Ravnica Table of Contents & More

Thank you.

 

[Parmandur]

Ok, so I did some more reading, and I can't say the guilds hold my interest. They're the major players, the major selling point of Ravnica... and they feel generic. Like, they don't really feel like they play with the tropes they were assigned, and instead just are what they say on the tin. Sure, they double as performing civic duties to the city, but that's about it. The only one that got me to raise my eyebrow was the idea of a Holy Order as serving as the central bank, but then I realized that's actually pretty common in real world conspiracy theories.

I guess that really settles it. If the guilds don't excite me, the book appears to shy away from detailing the ramifications of being set in an ecumopolis (nevermind that I feel ecumopolis settings actually dilute the appeal of an Urban location), and the book doesn't really seem to have any thematic elements that sing out to me...

The setting is just not for me. Pity.

They can't all be all things to all people.

 

[Remathilis]

After all, the iconic "adventure" is the party guarding a caravan going from place A to B. Knowing the Guilds likely tells me who would be owning and operating the trade caravan. But it wouldn't tell me what was in the caravan, where it was going, and likely not who would try and and hijack it.

If its a Golgari caravan, it could be traveling from the undercity to the surface with food, but a couple of Radkos bandits have claimed a portion of the area near the exit, and are extracting high tolls (in blood and treasure) to pass.

If its an Izzet caravan, it could be a new invention of top secret design that has members of Simic, Gruul, and Dimir wanting to send teams of investigators to examine.

If its an Orzlov caravan, it might contain gold collected as tribute, gold that has drawn the attention of a Selensya Robin Hood type and a Boros warlord who seeks revenge for what Orzlov did to his brother...

Those are just a few examples I came up with off the top of my head.

 

[cbwjm]

Yes, I know. It is a D&D product that adapts MtG material as it is advertized. Yet the MtG content is lacking. It just containt guilds that will be forgotten soon. This book is a missed opportunity to enrich D&D and player experience with MtG iconic spells, magical items, monsters, NPCs and location. Just like how D&D IP turned into MtG cards would enrich MtG.

I disagree, I think what is included is more than enough to enrich DnD, who knows, it might lead to more down the track. I get it, it's not what you want, and had this been the "Magic the Gathering" setting then I would probably share in your disappointment, but it isn't. It's a Ravnica setting. It doesn't need all of the MtG content in it to run the setting, it needs the iconic Ravnica setting elements to in order to run the setting. The various planeswalkers aren't required, only a single one (Jace) is even relevant to the setting of Ravnica and even then, there is no need to explicitly make him a planeswalker in this setting book.

Basically, I want a book that provides information on running a game in Ravnica and that's what we're getting.

 

[gyor]

I disagree, I think what is included is more than enough to enrich DnD, who knows, it might lead to more down the track. I get it, it's not what you want, and had this been the "Magic the Gathering" setting then I would probably share in your disappointment, but it isn't. It's a Ravnica setting. It doesn't need all of the MtG content in it to run the setting, it needs the iconic Ravnica setting elements to in order to run the setting. The various planeswalkers aren't required, only a single one (Jace) is even relevant to the setting of Ravnica and even then, there is no need to explicitly make him a planeswalker in this setting book.

Basically, I want a book that provides information on running a game in Ravnica and that's what we're getting.

Well some other Planeswalkers are relevant to the setting, like the ones that are from Ravnica like Ral, Vryrska, Domri Rad. I'd say Liliana lived on the plane for a good amount of time as well, although she isn't native to it, but neither is Jace. Still none are essentially to the day to day functioning of Ravnica, not even Jace, who is often MIA. That might change with the current card sets plot, but this book is set before the current card set with it's Planeswalkers Guildmasters.

 

[cbwjm]

Well some other Planeswalkers are relevant to the setting, like the ones that are from Ravnica like Ral, Vryrska, Domri Rad. I'd say Liliana lived on the plane for a good amount of time as well, although she isn't native to it, but neither is Jace. Still none are essentially to the day to day functioning of Ravnica, not even Jace, who is often MIA. That might change with the current card sets plot, but this book is set before the current card set with it's Planeswalkers Guildmasters.

