Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Settings played in D&D: cause or effect?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 6769299" data-attributes="member: 7635"><p>The Vistani are more hugely important to Ravenloft for two reasons: 1.) They're the only ones who are aware of the nature of the demiplane and 2.) They have amazing powers of divination and cursing, far beyond what "known magic" can do. They hold a special place in Ravenloft as being basically uber-powered humans who are cunning enough to defy darklords and get away with it. Making them just another FR ethnic group absolutely shatters that mystique. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The Mists are another ubiquitous element: they transport you into, out of, and around Ravenloft. The spring up anywhere, can take you anywhere, and only seasoned travellers (or the Vistani) know how to use them to get to where THEY want to go. Additionally, the mists can help seal the borders in many domains. </p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p>Oddly, this is one of the easier parts to port: two of the bigger faiths in RL (The Lawgiver and Morninglord) and exports of FR anyway (Bane and Lathandar, the latter via Jandar Sunstar). A few others are other RW deities (Benelus, Osiris) or unique to a single domain (Zhakata) but the biggest loss would be the Church of Ezra, a Catholic church replacement complete with schisms and denominations rather than a single deity; not sure it would work in Faerun since part of its allure is its widespreadness...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Bzzzt! The Dark Powers were the ones who TRAPPED those creatures. They're the overseers of the domain, they are the ones who are the jailers. They made the pact with Strahd, cursed many a dark lord's ambition, tortured Soth and even imprisoned Vecna for a short while. Whenever a being does evil, it draws a chance the Dark Powers will notice and "reward" them with some boon tied with a curse; enough of such actions and the evil-doer risks transforming into a creature of the night or becoming his own minor domain lord. They also are the reason magic works funny in RL; enhancing necromancy, stopping ALL planar travel (even summons) and making divination unreliable. In short, they are powerful enough to mess with the powers of Gods and a major reason why Ravenloft IS Ravenloft. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Each realm has its own Dark Lord, and many are pretty much classic gothic horror monsters with serial numbers filed off. There are versions of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Mummy, Jeckyl/Hyde, a Voodoo zombie lord, a Vlad the Impaler, a ghost lord, the Weird Sisters of Macbeth, etc. Each gets its own domain which represents the setting (a vast desert, the mountains of Switzerland, a Caribbean Island, and lots of Eastern Europe). Domains can range from bronze age to renaissance tech as well. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I'd call it an IP theft more than a compromise; you're taking the barest wisp of the idea and slamming it into the Realms. There is an easier way...</p><p></p><p>Ravenloft, by its nature, is modular. That is, the Mists come in sweep you up, put you in some situation, and at the end of it release you. Its how the "Night of Horror" mode of RL play worked through most of 2e; the idea of RL as "full world" came much later. Go back to the Night or Horror model; sweep up some 1st level adventures, let them wander around a domain for 15 levels, return them when done. You can add all the variant rules needed in the Appendix (slimmed down a bit), no PC info (since their not natives) and in the end, you're not forcing Ravenloft's IP onto Faerun (disrupting both in the process). </p><p></p><p>(Planescape would be easily done this way as well; substitute "mists" with "portal" and "domain" with "Sigil")</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Remathilis, post: 6769299, member: 7635"] The Vistani are more hugely important to Ravenloft for two reasons: 1.) They're the only ones who are aware of the nature of the demiplane and 2.) They have amazing powers of divination and cursing, far beyond what "known magic" can do. They hold a special place in Ravenloft as being basically uber-powered humans who are cunning enough to defy darklords and get away with it. Making them just another FR ethnic group absolutely shatters that mystique. The Mists are another ubiquitous element: they transport you into, out of, and around Ravenloft. The spring up anywhere, can take you anywhere, and only seasoned travellers (or the Vistani) know how to use them to get to where THEY want to go. Additionally, the mists can help seal the borders in many domains. Oddly, this is one of the easier parts to port: two of the bigger faiths in RL (The Lawgiver and Morninglord) and exports of FR anyway (Bane and Lathandar, the latter via Jandar Sunstar). A few others are other RW deities (Benelus, Osiris) or unique to a single domain (Zhakata) but the biggest loss would be the Church of Ezra, a Catholic church replacement complete with schisms and denominations rather than a single deity; not sure it would work in Faerun since part of its allure is its widespreadness... Bzzzt! The Dark Powers were the ones who TRAPPED those creatures. They're the overseers of the domain, they are the ones who are the jailers. They made the pact with Strahd, cursed many a dark lord's ambition, tortured Soth and even imprisoned Vecna for a short while. Whenever a being does evil, it draws a chance the Dark Powers will notice and "reward" them with some boon tied with a curse; enough of such actions and the evil-doer risks transforming into a creature of the night or becoming his own minor domain lord. They also are the reason magic works funny in RL; enhancing necromancy, stopping ALL planar travel (even summons) and making divination unreliable. In short, they are powerful enough to mess with the powers of Gods and a major reason why Ravenloft IS Ravenloft. Each realm has its own Dark Lord, and many are pretty much classic gothic horror monsters with serial numbers filed off. There are versions of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Mummy, Jeckyl/Hyde, a Voodoo zombie lord, a Vlad the Impaler, a ghost lord, the Weird Sisters of Macbeth, etc. Each gets its own domain which represents the setting (a vast desert, the mountains of Switzerland, a Caribbean Island, and lots of Eastern Europe). Domains can range from bronze age to renaissance tech as well. I'd call it an IP theft more than a compromise; you're taking the barest wisp of the idea and slamming it into the Realms. There is an easier way... Ravenloft, by its nature, is modular. That is, the Mists come in sweep you up, put you in some situation, and at the end of it release you. Its how the "Night of Horror" mode of RL play worked through most of 2e; the idea of RL as "full world" came much later. Go back to the Night or Horror model; sweep up some 1st level adventures, let them wander around a domain for 15 levels, return them when done. You can add all the variant rules needed in the Appendix (slimmed down a bit), no PC info (since their not natives) and in the end, you're not forcing Ravenloft's IP onto Faerun (disrupting both in the process). (Planescape would be easily done this way as well; substitute "mists" with "portal" and "domain" with "Sigil") [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Settings played in D&D: cause or effect?
Top