If I combine the Dark Sun and Ravenloft settings, I get...

lmpjr007 · Oct 10, 2008

...well I don't know what I get, but doing something like this has been on my mind for a while. So I wanted to get people's opinions on what they thought about it. Tell me what you think

Snoweel · Oct 10, 2008

Mate, I think it's a VERY exciting idea.

The gerbil in my head is furiously spinning his wheel...

edbonny · Oct 10, 2008

This topic was covered in the 1992 Ravenloft accessory "Forbidden Lore". Basically the domain is a floating domain of the Athasian city of Kalidnay that was pulled into the mists when a dragon-advancement ceremony of unspeakable evil attracted the Dark Powers. The casting of the 10th level psionic enhancement went awry, the dragon-queen Kalid-Ma was placed in a coma, and the domain leader was her lead templar, a rather evil guy who was (I believe) in love with Kalid-Ma. The dragon-queen was somehow stuck in a "defiling-on" position, slowly defiling in an ever growing radius from her comatose body. To keep what little arable land was left to them, the inhabitants of Kalidnay would capture visitors who came from out of the mists and have them fight to the death in the gladiator arena near Kalid-Ma's comatose form to abate the dragon-queen's defiling effect.

The supplement went on to discuss psionics and defiling in Ravenloft, what Dark Sun characters would encounter in other domains (abundance of water, metal), etc. A good read and still very memorable.

Ruins of the city still exist on Athas, which led to speculation that the Dark Powers had only duplicated Kalidnay + environs when creating the domain.

lmpjr007 · Oct 10, 2008

Snoweel said:
Mate, I think it's a VERY exciting idea.

The gerbil in my head is furiously spinning his wheel...

So what if I made it that the world/setting the time of day was eternally at dusk/early everning. They would never have sunrise or complete darkness. Never to bright, never to dark, but dark enough for vampires to travel outside during the day and PC/NPC with abilities or powers that only work at night could work thei all the time. Gladiator pits full of undead fighting the living. What do you think?

Snoweel · Oct 10, 2008

lmpjr007 said:
What do you think?

I think edbonny's revelation just trumped whatever I could come up with.

Your ideas are a start. I think the perpetual dusk thing is mandatory, and the gladiator pit thing is maybe one image out of countless. Undead and the living shouldn't be so categorised in a setting like this - isn't one of the themes of Ravenloft that the undead are people too?

lmpjr007 · Oct 10, 2008

Snoweel said:
I think edbonny's revelation just trumped whatever I could come up with.

Your ideas are a start. I think the perpetual dusk thing is mandatory, and the gladiator pit thing is maybe one image out of countless. Undead and the living shouldn't be so categorised in a setting like this - isn't one of the themes of Ravenloft that the undead are people too?

I see it as more "Night of the Living Dead" plus any good Apocalypse/End of the World set-up with a little "30 Days of Night" inital concept tossed in. The setting would be less "friendlier" then most setting, lots of running in fear and hiding. Basically a Zombie Apocalyspe with more intelligent undead creature running the "show" who are NOT tommented by their evil side, they actually like being evil. Undead are the bad guys always.

Snoweel · Oct 10, 2008

lmpjr007 said:
Undead are the bad guys always.

I agree but that doesn't necessarily mean that the living are always victims.

Ascribing power roles by race/undeath-status limits the kinds of games you can play in a setting.

lmpjr007 · Oct 10, 2008

Snoweel said:
I agree but that doesn't necessarily mean that the living are always victims.

Ascribing power roles by race/undeath-status limits the kinds of games you can play in a setting.

That is true, but it is kind of hard to be the hero all the time if you are outnumbered and always on the run from you opponents. Eventually someone is goint to get you. Or someone you love.

Now translating that into gameplay might be a lot of fun OR a horrible experience. We will have to see.

Psion · Oct 10, 2008

Zothique?

Ref for those who might not know what Zothique is: Zothique - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's a dark future setting that was a backdrop for several dark fantasy stories by Clark Ashton Smith, some of which has wormed its way into D&D books.