Hotel California

[Sjappo]

Hi all.

Two things are comming together in my head. I've wanted to do an adventure based on Hotel California for ages now. Ever since I found a reference to an AD&D one years and years ago. And I want to introduce my gaming group to something other dan DnD. I'm not the regular GM so it'll have to be an one off.

The catch. I've neither run nor played DFRPG or FATE ever. Still I want to give it a go. I've browsed the two books and read this forum for some time so you may asume I know what you're talking about.

What do I want to get out of it. I want to have the players lots of influence on the story. So I do the basic outline and provide the soundtrack. They should be able to fill the gaps by guessing, declaring etc. I'm aiming for a low refresh game with all mortals and have them completing their characters as we go along.

Expected run-through. Arrive at Hotel California and check in. Meet She. Faf about some, maybe meet the Captain and probably end up with She. Go to the Masters Chamber to kill the Beast. Go to the Nightman and convince him to let them leave.

I have this:
She (as in "there she stood in the doorway"). I like her as a twisted Beauty in Beauty and the Beast. The origional guest in the hotel. She is easy (if you know what I mean) and can be seduced. Mortal. High social. Aspects: Hmmm. Something with beauty (beauty can curse?). And something to do with all the drug references. Flying high, diving low? But neither seems very invocable.

The Captain. Not very important.

The Beast. Some sort of shapeshifter. Werefox or werecoyote seem very californian. Catch: cold iron ("they stab it with there steely knives but they just can't kill the beast").  There to demonstrate combat.

The nightman. Hologram? Impervious to phyisical combat. There to demonstrate social/mental conflict. Can open the door to the real world.

Places:
Check-in. Where She let's you in and you sign in. The nightman resides here.
The courtyard. Where She leads you. Lots of pretty pretty boys here. Aspects: sweaty. intoxicating,
The masters chamber. If a PC tries to seduce She he'll end up here. With She and the Beast
Outside. Basically the front door opens to a empty plain in the Never-Never. They'll need the nightman to open a portal.
Rooms, hallways and whatnot can be whipped up in a pinch.

So. What do you think? Any tips? Any and all help with fleshing out the antagonists is very much apreciated.

[Taran]

Since Hotel California is about a whore house, probably a White Court Vamp(s) could be involved...It could also be a portal to the nevernever where weird things happen.  The Nightman somehow has the key to open the portal to leave...or maybe they get the key from the Masters Chamber and they bring it to the Nightman to open...

One important thing:  "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave"  Is about leaving a peice of yourself...or losing a peice of yourself...losing your innocence.  Maybe some deal must be struck before you leave...that some "peice of yourself" must be left behind...or something to that effect to leave the place.

Oh and:

Stabbed them with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast.  Obviously, he has physical immunity cold iron.  They need to use some other kind of weapon to act as the catch

[Sjappo]

Taran, good call. I missed the whorehouse references to be honest. Now all kind of from dusk till dawn images go through my mind. A splat-fest would be cool but not what I'm aiming for.

WCV could be the key. The guests being his herd and him/her being careful not to kill them nor make new vamps.

About the steely knives. It must be my DnD mind or shaky grasp of the English languages but steely implies steel and is different from cold iron. Chemicaly their pretty much the same of course.

I'm definately going to get them to offer something up to the nightman. Their innocence is lost because they now know what really lives in the shadows. It has to be something else. Maybe one of them has to take the place of the Beast if they kill it ... Hmmmm. Or maybe just once per month or some thing. Kind of like joining the hunt.

This is comming along nicely.

Any tips on aspects on the locations?

[Dr.FunLove]

Sounds like a cool game. I love that song...and I have a thing for crazy/haunted hotels. Let us know how the game is going when you get it up and running!

[Cadd]

About the steely knives. It must be my DnD mind or shaky grasp of the English languages but steely implies steel and is different from cold iron. Chemicaly their pretty much the same of course.

In the Dresdenverse, pretty much anything with a significant amount of iron is considered "Cold Iron". Steel is frequently used in fighting fae in the books.

