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Everything We Know About The Ravenloft Book
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<blockquote data-quote="Bedrockgames" data-source="post: 8210819" data-attributes="member: 85555"><p>In Ravenloft an Island of Terror is isolated in the sea of mists. I agree that doesn't mean it has to be entrapped (it might just be hard to navigate to). But I was responding to people who said they need to be islands of dread that are not connected so that you can have all entrapment scenarios.</p><p></p><p>I think if you look at the core in the 2E boxed set, you see it is pretty easy to have domains be connected as part of a central landmass, with some resembling one another geographically, others being more oddly 'stitched on', and still have those realms reflect the darklord and serve well as their prison for punishment. With Falkovnia, they need places on their border to attack. And it makes sense those places should be other domains. I suppose the mists could just have places for him to invade inside his domain. I think it was more interesting have it be Darkon so that he was a constant pest to Azlin, and the lich lord could send back his solders as undead.</p><p></p><p>The Vecna Domain, if I recall, wasn't created for the line till Domains of Dread** (though its possible it appeared in the Red Boxed set or some other supplement and I forgot). Technically it though those were two connected domains (these were a concept called clusters that were introduced after the black boxed set and they were essentially like miniature cores). The core is really just, for lack of a better word, a Ravenloft continent made up of domains that are connected to one another. A cluster is just a smaller continent. The cluster was called The Burning Peaks, but it was made up of two domains: Covitius (whose lord was Vecna) and Tovag (whose lord is Kas). And some of the core domains could even have co-domain lords. But overall the borders in the core, generally corresponded to the borders of the realm as well.</p><p></p><p>Basically in the 90s TSR version of Ravenloft you had a core, which was the main continent, and this had tens of domains in it (it is where Barovia, Lamordia, Falkovnia, Tepest, Darkon, Kartakass, etc were located). There was a sea here, and later on they added a sea on the other side so it eventually had two coasts. This entire area was surrounded by mists. Beyond those mists were the Islands of terror and the clusters. In addition you had smaller domains that could show up within other domains (haunted houses, rooms, that kind of thing). It all worked really well. You had the core which provided a regular place for the players to exist in, but you had the more amorphous landscape deeper in the surrounding mists where islands of terror could be found.</p><p></p><p>I don't know. If the core doesn't work for you as a concept, that is fine. I just think it was such an obviously workable idea in practice, from all the years of play I had at the table, I don't understand why this is being treated as a controversial opinion.</p><p></p><p>**A note about this because this term seems to be causing a lot of confusion: I am talking about the Domains of Dread rulebook, released for 2E in 1997. The Ravenloft 2E line starts with the Realm of Terror Boxed set (the black boxed set, which expands the original ravenloft module and the house on gryphon hill into a complete setting), followed by the Ravenloft Campaign Setting (the red boxed set, which reshapes rravenloft according to the events of the Grand Conjunction: which were part of a series of modules), then that was followed by Domains of Dread. There were also lots of supplements in between for new domains, and a boxed set called Forbidden Lore (expanded rules with fortune telling dice and cool methods for bringing visitani fortune telling into the game). A lot of the modules also kind of served as setting supplements, like Feast of Goblyns and Castles Forlorn.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bedrockgames, post: 8210819, member: 85555"] In Ravenloft an Island of Terror is isolated in the sea of mists. I agree that doesn't mean it has to be entrapped (it might just be hard to navigate to). But I was responding to people who said they need to be islands of dread that are not connected so that you can have all entrapment scenarios. I think if you look at the core in the 2E boxed set, you see it is pretty easy to have domains be connected as part of a central landmass, with some resembling one another geographically, others being more oddly 'stitched on', and still have those realms reflect the darklord and serve well as their prison for punishment. With Falkovnia, they need places on their border to attack. And it makes sense those places should be other domains. I suppose the mists could just have places for him to invade inside his domain. I think it was more interesting have it be Darkon so that he was a constant pest to Azlin, and the lich lord could send back his solders as undead. The Vecna Domain, if I recall, wasn't created for the line till Domains of Dread** (though its possible it appeared in the Red Boxed set or some other supplement and I forgot). Technically it though those were two connected domains (these were a concept called clusters that were introduced after the black boxed set and they were essentially like miniature cores). The core is really just, for lack of a better word, a Ravenloft continent made up of domains that are connected to one another. A cluster is just a smaller continent. The cluster was called The Burning Peaks, but it was made up of two domains: Covitius (whose lord was Vecna) and Tovag (whose lord is Kas). And some of the core domains could even have co-domain lords. But overall the borders in the core, generally corresponded to the borders of the realm as well. Basically in the 90s TSR version of Ravenloft you had a core, which was the main continent, and this had tens of domains in it (it is where Barovia, Lamordia, Falkovnia, Tepest, Darkon, Kartakass, etc were located). There was a sea here, and later on they added a sea on the other side so it eventually had two coasts. This entire area was surrounded by mists. Beyond those mists were the Islands of terror and the clusters. In addition you had smaller domains that could show up within other domains (haunted houses, rooms, that kind of thing). It all worked really well. You had the core which provided a regular place for the players to exist in, but you had the more amorphous landscape deeper in the surrounding mists where islands of terror could be found. I don't know. If the core doesn't work for you as a concept, that is fine. I just think it was such an obviously workable idea in practice, from all the years of play I had at the table, I don't understand why this is being treated as a controversial opinion. **A note about this because this term seems to be causing a lot of confusion: I am talking about the Domains of Dread rulebook, released for 2E in 1997. The Ravenloft 2E line starts with the Realm of Terror Boxed set (the black boxed set, which expands the original ravenloft module and the house on gryphon hill into a complete setting), followed by the Ravenloft Campaign Setting (the red boxed set, which reshapes rravenloft according to the events of the Grand Conjunction: which were part of a series of modules), then that was followed by Domains of Dread. There were also lots of supplements in between for new domains, and a boxed set called Forbidden Lore (expanded rules with fortune telling dice and cool methods for bringing visitani fortune telling into the game). A lot of the modules also kind of served as setting supplements, like Feast of Goblyns and Castles Forlorn. [/QUOTE]
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