Castlevania

[Dandu]

Have you considered a kitchen with a calzone golem?

 

[xigbar]

Have you considered a kitchen with a calzone golem?

No, but a fang golem would actually make sense, from the discarded carcasses being cooked. And yes, I know that was not intended to be serious.

 

[kitcik]

Have one wing on the negative material plane (on an "island").

Negative Energy Plane

To an observer, there’s little to see on the Negative Energy Plane. It is a dark, empty place, an eternal pit where a traveler can fall until the plane itself steals away all light and life. The Negative Energy Plane is the most hostile of the Inner Planes, and the most uncaring and intolerant of life. Only creatures immune to its life-draining energies can survive there.
The Negative Energy Plane has the following traits.

• Subjective directional gravity.
• Major negative-dominant. Some areas within the plane have only the minor negative-dominant trait, and these islands tend to be inhabited.
• Enhanced magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use negative energy are maximized (as if the Maximize Spell metamagic feat had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots). Spells and spell-like abilities that are already maximized are unaffected by this benefit. Class abilities that use negative energy, such as rebuking and controlling undead, gain a +10 bonus on the roll to determine Hit Dice affected.
• Impeded magic. Spells and spell-like abilities that use positive energy, including cure spells, are impeded. Characters on this plane take a –10 penalty on Fortitude saving throws made to remove negative levels bestowed by an energy drain attack.

 

[xigbar]

Actually, I was thinking of having the boss be on a different plane, with one battle in the throne room, and another one on a different plane. Any monsters that would be climactic enough for it, and be able to utilize the the plane?

 

[Dragonwriter]

Bumping again. No suggestion on different parts of the castle, and how to segway them together reasonably?

Segues, no... but here's some area-based ideas.

But you definitely need dungeons. They can also give way to catacombs. You already mentioned a Clock Tower, which I totally support, and also suggest you put in a giant clock (possibly with a puzzle). A haunted/possessed/otherwise-corrupted chapel could also fit in just fine.

You might benefit from looking into some Ravenloft-style material.

Actually, I was thinking of having the boss be on a different plane, with one battle in the throne room, and another one on a different plane. Any monsters that would be climactic enough for it, and be able to utilize the the plane?

You already mentioned Vampire (to keep with the Castlevania style), but alternatives... Rakshasa Sorcerer/Lich, Nightwalker, regular Lich, Angel of Decay (Libris Mortis), and they would all fit well with a Negative Energy Plane portal.

I suppose I should also ask these questions: What level do you expect the party to be for this game? And, are you going for more Horror (with a touch of action) or Action (with some creepy stuff thrown in)?

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Rooftop battles, Tops of castle turrets, Climbing down walls, along parapets, going through windows to bypass sections of castle. Large bats, gargoyles, other flying creatures. Weather effects, since it'll ALWAYS be dark, stormy and have lightning flashing!

 

[xigbar]

Segues, no... but here's some area-based ideas.

But you definitely need dungeons. They can also give way to catacombs. You already mentioned a Clock Tower, which I totally support, and also suggest you put in a giant clock (possibly with a puzzle). A haunted/possessed/otherwise-corrupted chapel could also fit in just fine.

You might benefit from looking into some Ravenloft-style material.



You already mentioned Vampire (to keep with the Castlevania style), but alternatives... Rakshasa Sorcerer/Lich, Nightwalker, regular Lich, Angel of Decay (Libris Mortis), and they would all fit well with a Negative Energy Plane portal.

I suppose I should also ask these questions: What level do you expect the party to be for this game? And, are you going for more Horror (with a touch of action) or Action (with some creepy stuff thrown in)?

I was thinking the castle would be from level 1-10, in which case a boss would be a final boss would be a CR ahead of that, so a Lich would work nicely. Of course, I'd have to change that in a group of min/maxers, but otherwise, 1-10. Most castle WOULD have some sort of praying area, and this is a giant castle, so a corrupted cathedral fits perfectly. I've heard great thing about Ravenloft.

 

[AdmiralAwesomeness]

Bumping again. No suggestion on different parts of the castle, and how to segway them together reasonably?

For castle sections, check out this guy's blog entry (and the ones that follow it): Raven Crowking's Nest: M is for Megadungeons (Part I). Since Castlevania is basically a megadungeon, the blog entries on building a megadungeon are particularly applicable. Now, I haven't played SOTN, but I have played all the rest of the series' "metroidvania" offerings.

The castle sections strike me more as just cool adventuring locations that generally share a gothic theme than anything resembling verisimilitude. So, I wouldn't sweat reasonable segues between the sections. If I remember Castlevania canon correctly, each time the eponymous castle manifests, the sections of which it is composed and how they are arranged are pretty much random.

As I'm currently playing through the DS games, here are some staples of the series for your consideration:

• Backtracking/Retreading: powers gained, switches toggled, and events unfolded open up previously closed paths in earlier sections. Another form could be resources in earlier sections that become more useful to higher level characters, like a forge or an alchemical lab. Also consider resources that remain useful to characters of all levels, like a massive library, which can beckon them back to previous areas.
• Some kind of teleportation or transportation network between sections
• Recurring NPCs: In the games, they exist to drop plot on you, sell you stuff, or turn into something you can kill. Were I running the game, I'd have recurring NPCs tied to the overall, castle-spanning plot and run the castle as a megadungeon with other, even unrelated plots in the sections themselves.
• Classic Monsters: tons of references to classic monsters, fishmen, wolfmen, the invisible man, Frankenstein's monster, Dracula himself, and many others.
• Classic Castlevania Monsters: There are really too many classic, recurring monsters in the Castlevania series to name. I wouldn't consider it a Castlevania game without at least some of them. If you want to run a Castlevania-inspired game, you could toss in some homages to Castlevania with animated suits of armor, some kind of beholder standing in for peeping eyes, and so forth.
• Platforming: Of all the aspects of Castlevania, I'd be least inclined to include platforming. Instead, I'd probably just try to make good use of vertical space when designing the sections. Plenty of walkways, balconies, chasms, overlapping bridges, pits, stuff like that.

For gothic horror, you wouldn't be remiss to check out whatever Ravenloft material you can get a hold of. Castlevania, though, lacks the same sense of dread that pervades Ravenloft (from the PCs' perspective, at least.) Comparatively, the Castlevania setting doesn't take itself too seriously.

 

[xigbar]

Thanks, that's an awesome (no pun intended) link!

 

[DM Howard]

Unless it has already been suggested, looking at some Ravenloft stuff might give you some great ideas/inspiration.