D&D 5E Ravenloft / The Black Company Campaign Idea!

Sounds like a cool idea. The Lady seems like she'd be a great Darklord, at least in the beginning.

Magic is rarer than default D&D, but it definitely isn't weak. Goblin, One-Eye, and Silent all pull off some pretty powerful spells. And Goblin and One-Eye in particular had some pretty frivolous uses of it.

Yeah I'm not going for weak per se, just really hard to use (at least at first). Goblin, One-Eye and Silent are all very experienced in their craft considering TBC! I want the players to get to that point and more but just not right away. Hope that makes sense. But yes, I totally want to give them the opportunity to use their magic in a frivolous way. Especially if they cause mischief with it hehehe.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

You mentioned gothic settings and the like, I was thinking of having the main cities be like that so that the players who get there for the first time have a sort of culture shock when seeing the way people dress, the way they live, the structures, etc.. So please do share :)

Gothic isn't a culture, its a writing style. Its Dracula, Frankenstien, Edgar Allen Poe, Universal/Hammer Monster movies, etc. Crumbling castles, decadent nobles, vampires, werewolves, ancient mummies, gypsy curses, and atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere. Its a world beautiful by day, and deadly by night. One were distrust colors perceptions of "the other", where evil hides under a pleasant face or charming words. Where brash hubris and dark secrets undo both noble hero and vile villain. Its not one culture; it encompasses the lonely mountains of Transylvania, the icy peaks of Switzerland, the blinding heat of Egypt, or the squalor of Industrial London.

Ravenloft has always played up those tropes by offering a world similar, but cold. Clerics receive spells, but they do not feel the connection of their deity and instead feel as sense of abandonment. Humanoids other than humans are shunned, feared, or even attacked (depending on the domain, of course). Wizards cannot trust their magic; for the Dark Powers enhances necromancy (to speed up the corruption of the innocent) and obscures divination (to keep evil's secrets hidden). Acts of violence, betrayal, or such can warrant the attention of the Dark Powers who silently govern Ravenloft, rewarding those who do evil while simultaneously binding them tighter to the land, cursing them for all eternity. Fear, Horror, and Madness are real dangers. Most importantly, Ravenloft is a foreign land; most PCs are outsiders (either literally, as in deposited from another Realm, or metaphorically, unable to fit in to the demiplane's cultures). Despite this, the PCs are the only hope to make Ravenloft a better place is some meaningful fashion; they must constantly undo the damage that is done by those of evil nature.

So your world seems to echo a different world; one of a dying world struggling to keep a thin veneer of civility over the utter horror of life. It seems more post-Apocalyptic, more Dying Earth than Dracula. That's good, its a well-explored trope itself. Its just not very Gothic.

Anyway, I await to see more of your ideas; its an interesting concept (even if its not my usual cup of tea). I just expected it to be more... Ravenloftish... from the title.
 

Well one thing I was going to bring in was the fear, horror and madness mechanics from Ravenloft. Basically the undead are horrific to behold. Constructs made of corpses in the midlands for example. Or just a zombie shambling toward you for the first time can cause panic. Undead aren't hard to kill, they don't think to defend themselves in most cases, they just do what they are told by the dark powers that govern them.

EDIT: Also, how would you suggest making the campaign more Ravenloft-y?
 
Last edited:

Well one thing I was going to bring in was the fear, horror and madness mechanics from Ravenloft. Basically the undead are horrific to behold. Constructs made of corpses in the midlands for example. Or just a zombie shambling toward you for the first time can cause panic. Undead aren't hard to kill, they don't think to defend themselves in most cases, they just do what they are told by the dark powers that govern them.

EDIT: Also, how would you suggest making the campaign more Ravenloft-y?

If it were me...

1.) I'd start by making the world look like a regular medieval world, until the sun goes down. Castles and cathedrals, villages and peasants, knights and lords, etc. That way, the contrast between day/safety and night/terror is emphasized, which enhances the fear.

2.) Most of the world is human(ish), follow one general monotheistic faith (with different sects, cults, and other smaller forms of worship scattered throughout) and generally, insular and a bit xenophobic (since traveler often bring troubles with them). This works well with a low-magic/fantasy setting in general, and allows you to liberally borrow from lots of sources freely.

3.) I'd down play the other races significantly (most know elves and dwarves once existed, but few have ever seen them) and exotic races are practically nonexistent, and usually feared when met. Its up to you which races you want to include; I like keeping the four basic races known but the others unknown. Likewise, few evil humanoid races exist; no marauding orcs or savage gnolls; but smaller monstrous races hide in the woods (like goblins) ready to eat a hapless wanderer.

4.) I'd do the opposite and play up animals (both mundane and giant) and beasts as daytime encounters. But at night, undead, monstrosities, ghosts and fiends stalk the land. The obvious choices for gothic monsters are there (vampires, werewolves, mummies, golems, etc) but lots of other monsters work well too (shapechangers, fey, hags, sahuagin, mind-flayers, liches, powerful fiends, etc). As said, I'd avoid the "band of humanoids terrorizing the countryside" motif, but I would likewise ignore giants, dragons, and other outsiders as well.

5.) Magic is believed in, but the magic typically thought of is "low magic"; alchemy, palmistry, folk medicine, etc. charms to bring luck, wealth, love, and health. Real magic (High magic; PHB stuff) is rare and has connotations with devils, spirits, and evil witches.

6.) Generally, a good Ravenloft plot plays on issues of Trust (who is being honest with you), Illusion (are things really what they seem), Isolation, Fear, Betrayal, and ultimately Hope. Don't forget the latter; the PCs need something to fight for lest they become monsters themselves. A world without hope of making things better is a world which brings out of the worst in people, especially PCs.

That's how I'd do Ravenloft, especially low magic Ravenloft. Feel free to add as much or as little as you want. Good gaming!
 

Thanks for the responses!

[MENTION=6801670]Istbor[/MENTION]

I am really interested in that book however it's listed as 70~ american and I just don't have the cash to spend on it right now (I live in Canada). If you have any details about how you converted things to 5e or want to discuss the book for example, maybe some of the magic mechanics just to see what they are like, let me know :) Otherwise I will be using the stuff from 5e dnd.

And yeah I love TBC as well and I figured Ravenloft could offer an interesting setting for mixed campaign.

Oh wow. I bought the book maybe 3 years ago and it was not priced as high. I can certainly talk some about the book. I would want to look over it once again especially for the magic.

The campaign and generally content for the players is pretty low magic. While there are casters they get only so much magic, maaaaybe eventually getting as powerful as the Ten who were Taken. That being said, it is very powerful, due to it being so rare.

I can comment on more of it later.
 

Oh wow. I bought the book maybe 3 years ago and it was not priced as high. I can certainly talk some about the book. I would want to look over it once again especially for the magic.

The campaign and generally content for the players is pretty low magic. While there are casters they get only so much magic, maaaaybe eventually getting as powerful as the Ten who were Taken. That being said, it is very powerful, due to it being so rare.

I can comment on more of it later.

Oh sure, no rush, this is an ongoing project and I plan on updating the OP with various mechanics and stuff that I will be bringing in or modifying to fit the campaign. And yeah I was sorry to see the book being priced so high heh.
 

Remove ads

Top