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Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel


AlHazred

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It seemed to work well for Richard Logue in the Star Hero forums, and I've seen it work in RPG.net, so why not here? We're at least as creative as those guys!

 

Anyway, the idea is, imagine a hotel stocked with weird characters. They should be strange in a Twin Peaks/X-Files kind of way - they can be possibly vaguely slightly mystical (but it should never be obviously magic), or they could be vaguely slightly high-tech (in a conspiracy sort of easily-mistaken-for-something-else way), or whatever you like. The only requirement should be that they are weird characters easily captured in a few sentences. You don't have to give them names - giving them titles such as, er, Cat Piss Man or Dog Blood Man makes it easier to put them in any other game.

 

Anyway, I will rep whoever posts a character, since I always love to see how creative people get on here.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Howabout:

 

No Biological Needs Guy

 

Nondescript, neatly but not expensively dressed man, always appears recently groomed. Never seen to eat, drink, smoke, etc. Listening for sounds in his room will never hear the water running, toilet flushing, etc. Bed is always still made, though might have indication of someone sitting on it or placing items such as a suitcase on it, but it never looks slept in or on. If people rifle through his hotel records, there are no restaurant or room service charges (or, if you want to throw a small loop in - one charge for club soda - he used it to get out a stain). If someone blows smoke in his face, he will not cough, or even blink more than normal.

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Let Me Check Lady

 

Thin older woman (70's+?) with large glasses and a small dog (like a tiny poodle) that she carries around. Whenever asked a question, will glance at the dog before answering. In her room, she normally does not carry the dog, but will still glance at the dog before answering. If she cannot see the dog (mean PC's hide it, for example) she will apparently unerringly glance in whatever direction the dog is in, even if she had no way of knowing. If she cannot see the dog she is more agitated than normal.

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Seen It All Before Guy

 

Lounges around not doing anything but no matter what is going on, he's seen it all before. He'll tell you about it if you let him. Of course the PC's wont. Which is to bad, because if they would just listen to his story, it would give them good clues into whatever is currently going on.

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Rape Man

This chap is in his mid 30's or perhaps mid 40's. He stands about six foot tall with sloping shoulders, is big boned and weighs around 200 pounds. His hair is dark and greasy, unkempt just-beyond-collar length and with a liberal sprinkling of dandruff. His skin is sallow and greasy. It's hard to tell his real age - he sports a full beard, stained teeth and fingers (nicotine), is quite overweight, and wears grossly unfashionable, smelly, stained clothing - usually the same dark coloured nylon / poly non-iron slacks, white (now grey) threadbare shirt with armpit sweat-rings, scuffed black brogues and a shapeless suit jacket with almost-worn-through elbows. He also wears 50's style US Army issue black plastic-framed glasses to correct myopia. He smokes constantly and smells equally of cigarettes and rancid body odour. The cleaning staff (all female) will not clean his room and they do not like talking with him for too long.

 

Rape Man is a huge fan of SF, fantasy and alternative / cult media encompassing film, TV, literature and computers. He is highly intelligent but emotionally (not socially) stunted. He's never had a girlfriend and he probably never will. He lives in his hotel room permanently having been forced out of the parental home by his parents when he reached his 30th birthday. The floor of the hotel room is buried under 36 inches of mixed discarded fungus-infested fast-food packaging, cigarette packs / butts and heavily soiled socks and underwear. Flat surfaces feature overflowing ashtrays and literally thousands of piled-up CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, VHS tapes etc etc. The bathroom is a horror of mould, unidentifiable stains and all-too-identifiable stains.

 

Rape Man has a significant media collection and and a hefty broadband / computer / audio / home cinema setup. These are the tools of his obsession with 'collecting' girls. His porn collection would make Larry Flynt stand up and have a coronary, his anime and manga collection is prodigious and he has taken a lot of time to make his own 'smorgasbord' home videos and photo-quality pictures from his media collection. He has incredible knowledge of women - any remotely good-looking female even slightly in the public eye will be found fully indexed and dissected (virtually) by this man. He is, however, pathologically hopeless at filing anything that doesn't fall into his areas of obsession.

