Fralex
Explorer
That's probably the best way to do it, with the caveat that finding the Domains of Dread should still be nearly impossible unless the forces controlling it want to be found.
D&D 5E Ravenloft and the Shadowfell
- Thread starter Fralex
- Start date
That's probably the best way to do it, with the caveat that finding the Domains of Dread should still be nearly impossible unless the forces controlling it want to be found.
Nikosandros
Golden Procrastinator
With Barovia in the Shadowfell they ruined Ravenloft. Strahd is undead to me.
delericho
Legend
Of course. It's all fiction, so it can be arranged any way they want. It's just a preference.
dave2008
Legend
I'm confused, what is your preference:
1) That the Shadowfell and Domains of Dread be different planes
or
2) That the Shadow well be gloomy and dangerous, but not inherently malicious and the Domains of Dread are actively hostile
I thought you were saying #2 was your preference, and I was trying to point out that you can maintain that preference and have them be on the same plane (Domains of Dread is a region of the Shadowfell) or related planes (the Domains fo Dread are a demi-plane of the Shadowfell). The Domains of Dread would just be an area of the Shadowfell that acts differently than the rest of the plane. This concept is not very different from a lot of D&D settings.
If it is #1, would the Domains of Dread being a demi-plane of the shadowfell satisfy your preference?
delericho
Legend
Both. My preference for #2 leads to my preference for #1.
As I said, it's not a big deal, and WotC can of course do what they want with their IP. But if they somehow became mad enough to put me in charge, then the current arrangement (RL inside the SF) is something I'd change.
First of all, I think it was a good idea for them to actually bring ravenloft to shadowfell. It implies there is an escape, and that a multiverse adeventure at lower levels seems more feaseble. It being part of shadowfell isn't a bad idea, neither is it being a demi-plane on shadowfell (the "shadows" have many way of manifesting, ravenloft being one of them). I can understand in AD&D it being a plane of its own, with no escape and this terror theme that can be insurmountable. It just varies from player to player. Some things being able to run away from ravenloft to FR can lead to interesting adventures as well.
But if I had to choose, I'd prefer it to be part of shadowfell, not different planes.
But if I had to choose, I'd prefer it to be part of shadowfell, not different planes.
dave2008
Legend
Thank you for the clarification. What would you change it to?
delericho
Legend
Keep them separate... and probably never even attempt to explain where (or what) Ravenloft is - bright lights being anathema to horror, and all that.
Li Shenron
Legend
I don't think there are any problems, except for myself because in the past I have envisioned and used a very different Plane of Shadow, and I would like to keep using that.
I still have the "dark and twisted counterpart of the material plane" concept in place, but I have always strongly emphasized shadows as the key feature of the plane, particularly the fact that everything and everyone on the Plane of Shadow corresponds to something and someone on the material, albeit with critical differences (e.g. a huge forest on the material could be a tiny garden on the shadowplane and viceversa -> this lays the fundamentals of using the shadowplane as a shortcut, but with a danger of actually getting the opposite effect). You know when as a child you were falling asleep in your bedroom and thought the cloth hanger looked liked a monster in the dark? Maybe that's because it is a monster in the plane of shadow!
As for creatures, I've typically had the 1-to-1 symmetry imply that the number of shadow creatures is the same as the number of creatures on the material, and each material creature has a shadow double. Among other things, it means each time the PCs use the shadowplane as a mean for travelling, their corresponding shadow creatures are transported into the material and wreck havoc (a good way to contribute to the dark reputation of shadow magic), although this was always kept more like a legend than actual fact.
These can still work for the official Shadowfell. What doesn't work well enough for me is the undead, as my shadowplane creatures have always been something different that is assumed to exist simultaneously with their material counterpart.
That said, it's not completely incompatible. It could even be interesting to drop the ball that Strahd must then have a material counterpart, but who could it be? Or is he just an exception, did he carve out his dread domain within the Shadowfell managing to evade its rules?
dave2008
Legend
Your in luck then, I'm pretty sure that is exactly how it will appear to the PCs in the new APKeep them separate... and probably never even attempt to explain where (or what) Ravenloft is - bright lights being anathema to horror, and all that.
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