And they still aren't really relevant to the setting, at least them being planeswalkers isn't. They could just be any other named NPC. The only real reason Jace is important is because he is the living guildpact, he could be just a regular person in Ravnica instead of a planeswalker and it wouldn't really change anything foe this book.

 

[gyor]

While true, the Guilds are more important than geography: there are no nation's, cities or institutions outside of the Guildpact.

According to the novels yes there are, but different areas do have local governments that aren't guild based, but no area is absent of guild influence and many, maybe most are run by the guilds, and no location is beyond the power of the guildpact's magic. The guilds are the world government, and the munciple government for the Capital, but not every local government. In some places only a single guild rules, in others the locals have their own style of governments.

This is why murder is legal in the City of Ravnica, it's only illegal to murder Wojeks, because the Orzhov and Rakdos insisted on that, but in other cities, murder is illegal, maybe even in most cities on the world/plane, that isn't rules by the more blood thirsty guilds.

 

[gyor]

And they still aren't really relevant to the setting, at least them being planeswalkers isn't. They could just be any other named NPC. The only real reason Jace is important is because he is the living guildpact, he could be just a regular person in Ravnica instead of a planeswalker and it wouldn't really change anything foe this book.

In this context you are right.

 

[gyor]

Ok, so I did some more reading, and I can't say the guilds hold my interest. They're the major players, the major selling point of Ravnica... and they feel generic. Like, they don't really feel like they play with the tropes they were assigned, and instead just are what they say on the tin. Sure, they double as performing civic duties to the city, but that's about it. The only one that got me to raise my eyebrow was the idea of a Holy Order as serving as the central bank, but then I realized that's actually pretty common in real world conspiracy theories.

I guess that really settles it. If the guilds don't excite me, the book appears to shy away from detailing the ramifications of being set in an ecumopolis (nevermind that I feel ecumopolis settings actually dilute the appeal of an Urban location), and the book doesn't really seem to have any thematic elements that sing out to me...

The setting is just not for me. Pity.

Read the novels to get a better feel for the setting. Based on philosophy and so on you'd think Orzhov would always be the bad guy and Selsnyia would always be the good guys, but its far more complicated then that. Orzhov, Tessa have been sort of the good guys in several novels. Selsynia has been the bad guys several times.

And Boros seems like the obvious LG guys, until you remember that they were okay with a deal that allowed murder to be Iegal in the capital city, and that there is a paradoxical under current of chaos to their sense of order when their passion gets the best of them.

Even Rakdos helped save the day once.

Dimir is currently apart of the good guys side in the current card sets, even though they usually are the bad guys.

And all the guilds have hidden agendas, dark and light side, and secrets, and subfactions.

There are corrupt clergy in Orzhov, but there are also true believers like the Order of the Deathpact that are willing to die for what they believe in.

The setting has so much potential.

 

[cbwjm]

In this context you are right.

Oh yeah, definitely only in the context of this book. In the context of the MtG plotline, planeswalkers are the real movers and shakers of the story shaping entire blocks of MtG.

 

[Kramodlog]

If its a Golgari caravan, it could be traveling from the undercity to the surface with food, but a couple of Radkos bandits have claimed a portion of the area near the exit, and are extracting high tolls (in blood and treasure) to pass.

If its an Izzet caravan, it could be a new invention of top secret design that has members of Simic, Gruul, and Dimir wanting to send teams of investigators to examine.

If its an Orzlov caravan, it might contain gold collected as tribute, gold that has drawn the attention of a Selensya Robin Hood type and a Boros warlord who seeks revenge for what Orzlov did to his brother...

Those are just a few examples I came up with off the top of my head.

Guilds, guilds and guilds. It is gonna grow old fast.