[S1C0]

Epic song denotes an epic fight slash conflict and i think the beast is more of a victim than a boss the captain would be a more likely source of evil he brings you the things you ask for but not the thing you need " so i called out to captain please bring me my wine and he said we haven't had that spirit here since 1969 " a satanic bible ref perhaps a type of curse on one of the party members to turn into a loup garou or a ghost like beastie would do and was there not like a bunch of people singing all the time the chorus bit so the white court could do for fodder npcs     

[Mrmdubois]

WCV could be the key. The guests being his herd and him/her being careful not to kill them nor make new vamps.

Also new white court vampires can only be created via normal procreation barring weird magic, so that probably isn't much of a concern for them.  At least in terms of turning a PC anyway.

That being said you could have a really interesting mind screw idea for a campaign here.

[S1C0]

or maybe it is just a fever dream from some bad wine at a friends house at a party they passed out at and forgot going to or being at would be a funny ending

[Sjappo]

How about this:

The Master (Unseele Fay) and the Beast (WCV) made a bet/deal concurning a WC Virgin. Details missing now but it called for the Virgin (She) to stay that way 100 years. Both made a mistake making the deal. The Beast ended locked up in the Masters Chamber providing temptation with his Incite Emotion. The Master ended up being the judge.

Hotel California exists in NeverNever and in the Mortal world. It draws people in to tempt the Virgin. The Beast incites them with lust. This is the temptation for the Virgin. As the Beast gets weaker from lack of feeding the trapped people become free to move and try to kill the Beast. They invaribly fail and give the Beast a chance to feed. He gets stronger and around we go.

The Master has to stay in the Hotel till the end and amuses himself by tormenting the Virgin and making deals with passers by.

The doorman is an entity with which all are unfamiliar. He is put there by Mab. He actually posesses a means to get out. To get out you must:
- Fight the Beast, feed it and live
- Resist the temptation of the Virgin
- Deal with the Master

The Master knows this but he thinks he will not survive against the Beast nor resist the Virgin. And he must deal with himself first.

How's that?

Excuse my not altogether firm grasp of the English language.

Edit: I realise that this might be much better as an open ended story. I, as a GM, am normally open to alternative solutions to a puzzle. What I described has a very DnD feel to it. I might be what my players expect. But I do like the mechanics af how everyone is trapped there. "We're all just prisoners here, of our own device".

Alternative endings:
- Kill the Beast. One must take his place.
- Feed the Virgin and get her to kill ends the bet/deal
- Negotiate a deal with the Doorman. Bringing a replacement once a year sounds about right.

[Mrmdubois]

Complicated, could be fun.

Seems kind of weird for the Master to be stuck there against his will though since I have a hard time imagining a sidhe getting bested in making a deal.  I'd change just that part to, he doesn't care about leaving because the two WCV are a constant source of entertainment and the Master is immortal, the amount of time he spends there is immaterial.

[Sjappo]

Complicated, could be fun.

Seems kind of weird for the Master to be stuck there against his will though since I have a hard time imagining a sidhe getting bested in making a deal.  I'd change just that part to, he doesn't care about leaving because the two WCV are a constant source of entertainment and the Master is immortal, the amount of time he spends there is immaterial.

So the Doorman could just be the Master having some fun at the PCs expense?

"I bet I could get you to kill."
"Not in a 100 years."
Rumpelstiltskin: "Ooooh! Care to put that in writing?"

[Mrmdubois]

Could be, injecting a henchman of Mab's did seem a little weird.

Alternatively it could be another thing from somewhere that's also in some way in on the Master and Beast's shenanigans.

[Sjappo]

Could be, injecting a henchman of Mab's did seem a little weird.

Alternatively it could be another thing from somewhere that's also in some way in on the Master and Beast's shenanigans.

Could be. Although nothing comes to mind at the moment.

[S1C0]

what about demons they seem either deal-smiths with a focus on Faustian bargains or denarians with epic amounts of human sin involved rather limited i would say. and was the satanic bible reference not involved with the scenario at all 

[Sjappo]

what about demons they seem either deal-smiths with a focus on Faustian bargains or denarians with epic amounts of human sin involved rather limited i would say. and was the satanic bible reference not involved with the scenario at all

A demon could be an alternative for the Fay. But I don't see a demon and a Fay both involved. Unless they themself have a bet regarding the outcome of the other bet. Bat such layering would make this hopelessly complicated. It would explain why one would help the PCs leave.