Secrets of the Dread Realms
When the Ravenloft Campaign setting for D&D 3E was released, there was a mixed reception. It was nice to have this beloved setting updated to the current game rules, but where were the NPCs? To be specific, where were the darklords, those villains that rule over the domains of darkness? To many players, the darklords were integral parts of their game, either directly or as background figures. To some, the game was "unplayable" without their inclusion.
Well, this setting supplement sets out to address the situation. In the add copy from the back of the Ravenloft setting book, we are told:
"Secrets of the Dread Realms includes information on the domains of the Ravenloft world, including details on their lords and the unspeakable horrors that lie within, and it offers advice on creating campaigns of various scope."
Sounds great. Integrating the darklords into adventure design has always been a problem in Ravenloft campaigns. On one hand, since each land is a reflection of the dark passions and sins of their lord, exploration of setting goes hand-in-glove with exploration of theme, namely the curse of the darklord. On the other hand, adventures that too deeply involve the darklords may devolve into a mere gothic-themed "monster bash." It's a fine line to walk, so a book full of advice would be of great utility to the Ravenloft GM.
Let's take a look at those "sinister tricks for wicked Dungeon Masters."
Premise
Somewhere between the writing of the ad copy above and actual creation of this book, the premise was lost. Instead of offering a comprehensive gallery of relevant NPCs and advice on integrating them into your campaign, we are offered the "witch-hunter" prestige class and twenty-three NPCs, mainly darklords. The NPC write-ups are negligible in terms of adventure design.
So, it seems that this book is merely a stopgap measure to quell complaints about the lack of darklords in the setting book. Future releases will attend to the situation in greater detail, as can be seen in the various Gazetteers that have been subsequently released. So, given this watered-down goal, does this product meet our expectations?
Mechanics
Pertaining to mechanics, the most important elements of writing NPC stat blocks are that the numbers are correct, that the salient mechanical elements are readily available, and that the resource allocation facilitates the character premise. Unfortunately, this book is spotty in all regards.
Statistics are essential to running the game. They take a long time to generate and present numerous complications, especially when trying to model a powerful figure like a darklord. Multi-classing, feats, magic items and synergy bonuses all add up to an accounting headache. It takes a lot of patience to grind through these numbers and recheck them for accuracy. This is why people buy NPC "rogues galleries." They save hours of time and effort.
But this supplement isn't just a "rogues gallery" with generic NPCs to populate the taverns, guilds, and castles of your fantasy realm. This book presents the thematic focus of the entire campaign setting, the Darklords! They are the shadowy reflections of the heroes; their evil is reflected in the smallest nuances of their domain. The game stats model their capabilities and weaknesses.
The stats need to be accurate. They are not.
For example, why does the lord of Dementlieu have such relatively low bluff and diplomacy skill ranks? After all, he "lives to manipulate others" and "pursues new intrigues more as a diversion than a means to an end." Hmm, can it be that his skill points haven't been properly assigned? Yup. There's nearly 20 points that aren't utilized. He's the worst of the group but unreliable skill allocation pops up on a frequent basis in these write-ups.
The stat problem extends to even the less complicated realms of attacks, armor class, feats, and saves. It's not a problem that hits every stat block. It doesn't make the write-ups useless. However, it's a bothersome irritation that crops up with regularity in this product. I'm not an exceptionally perceptive person, nor am I being paid to scrutinize these numbers. Yet, the inaccuracies are readily perceivable. The editor should have spotted these glitches and cleaned them up. A couple errors aren't a problem, but this product far exceeds my "snag" tolerance.
The problem isn't just limited to the stat blocks. Under the "Special Attacks" and "Special Qualities," we can find mechanical awkwardness.
For instance, the lord of Invidia has a special ability that allows her to use any Enchantment spell that she has readied for the day as a gaze attack, which doesn't count against her casting limit. In other words, if she has hold monster "readied" then she can cast it at will without limit throughout the day. In AD&D 2E, when she was an enchantress, this made sense; should she ready dominate person or hold monster? There was a significant choice in spell selection. In 3E, she's a sorcerer. She always has them "readied," since it makes no sense for her to actually cast the spells.
Another example, the lord of Keening is a ghost. She retains her class abilities and some of her racial abilities. However, she doesn't seem to have all of her racial abilities. Why? Third example, Mordenheim's Monster has the regeneration special quality, which turns most normal damage into subdual damage. However, he's a construct; he's not harmed by subdual damage. What does this mean in-game?
