Urriak Uruk
Gaming is fun, and fun is for everyone
Hello! So I remember before Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft was announced, a number of people were speculating on how the Gothic UA is not for Ravenloft, but instead for Innistrad. At the time, it made sense; Innistrad is a very gothic setting in themes, and an Innistrad card set is coming out this year (Vampires and Werewolves).
Of course, that didn't happen, but it does point out how similar Innistrad is to many Domains of Dread like Barovia. Indeed, it's so similar that it really would be very easy to use Van Richten's book for a game in Innistrad (although the Planeshift article for Innistrad would be a useful supplement).
Now, in my home-game, I've been reconciling Magic the Gathering lore and Dungeons & Dragons lore to make it much easier for players to jump from world to world, and use material from any official book they like. So one element I am planning on using, is having the Dark Powers drawing Innistrad into the mists, making the realm into a Domain of Dread.
It's not the first time I've done this; I actually had the Dark Powers also absorb Ustalav, from Pathfinder's Golarion, as a Domain of Dread, with the Whispering Tyrant it's new Darklord (doomed to repeat the same cycle of fighting for freedom, briefly being free only to lose a fight against PCs and being imprisoned again).
The question I have is; if I am to do this, who should the Darklord of Innistrad be? There are several obvious candidates, but I haven't settled on who the best is;
My favorite option here is Sorin Markov, for the dual reasons of him being a really popular MTG character and a great character all-around, along with having plenty of mistakes in his past to merit Darklord status (and being stuck in a Domain seems a great punishment for a Planeswalker).
That said, it may be too much of a leap to make Sorin the Darklord, as it would be a pretty blatant contradiction to a lot of MTG lore and establish the Dark Powers as even greater than old Planeswalkers.
So what are your thoughts? Does Innistrad work as a Domain of Dread? Which of its characters make logical Darklords? Did I miss one? Are you excited for the 2021 Innistrad set, and the inevitable lore changes it will bring?
Of course, that didn't happen, but it does point out how similar Innistrad is to many Domains of Dread like Barovia. Indeed, it's so similar that it really would be very easy to use Van Richten's book for a game in Innistrad (although the Planeshift article for Innistrad would be a useful supplement).
Now, in my home-game, I've been reconciling Magic the Gathering lore and Dungeons & Dragons lore to make it much easier for players to jump from world to world, and use material from any official book they like. So one element I am planning on using, is having the Dark Powers drawing Innistrad into the mists, making the realm into a Domain of Dread.
It's not the first time I've done this; I actually had the Dark Powers also absorb Ustalav, from Pathfinder's Golarion, as a Domain of Dread, with the Whispering Tyrant it's new Darklord (doomed to repeat the same cycle of fighting for freedom, briefly being free only to lose a fight against PCs and being imprisoned again).
The question I have is; if I am to do this, who should the Darklord of Innistrad be? There are several obvious candidates, but I haven't settled on who the best is;
- Emrakul, the Eldrazi imprisoned in Innistrad's moon.
- Avacyn, the corrupted angel who was once destroyed.
- Edgar Markov, Innistrad's first vampire, presumed dead.
- Sorin Markov, Innistrad's greatest vampire and Planeswalker.
- Olivia Voldaren, Innistrad's self proclaimed vampire lord after Emrakul's defeat.
- Thalia, ex-gaurdian of the Helvault and vampire slayer.
My favorite option here is Sorin Markov, for the dual reasons of him being a really popular MTG character and a great character all-around, along with having plenty of mistakes in his past to merit Darklord status (and being stuck in a Domain seems a great punishment for a Planeswalker).
That said, it may be too much of a leap to make Sorin the Darklord, as it would be a pretty blatant contradiction to a lot of MTG lore and establish the Dark Powers as even greater than old Planeswalkers.
So what are your thoughts? Does Innistrad work as a Domain of Dread? Which of its characters make logical Darklords? Did I miss one? Are you excited for the 2021 Innistrad set, and the inevitable lore changes it will bring?
