D&D 5E Ravenloft Previews of Dementlieu, Lamordia, and Har'Akir

WotC has been sprinkling previews of individual Ravenloft domains to various websites -- including Dementlieu, Lamordia, and Har'Akir. Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft is only a couple of weeks away, coming out on May 18th!

Dementlieu​

• Forbes takes a look Dementlieu, which has inspirations like Cinderella, The Masque of the Red Death, and Dark City. "Dementlieu is one of over 30 domains of dread detailed in the book. It’s a sharp contrast to Barovia’s dark forest and looming Gothic castle on a hill. Instead it’s covered in a glamorous sheen of fine clothes and fancy parties. Everyone is dying to be invited to the Grand Masquerade held by Duchess Saidra d’Honaire every week on her private island. And, in many cases, killed if they are discovered at the ball if they’re not supposed to be there."
• Syfy Wire looks at Lamordia, inspired by Frankenstein. "Many of the Domains of Dread are inspired by some horror tale or piece of creepy folklore, and Lamordia definitely has its roots in Frankenstein. But while the Domain is inspired by that classic horror story, its elements are then shot through the lens of D&D adventures and explored to dozens of horrific extremes. Mordenheim's land isn't just about resurrection gone awry, it's also the Domain for all different types of science gone wrong, bizarre experiments, body horror weirdness, and grim tales of society versus a frigid land. Just as there's more to Frankenstein than a scientist who abandoned his child, there's more to Lamordia than stitches and semi-dead flesh."
• Polygon has Har'Akir, an Egyptian-themed domain. "Why is there a Domain that is a desert that is riddled with these ancient, inexplicable haunted monuments and ruined pyramids? How does a Domain like that exist? How does it make sense? To an extent it doesn’t, and it’s going to be the players that come and explore that, who are some of the only people that realize that the entirety of the domain is, to an extent, gaslighting them."

Ankhetop, darklord of Har'Akir

​

 

[dave2008]

Forbes covering D&D? Wow.

It is not the first time during 5e either

 

[Coroc]

Note that the article indicates that the Har'Akir Domain is "to an extent, gaslighting them" (them being the players). Perhaps it appears to be a stereotypical Egyptian horror setting (as in the picture you found), but underneath it is really a steampunk Egypt, masked with illusions, or mind control, or hypnosis, or holograms - it's almost like a Westworld type setting (Pharoahworld?). The domain with the most primitive "tech level" is actually fairly advanced "under the hood."

Nothing never ever about Har´Akir ever was even remotely close to any kind of steampunk, unless i suffer from Mandela effect.

 

[Coroc]

Oh, that’s dope though! I kind of assumed it would be vaguely-ancient-Egyptian-sounding nonsense in the same way Strahd Von Zarovich is vaguely-Eastern-European-sounding nonsense.

except it isn't (Strahd maybe i am not familar with that name and to lazy to look it up now), but Zarovich or in different slavic spellings Zarovic (with a hook underneath the c) or Zarewitsch (german) means son of the Zar (or Tsar), the russian emperor. So it is not so made up like you might think. Many slavic names end with -vic or the like, it just means "son of"

 

[Reynard]

All fair, but sort of missing the point I was raising.

If Wizards thought no modern fans cared about Ravenloft's history at all, then there'd be no point in reviving any aspect of the classic lore. Better to spend that energy on brand-new stuff that can appeal to modern sensibilities, a completely new setting built on modern horror tropes. However, there appears to be a lot of the old Ravenloft in there... so presumably they think modern audiences will appreciate it too, and like the idea of a setting with some history. It just seems that certain elements needed repaired, in their view.

(Also, I'm pretty sure plenty of new fans appreciate old lore. Look at all the lore videos on YouTube for stuff like comic book universes or Tolkien or Warhammer and such. Go to a bookstore and look at how many comic book trades, collecting storylines decades old, are still in print.)

None of that's an argument against updates, especially to smooth out troublesome elements, but it is an argument for respect. I guess we'll see how it turned out in a few weeks.

