D&D 5E Ravenloft in 5e: What would you like to see?

[transtemporal]

Hell, I'd like to see the Netbooks "Book of Shadows" etc make a return. Those were of such high quality I printed and professionally bound my copies.

 

[Brian Seligman]

I really enjoyed the 2nd ed model the most, especially the PCs having to be careful or fall into the demi-planes clutches.
I'd like to see and update of that timeline, from Azalins defeat in Roots of Evil during the Grand COnjunction, etc.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

To me, Domains of Dread is the ideal. I prefer a more mundane seeming world, where the horror is more under the surface and players learn more about the world as the campaign progresses. Peasants might believe in ghosts and monsters, but they aren't widely confirmed or in your face. To that ends, you need to revert to pre Grim Harvest (which was just absolute garbage) Darkon. Sorry, no giant crystal skulls filled with blood and towns entirely made of undead. Tweak a few things, in particular you note the seas and issue with the shadow rift.

In general, I think D&D characters are a bit too powerful and competent for a true horror game. I kept mine at under 10th level in 2nd edition, and would aim for a similar feel in 5E were I to run it with this system as opposed to something like Savage Worlds or FATE. Player spellcasters in particular need to be toned down. The world assumes a low level of magic, which gets thrown right out the window when you have PC's with on demand daily magic.

 

[Remathilis]

To me, Domains of Dread is the ideal. I prefer a more mundane seeming world, where the horror is more under the surface and players learn more about the world as the campaign progresses. Peasants might believe in ghosts and monsters, but they aren't widely confirmed or in your face. To that ends, you need to revert to pre Grim Harvest (which was just absolute garbage) Darkon. Sorry, no giant crystal skulls filled with blood and towns entirely made of undead. Tweak a few things, in particular you note the seas and issue with the shadow rift.

Man, Requiem was so fun to play, but I felt so dirty afterwards...

DoD and Arthaus made giant steps towards making the Core a real world, but there is too many conflicting archtypes bashing into each other. Lamordian's don't believe in the supenatural or magic, but live just across the border from Darkon which has dwarves, elves, and a city full of undead. I almost sometimes wish we could get a good reboot that keeps the spirit of the old domains, but reworks them to make sense next to one another.

For what its worth, I find the "Red Death" a much better way to handle RL; a real world that looks real to its people, but the true horror lives for those who know. However, playing D&D in the 1890's Earth is a fairly niche product...

In general, I think D&D characters are a bit too powerful and competent for a true horror game.

In general, you're right. This is why DoD and Arthaus tried to tone down a lot of classes and spells (even beyond what the old box sets did). Its a campaign setting for low to mid level PCs, because 10th level on the PCs are more powerful than most dark lords (without cheating).

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Hell, I'd like to see the Netbooks "Book of Shadows" etc make a return. Those were of such high quality I printed and professionally bound my copies.

I'm glad you enjoyed those! I worked on those with the Kargatane and had a few items published in them. They were a neat bunch.

 

[GreenTengu]

I think that emphasizing on the things that were unique to Ravenloft and Domain of Dread would be the way to go.

The thick, oppressive fog, the late 1700's, early 1800's level technology and society far more grounded and gritty than stuff in Eberron and the further out places seeming less advanced. Eerie landscapes, dark woods and a feeling of tension and dread whereever you go. The idea that things get dangerous and gloomy after the dark goes down and it never rises very high to begin with... how civilization seems civil, although smaller towns and hamlets close and board up all their doors and windows during the night and don't talk to travelers-- unless the townsfolk have formed a mob with pitchforks and torches to go after one lone creature or freak that they think they can handle... How within the cities, the upperclass is universally corrupted with vampires, cannibals, necromancers, demon worshippers and the like ruling while keeping their secrets behind closed doors. Dark Carnivals travel the landscape with horrors untold to be revealed within...

Just very... horror... with little that has easy magical solutions and very restrictive travel options.

If used as a setting, it would certainly have its own flavor and might appeal to the old White Wolf crowd (granted, in White Wolf games the PCs tend to be the powerful monsters, not their victims). If used in conjunction with other settings, particularly Planescape, it could be a place where you end up getting trapped for a while and having to survive long enough to get out. It might even be more effective that way as the major shift in pace and mood from other campaign worlds would be drastic-- but I think if one were to immerse themselves in it and live within it, that one would become desensitized eventually.

 

[transtemporal]

I'm glad you enjoyed those! I worked on those with the Kargatane and had a few items published in them. They were a neat bunch.

Nice one, those books were really top notch. In some instances the vignettes provided a richer backdrop than the official titles did!

 

[Parmandur]

I don't have much in the way of a preference; but, reading the core book tea leaves, Wizards looks to be going down an early2E/4E hybrid route: the Shadowfell is a negative energy alternate dimension, where things like Castle Ravenloft can be encountered in bubbles.

 

[JTorres]

My question is; which Ravenloft will they bring us? Which SHOULD they bring us?

The "domains" model of early 2e (and late 4e) where domains exist as mini islands independent of each other, where outsiders travel to for a night (or longer) of terror?

The "world" model of late 2e and 3e where Ravenloft is home to natives existing in a strange and surreal world of Gothic monsters?

The "adventure" model of 1e and 3e where Ravenloft wasn't a setting but a (series of) modules with a horror theme for DMs to drop in and use in there world like they could any AP or adventure?

Or the "monster mash" model proposed before 4e's demise which allowed PCs to BE the monsters in some fashion?

Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. So I want to hear what others would want in a Ravenloft product.

I don't know that the options that you listed need to be independent of each other. For instance, I can see presenting the DoD as a campaign setting for those DMs that want that option while still maintaining the possibility that an adventuring party from the Sword Coast stumbled into the wrong part of a misty forest and wound up Barovia until such a time as they could return. Personally, I'd rather that no new 5E campaign setting for Ravenloft be published because I feel the existing material is really all a DM needs. Instead, what would be great is a Ravenloft adventure path similar to PoA but with the adventures not completely tied to one another. That way a DM could pic and choose the adventures he or she would want to run if they want to do a one-off "night of terror" but a DM that wants a full-on Ravenloft campaign can still weave them together as such. A player's guide could be added that brings Ravenloft-specific races, classes, sub-classes, spells, etc. in line with 5e rules and a monster supplement could round things out. One of the upsides of this approach is that the conflicting information you mentioned can be hinted at in the AP as tantalizing mysteries and a DM hankering for more details can find themselves at Drive Thru RPG going through the classic material for ways to enrich their Ravenloft game. As for the 4e product, I'm not very familiar with it but from what you described it doesn't sound like a product I personally would want.

 

[Rocksome]

I've always liked Ravenloft as a setting, but I felt D&D's high-fantasy detracted from the horror elements of what should be a grim and gritty setting. This may sound weird, but I'd much rather play Ravenloft using a completely different set of rules. Vampire: Dark Ages springs to mind.