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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Hadeshorn on February 16, 2011, 02:56:47 AM
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So, I've had this idea rolling around in my head all day about a Frankenstein inspired DF campaign and thought I'd post it for others to borrow and/or contribute/evaluate.
The base idea is this:
A modern geneticist on sabbatical finds the ruins of the University of Ingolstadt. While there, he discovers the journal of the real Victor Frankenstein, who turns out to have been somewhat involved with Kemmler. The journal inspires the scientist to try recreating the experiments (and is possibly even manipulating him somehow). He also starts all sort of bizarre cross-breeding between various nasty things, ie. a white court vamp and a faerie, etc. His ultimate goal is to create an incredibly power hybrid abomination (Ubermensch) to then transfer his soul into and live forever with all these awesome powers and abilities.
The campaign would start off on the low end of the power level as the characters begin slowly finding clues that eventually lead them to the confrontation with our wayward mad scientist.
Thoughts?
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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.
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Sounds like a pretty cool idea. I always really enjoyed the feel of that world. Check out White-Wolf's Promethean book for an interesting, non-science approach to the Monster.
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Perhaps the scientist is being quietly guided and manipulated by his 'faithful' assistant, ala Helsing.
(I loved a few lines in that otherwise horrible movie; and the idea of Dr. Frankenstein being a hapless researcher on a grant was amusing. "You have treated me as a father, Doctor...but he (Dracula) pays me.")
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Hybrid: Well, wouldn't "breeding" take too long? Maybe consider genetic manipulation and some sort of accelerator tank. This could actually start with the PC's being hired (through layers of intermediaries) to get a "bit" of various monsters/entities. Kind of a "look for spell components" thing that gets very dark....
Dian
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Yeah, I was thinking some sort of test-tube accelerated breeding thing but same basic idea.
I also like the idea of their being a bigger player than the good Dr.
I've done a bit of thinking and I will be using some neato ideas for "relics" to use in some ritual magic, including bolts from the crematorium where Aleister Crowley was cremated and the skeleton of Robert Wadlow.
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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.
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Bah, why do people so often make scientists villains these days?
It's about attention span and understanding. Things we aren't familiar with are scary and uncomfortable so anything sufficently complicated makes people uncomfortable, which makes it a good subject to villianize! The other part is most American stories are very action heavy, science is long, and often tedious and doesn't lend itself well to a good american story, so it can be in the hands of villians with all the boring stuff off-screen.
By the way, The Sorcerer's Apprentice had a geeky sciencey main character.
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It's about attention span and understanding. Things we aren't familiar with are scary and uncomfortable so anything sufficently complicated makes people uncomfortable, which makes it a good subject to villianize! The other part is most American stories are very action heavy, science is long, and often tedious and doesn't lend itself well to a good american story, so it can be in the hands of villians with all the boring stuff off-screen.
By the way, The Sorcerer's Apprentice had a geeky sciencey main character.
True that movie was both good and silly. In an unrelated note, America needs more characters like the Doctor.
We had more science heroes in the 50s and such. It was pretty popular during height of the Cold War.
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Science represents change. Change is scary and uncomfortable. Scientists are responsible for Change. Therefore...
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Plus its a bit hard to modernize Frankenstein without the use of a science guy. Otherwise, its just necromancy.
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The story Frankenstein taps into the fear of out of control science. Remember that it is subtitled "The Modern Prometheus" - ranking the good doctor's work up there with the gift of fire.
Now if you want to see good, modern take on the fear of science and have half an hour free, check out http://www.rifters.com/blindsight/vampires.htm (http://www.rifters.com/blindsight/vampires.htm) - it's from another author, but comes off as a "I'm presenting this to a scientific conference" type thing. The author, Peter Watts, is a scientist as well as a writer and he nailed the realism in this one.
Richard
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Hmmm... scientist as villian is pretty overdone. But still, if I was going to do it, I'd maybe have two of them; a company guy as the unexpected good guy and a rampant charismatic individualist as the genius maniac.
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Now why am I thinking CERN LHC + Outsiders?
Ïa Cthulhu Fhtagn science!
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Don´t think that evil scientist are a typical american villains.... I´m some kind of scientist myself in reality, 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. Also it seems to me that science is a typical antagonistic topic in the dresdenverse, when you think about hexing and faeris etc. They are typcial non tech characters....
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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!.
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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... ;)
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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.
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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/ (http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/)
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Remorseful Monster (cue Aspect) is an interesting idea. I will have to give it some more thought.
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"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.
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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.