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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 6739483" data-attributes="member: 7635">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.</blockquote>

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