Populate a Ravenloft prison

[Keeper of Secrets]

Since Ravenloft always gave me this Twilight Zone/Poetic Justice feel, the warden could be a former prisoner who got his wish wanting to escape, but now he is in the 'prison' of Ravenloft, doomed to run his own prison for the rest of eternity.

 

[Chimera]

I like the idea of the warden being a red herring. I think the dark lord will be a prisoner/trusty who works as the cooks help. The cook is staff, not a prisoner. He can close the borders by having waves bring the party back to the island, sharks attack, winds blow, etc.

Oh, and let me guess. Everyone on the island is addressed by a number, their names forbidden. And this big ball like thing patrols the beaches...

 

[Hand of Evil]

I think I would go the man-in-the-iron-mask as the dark lord, some undead liche, whos kingdom was stolen and now rules the island trying to make the halls of this dungeon into the world he came from but twisted and warpped, filled with crazy prisoners dancing a balls, acting out noble lives.

 

[devilbat]

I think I woul populate the prison with the most psychotic array of Ravenloft degenerates I could come up with. I'd use the janitor, guards, and warden as the red herrings, and I'd have a mad scientist type as the Dark lord.

Anyone remember the scary doctor in Thirteen ghosts? That would be the guy I's use.

 

[Tumbler]

I just received my new dungeon. I'm thinking about adding the meenlock adventure from that to whatever ends up in the prison. Every once in a while, a prisoner disappears to be turned into a meenlock.

So far, for prisoners I have:

An evil scientist achemist type, placed here because he failed to cure a noble's child.

A priest who has been replaced by a doppleganger back home. The PC's know the doppled priest, he doesn't recognize them having never met them.

An ancient swashbuckler, worn down by years of solitude but still helpful in a pinch. I gave him a level of barbarian so he can rage back to a reasonable combat ability once if he needs to go out in a blaze of glory.

Several of the suggestions from posts above. I don't want to go too crazy for them, since I already have an asylum for the weirdos. This is mostly a prison for people who don't belong here or who couldn't be publicly executed.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Wraith Form]

Naturally, you're probably going to want some, um, actual criminals in there, too.
(wink)



(Err, unless the Dark Lord snags only the innocent.)

 

[Zappo]

What about this: the prison is the Dark Lord. The building is possessed by a spirit, or it is an evil entity directly made from living stone, which lives off the life force, fear and anger of the prisoners. Figuring out the truth is going to be a hard job for the PCs, but it is only the beginning.

There's an abyssal prison in the link in my signature. Being in disuse, it doesn't have many prisoners, but you may find something useful.