The Police

In The Abominable Dr. Phibes the police seem to be merely ill-equipted to deal with a criminal of the Dr. Phibes vision and drive. It's even mentioned that there are seventy men active on the case yet they only find Dr. Phibes' lair because he tells his last victim where it is! By the second film Inspector Trout and his superior Waverly are clearly only around for comic relief.

If the Characters are the police they will obviously be more competent then those presented in the films. This will actually work in the GM's favor as it allows him to reveal exactly how clever Phibes is and provide more close calls so that the players can actually experience the eccentricities of the antagonist first hand.

 

Victoria Regina Phibes 1893-1921
We know very little about the late wife of Dr. Phibes other than that she was lovely, that she born in 1893 and that she died in 1921 in a medical emergency that nine doctors and one nurse to not save her from. Based on her name she is sure to be British and she is likely to have been a number of years younger than her husband.

Victoria exists solely to drive the stories of the films and explain Dr. Phibes' obsessions. If she is given new life in the process of the game the GM is free to apply whatever personality fits the game: she may be a kindly woman who doesn't see Anton's madness, mean-spirited and controlling (as one of the proposed sequel scripts depicts her) or in a state of zombie-like ambivalence. Her personality will likely have an effect on the actions and temperament of Dr. Phibes (see below).

Fitting Victoria into a Victorian Era game posses no problem, mainly because she's such a blank slate. With the Queen starting her reign in 1837 it's not even necessary to change her name!

 

Vulnavia
Vulnavia is a bit of a mystery. The first film features her as Dr. Phibes' attractive assistant, she is quiet and unemotional. Other than following orders her only real talents seem to be dancing, playing the violin and appearing in an endless stream of interesting outfits. She is killed at the end of the film, the accidental victim of one of the Doctor's Death Traps.

She's back for Dr. Phibes Rises Again, conjured up as a mysterious supernatural being by Phibes. Despite her occult origins she still exhibits no other abilities beyond the constant costume changing. She changes her face and body as well (the original actress is replaced for Vulnavia's return). In the scripted but unfilmed sequel, The Seven Fates of Dr. Phibes, Vulnavia was to be revealed as an incarnation of the goddess Athena (perhaps then she would have been given some real powers).

Vulnavia's real nature will depend on the style of the game an how the GM wants to use her.

If the game will be free of the supernatural she could be merely a lovely, but troubled, young woman. Her passing may have a deep affect on Anton (first he losses the love of his life, then his charming assistant) or he may be completely indifferent to her suffering. If he's uncaring he is likely have replaced her with another stunning acolyte by his next appearance. Each return could see the debut of another beautiful accomplice, an amusing bit that could lead the players wondering where Dr. Phibes finds the endless array of women willing to assist a madman.

Then again, she may survive the acid. With a ruined face she could change from being merely Phibes' assistant to an actual protege, learning his engineering talent and inheriting his thirst for blood. If the doctor dies she may return impersonating him and taking his twisted dreams to new and more disturbing levels.

A game with occult elements should take advantage of Vulnavia as a supernatural being. It seems to waste to use her simply as decoration so the GM will have to decide what otherworldly abilities she has. Perhaps she leads Phibes to secret arcane locations like a demonic bloodhound or she could obscure the minds of men so that Anton's secret abodes are hard to locate... she may even act as a deus ex machina magically teleporting a dying Phibes away, thus ensuring his return in a sequel.

Speaking of machines it's easy to assume that Vulnavia is a machine. It would explain her cold nature, her preference for reticence and the fact the she keeps coming back. In this interpretation she is Dr. Phibes ultimate triumph, a clockwork woman who turns the heads of men (the original script for The Abominable Dr. Phibes has her revealed as such). If the GM goes this route his next influence may be the Bride of Frankenstein: the mechanical Vulnavia is meant as a future receptacle for the revivified brain of Victoria so the monster Phibes may have his true love.

Most Victorian Villains didn't have female sidekicks but Vulnavia is too good to put aside. Perhaps she will seem even more sinister and shocking in that earlier age. In the films her costumes seem a touch out of step with the period. DO NOT do away with this aspect. To be Vulnavia she must be kept her sexy and strange.

