Head hunters and Montarri

[alhoon]

So, I was thinking. If you severe heads and have need only of the head like JM does or if you severe heads, and need only the body like a Head Hunter does... wouldn't it make sense to work together?
Montarri could bring to her mansion a person to behead, and give the body to head-hunters in exchange of protection. Razor-wire webs inside trap pits etc. Since, canonically at least, Montarri's heads grow old very fast and she needs to collect a couple/month a head hunter would scarcely need to hunt!
(Personally, I have head-hunters need a couple of bodies year and Montarri to need a couple of heads per year)

[jamesfirecat]

This isn't directly related to the post but it sort of is, or at the very least it's talking about various monster mashups that might show up in Ravenloft and if you want me to take it down/delete it I will.

I kept not being able to grasp why in Hour of the Knife the Jackalweres were serving doppelgangers and what exactly they got out of the deal.

Then I realized that doppelgangers doubtlessly need a way to dispose of the bodies of those they kill and are taking the place of, and if there jackalwere's eating habits are anything like an actual jackal it probably doesn't mind feasting on something that has been dead for a while.

So the doppelgangers get their possibly incriminating evidence disposed of in one of the most unrecoverable manners possible, and the jackalweres get a meal!

What other possible interesting monster interactions are out there?

[alhoon]

Jackalweres? But Doppelgangers eat people themselves...

[jamesfirecat]

Jackalweres? But Doppelgangers eat people themselves...

The Jackalweres are very much a thing in Hour of the Knife. Granted this in turn raises the question, shouldn't Jackalweres be something you find in an more arid climate rather than a heavily urbanized one like Paridon, but I'm just telling you what is written in the adventure book.

As for the subject of if Doppelgangers eat people or not (or what they do eat in general) I actually can't find any info on that either way (all I could find in Hour of the Knife about on my most recent look over is that they are omnivores) so I'd be interested in hearing your sources/finding out more about them, in my mind the vaguely aristocratic doppelgangers who are better at fitting into human society (they can kill and replace a particular person, jackalweres can't because they don't have that sort of fine control over their transformations) would hold themselves above doing something as disgusting (granted this is only disgusting from a human frame of reference so who knows if they view it that way) as bothering to consume an entire uncooked recently dead human raw, which is why they get jackalweres to do it.

[alhoon]

Well, the doppelgangers could eat the "nice" parts and someone has to dispose of the bones.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I'm on board for both of these. Head Hunters + Montarri, and Jackalweres + Doppelgangers both seem like perfect symbiotic relationships.

[jamesfirecat]

Well, the doppelgangers could eat the "nice" parts and someone has to dispose of the bones.

Fair enough, continuing the theme of cross testing/Darklords (okay I know Montarri isn't techanically a darklord, but she's quasi-darklordish in that she's an extremely evil person who isn't going to die of old age any time soon currently suffering an extremely ironic fate/punishment) and the monsters that they might want to hang around...

What might happen if a bunch of Broken Ones got washed up on the Isle of Agony? Given that they're own wildly variable appearances they'd have no built in reason to shy away from /reject Adam would they?

[alhoon]

Well, considering that Adam is not a misunderstood person that harbors a grudge but a personification of evil that was created evil by the pride of man that wanted to prove himself a God... I would say they will not have a good time.

[jamesfirecat]

Well, considering that Adam is not a misunderstood person that harbors a grudge but a personification of evil that was created evil by the pride of man that wanted to prove himself a God... I would say they will not have a good time.

Probably need to actually buy and read Mordenheim at some point, or is that non-cannon at the moment and there's a better source of info (Adam's Wrath?) on his personality?

I wonder how many vampires have moved (or at least tired to move to) the Shadow Rift, I mean it's a magical land where the sun never shines, that's like their Shangra-la isn't it?

[brilliantlight]

Well, considering that Adam is not a misunderstood person that harbors a grudge but a personification of evil that was created evil by the pride of man that wanted to prove himself a God... I would say they will not have a good time.

Probably need to actually buy and read Mordenheim at some point, or is that non-cannon at the moment and there's a better source of info (Adam's Wrath?) on his personality?

I wonder how many vampires have moved (or at least tired to move to) the Shadow Rift, I mean it's a magical land where the sun never shines, that's like their Shangra-la isn't it?