 

Rape Man is financially 'almost comfortable', using his sporadic talents to freelance as a computer systems consultant / web designer. He owns his own aged, battered, similarly disgusting station wagon. He pays his room rent in advance and the management leave him be as long as he keeps his AV system turned low enough that the constant moaning and cheesy soundtracks don't disturb the neighbours too much.

 

Rape Man has never had a criminal record beyond unpaid parking tickets. He does not own firearms or indulge in extra-legal activities... yet :ugly:

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The Faker

 

This person seems to fit in fine with the other inmates....er "guests"....of the hotel, but unlike some of the other obvious loons they just apear to be odd in a subtle, unspecifiable way.

 

In reality they are actually a relatively normal person, hiding out among the freaks. What are they hiding from exactly? The kind of people that would search high and low, but never think to look for them in such a dive -- white collar criminals perhaps.

 

While avoiding notice, they are secretly working on a plan to get revenge on the enemies they hide from. In the meantime, they suspect the PC's of being hitmen hired to find them and might take appropriate action.

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The All-Seeing Blind Guy

 

An elderly black man with a short white beard and rheumy eyes, he's usually found in the lobby, chatting up other hotel denizens (especially incoming guests) with an unsettling mixture of bizarre non-sequiturs and astonishingly insightful comments. He's sometimes found in other common areas of the hotel, at virtually any hour of the day or night. He has a room that he diligently pays for every week, but housekeeping has long since stopped bothering to go in daily, since nothing is ever in need of cleaning, the bed never appears slept in, and so on. They just go in to dust and air the room out once a week or so. He often seems to doze in his favorite chair in the lobby, but it's almost impossible to tell when he's really asleep and when he's just listening. His eyes and his manner -- not quite looking anyone directly in the eye -- certainly seem to indicate that he's really blind, but he uses no navigating cane, and never seems to bump into anything or anyone (unless he wants to). Maybe he's just memorized where everything is...

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Ornery Old Coot

 

A sixty year-old man in a wheelchair. He's bald as an egg and though confined to a wheelchair it is obvious that he was very tall. He is surly and uncommunicative, apparently feeling that life has served him badly. His suite in the hotel is filled with photographs, posters, albums (actual LPs!) and other memorabilia of the Summer of Love (the 60s), including pictures of the old man as a long-haired, wispy-bearded hippie (he's the very tall one).

 

The rooms also include a stuffed Great Dane wearing a collar with the name "Scooby Doo" engraved on it.

 

Tough Old Broad

The only exceptions to the old man's surly behavior are the visits from a short, stocky woman--also in her sixties--who occasionally visits. Her name is Velma. She wears thick eyeglasses, has short white hair, and speaks with the raspy voice of a lifelong chainsmoker (think Lucille Ball). Her skin is leathery, her nose has obviously been broken many times, and on the rare occasions when her arms or legs aren't covered, scars of every kind are visible--cuts, bullet scars, bite and claw wounds, burns, etc.

 

She and the surly old man often reminisce about their youthful adventures, and about a woman named Daphney, who apparently died decades ago, and about Fred, who still mourns her. Oddly, when the old woman isn't around, the surly old coot occasionally drops a hint that Daphney isn't dead, but that he doesn't want Velma to find out because she would react...badly.

 

Yes, it's Shaggy and Velma in their golden years. Velma's been living the life of the Slayer, pretty much. She's leathery and dried up because she's spent decades drinking, smoking and carousing like there would be no tomorrow because she figured there wouldn't be. Who knew she'd still be alive and kicking *** at her age? Shaggy isn't nearly as worn out...but that didn't save him from at least one serious injury, obviously. Daphney's not dead...probably. She might even be living in the basement of Fred's large home, coming out only at night if you get my drift. Fred's getting on in years, though he still wears ascots (think George Hamilton). One day soon, it may be time for him to join Daphney in her "fate worse than death." Unless Velma find outs and takes it upon herself to save her.

