The Neverland Domain

[FavouredEnemy]

For a long while, I've toyed with the idea of making Neverland of the Peter Pan films into Captain Hook's domain, but also with the possibility of it Peter's Domain (or his when Hook dies). Since I've never gotten around to it, I thought perhaps I could throw the idea open on here, and a group effort might make it easier to create.

Since I've never created my own Domain either, I'd be happy just for some general pointers on how to do it as well.

So, first off - ideas. Hook as Darklord because he's definately evil, and the whole thing with Darklords being taunted by their deepest desires fits well with the creature Pan. Hook wants to be young again, he wants to be the hero, but he is driven by anger and malice, part of what happens when you grow up. Pan, as a boy on the edge of manhood and never quite going over, along with the Lost Boys (not vampires!), constantly defeats him, reminding him he is old and rubbish.

As for Neverland itself - well, that is in turn tied in very much with Pan, to the point where the weather models itself on his mood. Although this would normally be the province of the Darklord, the fact that the land itself, and most of the inhabitants, is against Hook serves to remind him how much better off Pan is.

Pan as possibly created by the land itself to taunt Hook? Perhaps not, as if he were to be next Darklord (which he so should), the land will have created it's own thing to be punished. Equally so for the idea that Pan wandered into the mists and Hook was there to be taunted... perhaps as a trap to get Pan to be evil?

Pan himself has been granted the 'gift' of childhood forever, but in return, he can never experience 'adult' feelings, such as love. Pan is less human because of this, and the further he goes from humanity, the less easy it is to be a decent individual... as Hook dies (in the book), he realises that Pan kicked him, which is 'bad form'.

Perhaps create Neverland set in the period after the events of the book? Told from the perspective of Wendy's daughter, maybe?

Hmm. Well, there are my first thoughts. I'll not put too much else down about it, in case no one cares.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

I've heard of this idea, on and off over the years. In some version Hook was a ghost, who activated an aging power with his hook.

As for pointers for domain creation, the best thing is usually to stay focused on creating a domain that someone could set an adventure in - one that might not involve the darklord, but still have enough action for the players. This doesn't mean creating ready-made-encounters, but it does mean leaving room in the writeup for people besides the Lord.

Example, Barovia is a domain comprised of many villages, each of which is mostly independant, as well as forests, mountains, places not controlled directly by Strahd. He is the darklord and the basis of the land, but there are pleanty of other things in his domain.

The best way to design a Lord is to work backwards - what kind of things do you want your lord to be doing, then design a plausable motivation, and from there extrapolate the background. For your lord, he'll be wanting to lure children to Neverland, ala the story.
Why does he do this? Well, perhaps he feeds off of their youth? They age instead of him. For a while they remain young and live as one of his Lost Boys. Perhaps they play a game - a survivor type challenge. Every year the boys duel, or race, or something and the looser is forced to age in place of all of the other boys. Instantly the loser ages perhaps fifty years, and is uncerimoniously given the boot from Neverland. The loser is then dumped in the real world, where he usually ends up on the street and dies alone, miserable and mad.
This leads to some interesting ideas, since these refugees may have smuggled pixie dust with them to the real world. When a child goes missing, the mad old begger out in the alley can give the PCs directions.

On the subject of Neverland, I once read a short fiction story about Hook and the Crocodile - Hook and Smee were in the sewars of Venice, hunting the Crocdile with modern technology. The crocodile for his part was on the lam, hiding in flordia and other places, setting traps for his hunters. This might be a neat idea to incorporate into Ravenloft - and a way to get the PCs involved. Once the adventurers help "Captain Gaff" take out a crocdile in Richelmont, they are invited to help him take out the devious child-nappin thief who took his hand.

[Jester of the FoS]

I thought about adding Pan, Oz and Robin Hood to Ravenloft at different times over the years. Some work better than others.
The recognition factor works against them, it is hard to be scared when you know the source material is done for kids and laughs.

