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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Irda Ranger" data-source="post: 4662967" data-attributes="member: 1003">Wow, really great discussion. Let's see if I can gather together a consensus on the proper theme for an RL Campaign ...Discovery/Secrecy: Moniker, wolfkook and gonzoron all touched on the thought that the nature of Ravenloft is something that should start "hidden" and then be discovered through the course of play. Although that's certainly one way to run things, I'm not sure it's the best way. I absolutely agree that there needs to be some sort of mystery in any RPG - perhaps how the Mists operate and what the goals of the various BBEGs in the quest are; but I think it's important to be up front with your players about certain aspects of the challenges they face. For instance, would you just surprise your players with "You just saw a ghoul eat one of the villager's livers while he was still writhing. Take a sanity point!" without first explaining that you're playing in a game where guarding your sanity is an important consideration? I don't think so.I think the better way to go is to make it clear at the campaign's start that there are things that go bump in the night and each PC knows personally (or at least second-hand) someone who has gone insane from seeing things That Should Not Be Seen. When the quest starts the players have no idea which particular things they'll encounter though, or what their plans are - but the potential to encounter them should be understood.____________________________Hope/Powerlessness/Masque of the Red Death: Remalthis raised a very important critique of the 2E and 3E Domains of Dread settings, one which I share. The impression I got from the Domains of Dread sourcebooks was absolutely that "the Dark Powers always win." Only Azalan even tried to take them on (though not for noble reasons), and he failed miserably. He smashed the world to pieces like a china dinner plate and still failed.Further, the Darklords who were aware of their status and powers were (within their Domains) close to omnipresent and omnipotent. They had too much power to allow for adventuring (see the article I linked to about, re. Anarchy).  There needs to be a "space" that the PCs can say "This is ours; within this boundary, we win." Otherwise, what's the point of adventuring if the Darklords can just take back all your progress on a whim?The Red Death does sound like a better model for "the Mists" than the one presented in Domains of Dread. I'll have to look into getting a copy.Dimitri Mazieres, gonzoron: You can make the argument, but the fact that you have to make an argument (rather than just point to a few concrete examples where good has won in Ravenloft (however briefly)) pretty much makes my and Remalthis' point. Without getting lost in the minutia of "canon" Ravenloft theology, let's just agree that there needs to be hope, and to have that there need to be examples where Good actually wins. There may not be hope for ushering in a Golden Age, or defeating the Dark Powers for all time, but there's got to be hope that "On this day, in this place, we're going to make things better."____________________________DarkKestral, I think you're getting a bit lost in the trees. Step back from the particulars of any Domain and Darklord, and (more importantly) step out of the Darklord's perspective and assume the PC's perspective. Now look for the meta-story that applies to all of them. What themes unite all the possible adventures in Ravenloft?Luckily for us, several posters have already taken a stab at that ...I think that these statements all are circling around a core concept that would appeal to many gamers.  wolfkook took an admirable stab at boiling it down to its core concept, but let me try for something a bit pithier:Explore the world; Discover Madness and oppose its plans; Hold on to your sanity; Make this Place, and this Time, a little better.Well?</blockquote>

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