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The Clatterer

 

Just before dusk, shrieking brakes are heard in the parking lot. A youngish man, with wild hair and generally unkempt clothing, runs into the lobby, hastily arranges for whatever room the clerk has available, and flees into it, carrying two nondescript suitcases that clunk and jingle suggestively. As soon as he gets into his room, the shuts and locks the door, and moving furniture can be heard as he apparently stacks it up to block the entry.

 

Throughout the night, all sorts of strange sounds emerge from the room. Clacking noises almost like railroad noise, strange whistles and hums like a radio, electrical discharges, sizzles, and pops... Calls from the front desk to turn down the noise result in hasty assurances in a panicky voice and, at best, temporary abatement of the noise. (Psychic/mystic PCs get only a fuzzy "static" and a sense of barely-constrained panic.) By morning, the noise is at an all-time peak. Whether the PCs barge in themselves or get the hotel staff to do so is irrelevant.

 

As soon as an entrance is forced (it must be forced due to the fact that all available furniture except the bed has been stacked in front of the door) the noise stops abruptly. The room will be found to be empty except for the two suitcases, sitting open on the bed. The inside of one case has been thoroughly charred, as if a fire was started inside it, yet the smoke alarm never went off. The other seems to have a slight coating of glitter inside, which seems to be suspended in some sort of mildly-acidic slime.

 

Of the man, there is no sign. Nor does anyone fitting his description exist inside any current database. His description does match a missing person case from 1968; that case was marked as "Inconclusive" and closed more than twenty years ago...

 

And his car? If anyone bothers to check, they find a double set of skidmarks in the parking lot, but there is no sign of any car that might have dropped him off. Local traffic cameras or parking lot monitors show a brief period of puzzling blank tape right around the time he came in...

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Little Annie.

She is a blond, blue-eyed, cute as a button, 6 year old girl.

She lives in the Hotel with her Mother.

But there isn't anyone in the hotel who can ever remember seeing her Mother.

She is very smart and seems to know all about the adult world, which is rather unnerving.

She is never shocked or surprised by anything.

If you knock on the door of her room, she will say:

"Mommy is resting."

or

"Mommy is busy."

 

But she will never let anyone in, and there is a really heavy chain on the door, so pushing past her is not an option.

 

She seems to run all the errands for her Mother.

 

You can see her bringing in groceries.

 

Paying the hotel bill.

 

Playing cards with the adults in the lounge.

 

You just never see her Mother.

 

Is her Mother dead?

 

Did Annie kill her?

 

Is her Mother some undead horror?

 

Is Annie actually the woman who originally rented the room, returned to her youth by:

Black Magic?

Vampirism?

Futuristic Technology gone awry?

 

Is Annie some type of Monster?

 

Automaton?

 

Evil Living Doll?

 

A few disturbing things about Annie:

She always looks exactly the same.

Same clothes, same hair.

(How does she wash them? Who cuts her hair?)

Never a cut, a bruise, a smudge.

And she doesn't seem to have grown an inch since . . .

How long has she been living here anyway?

 

KA.

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Where is the family?

 

This guy is always seen in the lobby, checking for messages for him or his faimly. he refers to his wife and kids, but they are never seen. Often, at night, he can be seen carrying small trashbags, very saggy, perhaps even soggy, down to the hotels incinerator. Whatever he is throwing out, little bits at a time, he is very gaurded about.

 

And no one ever actually sees his family.

 

Where is the parent?

 

The stock creepy or annoying little kid. About age 7 seems just about right. This can be a sad child, or a pest. But always popping up and beying a pain or hinderance when least wanted.

 

You never see this child with a parent. The hotel staff might even refer to the kid in strange ways, or not even acknowledge the kid is there many times. Evidence of thier coming and going should be apparent, but maybe they are never seen by any staff or other hotel patrons. And they will always find a way to avoid showing someone which room they are in, or even giving their parents name(s).

 

This gets real annoying when they are playing up and dawn the hall on school days when they should be in class.

 

The new bellhop

 

Every single day, maybe even every single encounter can be a new bellhop or doorman. It might not seem wierd at first, but after weeks go by and the same BH or DM is NEVER seen again, things can start to feel creepy.

