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Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel


AlHazred

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Wally

Not his name, his nickname. He's in his mid-30's, average in height, weight, etc. Talk to him for a while and you'll realise he's of average intelligence, but very poorly educated; as well, he seems content to remain a short-order cook.

 

There's just one unusual thing about him: he's wall-eyed (hence the nickname). When his right eye is looking straight ahead, his left is pointed about 45 degrees to the left; when his right eye is looking full right, his left is not quite straight ahead (something wrong with the muscle that pull the left eye "nosewards").

 

This is disturbing to look at enough, but what makes it worse is he's got 20/20 vision in the left eye, but 20/150 in the right. Since he's always forgetting his glasses, he tends to turn his head and look at people with his left eye, which tends to creep people out.

 

Other than his walleye he's an ordinary fellow. (figured we needed a creepy but not bizarre person in here. ;) )

 

 

H. P.

A tall-ish, thin-ish, pale-ish man with a bit of a New England accent. A fan of horror fiction, particularly Pulp-era stuff; he got his nickname (no-one knows his real name---well, the management do, but no-one else has been interested enough to find out) from H. P. Lovecraft, his favorite.

 

He can recite any of Lovecraft's works from memory, same with Derleth and some others. In fact, he tends to do so, usually as an appropriate remark, but some times the quotes have no clear connection to events.

 

Basically, he'd be just a bit "off", and only creepy in the context of the rest of the hotel, except for one thing: he seems to need cold. He sweats, heavily, even in 60 degree conditions, keeps his room in the mid 40's, and insists on ice water with every meal---LOTS of ice water.

 

The strangest thing is he insists that there is no such story as "Cool Air" by Lovecraft.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Grunt, the Night Auditor:

 

Older man, with a thin rim of white hair. Always wears a crisply pressed short sleeved white shirt with a pocket protector and slide rule. Also wears a green celluloid visor. Keeps his head down all the time, so the PCs never really see his face. It is just possible to see the arms of a pair of dark hornrimmed glasses.

 

He can answer any question in a wordless grunt that somehow gives the exact information needed. If someone wants a key he will hand it directly to them without looking up.

 

The only words he has ever been known to say are: "Thirteen, I should have stirred the tanks." But they are only heard when a player is walking away. At any other time his communication is in wordless but completely comprehensible grunts.

 

He works from 2AM to 6AM seven days a week.

 

(A former NASA employee he has been working in the hotel since 18:07 GMT 17 April 1970-- the exact time Apollo 13 splashed down)

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Not so much a person, but rather an animal inspired by the Matrix:

Glitch

Every so often a cat appears ... a distinctive cat. It appears coming down the stairs or walking across the hall. Then, after the viewer turns their head for a second, the cat appears again, doing the exact same thing right down to movements and such.

 

Another good one:

What Is That Smell?

There's one apartment that stinks of unexplainable odor. What is known is that the smell isn't pleasant, nor is a something that stays in one area. Once the smell starts, it lingers through the entire hotel, almost causing people to leave early. The few instances it's been traced, people have found that it leads to one of the older floors and to a wall that has been painted to match the rest of the halls in the hotel.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Peter

 

He walks around the hotel whistling. Feathers of all different sizes and colors occasionaly fall out from his pants pockets. He never lets anyone in his room or even lets them look inside, in his breast pocket is a worn copy of Catchter In the Rye. He's very friendly unless the feathers or his room are brought up then he ignores who ever mentioned it for the rest of the day.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

MR SUNGLASSES

 

Man in his mid 30's , always wearing dark sunglasses, day or night, rain or shine. Dresses in blue jeans, shirt sleeves and a dark sport coat, sometimes the faint outline of a bulge is visible under the sportcoat, possibly a gun. Also has a barely visible earpiece that could be a phone, radio, or communication device. No one has ever heard him speak, knows his name, or even knows if he is even staying in the hotel, but wherever the PC's are, he is there, in the background watching them intently.

