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.

 

[delericho]

D&D gamers have traditionally never been happy with the way things are going.

Some D&D gamers. And given that there are a million of us, that's not really all that surprising.

 

[scruffygrognard]

Just a quick side-note here. Never overestimate the power of nostalgia. When a grognard (for example) is thinking about playing D&D in the 70s or 80, he* isn't just recalling the system- he is recalling those games he played, the people he played with, the other events going on at the time in his life, and a whole host of memories.

Nostalgia is powerful and can be VERY expensive!

Many of those who played in the 70s and 80s (myself included) now have enough disposable income to purchase things like campaign settings for use in their games. If WotC were worried about getting enough people to purchase a Greyhawk or Planescape boxed set, for example, I'm sure that they could set up a pre-order system to gauge if the endeavor would be worth their while. Even pdfs or print-on-demand settings would be better than what we have now.

At the same time, I'm sure that players would buy pdfs of classic adventures that have been converted to 5th edition rules (including those for encounter balance and treasure). Those products would be extremely cheap to produce.

 

[TwoSix]

Horror is hard to run well in D&D due to the default genre conventions and the general resourcefulness of D&D heroes. It is hard to make players who are used to having characters face down demons from hell change mental gears and believe that their characters should be scared of strange noises in the dark.

My own D&D tables are far too goofy to actually run a campaign that attempts horror or dread. When I've played in or run Ravenloft, it inevitably starts to look more like a cross between Van Helsing and Young Frankenstein.

 

[Obvious_Ninja]

Dear Santa, I have been a good boy this year. Please bring me a campaign with lots of un-dead, werewolves, and horrible, nasty things...

 

[delericho]

If WotC were worried about getting enough people to purchase a Greyhawk or Planescape boxed set, for example, I'm sure that they could set up a pre-order system to gauge if the endeavor would be worth their while.

It's very likely that they already have a pretty clear picture and have concluded that it's not worth their while.

Remember those premium reprints of the old-edition core rulebooks? Those obviously sold well enough, because they then put out reprints of the "Spell Compendium" and "Magic Item Compendium" (for 3e) and the A- and S- series of adventures (for 1st Ed). Oh, and UA. So there was enough of a market there to justify some expansions.

But since then? Nothing. No T- series, or GDQ, none of the 2nd Ed settings, or the old Greyhawk or FR boxed sets. They could have done those things, but didn't. That suggests they've calculated that it just wasn't worth their while.

 

[skerritthegreen]

The AL admins have talked about the Winter Fantasy's Epic as being "The Retaking of Phlan." The stakes in that are high, and the blood hopefully belongs to a specific green dragon...

 

[Matchstick]

Agreed.
The stories and motives of the characters tend to be much more interesting when they character's aren't just focused on escaping and/or murdering the big bad.

In the gothic "Accursed" setting for Savage Worlds, the bad monsters have won, and have monsterized the characters against their will. As characters level, along with rebelling against their monstrous overlords (or working for them I suppose), they each will choose whether to embrace their monster side or reject it (with crunchy consequences). It's cool.

 

[Xavian Starsider]

Just a quick side-note here. Never overestimate the power of nostalgia. When a grognard (for example) is thinking about playing D&D in the 70s or 80, he* isn't just recalling the system- he is recalling those games he played, the people he played with, the other events going on at the time in his life, and a whole host of memories.

Oh I agree fully. Nostalgia is very powerful. I was just explaining to one of my players (who started with 4e but now plays in my 5e campaign) how most D&D gamers have a special fondness for the edition they started with. It's understandable.

I just want nostalgia to be what drives the hobby forward. Not backward.

 

[SkidAce]

Man, that picture.

It's an elf on on a pirate ship in outer space with some sort of mullet/ponytail/glam-hair gazing out at space ships that look like hammerhead sharks.

Dang it, Spelljammer, I know you have some potential awesome inside of you, but so much of you could have been painted on the side of a van of a stoner in the '70's.

Had one of those vans.....what's the problem?

/grin

 

[smiteworks]

Had one of those vans.....what's the problem?

/grin

Some of the pictures may have been going after that Gem and the Holograms audience.

I loved Spelljammer. You just have to decide if you want 70's/80's rock glam and space hamsters in your version or not. I liked that the mode of transportation gave me an easy way to bounce back and forth between canon settings and my homebrew worlds with some common themes stretching across them in the form of Neogi slavers and Mindflayers looking to rule the entire multiverse.