It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like RAVENLOFT

On the Down With D&D podcast, writer Shawn Merwin (who is writing at least one adventure for the next D&D Adventurers Guild season) responded to a query about whether the next season was "gothic" in nature -- "I can neither confirm nor deny that, although I've heard that much was talked about at Gamehole Con in Chris Perkins' seminar ... I think people who have heard that seminar know what's going on, but I still cannot say anything." That seminar, which I largely transcribed here, hinted really strongly at Ravenloft. (thanks to darjr for the scoop)

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In response to comments about Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman, Merwin said "You like that kind of stuff? I get misty-eyed about it myself."

Of course, none of this is conclusive. But it's hard not to think that - if not Ravenloft itself - something Ravenloft-inspired is coming with the next D&D storyline.

They went on to discuss Baldman Games' (hosts of Winter Fantasy) announcements about D&D events at the convention in February. Regarding the Epic adventure being used to launch the upcoming season, which will debut at that convention, they have the following exchange:

Shawn Merwin: ...if you're into D&D at all, or if you're into Adventurer's League specifically, you will not want to miss.

Christopher Sniezak: I hear there may be blood and stakes involved?

Shawn Merwin: It's definitely possible.

It sounds a little to me like they have discussed this subject in more detail off-air. Whatever the case, these are not the first "gothic" hints we've gotten - it's certainly Beginning To Look A Lot Like Ravenloft, as Bing Crosby once famously sang.

If you want to listen to the full podcast, click here or on Strahd up above.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Sure, but that's why I find it strange that people are talking about a Ravenloft season as a "once you're in you can't get out till the end" sort of thing. That's never been the case for any other AL season, and if the rule is optional (as I think it should be, since character portability is super important to people like me who only play occasionally) then why bother having it at all.

I imagine for the same reason the PH says druids can't wear metal armor-- for flavor.

We all know that there's hundreds of little flavorful things in all the books that each table will either embrace or ignore. Druids not wearing metal armor, for one. Individual material components for spellcasting for another. So inserting a rule into a Ravenloft AL season that says "Once your character goes into RL, you won't be able to leave until the end" is something flavorful for that season which those who care will appreciate having and actually follow... and those who don't will just ignore. Should the fact that some will ignore that flavor mean that WotC shouldn't include it at all?

We'd have a lot less flavorful game if they always did that, in my opinion.

 

[Parmandur]

Interesting that last months UA included a Shadow Sorcerer, and a radiant damage Warlock. And the Ranger that goes bump in the night. They billed it as OotA themed, but those could fit in a "Ravenloft Adventurers Guide" pretty easily.

"Monster Menagerie," the next miniatures lineup, might be an interesting way of describing the Domains of Dread; sort of a sick, horrific planar zoo of spooky things.

Not sure why people are speculating on how they would fit Ravenloft in the Realms, since the core books make that aspect of the Multiverse core setting pretty clear: you can get to Ravenloft from anywhere.

 

[KahlessNestor]

I imagine for the same reason the PH says druids can't wear metal armor-- for flavor.

We all know that there's hundreds of little flavorful things in all the books that each table will either embrace or ignore. Druids not wearing metal armor, for one. Individual material components for spellcasting for another. So inserting a rule into a Ravenloft AL season that says "Once your character goes into RL, you won't be able to leave until the end" is something flavorful for that season which those who care will appreciate having and actually follow... and those who don't will just ignore. Should the fact that some will ignore that flavor mean that WotC shouldn't include it at all?

We'd have a lot less flavorful game if they always did that, in my opinion.

I would be wary of that. You can't just "ignore" rules in AL. If someone put that in you're going to get a lot of character lock outs because WOTC isn't producing new Expeditions often enough.

 

[Remathilis]

Yes, that's it in a nutshell. If you want you can freely switch and mix between encounters and expeditions and expeditions from different seasons (which means playing an adventure in Mulmaster were the fall of Phlan is discussed and then play an adventure in Phlan before it's fall and met NPC already considered dead in the mumaster timeline)

Then it sounds like PCs in AL can already teleport through space and time, teleporting across planes should be easy. Continuity took off a long time ago...

 

[Mirtek]

I imagine for the same reason the PH says druids can't wear metal armor-- for flavor.

We all know that there's hundreds of little flavorful things in all the books that each table will either embrace or ignore. Druids not wearing metal armor, for one.

not in AL.

 

[DMZ2112]

I see a gothic-horror-themed Sword Coast adventure path culminating in a trip through the Mists to a Faerunian Domain of Dread in the Shadowfell.

That's not criticism, it's just sober analysis. I believe that Wizards will eventually utilize other settings from the stable, but when they do I don't think it will be a secret. I think it'll be the first thing we hear. Too big a buzz generator.

I do suspect that whatever they do will involve Strahd. The dev team does love their celebrities these days. /That/ is a little disappointing, because frankly we need another rehash of I6 like we need a stake through the left ventricle.

To comment on the "trap" of Ravenloft, it was always my understanding that Ravenloft was more of a hedge maze than a prison. The Mists make it very easy to stumble into the demiplane, but they are usually one-way, with entry from Ravenloft more likely to move you around within the demiplane than lead you out. On the rare occasions when the Mists do permit travel to the Prime, there is virtually no guarantee of ending up back at your point of origin.

Ravenloft makes excellent use of hope as an important element of horror storytelling, and being totally sealed off wouldn't serve that end. There's something incredibly romantic about finally escaping a terrifying ordeal only to find yourself a continent or world away from home. Sanity preserved at a steep price.

Portals are another story. As a big fan of Planescape and a believer in the Unity of Settings, they should certainly exist, but I'm not sure how I feel about the assertion that portals out of Ravenloft are as common as portals in. That sounds like the Dark Powers lying down on the job. At the very least I would expect that the keys to portals out of Ravenloft are an order of magnitude more esoteric (and far more demanding of personal sacrifice) than those for portals leading in.

 

[Alzrius]

As a big fan of Planescape and a believer in the Unity of Settings, they should certainly exist, but I'm not sure how I feel about the assertion that portals out of Ravenloft are as common as portals in. That sounds like the Dark Powers lying down on the job. At the very least I would expect that the keys to portals out of Ravenloft are an order of magnitude more esoteric (and far more demanding of personal sacrifice) than those for portals leading in.

I don't think that anyone was positing that Ravenloft has Planescape-style portals to Sigil that lead out of the demiplane (unless I missed something earlier). The scan showed earlier was simply saying that portals out of Ravenloft can and do exist, but that's about it; it flat-out mentions that most of those are going to be impermanent in nature, which is sort of a nod to the whole "weekend in Hell" theme that the setting originally had. Even those that have "requirements" to open strike me as being an excuse for the sort of "near-impossible set of conditions that can only be met once" plot saga that go into a lot of Gothic tales.

 

[halfling rogue]

Unless I've missed some hot take, I wonder if Ravenloft would be the second release of 2016 rather than the first. It seems like it would be too soon to tackle just off of Abyss with darkness/horror similarities, also it would tie into halloween...just thinking from a marketing/balance perspective.

 

[MechaPilot]

I love Ravenloft, but I just don't buy that we're going to see it any time soon, more's the pity.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Does Ravenloft work with non-human characters like dragonborn?