Innsmouth added as new Ravenloft Domain of Dread, bringing Lovecraft to D&D

Innsmouth, the iconic home of several HP Lovecraft stories, is being incorporated into Ravenloft as a new Domain of Dread. Earlier today, Wizards of the Coast revealed the contents of Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, including the number of subclasses, ancestries, and new creature statblocks in the game. Wizards also revealed that 16 Domains of Dread will be profiled in the book, including the new domain Innsmouth. Assumably, its Darklord will be Cthulhu, who was previously confirmed to be in Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, complete with a statblock.

Cosmic horror has long had a place in Dungeons & Dragons lore, with Cthulhu originally appearing in early copies of Deities and Demigods. Due to a licensing dispute with Chaosium, TSR removed Cthulhu and other Lovecraftian creatures from later printings of the book. Cthulhu along with Lovecraft's other creations have since passed into the public domain, thus removing any restrictions on featuring the characters in a D&D book.

Of course, Innsmouth (at least in Lovecraft's work) is supposed to be a turn of the century New England coastal town, which doesn't exactly jive with the high fantasy trappings of Dungeons & Dragons. We'll have to see how much of Innsmouth is changed to line up with D&D when Ravenloft: The Horrors Within releases later this summer.

 

[Umbran]

If you are arguing with who I think you are (can't see) then it's pointless to try. His whole premise ...

Mod note:
Don't make it personal.
Really, just don't.
Thanks.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

You might think so, but both these things require an electricity supply. There are no power stations on the map. A small internal combustion generator requires petrochemical fuel, coal and wood aren’t energy dense enough to be practical at that scale. Hydroelectric systems were very expensive and usually used in the estates of the very rich. Solar cells are not invented.

Bottom line, a lot of 20th century technology requires 20th century infrastructure.


That particular plotline is already very overused in D&D. A well designed domain should support a wide range of plots.

But Artificer Magi Tech doesn't. Honestly even if they want to lean more into actual earth like tech, simple magical eternally hot stones can with water generate an endless amount of electrical power. Heck the Domain is shaped by Cthulhu's dreams, so his dreams could power tech and the whole Domain likely runs on Dream Logic anyways.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

But Artificer Magi Tech doesn't. Honestly even if they want to lean more into actual earth like tech, simple magical eternally hot stones can with water generate an endless amount of electrical power. Heck the Domain is shaped by Cthulhu's dreams, so his dreams could power tech and the whole Domain likely runs on Dream Logic anyways.

Sure, I’m sure Herbert West has his own electricity supply. I was just calling out why the setting might not have generally available real world 20th century technology, even if it is known. Personally, I think it will be more like the Shire. Socially early 20th C, but without the tech (aside from barometers).

I have been thinking about dream logic and the Mountains of Madness, and it occurred to me that Bluetspur could be retconned to serve as a dream realm companion to the Innsmouth domain, if WotC are up for a bit of retcon. What if mind flayers were not the original inhabitants of Bluetspur? Sealed away beneath the mindflayer tunnels is a much more ancient city, its corridors now the hunting grounds of shoggoth, but, within sealed vaults elder things sleep and reach out to human minds in their dreams. And below that, even older and more alien cities. Meanwhile, at the top of the spire, hundreds of thousands of miles tall, lies the alien world of Yuggoth, where sentient fungal growths plot their invasion of Innsmouth, launching their Colour Out of Space to transform the domain into something more to their liking.

It would be a good excuse for a massive megadungeon at least!

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I was thinking about if there were cars in Innsmouth and oil could be produced thanks magitek then... cybertronians(transformers) could be possible in Ravenloft, and even we could add a little touch of horror. How? Transformers need energon but there isn't "natural" energon in the demiplane of the dread. What could be the option? Oil, but also alcohol... or meat, even undeads and monstruosities could be eaten.

Other option is harmless toys from our real life become cursed dolls in the demiplane.

Other option would be to use dread elementals (grave, mist, pyre and blood) as "living" batteries for magitek vehicles and machines. Let's imagine you can't pay medic bills and then you have to sign and in the afterlife you have to turn into a pyre elemental giving energy to a race car.

* How to explain it better? Seafood is delicious, but if you eat it every day it can lose its appeal. It is OK to open a new room for Lovecraftian myths but these shouldn't replace the original ghothic vibes.

* What if this Innsmouth was a "backdoor pilot episode" of a possible spin-off? Like the Mask of the Red Death but in the pulp age. I would suggest a mixture of pulp and post-apocalypse, or a noir-punk version of "Gamma World", like mixing New Capenna and Mad Max. A world (not ours) survived an alien invasion (style H.G.Wells "War of the Worlds) because the native summoned or releases supernatural creatures.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Not as off topic as it seems: is anyone else watching Widow’s Bay on Apple TV?

 

[Planescape]

Does this mean you could theoretically encounter and then... possibly... take a 1920's era car and bring it back to the Forgotten Realms? Think of the hijinks!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Does this mean you could theoretically encounter and then... possibly... take a 1920's era car and bring it back to the Forgotten Realms? Think of the hijinks!

Would you expect to find any cars on a remote island of the New England coast in the 1920s?

Do they have many gas stations in the Forgotten Realms?

 

[Voadam]

Does this mean you could theoretically encounter and then... possibly... take a 1920's era car and bring it back to the Forgotten Realms? Think of the hijinks!

In the 2e Dragon articles Ed Greenwood reported Elminster coming to visit him (Greenwood in modern earth) and Elminster bringing him to the Realms and there was some exchanges of little guest gifts (cigars? some food things? its been a while) so some earth things have made their way to the Realms.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In the 2e Dragon articles Ed Greenwood reported Elminster coming to visit him (Greenwood in modern earth) and Elminster bringing him to the Realms and there was some exchanges of little guest gifts (cigars? some food things? its been a while) so some earth things have made their way to the Realms.

Given that it's Elminster, all sorts of things could have been transmitted to the Realms.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Would you expect to find any cars on a remote island of the New England coast in the 1920s?

Do they have many gas stations in the Forgotten Realms?

Sounds like a job for a customized alchemy jug to me.