Creamsteak
Explorer
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Help me develop a quest to stop a serial killer!
Barendd Nobeard
Explorer
creamsteak said:
Actually, a lot of serial killers have to gain the victim's trust first. Skills that might be needed are Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Innuendo, Intimidate (especially Bluff and Intimidate). Stuff that allows him to study people (victims), and gain their confidence (trust).
Why does he have Concentrate if he's not a spell caster? I know there are other uses for that skill, but I don't see it helpingi him a lot in his "activities." Knowledge (Nature) also seems out of place, and I gotta ask: What's his Profession? Manson Fan Club President?
I like most of the other ones you've listed (given the character you're trying to create).
I'm not sure someone who "kills anyone who turns their back to him" really fits the classic (American) serial killer, though. Someone who killed so openly (if I take your statement literally) would become known quite quickly as a thug (at best) and a psycho serial killer (at worst), because with such a modus operandi there would be a lot of witnesses.
[edit - fix typo]
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Maerdwyn
First Post
Some ranks in disguise, and possibly perform (to act as other than a simple commoner) would be invaluable. I second the recommendations for bluff, etc. listed by Barendd.
Also, consider that your killer doesn't necessarily have to be evil - insane or tragically deluded work just as well, and are perhaps creepier.
For example, a killer who simply hates everyone, and kills for the sheer pleasure of it is evil, and perhaps a formidable opponent, but uncomplicated, and likely easy to bait.
However, an insane killer might only appear to hate everybody, when in fact there is a very reasonable justification for his actions (at least in his mind) which the authorities never picked up on. Better yet, they ascribe the wrong "serial killer-esque" motive to him (and inform the pcs of that incorrect motive).
Consider, for example, a commoner who wants to be a paladin, and hears a voice telling him that certain people are fiends in disguise. He KNOWS that it's true, and he HAS to kill them before they do any damage. He also KNOWS he was CHOSEN by his god to do this, because that is the ONLY way his non-magical weapons could possibly have killed all these fiends. He CAN't tell anyone why he's done what he's done, because they might be fiends, too, and the risk of letting the fiends know he knows about them is too great. So what if they tortured him in a vain attempt to find out where the rest of the fiend's corpses lie? So what if he's been locked away for all this time? A paladin made to suffer for his good deeds is only made stronger by the suffering, and in seeing who fights and imprisons him, he discovers the identities of more fiends....
In his mind, that character is Lawful Good. He's just wrong in his perception of a few things. Alternatively, you could even make him correct in his perception: Add minor demon who repeatedly appears to the character as a Celestial being(Even as the character's god), telling him that he will be made a paladin if he can pass these tests, and destroys the fiends infesting the city.
Such a scenario also has the advantage that the victims he chooses after his escape will be different than those he targeted before his capture. (Before his incarceration, the paladin-to-be thought that wearing a silver ring was the mark of being a fiend. The authrorites notices that all his victims shared this characteristic, and thought that was the end of it. But the magistrate who threw him in jail wasn't wearing a ring, and HE was DEFINTELY a fiend, so now the killer has to accept that his criteria for recognizing fiends just wasn't broad enough...)
This scenario also explains why someone with such incredible stats is still a commoner - until he's accepted as a paladin, no other training is good enough for him.
Anyway, FWIW
Ian
Also, consider that your killer doesn't necessarily have to be evil - insane or tragically deluded work just as well, and are perhaps creepier.
For example, a killer who simply hates everyone, and kills for the sheer pleasure of it is evil, and perhaps a formidable opponent, but uncomplicated, and likely easy to bait.
However, an insane killer might only appear to hate everybody, when in fact there is a very reasonable justification for his actions (at least in his mind) which the authorities never picked up on. Better yet, they ascribe the wrong "serial killer-esque" motive to him (and inform the pcs of that incorrect motive).
Consider, for example, a commoner who wants to be a paladin, and hears a voice telling him that certain people are fiends in disguise. He KNOWS that it's true, and he HAS to kill them before they do any damage. He also KNOWS he was CHOSEN by his god to do this, because that is the ONLY way his non-magical weapons could possibly have killed all these fiends. He CAN't tell anyone why he's done what he's done, because they might be fiends, too, and the risk of letting the fiends know he knows about them is too great. So what if they tortured him in a vain attempt to find out where the rest of the fiend's corpses lie? So what if he's been locked away for all this time? A paladin made to suffer for his good deeds is only made stronger by the suffering, and in seeing who fights and imprisons him, he discovers the identities of more fiends....
