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Admiral Squish
2010-09-29, 10:08 PM
So, driving home yesterday, I heard the Eagle's 'Hotel California' on the radio. A lovely, creepy song, that goes like this:
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
’this could be heaven or this could be hell’
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the hotel california
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the hotel california
Any time of year, you can find it here

Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the captain,
’please bring me my wine’
He said, ’we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the hotel california
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They livin’ it up at the hotel california
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said ’we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’
And in the master’s chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can’t kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
’relax,’ said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!

Anyway, with october fast-approaching and my love of seasonal one-shot campaigns (I have a grinch one-shot campaign I try to run every christmas) I was thinking, 'You know, that would make an awesome game'. So, here I am, playground. I want your help turning this song into a campaign.

I was thinking vampires/ghosts.

SilverClawShift
2010-09-29, 10:11 PM
D&D or shadowrun?

Cause that sounds brilliant.

If my DM wasn't currently running a game, I'd probably hijack this idea and turn it into the central hook in something.

*edit*

I'm thinking FAR REALMS here.

Whatever is going on at the Hotel California has nothing to do with our natural laws or feeble understandings of reality. Something that Should Not Be is going down, and stopping it is probably entirely impossible. Containing it? Maybe. If you're ready to get sealed up with it.

Admiral Squish
2010-09-29, 10:12 PM
Was gonna go D&D 3.5, cause that's what I know best.

Katana_Geldar
2010-09-29, 10:13 PM
Make sure you include some sort of stimulant.

DragoonWraith
2010-09-29, 10:19 PM
I love this song, and I strongly support this idea.

Also, OMGITSSILVERCLAWSHIFT!

Acero
2010-09-29, 10:19 PM
Make the hotel it's own plane of existance. Portal for a door

jiriku
2010-09-29, 10:26 PM
I imagine an intro in which the party is en route to some other destination, and stops in the night to sleep in a small-town inn, near a monastery (where they hear the mission bell). However, the occupants of the inn are all undead, slain long ago and putting on a semblance of life. The inn itself is cursed and functions as a trap for those who enter.

Since you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave...the players arrive around dusk, and are informed their money buys them occupancy in the inn until morning...but morning never comes. If they attempt to leave through any of the inn's exits (windows, doors), they find themselves re-entering through the same opening. You can call it a pocket plane if you like, or just leave it unexplained. Uncertainty breeds terror. :smallamused: The PCs must unravel the secret of who the inn's occupants were and what curse has made them become, or dawn will never arrive, and they can never leave. Any PCs who die in the inn will rise as ghosts, still playable but now doomed by the curse like all of the other ghostly denizens.

This adventure would probably work best for a fairly low-level group (6th or less), as you'd otherwise need some heavy DM fiat to prevent the players from blowing the plot apart with high level spells.

You have several NPCs provided to you by the lyrics:


The mysterious and beautiful mistress of the inn who greets the players.
Her pretty boys, foppish young men who court her and seek her favor.
The captain, perhaps a longtime "guest" of the inn, one of the first to be captured by its curse.
The night man, the watchman or desk clerk of the night shift (and there is only a night shift...)


So what is the curse? I'm intrigued by the references to the mission bell. Perhaps the Hotel California was once a bordello (mirrors on the ceiling...) and the mysterious woman was its madam. Mayhap long ago she had a relationship with the patriarch of the nearby mission, a secret affair. Perhaps he killed her and everyone in the place when she threatened to reveal his affair? An "accidental" fire is how those things usually are cleaned up. But what of the beast being stabbed with steely knives? Did the madam's "pretty boys" gather and slay the monk in revenge? From such dark ends do ghosts arise....

Edit: I like the night man because he implies the existance of a "day man". Perhaps when players begin to ask uncomfortable questions or make demands about leaving (or unlocking certain doors), the ghosts will delay them for a bit by claiming that they should refer their questions/demands to the day man, who will help them "in the morning".

dgnslyr
2010-09-29, 10:30 PM
Be sure to make stimulants and depressants available. I know there's rules for mundane booze, and I think there were a few drugs in BoVD.

"My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim"
The adventurers find themselves knocked out, by some kind of drug or poison, probably, and they awake in the Hotel California, giving them some reason to be there to begin with. Something Bad is probably planned for them, but they escape their prison to find themselves in a much larger one, The Hotel California.

"You can check out any time you like, but you can't ever leave."
Maybe the Hotel California has it's own plane? There are some powerful magics afoot, preventing the heroes from just running, and somebody or something is using it as a base to do Something Bad.

"They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast."
The aforementioned Something Bad involves summoning an incredibly powerful abomination of a beast. It's really hard to kill.

"Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before"
Some of the doors are portals that lead to other portals disguised as doors, leading to much Fun when it comes to navigating the Hotel California.

Also, thanks for bringing up this song. It's one of my favorites. Gotta listen to it now. :smallcool:

Tetrasodium
2010-09-29, 11:10 PM
The beast they stab with their steely knives that they just can't kill is an Aleax (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20030914a), possibly at various points the players interact with other character's Aleax's and/or NPC"s mention how the Aleax looking like that player (the player as far as the NPC is concerned) did something unpleasant.

evil-frosty
2010-09-29, 11:14 PM
Well the song is about a whorehouse and points out how bad some society is, at least i believe thats accurate. Maybe you could build upon that a little bit.

dgnslyr
2010-09-29, 11:15 PM
Well the song is about a whorehouse and points out how bad some society is, at least i believe thats accurate. Maybe you could build upon that a little bit.

Huh? I thought it was about drug addiction...

To each his own, then.

Raistlin1040
2010-09-29, 11:18 PM
"Don Henley called it "our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles" and later reiterated "it's basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about."
However, I feel like it's a great song for a spooky horrorish campaign too. If you could bring materialism and excess into it, that would be nice though, I'm sure.

Gorgondantess
2010-09-29, 11:19 PM
I'm thinking FAR REALMS here.

Whatever is going on at the Hotel California has nothing to do with our natural laws or feeble understandings of reality. Something that Should Not Be is going down, and stopping it is probably entirely impossible. Containing it? Maybe. If you're ready to get sealed up with it.

I would play in that game. I would so play in that game.:smallcool:

Admiral Squish
2010-09-30, 02:14 AM
These are all awesome ideas.

Far Realm: Hmm, always an interesting turn to take, but I think this calls for more of a grounded theme. Undead works perfectly in my mind.

