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<blockquote data-quote="Jon Wake" data-source="post: 3974909" data-attributes="member: 58770">Wow, thanks for the great response.&nbsp; &nbsp; I think I might just write that proposal up.&nbsp;&nbsp; Although there is some holy cattle to kill in the setting.&nbsp; No, I don't think there's anything 'wrong' with the current setting, per se.&nbsp; &nbsp; Kitchen sink writing is pretty par for the course in setting design.&nbsp;&nbsp; I just think a setting built out of a consistent theme and backstory is better. The general concept I'm working with is to take a 'traditional' fantasy world and make one key change: evil always wins when it matters.&nbsp;&nbsp; Not in every sense, but the deck is stacked so far against the forces of good that only the iron willed ever think about fighting back.&nbsp; Another concept that needs to make a comeback from the old Ravenloft is the uniqueness of monsters.&nbsp; Every undead, every beast man or ogre in the setting was once a man or woman.&nbsp; Now they are warped by their own twisted actions.&nbsp;&nbsp; The Ogre murdered his children and ate them over the winter.&nbsp;&nbsp; The gnoll band slaughtered the town they were meant to protect (as per the fiction).&nbsp;&nbsp; There aren't any 'monsterous races', and the demihumans are much more closely related, more like ethnicities that hyper-distinct 'species'.Gaining mutations and powers from the Dark Powers (really just a name some scholars give to the events that plague the realm) needs to be mechanically linked to the Dark Powers screwing you for being good.&nbsp;&nbsp; Perhaps the higher the level, the wider the CR gap between heroes and monsters.&nbsp;&nbsp; A first level party may deal with CR 1 encounters, but a 5th level party that has a cleric of Ezra has to deal with things that are CR 8, well outside their comfor level.&nbsp;&nbsp; The Dark Powers never come down and smack you one, but the better you are, the harder it gets.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Jon Wake, post: 3974909, member: 58770"] Wow, thanks for the great response. I think I might just write that proposal up. Although there is some holy cattle to kill in the setting. No, I don't think there's anything 'wrong' with the current setting, per se. Kitchen sink writing is pretty par for the course in setting design. I just think a setting built out of a consistent theme and backstory is better. The general concept I'm working with is to take a 'traditional' fantasy world and make one key change: evil always wins when it matters. Not in every sense, but the deck is stacked so far against the forces of good that only the iron willed ever think about fighting back. Another concept that needs to make a comeback from the old Ravenloft is the uniqueness of monsters. Every undead, every beast man or ogre in the setting was once a man or woman. Now they are warped by their own twisted actions. The Ogre murdered his children and ate them over the winter. The gnoll band slaughtered the town they were meant to protect (as per the fiction). There aren't any 'monsterous races', and the demihumans are much more closely related, more like ethnicities that hyper-distinct 'species'. Gaining mutations and powers from the Dark Powers (really just a name some scholars give to the events that plague the realm) needs to be mechanically linked to the Dark Powers screwing you for being good. Perhaps the higher the level, the wider the CR gap between heroes and monsters. A first level party may deal with CR 1 encounters, but a 5th level party that has a cleric of Ezra has to deal with things that are CR 8, well outside their comfor level. The Dark Powers never come down and smack you one, but the better you are, the harder it gets. [/QUOTE]

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