 

THE EX CON

 

A notorious local legend of the infamous variety who recently got out of prison. His was a violent and evil past, well documented by the local papers and news media. Covered in scars, piercings, and tattoos, he immediately invokess fear and loathing in anyone and everyone he meets. The problem is, he has the same reaction. The baddest man in the history of the town is scared to death of someone (or something) out there.

 

THE VAMPIRE

 

Never seen during the day. Sickly white complexion. Has an androgenous appearance which makes his/her gender extremely difficult to determine. Can always be found in the hotel bar between the hours of 1 and 3am, flirting with good looking men and women, trying to get someone to go back to his/here hotel room for the night. Is it a LARPer stuck in la la land? Is it someone with a rare and terrible disease who really is allergic to the light of the sun? Or are you its next meal?

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Listening to a bit of music prompted me to throw out a homage character...

 

The Stranger

A quiet, intense fellow, in his late 20's or early 30's. He doesn't really seem to be very interested in interacting with the other residents, but he's by no means a stay in reculse. He almost religiously devours a wide variety of newspapers, every day, ranging from serious news to tabloids. After obtaining his daily collection he'll disappear into his room for several hours, then emerge to dissappear into the city. While he's hard to draw out, it is possible to get him into a conversation, if you're lucky. He is very careful about keeping his emotions under iron control, but it's clear that he burns with fantacism towards some cause. Very occasionally he will have visitors, who all seem to be very similar to him in age and attitude. If you were to follow him around, you might think he has some delusions of Batmanhood, because he spends an inordinate amount of time doing little "good deeds", like interrupting a pedestrian who is about to walk into traffic while distracted, or stopping a mugging in process.When he's not intervening in peoples lives, he seems to be searching for someone... occasionally he'll approach selected strangers and speak with them in low tones, sometimes handing over a handwritten note, sometimes a pamphlet. He also takes a LOT of pictures, which probably accounts for the packages he sends away in the mail every day.

Should one gain access to his room, it proves to be spartan, almost barren, with the only personal touches being tons of newsclippings both in files and stuck to the walls, about a dizzyingly strange variety of subjects, with no seeming connection. And a calendar, extensively filled with notes... including notes reaching months ahead of the current day. All the notes end abruptly at one particular day tho. The notes in the week prior to the date, while written in a shrothand that is almost coded, seem to be some kind of evacuation plans.

If you can gain his trust enough to visit his room, he'll probably tell you the truth...

He sees himself as a solider, working to save the future. Saving those who will have a place in the New World. Those who deserve to be saved.

When it comes right down to it... he is a follower of an Apocalypse cult, whose members claim that their leader can see the future, and the destruction of the world as we know it.

 

Typical crackpot stuff.

 

Except it really sometimes seems like he does know that certain things are going to happen before they do.

 

Oh, and their prophet and leader is a 7 year old boy.

Who can't talk.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Hopefully this isn't a rehash of someone elses idea.

 

The Whining Annoyance:

 

Guy in late 40's early 50's, overweight, bald, and really bad breath (the main reason most people won't carry on a conversation with him). He all ways has an an answer or opinion on everything (what the PC's should be doing, who they should talk to) anything and everything. He also has the annoying ability of showing up when ever he is least needed or when he will be most in the way. Even though he offers to help he never seems to have the skills for the job. And if asked a direct question he will go into a really boring monologue on every aspect of the question, usually (if the person asking the question can wait long enough) not even giving a good answer let alone a rational answer. Also he likes to whine to everyone that will listen and even those who don't about how much help he could be if people would just listen to him and do what he says, the problem is that when some one actually does he is never right and his suggestions never work, it's only when they don't listen that he ends up right (well maybe 10% of the time anyway).

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Goth Girl

 

Pale skinned and wearing black clothes that show off a nice figure, only going out at night from her room, she keeps to herself. Occasionally, strange words in an unknown language can be heard coming from her room. Are they chants? Why is she never seen during the daylight? She never seems to have trouble paying her hotel bills (always to the night manager), so where does she get the money from? Is she a prostitute from some Eastern European country? Is she a witch?

