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.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I feel its a pretty safe bet Lamordia, Har'Akir and Dementlieu are there

I’m not disagreeing with you, but can you point to anything specific that indicates those settings will be covered? Sure it’s pretty obvious they would include the Frankenstein and Mummy domains, but I’m looking for evidence.

I kind of feel that a lot of Dementlieu's themes could be covered by Borca, and it's dark lord is less interesting as a plot driver. After Dark Cinderella, what do you do with it? I kind of feel that for something to be a setting rather than an adventure it needs to have more than one story.

a piece of art showed the Darklord of Kalakeri

Yes, I think we can consider Kalakeri as the seventh confirmed.

I think Odaire has a really good chance due to the Carionette seeming to get a push in artwork and in the Horrified Game

Yeah, I have a feeling this one will get much more in depth coverage than VGR gave it. No specific evidence, but the theme feels strong and contemporary. It's small though - could it be enlarged or combined - with Dementlieu perhaps - as the definitive dark fairytale domain?

I think it's fair to say that they will want to include somewhere with a lupin settlement. Verbrek seems the best fit to me. Arkandale/Kartakass/Souragne - Southern Gothic is an important subgenre, but needs sensitive handling. A possibility of Godsbreath being absorbed by the mists?

 

[Thommy H-H]

Nothing is being lost by not including a setting, this book is not being presented as the only and definitive Ravenloft book.

Yes I know. I meant lost from the book, as opposed to the full inclusion in VRGtR.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yes I know. I meant lost from the book, as opposed to the full inclusion in VRGtR.

VGR remains on sale, and in your library, and there are no game mechanics for the setting that need updating. Earlier versions (which aren't noticeably different) are also easily available. I'm not saying it won't be in, but what would you actually do with it if it is?

 

[ProfessorDetective]

Another book I just remembered and has similar vibes to Ravenloft is Cthulhu City for Trail of Cthulhu.

This setting book centers on Great Arkham, a strange metropolis ruled by the likes of the Esoteric Order of Dagon and seemingly closed off from the wider world, if not time and space entirely. It reads a LOT like an over-sized Domain, to me.

https://pelgranepress.com/product/cthulhu-city/

 

[Remathilis]

I’m not disagreeing with you, but can you point to anything specific that indicates those settings will be covered? Sure it’s pretty obvious they would include the Frankenstein and Mummy domains, but I’m looking for evidence.

Nothing confirmed on any of these, they are mostly educated guessing and a little wish fulfillment.
Viktra has made a lot of cameos in Ravenloft media. Comics, novels, even the MMO. Plus the reanimator is screaming Lamordian flavor.
Im less certain on the others, save they were popular in VGR.

I kind of feel that a lot of Dementlieu's themes could be covered by Borca, and it's dark lord is less interesting as a plot driver. After Dark Cinderella, what do you do with it? I kind of feel that for something to be a setting rather than an adventure it needs to have more than one story.

That's kinda why I think it could be expanded beyond the frequent masquerade balls, but it's the weakest of the gut feelings.

Yes, I think we can consider Kalakeri as the seventh confirmed.

It's a safe bet.

Yeah, I have a feeling this one will get much more in depth coverage than VGR gave it. No specific evidence, but the theme feels strong and contemporary. It's small though - could it be enlarged or combined - with Dementlieu perhaps - as the definitive dark fairytale domain?

I don't think they will start merging domains, but I guess I could replace Dementlieu in the lineup.

I think it's fair to say that they will want to include somewhere with a lupin settlement. Verbrek seems the best fit to me. Arkandale/Kartakass/Souragne - Southern Gothic is an important subgenre, but needs sensitive handling. A possibility of Godsbreath being absorbed by the mists?

I would rather the author of Godsbreath revise or create a new domain than watch it become a canon domain.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't think they will start merging domains

They realised they had too many and started merging them way back with the Grand Conjunction event. Siloing dark lords so they can’t meet puts a limiter on story potential too. Why can’t we have Evil Pinocchio team up with Evil Cinderella? Down-grading some dark lords to regular villain could address the issue.

 

[abazaba]

We could be looking at something like this:

1. Barovia (gothic/vampires)
2. Borca (sociopolitical, two darklords)
3. Darkon (Apocalyptic dark fantasy)
4. Innsmouth (Cosmic)
5. Sithicus (dark fantasy/gothic)
6. Mordent (gothic/ghosts)
7. Lamorida (body horror/Frankenstein)
8. Har'Akir (mummy/dark fantasy)
9. Dementlieu (gothic, political)
10. Kalakeri (dark fantasy, non-European)
11. Tepest (or other Folk Horror)
12. Shadowlands (dark fantasy/Arthurian)
13. Odaire (gothic/dark fairytale)
14. Kartakass (or other Lycanthrope domain)
15. Souragne (or another famous classic domain reimagined)
16. Wild Card

If this is true, then I'm going to buy that book, and not read it, but donate it to our DM and beg him to run campaign(s) for us in these domains. I had no idea ; somehow my mind just equated 'Ravenloft' to 'Vampires', which I now understand is not the case. And excuse me, but I now have some homework to do.

 

[Remathilis]

They realised they had too many and started merging them way back with the Grand Conjunction event. Siloing dark lords so they can’t meet puts a limiter on story potential too. Why can’t we have Evil Pinocchio team up with Evil Cinderella? Down-grading some dark lords to regular villain could address the issue.

Problem is, there are 16 domains (fact) and 17 dark lords (fact) and Borca is a known inclusion (fact) and Borca had two dark lords (fact). Ergo the remaining 15 domains must correlate with the remaining 15 dark lords, so either Mallingo and Odaire is included as a separate domain OR they aren't there at all. But every remaining darklord in the book will have their own domain.

 

[Thommy H-H]

VGR remains on sale, and in your library, and there are no game mechanics for the setting that need updating. Earlier versions (which aren't noticeably different) are also easily available. I'm not saying it won't be in, but what would you actually do with it if it is?

I just like it and want to see it included in the book, mate. Chill out.

 

[tetrasodium]

They realised they had too many and started merging them way back with the Grand Conjunction event. Siloing dark lords so they can’t meet puts a limiter on story potential too. Why can’t we have Evil Pinocchio team up with Evil Cinderella? Down-grading some dark lords to regular villain could address the issue.

I don't disagree, but I think it's more of a structural issue with some of the one note domains that vrgtr covered. Not every domain can be treated as being equal to or even meeting an average bar.

Some domains are nuanced with depth and complexity that supports a campaign where players are free to have their pcs explore and develop a domain shaded location that colors the result even if the players don't do the obvious thing described, that's great for games that aren't just treating the domain as a one shot module. Other domains are so narrowly focused one note things that they come off more like a two dimensional D grade mini boss that doesn't have enough bones to color a campaign where the players go off adventuring in a domain shaped location. Since both classes of domain work fine for games that treat the domain like a one shot where the PCs treat it like a module they are just expected to do and one is too flimsy to work as a location it makes for an easy choice where to focus page count