D&D 5E Rebooting other Domains of Ravenloft (Post CoS)

[jayoungr]

* Valachan. Sorry Von Karkov, but a Panther that was polymorphed into a man and THEN became a vampire is silly. There was so much you could do with a jungle/African/great cat vibe, but it seems like they went lazy and made him a cliche vampire with a eastern European name. Just dump the idea.

But if there's "so much you could do" with it, isn't a reboot the perfect time to actually do that, instead of getting rid of it completely? How about dumping the vampire nature and going with the "shapeshifts into a giant black panther" aspect, for example?

 

[Remathilis]

But if there's "so much you could do" with it, isn't a reboot the perfect time to actually do that, instead of getting rid of it completely? How about dumping the vampire nature and going with the "shapeshifts into a giant black panther" aspect, for example?

I think the whole panther/ Jungle thing is worth saving, but the name, origin, and vampire elements are worthless and at that point, what's left?

Rather see a new domain and Lord with a better use of those elements done.

 

[Satyrn]

I've long intended to set a campaign in Rokushima Taiyoo, starting with a focus on the oriental-ness of the setting before laying on the horror. So I would like to see that rebooted.

That makes me think that a full Ravenloft reboot should attempt to cover domains with significantly more diverse cultures than are found in the Core.

 

[Grumpy RPG Reviews]

That makes me think that a full Ravenloft reboot should attempt to cover domains with significantly more diverse cultures than are found in the Core.

I find myself thinking similar thoughts - however, how do you keep it from becoming cultural appropriation on cultural stereotyping? For example, Karkov could be an interesting case for a sub-Saharan African setting. Or even something going on in the Americas ( I just finished reading the book 1493 and there are lots of narrative possibilities for people suckered into the slave trade in Central and South America). But can such a story be told without falling into racism, even only by accident and having the best intentions?

 

[MechaPilot]

I've long intended to set a campaign in Rokushima Taiyoo, starting with a focus on the oriental-ness of the setting before laying on the horror. So I would like to see that rebooted.

That makes me think that a full Ravenloft reboot should attempt to cover domains with significantly more diverse cultures than are found in the Core.

I don't know if I'd make culture the big signpost for domains to use in a reboot. If it were me, I would aim for domains that play to horror tropes. Strahd hits the iconic vampire, but Mordenheim should definitely be part of a reboot for all the themes it borrows (i.e. blatantly rips off) from Frankenstein. There's also a domain whose Darklord has a kind of Dr Jekyl/Mr Hyde thing going on (I can't recall which one it is at the moment), and that duality theme works well.