Help with Serial Killer story

[largosama]

Sometime in the future in my campaign, I want to use a creepy serial killer to confused and freak my PCs out. I've already used Jack Fool from DEMON as a kind of Jason/Michael Myers killer and while the character is intimidating and very effective, I want this serial killer to be human with little to no powers to speak of. He's just creepy, smart, and with a little passion for murder. I'm thinking of a cross between Jigsaw from Saw and the Carver from Nip/Tuck...

 

Now, before we begin... I've emphasized in the campaign that while random death can happen in this game to PCs and NPCs, death, when it happens, is a *very* big thing. I've given all PCs the disadvantage: Code against killing to prevent them from killing except in the worse case scenarios. They've seen NPC death before in the game, but it's rare.

 

Soooooo, first off, how to introduce him??? Obviously, let's do it slowly. A murder one week that goes unsolved (They go after the wrong guy)... nothing for another week or so... another murder, this time the same way...

 

So, questions:

 

What is this guy's purpose in killing? What is he trying to achieve? It can be a psychotic reason or not (The Carver's motto, for example, is 'Beauty is a curse upon the world' so he butchers beautiful people)

 

How does he kill?

 

How does we keep him in the 'Characters AND the players think that this is creepy/spooky/freaky'

 

How do I keep this going beyond a murder or two when dealing with people with superpowers while keeping it interesting AND creepy?

 

How should it end? Murderer escaping after they figure out who he really is (if he has a secret identity at all)? Murderer captured (which could lead to an interesting trial)? Murderer killed (one of the PCs snaps)? Murderer is actually a pawn of a higher power?

 

Help me out! :-)

[Asperion]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Sometime in the future in my campaign, I want to use a creepy serial killer to confused and freak my PCs out. So, questions:

 

1) What is this guy's purpose in killing? What is he trying to achieve? It can be a psychotic reason or not (The Carver's motto, for example, is 'Beauty is a curse upon the world' so he butchers beautiful people)

 

2) How does he kill?

 

3) How should it end? Murderer escaping after they figure out who he really is (if he has a secret identity at all)? Murderer captured (which could lead to an interesting trial)? Murderer killed (one of the PCs snaps)? Murderer is actually a pawn of a higher power?

 

Help me out! :-)

 

1) He kills in order to please his mother. In the same Psychotic manner that Jack Nickolson did to please his dead mother.

 

2) He uses various devious in tourcher implements all which he creates from not only his sick demented personality but also common everyday objects, i.e. a corkscrew.

 

3) Someone enters what he believes to be his dead mother's body and convinces him the error of his ways.

[wcw43921]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Okay--let's consider a few things about serial killers:

 

*They kill in order to satisfy desires that could at best be described as unnatural.

 

*Their continued ability to keep on killing and satisfying their depends on their ability to evade discovery and conceal their actions.

 

*They are absolutely indistinguishable from "regular" humans--they look like you, or me, or your next-door neighbor.

 

To my mind, this makes the serial killer identical to a particular class of legendary creature--the Vampire. Vampires and serial killers have nearly identical rationales and modus operandi, and they look completely like people--even people you know.

 

So here's an idea--your serial killer believes he is a vampire. Either he's thoroughly and completely deluded (either by himself or through some organic mental disorder) or someone else has "convinced" him of it through brainwashing or some less torturous form of persuasion. He attacks and incapacitates his victims, carries them to his "crypt" (the boiler room of an apartment or some other carefully concealed location), drains their blood over a long period of time (they can be alive during this process--or not), and when he's done, deposits their body as far away from the crime scene as he can.

 

Bear in mind that he wouldn't look like a traditional vampire--he doesn't wear all black or dye his hair dark. But he would almost never be seen in the daytime (if he is, he would explain it as saying he's powerful enough to withstand sunlight, or he has a talisman that protects him--this would be a bottlecap, or something else utterly mundane). Also, while he has a secret, he does not have a secret ID. The first indication that he's out there is that the body of one of his victims turns up--complete with puncture marks on the throat. (Think of the opening of any episode of Law & Order.) If vampires or other supernatural phenomena exists in the campaign, the authorities may believe they are dealing with a genuine vampire and call in the player-heroes to investigate. The facts that the killer chooses his victims from the lower socioeconomic strata and that he waits from two to four months between killings (after all the blood is gone) will make it difficult to track him at first, but if the PCs are thorough and tenacious in their investigations, they will eventually catch up with him.