In his mind, that character is Lawful Good. He's just wrong in his perception of a few things. Alternatively, you could even make him correct in his perception: Add minor demon who repeatedly appears to the character as a Celestial being(Even as the character's god), telling him that he will be made a paladin if he can pass these tests, and destroys the fiends infesting the city.
Such a scenario also has the advantage that the victims he chooses after his escape will be different than those he targeted before his capture. (Before his incarceration, the paladin-to-be thought that wearing a silver ring was the mark of being a fiend. The authrorites notices that all his victims shared this characteristic, and thought that was the end of it. But the magistrate who threw him in jail wasn't wearing a ring, and HE was DEFINTELY a fiend, so now the killer has to accept that his criteria for recognizing fiends just wasn't broad enough...)
This scenario also explains why someone with such incredible stats is still a commoner - until he's accepted as a paladin, no other training is good enough for him.
Anyway, FWIW
Ian
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Barendd Nobeard
Explorer
Maerdwyn said:
And once some religious order does agree to train him, I'm sure he will notice how the religious order does everything wrong - and must be exterminated to preserve the deity's "true" message for the masses!
eXodus
Explorer
i have read far too much on the subject of serial killers in my day.
and the way you are painting this guy he seems more like a sociopath than anything.
if you want to make him truly chilling and evil, make him a predator of children. that is the deepest evil i can imagine.
but.
in a world where there are demons, devils, and violent gods, where does a modern day serial killer fit in?
i would almost prefer to see this individual be harboring a demon, devil or other evil entity. as whatever that breeds these predators in our own society just do not seem to mesh well with what is evil in a d&d game.
but.
then again it is 2:00am and i am suffering from a serious lack of sleep.
and the way you are painting this guy he seems more like a sociopath than anything.
if you want to make him truly chilling and evil, make him a predator of children. that is the deepest evil i can imagine.
but.
in a world where there are demons, devils, and violent gods, where does a modern day serial killer fit in?
i would almost prefer to see this individual be harboring a demon, devil or other evil entity. as whatever that breeds these predators in our own society just do not seem to mesh well with what is evil in a d&d game.
but.
then again it is 2:00am and i am suffering from a serious lack of sleep.
William Ronald
Explorer
An idea for your serial killer
Creamsteak:
Here is an idea for you.
What if the killer has a split personality. One who is normal and one who is the killer. When the normal personality is in charge, the killer will likely register as non-evil by detection spells. However, when the killer personality is in charge, EVIL is detected.
Working off of eXodus' suggestion, you might want to say an encounter with a devil or other horrific creature drove him insane. Indeed, he may be an unwitting tool of a dark power. Possibly he was driven mad to destabilize his community while the fiends have a free hand to work on other things.
Also, go the IR thread over at the In Character. I have given you a few countries, as has Edena of Neith. The thread is at http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4101&perpage=15&pagenumber=1. Also, I e-mailed you at creamsteak@hotmail.com about the IR thread. Did you receive my mail?
Creamsteak:
Here is an idea for you.
What if the killer has a split personality. One who is normal and one who is the killer. When the normal personality is in charge, the killer will likely register as non-evil by detection spells. However, when the killer personality is in charge, EVIL is detected.
Working off of eXodus' suggestion, you might want to say an encounter with a devil or other horrific creature drove him insane. Indeed, he may be an unwitting tool of a dark power. Possibly he was driven mad to destabilize his community while the fiends have a free hand to work on other things.
Also, go the IR thread over at the In Character. I have given you a few countries, as has Edena of Neith. The thread is at http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4101&perpage=15&pagenumber=1. Also, I e-mailed you at creamsteak@hotmail.com about the IR thread. Did you receive my mail?
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Creamsteak
Explorer
Definitely agree with most of you here... thanx for the help...
Its good you know stuff, cause I dunt...
Its good you know stuff, cause I dunt...
