Café de Nuit

i have beaning reading the EC horror comics, good stuff all around. some of it reminds me of ravenloft (sort-of)

now ravenloft has most classic horror icons, so why not the horror hosts from the comics.

npc ideas for: The Crypt Keeper, The Old Witch, The Vault Keeper

-The Crypt Keeper: An ancient lich of dark humor, he holds one of the most impressive libraries of lore and stories in the entire core, better even then the annals of the shadow fey or the great library of Il Aluk, each a collection of macabe and gruesome tales. Some are embelllished records of the darklords and their exploits, others simply dark rumors long repeated through the realms. While exceedingly dangerous, he proves amicable to those who tolerate his bad sense of humor or bring him new tales of terror.

-The Old Witch: She is found in every story, in every domain. The old witch at the edge of civilization, who tells tales of sin and evil, each with a moral in its gory details. To the wise and brave, she can prove to be a blessing in disguise, but to everyone else she is a sign of ill omen, a sign that their own little community will soon become the subject of one of her stories. Hunters believe she is a hag affiliated with the Shadow Fey, due to her love of fairy-tale morality, but when asked she will remain cryptic.

-The Vault Keeper: An ambitious thief who wished to steal from the infamous Crypt Keeper during a poker game between him and the Old Witch, he was caught and soon made sport of. Bound to a hidden vault which only the Keeper and the Witch can access, he has gone mad in his isolation, talking to the items he guards as the Keeper does his guests.

not bad

i'd have the vault keeper be a wizard, expert on objects (he can tell you the history of it) he is insane so it not all-ways easy.
the crypt keeper is a unknown undead, he clams to have bean born undead (most believe him)

edised wrote:not bad

i'd have the vault keeper be a wizard, expert on objects (he can tell you the history of it) he is insane so it not all-ways easy.
the crypt keeper is a unknown undead, he clams to have bean born undead (most believe him)

He could also be a Crypt Thing.
(1st edition style, and not undead, perhaps)

So what would you have them do?

I could see them as sources of exposition, paying PCs for stories and bits of lore, or perhaps spying on the player characters vs. crystal balls or other scrying, and maybe torturer-interrogators.

The Lesser Evil wrote:So what would you have them do?

I could see them as sources of exposition, paying PCs for stories and bits of lore, or perhaps spying on the player characters vs. crystal balls or other scrying, and maybe torturer-interrogators.

that was my thinking, thay are lore experts. like the pcs go to The Vault of Horror to learn of, or get a mcguffin they need from the vault keeper. or to the old witch for arcane info like how to stop a curse, perform a ritual.

There is some stuff you could do with the Crypt Keeper. In his origin story (yes, he had an origin story) he was the child of a mummy and a two headed circus freak. An adventure could involve what remains of the circus where his parents meet, or the Vault Keeper might send them in search of something to convince the Crypt Keeper to finally let him out of the vault.

i like it,

idea, the three have a tail telling contest every five years, but thay need a audience, the pcs ether go themselves or find someone else.
the pc's may not know the three will not kill their guest, but if really angry thay will not save their guest, after all thay are often surrounded by monsters.

Maybe they could have a rap battle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA4DNa9j4rw

edised wrote:i like it,

idea, the three have a tail telling contest every five years, but thay need a audience, the pcs ether go themselves or find someone else.
the pc's may not know the three will not kill their guest, but if really angry thay will not save their guest, after all thay are often surrounded by monsters.

This could also be used as a framework for playing (possibly entirely different) characters during different eras and locations in Ravenloft, in the style of Tales from the Yawning Portal. What the players do in these mini-campaign segments could then affect what's going on in the main campaign.