 

 

Hope that helps.

[Matt Frisbee]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Hmmm...an absolutely human serial killer that superhuman characters would want to bag? There's a bit of a motivation problem, there. The challenge would be in the chase, so to speak, and not in the confrontation.

 

A serial killer who had, say, an ability to cancel superpowers? That would be pretty scary to most superheroes. Especially a guy with an obscene level of deduction and some investigation skills who could work around secret identities to off superheroes...

 

Just some random thoughts. Happy mayhem!

 

Matt "Wondering-what-would-happen-if-Mr.-Nobody-decided-to-start-offing-people" Frisbee

[largosama]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Hmmmm... a serial killer with the ability to cancel powers... with a motivation to kill metahumanss... something in his past... metas killed his family or he was made to believe metas killed them... or hell... almost go a Saw route, but instead of the 'prove you deserve life' we put 'prove you deserve powers' or 'prove you deserve to be a hero/villain'

[Kirby]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Some very basic basics:

 

• The vast majority of serial killers are male
  
• They tend to kill their own ethnicity (white males kill whites, black males kill blacks, etc.)
  
• There is generally a backstory to why this happens (such as a man hates his mom, so kills women, just more detailed)
  
• The first kills are generally very basic and quickly done; the more kills, the more intricate they become
  
• Many serial killers 'tease' the police with mind-boggling clues; some do this out of spite, some do it to get caught (strange, huh?)
  
• Lots of serial killers tend to collect newspaper clippings of their crimes; not necessarily as trophies, but to keep progress of what the police know
  

 

None of these are hard-fast rules set in stone; there are alway variations.

[largosama]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Some very basic basics:

 

• The vast majority of serial killers are male
  
• They tend to kill their own ethnicity (white males kill whites, black males kill blacks, etc.)
  
• There is generally a backstory to why this happens (such as a man hates his mom, so kills women, just more detailed)
  
• The first kills are generally very basic and quickly done; the more kills, the more intricate they become
  
• Many serial killers 'tease' the police with mind-boggling clues; some do this out of spite, some do it to get caught (strange, huh?)
  
• Lots of serial killers tend to collect newspaper clippings of their crimes; not necessarily as trophies, but to keep progress of what the police know
  

 

None of these are hard-fast rules set in stone; there are alway variations.

 

So, maybe this serial killer is a meta but is pissed off at being a meta because it makes him different and was considered a freak growing up... due to this he takes out his aggression on other metas...

[The Monster]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Rather than vampires, you could rip off Frankenstein (and in a world with super-science, maybe he's onto something!). A serial killer who *reassembles* parts of his victims to see if he can make them function again. Thus, the police would find, say, an arm and a hand at once "dump site" - and it would only be discovered later (after the manhunt begins) that they aren't from the same victim!

 

Also, you could take a riff from real serial killers and have an old case file with similarly di/vivisected animals (many of them do torture and kill small animals in their youth), with crude attempts at reassembly (this really creeped me out when they did this exact thing in Toy Story!). The killer may even have a few pets made from assorted pieces of pets and maybe even a few human parts.

 

I'm going to stop now and recover from a serious case of self-induced willies....

[i3ullseye]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Ok, I laguhed my butt off at this one....

 

"1) He kills in order to please his mother. In the same Psychotic manner that Jack Nickolson did to please his dead mother."

 

Hehe, unless there is a movie he was in that I missed, I don't think this is who you meant to say. Norman Bates? Played by Anthony Perkins?

 

But, the basic rundown of a Serial Murderer has already been established, but you need a Meta Twist. The next thing I want to consider is if your players read these boards. I may be giving away too much if i go further, so if you want a few decent ideas, and want to keep them in the dark, let me know and I will PM you.

 

If you don't mind them being posted here, let me know and I will keep it in this thread for all to see.