The way I would go about it is to look at and examine the original play/story and think of how it could be made darker and scarier. Neverland is a fun idea as it is essentially the place Victorian kids would imagine and dream about; 100 years ago British lads were fascinated by indians and pirates and mermaids and fairies. The only thing the place is lacking is cowboys, which are more American but also don’t play well with the Indians.
An idea would be to take that manifestation of imagination and play it up to the next level. When you go to the Island all your dreams and fantasies can come true, but become twisted and horrible. The presence of the Lost (aka the Lost Boys) would explain much of the above fantastic things, as well as much else deeper into the woods. The Pan, emphasizing his pagan/Greek elements, would be a youth who wished to remain a boy forever when he came and so he has remained so, but at the cost of rationality and higher reasoning. Pan in the books is flighty and forgetful, easily manipulated and tricked despite his quick wit. He would probably also as selfish and prone to tantrums as other youths. I have trouble imagining what such an innocent and yet punished youth could have done to warrant dominion over the Island.

The obvious twist would be that the Island also manifests the secret fears of the individual, made incarnate. For some, like Hook, these are obvious. For others, such as Pan, these might be more subtle. As the other boys in the Lost might not be as firmly determined to stay young they might all age normally, or more likely erratically, forcing Pan to occasionally cull their ranks to keep the rest from discovering it. Pan stays youthful but surrounds himself with age and the aging.

No clear idea whom the Lord would be. Even less now that the brainstorming has progressed past both Hook and Pan. That leaves what, Tinkerbell? A tad too outlandish and almost comical. As if I chose the least likely suspect for the sole reason they are least likely. No, the darklord might be better left mysterious, some forgotten sinner who wanted what they wished for and was cursed eternally.

Other ideas:
* With the fantastic imagination becomes reality of this Island there is no need for it to be limited to Neverland. That could just be one side of the Island and the rest could be populated by other separate wishers and fantastic seekers. Other, equally twisted, stories could easily be located in the single land.
* Dreams becoming reality, the similarities to the Nightmare Lands cannot be overlooked. Could all this be located and occur in a Sphere on the Shoals of Dreaming? Or be a smaller sub-island trapped in the Mists of the land. Or worse, could it be attached Cluster-esque, forming an island chain of dream domains?
* Ever read The Thief of Always by Clive Barker (the comic adaptation has also just started)? Just saying…

That’s my two-cents written pretty much off the top of my head as I sat down…

[Le Noir Faineant]

Much more creepier than a Peter Pan setting would be *Neverland Ranch: In the fangs of the pop king of demiliches*.



No joke, I think that guy is disgusting...

[Jennifer]

Hi all,
It seems strange to make a domain about the world of Peter Pan. In the Netherlands this story is almost unknown and even the disney movie was very unsuccesful here.

But I think that the setting of every young boys fantasy certainly has potential. on the surface it can be all adventures, indians and mermaids and staying up late, but a sinister danger lurks around the corner.

Hook seems to be the most obvious choice for a darklord, for his obvious evil tendencies. But Peter Pan seems sinister too. A boy that always remains young and never matures, might get some very strange ideas, perhaps you should read the novel 'lord of the flies' for some inspiration on kids gone wild.

NExt to the realization of secret wishes there might indeed also be the realization of secret fears. These would be things that haunt the children at night. every morning children have disappeared and the rest do not know where to. Peter and the Lost Boys ignore this depressing tendency and do not ever mention anyone that is not present with them, to avoid mentioning the disappearances.

As peter keeps drawing more children into neverland, he might grow increasingly evil, as he knows he is subjecting them to unknown dangers to keep him company.

Jennifer

[The Nightmare Man]

As peter keeps drawing more children into neverland, he might grow increasingly evil, as he knows he is subjecting them to unknown dangers to keep him company.

I like that.

But I'd alter the concept a little and suggest that Peter needs to keep drawing the children to him, and corrupting them using some bizarre ritual or perhaps by exposing them to said unknown dangers, so that he can grow more powerful and fall deeper into the pits of depravity.

