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View Full Version : DM Help Audio and visual props for: City of sin & Demonic negoatiations!



Kol Korran
2015-06-21, 08:36 AM
Hey folks! In the next D&D session, the party will most likely experience two special settings/ scenes, which I'd like to enhance with some audio tracks, and for one scene, with some images. I'd love to hear some ideas, inspiration and such from the playgrounders!

City of Sin!
The party will enter a specific realm of the abyss itself called The Midnight Isles, and within it the major trade city of the Abyss- The Porphyry city. The place is quite huge, and serves mostly as a commerce, entertainment and debauchery center. Some key features to get the idea:
- It is massive, about 6,500,000 inhabitants, about 85% of them demons of various kinds, with the rest being mostly Outsiders of various other realms (Though most likely no Good entities).
- Basically, you're supposed to be able to buy ANYTHING there, and the place caters fro magic items, sensual experiences, information and so on... "If we don't have it, we will find someone who does!" sort of thing.
- The place caters for every sin, desire, temptation, want, craving and so on, with an emphasis on the sensual side (Part of the place gazetter says "you can find an inn on every street, but finding one that isn't also a brothel is impossible)
- As a city composed mostly of creatures who are inherently evil, the "ethics/ morals" of the place are very loose to non existent. This also makes the place very volatile, shifting, chaotic to the extreme, though ruled by some very powerful beings to avoid total collapse. Still, the presence of real danger is always imminent. Also, slavery, gladiatorial battles to the death, torture for sport and such are all very common place and accepted.
- A special feature is that the city is under the rule of the Queen of the Succubi (More on that later) which has given the succubi a special place in the city, and they hold many key and authority positions (Usually a fair bit more capable than the regular succubus). Most of the powerful NPCs described here are of such a persuasion.

What am I looking for? For two things:
- Music! I want music to accompany this place, give it it's own feel, enhance the experience, make the party feel the demons, feel the lust, gluttony, indulgence and despair around them, feel the danger, feel the city of sin! I'm looking for quite a few tracks which I can change. The party will be spending here a good portion of the session most probably.
- Sights of the city: Sort of mini "flavor" encounters, where the party sees, hears, smells, tastes, experience and so on the special experiences the city has to offer- a chance encounter on the street, a special "sell" a merchant pushes on them, maybe a bit of a moral conundrum and so on. I'm looking for flavor encounters to make the city more alive to the players.

Demonic negotiations:
The reason the party is here, is to negotiate with the demon lord of this realm- The first Succubus who has risen through cunning, betrayel, and a LOT of assassinations to this position of power, where she is a being that partially embodies the concept of darkness, lust and assassination, but in herself is quite a lot more complex, deep, and profound. They will negotiate with her in her palace, which can change shape (As does she) with the speed of her thought. They negotiate against other demonic agencies for some favor. (Matters less here).

What am I looking for here?
- Again music! I would like to give a special ambiance to the negotiations. The demon lord is not just a hyper cliched succubus of lust, but a being far more distinct and unique. I imagine her as both displaying to some extent the main aspects of her portfolio, but also something else- a feeling of grandeur, power, and yet subtlety, simplicity, wisdom, patience, and inscrutability. I want her to feel like an enigma. A dangerous enigma, a tempting enigma, a confident and capable enigma, that can quickly change, but in her core- enigma.

I'm looking for different kinds of music for the negoatiations, which reflect the mood and situation she wishes to display, be it real, or something she just wishes to project. Things to put the party on edge, but be subtle enough. A feeling of hospitality, eloquence, gravity yet with a personal touch, and a very real sense of danger beneath it, though subtle. (I hope all of this makes sense.

It's fairly crucial that this will feel like a meeting with a being of a different scale altogether. While the City of Sin may feel quite a bit more "evil cliche", The demon lord who rules it needs to feel... different.

One simple idea, which I'm not sure where to use it yet, is Some of the scores from Enigma (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL5MM4-omks) I'd love some more ideas.

- Images! The module I use have images of her, but they are basically "ultra sexed up succubus", which I feel may be one of the images she may present, but I imagine her as changing shapes quite often, to various images of both sensuality, power, simplicity and so on. I'd like to have a few images that give a sense of... a divine being. It can either be an image of an actor or character, from a movie or show. They need to look real enough (we don't go for Anime or Magna, sorry).

If you happen to know the Sandman comic, an idea I liked is Desire- a being that is androgynous in appearance, attractive and appealing yet not in a conventional way, appealing yet far, and sophisticated. And immensely self confident.