[Trebuchet]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Serial killers are often called "signature killers" by law enforcement profilers. Most of them use consistent methods in their crimes: always tie up the victim with wire; always mutilate their victims the same way, etc. These signatures tend to be consistent even when the MO of the killing changed. There are any number of good non-fiction books on serial/signature killers available in the "True Crime" section at any good bookstore. I can recommend several if you're interested (serial killers are an interest of mine. I've got over a dozen books on the subject including a police textbook).

 

How to get the heroes involved? That's what DNPCs are for; especially those nameless "Current Girlfriend" types. If you don't want to killl an actual DNPC, how about one of their siblings or a roomate? Or have the villain kill a low-powered NPC hero they know.

[KA.]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Let me begin with a warning.

This will change the tone of your campaign.

Once you cross the line into having a serial killer play a major role in your campaign, your players are not ever going to see the game world the same way again.

You may have had an NPC or two die in the past, but a serial killer story is a different thing.

For one thing, as soon as they realize that a serial killer is operating, everyone that dies after that is 'their fault' for not solving it.

 

If not in reality, at least in their minds.

 

Which means that common genre assumptions will no longer work in your campaign.

The villain who 'always escapes at the end of the fight', will have to be obsessively chased and brought in, because who knows what he might be capable of if he is allowed to go free.

 

Heroes who let themselves be captured as part of a story arc, may be very hesitant to do it, because for all they know they will end up dead, not just stuffed into a Giant Ice Cream Cone to await rescue.

 

Everything is going to have a harder edge to it.

 

You may find them more inclined to do things like torture underlings to find the Big Boss, because the Big Boss may be planning to kill off half the city.

 

Not that you intend to do all these horrible things. It is just how they are going to feel. If they play any sort of heroes, having innocents die horrible deaths because of their failure to solve the crime is going to hurt, and they will act differently in later sessions because of it.

 

I am not telling you not to do it, I am just telling you not to do it too lightly.

 

As i3ullseye said, I have some pretty good ideas, but they will work a lot better if the players don't see them, so if you would prefer a PM, let me know.

 

KA.

[GoldenAge]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Create a psychotic, cannibal, shapeshifter who believes he must eat the flesh of those he copies. Call him Gorecrow....

 

Then, throw in some circumstantial evidence supporting a sub-plot involving a local bioresearch company that is rumored to be buying body parts from the homeless. Add a mysterious white truck that quietly roams the back-roads of your slums. A few bits of truth associated with the bioresearch company that keep your players wondering about the validity of the rumors.

 

Hopefully your players will start looking into various parts of your campaign, allowing you to introduce new NPCs and expand your realm. They might also get a bit paranoid as their investigation uncovers corporate scandal and dubious medical practices but no killer… because he’s still out there, filling up his kill zone with the harvested skin and bones of his former selves… Just imagine your player’s faces when they finally uncover his ungodly lair.

 

… I did.

 

 

It shook my players to their foundations. To this day Gorecrow, just like Jack the Ripper, remains a free man having faded away into the general populace.

 

The nice thing it also did was allow me to build cops and Private Investigators that kept crisscrossing the heroes paths. To this day they still meet/hate/respect/work with some of those NPCs. Oh, and they still believe that the Bio Company is evil… But they’ve never found any hard evidence that supports the still circulating rumors of the company’s dubious medical practices.

 

If only they knew the truth… MMWWUUUAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

 

You want a serial killer?… Read: “The Alienist†by Caleb Carr. Excelent!!!

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=fF084idCaK&isbn=0553572997&itm=1

[GoldenAge]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

almost go a Saw route' date=' but instead of the 'prove you deserve life' we put 'prove you deserve powers' or 'prove you deserve to be a hero/villain'[/quote']

 

Ooooh, I like!

 

It's a sick and twisted version of Marvel's Arcade.

[largosama]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

I just found out that I never turned on the option to receive Private Messages... d'oh! My players do occasionally read the boards, so for people who want to talk more in depth, please PM me now that I can receive messages! Thanks!

[Kirby]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Let me begin with a warning.

This will change the tone of your campaign.