I'm thinking the Lady would be most fitting as a vampiress. Healthy cha boost, some domination abilities... Most of the staff would be her vampire spawn. Her 'pretty, pretty boys' would be just trapped, dominated mortals. Or possibly ghosts of trapped, dominated mortals.

As for the never leave part, I was thinking it could go three ways: One, as Jiriku suggested, leaving just makes you re-enter. Though possibly not though THAT entrance, maybe a paired entrance nearby? Two, you can leave, but you can walk for days and never get any further from the hotel. Three, the windows are stuck fast from being painted over again and again, impossible to open. Breaking the glass is impossible, and the walls turn out to be similarly impervious behind a little bit of drywall.

I'd say more of my ideas, but I need some sleeps.

0Megabyte
2010-09-30, 02:20 AM
Allow me to second DragoonWraith's Silverclawshift fangasm.

Yes. I am a Silverclawshift fanboy. Her stories are great, and her ideas for a campaign are always worth listening to. So you know, WOO!

blueblade
2010-09-30, 02:27 AM
TC, can I make one more suggestion: Any chance you can set this up in an existing campaign, and not tell your players? I love the idea that they get just enough references to figure it out!

Werekat
2010-09-30, 02:53 AM
We played that as a one-evening game, with one person being normal and out of town, and all the other playing a wide variety of creepy things (vampires, werewolves, ghosts, whatever), who are having a party and a game - who gets to take the new blood into the fold.

Easily modifiable for a party of adventurers, though. Just tell them beforehand they'll not make it out without some serious template change. :P

gomipile
2010-09-30, 03:37 AM
I like it. However, you may want to remove the copyrighted material in the spoiler from your original post.

nyjastul69
2010-09-30, 04:14 AM
Sounds a bit like, I6 Ravenloft.

Zen Master
2010-09-30, 04:39 AM
I'd make the Hotel a cyber resort.

Yea - that's pretty much it. While the rich ride suborbital flights to where ever they please, the poor must instead rely on simsense to have any sort of holiday.

At accelerated time frames, you can fit in a two-week vacation at the wonderful and luxurious Hotel California in just two days. Now you can finally take a full vacation, without missing work. Woo!

Your wonderful hostess is ready to receive, and the Nightman is always on call to handle your requests, and handle any glitch or bug you may experience.

You may never want to leave!

And when you finally do escape, you may find a lot more than a weekend has passed.

Psyx
2010-09-30, 04:50 AM
The All Flesh Must Be Eaten system is practically written for one-shots like this...

Galileo
2010-09-30, 05:21 AM
Wow, that is a great idea. At least one of the things they've got to fight must have DR/silver or cold iron, because that reference to "steely knives" seems peculiarly specific. Perhaps if the characters have no weapons of the required material, and have to either improvise by beating its head in with a silver candlestick or go on the traditional search for a weapon that can hurt these things.

Halaster
2010-09-30, 07:34 AM
I did a similar thing once, only I had "Don't pay the Ferryman" playing in my head. Needless to say, my players paid the ferryman and he took them off to another plane, where they were bound and could not leave.

The catch was, and this is where my plot connects with the OPs idea, that they could not fight the master of that plane and could only win by not resisting any more. As soon as they surrendered, he became powerless to hold them and they were free. Took my players a while to get the point. It was really fun, because roleplayers are drilled to look for solutions, beat the plot and win. Having to do the opposite doesn't real come naturally.

For the Hotel California that could look a little like this:
- The PCs arrive at the cursed inn, and are welcomed by the beautiful hostess
- Soon after check-in, they realize something is fishy. The hostess has a whole bunch of groupies (the pretty, pretty boys), who try to impress her. They are trying to get her to let them leave.
- The selection of beverages is unusual, to say the least. There is no wine anymore (since 1969, insert date of the curse here), there is only blood available.
- The nightman will allow the characters to check out, but whenever they try to leave, the doors won't open
- The whole thing is evidently tied to the hostess, but killing her is impossible, no matter what the characters try
- In order to get out, the PCs must stop trying. If they try to please the hostess, partake of the decadent pleasures or try to get out, they strengthen the curse. They can only get out by checking out, then just sitting in the lobby and waiting, effectively doing nothing. Then, suddenly, the door will open and they are free
- At the nearby temple, they can learn about the origin of the curse: the beautiful, vain hostess of the inn entranced the village youth to join her in ever more twisted debaucheries. The high priest finally caught them and managed to break up the whole affair, whereupon she committed suicide, cursing all the revellers with her final words to be eternally bound to her and the inn. The priests where unable, so far, to break the curse, and all new arrivals have been caught in the trap along with the original inhabitants of the inn
- Now that the players have finally managed to escape, the priests ask them to go back and help the other cursed patrons get out, by telling them how to break the curse. When they do, the hostess will appear and beg, cajole, scream and curse. If they manage to keep the other patrons' spirits up, the door opens, everyone walks out and the inn crumbles into a ruin.

Tetrasodium
2010-09-30, 08:49 AM
Three, the windows are stuck fast from being painted over again and again, impossible to open. Breaking the glass is impossible, and the walls turn out to be similarly impervious behind a little bit of drywall.

I'd suggest against this one. It's highly annoying to pull out some obscure spell designed to unstick things or unleash massive strength on what should be a simple object only to have the DM say "nope, doesn't work". Custom forcewalls? sure... unbreakable unmovable dm-icite?... no.

The Glyphstone
2010-09-30, 09:11 AM
Everyone has so far missed the most important detail posted in the thread.:smallamused:

Silverclawshift's DM is running another campaign. This means potential for another campaign journal.:smallcool::smallbiggrin:

Duke of URL
2010-09-30, 09:16 AM
I'd suggest against this one. It's highly annoying to pull out some obscure spell designed to unstick things or unleash massive strength on what should be a simple object only to have the DM say "nope, doesn't work". Custom forcewalls? sure... unbreakable unmovable dm-icite?... no.

Meh, it's easy enough to work around -- if the "hotel" is its own demi-plane, there is literally nothing past the walls. You can break the wall down, but then you are smack up against the boundary of the plane.

Clearly, the objective must turn into finding a way to escape the demiplane, with the only alternative being forced to spend eternity with the other trapped souls. Of course, plane shift makes this trivial, so some form of dimensional lock will need to be in place -- the key will be finding who are what is generating that lock, and figuring out how to stop it.

