D&D 5E Barovia and Borca: What is the world they originated from like? And what could it be like now?

[Alzrius]

Instead, the copy was made and the real Barovian people went about their lives 'til someone got curious enough to go to the Castle and found it abandoned... I wonder if it was immediately renovated for a new Baron or if it was left to molder and rot upon the mountainside...

Well, in the adventure, the Prime Material Castle Ravenloft is where King Barov von Zarovich VI (LG hm F15) and his wife Kristiana (LG hf C15) rule from - with Strahd planning on killing and replacing the king (since he's a dead ringer for the vampire, and his wife is the reincarnation of Tatyanna) - so it probably wasn't left to rot.

 

[DEFCON 1]

1) There's nothing that ever tried to present a common timeline across the multiverse.
2) Van Richten doesn't automatically know the truth across all planes, and the guide is written from his perspective.

So combine "We don't know the truth" with "Potentially unreliable narrator" and you've got a massive "Shrug of Uncertainty". Personally I like the idea that Strahd is the first vampire. Gives him even more gravitas as a character and it's not like it honestly matters in any way shape or form.

Yep, exactly. There is no "canon" in the D&D Multiverse. Because there is no In-Multiverse person who sits above the Multiverse and is able to see everything in the exact order all of it happens to write it down. The only people who sit above the D&D Multiverse to make comments about it are the designers of the game and the rest of us players. But that is meaningless, because at any point someone can come along and change "canon" by saying that some other vampire was the first vampire and not Strahd.

So worrying about it is pointless. If "canon" can be changed at any point by any of us... then "canon" doesn't exist and we shouldn't waste our time trying to adapt it or work with it.

 

[Alzrius]

1) There's nothing that ever tried to present a common timeline across the multiverse.

O RLY?

 

[Parmandur]

O RLY?

Nothing "official."

 

[Steampunkette]

@Alzrius and @Parmandur Kinda Sorta, Maybeish?

Brian R. James is the guy who created the "Grand History of the Realms" online over the course of the 90s. He collected timelines and information from 35 different books and got the attention of WotC who eventually hired him to compile his work into a book they then sold.

The Grand History of the Realms - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

In 2003, Brian R. James tried to create a full Temporal Chronology for all the D&D Campaign settings at the time.

He -had- been hired by WotC, but they didn't use his full Temporal Chronology, only the Faerunian one, which was published in 2007.

 

[Parmandur]

@Alzrius and @Parmandur Kinda Sorta, Maybeish?

Brian R. James is the guy who created the "Grand History of the Realms" online over the course of the 90s. He collected timelines and information from 35 different books and got the attention of WotC who eventually hired him to compile his work into a book they then sold.

The Grand History of the Realms - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

In 2003, Brian R. James tried to create a full Temporal Chronology for all the D&D Campaign settings at the time.

He -had- been hired by WotC, but they didn't use his full Temporal Chronology, only the Faerunian one, which was published in 2007.

Right, that's what I said, nothing official.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

It was always true that Strahd became a vampire through a pact with the Dark Powers rather than being infected, so to speak. Strahd being the first vampire wouldn't have fit however, since Duke Gundar (the darklord of Gundarak) was explicitly stated to be an older vampire. (Of course, Gundar has now dissipated into the black hole of retcons).

So strangely enough... Duke Gundar is mentioned in the Van Richten's Guide.

A megalith erected by Barovia's original inhabitants topples near Vallaki. Beneath lies the tomb of an ancient nosferatu who calls himself Duke Gundar; he immediately takes a disliking to Count Strahd von Zarovich.

Definitely a big inconsistency there, but I suppose one could say nosferatu are a more ancient form of vampire that predates the standard version.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Got it on the second try.

But, if there's no multiuniversal timeline then "The multiverse's first vampire" is a meaningless statement because there is no first, last, before or after. So that can't be it.

 

[Steampunkette]

But, if there's no multiuniversal timeline then "The multiverse's first vampire" is a meaningless statement because there is no first, last, before or after. So that can't be it.

Ostensibly? But it assumes that WotC has no canonical idea of a timeline. Which they might.

And if they do, and have decided he's the first vampire, then he is that thing, even if we don't have the timeline to look at and go "Nuh huh!"

But, again, it's Van Richten's Guide, so unreliable narrator is also possible.

 

[Parmandur]

But, if there's no multiuniversal timeline then "The multiverse's first vampire" is a meaningless statement because there is no first, last, before or after. So that can't be it.

Mythical causality doesn't necessarily follow logical, Newtonian chronology. Look at all the spells available the Forgotten Realms that have the names of Wizards from Greyhawk...who are still active...