I am looking for some assistance in my mordent campaign. I am still working things out, but the main thing I would like assistnace with is the following:
1.) skeletons in the closet. exploration and uncovering the dirty secerts of the age-old houses and noble families that rule in Mordent will be a big theme through out the campaign. I am trying to figure out what sort of skeletons would be in the closets? any ideas are welcome
2.) festivals! I am looking for some festivals that can be done from time to time in Mordent, and thus be used to spice up the game; as well as have tragic things happen during them.
Tainted blood is always a good skeleton in the closet. A few generations ago a family had a demon in its bloodline, or a witch, or a darkling, or a serial killer. The unfairness of sins of the father coming back to haunt subsequent generations who are themselves blameless is a good tragic theme, and can allow the heroes to feel like they are actually accomplishing something heroic if they intervene. Sins of a past could have a magical effect on heirs of the present, or they could be non-magical but could cause social stigma that has brought down a great house.
Cam wrote:Tainted blood is always a good skeleton in the closet. A few generations ago a family had a demon in its bloodline, or a witch, or a darkling, or a serial killer.
This one's always a good one. The taint could even be more mundane than that. Imagine the mileage you could get out of a family that has gone to great and hideous lengths to hide the fact that they had a low-born ancestor, or one with elven or Vistani blood. Or one that hid the existence of a crippled, or mad family member out of fear that it would reflect horribly on the rest of the family. If played right, if the "stain" the family meant to hide was relatively minor (particularly from the perspective of players unlikely to hold the same prejudices) it could make the actions of those trying to hide it seem all the more tragic and horrifying.
Deranged Comics Fan
Strife-monger
Daughter of a Troll
In my own 1 Person Mordent Campaign, the one player is cursed to die at 30-35 just like every member in his family that is male by a headless horsemen. (It is the father that kills the son making him the next one though it will wait until the man has an heir first) He doesn't know much of his families history or why that rider killed his father when he was told to run. (Maybe you could steal this PC as an NPC in your game?) Needless to say the mother won't speak of it because she doesn't want to believe her son will die like his father and grandfather before. It MUST BE COINCIDENCE!
Also another family I have was a kinda bully amongst the town really acts out because of his mother. The type to just yell at their son and berate him. He became the way he is will little friends among the town because he didn't want to get close to anyone because his ill mother would just yell scream at them not being noble enough for him. He took the brunt of it for his sisters by having the mother focus on him, but his little sister ended up dying to the mother and he ended up killing his mother and never going back to their family house. He protects his older sister now while they try to make a living. In my game he's currently a guard working with the Main character. He's kinda like an antagonist that slowly becomes friends with the player.
I'm not sure if that helps at all but it's all i can contribute for now.
Check out the article, "A Year in Ravenloft" in the Book of Secrets. It should give you some idea for festivals, including White Day and Rose Day, two specifically Mordentish holidays.
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
If you've never seen it, you might find some good inspiration in the 1973 film The Wicker Man. I think it's got the right atmosphere for Mordent in general, and for your theme of ugly secrets lying beneath the domain's surface in particular. There are also plenty of festival traditions and motifs of an appropriate flavor that you can mine.
Deranged Comics Fan
Strife-monger
Daughter of a Troll
Maybe the head of one of the families is covering up murders committed by his heir. The son is abducting villagers and doing experiments on them, but his father knows if he gets caught the villagers will burn him at the stake, so he covers up the murders and buries the bodies on the grounds of the keep.
