Innsmouth added as new Ravenloft Domain of Dread, bringing Lovecraft to D&D

Innsmouth, the iconic home of several HP Lovecraft stories, is being incorporated into Ravenloft as a new Domain of Dread. Earlier today, Wizards of the Coast revealed the contents of Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, including the number of subclasses, ancestries, and new creature statblocks in the game. Wizards also revealed that 16 Domains of Dread will be profiled in the book, including the new domain Innsmouth. Assumably, its Darklord will be Cthulhu, who was previously confirmed to be in Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, complete with a statblock.

Cosmic horror has long had a place in Dungeons & Dragons lore, with Cthulhu originally appearing in early copies of Deities and Demigods. Due to a licensing dispute with Chaosium, TSR removed Cthulhu and other Lovecraftian creatures from later printings of the book. Cthulhu along with Lovecraft's other creations have since passed into the public domain, thus removing any restrictions on featuring the characters in a D&D book.

Of course, Innsmouth (at least in Lovecraft's work) is supposed to be a turn of the century New England coastal town, which doesn't exactly jive with the high fantasy trappings of Dungeons & Dragons. We'll have to see how much of Innsmouth is changed to line up with D&D when Ravenloft: The Horrors Within releases later this summer.

 

[Jadeite]

Adding Cthulhu and Innsmouth is pretty uninspired. Dracula, Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll were Public Domain as well, but we still got Strahd, Mordenheim and Malken instead.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

This is quite frankly the most terrible and uninspired thing that WotC has done to the much-abused corpse of Ravenloft. Slotting in the works of Lovecraft in the most ham-fisted way, not to mention the thematic inconsistency of these works and the D&D cosmological set up (Cthulhu doesn't work palling around in a universe with Lathander). If D&D wants to do cosmic horror it can - it has its own flavour (think Bluetspur) that works on a thematically consistent level. This isn't it. It only confirms that the current stewards will both continue to mishandle this IP.

 

[TwoSix]

This is quite frankly the most terrible and uninspired thing that WotC has done to the much-abused corpse of Ravenloft. Slotting in the works of Lovecraft in the most ham-fisted way, not to mention the thematic inconsistency of these works and the D&D cosmological set up (Cthulhu doesn't work palling around in a universe with Lathander). If D&D wants to do cosmic horror it can - it has its own flavour (think Bluetspur) that works on a thematically consistent level. This isn't it. It only confirms that the current stewards will both continue to mishandle this IP.

Anything that reiterates the idea that the D&D multiverse is intended to be tonally disparate and inconsistent is a good thing, in my book. The idea of a "thematically consistent" D&D is anathema to its spirit as a DIY playground.

 

[Stuart Kerrigan]

I prefer campaign settings to have some thematic consistency, while Ravenloft did at one point in the hey-day of 3e. Not so keen on slotting in public domain Lovecraft stuff as is. If you want to do an Innsmouth domain, do an Innsmouth-like domain but original enough to be better able to make use of the D&D trappings. There's a reason why we have Strahd, not Dracula or Victor Mordenheim not... Victor Frankenstein (hey at least they were trying).

 

[Remathilis]

I prefer campaign settings to have some thematic consistency, while Ravenloft did at one point in the hey-day of 3e. Not so keen on slotting in public domain Lovecraft stuff as is. If you want to do an Innsmouth domain, do an Innsmouth-like domain but original enough to be better able to make use of the D&D trappings. There's a reason why we have Strahd, not Dracula or Victor Mordenheim not... Victor Frankenstein (hey at least they were trying).

Honestly, that's is the BEST defense for Viktra Mordenheim you could offer. Victor is such a one to one copy of Victor that they couldn't even bother giving him a different first name. (Even the movie renamed him Henry). Viktra introduces so many new twists on the Frankenstein plot rather than vaguely use the novels plot as the backstory.

After all the work they put into making characters like Viktra, Anktepot and Vladeska to make them more than CVS brand Frankenstein, Imhotep and Tepes, adding raw unfiltered Chthulu feels uninspired. Like that is what 2e Ravenloft would do, not 5e. But I digress. It's one domain.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I would rather Ravenloft with secret cults of yuan-ti guided by a linnord or a cobra-dragon (it was canon in 2nd) or infernal dragons. (the infernal dragonborns should be awesome).... or the creepy brainstealer dragon.

I guess Innsmouth has been chosen because Japanese market is too interested into Chaosium "Call of Chulthu" and this is their hope to get a bigger piece of the cake.

Of course WotC would rather to create its own IPs because when you use public domain others can copy your idea and it would be "legal" but here Lovecraft has got too much brand power to be discarted.

I would like to imagen Bluespur sending infitrates to cause troubles in other domains.

 

[Quartz]

However, I'd prefer they not be mixed. I detest crossover products.

Perhaps you should speak to Brian Lumley about his Theem'hdra stories.

 

[Clint_L]

There's a reason why we have Strahd, not Dracula or Victor Mordenheim not... Victor Frankenstein (hey at least they were trying).

Because the creators wanted to make an obvious pastiche rather than come up with something fresh? If this was just a Strahd book, my interest would be zero.

 

[occam]

Not so keen on slotting in public domain Lovecraft stuff as is. If you want to do an Innsmouth domain, do an Innsmouth-like domain but original enough to be better able to make use of the D&D trappings. There's a reason why we have Strahd, not Dracula or Victor Mordenheim not... Victor Frankenstein (hey at least they were trying).

That's right. If only WotC were instead to introduce the town of River's End, with people slowly transforming into brinefolk centered on a cult of Grand Kith-hooloo, they would meet universal acclaim with cries of "At least they didn't directly rip off Lovecraft!"

</sarcasm mode>

If you're going to do something with the Mythos, just use the Mythos. Trying to disguise it as something else is, IMO, worse than pointless; it'll be spotted immediately, and it's not like Cthulhu himself hasn't already appeared in umpteen RPG products over the last 45+ years. Which is unlike Dracula or Frankenstein, who generally don't appear by name in gaming products, despite having been part of the public domain for much longer. Why? I don't know, call it an RPG tradition at this point.

 

[SkidAce]

I know this will be heresy to some, but...

In my campaign "Ravenloft" as a whole doesn't exist. I still have the concept of evil mists and trapped environments, but every domain is a separate place and location.

Soth's domain is in Dragonlance, Bluetspur is an entrapped illithid domain to the west of my main continent, the Nightmare Lands are a portion of the Dreamscape, etc.

So I will grab this Innsmouth domain and put it wherever I may need it. I may even have it be a realm that fades in and out, depending on the tides and the moon.