 

The lost pet

 

A dog or cat, on a leash, gently sleeping on a hallway chair. Maybe it comes to be pet from time to time. Maybe it sometimes growls or hisses. But the pets owner is never seen.

 

My brothers sister

 

You might see a fairly attractive woman with a deep and alluring voice in the hotel bar, and she talks of being there to meet her brother. Or you might see a young and handsome man in the lobby reading the latest business paper, who says he is there to see his sister. The near identical look to their features paints them as twins.... or are they?

 

YOu never see both together, and maybe one or two masculine features pop up on the female. Maybe a hint of female perfume, or another tell tale sign. But if you see the female in the bar, you can actually walk into the lobby and there is the male..... but walking back to the bar the female is nowhere to be seen.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

The Man In The Cellar

 

The hotel has a decently-sized physical plant in the cellar, a place for the incinerator, central heating, centrail air conditioning, and also incidentally the laundry rooms. One employee, who's responsible for maintaining all that equipment, lives in an alcove off the main incinerator area.

 

A middle-aged gristly-looking fellow, he lives sparely, with a hammock, an extra hotel-style dresser, and a large, antique trunk, festooned with stickers from all sorts of odd places. (Tibet, Nepal, and Rangoon are must-haves. What about Innsmouth and Arkham? Averoigne? Hogwarts??) He seems very gregarious, and is a fount of information regarding obscure occult/conspiracy subjects.

 

In fact, he seems to know a little too much. Maybe it's the way he chants, under his breath, when he shovels stuff into the incincerator. Maybe it's the grafitti drawn on the incincerator, that seems to suggest eyes, tentacles, and, around the main hatch, a large fanged mouth. Maybe it's the... reverence... on his face when he looks at the huge pile of metal. Maybe it's the stuff you almost see on those rare occasions when the trunk is open, shortly before he slams it shut. In some ways, he seems to act less like a janitor, and much more like a secret high priest...

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Ornery Old Coot

 

A sixty year-old man in a wheelchair. He's bald as an egg and though confined to a wheelchair it is obvious that he was very tall. He is surly and uncommunicative, apparently feeling that life has served him badly. His suite in the hotel is filled with photographs, posters, albums (actual LPs!) and other memorabilia of the Summer of Love (the 60s), including pictures of the old man as a long-haired, wispy-bearded hippie (he's the very tall one).

 

The rooms also include a stuffed Great Dane wearing a collar with the name "Scooby Doo" engraved on it.

 

Tough Old Broad

The only exceptions to the old man's surly behavior are the visits from a short, stocky woman--also in her sixties--who occasionally visits. Her name is Velma. She wears thick eyeglasses, has short white hair, and speaks with the raspy voice of a lifelong chainsmoker (think Lucille Ball). Her skin is leathery, her nose has obviously been broken many times, and on the rare occasions when her arms or legs aren't covered, scars of every kind are visible--cuts, bullet scars, bite and claw wounds, burns, etc.

 

She and the surly old man often reminisce about their youthful adventures, and about a woman named Daphney, who apparently died decades ago, and about Fred, who still mourns her. Oddly, when the old woman isn't around, the surly old coot occasionally drops a hint that Daphney isn't dead, but that he doesn't want Velma to find out because she would react...badly.

 

Yes, it's Shaggy and Velma in their golden years. Velma's been living the life of the Slayer, pretty much. She's leathery and dried up because she's spent decades drinking, smoking and carousing like there would be no tomorrow because she figured there wouldn't be. Who knew she'd still be alive and kicking *** at her age? Shaggy isn't nearly as worn out...but that didn't save him from at least one serious injury, obviously. Daphney's not dead...probably. She might even be living in the basement of Fred's large home, coming out only at night if you get my drift. Fred's getting on in years, though he still wears ascots (think George Hamilton). One day soon, it may be time for him to join Daphney in her "fate worse than death." Unless Velma find outs and takes it upon herself to save her.

