D&D General Ravenloft: Monsters vs Darklords

[Micah Sweet]

It was dumb because it was a hidden gotcha rule. It's not in the elf racial rules, it's hidden in the raise dead spell description and it reads "elves are kewl, but if you die then you lose your PC forever*." I'm pretty sure most people didn't even know the rule existed and I'm pretty sure it was one of the first rule 0's that DMs made.

On a flavor scale, it's cool. On a practical level, it's right up there with level limits and dwarf magic item failure on the "this is designed to screw your players" list.

I also recall all humanoids in the Complete Book of Humanoids had a similar prohibition because of course they would. Anything to discourage players from actually playing those races

* If you're playing in the kind of game that raise dead was even an option..

Disagree. My players always knew about it, and you accepted it as a price for playing an elf (just like dwarf magic item failure and level limits). Rules that support flavor/setting are basically the way rules are supposed to work IMO. Feeling differently is fine of course, but just preference.

And what beings Raise Dead does and does not work on should be in the spell description. It's not like you can cast the spell without reading it.

 

[Voadam]

I felt the AD&D elven and humanoid spirits who reincarnate versus humans and other demi-humans who have souls who are eternally in an afterlife was a poor piece of fairly incoherent AD&D lore, particularly with there being half-elves and with reincarnation working on humans and non-human demihumans. More so when you throw in having multiple human explicitly reincarnation cosmologies in Deities and Demigods (Celtic, Hindu, etc.) and that book being the main source of discussion on the topic in the rules books. Plus there is the exception of the rod of resurrection explicitly working while the resurrection spell does not.

The mechanical and game impacts of the common raising method not working on one PC race were awkward as well.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I have a lot less of an issue with the elf thing, because elves were inspired works where they existed in a strange place in the cosmology. Also they have a spark that is soul like. The issue with this is it takes NPC theory to Barovia and it just feels weird to me, almost like a video game or something.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

They are going to think twice before trying an updated version of the incarnum soulmelder classes.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Can't say as I was particularly bothered either way. Shows how significant I thought it was in that I'd managed to forget it for forty years, until yesterday.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

It could be worse, couples of peoples sharing the same soul, like in

Spoiler: that horror story

2019 Movie "Us" with Lupita Nyong'o

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Sounds like "Felkovic's Cat" from Dungeon #50. It was originally an RPGA adventure, and was basically a mini-gazetteer of the domain, and had full maps of the Castle Pantara (i.e. the darklord's lair). It was one of the best Ravenloft adventures in Dungeon, to my mind.

Interestingly there was actually 3 Dungeon adventures set in Valachan, the aforementioned Felkovic's Cat, Price of Revenge, and the Laughing Man.

And all are now unusable in the "new" Valachan! Good lord, WoTC.

 

[AnderNGmx]

I only used dark lords when a great blow could possibly be dealt against them in an appropriately fine adventure or when i had decided that it was time for them to outright be destroyed and replaced by another one. If the heroes won of course.

45% monsters and non-lords as the villains, 45% villains that are on the way into becoming lords (minor, intermediate or major in their villainy) 10% lords related adventures

 

[Bedrockgames]

Sounds like "Felkovic's Cat" from Dungeon #50. It was originally an RPGA adventure, and was basically a mini-gazetteer of the domain, and had full maps of the Castle Pantara (i.e. the darklord's lair). It was one of the best Ravenloft adventures in Dungeon, to my mind.

I can't remember the name but I seem to recall it giving more information on Rotwald

 

[Bedrockgames]

Interestingly there was actually 3 Dungeon adventures set in Valachan, the aforementioned Felkovic's Cat, Price of Revenge, and the Laughing Man.

And all are now unusable in the "new" Valachan! Good lord, WoTC.

My WOTC Van Rachten Guide to Ravenloft is at my old place, can you remind me how they changed Valachan ?