Once you cross the line into having a serial killer play a major role in your campaign, your players are not ever going to see the game world the same way again.

I'm just going to chime in and say that this doesn't apply to everyone. Some may take this route, but I've been in a Dark Champions game before where we had serial killers and, while it was a major character, it didn't alter our game or outlook on the game. We understood that it was just a character in a plot. Our characters became more active in patrols and generally patrolled longer, but as players, we knew it would be hard to have a serial killer if he didn't kill. If we were patrolling the right neighborhood at the right time, we either prevented the guy from attacking by our presence alone, or we interrupted an attack and saved the victim.

 

I believe it just takes a good GM to run it properly and to make sure the following adventure is more lighthearted (and Foxbat is a good follow-up!). For what may be better qualified opinions coupled with experience, you may want to check in the Dark Champions forum.

[ThothAmon]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

For a normal-powered killer to be a serious antagonist? Problematical. Face-to-face confrontation will heavily favour the heroes.

 

My $0.02 worth borrows from various movie/TV sources: Mr Clockwork (the killer) is an ex-SWAT / law enforcement / bomb-disposal expert. He is seriously pissed at metahumans because his immediate family were accidentally killed in the course of a heroes vs villains fracas. He suffered a mental breakdown, was retired from active duty and pensioned off

 

Mr Clockwork devotes his time to pursuing metahumans, kidnapping / killing their loved ones, often using them as bait for psychological torture of the metas in question. Given that metahumans are often fanatical about preserving their identities, Mr Clockwork does make mistakes in attempting to discover secret identities and innocents do become victims. Nevertheless the obsession has complete control of this former LEO - where once he was altruistic (and decorated for his bravery) he is now a driven killer who can anticipate all the moves of standard law enforcement agencies.

 

Mr Clockwork is keen on exotic deathtraps tailored to exploit the (perceived) psychological weaknesses of his metahuman targets. He is not out to kill the metas - he wants to make them suffer as much as possible, causing them to fail in their duty when they try to protect their loved ones. He is as likely to target heroes as villains.

 

Mr Clockwork has a lot of good detective, criminalistic and scientific skills. He is patient, methodical and very good at intelligence gathering. He is also a genius when it comes to mechanical / chemical / electronic methods of death. He has extensive contacts and lots of resources - good investments made many years ago have made him modestly wealthy. In his real-life ID he may even be an occasional consultant for the Police Department and FBI

 

In terms of powers I'd suggest vehicles, flak vest, modified shotgun, taser, stun grenades, radio-controlled explosives, sense enhancing tools, surveillance gear, pre-scouted and pre-prepared locations and a number of kidnapped DNPCs held as bait / motivation.

 

In order to fox Psionic / Psychic types Mr Clockwork could suffer from MPD and thus effectively be two people, one when he plans and kills and another when he is 'normal'. This is perhaps most suitable for 4 colour campaigns, Whilst this would give him a sympathetic angle it could also be said to dilute the deliberate, logical, darker aspect. An alternative would be to have Mr Clockwork think like a policeman even when he's perpetrating his crimes; his psionic 'spoor' would thus be lost amongst that of the legitimate police investigators.

 

Example scenario #1: Mr Clockwork blows up two or three separate bombs around the campaign city, which "coincidentally" hurts one or two DNPCs. These merely set the stage and act as a goad for the metas. A blackmail note is delivered to the mayor demanding that one hero PC delivers a ransom to a set location. The ransom carrier is then confronted by Jane Peril who is actually someone he loves (wife, girfriend, etc) when in his secret ID. Jane is wired with remotely-detonated explosive jacket and all kinds of anti-tamper devices. Hero PC (or cohorts) follow Jane only to see her and the money violently exploded in a public place in front of pre-warned TV cameras. The blackmailer drops out of sight. Then, perhaps a year later, something similar occurs again.