Ease of reference is of great utility in implementation. Everything in the "Special Attack" or "Special Quality" sections of the stat block ought to receive elaboration in the combat write-up, unless it is self-explanatory like spell resistance or damage reduction. Having to flip from book to book to understand the full capabilities of a darklord is annoying. To maximize utility, the book ought to minimize reader work.
This supplement leaves the work for the reader. For instance, do you want to understand the full capabilities of Keening's darklord? Well, you'll need the PHB for her cleric abilities, the MM for her basic ghostly powers, the Ravenloft setting book for her salient powers as a rank five ghost, and the Denizens of Darkness for her "shadow fey" abilities. Similar problems exist to a lesser extent with the darklords of Barovia, Darkon, Mordent, Valachan, and Verbrek.
I'm aware of space constraints. However, my impression was that only the bare minimum possible was included in these write-ups. They could have at least included the stuff from other Ravenloft books, like the setting book or the Denizens of Darkness. I want easily accessible information when running the game; I don't want to be flipping through a stack of books looking for that one pertinent power. This supplement again falls short of the goal.
Resource allocation is essential in focusing on the premise of the character. Consider that all of the crunchy elements of character design are a form of currency, with which you "purchase" a thematic focus. Everything, from the class selection to the skill point allocation to the signature equipment, should contribute to the exploration of that theme. By scrutinizing the stats of an NPC, we may discern the types of stories that they facilitate and then implement them in a way appropriate to such an exploration.
Upon a quick perusal of the NPCs presented in this book, I notice that the resources are generally scattered about. There is no coherence to the allocation. For instance, Dr. Mordenheim, a mad scientist and "untalented combatant," has four combat-related feats! The "Black Widow" of Borca, a delicate and beautiful "young" lady, has more hit points than almost every other listed darklord, even the fighter types! Everybody seems to have minor magic items, like rings of protection +1, cloaks of resistance +2, bracers of armor +2, or +1 magic weapons.
The flexibility of resource allocation in character design is one of the successes of 3E. The ability to focus on a character premise with mechanical facilitation is far better than anything found in AD&D 2E. Yet, the folks who converted these characters don't make the most of the opportunity. Odd ability scores, skill ranks, feats, and signature items undercut coherent character focus.
This subject merits greater explanation. I'll provide a detailed example of coherent character design and contrast my analysis with the actual stats found in this book. My subject is Hazlik, darklord and wizard-tyrant of the domain of Hazlan.
Deconstructing a Darklord
Let's list the key elements of Hazlik's background and current sketch. First, he's the archetypal "evil wizard overlord" of the campaign setting. He's not undead, possessed by a demon, or an isolationist sociopath; he rules a realm with an iron fist, utilizing it's resources to fuel his ambitions.
What are his ambitions? He has three interrelated goals: escape, revenge, and power. Underlying each goal are the thematic elements of envy and inadequacy. The write-up displays the thematic focus of these goals.
"But he rose too fast and made too many enemies. Seeking to curtail his advancement, they captured Hazlik and tattooed his head and chest with arcane symbols of femininity. Humiliated and ostracized, Hazlik devoted himself to his magical studies, revenge never far from his mind." (p.26)
In pursuing revenge, Hazlik caught the attention of the Mists. As a reward/punishment for his evil, Hazlik was granted a domain that is similar to his home realm, except that his hated rivals are now beyond his reach. His desire for revenge cannot be satisfied. For decades, he has been attempting to escape, but has consistently failed. Nevertheless, he has a plan.
He's begun training apprentices to carry out his dreams of vengeance. However, he's also come to realize that most of his students have no intention on pursuing his goals after his death; they pay only "lip service" to them. So, Hazlik "has placed all his hopes in a single student" who the other apprentices now despise for the "special favor Hazlik shows her" and "spread jealous rumors about the exact nature of the relationship between Hazlik and his 'pet.'"
To further highlight the themes of envy and inadequacy, Hazlik has constant reminders of his humiliation whenever he sleeps.
"Hazlik's dreams are haunted by images of the wizards who humiliated him. In these nightmares, he is powerless and cowers before their magical might. He fears and hates these dreams for reminding him of his failures and uses arcane concoctions to delay sleep as long as possible." (p.26)
So how do we go about modeling this character in a way that furthers his thematic premises? The pertinent elements are class, ability scores, skill ranks, feats, and equipment.
He's an evocation specialist, with prohibited schools in enchantment and illusion. Good, he's obviously not a "people" person so these "soft" schools wouldn't have any appeal to him; the direct efficiency of evocation seems more to his nature. You can't argue with a lightning bolt. Furthermore, his familiar is a toad. Again, this makes sense. It increases his "toughness," which trumps in importance any other element of utility that familiars might have. Thematically, the toad also works as a symbol of Hazlik's social awkwardness. He's a "toad."