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

The Shadow

 

Lindsey is a student at the local community college, and apparently lives at the hotel. She's a skinny girl in her early 20s, and very big-hipped for her build. Lindsey has lank brown hair, pale skin and freckles, and apparently lives on junk food. She's perennially short of cash and drags an overstuffed bookbag around with her everywhere.

 

And her shadow is just -- wrong.

 

Regardless of the ambient light level, Lindsey's shadow is always sharply defined. The shadow is often either far too big or far too small for Lindsey's 5' 4" form. Sometimes the shadow is displaced, appearing in front of Lindsey or far behind her, or in locations where no shadow could reasonably be cast. Sometimes the shadow is truncated, so that only the upper or lower half of it appears, or only the right or left side. Sometimes the shadow isn't there at all, regardless of the light.

 

And sometimes the shadow doesn't look entirely...human. Partially human, yes, or even mostly, but with...things...added. The shadow of skeletal shark jaws. The mantle of a huge squid. Ribbon-like streamers that undulate and grasp. Spindly mechanical protrusions. Mandibles. Great softly bobbing growths. Toothed cogs and misshapen gears turning, turning....

 

Lindsey affects not to notice anything odd about her shadow, and is aggressively rude to anyone who comments on it. "What are you, some kind of nut? You're sick, you know that? Get away from me before I call the police, you lousy freak!"

 

But her eyes are haunted.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

A complimentary copy of the STRANGE TIMES newspaper is slid under your door every morning you stay in the hotel. It features articles on insane people; You know... murders in the park, suburban housewives who flip out at the supermarket, etc. The more you read it, the more claustrophobic the hotel feels and the more you feel like you're being watched, as if the insanity of the paper is rubbing off on you. What's more, you can never get a glimpse of the delivery man, and the circulation department (whose number appears on the paper) has only a very old sounding recording, telling you how to become a "Permanent Addition" to the paper. If asked, the bellhop has never heard of the paper. But the 70 year old janitor tells you he remembers the paper and that the Strange Times went out of print in 1974.

****

For no apparent reason, you find yourself strangely wide awake for a moment and feel compelled to check the hallway. A woman has checked into the room up the hall. She is shrouded fully in black, but the gauzy dress with a sort of lacey spider-web pattern to it reveals shapely curves. Without any glimpse of her face you decide she is the most beautiful woman you've ever seen. In fact, anytime she comes into the hallway, no matter what you are doing, you know she's there somehow and go to steal a glance. The more times you see her, the more you want to see more of her.

 

If approached, she will mostly let you do all the talking but may occasionally whisper a word or two in a breathy, sexy tone. She answers very few questions however, especially about why she's there. Subsequently, the only way someone will find info is to climb out on the fire escape and spy, use the neighboring (empty) room and drill a hole, or to break in when she's gone. This will lead to her attempting to seduce the characer (which by now should be easy). That of course is when an amorphous roiling mass of darkness shows up for his "cut" of your soul. Pimps get at least half, ya know.

***

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Hey, Don't I Know You?

The one guy or gal in the hotel that look exactly like a dead celebrity. The funny thing is, they only show up once and are replaced by another look-a-like. Are they replicants? Or are they the real thing? And why does the restaurant's menu have a "peanut butter & 'nanner" sandwich? ;)

 

The Bartender

An emaciated fellow, the bartender likes to listen ... to everyone. When asked, he'll dish out the gossip on anyone for a c-note. The creepy thing is, he's always in the bar .... always. He never seems to leave and no one's ever seen him out of the bar. Though he might sell the drinks, he doesn't drink them ... says he doesn't like to sip the profits ;)

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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' date=' 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.[/quote']

 

That would be Delta Green: Countdown the sequel to Delta Green.

 

Also, look for the Stephen King collection Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales, which has the short story 1408 about a room on the 13th floor of a hotel. It is one of the creepiest stories I have ever read, and would make an excellent addition to the hotel.