 

Example scenario #2: Hero PCs discover that a supervillain hit squad is in town and their target is Mr Clockwork. It seems that he has harmed the nearest and dearest of the wrong villainous people. As the villains do their 'searching' the city underworld is violently being turned upside down. Bodies are piling up, criminal gangs are getting jumpy and the entire city is a powderkeg awaiting ignition. Mr Clockwork leads the supervillains a merry dance before he evntually gives them to understand (anonymously of course) that a PC in secret ID is the mysterious serial killer. He also points them towards a DNPC of said player. At the big showdown things do not go as planned - Mr Clockwork has arranged a number of concealed gadgets and walk-on victims to help push both heroes and villains into a killing frenzy. And the muckraking TV journalists are there to get it on tape

 

How does it end? Up to the GM really. The darkest ending would be that Mr Clockwork never gets caught. Alternatively he is dealt violent summary justice by a PC who is in the final throes of his fall from grace

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

• Many serial killers 'tease' the police with mind-boggling clues; some do this out of spite, some do it to get caught (strange, huh?)
  

Personally, I feel this is the most over-used (not to mention nonsensical) cliche in all of modern fiction. But that's just me.

 

If you want some insight into how real-world serial killers work, read Mindhunter by John Douglas, the guy who founded the FBI's profiling unit. I recommend reading it with the lights on.

 

[Edit: Douglas didn't found the profiling unit, but he is it's most famous and respected head.]

 

Apart from that, I have to second KA's warning - if your (and your players') intent is to switch to a Dark Champs game, then valle con dios. Just be aware that once you start down that road...

 

 

bigdamnhero

"Rasputin, bring in the bucket of soapy frogs and remove his trousers."

[largosama]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

I agree with you that using a Serial Killer may change the feeling of the campaign. However, I like to keep a dynamic and varied campaign. I've had the serious world could end due to this threat, the bank robbery threat, Arena fighters, adventures in space, and many of the in betweens. I've thrown the Big Bads, the henchmen, and all of the villains in between at them... the team knows how to recognize when it's a situation when they need to retreat from a villain rather then fight a hopeless battle (which I have to say, I've rarely seen from previous groups)... I have plenty of plots to throw at them, but I'd love to have a story that could possibly force an emotional scar on a character (not from me as the GM forcing the character to take it, rather a PC getting disturbed/enraged at the situation due to loved ones getting hurt, the killer taking jabs at them through sick clues or notes, or just the frustration from not being able to find him... thoughts on that are welcome...

 

Also, the question also comes up... is it somebody they know or not? If it is, then it could create some seriously horrible (in a good storytelling way!) situations for the team... however, if it isn't, it leaves me with more freedom for the killer character. I don't have to be as careful with clues (making sure it doesn't easily lead back to the surprise killer)... of course, the identity of the killer in terms of story planning may change over the course of the campaign due to the fact that players also seem to pull something out of their butt that you didn't think of which will find the bad guy...

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

I agree with you that using a Serial Killer may change the feeling of the campaign. However' date=' I like to keep a dynamic and varied campaign. [/quote']

OK. So long as you know what you're getting into. More detailed suggestions PM'd.

 

 

bigdamnhero

[Trebuchet]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

If you don't want to jump straight into a serial killer (for whatever reason), keep in mind that there are also serial rapists. (A serial rapist may eventually escalate into a killer.) In fact Florida's infamous serial killer Bobby Joe Long was also a serial rapist simultaneously with his killings. His MO and signature on these rapes was totally different, so the cops never knew Long was the serial rapist (he didn't kill any of his rape victims) until after they'd already arrested him for several murders.

[Kirby]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Personally' date=' I feel this is the most over-used (not to mention nonsensical) cliche in all of modern fiction. But that's just me. [/quote']

Probably, but to clarify, it's not merely fiction (not true), but non-fiction (non-not true ). It's a bit late and I haven't "refreshed" myself with serial killers in a while, but I believe the Zodiak Killer mocked the police with clues, and possibly the Boston Strangler as well.

 

I do agree that it's overused in movies and tv's, but what may be more familiar for the player may be easier to run.

 

One thing I forgot is that a lot of serial killers (and rapists) tend to do their crimes in territory they're familiar with. Sometimes the sites give clues to where the person works as well, but not always. (I say this because I recall a story about a truck driver who would run over his victims with his 18-wheeler. It turned out he did this all on roads either on or between his highway route and truck stops he'd stay at.)

