Re: [DL] Depraved (No, I'm not talking about Ghoull)

["Dave Haendler" <DHaendl1@swarthmore.edu>]

> This led me to thinking back to the recent haunted houses thread, and the
stage was set. Some fearmonger (oops.. sorry, we're not allowed to use that
> word anymore. Some "bad guy"(tm)) has moved into the castle and the posse
are investigating disapearances of vagrants and travellers to Chicago, and
> they eventually find themselves in the 'deathtrap dungeon' that is the
castle, have to fight their way through freaky shifting corridors, bleeding
walls, and all the >other great stuff that people came up with, and finally
confront the fearmo..err..bad guy either in the office on the third floor
where Holmes stayed, or more likely >in the basement where he sent many of
his victims.
>
> Anyway, I just wanted to mention it, as it's got me all excited and tingly
now. When the adventure is done I'll post it here or to the webpage. Any
great ideas out >there as to what form the bad guy will take? A 'glom is the
obvious choice, but that's too commonplace, so I ned to come up with
something much more evil :-) >Ghoull? Goff?

     Unbeknownst to Holmes, a one-night liason with a prostitute several
years back had created a bastard child. The son (or daughter) of Holmes
inherited some of its father's tainted soul, so that it could only feel
pleasure whenever other people felt pain. The reverse held true as well, so
that things like gentle spring breezes, the touch of a pretty girl, or the
taste of a fine meal would send the creature into spasms of agony. Abandoned
at an early age, Holmes II grew up on the streets, eating out of garbage
cans and engaging in acts of self-mutilation whenever it was feeling down.
Shortly after its 16th birthday, this demon child began to have dreams of a
dark castle that whispered beautiful things to him. Knowing that its destiny
lay there, the monster set out to claim its birthright.

     Holmes II is a tricky adversary to fight because he thrives on pain.
Shooting him may kill the bastard eventually, but it will also give him a
rush of superhuman strength and agility, accompanied by ecstatic pleasure.
Furthermore, when he uses his newfound powers to tool on the posse members
he can feed on their pain, making him even stronger. If the players are
smart, they might try ambushing him with some pleasant sensations. Even
something as simple as a whiff of good perfume or a beautiful woman smiling
at him might send Holmes II into a state of shock, allowing the posse to
administer a coup de grace in the form of a head shot, knife to the heart,
or something similar that will kill him before he feels it.

                            ---Ghoull