with undead.
4. The ruins- In the cities future the dead outnumber the living 100 to 1. Death rules on high and the few servivors have been drivin underground and have raised small familes admist the chaos.
In each of times lives a verson of the Scientist who creared the machine. If the Pcs can find him he tells them of one of his inventions that allows passage too and from the time bubble but it only allows an equil number to return as come through making any thoughts of evacuation a exersise in sacrafice .
This verson of the city allows a sort of Resident evil/dawn of the dead adventure while getting rid of the instent death shroud thing,
Present day- A huge flash of black light envelopes the city in its wake. Those who investigate a few days later find the shroud gone along with Death and all the undead. The city itself is renewed back to its former glory with barely a day's decay pased since Its demise. Locals report seeing strange phantoms sceens in the city. A street will sudenly decay 100 years and be litted with bones and blood only to revert back a moment later. Some report seeing ghostly bands of people running and screaming out of abandoned bulidings but no sounds eminate from them.
A few day later still-the remains of the first exploation team are found. There bones seemed oldy aged and marked as if chewed on. A tattered journal reveals the cities fate.
DM stuff-
A undead scientist in Necropolis has been ablw to create a time machine to send himself back before the doomsday to warn and evacuate the city. His device however backfired and instead of sending himslef back in time it thrust the city ,moments before doomsday device went off, into a pocket time. Death, being so close to the machine when t it went off, was pulled along too but was transformed from his coporial self into a formless mist only able to bring those allready dead back to life (In my games his power is tied to the number of undead in the city . So no undead= very weak).
The city is still semi ancored to temporal prime and allows adventures to enter and exit the pocket time at one of the four times in the cities life during one of the phantom shifts.
1.Days of Anarchy- With the outsdie world cut off by the walls of time the city erupts into a den of chaos. People start hording supplies and a small plague sweeps the city due to lack of fresh water and sewage killing a few hundred. This rages for several years as various factions fight for power.
2. Totalitarian rule- About five years after the fighting starts a ruler emerages from the lower class. This glorified thug rules with an iron hand and a dull wit. A few years after his rule nearly all supplies are deminished causing a mass starvation across the city. A few desperate souls turn to canabilisum . Death sees this and turns them into Ghouls and Dhasts adding them to his slowly growing undead army.
3. The plague- With most of the poulation dead and the rest hiding away with what merger foods they can find Death unleashes his undead army into the streets. Within days the city is over run with undead.
4. The ruins- In the cities future the dead outnumber the living 100 to 1. Death rules on high and the few servivors have been drivin underground and have raised small familes admist the chaos.
In each of times lives a verson of the Scientist who creared the machine. If the Pcs can find him he tells them of one of his inventions that allows passage too and from the time bubble but it only allows an equil number to return as come through making any thoughts of evacuation a exersise in sacrafice .
This verson of the city allows a sort of Resident evil/dawn of the dead adventure while getting rid of the instent death shroud thing,
"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish it's source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings."
Anais Nin
Anais Nin
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JinnTolser
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Jonathan Winters
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A few ideas off the top of my head...
I personally don't mind Necropolis. I would even like to use it at one point. It's obviously less gothic, but sometimes that can be fun too.
Actually, it vcould be gothic if you flesh out the undead there. Make them act more like ''real'' people with goals and power struggles. There are some good ideas in Gaz II. With the Amaranth (sp), you keep your PCs alive while they're there. Could even be a race against time before it runs out...
If you decide to get rid of Necropolis by sending it to the Negative plane, I think you should get rid of all undead in it. You either keep it or get rid of it. IMO.
Make it clear that something affected the city again. Make it so people want to come back. And no lingering ghosts.
Maybe the city gets connected to the Positive plane? Healing works better? Somewhat easier to ressurect people, but there is a price involved? Maybe they come back, but with the Hollow feat? The soul doesn't back? So you get the loved one back, but they are not exactly the same?
Just a few ideas...
Patrick
I personally don't mind Necropolis. I would even like to use it at one point. It's obviously less gothic, but sometimes that can be fun too.
Actually, it vcould be gothic if you flesh out the undead there. Make them act more like ''real'' people with goals and power struggles. There are some good ideas in Gaz II. With the Amaranth (sp), you keep your PCs alive while they're there. Could even be a race against time before it runs out...
If you decide to get rid of Necropolis by sending it to the Negative plane, I think you should get rid of all undead in it. You either keep it or get rid of it. IMO.
Make it clear that something affected the city again. Make it so people want to come back. And no lingering ghosts.
