Carmilla in Ravenloft

[Ail]

Hi,

I'd like to know if any of you has tried to adapt Le Fanu's novel Carmilla into a villain in your campaigns. If so, how have you dealt with what sets her apart from other well-known vampires, that is, her need for love for another woman?

How much have you stressed the sexual component, and if not much, how have you subdued it while making it apparent and tangible at the same time?

Thanks all.

Ail

[Tobias Blackburn]

It's been a while since I read Carmilla, but I believe that you would first make her a Nosferatu. Then you would give her a hinderence where she can only draw blood from women.

But I would probably approach it from the point of view of the Vorlog. Carmilla is caught in the transition between vampire and human, and her love (another female vampire) was killed just before the transformation was completed.

Or you could combine the two. Create another step, one that combines the vorlog and the nosferatu, where Carmilla was just about finished her transformation when her love was killed. So she's all but a true vampire, but she also has the Wisdom draining abilities of a Vorlog and the need to "re-create" her dead love.

EDIT: The sexual component really depends on the group. If they're comfortable snatching material out of the Book of Erotic Fantasy, make it as blatent as possible. If not, subdue it. You can keep it there by having the victim write diary entries that mention her desire to spend time (even her life) with Carmilla, or perhaps they find stories while doing research that indicate this kind of thing has happened before, to similar looking women.

If you don't want to get into the X-Rated material, just make it minor. The group sees, or hears references of the pair holding hands in the park, a peek on the cheek to say good-bye, or a gentle touching of the face when Carmilla thought she and her victim were alone. It puts the basic idea there, and allows the fact that she's a vampire and the victim is female to bring it further in the mind of the players.

Finally, read over Carmilla again and look at how they interact. I'm sure you can find more than a few scenes that have a sexual undertone without referencing sex at all.

[William Blackmoor]

I adapted Carmilla for my Gothic Earth Campaign, maybe it'll help.

From the Gothic Earth Board:

Carmilla, a.k.a. Countess Mircalla von Karnstein
Dandy/Ghost (former Nosferatu)
Background: The etherealy beautiful vampiress Carmilla was staked and beheaded at Schloss Karnstein (Steiermark/Austria) in 1868 by the retired Generals Spielsdorf and Sheridan* in defense of the laters daughter, Laura.
Forbidden Lore: Carmillas ghost still haunts her beloved Laura, eternally bound to her. As she is in love with Laura, she will try to keep her from harm and attack those who pose a threat to Laura or herself. Laura Sheridan has left Austria for her father’s homeland England, because for reasons unknown to her she doesn’t seem to age.

(From Carmilla, by Sheridan LeFanu)
*I couldn’t find a family name for Laura in the text, only that it was an English name. So I chose to adopt the surename of Sheridan LeFanu, the author.

Maybe Laura has become a vorlog, protected by the still vampiric ghost of Carmilla?

[ugrosh]

i was wondering the same thing that ail, i think im going to use that stuff for my ravenloft campign.

[Joël of the FoS]

You can find a template of the Carmillite vampire in the Immortal d20 PDF book - see the review on "other d20 products".

Her blood coffin is a great horror scene!

Joël