[4e] Castlevania Campaign?

[Starsinger]

A while back a friend of mine requested a Castlevania 4e campaign, and it wasn't until I had an interesting dream this morning that I put any thought into it. And now I come to you all, seeking input in any way. Tips? Suggestions? Reasons why this is a bad idea?

[DiscipleofBob]

I think it could work, I had a similar concept for a campaign.

Essentially, it'd probably be one giant dungeon with several possible "rest" stops. Have some sort of plot that would keep the BBEG from actively pursuing the hero(s) and have him instead use the minions, puzzles, and complex levels of the dungeon to stall the hero(s) from reaching his lair until whatever plans he has are complete.

[CharPixie]

It seems quite workable. The default flavouring (seasoning?) of 4e seems to support a gothic horror setting, which is basically a castlevania campaign. Add in a Belmont, a magical whip that does radiant damage, and figure out what options you want (guns? PC vampires -- homebrew a vamp race?), and figure out where death fits in (no campaign would be complete without a hard fight against death himself!).

Just avoid the giant dinosaurs.

Make sure you get the iconic foes: zombie minions, skeletons (bloody, bone chucking, etc), skull turret, bats, medusa heads, axe armours. Get most of those in there, make sure every magic weapon has a name and a vaguely real-world influenced history (steal from castlevania itself for the names), and add it boomerang crosses, holy water, and throwing axes... it could work quite well. Plenty of source material for gothic horror, so you don't need to use dracula if you don't want to.

[KillianHawkeye]

Just avoid the giant dinosaurs.

I realize it's been a while since I've played a Castlevania game, but giant dinosaurs? Really? Please tell me you're joking.

[Lord_Ventnor]

The Whip Weapon was given stats in the Gladiator Dragon article a while back, although a Spiked Chain might work just as well. Vampire Killer would probably be some kind of artifact weapon, methinks (or not).

[CharPixie]

One of the later bosses in Dawn of Sorrow is a T-Rex. A T-Rex who fills half the screen and is impossible to avoid. I stopped playing Dawn of Sorrow after that, despite enjoying it up to that point, because of that T-Rex.

F-16 notwithstanding.

[Jothki]

The neverending swarms of Medusa heads might be interesting to have in a D&D game. Just have them travel in a straight line, and only attack when they pass through a player's space.

[LiteYear]

That would probably be better as a room trap. Every turn you're in the room, it makes an attack; a hit immobilizes until end of next turn.