It's important to note that the Queen has no reason to try and impress the party or the other negotiatiors. She is quite comfortable in herself, and in the position of power. She is more interested in testing and exploring these new comers, and what they have to offer.

As a sort of example (Please no need to be confined by it) Is Tilda Swinton (https://www.google.co.il/search?q=tilda+swinton&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=a7yGVce_Ne607Qbi0r_wDA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1081&bih=909). Perhaps in her role of Gabriel from Contantine (https://www.google.co.il/search?q=tilda+swinton&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=a7yGVce_Ne607Qbi0r_wDA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1081&bih=909#tbm=isch&q=tilda+swinton+gabriel). I may have used that but one of my players used those images for a character of his in a previous campaign. :smalltongue: I'm looking more for images of beauty, confidence, power, elegance, maturity, gravity and wisdom, more than just a "Sexy vixen". (Thoguh some such images may come to play as well, for the more inclined characters, but the thread is not about that).

I would love to hear some ideas! Thanks in advance,
Kol. :smallamused:

TheCountAlucard
2015-06-21, 09:50 PM
First off: it sounds like you have a cool session planned! :smallsmile:

Second:


- It is massive, about 6,500,000 inhabitants, about 85% of them demons of various kinds, with the rest being mostly Outsiders of various other realms (Though most likely no Good entities).At least not willing ones - are there slaves in the city?

One idea I immediately imagined was some sort of good-aligned entity, chained or caged and in the grasp of a powerful figure - one more horrible idea is that this angel (metaphorical or literal) is being tortured, both by the demon who holds him, and possibly by paying customers (after all, some sadistic demon is bound to enjoy that). If you really want to go dark with it, the demon can make the angel regenerate with magic (possibly even via a ring of regeneration), and the demon makes a tidy profit selling things like angel hands, feet, wings, et cetera.


- As a city composed mostly of creatures who are inherently evil, the "ethics/ morals" of the place are very loose to non existent. This also makes the place very volatile, shifting, chaotic to the extreme, though ruled by some very powerful beings to avoid total collapse. Still, the presence of real danger is always imminent. Also, slavery, gladiatorial battles to the death, torture for sport and such are all very common place and accepted.If you want to reinforce this theme, I'd think it'd drive the point home if perhaps a merchant-prince or some other VIP is stuck in traffic at some point and orders the squad of demonic mercenaries at his beck and call to just kill people blocking his path. That'll clear the way pretty fast; bonus points if this occurs when the PCs are in his way. :smallamused:




- Sights of the city: Sort of mini "flavor" encounters, where the party sees, hears, smells, tastes, experience and so on the special experiences the city has to offer- a chance encounter on the street, a special "sell" a merchant pushes on them, maybe a bit of a moral conundrum and so on. I'm looking for flavor encounters to make the city more alive to the players.Some more ideas:
- A number of "thug" demons wrecking up a shop the PCs intended to visit for not paying for protection.
- A demonic "dealer" type is selling crystals to his repeat customers for an exorbitant price, but lets newcomers "sample" them for free; touching the crystal to one's forehead exposes one to the brief memories contained inside. The memories therein are so intense that this mere exposure is akin to hard drugs. Some of his rarest and most powerful "dreamstones" are so potent that they partially overwrite the mind of the "dreamer" experiencing the memories.
- The PCs receive tickets to a musical performance from an up-and-coming starlet; the instrument she plays is a strange organ calibrated to torture people hooked up to its horrible machinery such that the scream they produce is the note intended by the performer.
- One day the inn the PCs are staying at has every room but theirs booked solid with demonic clowns. Is the circus in town? No. The next day, everything seems back to "normal." If pressed, the innkeeper explains that "That's just Clown Day."


I would like to give a special ambiance to the negotiations. The demon lord is not just a hyper cliched succubus of lust, but a being far more distinct and unique.Weird as it sounds, I'm thinking a medley would be appropriate for her; a good medley has a way of transitioning smoothly from piece to piece without the breaks experienced by playing songs back to back. It feels very appropriate to me, for such a mercurial character. That said, I'm having difficulty thinking of a medley that'd have all these complex themes in them without you making it yourself. :smallsigh:

Kol Korran
2015-06-22, 11:11 AM
First off: it sounds like you have a cool session planned! :smallsmile:

Second:

At least not willing ones - are there slaves in the city?

