What would you do if you were an evil, cannibalistic, cthulhu worshippping Hobbit?

[thatdarncat]

I know, it's cheesy, but my PCs will shortly be visiting the village of Bywater, on their way to some ruins.

The village of Bywater is beint terrorized by Goblin raids. Whole families of hobbit villagers have gone missing or been torn apart in their homes after dark. All of this is actually the work of a "Mr. Drogo Underhill" and his three friends, a Gardener (druid), and two unusually large hobbits (fighter/rogues). Mr Underhill recieved an inheritance from his Uncle a few years back, just before his uncle disappeared, most likely off on one of his adventures.

Right. heh.

The "inheritance", besides the usual land and money, was a plain gold ring - a magical (cursed, intelligent) ring of invisibility. The ring is chaotic evil and can use Empathic communication and has a few powers to allow it to corrupt the weilder and those around him. Save for those will probably be the ring's Ego.

I know, I know.

I'm not trying to redo the Lord of the Rings, but I thought this might be fun. I'm not planning on having the whole village be Cthulhu worshippers, but besides the four, there are likely a few others who've fallen in with them. Also, some villagers have been taken without their knowing and been infected with something that turns them into grotesgue monsters.

So here's my challenge to you: What evil, dispicable things would you do?
What has our Druid "Sam" done to his "Rosie"?

 

[Ylis]

Eeeeeeeewww! Icky! The thought of Cthulu-worshipping hobbits makes me squirm!

So, what would I do? I would take my evil ring and be off on adventures to rule the world...eat Elves and Humans and horses and Worgs....drink lots of beer (blood?!), and other hobbity-cthulu things....

 

[NekoAli]

Okay... two words here. Cannibal Halflings.

Seriously, Dark Sun aside, there is a prestige class called Flesheaters I belive that was in Dragon Magazine a year or so ago, by Monte Cook. I could see 'Mr Underhill' inviting his neighbors over one or two at a time for afternoon tea. or early dinner. or late dinner. Serving them a nice meat pie. With 'special ingrediants' that he wouldn't reveal... at first. Eventually you could have a nice little cult there of evil halflings with flesh-eating supernatural powers, while those that refuse are put on the menu and found torn apart. Is there anything worse than jolly, happy, blackhearted cannibal halflings?

 

[NiTessine]

Okay... two words here. Cannibal Halflings.

Seriously, Dark Sun aside, there is a prestige class called Flesheaters I belive that was in Dragon Magazine a year or so ago, by Monte Cook. I could see 'Mr Underhill' inviting his neighbors over one or two at a time for afternoon tea. or early dinner. or late dinner. Serving them a nice meat pie. With 'special ingrediants' that he wouldn't reveal... at first. Eventually you could have a nice little cult there of evil halflings with flesh-eating supernatural powers, while those that refuse are put on the menu and found torn apart. Is there anything worse than jolly, happy, blackhearted cannibal halflings?

It was Dragon #300, incidentally. Curiously enough, Dragon #300 was the one with the sealed "vile section", and the Flesheater is outside said section...

 

[Silvr_Dragon]

Please, just promise me there won't be a crazy little critter seeking the ring.

Maybe some traps though, large pools of boiling water/oil, for cooking anything foolish enough to step into them. I like the Flesheater idea though, but what classes does Mr Underhill have at the moment?

And please, please, please, post your creations, and the results of the encounter.

 

[Emirikol]

How many crazy, cthulhu, cannibal hobbits does it take to change a lightbulb?

One..eventually

 

[WayneLigon]

Oh My God that's a cool idea.

"The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be, not in the spaces we know, but between them. They walk serene and primal, undimensioned, and to us unseen. Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where they shall break through again. ...They walk unseen and foul in lonely places where Words have been spoken and Rites howled through at their Seasons. The wind gibbers with their voices and the earth mutters with their consciousness."

OK, for Mr. Underhill...

The Ring is a manifestation of Yog-Sothoth's will; the circular shape a representation of the 'all-in-one' nature of the deity/alien. When Drogo 'goes invisible' he's actually twisting out of third-dimensional space and ascending to about the twelveth or fifteenth; his essence is so 'scattered' that he seems invisible because light can't interact with him anymore. He sees the landscape as a twisted melange of light and color, as his organic eyes tries to make sense of something that cannot make sense.

This was what drove him crazy in the first place. He has a veneer of civility and jovialness, as do all the people who go to 0 San, but it's just a facade. At night he scampers off into the hills to scream prayers to the nightflying gods, etc.

'Sam' has found that life with 'Rosie' isn't what he thought it would be. When his buddy Drogo drags him to a hilltop and makes him put on The Ring, Sam's mind snaps and he 'realizes' she'd be better off as a plant. So he infects her with a variant of Yellow Musk Creeper and turns her into a plant/zombie. It grows inside her, so it's not really visible, but she's taken to laying in the sun nude, she's been found runing her hands through the dirt, moaning, etc. She's fed her children the yellow musk as well, and they've Turned.

Drogo on the other hand is more than a little fond of his younger cousins Frofo, Marry, and Poppin. At various times, he's slipped the Ring on them and shown them the glory of his new master. Now they didn't retain their minds as much as he did, and they have to be kept on a short leash so to speak, or they go off and do horrible things with no thought of secrecy.

Drogo retains his old fascination with elves, and indeed he likes them even more. Baked into a spiced mince pie.

You might want to rent 'Dagon' and watch that. Have most of the little village in on it. They smile and nod and as soon as the party separates they're on them like pit bulls. They knock them out, herd them into cages, and then start sharpening farm implements.

 

[thatdarncat]

Heh too cool. Wayne, you're eeeevil.

I don't want to have too many in the village in on it - just a few. The four - the ring drove "Frodo" (Drogo) crazy - crazy enough that on the night of his Uncle's eleventy first birthday, while he was drunk, Drogo killed him, then told everyone that his uncle had gone off on another of his adventures. When Drogo tried the ring on the first time, it drove him insane as you described. "Sam", Marry and Poppin went off with Drogo to look for his uncle, who'd been missing for a while at that point. Drogo turned on them one by one and forced the ring on them, driving them insane. When they returned to the village, "Sam" married Rosie, then indeed he "realized" that she'd be better off as a plant. At this point they have two children, Elinor and Drogo, also infected with Yellow Musk.

Marry and Poppin do much the same as they always do - hang around Rosie's inn, drink, and get into trouble. Their trouble now is attacking unwary villagers after dark, raiding homes and stealing/raping/murder. A snack if they get hungry.

Drogo tries to keep them on a short leash, really he does. He tries to channel their enthusiasm into more beneficial past times. Like kidnapping him some new test subjects. After all, dogs and farm animals are no substitute for Hobbits. Oh, and his spiced minced pies are to die for.

Some of Drogo's test subjects are still alive - some don't even know they've been experimented on, or won't until he needs them.

So what stats should I give the new Rosie and her children?

 

[thatdarncat]

Please, just promise me there won't be a crazy little critter seeking the ring.

Only if the PCs have taken the ring and left Drogo alive.

 

[thatdarncat]

a prestige class called Flesheaters I belive that was in Dragon Magazine a year or so ago, by Monte Cook.

I'll dig it out and take a look.