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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pauper" data-source="post: 6804635" data-attributes="member: 17607">As an adventuring locale, the Shadow Rift could have been lifted straight out of Lord Dunsany -- it's pretty firmly in the Gothic tradition, in my book. The Darklord, Gwydion, is somewhat Lovecraftian, in the sense that he, like all the shadow fey, is ultimately inhuman and alien in both its appearance and motivations; if you want to say that makes him a cousin to Cthulhu, I won't argue too much.My vote for 'most Lovecraftian' domain is probably Timor, the domain that exists below the isolated city-domain of Peridon and is ruled by a monstrosity that was not only once human, but willingly accepted her fate to become the ruler of the domain. A close second would be Bluetspur, the mind-flayer domain.My favorite domain and darklord, though, is Scaena, ruled by playwright Lemot Sediam Juste. Scaena is a single theater, which Juste can turn into anything he can imagine through the supernatural magic of an ancient pen he discovered. As a pocket domain, Scaena can appear in any other domain, or even a regular campaign world (hint for upcoming AL players!). Unlike most darklords, Juste can leave Scaena whenever he chooses; he seldom does, however, because his curse leads him to believe that everything he encounters outside Scaena is equally unreal and his own creation. I should keep working on my writeup of Scaena for Fifth Edition, in the event Ravenloft joins the Forgotten Realms on the DMs Guild.Other favorite darklords:Elena Faith-Hold: the righteous ruler of a domain, the Dark Powers have twisted her paladin sense so that her 'detect evil' ability instead detects powerful emotion. She is unaware of this change, however, leading to tragic results. (I've also tweaked Elena for my own Ravenloft campaign, but that one I'll keep to myself.)Dominic D'Honaire: the ultimate mastermind and power behind the throne; I thought it was cool when the Third Edition Ravenloft Setting brought Dominic into opposition with The Living Brain, with the implication that, if the latter succeeded in ousting Dominic from his position of dominance, it would also inherit his lordship over Dementlieu.The Nightmare Court: A group of supernatural beings that rules over another Lovecraftian domain, this one a twisted version of Lovecraft's Dreamlands. Bonus points for using an insane asylum as a portal into the domain after it split off from the Core and became an Island of Terror.Have a soft spot for Azalin Rex as well, not least of which because when the Kargatane website was running during Third Edition, someone had the brilliant idea to give Azalin an account and have him be responsible for answering Ravenloft rules questions. In-character!--Pauper</blockquote>

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