 

Very nice !!!:thumbup:

 

-Carl-

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

The Man with Half a Face

 

One guest is a war veteran, or at least everyone hopes so; otherwise the massive scarring that runs from the point of his chin, just right of his nose, beneath the eye socket, and up to where his ear ought to be is hard to understand. Large, muscular, slow-moving, quiet, he has an eternal bare-toothed grimace to the right third of his mouth. His black hair is kept slicked straight back. He wears a black overcoat and old-style fedora, and he seems to positively enjoy walking in the rain.

 

The only person who seems to know his name is the bartender, who calls him Siegmund, and provides him on sight with a cordial glass of a colorless liqueur. Siegmund (if that's really his name) answers in a low, growlly voice with, perhaps, a German or Swiss accent. In the bar he sits quietly at a small table, smoking French cigarettes he keeps in a black leather case, making occasional notes in a small notebook that is returned to his inside jacket pocket. He makes it a point to be present when there is a violinist performing in the cabaret.

 

When he leaves the hotel, he carries a single large sample case that seems to be quite heavy. Once when the case fell off a bellhop's cart it popped open and a number of steel implements fell out ... perhaps various kinds of surgical instruments, perhaps something else. The case and spilled contents were recovered without any explanation.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Where is the parent?

 

The stock creepy or annoying little kid. About age 7 seems just about right. This can be a sad child, or a pest. But always popping up and beying a pain or hinderance when least wanted.

 

You never see this child with a parent. The hotel staff might even refer to the kid in strange ways, or not even acknowledge the kid is there many times. Evidence of thier coming and going should be apparent, but maybe they are never seen by any staff or other hotel patrons. And they will always find a way to avoid showing someone which room they are in, or even giving their parents name(s).

 

This gets real annoying when they are playing up and dawn the hall on school days when they should be in class.

 

 

It's like deja vu all over again. :nonp:

Just kidding, I know you were posting yours as I was posting mine.

Just a funny coincidence.

:D

KA.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Or maybe I am the husky lady twin? My wife might be shocked by that admission.

 

More.....

 

The Exterminator

 

Slighty odd fidgety guy, with thick glasses. He seems to be in the hotel 2 or 3 times a day. Always with a tank of checmicals, spritzing and spraying corners. Thing is, there never seems to be any sign of rats or roaches. No evidence of anything at all. And the guy shows up in peoples rooms form time to time.

 

What is he spraying?

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Glenn.

An really tall and thin man with shaggy hair and a wild eyed look. He dresses in old style clothing except for his jacket which is a brown long coat. His left shoe must have some gum (or something) stuck under it because it sort of stick to the floor when he walks. He also walks with a slight limp and he sometimes mumbles to himself. He lives permanently in the hotel because he is related to the owner. He makes a modest living for himself stuffing and selling animals, his style is to mix and match different parts so that it look almost like a new creature. Among the things he has put together you can find both hairy tentacle things and a ball-of-mouth-creatures. He uses rats, cats and dogs for the most part most of the light bulbs in the hotel room does not work anymore because he rarely bother to change them, only the one on his work desk get changed if needed. Whenever a car runs past his window (He lives in the lower reaches of the hotel) all the shadows in the room jump back and fourth making the stuffed things look more alive than usual.

Although he is scruffy looking he is not dirty or foul smelling, he is also quite nice if talked to although he gives weird compliments like: "I never seen hair with your shade of red before-its lovely" or "You have a very interesting nose compared to your brow" these compliments are followed by silence as Glenn stares off into space.

Glenn is known to wander the back allys of the city looking for stray animals and he carries an old style bayonet which he can use with such skill that would be robbers and other punks leave him alone.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Just Left of Reality Guy

 

At first glance, this average-looking fellow just appears to be a little clumsy. He walks into doorframes, knocks over water glasses, and signs forms just to the left of the dotted line.

 

But if you talk to him for a while, you realize that his version of events doesn't quite match up with anyone else's. The colors are subtly different, numbers off by one or two, and sometimes names are spelled in an unusual way.

 

Is he just suffering from some sort of perception defect, or is he seeing another reality, just left of the one we know?