One idea I immediately imagined was some sort of good-aligned entity, chained or caged and in the grasp of a powerful figure - one more horrible idea is that this angel (metaphorical or literal) is being tortured, both by the demon who holds him, and possibly by paying customers (after all, some sadistic demon is bound to enjoy that). If you really want to go dark with it, the demon can make the angel regenerate with magic (possibly even via a ring of regeneration), and the demon makes a tidy profit selling things like angel hands, feet, wings, et cetera.
Part of the other citizens are free willed, but quite a few are slaves indeed. In fact, an important section of the city is called "The Flesh Market", where various "catch" of the planes are put on display, for all manner of uses and desires. Lots of slaves of all sorts.

I like the idea of the chained and abused good entity. Might cause some intriguing moral dillema.


If you want to reinforce this theme, I'd think it'd drive the point home if perhaps a merchant-prince or some other VIP is stuck in traffic at some point and orders the squad of demonic mercenaries at his beck and call to just kill people blocking his path. That'll clear the way pretty fast; bonus points if this occurs when the PCs are in his way. :smallamused:
I like it! Gonna steal it!


Some more ideas:
- A number of "thug" demons wrecking up a shop the PCs intended to visit for not paying for protection.
- A demonic "dealer" type is selling crystals to his repeat customers for an exorbitant price, but lets newcomers "sample" them for free; touching the crystal to one's forehead exposes one to the brief memories contained inside. The memories therein are so intense that this mere exposure is akin to hard drugs. Some of his rarest and most powerful "dreamstones" are so potent that they partially overwrite the mind of the "dreamer" experiencing the memories.
- The PCs receive tickets to a musical performance from an up-and-coming starlet; the instrument she plays is a strange organ calibrated to torture people hooked up to its horrible machinery such that the scream they produce is the note intended by the performer.
I like the ideas! Any merchants in this city are going to be well protected somehow, but I'll see. I love the idea of the Dreamstones. There is a very similar idea in Planescape Torment- sensation stones (or something of the like), that capture an individual unique and potent experience. In SR there are BTL chips ("Better than life") that basically do the same, but the manufacutres of such chips often go to great lengths to... produce... such extreme experiences and record them. I wonder how far demons will go, eh? The musical organ might be a cool thematic idea. I'll see how to work it in.

- One day the inn the PCs are staying at has every room but theirs booked solid with demonic clowns. Is the circus in town? No. The next day, everything seems back to "normal." If pressed, the innkeeper explains that "That's just Clown Day." Um.. .what? :smallconfused: I got confused...


Weird as it sounds, I'm thinking a medley would be appropriate for her; a good medley has a way of transitioning smoothly from piece to piece without the breaks experienced by playing songs back to back. It feels very appropriate to me, for such a mercurial character. That said, I'm having difficulty thinking of a medley that'd have all these complex themes in them without you making it yourself. :smallsigh:
What is a medley? A sort of melody? Also, feel free to suggest stuff, you never know what might work. I know very well I may not be able to get the exact feel I'm aiming at, but something close enough or that captures part of the experience I wish to portray would be cool... :smallamused:

Thanks a lot! and sorry for the somewhat late response. I can't check the forum often enough. RL and all of that... :smalltongue:

TheCountAlucard
2015-06-22, 11:19 AM
Here's an example of a medley. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mghhLqu31cQ) (Not the one I'd use for her, obviously, but note the way it takes several pieces and blends them into a sort of coherent theme, transitioning smoothly between songs via bridging the gaps.)

Kol Korran
2015-06-27, 08:09 AM
(Damn work and such stuff for preventing me from my hobbies! *Shaking angry fist at the powers that be!* :smalltongue:)

So... that's medley? Interesting. Yeah, I can see how such a composition could work nicely for longer scenes, and give complementary influences. Cool! A quick search didn't yet find a medley to fit the mood I'd like to create, but I'll look further...

Thanks a lot!:smallamused:

dream
2015-06-27, 10:26 AM
Kol, you've got some brilliant ideas there!

If you want a dark, foreboding feel for negotiations, try Watch the World Burn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8m8PtgNSuA), The Shadows Betray You (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnABKPOxvd0&index=10&list=RD2Ga5fOI10sU), Geddes/Weaver (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL99_EfV0n0), Barzoon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdD-Za84Pqk), Sorrow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMLeNe9vUcM), or In Exile (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T3gk6Yf-C0).

Lisa Gerrard is awesome. Zimmer is great, as is John Newton Howard.

Image-wise, I like Eva Green (https://www.google.com/search?q=eva+green+sin+city&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=685&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=rryOVc7xOIiLyASmiIL4BA&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#tbm=isch&q=eva+green+kingdom+of+heaven+gif). Those eyes :smallbiggrin: