Need help w/ NPC

[Augustus]

In my campaign I am running now, the PC's have been brought into Ravenloft along with a warlord. The Warlord had just dumped several barrels of poison into a large villiages' water supply in order to regain land that his ancestors had lost years ago. The PC's killed him, albeit to late and I had all of them transported into the Tepurich Forest near Zeidenburg. Had them discover Lyssa's Defiled Druid Circle- though they only know it's used for sacrifices. Long story short they get to Zeidenburg, can barely understand the language, get into a fight at the inn because there are two elves in the party and are saved by a tall-man dressed in black.
Anyway this tall-man I have portrayed as being a little to-tall and as having scaley-flesh which might be a skin condition. He basically has brought them to his mansion. All I have definitively come up with for this NPC is that he is going to use the PC's for his gain. He will manipulate them because they do not know where the hell they are.
I have several ideas for him:
-He is a wizard who is using illicit substances to finance the creation of a phylacraty
-He is a dragon brought into Ravenloft, he has realized he cannot simply raid for wealth, he must work for it so he will use the PC's to help him gain a horde; or maybe to help him become a lich. All while hiding his draconic nature from the PC's
-He might be a nosferatu
-He could simply be a rich noble or criminal looking for enforcers
-Mayhaps he is going to use the PCs to help gather materials for necromantic or scientific experiments

I don't know, any input would be awesome and appreciated. I want my PC's to be grateful towards him but eventually to experiance a paradigm shift as they discover what they've actually been helping him to do.

[alhoon]

I would avoid something as powerful as a lich or a dragon.
I would take the last two options.

An Aristocrat delving in the arcane arts looking for people to do his dirty (or just difficult and dangerous) job.
I would go with Aristocrat 5/ wizard 3 for level, Neutral evil for alignment. The Aristocrat doesn't need to be a villain from the beginning. Evil might as well mean uncaring and very selfish.
I would also give this man a few other servants that know his plans and ambitions better so they can also advance his agenda.

Imagine this: The aristocrat manipulates the PCs and sends them against a rival scientist/mage that really does crimes (like sacrificing people, experimenting on people etc). Well, he can't just tell the PCs "Stop this evil man! He is a danger to the society in general! And after you stop him, could you bring me the results of his experiments? And his grimoire?". . . He is giving himself away.
However, after the threat is dealt with, he can send his servants with orders to take from the tower whatever isn't bolted on the floor from the now deceased rival.
When the PCs later discover the spellbooks, laboratory logs, unfinished devices that they thought destroyed in their liege's hands it will be better. That's my opinion however.

[Joël of the FoS]

Make him a corrupt religious priest. I used that trick with success in my campaign: this person (Keith de Lalune) got their trust for being priest of a good God (Ezra), but in fact is as corrupted as you could be.

Make him pose as something ese, somebody useful, helpful.

Joël

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

You might also have to work a bit to make him trusted. I know if my players met a too-tall man with scaly skin dressed in black, they wouldn't trust him as far as they could throw him. Letting him explain his conidtion (even with a lie) might work. As would saving the PC's from some danger (even one he created)

[CorvusCornix]

Gonzoron is right, your description will most likely have labelled him as 'evil' for most players. You have to take extra care to persuade them he is their "friend". I'd even go so far as to keep him in the background entirely: he offers them food, lodging, they stay with him for a few days, he tells them some details of the world, teaches them a bit Balok, generally does nothing more than being a good host.

After studying them for a few days, when he is certain they might be useful to him, he arranges a few encounters for the players, but in such a way that no obvious connection can be made to him. An example: He makes sure the players 'accidentally' have some Nightblight with them when they 'by Chance' bump into an enemy of his, one that he knows is a Were-creature. Afterwards the players might research and find out this plant repels Werebeasts and furthermore find a body that is covered with slash- and bitemarks...

As for the NSC himself, maybe he is even part of some kind of secret society? Maybe you have heard of the Fraternity of Shadows? *g*

[AdamGarou]

I would say for the most part that it depends on what level your PCs currently are and how long you want this mysterious gentleman around. I would agree that a lich or a dragon COULD be too powerful for them to deal with directly, but that assumes that both the NPC and the PCs are stupid enough to get into a straight-up battle.

One idea I've had and am hoping to get to implement in one of my upcoming campaigns is a 2e mist dragon taken in by Ravenloft's Mists. If you have access to the 2e Monstrous Manual, you might check it out. The mist dragon isn't nearly so powerful as most of the other dragon types, and--I think--its very nature leads to some amazing possibilities for it being corrupted by the Mists of Ravenloft.