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

The woman from Stepford

 

In her late 20s to early 30s, she dresses well but somewhat conservatively, with a hint of a 50s era TV show woman. She has no children or husband and only says she is a widow if asked about her family. She smiles a lot, but there is such a plastic perfection to her expression and mannerisms that it makes her seem like a robot. The maids don't bother cleaning her room, since she takes care of it all herself. Very warm and friendly, but there is a hint of something darker glinting in her eyes when the characters look away, only noticed in their peripheral vision. No matter how fast they snap back to look at her, she is once again appearing like the perfect woman.

 

Cool, my 400th post. :D

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

If you haven't you should check out a book by Pagan Publishing (I've mysteriously misplaced mine, so I can't give you the title) which included an apartment building that was being slowly subverted by Hastur and populated with odd incidents.

 

I can't remember if any of these were inspired (or stolen) from that book, but:

 

The Man Who Wasn't There

 

One of the rooms is obviously occupied. You can hear the man inside talking, showering, typing, and watching TV. He nevers answers the door, or the phone. No one ever sees him enter or leave. When housekeeping enters the room, it is always empty. Sometimes the bathroom is still humid from the shower, or the bedsheets are still warm from being slept in. The people downstairs can hear him walking on the floor. People have even heard the door being unlocked and opened, but have never opened their doors quickly enough to see more that the door shutting behind him.

 

What's He Building In There?

 

This nondescript single man has subscriptions to "those" magazines. He never waves when he goes by. He has no dog; he has no friends. He sends many packages. He has pounded nails into the hardwood floor. People have heard someone moaning, low, and have seen the blue light of a tv show. He has a router, and a table saw. There's poison underneath his sink, and enough formaldehyde to choke a horse. He has an ex-wife in Mayor's Income, Tennessee. He used to have a consulting business in Indonesia. He gets a lot of mail. He may have done time in jail, and has been seen on the roof, signalling with a flashlight. He's always whistling an unidentified tune.

 

---from Tom Waits' "What's He Building?"

 

 

Man in the Long Coat

 

This man is tall, though not unusually so. His arms and legs are slender, but he appears to have a slightly thick midriff. He always wears a long black coat. He never speaks, and his complexion is slightly waxy or glossy. He brings parcels wrapped in butcher paper home each day, and occasionally you can hear a dry rustling whirr in his room. There is a large (6 foot) trunk locked in the room, as well as mostly disused furniture.

 

The man in the long coat is actually a "stick insect" of sorts, an insect evolved to blend in with humanity and move unnoticed among them. In the box are "his" offspring, who are miniature versions of himself. If startled or discovered, they will spread the wings underneath their "raincoat" wing cases and fly out the window.

 

--inspired, not by "Mimic", but by a short story by, I believe, Ray Bradbury.

 

Erich Zann

 

Yes. That Erich Zann.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Repeating Alan

 

Everyday Alan does the EXACT same thing. The only variations are conversations with the PCs.

 

Every morning at 8:30 am Alan leaves his second story hotel room and walks to the elevator with the same newspaper under his left arm. Everyday he reaches the elevator just as the doors open and everyday he says, "Lucky me."

At 8:33 am he sits down in the same chair and reads the paper until 9:02 am.

ect...

 

He never refers to anyone by name and always acts as if he's just meeting you. If you ask him about yesterday he says he justed arrived in town and checked into the hotel last night. If the PCs move his chair or block his door and then watch to see wat happens someone will always walk in front of them or their attention is drawn away and when they can see what they are watching its back how it was before they changed it.

 

None of the other hotel patrons remember him the next day.

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Mandatory Routine Man

 

This fellow shows up for exactly three days every month, always rents the exact same suite, orders the exact same meals from room service, and insists that all fabrics in the suite be bright red. Orders from the owner are that he is to be indulged in this, even if it means upsetting other guests. If something is not just so, MR Man goes into a seizure until the problem is fixed.

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The Really, Really Fat Guy:

 

This guy is so obese, he can't leave his room. He just watches tv and has food delivered. His tv is always very loud.

