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
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Everything We Know About The Ravenloft Book
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="humble minion" data-source="post: 8210081" data-attributes="member: 5948"><p>There's no single answer to any of these questions, but most of them have been answered at various times over the years in the Ravenloft line.</p><p></p><p>Over the centuries, Strahd's obsession Tatyana has been reincarnated many many times. She's not aware of his interest or of her place in his punishment, but Strahd is cursed by the Dark Powers to fail to attain her. Maybe in some past lives she HAS escaped Barovia, and lived a full life outside in Mordent or somewhere, while Strahd raged impotently from Barovia. Maybe sometimes Strahd attempted to prevent her escape and she died trying to leave. The Dark Powers hold the whip hand in Ravenloft and they don't care what happens to Tatyana, as long as Strahd doesn't have her. She, through all her lives is nothing but an instrument of his punishment. Nobody ever said the Dark Powers were nice, or fair, after all!</p><p></p><p>But Strahd isn't onmiscient or omnipotent even in his own domain. He can only stop her leaving, or stop PCs leaving, or stop Van Richten entering, if he knows that they're actually trying to cross the borders. Closing the borders is all or nothing, They're completely closed, completely open to everyone (minus whatever spies etc Strahd might have on the roads or watching the Vistani). And of course when it comes to Tatyana his efforts are ultimately doomed to fail - even if he hampers her movement or keeps her in Barovia, she'll never love him. Because that's the curse the Dark Powers laid on him when he became a Darklord, and he can't use the powers of a Darklord to escape the destiny of a Darklord. From the outside Barovia might look like Strahd's dominion, but it's really his punishment.</p><p></p><p>And that's true with all the domain lords. They have vast powers in their domain, but their curse prevents them using those powers to achieve what they want the most. Could Strahd launch major wars etc, if he wanted to? Sure (though if he was invading another domain whose Darklord cared enough to defend it, he'd lose). But Strahd isn't really interested in conquest. He's only interested in Tatyana - if her newest incarnation appeared at a critical moment in his military operations, he'd drop everything to seek her out, and the Dark Powers would make sure he can't have her anyway. Some Darklords, like the pre-5e version of Vlad Drakov genuinely are driven by the desire to wage aggressive war - but Vlad's curse prevents him from ever being successful at it. Hell, part of Ankhtepot's curse is to watch the once-mighty kingdom he ruled wither into a scattering of ruins that ignorant foreigners plunder for treasure.</p><p></p><p>As for why Darklords EVER let their borders open - well, again, it depends how much they care. Darklords ONLY care about their curse, and the drives or desires that led them to be cursed in the first place. All else is secondary. Strahd only gives a damn about the borders insofar as they affect his quest to possess Tatyana. Why would he keep them closed, when perhaps her latest incarnation was born in another domain, or perhaps the secret to breaking his curse is held by some travelling wizard?</p><p></p><p>It's also worth remembering that, Strahd aside, many Darklords don't actually hold temporal political power in their domain. Sodo, Wilfred Godefroi, Adam, the Three Sisters of Tepet, etc - they probably don't actually care very much if their domain is invaded, and certainly aren't in a position to invade others even if they cared enough to want to.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="humble minion, post: 8210081, member: 5948"] There's no single answer to any of these questions, but most of them have been answered at various times over the years in the Ravenloft line. Over the centuries, Strahd's obsession Tatyana has been reincarnated many many times. She's not aware of his interest or of her place in his punishment, but Strahd is cursed by the Dark Powers to fail to attain her. Maybe in some past lives she HAS escaped Barovia, and lived a full life outside in Mordent or somewhere, while Strahd raged impotently from Barovia. Maybe sometimes Strahd attempted to prevent her escape and she died trying to leave. The Dark Powers hold the whip hand in Ravenloft and they don't care what happens to Tatyana, as long as Strahd doesn't have her. She, through all her lives is nothing but an instrument of his punishment. Nobody ever said the Dark Powers were nice, or fair, after all! But Strahd isn't onmiscient or omnipotent even in his own domain. He can only stop her leaving, or stop PCs leaving, or stop Van Richten entering, if he knows that they're actually trying to cross the borders. Closing the borders is all or nothing, They're completely closed, completely open to everyone (minus whatever spies etc Strahd might have on the roads or watching the Vistani). And of course when it comes to Tatyana his efforts are ultimately doomed to fail - even if he hampers her movement or keeps her in Barovia, she'll never love him. Because that's the curse the Dark Powers laid on him when he became a Darklord, and he can't use the powers of a Darklord to escape the destiny of a Darklord. From the outside Barovia might look like Strahd's dominion, but it's really his punishment. And that's true with all the domain lords. They have vast powers in their domain, but their curse prevents them using those powers to achieve what they want the most. Could Strahd launch major wars etc, if he wanted to? Sure (though if he was invading another domain whose Darklord cared enough to defend it, he'd lose). But Strahd isn't really interested in conquest. He's only interested in Tatyana - if her newest incarnation appeared at a critical moment in his military operations, he'd drop everything to seek her out, and the Dark Powers would make sure he can't have her anyway. Some Darklords, like the pre-5e version of Vlad Drakov genuinely are driven by the desire to wage aggressive war - but Vlad's curse prevents him from ever being successful at it. Hell, part of Ankhtepot's curse is to watch the once-mighty kingdom he ruled wither into a scattering of ruins that ignorant foreigners plunder for treasure. As for why Darklords EVER let their borders open - well, again, it depends how much they care. Darklords ONLY care about their curse, and the drives or desires that led them to be cursed in the first place. All else is secondary. Strahd only gives a damn about the borders insofar as they affect his quest to possess Tatyana. Why would he keep them closed, when perhaps her latest incarnation was born in another domain, or perhaps the secret to breaking his curse is held by some travelling wizard? It's also worth remembering that, Strahd aside, many Darklords don't actually hold temporal political power in their domain. Sodo, Wilfred Godefroi, Adam, the Three Sisters of Tepet, etc - they probably don't actually care very much if their domain is invaded, and certainly aren't in a position to invade others even if they cared enough to want to. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Everything We Know About The Ravenloft Book
Top