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

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[JEB]

That sounds cool, but what does it mean? I was hoping the article would elaborate, but it doesn’t. I’m intrigued, but also very confused.

I assume they're retaining the concept of "false history" for domains, from earlier editions of Ravenloft, and this is a nod to that. Basically, the domain's ancient past is all made up and never really happened.

 

[Charlaquin]

I assume they're retaining the concept of "false history" for domains, from earlier editions of Ravenloft, and this is a nod to that. Basically, the domain's ancient past is all made up and never really happened.

That would make sense.

 

[Reynard]

That would make sense.

They did name drop Dark City, so that supports the idea of a massive gaslighting of the local population.

 

[Lefi2017]

Why wouldn't it make sense? It's classic Gothic horror. Am I missing something?

isn|t it was jsut taken from an other place as it is Ravenloft is supposed to be a twisted patchwork domain

 

[Lefi2017]

Local people search the ruins and uncover something nice.

"These are local ruins, for local people."

shouldn't locals avoid these places like the plöage like locals avoiding strahds castle because of the ones that do don't come back?

 

[dalisprime]

its very MTG, possibly Stargate, but yeah its not really invoking the Mummy

It's not meant to. They're actively moving away from the derivative nature of Ravenloft.

 

[Retreater]

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.

Yeah. I just realized there was a link to the Polygon article, and I read more elaboration behind the quote.
I understand what they mean now. And I'm glad D&D is big enough for players to have this product and I can still have the upcoming 5E revision of Gary Gygax's Necropolis and the original Ravenloft campaign setting.
I am partial to a D&D that is rooted in literature, classic film, and other tropes that some think are derivative. I value having some degree of pop culture familiarity to navigate an imaginary world. A lot of the current stuff just seems too bizarre for my tastes, or referring to a fantasy that has no relevance to my groups (MtG, anime, or contemporary SF novels requiring you to be well read beyond the standards - aka clockwork Egyptian steampunk.)
The past couple years have demonstrated just how much of a grognard I am. I have absolutely no idea what WotC is doing. But I'm glad so many people like it, and I'm appreciative of your explanations.

 

[Tonguez]

It's not meant to. They're actively moving away from the derivative nature of Ravenloft.

it doesnt make a lot of sense to me to use a Greater Mummy and then actively make it not really a Mummy. If they wanted that they could have gone for a Werejackal or a Priest of Set as the Darklord instead

or contemporary SF novels requiring you to be well read beyond the standards - aka clockwork Egyptian steampunk.

I’ve read some of P Djeli Clark’s work and its good

 

[Retreater]

I’ve read some of P Djeli Clark’s work and its good

I shall need to take a look at it. But it's still quite different for me to turn to my group of 4 middle-aged gamers and say "hey, do you remember that scene in P Djeli Clark's novel..."
Much easier to say "do you remember any pop culture depiction of a mummy in a book, movie, tv show, video game, etc."
My D&D games tend towards the latter example.

 

[overgeeked]

It's not meant to. They're actively moving away from the derivative nature of Ravenloft.

That’s too bad. That was one of the main draws.