It means that WotC adjusting lore to better fit the times is not a big deal. They still have a cool IP that folks like. It's more like the way adaptations are treated. Sure, some people were mad when the X-Men films came out because of the changes from the source material, but the majority of the target audience enjoyed them (well, X1 and X2 anyway...).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

people were mad when the X-Men films came out because of the changes from the source material,

Uniforms weren't yellow! How dare they?!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Nothing never ever about Har´Akir ever was even remotely close to any kind of steampunk, unless i suffer from Mandela effect.

Just proves how good Uncle Teapot is at gaslighting.

 

[Remathilis]

But that is what Strahd is: he is the 'not dracula' guy. The whole reason he resonated was people instantly recognized the dracula look was being invoked (even though it was nearly 60 years or so after the look had been established in movies)

Somewhat. WotC has been making some subtle changes for decades now. His look was the biggest change (losing the Bella Lugosi style tux for the fur-lined nobleman's coat) as well a some changes to his origin. Is he still D&D's Dracula? Yeah, he fills the niche and that will never change. What is different is no one could mistake Curse of Strahd cover for Dracula, while i6 Strahd has been.

The Art for Ravenloft and Castlevania II are very Similar - Retroist

Let’s take a look at a controversy that is over the 30 years old. Did Castlevania II rip off the art style of Ravenloft?

retroist.com

 

[Erdric Dragin]

Domains are demiplanes, right? So they represent singular themes and I guess maybe "don't make sense" because they are inherently limited? Maybe they are acknowledging how stereotypical such a domain is and are making an effort to explain its orientalism via the powers in charge. It's potentially meta, and that might be interesting.

The entire place is ONE Demiplane. The Demiplane of Dread. Each domain is located within that Demiplane, some as islands in the Sea of Sorrows or Nocturnal Sea, others part of the core continent with each domain bordered by the Mists. Locals can come and go between the domains, if allowed by the darklords, but lethal threats, dangers, and darklord whims make it difficult. The Vistani are the only ones who can navigate the Mists, mysteriously, even teleporting from one domain to another if they wanted.

Which is what I'm assuming they're going to stick by, because if not, then that's just plain stupid design to have them all as separate demiplanes with no form of ravel between them all.

 

[Remathilis]

The entire place is ONE Demiplane. The Demiplane of Dread. Each domain is located within that Demiplane, some as islands in the Sea of Sorrows or Nocturnal Sea, others part of the core continent with each domain bordered by the Mists. Locals can come and go between the domains, if allowed by the darklords, but lethal threats, dangers, and darklord whims make it difficult. The Vistani are the only ones who can navigate the Mists, mysteriously, even teleporting from one domain to another if they wanted.

Which is what I'm assuming they're going to stick by, because if not, then that's just plain stupid design to have them all as separate demiplanes with no form of ravel between them all.

You might want to sit down for this one...

 

[Retreater]

Not to be indelicate, but, that would put your wife and her friends at over 30. Which isn't really countering my point.

Mid 20s, with some in their late 20s. I guess they saw it on video or tv when they were kids?
We know that they likely didn't watch the newer Mummy movie with Tom Cruise, which did badly at the box office. Which can be what happens when corporations try to reimagine tropes for younger audiences.
But you know what they have done? Played a lot of Skyrim - which is plundering a bunch of tombs filled with undead.
Trust me. I get why it's a problem to have heroes looting tombs based on ancient Egyptian culture. People who looked like me nearly destroyed it for centuries. I've seen the plundered treasures in museums and the remains of the mummified dead on display. I've seen art painted with "mummy brown." A local pharmacy has a jar for a "powdered mummy" cure-all on display.
In our history we've romanticized, fetishized, and villanized a culture with thousands of years of history, that was the lone survivor of the Bronze Age Collapse, that preserved an ancient history in writing and art.
I'm not going to offer suggestions of how Wizards can do it successfully because I've obviously not yet seen what their efforts have been.