 

The Prophetic Bellboy:

 

Sam, a very old bellman who has worked at the hotel since it was built. Very slow, infirm, a little senile and seems to struggle with the luggage he's carrying (he won't accept help). Sam doesn't make eye contact with anyone and seems to mumble unintelligibly as he slowly walks.

 

Sam is dressed in the classic red bellman suit with cap. The uniform seems very worn and ill-fitting for Sam's lanky frame.

 

Sam has a huge key ring with all the keys to all the doors in the hotel (about a 100 identical keys; all unnumbered), but always seems to get the right key for the door without even looking at the keys.

 

One key in the ring has been broken off.

 

After dropping the bags off in the room and opening the curtains (to reveal a brick wall or intense neon sign), Sam will stand by the door with his palm out waiting for a tip.

 

If the tip is placed in Sam's hand, Sam will grip the tipper's hand (in an unusually strong and intense grip),uncharacteristically make eye-contact with the tipper and say something vague and ominous like: "That poor girl is going to die. Die like all the rest. Someone has to stop this." Sam will then seem to go back to his semi-senile state (hopefully this'll keep the PCs from badgering Sam for details).

 

Sam's mumbling could be:

 

- Bible verses

 

- Detailed passages of conversations he's overheard (this could be important later).

 

- Detailed passages of conversation that hasn't been said yet (one PC may experience Deja Vu when he later overhears conversation that is verbatim to what Sam was quietly mumbling a day ago.).

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

I was going to post this before I left work, but my computer crashed. Now, I see they'll just derivative of Trencher's guy. Ah well, so it goes.

 

The Rats in the Walls

 

Like most hotels, this one has a rodent problem. It's inevitable that they'll be there, all that food left sitting about. Whenever a guest complains, the Management calls in an exterminator to clean it up

 

Recently, though, something strange has been going on. First, a few exterminators came back to the Front Desk all shaken-up-looking; they loudly said they'd never be back to work at the hotel, and left in a hurry.

 

Then, a few exterminators disappeared. From different parts of the hotel. In at least one case, an exterminator disappeared from the pool area while a guest was sunning herself; the guest just recalls that the sound of the spray stopped suddenly - when she looked up, the can was sitting on the floor and the exterminator was never seen again.

 

Worst of all, though, is what happened the last time. A few guests said that the exterminator who came back claiming the job was done didn't look exactly like the one who went into the basement to work. He looked somewhat heavier, and walked with a strange limp. He didn't seem to move his lips much when he talked, either, and spoke in a really raspy voice. Anyway, he left the hotel and vanished from the parking lot - his car was later recovered by his company. At least the police asked fewer questions that time...

 

Plot Hooks:

 

1) Mystical: Some time back, a guest died in her room (perhaps the mother of KA’s Little Annie). For some reason, before the body was even noticed (perhaps it was hidden), the mice consumed it utterly. The woman has come back as a ghost, manifesting herself through the mice of the hotel. Perhaps she seeks to destroy the one who killed her. Perhaps she died of natural causes, and just seeks to continue a phantom existence in the hotel. Or perhaps she has become the conduit for even darker forces...

 

2) Weird Conspiracy: The mice that infest the hotel escaped from a nearby secret government facility. They were experimental rodents, fitted with radio transceivers and computer chips designed to let Uncle Sam use them as the ultimate espionage tool. Something's gone wrong, though, and they managed to flee the lab. The central computer that they interface with seems to have achieved almost some level of sentience. Perhaps it's even managed to "flee" the lab as well, copying itself into a guest's powerful machine (perhaps the one belonging to ThothAmon’s, er, Rape Man)...

 

3) Fortean: The mice and rats have achieved a hive mind of sorts, perhaps due to something they consumed that they found at the hotel. It’s only this substance that allows them to think at that higher level, and their actions are aimed at finding out how to get more of it. Of course, they have to take care of the exterminators as well; what would happen if more groups of rats and mice managed to achieve hive sentience is left as an exercise for creative GMs. Suffice it to say that after humans became dominant, most of the dangerous animals larger than us disappeared…

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