D&D General Ravenloft: Monsters vs Darklords

[Paul Farquhar]

I never saw Ravenloft as parody. To me it was Gothic and Classic horror with Universal and Hammer aesthetics. It certainly lent itself more to occasional humor or cheese than Vampire, which is one of the reasons I liked it. But it never felt like a long running joke either

How can you have Hammer aesthetics and not be a parody?!

 

[Fifinjir]

I prefer Darklords to be the ultimate example of what wrong with the Domain rather than the sole cause of it, so I’m in favor of monsters and villains that aren’t connected to them but reflect the Darklord in some ways (as well as heroes and bystanders that sometimes resemble them a little too closely for comfort).

 

[Micah Sweet]

How can you have Hammer aesthetics and not be a parody?!

Again, because parody is meant to be taken lightly or humorously. What in Ravenloft, outside of the isolated tomb gag on which you're hanging this hypothesis, has a light or humorous tone? I own nearly every piece of material published for it across multiple editions and publishers, and nearly all of it takes itself pretty darn seriously.

 

[Remathilis]

How can you have Hammer aesthetics and not be a parody?!

Hammer is very campy, but not a parody. It's not attempting to mock or satirize, but it's very over the top, theatrical, and kitsch. Much of classic horror is (be it Universal, Hammer or Corman). Likewise, much of D&D is solidly camp, though a large chuck of the player base thinks it is Serious Business

 

[Bedrockgames]

How can you have Hammer aesthetics and not be a parody?!

I think we have had this discussion about hammer before so we likely view it a bit different from one another. But I consider hammer to not be parody. Hammy maybe at times. But hammy isn't parody. These older films have styles that do lend themselves to parody. That is why Young Frankenstein works. And why people might quote old universal movies with a sense of wit and melodrama. But the overall tone of Ravenloft, particularly the setting as it was presented in the 2E boxed sets and domains of dread was very much about real horror atmosphere. And it is filled with quotes that are quite serious (the lengthy Frankenstein quote in the black box is isn't parody).

However I do agree with you it isn't a rigidly serious setting. It can juggle different tones. It does occasionally have an edge of ham for sure and occasional humor. You can read some of the lines in the boxed set as intentionally a little over over the top. The section on Paladins for example:

That kind of tone is one of the things I found so wonderful about Ravenloft, and why I preferred it to Vampire (I also think it is why the S&S Ravenloft material failed for me). The Van Richten books are the same. There is a lot of ironic humor in them

 

[Remathilis]

Again, because parody is meant to be taken lightly or humorously. What in Ravenloft, outside of the isolated tomb gag on which you're hanging this hypothesis, has a light or humorous tone? I own nearly every piece of material published for it across multiple editions and publishers, and nearly all of it takes itself pretty darn seriously.

Too seriously in some cases.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Again, because parody is meant to be taken lightly or humorously. What in Ravenloft, outside of the isolated tomb gag on which you're hanging this hypothesis, has a light or humorous tone? I own nearly every piece of material published for it across multiple editions and publishers, and nearly all of it takes itself pretty darn seriously.

I would push back on this a bit. I don't think it is parody. It definitely doesn't have the tone of young frankenstein but it definitely has a lot of ham and seems to have been written by plenty of writers who probably laughed just as much as they were terrified by horror movies. It doesn't take itself seriously the way Vampire did for example. There is room for a Vincent Price voice in the text. And again there is plenty of ironic humor to be found in it. It just isn't a gag. It is classic horror is meant to be scary but also fun

 

[Micah Sweet]

Too seriously in some cases.

Subjectively, sure. People have different preferences.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I would push back on this a bit. I don't think it is parody. It definitely doesn't have the tone of young frankenstein but it definitely has a lot of ham and seems to have been written by plenty of writers who probably laughed just as much as they were terrified by horror movies. It doesn't take itself seriously the way Vampire did for example. There is room for a Vincent Price voice in the text. And again there is plenty of ironic humor to be found in it. It just isn't a gag. It is classic horror is meant to be scary but also fun

Maybe, but you're still supposed to take the setting seriously in general. It's not a comedy.

 

[Incenjucar]

Fantasy horror is inherently silly. It's a matter of how much we accept the setting's tone whether it comes off as scary or campy. This difference is why horror films make me sleepy.