Fayd
2010-09-30, 09:22 AM
"You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

Perhaps she takes some small part of all entrants that makes it impossible to truly leave (say, their soul.)

Admiral Squish
2010-09-30, 09:38 AM
A bunch more interesting ideas! Keep 'em comin'!

Oh, and one big thing: This needs a name tat doesn't immediately give it away.

Duke of URL
2010-09-30, 09:49 AM
Oh, and one big thing: This needs a name tat doesn't immediately give it away.

"The Longest Night" (considering that it never ends)?

Or, as a more "in-joke" reference: "The Eagle Inn". :smallbiggrin:

Saintheart
2010-09-30, 09:50 AM
Read the first four chapters or so of "Heroes of Horror".

Done.

You now have all the ammo you need to scare the crap out of people and make the Hotel California a really scary place.

And make sure that the final scene of the adventure is the adventurers turning the key to get out of the Hotel ... to find themselves in the first room of the Tomb of Horrors.

Mordokai
2010-09-30, 10:12 AM
I heartily endorse this and hope to hear more from your side on how it develops :smallbiggrin:

Vichaous
2010-09-30, 11:47 AM
I had to create an account specifically for this topic, because when I saw it last night I thought it was such a good idea I actually wrote a bit of an opener for players.
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in your hair. There is the warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air. Up ahead in the distance, you see a shimmering light. Suddenly your head grows heavy and your sight begins to dim. You must stop for the night. You see a mansion up ahead and decide that it is as good a a place as any, given that the desert floor is your only alternative. As you arrive a woman stands in the doorway to meet you. As she greets you, you hear the sound of a mission bell.

You think to yourself, “this could be heaven or this could be hell”

The lady before you suddenly lights up a candle, and gestures inside the house, “This way” she speaks in a ghostly voice.
As you enter the mansion you just barely hear other voices down the corridor, but refrain from speaking of them for fear of the others thinking you insane. You hear them say “Welcome to the Hotel California. (Such a lovely place... Such a lovely face...) Plenty of room at the Hotel California.”

Any time of year, you can find it here.

You suddenly realize the door behind you is no longer there, but the end to a hallway... The hallway you just entered from outside.
Mind you I thought it best to use the World of Darkness by White Wolf. Feel free to use this intro, and modify it as you like. I just wanted you to know I support, and encourage this idea, and to thank you for inspiring me to use the same.

mangosta71
2010-09-30, 12:14 PM
While that's nice, I think it gives way too much away up front to anyone with any familiarity at all with the song. Getting the party to head into a desert area is easy enough, and the shimmering could easily be portrayed as a mirage from a distance, especially if the group is in the desert long enough that such hallucinations become reasonable. Include the scent of wildflowers in the mirage - if you specify colitas, some people may recognize it immediately - and footprints in the sand leading toward it (I would not say that there are no footprints leading away from it - that's the first tiny thing odd about things, and it should be very easy to miss).

Heroes of Horror is a great splatbook for the sort of situation the party will find inside. Little, seemingly minor things that are just a little off are so much better for breaking characters' sanity than big obviously scary monsters.

Jastermereel
2010-09-30, 12:21 PM
While D&D was requested, I would think something from Call of Cthulthu would work well. It'd have to be re-skinned a bit as I don't think I've heard much of the old ones in the desert, but the atmospheric horror, the unnamed unkillable beast, and the only victory being escape, seem to sit well with that game's tropes, no?

That, and be sure you don't railroad to keep them to the linear narrative of the song's lyrics. Some (you can't leave) is ok, but unless you're very lucky, or they're willing to follow your steps and play it as an homage using the lyrics as meta-playing clues, they're bound to deviate from your expectations sooner rather than later.

DragoonWraith
2010-09-30, 12:23 PM
Using the word "colitas" is a dead give-away, seeing as it is not a common word at all.

hiryuu
2010-09-30, 01:27 PM
I did this once. Made a campaign that lasted for months. I'll see if I can find my notes...

Invelios
2010-09-30, 04:29 PM
I second the White wolf WoD setting.

Instantly I thought of Vamps when reading this idea.

Anyway, good call on the idea, I would definitely play in a game like this, no matter the system.....


Ok so I just Imagined this with cyberpunk.....3 rounds later everyone is writing new characters.

Admiral Squish
2010-09-30, 04:41 PM
Yeah, that's basically a rephrased version of the first stanza or two...

I'd love to see the campaign notes!

While I could see the white wolf setting, I just don't know the system well enough.

Notreallyhere77
2010-09-30, 04:48 PM
WEREWOLVES! They have a pack here, and once you're bitten, you join them forever. And even if you leave the hotel, you'll always be drawn back before you can go anywhere else.

They dance every night in the warm air under the California moon, either trying to cling to the memories of humanity, or to embrace what they've become, depending.

The alpha male that infected the first of them is chained down in one of the dining rooms, probably the fanciest, from the sound of it, and although the Alpha female has taken over the operation, they can't kill their own master without hurting themselves (or maybe they don't know how), so they stab it with steel instead, either to torment him or try to kill him. Only pack members are allowed in most of the rooms, though.

All of the alpha female's "friends" are pack-brothers and suitors.

Just a suggestion.

MammonAzrael
2010-09-30, 04:50 PM
Hotel California: where the Lady of Pain stays when she visit out of town. :smallamused:

In a more helpful capactiy, if you wanted to make it a higher level game, then tying the Hotel to Sigil and the Lady of Pain would be a great way to do it, inspire fear, and not make it feel like the players are only stuck because of DM fiat. The Hotel could be a unique portal into Sigil, appearing and disappearing at random places on random planes...actually, I'm liking this idea more and more. Make it a very high level game. The reason there aren't more epic level wizards tearing through the DnD multiverse is because the Lady collects them in her Hotel. She's the one greeting them at the door, leading them inside.

It's her own personal epic Maze construction.

And somehow she is a prisoner herself, stuck in her own contraption (which is why we haven't heard much from her since 2nd edition :smallwink: ). Or better yet the mysterious lady is who the Lady of Pain was before ascending to the scary levels of power she has now....she is trapped inside herself, and trying to find adventurers powerful enough to help her escape from her self-created prison. The Master is the embodiment of the Lady of Pain's power, the version that the citizens of Sigil see, and the one the world knows (which explains why hitting it with pointy objects isn't doing much).