[Jester of the FoS]

But what depravity? And what ritual would you suggest?
Peter, being the embodiment of youth, may work better thematicly if he remains innocent or at the very least unwitting. Intentionally doing dark things impacts the character and makes him far less tragic and entirely less of a victim. How many kids want power? They want self-control and manifest destiny, control over their own lives, but that's about all. Being away from the authority of parents and having a band of youths who adore him is more power than a kid could dream of. Any more reaks of effort, work and responsibility.

Okay, he's an off-the-wall idea that works with my previous Fantasy Land one.
The land responds to the lord, becomes manifest of his psyche and an example of their hopes and fears and personality. Nova Vassa is a land of binary opposites, Barovia is closed off and lost in time, etc. The land already responds and creates hopes in fears, but less bluntly and far more selective.
So what if Neverland is a tablu rasa domain, a domain without a lord? He managed to escape or leave, possibly during the Grand Conjunction, but for some reason the land remained. If it even had a lord at all. Thus the land and the Mist-stuff it is possibly made of respond to the thoughts of all as the lord, but in a much less controlled and unfocused manner. Wishes and fears become reality and all are both blessed and cursed.

[Dominique]

I think one of the key things to remember in darkening up Neverland is the last line of the novel: "And thus it will go on, so long as children are gay and innocent and heartless." Peter Pan is innocent, yes, but he's also a horrible, self-centered, heartless brat, precisely because he's a child who can't understand the effect his actions have on others. Remember, this is a kid who will unwittingly make a girl fall in love with him, send her away while promising he'll come back for her, then come back when she's far too old to be with him--and not only does he not apologize, but he sees himself as the wronged party because she dared to age, and then steals away her daughter as a replacement without thinking of the pain it would cause her. Does this make him darklord material? No; Hook is probably still the best candidate for that. But it gives him a dark edge. Pan isn't a CG Innocent; he's an easy CN, because he only cares about himself and whether or not he's having fun. He may be opposed to the darklord, but it's only because opposing the darklord gives him kicks.

From that perspective, it could be interesting to play up Hook and Pan as mirror images of each other. Hook is also only interested in having fun, but his idea of fun is far more bloodthirsty. Pan hurts people in that he ignores their feelings in the name of his own enjoyment; Hook hurts people intentionally in the name of his own enjoyment. Think of the movie Hook--Hook takes Pan's children away to cause him pain, yes, but isn't that just an intentionally malicious version of what Pan did to Wendy's mother, and then Wendy herself after her, and then Wendy's daughter--taking away their children without a second thought about how much pain it would cause to their parents?

I have absolutely no idea where I'm going with this, but I think it might have a good bearing on the overall tone of the domain.

[Jasper]

How about this for a plot hook- Captain Hook was one of the original lost boys under Peter. Years ago Fin (I think that was his name in Hook) was a fun loving child, frolicking in the sun and surf of Neverland with the rest of the lost boys when like all who loose Peters attention he was simply forgotten. Perhaps never found after a game of hide and seek or lost in a cavern when Peter decided he would rather play Indian chief then adventurer. Alone and afraid the magic that held him to the fantasy world dissolved around him, depositing him cold and frightened on the streets of London, years after he followed Peter to the second star to the right. With his family and friends all long dead and no skills to survive with he took on the only job available to a young unskilled child, that of Cabin boy for the notorious Captain Kidd.
Over the many years he traveled the world looking for a way back to that wonderful land but only found scatterings of stories about a green clothed bogyman who took children away in the night. As he youth began fading and his body became hardened by a life at sea his determination to find Neverland turned sour and festered into a hatred of Peter, who he blamed for forcing him from the only place he ever loved.
After many years of searching and even commandeering a ship of his own he had all but given up on finding Peter when the green clothed imp found him. Following the wishes of Fin’ s newest cabin boy Peter had come to take the boy away with him to become a new lost boy. However when he entered the cabin he found Hook, awake and quite angry. Hook let loose a tirade of curses at Peter, blaming him for all the hardships that had befallen him in the last fifty years. Peter, still the eternal child, had long since forgotten him and took great delight in tormenting the stupid adult. They battled long into the night until Fin, in a daring move grabbed Tinkerbell and began madly shaking her dust all over himself and the ship. Fearing for her life Peter slashed out with his knife, severing Fin’s hand at the wrist and kicking it into the water where it was quickly devoured by a nearby saltwater crocodile.
Grabbing Tinkerbell, Peter quickly left for Neverland but Fin, still in a rage invoked the power of the fairy dust to lift him and his ship up after them.
Flying straight on till morning the newly christened Captain Hook was delighted to once again see his beloved Neverland but his delight quickly turned to anguish as he landed upon its pristine shores. The land that had once come to reflect his childish innocence now warped and twisted around him reflecting his cruelty and heartlessness. Returning to the ship he raged once more at Peter shouting insults into the wind.
He is now a captive in his own paradise. Unable to stand what the land becomes when he steps foot on it he refuses to acknowledge it is his doing and believes it is Peters magic that keeps him from his prize. In addition he is plagued by the giant crocodile who somehow followed Hook to the island. The creature is ravenous for Hooks flesh and will stop at nothing to obtain it. Finally, though the island makes him and his crew no longer age without the necessary pixy dust Hook is unable to leave the island and return home should he need more crew. As a result he has come to kidnap lost boys and force them to be his crew. While on the ship his evil overwhelms that of Peters allowing the lost boys to slowly age and become hardened old men.
He believes that with Peters death the land will once again accept him and that his death will restore his and his crews lost youth. Unknown to him though is Peters tie to the land. Should Peter ever die and leave Neverland for more then a generation the land will fade away, once again only a shared dream of young boys.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Kwel story - which one of them would be the darklord?

