Friday, August 21, 2009

Dracula, use or not?

So, I have an adventure idea that is just jelling and it might be my next Gen Con adventure.

But here is my question to you all.

Is Dracula too overused to be a credible threat anymore?

I want to use him in a Ghosts of Albion game, set in Transylvania around 1850 or so. So sometime before he meets up with Harker and the events of "Dracula".

It could be that this encounter is what has prompted his move to England.

Looking for input.

Thanks!

8 comments:

Bonemaster said...

Like all things, if you have a fresh take on things, than no it's not going to be overused.

Of course, it all sort of depends on the players expectations.

BlUsKrEEm said...
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BlUsKrEEm said...

I've used Dracula as a reoccurring villain in Marvel universe RPG, and in a Buffy game. Since every player knows Drac they expect Dracula to be out of their league. I'd say Dracula can be a legitimate threat but best used as in indirect encounters, and social threatening.

satyre said...

I used Dracula in a couple of oWoD games and a Cyberpunk game and found he's effective as the remote villain with proxies and pawns and time on his side.

Dracula has a plethora of allies and it's easy to take advantage of them; gypsies, madmen and animals as well as unusual phenomena.

A breadcrumb trail leading to some functionary or a nest of lesser vampires will be quite diverting and a locket with his picture can give PCs a sense of reward...

Tim Snider said...
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Tim Snider said...

Sorry for the edit. I personally feel Dracula has been so overused that he's lost his bite. (heh) He's become a cliche. How about having the original Vlad the Impaler? "Dracula" could just be the fictional watered-down character based on the original, very real, very dangerous threat.

Tim Knight said...

Or possibly - because it's Transylvania - everyone will be "expecting" Dracula, and you could even give clues to that effect, but the Big Bad turns out to be someone totally different.

You could even have them meet Renfield - as a bit of a red herring!

Timothy S. Brannan said...

These are some very cool ideas, thank you all for sharing.

You have certainly given me a lot to think about!

Tim