I don't recall where it is stated that Adam is a personification of evil that was created evil. As far as I know he was created by Monderheim and became evil due to his feelings of rejection. What would the vampires eat? I don't think they can live off of fey blood.

[jamesfirecat]

I don't think they can live off of fey blood.

I think the answer to that question (or if was reworded to the question "can vampires live off fey blood?" is a firm "Go ask your GM" from what I can tell.

According to the Van Richten Guide to vampires (made 2nd edition D&D Van Richten Monster Compendium Vol 1 page 64) "Within Ravenloft, vampires cannot take sustenance from any creature other than a demihuman." in which case they would starve since the Arak are fey not deimhumans as I recall.

According to the Ravenloft Campaign Setting Guide however (made for 3rd edition D&D Page 177) "Although vampires prefer to draw blood from living humans or humanoids, they can ingest blood from other sources, such as animals or fresh corpses. Blood from these sources is not as nourishing, with only half counting towards the daily requirement." which says that Arak blood is perfectly okay, so long as you make sure to drink a lot of it, and hey what's having to drink extra blood against no longer having to worry about getting burnt to a crisp by the sun?

I'm not sure if there's a clarification/more up to date source for rules on this matter I can only tell you what I've found at the moment.

[brilliantlight]

I don't think they can live off of fey blood.

I think the answer to that question (or if was reworded to the question "can vampires live off fey blood?" is a firm "Go ask your GM" from what I can tell.

According to the Van Richten Guide to vampires (made 2nd edition D&D Van Richten Monster Compendium Vol 1 page 64) "Within Ravenloft, vampires cannot take sustenance from any creature other than a demihuman." in which case they would starve since the Arak are fey not deimhumans as I recall.

According to the Ravenloft Campaign Setting Guide however (made for 3rd edition D&D Page 177) "Although vampires prefer to draw blood from living humans or humanoids, they can ingest blood from other sources, such as animals or fresh corpses. Blood from these sources is not as nourishing, with only half counting towards the daily requirement." which says that Arak blood is perfectly okay, so long as you make sure to drink a lot of it, and hey what's having to drink extra blood against no longer having to worry about getting burnt to a crisp by the sun?

I'm not sure if there's a clarification/more up to date source for rules on this matter I can only tell you what I've found at the moment.

Even if they can fey are far more dangerous than humans. My guess is that the vamps would be quickly found out and staked.

[alhoon]

I don't recall where it is stated that Adam is a personification of evil that was created evil. As far as I know he was created by Monderheim and became evil due to his feelings of rejection.

Canonically, he was created by the Dark Powers, as a dread construct. Born evil out of Mordenheim's megalomania to prove himself equal to Gods. Such pursuits (canonically) cannot give birth to anything but evil that will taint the world and lead to misery.
He's a darklord: A creature of evil so great as to be irredimable.

[Ryan Naylor]

I don't recall where it is stated that Adam is a personification of evil that was created evil. As far as I know he was created by Monderheim and became evil due to his feelings of rejection.

Canonically, he was created by the Dark Powers, as a dread construct. Born evil out of Mordenheim's megalomania to prove himself equal to Gods. Such pursuits (canonically) cannot give birth to anything but evil that will taint the world and lead to misery.
He's a darklord: A creature of evil so great as to be irredimable.

No, canonically he was given life by PM Lamordia's gods who were sick of Mordenheim. Probably. We don't really know, which is why making sweeping statements can be problematic.

Whether he was a dread construct then, or an awakened construct who gained the powers of a dread construct later (to use the Pathfinder terminology) is an open question.

Personally, I think Adam makes more sense as someone who wasn't evil when created, but intentionally chose it to spite his creator. And, in fact, was intentionally brutal to the only people Adam loved (Elise and Eva) because he knew it would hurt Mordenheim too.

All we know is that Adam did something so awful to them when Mordenheim wasn't there it earnt him a domain, and that both he and Mordenheim are liars who cast the other as a complete villain.


Which is why people have been arguing about this for ever.

[alhoon]

Ohhh... right.
Still, even if he wasn't created evil he turned unspeakably evil in Ravenloft sense to get a domain.