 

Darius Biederbeck
Biederbeck may be the best choice to transfer into a Victorian game because he is a Victorian character! As revealed in Dr. Phibes Rises Again, Darius is over 100 years old and he's been keeping himself alive and hearty by means of a mysterious elixir. Of course this vital brew is almost depleted which is why he's desperate to find the River of Life.

A fellow scholar refers to Biederbeck as "one of the great minds of the Western Hemisphere". He also implies that Darius is viewed as an eccentric who is wasting his talents on his interest in the occult and ancient civilizations. When Dr. Phibes awakens after three years he knows instantly who would have gotten their clutches on his parchment, so Biederbeck must be VERY well know in occult and antiquarian circles. As such it is likely that any Characters with similar interests will have crossed paths with Biederbeck, at the very least they would have heard of him and probably read some of his works. Being well off and well known would make him an excellent Contact or Patron.

If the GM is using the second film as a starting point for the game she could have the Characters hired as Beiderbeck's archeological team. Such a team would have room for a variety of Characters: the antiquarians (of course), another rich financial backer (and their trusty servants), men of action (to protect against hostile natives), mechanics (to keep the trucks rolling), surgeons (it's a dangerous world) and enigmatic native guides would all be appropriate. Darius may even have a Sinister Henchman or two on hand in case team members need some encouragement following orders. What Beiderbeck wouldn't allow is any sort of journalist who might publish with out his permission.

As depicted Biederbeck is not an evil man. He is secretive, driven and is getting progressively more desperate as his death looms larger. Because of this he ends up short sighted and callous. But in the end he does risk his salvation to save the woman he loves, Diana Trobride. He risks and loses! If he was more likable his death would be the most tragic in either of the movies.

If Biederbeck had been a public figure for over one hundred years someone would have caught on. So it's reasonable to assume that he kept a low profile for most of that time and that he only went public after he exhausted covert means of obtaining more of his life extending solution. It's even possible that "Biederbeck" is just a character, the public face that allows the real man the chance to connect with other scholars and gain access to their collections and libraries.

So where did his elixir of life come from? The GM is welcome to exploit any theory he can think of (just keep in mind that the fluid is running out and can not be recreated). Perhaps the elixir is brewed from a South American plant that is now extinct or maybe it was created by another researcher who met an untimely (and mysterious) death. Since Biederbeck is American let's go for the most American answer: the Fountain of Youth.

 

A Theoretical Background for the man known as Darius Biederbeck:
In the late years of the 1700s an American man of means begins to face his middle years. Unhappily, of course. He wishes to stem off the tide of physical corruption and begins research that eventually convinces him that the Fountain of Youth is real. A few years (and several expeditions) later he actually discovers the famed fount (perhaps in the Yucatan peninsula instead of Florida), Unfortunately there's not much left. The Fountain is not even a stream, its a mere trickle that only succeeds in making the local soil more fruitful. To make matters worse it dries up a bit more every day. The man who will be called Biederbeck collects what he can and works on distilling the solution that will give him life for years to come. But once the Fountain is gone, it's gone. He's despondent but he concludes that if one ancient civilization could stumble upon a natural source for immortality, why not another? He abandons his former life (perhaps leaving any wealth he had to his new identity) and begins his private research into ancient civilizations and their legends. The years roll on and he finally concludes two things. First, that he was right, one of the ancient cultures must have held the secrets to eternal youth. Second, that he could do no more by skulking in the shadows so he created "Darius Biederbeck". Biederbeck eased his way into the world of occult scholars and antiquarians by attending a few lectures and submitting articles to journals. People may have at first been suspicious of the new rising star but no one could doubt the depth of his knowledge or the precision of his insights. In time he found the notability he desired. He also found something he didn't expect and had never had before: love. His desire to live forever just grew knowing that he had someone to share his eternal life with.

 

 

Biederbeck could be used in an either Occult or Wierd Science game. Many Victorian stories blur the line, and if "The Invisible Man" can postulate a scientific way to make a man invisible why couldn't there be a powerful, but natural, anti-agathic? If the setting has supernatural powers Bieiderbeck will explore them as tenaciously as any other avenue of hope. If the world has a Cabal of magical practitioners he will scheme to join them, intent on learning their secrets.