Anyway, whether a dragon or a lich, the PCs don't have to find this out. If he's a benefactor of sorts (being a good host, helping them get in touch with priests for healing, providing revitalizing food and drink, etc.) it will go a long way to earn their trust. Afterward, maybe he drops out of the adventure for awhile (assuming he's "working" other groups of adventurers the same way).

Then, a bit farther down the road, he calls on the PCs and asks for a "favor" that involves them tracking down something that was "stolen" from him--the spellbook or magical item or whatever. And maybe a bit farther down the road, he provides them with some additional aid, and has another "small favor" to ask in return.

It depends on your goals for the campaign, but there needn't be any full-on, spell-hurling, clawing/biting/death breath confrontations between him and the PCs until they (and you) are ready for it. Dragons, liches, and other long-lived adversaries are accustomed to remaining in the background, lying low, and manipulating others to destroy their rivals.

If you're into the Forgotten Realms at all (and I know it's almost sacrilege to mention FR here ), you might check out one of the new "Realms of the Dragon" anthologies. Can't remember for sure which volume it's in, but there's a story by R.A. Salvatore that MIGHT give you some inspiration in this regard.

Good luck with your campaign!!

[Augustus]

Thanks for the help. Yeah I think I will tone down their interaction with this character a bit more than I had originally planned to. I hope to have them in contact with him for a while. BTW I assume the mass graves at Zeidenburg were located IN the city right? Kinda like how the old Parisians had it. I figure this because the grave rats forced the cities surrender when the Barovians were beseiging it.

[Jester of the FoS]

One bit of advice, give a better explination for his skin, something players might buy or feel sympathetic towards.
"It is a mild curse, one passed down my family after that brute of a great-grandfather of mine raped the wrong woman. I would be ever so gracious if you would just overlook it."
It could be a lie, it could be the truth, but he should pass it off as something not his fault and try to use it to his advantage. Perhaps even asking if the PCs might help him 'cure' himself.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

How about a yuan-ti? Either the NPC is a pureblood (minor signs of snake ancestry only), or else he's gradually turning into one as a result of failed Powers checks a la the Terror Tracks rules.

[Augustus]

You know, that's a good idea. They do exist in RL, but I feel they are even more below the radar than they might otherwise be. But yes, my goal is to make the PC's sympathetic towards him. When I do reveal what the PC's have (will) be helping him to do, I want them to understand why and possibly realize that they could agree with it in the darker parts of their minds. Ignore my slight deviation.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

If you want a sympathetic character, yet like the yuan-ti idea, perhaps the NPC was the son of outlander yuan-ti who got killed when he was still a baby (hatchling?). He looked normal as an infant and was raised by humans, but his true heritage has begun to assert itself now that he's an adult by the standards of pureblood yuan-ti. (That need not be the same as human adulthood, BTW; he might look middle-aged as a human before his abilities start to show themselves and his skin turns scaly.) At first, he is frightened and disgusted by the changes he's undergoing -- is it due to a curse? is there a "cure"? what ugly lengths might he go to, to stop the process that's transforming him? -- but as the campaign progresses, he can lose ground to the darker nature within him. Worse, other, evil yuan-ti hidden within Ravenloft's "high society" may eventually discover his true nature (probably long before he does; they ARE geniuses, after all) and will then manipulate events to gently coax him toward the darkness.

You could turn this character into a villain quite suddenly, thus hitting the PCs with the shock of betrayal and giving them a personal nemesis which (once he's gained his full powers) has the intellect and mystery to be a challenge, yet isn't as brute-force powerful as a dragon or lich. OTOH, if you'd prefer a drama-heavy option, perhaps the PCs' efforts to help their NPC ally retain his hold on humanity could ultimately save this tormented creature's soul from darkness (and, indeed, prove he truly HAS a soul, twisted serpent-heritage regardless), as he eventually sacrifices his life for the sake of the party and/or human innocencts. Shades of "Heart of Midnight" (or Darth Vader) there....

[Augustus]

Wow, you've just fleshed out a story arch for my campaign. Thanks Rotipher. I can have the PCs travelling to different places and consulting different healers, scientists and mystics to help him out. Gradually their assignments can darken with the sources consulted and items sought of a more questionable morality. I think I will start him off not realizing his true nature.. yes that will do. Thank you again, all of you. I have garnered many great ideas from this thread.