 

If you have the time to read a True Crime book on a serial killer, I recommend it. If you're really bold, make the serial killer a female; there have been a handful.

[i3ullseye]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Zodiak wrote letters.. as did jack the Ripper (really the first modern era serial murderer), and BTK. Unibomber qualifies, and a few others wrote letters also, but not at the level BTK or Zodiak did.

 

Interesting... art imitates life.. which imitates art....

 

Being a smarmy punk, in one of the Zodiaks letters to the police, he said he had just seen the Exorcist, and found it a funny little work of comedy. Basically trying to sound very brave and bad. This was during it's first run, and people across the nation were terrified by the film.

 

As Blatty wrote the sequel to the Exorcist, whcih is called Legion (and BOTH are amazing books that everyone shoudl read once), he basis a lorge portion of the book on a serial killer. This killer has a distinctive MO, and taunted police. His name? The Gemini killer. So a real life killer taunted Blattys work, and in return Blatty made him a piece of the sequel to that work!

 

Before Jack... there was no classification of serial killer. But there were far too many people to count who had much higher body counts than him, and were much more grisly butchers throughout history. It is only our modern era, and the structure of our new societies that deem these people the abberrants that they are.

 

Sure, there were many killers in the past. But they were often seen as doing what was neccessary, or warriors, or despotic leaders. But never out and out serial murderers. Modern press made the paradigm shift, and really turned them into celebrities. This is also what ended up fueling many of them to kill more and more as a result.

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Probably' date=' but to clarify, it's not merely [i']fiction[/i] (not true), but non-fiction (non-not true ). It's a bit late and I haven't "refreshed" myself with serial killers in a while, but I believe the Zodiak Killer mocked the police with clues, and possibly the Boston Strangler as well.

Yes, but you're talking 2 or 3 cases in the whole of the 20th century. Not exactly what you'd call commonplace. But because just about every fictional serial killer leaves clues to mock the police, people have this idea that it's the rule rather than the exception.

 

Before Jack... there was no classification of serial killer. But there were far too many people to count who had much higher body counts than him, and were much more grisly butchers throughout history. It is only our modern era, and the structure of our new societies that deem these people the abberrants that they are.

 

Sure, there were many killers in the past. But they were often seen as doing what was neccessary, or warriors, or despotic leaders. But never out and out serial murderers. Modern press made the paradigm shift, and really turned them into celebrities. This is also what ended up fueling many of them to kill more and more as a result.

Well, partly, but there are several other factors at work. Before the modern era:

 

• If someone killed a bunch of prostitues and other "undesireables" polite society just ignored it.
  
• Previously, such crimes had been blamed on vampires, demons and what have you. Jack resonates so strongly in part because it was the first time people realised it was a human being doing such things.
  
• There was essentially no police work the way we understand it today. So there was really no way to even identify that you had a serial killer. The public would've had no expectation that the police should catch the killer, so there's no outrage when they fail to do so.
  

 

 

bigdamnhero

"I'm not a liar. Not in this instance anyway."

[i3ullseye]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

On a side note... I ran a campaign one time that had a heavy dose of early criminology, and revolved around the Vidocq Society. the heroes actually were sent through time, by who they found out was the original Vidocq himself.

 

Only in my world, things weren't as nicely placed as it seems in our real world.

 

If you find reading on serial killers fascinating, I really reccommend looking up Vidocq. Just Google for it and read some of the many histories, or the page of the society itself. GREAT Dark Champions inspirational stuff there.

[Kirby]

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

 

Yes' date=' but you're talking 2 or 3 cases in the whole of the 20th century. Not exactly what you'd call commonplace. But because just about [u']every[/u] fictional serial killer leaves clues to mock the police, people have this idea that it's the rule rather than the exception.

I gave two examples; I don't have access to them all, but I know there's more than "3" in the 20th Century. However, I didn't refer to them as commonplace nor did I mention it was a rule. Make sure you don't confuse your generalization of "people" with "Kirby," we're different entities.

 

As a reminder, I'm just trying to help someone with a direction in his campaign, I'm not here to play "my serial killer fu is better than your serial killer fu."