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<blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 8211018" data-attributes="member: 6915329"><p>For the most part, the Dark Powers create domains that fit the Darklord because, for the most part, the true curse doesn't lie in what the domain's climate and terrain is like. And when the shape of the domain <em>is </em>important, it's usually in the sense of "this Darklord wants a lot of power, but instead gets a tiny realm or a big realm that has very few people in it." Not "this Darklord likes warm weather, so we'll give them an arctic tundra."</p><p></p><p></p><p>There were clusters like The Amber Wastes and Zherisia. And not every Darklord is taken from elsewhere, and some of those who enter RL become Darklords much later. Gabrielle Aderre (Invidia) is a Vistani. Dominic d'Honaire (Dementlieu) is from Mordent. Ivan Dilisnya and Ivana Boritsi (Borca) are from Barovia and Borca, respectively. Markov (Markovia) is from Barovia. Alfred Timothy (Verbrek) is from Arkandale, which was a domain of its own that was absorbed into Verbrek. For most of these people (except for folks like Aderre, who killed the former Darklord and took his place), they were enveloped by the Mists, and when the Mists cleared, they were in their new home.</p><p></p><p>And, well, most D&D settings are very similar. Those that aren't produce very different places, such as with Kalidnay, the Dark Sun domain.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, while the Core has had a thorough examination (in the Gazetteers), there's been very little done with the Clusters or Islands. </p><p></p><p></p><p>The goal is to use the border closings sparingly--when the PCs have actively done something to threaten the Dark Lord. For the most part, there's very little a PC can do that will actively harm or annoy a Dark Lord. Many of them can't even been killed.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Maybe you don't, but I do. Aside from Curse of Strahd, I've <em>never </em>included a Darklord (and we've barely seen him so far in that). Heck, I can barely even use <em>vampires</em>. There's far too many other interesting monsters in the setting, and that's not even including the humans.</p><p></p><p>I find the little horrors work better. My favorite example--well, I ran this in GURPS, but if it were D&D, the players would have been somewhere between 6th and 8th level and the single actual monster involved would have <em>maybe </em>been CR 1/8, but the PCs ran screaming. </p><p></p><p></p><p>It's actually both. The main thing, though, is that Drakov's curse is that he can never win another major battle. He will never be able to successfully invade another country and gain any new territory. He always fails. So the Third Reich aspects are seriously curtailed in that matter, which means we're left with him taking out his frustrations on his own population.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Faolyn, post: 8211018, member: 6915329"] For the most part, the Dark Powers create domains that fit the Darklord because, for the most part, the true curse doesn't lie in what the domain's climate and terrain is like. And when the shape of the domain [I]is [/I]important, it's usually in the sense of "this Darklord wants a lot of power, but instead gets a tiny realm or a big realm that has very few people in it." Not "this Darklord likes warm weather, so we'll give them an arctic tundra." There were clusters like The Amber Wastes and Zherisia. And not every Darklord is taken from elsewhere, and some of those who enter RL become Darklords much later. Gabrielle Aderre (Invidia) is a Vistani. Dominic d'Honaire (Dementlieu) is from Mordent. Ivan Dilisnya and Ivana Boritsi (Borca) are from Barovia and Borca, respectively. Markov (Markovia) is from Barovia. Alfred Timothy (Verbrek) is from Arkandale, which was a domain of its own that was absorbed into Verbrek. For most of these people (except for folks like Aderre, who killed the former Darklord and took his place), they were enveloped by the Mists, and when the Mists cleared, they were in their new home. And, well, most D&D settings are very similar. Those that aren't produce very different places, such as with Kalidnay, the Dark Sun domain. Unfortunately, while the Core has had a thorough examination (in the Gazetteers), there's been very little done with the Clusters or Islands. The goal is to use the border closings sparingly--when the PCs have actively done something to threaten the Dark Lord. For the most part, there's very little a PC can do that will actively harm or annoy a Dark Lord. Many of them can't even been killed. Maybe you don't, but I do. Aside from Curse of Strahd, I've [I]never [/I]included a Darklord (and we've barely seen him so far in that). Heck, I can barely even use [I]vampires[/I]. There's far too many other interesting monsters in the setting, and that's not even including the humans. I find the little horrors work better. My favorite example--well, I ran this in GURPS, but if it were D&D, the players would have been somewhere between 6th and 8th level and the single actual monster involved would have [I]maybe [/I]been CR 1/8, but the PCs ran screaming. It's actually both. The main thing, though, is that Drakov's curse is that he can never win another major battle. He will never be able to successfully invade another country and gain any new territory. He always fails. So the Third Reich aspects are seriously curtailed in that matter, which means we're left with him taking out his frustrations on his own population. [/QUOTE]
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