 

More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1408_%28short_story%29

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Gary:

A tall man, always carrying a copy of the local newspaper. He always there to prevent accidents. Sometimes he has a warning of things that haven't happened yet.

 

And every morning at 6 a.m., an orange cat delivers his paper.

CES

 

LOL!

I remember that show.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Mr. Invisible

 

An apparently normal late-20-something guy, generally smart-but-casual. Nice, but not too pushy.

 

None of the hotel staff acknowledge hs presence in the slightest.

 

Other guests talk to him, but the staff never do. Maids will come in to clean while he's right there. If they catch you talking to him, they give you that look that says that they're way too polite to ask why you're talking to yourself.

 

Strangely, the other guests don't seem to notice this...

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Not sure what you mean... do you mean the other guests don't notice the staff looking at you like you're crazy?

 

That, but more specifically they don't notice the staff not reacting to Mr. Invisible. Other guests won't see anything odd about or around Mr. Invisible at all.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

(edited out speculation that Korvar answered)

 

Too Normal Guy:

 

Mid-30's male, normally dressed in a suit&tie. Drives a rental mid-sized car. Frequently talking on his cell phone about business deals, meetings, and odd industry/company specific jargon (ie TPS reports, etc) that would be meaningless to outsiders. Makes use of hotel services like laundry and room service, but never makes outlandish requests. Watches sports at the bar while having a drink.

 

What's he hiding under that normal exterior? If he's not hiding anything, what's he doing here with all these weirdos? Hey, is he the one normal guy in the whole place? Does that mean we're weirdos too?

 

Of course you're weirdos. You're PCs. ;)

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Librarian Guy

A male librarian, which is only a little unusual. And Librarian Guy is only a little unusual.

 

How? He's never been seen to read. Not a book, not a newspaper, not anything. If asked about this, he mumbles something about getting all the reading he wants at the library. Thing is, the question clearly embarrasses him, making him blush bright red.

 

Cleft

Young guy, in his early 20's, tall and well muscled. He has a cleft palate (sp), surgically repaired but still clearly visible; except for this, he's quite handsome.

 

Odd thing is, if you talk to other residents of the hotel, none of the hetero women nor bi/gay men remember him as having a scar of any sort. They see the scar when "Cleft" is in view, they just don't remember it. This doesn't apply to anyone not living in the hotel, but it does apply to even the most recent arrival.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

Mr. Cammino.

He is a fairly normal looking guy with black hair and average build, his eyes are a little intense perhaps but that is all. He always wears black crumpled suits and most often carries a briefcase. He does not talk to anyone if he does not have to. He always walks never use car or bus. If the pc's is out in the more rundown places in the city they might see him enter a condemned building but no matter how long they wait they will not see him come out. When he returns to the hotel he does not have the briefcase with him. If somone manage to get a look into his suitcase they will see that it is filled completely up with claw hammers of different shapes and sizes.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

The Stud

 

He's short, fat, unshaven, with long greasy hair in a messy pony-tail. He looks, dresses, and, quite frankly, smells like a stereotypical geek. Talks nothing but comics, games, and computers.

 

However, there's always at least one gorgeous woman on his arm. And a couple waiting nearby for him. And sometimes lined up outside his room. The rooms on either side of him are empty, on account of the noise.

 

He never speaks about his success with women, and neither do they. But you do notice that they are all wearing a small black lace choker.

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Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel

 

The Mime. He's a mime. All the damn time. He gets stuck behind the invisible elevator door, fights his way down the hall through terrible winds, pulls approaching people towards him on an invisible string, etc. He wears the white face paint, the goofy mime getup, the works. He does not speak to anyone else. At all. He will take (and maybe administer) a ferocious beating silently. From his room, muffled arguments can always be heard raging, day or night, as long as he's in there. No one else is known to be in there while these arguments are taking place, although more than one voice can clearly be heard, just not understood. It might not be English. But it might be English, if only the PCs could hear it a little better (which they can't).

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