I agree about reading Heroes of Horror, as it has some terrific suggestions.

TheThan
2010-09-30, 04:52 PM
I second some Cthulhu Mythos here, either with call of Cthulhu game or something like it.

Thalnawr
2010-09-30, 05:12 PM
Read the first four chapters or so of "Heroes of Horror".

Done.

You now have all the ammo you need to scare the crap out of people and make the Hotel California a really scary place.

And make sure that the final scene of the adventure is the adventurers turning the key to get out of the Hotel ... to find themselves in the first room of the Tomb of Horrors.
Heh, props on this, because when I read this topic and the OP, I remembered an old parody (http://eyeskream.com/kodt/htoh.htm) of this song in the back of a Knights of the Dinner Table issue...

Admiral Squish
2010-09-30, 09:36 PM
A whole lot of awesome right there.

I will admit, I didn't think of werewolves. That could be fun...

Serpentine
2010-10-01, 02:54 AM
Seems like Ravenloft could be a decent source for flavour, mechanics and inspiration.

Farlion
2010-10-01, 03:46 AM
Hey everyone!

Really great thread. I've also turned some songs into campaigns, I really crave music for insipration.

Now I'd like to get to a very important part of the Story here. How do the PCs get out?

The end sais "relax" you can check out anytime, but you can never leave. I'm not quite happy with my ideas yet, but maybe we can improve them:

1. The PCs have to stop trying to exit and the next time they meet the mistress, she smiles at them and they wake up on the desert floor.

2. Suicide. Total "relaxation" is the only way out. Checking out of life.


I'm open for improvements =)


Now another thing: The mistress herself is willing to share her bed with any PC, doing so, will cost you your soul and you turn into one of the ghosts. All the "pretty boys" are actually the ghosts of her lovers she had, after the head of the monastary killed her for seducing one of his monks.

That kinda popped to my head.

Cheers,
Farlion

P.S: For more music insipration: the Hotels could have a room, where you hear this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0LDtwAaJBo) very faintly and you see the mistress dance with someone, whos face you cannot recognize (symbolizing her lost lover, one of the monks)

Gan The Grey
2010-10-01, 04:42 AM
Built in the center of a desert along an ancient abandoned highway, this hotel appears like a beacon of hope for those lost in the wilderness. Due to dehydration and hopelessness, the lost rarely question its appearance and seldom notice the strangeness of its inhabitants. The keepers of the hotel immediately welcome any newcomers, using the natural magics of the hotel to tend to their wounds and provide any sort of sustenance necessary for their survival.

Once travelers reestablish their health, they begin to notice things. Odd voices in the night, the generally less-than-sane personalities of the owners, and strange tremors that occasionally shake the hotel. There are other travelers there as well, but with every chime of the mission bell, one of them mysteriously vanishes...

The travelers will eventually want to leave, but all provisions created by the mansion disappear as soon as they leave through the door, and the desert beyond is uncharacteristically dangerous. They soon realize that leaving means certain death, so they slowly begin to try to unravel the mystery of the hotel.

One day, an odd accident claims the life of the night manager, and on the next night, a new night manager is in place. But this night manager is someone they know, someone who disappeared after the chime of the mission bell, but this person claims not to know them, claims they have ALWAYS worked there.

Things start to ramp up as the players slowly uncover the inner workings of the mansion. They begin to notice a strange symbol everywhere, the emblem of an ancient and forgotten cult. Eventually, the mission bell rings, and something comes for one of the party members. A secret passage opens in the wall and a trio (or more) of white eyed robed men emerge and try to forcefully take the character.

Eventually, the characters discover an ancient temple beneath the mansion, and source of the distance voices and tremors. This cult has resided in the temple for hundreds of years, charged with the imprisonment of a beast capable of wiping life clean from the earth: the Tarrasque. The voices are them chanting spells to weaken it, and the tremors are the beast's thrashing against its chains. They continually attack it, keeping it weak.

When the cult spots the PC's, they charge enmasse. In the end, the PC's can choose to chance death in the desert, or become captured and brainwashed by the cult, joining them in their eternal struggle to keep the beast contained.

I am SO going to run this now.

Mordokai
2010-10-01, 06:39 AM
Seems like Ravenloft could be a decent source for flavour, mechanics and inspiration.

Domain of the dread was the first thing that popped in my head when reading the OP. For some extra nastiness, each room could be it's own domain, with it's own dark lord, though I'm not sure how well that would work mechanically. But it would certainly be interesting, yes?

I also like Gan the Grey's idea. I like it very much. However, wouldn't it be possible to add a possibility of PC's, you know, winning? Not by killing tarrasque, of course, but maybe by destroying the hotel? Killing the owner? The chances of winning should be slim, I agree, but they should be there.

Gan The Grey
2010-10-01, 06:47 AM
I also like Gan the Grey's idea. I like it very much. However, wouldn't it be possible to add a possibility of PC's, you know, winning? Not by killing tarrasque, of course, but maybe by destroying the hotel? Killing the owner? The chances of winning should be slim, I agree, but they should be there.

Winning in this scenario isn't really....possible. The hotel was constructed as a way to humanely imprison people to prepare them for brainwashing. Aside from breeding with each other, the cult has no way to regenerate members lost to the Tarrasque or simple aging. They take those with no hope and turn them into weapons in the fight to protect their world. Destroying the hotel would eventually lead to the downfall of the cult, and the release of the Tarrasque. The same goes with killing off the cult. The party might live...but at what cost? That leaves joining them, or braving the desert.

Mordokai
2010-10-01, 07:05 AM
Well, shades of gray make for a good horror campaign, so when you put it that way... I like the sound of it more :smallsmile:

And excuse for being a wee bit bitchy about it, but maybe we could use some other monster than Big T? I mean, the damn thing is pretty much epic. What other monster could one use that would present a big threat to the world if released, but wouldn't require an army of almost epic spellcaster to contain it in one place? I'm asking this because I might end up shamelesly stealing your idea and using it in a campaign of my own, but would like some changes to it :smalltongue: :smallredface:

Gan The Grey
2010-10-01, 07:20 AM
Well, shades of gray make for a good horror campaign, so when you put it that way... I like the sound of it more :smallsmile:

And excuse for being a wee bit bitchy about it, but maybe we could use some other monster than Big T? I mean, the damn thing is pretty much epic. What other monster could one use that would present a big threat to the world if released, but wouldn't require an army of almost epic spellcaster to contain it in one place? I'm asking this because I might end up shamelesly stealing your idea and using it in a campaign of my own, but would like some changes to it :smalltongue: :smallredface:

Well, my idea is really just a bare-bones explanation for everything. You would really need to expound upon the idea for a good mystery/horror campaign. The way I see it, the cult is the remnants of some ancient civilization that was nearly utterly destroyed by Big T. Using the last of their resources, the civilization managed to subdue it, but only just. The resulting battle left the area a desert. The current cult is really on its last legs, using magics they don't understand and really just focusing on beating it with blunt objects to overcome its regeneration. Maybe they have even been munching on Big T for some time too, and the continued exposure is driving them to madness. The containment spells are failing, and the daily (or nightly) ritual is the only thing keeping the magics from finally going kaput.