[Jasper]

Its Hook. He is cursed to have Neverland warp into a crule and nasty place when ever he sets foot on it due to his hatred of Pan and willingness to risk destroying a world that makes man children happy just to get revenge on Peter.

[Igor the Henchman]

I remember that the now-extinct site called Alanik Ray's Library offered a selection of fan-made domains that included a Ravenloftish take on Neverland. I don't remember the specifics, only that I found it had great potential when I read it. It was some sort of bubble domain, accessible through some very rare means, among them the Tome of Terror artifact (from Forged of Darkness).

The concept was a childhood fantasy land ruled by an evil Peter Pan (who was more of an evil fey sort of creature in that version, I think, or at least a child who found way to become a fey). Captain Hook was really Pan's father, the "adult side" he was cursed to forever fight against. In order to gain followers, Pan would send his shadow into the real world to lure in innocent children, who, upon coming into his domain, would slowly transform into monstrous mockeries of themselves. The domain came with several story hooks, among them the possibility of the PCs' own children being lured into Neverland by Pan and having to resque them before it was too late.

I think, that, in any case, Peter makes for a better darklord than Hook. The captain is, all in all, mostly an average bad guy from a child's book, where Peter is actually the embodiment of children's fantasy, which makes for a far deeper personality and concept.

[Dominique]

Pan is also an embodiment of Neverland, which works well for that whole "I am the land" take on darklords.

[Manofevil]

How about this for a plot hook- Captain Hook was one of the original lost boys under Peter. Years ago Fin (I think that was his name in Hook) was a fun loving child, frolicking in the sun and surf of Neverland with the rest of the lost boys when like all who loose Peters attention he was simply forgotten. Perhaps never found after a game of hide and seek or lost in a cavern when Peter decided he would rather play Indian chief then adventurer. Alone and afraid the magic that held him to the fantasy world dissolved around him, depositing him cold and frightened on the streets of London, years after he followed Peter to the second star to the right. With his family and friends all long dead and no skills to survive with he took on the only job available to a young unskilled child, that of Cabin boy for the notorious Captain Kidd.

