Frankenstein Inspired Campaign

[Veet]

i would blurr some of the names a little so that my players do not recognize them at once.

i would name "my" frankenstein waldmann - i seem to recall to have read somewhere that there was a dr. waldmann (or a similar name) that was one of the inspirations for dr. frankenstein.

Dr. Waldmann was Frankenstein's teacher.

Bah, why do people so often make scientists villains these days?  We need more good scientists, I say.

I'm grumpy about the anti-intellectualism in America.

I understand where you're coming from but in fairness he doesn't actually practice science, he is actually a thinly veiled necromancer/biomancer who practices Science!.

[Masurao]

Okay, this may seem a bit corney, but bear with me: the scientist finds the works of the 'real Frankenstein', who was, in some circles, a known associate of Kemmler. He starts using the book to build a better body, with the idea that he will be using it in the end. However, what he doesn't know, is that the book is actually a powerful magical artifact, which holds the soul of a deceased. After the character's discover this, they will, at first, surmise it is 'Frankenstein', who plans to use the new body to resurrect himself. This might be all the plot you need, but for a nice twist... It's actually one of Kemmler's back-up devices! It would be an older one, from several centuries past, but still nothing to scoff at. This would firmly ground your plot in the 'canon' of Dresdenverse and give your characters an epic scale story to stop the return of one of the most powerful necromancers of all time. For good measure, you could always throw in a mysterious cowled benefactor with shady motives...

After reading this, please, try not to think of Harry Potter and He Who Must Not Be Named...

[Hadeshorn]

Sorry for the really long delay in replying to any of this.  Got wrapped up in a million other projects.

I had something akin to that in mind Masurao.  The books of Frankenstein screamed Kemmler to me as well.  I'm very much so of the mind to keep the scientist as the unwitting party.  There are countless tales of people working on projects not knowing their true meaning.

Also, I was thinking to regard the original copy of Frankenstein in the same light that they do the Book of Hoyle in the Deadlands canon.  For those of you unfamiliar, the original printing of the Book of Hoyle has all sorts of magical inscribings in it.  As the book got reprinted and reprinted, those inscriptions got less and less powerful.  I'm thinking the White Council got the original book mass-produced, like they did with Dracula, in order to "power it down."  I'm not opposed to the idea of it containing some sort of essence of Kemmler in it though.

[Lanir]

This sounds like it could be a lot of fun. One thought that sprung to mind immediately upon reading the premise was scaling the initial experiments so that the multiple natures were in conflict. This hints at what might be possible if they weren't, potentially adds a sympathetic element to the poor tormented creature even if it's trying to kill the PCs, and allows you an easy and totally story supported way to scale the encounters to fit the group as they grow in power and get better at working with each other.

Side note: For those who want a story with Science! that can be a positive or negative force, take a look at the link below:
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/

[Hadeshorn]

Remorseful Monster (cue Aspect) is an interesting idea.  I will have to give it some more thought.

[newtinmpls]

"I´m from Germany and I still like the good old evil maniac. In my campaign there is a NPC doctor which works together with the inquisition of the roman church and who is abducting and testing supernatural individuals to learn more about their powers."

I like this.

I'd start it out as this Doctor as the "good guy" who is testing demons to better understand how to defend against them/fight them/ protect the innocents. And maybe he even sees it that way.

[SunlessNick]

Remorseful Monster (cue Aspect) is an interesting idea.  I will have to give it some more thought.  -  Hadeshorn

Maybe the Monster is following the experiments, hoping to learn of a way to bring Frankenstein (perhaps even et al) back.