I just heard "stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast" and the image of Big T just sorta exploded in my head. Can't think of any other monster that really fits it better.

SilverLeaf167
2010-10-01, 07:24 AM
The idea of rearriving at the hotel whenever you leave has been presented before, but I made some detail for that.

Whenever someone wants to leave, he is greeted away just like in a normal hotel, and asked to come back some time. Let's assume they try to walk down the road. The road is straight, but nothing except mountains can be seen in the horizon, and if they walk on the road for long enough, they just see another similar hotel by the road. Even if they just pass by, this will be repeated until they finally go back inside. They will be greeted cheerfully. No more hotels can be seen in the direction where the runaway came from (only one hotel can be seen at a time).

If they walk straight away from the hotel, across the barren sand, they just come to another road with the hotel. Otherwise the same as above.
If they try to walk backwards, so that they see the hotel the whole time while walking away from it, they will seem to gain distance normally. However, as soon as they turn around, the hotel is there.

If they burn the house or otherwise destroy it, it will get back to normal as soon as they look away.
Another possibility is that the landscape is infinite, and when the runaway tries to sleep, they wake up back at the hotel.

weenie
2010-10-01, 08:21 AM
I actually made a one-shot adventure, where the players are trapped on a cursed island for eternity. I've run it a few times for different groups and they all seemed to like it. I'll spoiler it up:


There is an island in the ocean, that no one knows about. Many hundreds of years ago, the lady of the island was dying much before her time due to a terrible illness, that run in her family. Many healers tried to save her, but none of them were successful, so she turned her prayers to anyone who was willing to help her. And someone responded. The goddess WeeJas(insert your own more fitting diety if needed) offered an alternative to dying. The lady had to promise, that she and anybody on the island would become her worshipers and in exchange the goddess lifted the curse of death from her and all of her people, by making then stop aging.

To stop people from leaving the island, the goddess made all the sea currents around it flow towards the island, causing ships that came too close to crash on its rocky shores and making it impossible to navigate away from it. This also changed the climate of the island, making the air warmer and more humid, making clouds and mists much more frequent. The presence of WeeJas'es magic also attracts strange beasts to the island, but they never attack its inhabitants(but they attack people who are new to the island).


I've prepared some encounters and some specific NPCs, if anybody likes the story so far I can post them..

GodGoblin
2010-10-01, 08:30 AM
This is a great concept! and I really like the idea of having it lead into the tomb of horrors. Im also behind the idea of it being a contained plane mainly because Scooby-Doo style door way chases are awesome :smallcool: I will definatly run this IRL when my group gets a break from uni!

Edit- Oh and weenie it would be cool if you posted the monsters and other info, anything to inspire new ideas would be great and im sure the others would agree. If not a PM would be cool :smallsmile:

Mordokai
2010-10-01, 08:50 AM
I actually made a one-shot adventure, where the players are trapped on a cursed island for eternity. I've run it a few times for different groups and they all seemed to like it. I'll spoiler it up:


There is an island in the ocean, that no one knows about. Many hundreds of years ago, the lady of the island was dying much before her time due to a terrible illness, that run in her family. Many healers tried to save her, but none of them were successful, so she turned her prayers to anyone who was willing to help her. And someone responded. The goddess WeeJas(insert your own more fitting diety if needed) offered an alternative to dying. The lady had to promise, that she and anybody on the island would become her worshipers and in exchange the goddess lifted the curse of death from her and all of her people, by making then stop aging.

To stop people from leaving the island, the goddess made all the sea currents around it flow towards the island, causing ships that came too close to crash on its rocky shores and making it impossible to navigate away from it. This also changed the climate of the island, making the air warmer and more humid, making clouds and mists much more frequent. The presence of WeeJas'es magic also attracts strange beasts to the island, but they never attack its inhabitants(but they attack people who are new to the island).


I've prepared some encounters and some specific NPCs, if anybody likes the story so far I can post them..

Please do so, I am interested in seeing what you came up with.

Santra
2010-10-01, 09:06 AM
These are all awesome ideas.

Far Realm: Hmm, always an interesting turn to take, but I think this calls for more of a grounded theme. Undead works perfectly in my mind.

I'm thinking the Lady would be most fitting as a vampiress. Healthy cha boost, some domination abilities... Most of the staff would be her vampire spawn. Her 'pretty, pretty boys' would be just trapped, dominated mortals. Or possibly ghosts of trapped, dominated mortals.

As for the never leave part, I was thinking it could go three ways: One, as Jiriku suggested, leaving just makes you re-enter. Though possibly not though THAT entrance, maybe a paired entrance nearby? Two, you can leave, but you can walk for days and never get any further from the hotel. Three, the windows are stuck fast from being painted over again and again, impossible to open. Breaking the glass is impossible, and the walls turn out to be similarly impervious behind a little bit of drywall.

I'd say more of my ideas, but I need some sleeps.

I was thinking what if you had it in a desertlike setting. The players can check out but after a couple hours of travel they come back upon the hotel. Maybe the vampiress is sealed there by the mission bell?

Halaster
2010-10-01, 10:24 AM
To tie in with the topic of the song: what if the PCs can check out, and go wherever they please, but all the places have turned into bizarre parodies of themselves, where undeath, bloodlust and evil reign, so while they can check out, they can not leave, because all their world has become a "Hotel California". Of course, this is all an illusion, mirror universe, whatever, but they can only get out of it by defeating the curse.