 

 

Dr. Anton Phibes
As with with the other characters from the films we really don't know that much about the titular subject. By 1904 he was a famed organist (referred to as "one of the greats"), he had studied music and theology in Heidleburg and at the Sorbonne (his is not a medical doctor but does seem to have some medical knowledge), he's a mechanical genius, he is wealthy, he has an estate in Switzerland and, before the death of his wife in 1921, he had enough time to research and locate a lost Egyptian tomb (where he set up a secret lair complete with modern murals and electricity). He was a tall, good looking man with dark hair (prior to the accident).

After the accident Phibes is horribly disfigured, the face that he shows to the public is a clever mask. His ability to speak normally has been destroyed and he's used his technical skill to design a way to speak by using a cable, a gramophone horn and a mechanism in his throat (the cable plugs into his neck it a bit of cyberpunk prescience).

Mentally he's just as damaged. He is beyond reason and logic. His hatred for those he holds responsible for his wife's death can only be assuaged by their deaths. Merely killing them isn't enough, he must mete out justice of Biblical proportions. He is a perfect villain.

It's reasonable to assume that Anton is a number of years older than Victoria. After all, he was a headlining musician when she was just eleven! Women tended to marry younger and marrying a man distinctly older was not considered improper, especially if they were well known and well off. Thus Phibes must have been at least fifteen to twenty years Victoria's senior.

Phibes' education and refined tastes give us more clues about him. Being both cultured and very well educated implies an upper class upbringing. His fortune must be considerable to bankroll his nefarious schemes and outfit his lavish hideouts.

The doctor's nationality is never stated clearly but he does have an estate in Switzerland and Anton is not a common British name ("Phibes" seems to be a wholly invented surname). Vincent Price was American but in several films it seems assumed that his accent is British, a refined visiting foreigner may adapt British-like inflection especially if he lived in England for a good amount of time.

 

So working with these clues here is a Proposed History for Dr. Anton Phibes:

Anton Phibes completed his education on his own terms. and then took up the career that he wanted, that of a concert organist. He toured extensively, the toast of Europe. On one visit to England he met a lovely young woman named Victoria who reminded him a bit of his charished sister. Life was good for Phibes... until the tragedy that took his parents and his sister from him. The family financial ventures were safe in the hands of the business agents, accountants and lawyers so Anton was free to pursue his personal interests but there was no-one to help him handle his emotions. The shadow of death had fallen over Phibes and he would never be the same. He took Victoria for his wife vowing that they would be together always, death not withstanding.

When Victoria was taken from him (before his secret plans for immortality came to fruition) it was too much. His mind snapped and his artistic soul warped.

Characters adventuring in the Victorian or Edwardian Eras could easily meet Phibes as presented (or as the GM imagines him), but this would be a waste of villain so good you could base an entire Campaign around him. As mentioned above it's an easy task to move the action back a few decades. The key is interpreting and adapting Anton's style. Replace his murals of flappers with Gibson Girls. A lovely collection of men's hats would be more interesting than his toupe. But keep the capes and overlarge string-ties. The GM may not have a lot of time to research period music but not to worry. The easiest and best answer is to portray Anton as an aficionado of Gilbert & Sullivan. Either Phibes could dress as a differnt character for each appearance or he could stay with a favored costume, say Ko-Ko, The Lord High Executioner.

Whether to make Phibes a talented technician or a master of mysticism (or both) will depend on the nature of the game. If the supernatural plays no part in the setting keep Anton mundane (this shouldn't be hard, the only magical thing he does in either film is to call up Vulnavia). But if the campaign has an supernatural bent then the Doctor's occult knowledge will move from the merely informational to the practical and potent. No matter how skilled he is Phibes is never going to kill with out being able to see his victims suffer, keep his spells personal.

The GM will also need to decide just how evil the good Doctor is. As presented he was a decent man who snapped, but the game doesn't have to work like that. In the original script Phibes was much less likable, being prone to beat Vulnavia in fits of pique. A truly evil Anton won't care how many innocent people die in his quest for revenge. Perhaps the surgeons and the nurse aren't enough? Perhaps the entire hospital must pay the price! Conversely Phibes could be played as troubled but basically good, it might even be possible to reason with him. (See: The Tragic Tale of Dr. Phibes below.)