Maybe the city gets connected to the Positive plane? Healing works better? Somewhat easier to ressurect people, but there is a price involved? Maybe they come back, but with the Hollow feat? The soul doesn't back? So you get the loved one back, but they are not exactly the same?
Just a few ideas...
Patrick
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Gonzoron of the FoS
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good for you Van Owen,
i am alwys encouraged by people who tinker with campaign settings. not only does it throw off players who read the same books we do, but it shows that people think for themselves an important quality to have in this day and age.
i am alwys encouraged by people who tinker with campaign settings. not only does it throw off players who read the same books we do, but it shows that people think for themselves an important quality to have in this day and age.
Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves.
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tec-goblin
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William Blackmoor
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Ok, here is my idea. Let your PC's enter Necropolis for a first and final time. With them they bring the fully powered rift spanner of Styrix the nighthag. They detonate it and "ZAP" (Brilliant flash of light)...Necropolois no more. Il Aluk is restored to it's former, although slightly damaged glory. This overload of positiv energy has a few side effects as well:
Most undead are blasted into oblivion, but some (many of them mentioned NPC'S
) are returned to life. They are hollow, but with a twist: they remember their lifes, their unlifes and somethings they never experienced. These memories are fragments of the souls, the riftspanner blasted all over Il Aluk. None of the residents can hope to leave Il Aluk for a longer time, for the animating soul fragments are drawn to each other. They always return to the city. A few of these old/new residents are insane, still feeling the hunger of their undead lifes. Other's now know of dreadful secrets, not their own.
The city itself is partially animated by the positiv energy, allowing it to alter itself, to toy with the residents. This will be the effects of narrowed, streched or darkend streets, illusions of citisenz long gone and so on.
Some of the dead of Il Aluk's oldest catacombs (that happend to lie just below the detonating riftspanner ) are now animated and rise as ancient dead. Most are loners but a few form a qabal, trying to secretly gain control of the city. In response one of the others (who kept her original good alignment) tries to thrawt their schemes.
Resetteling & Rebuilding the city is ordered by Azalin. Many new settlers are foreigners "taken by Darkon" and maybe even the PC's are manipulated by Azalin to believe themselves residents of the city they helped to safe. Il Aluk's reconstructed buildings reflect the "Necropolis" exerience: Structures are rebuilt as gothic style buildings, temple towers rise high in the sky, walls are adorned with snarrling gargoyles (that attract real gargoyles in time) and idols of Darkon's saints to "scare" evil away.
The positiv and negativ energy infusions left the city in a state of constant gloom, shadows seem to be more intense within it's walls.
Death is stripped of most of his power and lordship. But he reverts to his former self. He immediatly wants to recapture his former power, becoming a necromancer and lich in time. The dark powers granted him one boon however : he's a blind spot for Azalin. The lich-king can neither read nor alter the former darklords thoughts.
Most undead are blasted into oblivion, but some (many of them mentioned NPC'S
) are returned to life. They are hollow, but with a twist: they remember their lifes, their unlifes and somethings they never experienced. These memories are fragments of the souls, the riftspanner blasted all over Il Aluk. None of the residents can hope to leave Il Aluk for a longer time, for the animating soul fragments are drawn to each other. They always return to the city. A few of these old/new residents are insane, still feeling the hunger of their undead lifes. Other's now know of dreadful secrets, not their own.The city itself is partially animated by the positiv energy, allowing it to alter itself, to toy with the residents. This will be the effects of narrowed, streched or darkend streets, illusions of citisenz long gone and so on.
Some of the dead of Il Aluk's oldest catacombs (that happend to lie just below the detonating riftspanner
) are now animated and rise as ancient dead. Most are loners but a few form a qabal, trying to secretly gain control of the city. In response one of the others (who kept her original good alignment) tries to thrawt their schemes.Resetteling & Rebuilding the city is ordered by Azalin. Many new settlers are foreigners "taken by Darkon" and maybe even the PC's are manipulated by Azalin to believe themselves residents of the city they helped to safe. Il Aluk's reconstructed buildings reflect the "Necropolis" exerience: Structures are rebuilt as gothic style buildings, temple towers rise high in the sky, walls are adorned with snarrling gargoyles (that attract real gargoyles in time) and idols of Darkon's saints to "scare" evil away.
The positiv and negativ energy infusions left the city in a state of constant gloom, shadows seem to be more intense within it's walls.
Death is stripped of most of his power and lordship. But he reverts to his former self. He immediatly wants to recapture his former power, becoming a necromancer and lich in time. The dark powers granted him one boon however : he's a blind spot for Azalin. The lich-king can neither read nor alter the former darklords thoughts.