Alternately, they can check out, but the Hotel follows them around. This might be subtle at first. The face of one of the pretty boys in the crowd, a pilgrim using the name of the inn in conversation. Then it becomes more obvious. Authority figures remind the PCs of stopping by there occasionally, and may not take no for an answer. Merchants refuse to do business with them, unless they promise to visit the Hotel sometime soon. Ultimately they will be chased back by an angry mob. Such effects are only figments or mind-affecting spells, that can be dispelled, but they will always return, and grow stronger by the day, until the PCs go back and face the beast.

Admiral Squish
2010-10-01, 05:38 PM
I'm not sure, now. It would be easy to make it impossible to leave, but is it railroading? Should I just make the hotel follow them?

Vampires? Werewolves? Cults? Eldritch horrors from beyond?

:smalleek:

Gorgondantess
2010-10-01, 06:26 PM
I'm not sure, now. It would be easy to make it impossible to leave, but is it railroading? Should I just make the hotel follow them?

Vampires? Werewolves? Cults? Eldritch horrors from beyond?

:smalleek:

Here's one: make them dependent on it... maybe they're poisoned, and they need it for regular antidotes? And the poison slowly wastes them away if they don't get the antidote soon enough...
And as for why they can't just get a cleric: a wizard did it.:smalltongue:

Logalmier
2010-10-01, 08:11 PM
Personally I think that having ghosts and vampires and stuff like that would be coming on a bit strong. Hotel California is more about subtlety in my opinion. What I think you should do is have the hotel be sort of a mini Tippyverse, with focus on enchantment. The hotel attracts you with enchantment, and you're slowly drawn into it more and more until your completely enthralled. You could have the "pink champagne on ice" be something like distilled joy or liquid pain. Liquid pain is more addicting and creepier, so I think that would work better.

I sort of picture Hotel California as a sort of huge venus fly trap. It calls to you, it attracts you with its sweetness, and then it bites down, trapping you for the rest of your very short life. I think thats what you should have in mind as you create this. It's not so much of a horror dungeon IMO, as it is a dungeon that destroys players with their own vices.

Gan The Grey
2010-10-01, 08:57 PM
Personally I think that having ghosts and vampires and stuff like that would be coming on a bit strong. Hotel California is more about subtlety in my opinion. What I think you should do is have the hotel be sort of a mini Tippyverse, with focus on enchantment. The hotel attracts you with enchantment, and you're slowly drawn into it more and more until your completely enthralled. You could have the "pink champagne on ice" be something like distilled joy or liquid pain. Liquid pain is more addicting and creepier, so I think that would work better.

I sort of picture Hotel California as a sort of huge venus fly trap. It calls to you, it attracts you with its sweetness, and then it bites down, trapping you for the rest of your very short life. I think thats what you should have in mind as you create this. It's not so much of a horror dungeon IMO, as it is a dungeon that destroys players with their own vices.

I fully agree with the subtlety aspect to Hotel California. The players, and I stress PLAYERS, should know that there is something off about this place. The characters don't matter so much as you are trying to screw with the players.

The reason I suggested a dangerous desert outside and not magical compulsion, is because you want to give the players the illusion of choice, that they COULD leave at any time, but leaving very likely means death. You want them to CHOOSE to stay because of other reasons. No compulsions, no drugs...these things don't mean much to players. Things that affect the characters don't mean so much if they don't also affect the players. You want to pique their interests. Get them attached to someone in the hotel and then have them disappear.

Beleriphon
2010-10-01, 09:26 PM
Huh? I thought it was about drug addiction...

To each his own, then.

Quoth the artist:

Don Henley says "it's basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about."

Take that as you may, drug addiction is certainly there, but so is the idea of a common bawdy house.

Tiki Snakes
2010-10-01, 11:56 PM
I think I like both the idea of the Hotel in an Endless Wasteland and the idea that it just kind of follows them around.

In the latter case, whenever, wherever they went to sleep they'd invariably wake up in the Hotel. In both cases, I like the idea that there isn't strictly speaking any way to 'beat it' or 'get free'. Even if you die, you just wake up in the Hotel again.

The idea that you can kind of be away from it for a while now and then, but will end up there again reguardless, that's how I'd do it for a campaign of any length. For a one-shot like this, I'd stick to the endless wasteland version.

In the Endless Wasteland version you have two 'sub-quests'. There is the one to get free, then a second unrelated situation, (possibly with the goal of finding things out, or improving the situation in the hotel).
The First quest, for freedom, is a false one. There IS no way out, but they can still affect the situation via the Second and take a shot at making things better, almost palatable perhaps (there should be a good chance of a 'Bad End' with that, though, as it's a one-shot after all. :smallwink:)

In campaign form, the Hotel becomes a subtle, ever present part of the campaign whether they like it or not. It could even function to provide a 'Quantuum Leap' style of campaign, with the hotel letting them out into different places, times, planes every now and then, perhaps with no rhyme or reason, perhaps there will often be things nearby that they could help with.

For a cyber-punk /etc game, I really do like the virtual holiday idea though. Especially the part where they wake up, having finally escaped to find that it is...a long time later indeed. Perhaps the world they knew has gone from cyberpunk to post apocalyptic in the meantime? :smallbiggrin:

DragoonWraith
2010-10-02, 12:34 AM
If it follows them around, they should never see it moving, IMO.

JaronK
2010-10-02, 12:46 AM
I like the idea of a hotel in a pocket plane full of undead guests, but it would be interesting if the guests didn't seem undead (or even know they were). Call it a planar trait, but the people are perfectly normal... except they all have ghost like abilities to come back when killed sometime later, never remembering they even died. The guests don't even realize they're trapped... they think they're just staying the night and have been there for maybe a day or so, not realizing they've been there for thousands of years. Perhaps they can't actually rest properly, due to the plane having some time trait mucking around, and as such they can't get new spells.

You can go out of the inn any time you want. However, the inn is in a valley, and there's only one road in and out of the valley, headed north/south. Traveling either direction along the road lets you go up over a mountain pass, back down into another valley and eventually gets you, one day later, back at the inn. There's a constant storm though, restricting visibility so you can't see this effect. The people in the inn all think they're just waiting inside until the storm ends, not realizing it's been millennia.

Meanwhile, something is in there, and when it dies it too will come back. It's something dangerous.

But the catch is this: the whole thing was a trap to hold in this big bad entity. Inside this plane, it believes itself to be one of the guests, and is contained. Over time the magic is weakening... it's just barely starting to realize what's going on, but can't fix things by itself. But stopping the curse will free it, so it's trying to convince the PCs to end the curse, even though it's not fully aware of what's going on. Perhaps it's the guy who actually says the line "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." He's forlorn that he can't get out, but the magic still forces him to accept this. Still, he drops clues...