This is all an excellent take on Neverland however there are a few glitches. This is in fact the first. Kidd was not a ruthless pirate. He was in fact a privateer COMMISSIONED by the english government, not some obscure island bureaucrat but actual London officials, for some reason or another. (I can't remember what) He was executed for piracy for political reasons. A much better candidate for this role would be Sir Henry Morgan. (you dirinkers will find his name on a certain brand of rum) Morgan's most infamous accomplishment was the sack of Panama. The following is an account from one of the histories and gives a pretty good idea of what young Fin would have seen on that day:

As the city burned, some of the pirates banded together in small groups to round up the women. Flames crackling over their heads, they drove the girls through the streets like cattle, whipping the clothes from their bodies as they ran. Then, in the still smoldering ashes of what had once been a cathedral, they would fall on the screaming females, taking turns ravishing them, turning them on their bellies and on their backs, and back on their bellies again until their orifices were soaked with blood from the constant tireless rape. Finally when the ravishment had reduced a girl to no more than an unattractive hunk of meat, some kindly buccaneer would slit her throatand the men would descend upon another girl... Others among the buccaneers preferred to function as individuals. One such would lay claim to a building before it could be burned down, drag a woman into it and force her to feed him and pour his wine and suffer all manner of indignities according to his sexual whim before finally bashing his skull in and seeking another partner...

Over the many years he traveled the world looking for a way back to that wonderful land but only found scatterings of stories about a green clothed bogyman who took children away in the night. As he youth began fading and his body became hardened by a life at sea his determination to find Neverland turned sour and festered into a hatred of Peter, who he blamed for forcing him from the only place he ever loved.
After many years of searching and even commandeering a ship of his own he had all but given up on finding Peter when the green clothed imp found him. Following the wishes of Fin’ s newest cabin boy Peter had come to take the boy away with him to become a new lost boy. However when he entered the cabin he found Hook, awake and quite angry. Hook let loose a tirade of curses at Peter, blaming him for all the hardships that had befallen him in the last fifty years. Peter, still the eternal child, had long since forgotten him and took great delight in tormenting the stupid adult. They battled long into the night until Fin, in a daring move grabbed Tinkerbell and began madly shaking her dust all over himself and the ship. Fearing for her life Peter slashed out with his knife, severing Fin’s hand at the wrist and kicking it into the water where it was quickly devoured by a nearby saltwater crocodile.
Grabbing Tinkerbell, Peter quickly left for Neverland but Fin, still in a rage invoked the power of the fairy dust to lift him and his ship up after them.
Flying straight on till morning the newly christened Captain Hook was delighted to once again see his beloved Neverland but his delight quickly turned to anguish as he landed upon its pristine shores. The land that had once come to reflect his childish innocence now warped and twisted around him reflecting his cruelty and heartlessness. Returning to the ship he raged once more at Peter shouting insults into the wind.
He is now a captive in his own paradise. Unable to stand what the land becomes when he steps foot on it he refuses to acknowledge it is his doing and believes it is Peters magic that keeps him from his prize. In addition he is plagued by the giant crocodile who somehow followed Hook to the island. The creature is ravenous for Hooks flesh and will stop at nothing to obtain it. Finally, though the island makes him and his crew no longer age without the necessary pixy dust Hook is unable to leave the island and return home should he need more crew. As a result he has come to kidnap lost boys and force them to be his crew. While on the ship his evil overwhelms that of Peters allowing the lost boys to slowly age and become hardened old men.
He believes that with Peters death the land will once again accept him and that his death will restore his and his crews lost youth. Unknown to him though is Peters tie to the land. Should Peter ever die and leave Neverland for more then a generation the land will fade away, once again only a shared dream of young boys.

Another thing that must be included is a perhaps somewhat short stint in a proper english school instilling in him a firm idea of proper form and gentlemanly conduct which he noticably still pretends to in Neverland. Also, as far as the weather is concerned, perhaps it should reflect the OPPOSITE of Hook's mood. Hook's usually pretty crabby and he could be the kind of person who doesn't like being the odd one out. Sunshiney weather when he's in a funk could be something that deepens his mood. rather than lightening it- like the weather itself is mocking him. Otherwise, this is one keen idea!!!!

[Jester of the FoS]

I picture a twister version of Hook thinking he is the hero. Imagine if you will a Hook who understands the nature of the Dread Realm, knows of darklords and their ilk, and belives Peter to be one.
He mercilessly hunts down Peter because he believes he is the lord of the land. This has gone from simple crusade to crusade haunted by revenge after his hand was removed.