Chapter: The Castle and The Regent

The Convergence Player Characters head out from Perpetual Bernville to find the source of the undead and other monster attacks. Following the trail through the woods leads them to The Castle. There, they encounter its denizens and, ultimately, The Regent. Defeating The Regent and destroying The Castle will resolve this problem for Perpetual Bernville.
This Chapter is based upon the GASRPGCU's discussions of Castlevania and metroidvanias in general, as well as our previous game of Rhapsody of Blood.

Plot points/Scenes

Outfitting

Rainy Day will give the Convergence Player Characters a couple of items to help them on their way, once they agree to look into the threats to Perpetual Bernville. These items will be one Manifest Cypher and one Fantastic Cypher. The group will also be able to grab some supplies - provisions and a reasonable amount of gear that they might need.

The Journey to The Castle

A mysterious carriage offers to take the group to The Castle. If they decline, it's a trek through the woods with some fighting. If they accept, a high-speed journey through the woods atop the carriage, including a brief boss fight with Death before he disappears.

Getting Inside the Circle

The carriage can take them straight through. Otherwise, they need to find a way to disrupt the magic or come up with something else.

Exploring the Castle

The group will work their way through the map, pending any clever shortcuts or other ideas. Areas feature some traps, some navigation challenges and some fighting. This will be mostly ad-libbed to predetermined themes and ideas, pacing around the energy of the session. The areas:

1. Drawbridge and Entrance Hall. Inspired by the Castlevania games. Crossing the drawbridge as it closes is a Level 3 Speed Task. The Entrance Hall features many zombies walking straight at the group. If more content is needed, I could add a flooded area below, including fishmen.
2. Bathhouse. Inspired by our Rhapsody of Blood game. Visibility is difficult through the steam and vapours - navigating could be a Level 3 Intellect Task. Some of the vapours are toxic - a Level 4 Might Task. Water-bloated undead enemies can be found.
3. Church. Inspired by Blasphemous. A crumbling, gothic Catholic church. Traversing the platforms, jumps and climbs is a Level 4 Speed Task. Grisly, twisted people attack the group.
4. Catacombs and Caves. Inspired by Metroid. After a plummet from the Church, Catacombs give way to Caves with a sci-fi feel. Claustrophobic navigation and fighting through alien creatures.
5. Library and Laboratory. Inspired by Castlevania. The monsters in these areas are more magical in nature. There's potential for investigating the books and experiments - this can be ad-libbed, as appropriate. The Librarian could be here - a neutral or even friendly character.
6. Bridge and Clock Tower. Inspired by Castlevania. A crumbling bridge and an incomprehensible giant clock. The bridge features many flying enemies as well as tricky jumps and other traversal - consider a Level 4 Speed Task, though this Chapter has been pretty heavy on Speed Tasks. (The group might come up with clever workarounds anyway.) Traversing the Clock Tower is definitely a Level 5 Speed Task to avoid injury from the moving platforms and gears. The top leads straight to the Throne Room, the small, final area.

Fighting Bosses

At the end of each area (and atop the carriage, if the group take it) are bosses. Beating these should give a reward - at least Subtle Cyphers. The bosses:

1. Slogra & Gaibon. From Castlevania. A pair of monsters. One attacks on the ground with a spear while the other flies, attacking with swoops and fireballs. Gaibon can pick up Slogra for a dropping attack.
2. Legion. From Castlevania. A massive, floating ball of bodies. The bodies drop off to attack. As it is damaged, chunks of the ball fall away revealing tentacles that emit laser blasts.
3. Esdras & Perpetva. From Blasphemous. A pair of religious warriors. Initially, Esdras fights alone on the ground, with his mace and lightning attacks. When he is injured, Perpetva flies in to help.
4. Ridley. From Metroid. A large, alien, dragon-like monster. He flies, climbs and performs ranged attacks.
5. Death. From Castlevania. Like the grim reaper, he fights with scythes and sickles.
6. The Regent. An amalgamation of Dracula from Castlevania and the regent from Rhapsody of Blood. He has Castlevania Dracula's traditional moveset, along with some other powerful capabilities.

Defeating The Regent

Once the Regent is defeated, the Unholy Grail (create and link object entry) materialises to be claimed by the group. The Castle also begins to collapse. We could play out an escape sequence, abstract it or just gloss over it. With this, the threat of the encroaching reality of The Castle is dealt with and its circle fades.

Themes

Convergence: Collisions of worlds / realities, bleeding over from the real world. Chaos and Order: Worlds in turmoil, resolution of this through player action, fixing things. Support and Kinship: Care, coming together, filling voids.

Components

Goals

The Convergence Player Characters probably want to investigate the encroachment of The Castle's reality. The also probably want to prevent any further forces from The Castle from invading Perpetual Bernville.
The second goal means they need to defeat The Regent, so as to destroy The Castle. Unless they can find another solution.

Hooks

Undead and other monsters are invading Perpetual Bernville from The Castle. The red circle around The Castle can be glimpsed from afar, indicating an encroaching reality. Once the Convergence Player Characters see the castle, the description should indicate to the players that it is based on Castlevania and our Rhapsody of Blood game, which will hopefully engage them.

Stakes

If the threat of The Castle isn't dealt with, its invading forces threaten to overrun Perpetual Bernville.

Relations

Protagonists

The Convergence Player Characters

Adversaries

The Regent and the Castle Bosses and Denizens

Backdrops

Locations

The Castle

Threats

Combat with the Denizens and Bosses of The Castle. Traversal and navigation challenges, as well as traps, as the Convergence Player Characters make their way through.

Encounters

• Getting to and into The Castle, possibly via the mysterious carriage
• Exploring The Castle's different areas
• Fighting The Castle's inhabitants
• Overcoming traversal and navigation challenges within The Castle
• Meeting The Regent and likely fighting him

Plot type

Chapter

Parent Plot

Campaign: Convergence

Related Characters

• The Regent

Related Organizations

• Convergence Player Characters

Related Locations

• The Castle