JaronK

The_JJ
2010-10-02, 02:49 AM
D&D or shadowrun?

Cause that sounds brilliant.

If my DM wasn't currently running a game, I'd probably hijack this idea and turn it into the central hook in something.

*edit*

I'm thinking FAR REALMS here.

Whatever is going on at the Hotel California has nothing to do with our natural laws or feeble understandings of reality. Something that Should Not Be is going down, and stopping it is probably entirely impossible. Containing it? Maybe. If you're ready to get sealed up with it.

*groupie squee*

Huh? What? On topic? Remind me to tell you about this campaign I ran drawing on Led Zep songs. Opened with the Immigrant Song and ended on Stairway to Heaven. The Battle of Evermore was a 'save as much of the city as you can over the course of x turns, at which points your allies arrive.' Gallow's Pole was an early session centered on saving a party member from execution. Ramble On was a few sessions of sandboxy exploring. What Is and What Should Never Be, Communications Breakdown (name only really), played Over the Hills and Far Away over the Fallout style epilogue, it was great.


Oh, and it was all entirely imaginary. I mean, I've got the notes for it somewhere, but never actually got around to running it.

Gettles
2010-10-02, 03:15 AM
I think an interesting thing that you can also do would be to once in a while add new npcs as guests. Try to give the players a sense that they can't even tell how long they have been at the hotel.

Admiral Squish
2010-10-03, 10:44 AM
So, really, right now I'm struggling between werewolves and vampires. Both awesome. I think vampires would be slightly easier to pull off, but werewolf has some awesome imagery attached. Plus it's slightly less gamebreaking to add werewolf to a player character than vampire.

I've decided the hotel is, while full breakable, the only solid thing in an infinite void. At least, until the players break the curse.

grimbold
2010-10-03, 12:02 PM
curls up in a ball and cries for not having the idea first.*

I CALL STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN!

Admiral Squish
2010-10-03, 02:24 PM
I think someone mentioned using that. Perhaps in the nations of rock thread.

Lord Loss
2010-10-03, 02:40 PM
I saw a short story/movie that got this song stuck in my head so I thought it best to mention it:

1402

Plot:

A guy checks into a hotel that's supposedly ''haunted'' no one's ever survived more than 24 hours inside. A skeptic spends a night there. At first, everything is fine until the only door leading out locks, the vents don't lead anywhere, the recption (when he calls them) hear a different conversation than he does, climbing on the side of the building reveals no other windows and the jump out cannot be survived. Meanwhile, a clock counts down to zero. When it finally hits zero the main character wakes up earlierin the day before he checks in, renews contact with his ex, etc. Everything is going perfectly, and then the world is torn away and he reawakens in the same room ,with the clock set to 24:00 again and a message coming from the phone inviting him to commit suicide. During the whole time, the room is making his life a living hell, but he's also meeting his deceased family members such as his daughter and father.

Admiral Squish
2010-10-03, 02:45 PM
I saw a short story/movie that got this song stuck in my head so I thought it best to mention it:

1402

Plot:

A guy checks into a hotel that's supposedly ''haunted'' no one's ever survived more than 24 hours inside. A skeptic spends a night there. At first, everything is fine until the only door leading out locks, the vents don't lead anywhere, the recption (when he calls them) hear a different conversation than he does, climbing on the side of the building reveals no other windows and the jump out cannot be survived. Meanwhile, a clock counts down to zero. When it finally hits zero the main character wakes up earlierin the day before he checks in, renews contact with his ex, etc. Everything is going perfectly, and then the world is torn away and he reawakens in the same room ,with the clock set to 24:00 again and a message coming from the phone inviting him to commit suicide. During the whole time, the room is making his life a living hell, but he's also meeting his deceased family members such as his daughter and father.

Saw that movie, actually. Quite creepy, but I don't know.

Mordokai
2010-10-03, 03:16 PM
Along the same lines, Stephen King's short story, 1408 might provide some insight on how creepy hotel room should work. I remember reading it around midnight and I was actually quite creeped out.

Admiral Squish
2010-10-03, 04:16 PM
Idea: the hotel is actually a repurposed monastery. This would lend a lot of the architectural features a hotel would need, while still being small enough that it wouldn't be overly large for a single-session adventure. It also allows for the mission bell and gives a feeling of purity corrupted.

I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do about some parts of the song, though.

Admiral Squish
2010-10-04, 09:55 AM
Another idea: Both vamps and wolves! 'The beast' refers to a werewolf lord that the Lady's minions captured. Lady is a vampiress. The captain and the night man are both her spawn. The rest are guests she's charmed into the hotel and the magic of the demiplane keeps them there.

Kaje
2010-10-04, 10:11 AM
Eh, I think Ghostwalk-style ghosts would be better.

Admiral Squish
2010-10-04, 10:14 AM
Eh, I think Ghostwalk-style ghosts would be better.

Why not? Throw in a couple ghosts here and there, possibly the victims of either Lady or Beast... Maybe I should just go nuts and throw in someone with warlock levels as a witch.

Neon Knight
2010-10-04, 10:18 AM
You know, when I think of Hotel California, I think of... this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyvQJA_vyv4)

So, yeah, not feeling this one guys.

Admiral Squish
2010-10-04, 10:22 AM
You know, when I think of Hotel California, I think of... this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyvQJA_vyv4)

So, yeah, not feeling this one guys.

Your version is weak! There is only one hotel california. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgLfoQfmSQ4)

Mordokai
2010-10-04, 10:25 AM
Another idea: Both vamps and wolves! 'The beast' refers to a werewolf lord that the Lady's minions captured. Lady is a vampiress. The captain and the night man are both her spawn. The rest are guests she's charmed into the hotel and the magic of the demiplane keeps them there.

To be fair, this whole thing is growing a little too big for a one night campaign, if you ask me. Can you pull it off? If yes, all the more power to you. And if so, I would very much like your notes on it. Is that possible?

And yeah, the gipsy kings version, well... it sucks.

Admiral Squish
2010-10-04, 10:37 AM
There should only be one or two combat encounters, so I think it'll be fine. Those are the parts that take the most time.

Neon Knight
2010-10-04, 10:47 AM
Your version is weak! There is only one hotel california. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgLfoQfmSQ4)

Jesus, man, can you change the station? I've had a had a rough night, and I hate the Eagles, man.




And yeah, the gipsy kings version, well... it sucks.

Yeah, well, you know, that's just like, uh, your opinion, man.

Admiral Squish
2010-10-04, 10:51 AM
Jesus, man, can you change the station? I've had a had a rough night, and I hate the Eagles, man.

Blasphemy! BURN THE HERETIC! *runs off to get the torches and pitchforks*

Mordokai
2010-10-04, 10:52 AM
There should only be one or two combat encounters, so I think it'll be fine. Those are the parts that take the most time.

I would still very much like to see the details of it when it's over. Think we can come to an agreement about that? PM or somesuch.


Yeah, well, you know, that's just like, uh, your opinion, man.

I was under the impression that's a given.

Admiral Squish
2010-10-04, 11:10 AM
I would still very much like to see the details of it when it's over. Think we can come to an agreement about that? PM or somesuch.


But of course, I'll send you the notes soon as I finish them. I'm definitely going to post how the game went, at the very least.

Mordokai
2010-10-04, 11:14 AM
Your help is much appreciated and I thank you in advance :smallsmile:

Admiral Squish
2010-10-04, 02:02 PM
I doubt I could resist the temptation anyways.

mangosta71
2010-10-04, 02:42 PM
I may run a variant of this as well if I can get a group around here. It may be a little long for a standard one-shot, but if they want to start early and nobody has to go to work the following day...

ToySoldierCPlus
2010-10-04, 08:48 PM
You appear to have settled this one, but I wrote up some notes on how I'd run it, and I want to share!

The Hotel is located in a desert, along a lonely stretch of road/highway. I'm blatantly stealing the re-purposed mission idea, but the new purpose is a little different.

The Hostess is a puppet, possibly a vampiress, controlled by the Master. Her purpose is to lure travelers into the Hotel on behalf of the Master.

The dancers in the courtyard are the guests at the Hotel. They dance, as the song says, to remember or to forget, depending on their situation.

The Hotel itself is a mission were a great evil was once released by an act of incredible greed, gluttony, and debauchery. It overran the mission, but it was able to be contained within. Now, it has corrupted the mission, and created the Hostess to lure people into the Hotel. The Hotel also serves as an extension of the Master's will, and will seek to contain people. It will attempt to enthrall them by providing them with their greatest desires, convincing them to stay until they have grown fat enough for the Master. Those who try to leave must face the Night Man.

The Master, the evil that was accidentally released, is a beast that feeds on those who are trapped in the Hotel. It exists only to consume those who have been consumed by their own greed, gluttony, or lust.

The Night Man is another servant of the Master, who watches the exit to the Hotel. When guests attempt to leave, he calmly informs them that they cannot. If they continue to try, he puts them to sleep, and they awaken in their room. If guests attempt to fight him, he proves to be quite capable in combat, even without using his sleep-inducing abilities. In the event that he is defeated, the doors open only onto Hotel's own interior.

Any guests who are judged by the Master to have been fully consumed by their vice are invited by the Hostess or the Captain to the Master's Chamber for the Feast. When they arrive, they are seated at a table, and informed the Master will be joining them shortly. When the Master arrives, he begins to consume them, while they futilely attempt to defend themselves with whatever is at hand. Once a guest has been consumed by the Master, their soul returns to the courtyard they were summoned from, and they rejoin the dance. Those who have not been eaten dance to remember their former lives, as they dream of escape from the prison that is the Hotel. Those who have been eaten dance now to forget. The only ones who dance in the courtyard are those who have been consumed by vice, and are the only ones ever taken to the Master's Chamber.

If the character's wish to escape, they will have to find a way of freeing themselves from the Master's power. The Master's power over them comes from their own tendency toward sin and vice. As long as they are afflicted by these, and if they partake of any of their vices in the Hotel, they will be unable to leave. They can free themselves by giving up their vices and atoning for their sins, and living as the monks who once dwelt their did. Once they are fully cleansed, they will awaken to find themselves in a burned out monastery where some great evil clearly once ran rampant.

I haven't fully worked the captain or the last stanza of the song into the idea yet, but I'm working on it.

Admiral Squish
2010-10-05, 07:25 AM
That does sound pretty interesting, but if everyone KNOWS that's what this place is about, it seems to me that nobody would really be dancing.

ToySoldierCPlus
2010-10-05, 07:41 AM
Eh, I'm still working on it. The dancers in the courtyard just have a Ghost Dancer in the Cathedral from any Castlevania game feel to them to me.

JeenLeen
2010-10-05, 08:28 AM
I think that the hostess should be another person trapped. Perhaps she is happy with her fate, or even ignorant (through magic or delusion) that anything is strange, or just wants more pretty boys--but she is another prisoner, not the big bad or its servant. She would probably be thought to be such by the PCs, which could be a nice way to spread confusion.




But the catch is this: the whole thing was a trap to hold in this big bad entity. Inside this plane, it believes itself to be one of the guests, and is contained. Over time the magic is weakening... it's just barely starting to realize what's going on, but can't fix things by itself. But stopping the curse will free it, so it's trying to convince the PCs to end the curse, even though it's not fully aware of what's going on. Perhaps it's the guy who actually says the line "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." He's forlorn that he can't get out, but the magic still forces him to accept this. Still, he drops clues...

JaronK

I really like this idea. It's also a way to work it into a larger campaign. I'd make a way to re-establish the seal and escape, though, to have a 'good ending'.

Or go like CoC and make them end badly either way: horror escapes to kill and maim, or the players sacrifice themselves to an eternity of empty pleasure to maintain the seal.

mangosta71
2010-10-05, 12:52 PM
I'm thinking of a Black Company/Underworld blend. The Master/Beast is a slumbering elder vampire. The Hostess is his first thrall, but she is plotting to destroy him and lures adventurers to the re-purposed monastery in the hopes that a group will be able to do the deed for her, which will free her from the curse binding her to the place. The "pretty boys" and dancers are former adventurers who have tried and failed, and were turned by the Hostess herself and are thus loyal to her. The "staff" of the hotel are loyal to the Master.

Each side has double agents, so it's nearly impossible to tell whose side anyone in the hotel is actually on. The two groups are equally matched, which forces a sort of cooperative cold war. The party walks into a powder keg with a short fuse.