Ability scores display the basic talents of a character. What are his natural strengths and weaknesses? These should help focus on the premise. Unfortunately, the writers seem to have been conservative in conversion; Hazlik's stats are pretty much similar to how they looked ten years ago in the "Black Box" version of Ravenloft. His intelligence should be maximized; he's the archetypal wizard of the setting who shouldn't be trumped by an eighth level PC! His dexterity is too high; his defenses should be magical not physical. His constitution should be higher, indicating the endurance gained through alchemical attempts to stave off sleep and his overall goal of overcoming "inadequacy" through "durability." His charisma could be lower. All in all, this was a very lackluster conversion.
Skills are the areas that Hazlik has developed in pursuing his ambitions. He spares no expense in being the best that he could possibly be. His sense of self-worth requires that he hone his abilities to perfection. So why aren't his pertinent "wizardly" skills maximized? Alchemy, concentration, knowledge (arcana,) scry, and spellcraft ought to be pushed to the limit. He sure as heck isn't going to spend his precious skill points on cross-class skills like bluff and sense motive. He's not a social person; remember the inadequacy and envy themes? If he needed a social skill, I'd imagine that he'd develop intimidate over bluff. Again we see a lack of focus and exploration of character premise. Also, the skill points don't add up correctly.
Feats show those areas were a character develops a special talent, which surpasses even the aptitude gained through skills. For the most part, Hazlik has an appropriate selection, mainly metamagic and item creation. They all work towards making him a bigger and tougher magical opponent. Dodge definitely sticks out like a sore thumb here. What were the writers thinking?
Equipment is the final place where we design a characters premise through resource allocation. For wizards, there is no greater piece of "equipment" than a spellbook. Hazlik's the kind of mage who would measure his "manliness" by the size of his spellbook. Poor little guy. It's embarrassing how skimpy his spell selection is. What possible benefit did the writer envision by hobbling Hazlik with such a meager spellbook? It's an atrocity!
But it gets worse. What are his signature possessions? Chump baubles that would get him laughed out of his homeland, which is no longer identified as Thay due to licensing issues. Wow! No wonder he has issues of inadequacy. Moreover, as a powerful mage capable of crafting items, why doesn't he do so? Again, this is silly! The wands of fireball and magic missile cast at 14th level are especially annoying since both spells provide little benefit beyond 10th level. It's a waste of resources.
Furthermore, the selection, as lame as it is, only barely exceeds the maximum gear value for an NPC of his level, 45000 gp, which is balanced to cause PCs to expend 1/5 of their available resources in overcoming. Darklords should present a far great threat than this. His gear should be assigned like a Player Character. He should have cool items that further the thematic premise and enhance character depiction. Hazlik has issues with adequacy; a long hard staff of fire should be a sufficient compensation.
So, in deconstructing Hazlik, we can see how resources could be allocated in such a way to facilitate exploration of theme. We also see how poorly this supplement executes the task. Hazlik is the most easily deconstructed darklord in terms of resource allocation; the same procedure can be applied to the lot of them, with a similar result. On a mechanical level, this book fails.
Technique
Originally, this book was advertised as full of techniques for crafting campaigns involving the darklords and other special horrors. Well, that idea got ditched. So, what do we have now? Each darklord has a write-up that is broken down into background, current sketch, combat, lair, and closing the borders. A few of them also receive a brief blurb regarding special circumstances involving the character or their land.
It's a good read. A discerning reader can grab conceptual nuggets from the text and hammer them into works of gaming art. However, I've got two complaints.
First, the book doesn't offer any adventuring hooks and similar types of starting points for campaign design. Yes, these can be developed out of the background or current sketch section, but it requires work. We buy these products to minimize our workload. For instance, the analysis of Hazlik shows that the character is well-developed and stories can easily be crafted around the jealousy of his apprentices, his need for a "special ingredient" which will help him eliminate the need for sleep, or a project to pierce the "prison" of the mists. However, the book doesn't even give you as much advice as I just did in the preceding sentence!
Second, most of this was merely a rewriting of long established elements. Some NPCs are given a slight update, but most are basically lifted unchanged from the Domains of Dread setting book. Yes, the words have been rearranged, but they still say the same thing. For instance, the darklord of Falkovnia has his habit of watching a daily execution by impalement at his evening meal and his love for hawks condensed to a single paragraph rather than the two it received in the prior edition.
So, as regards technique, this book offers very little help in integrating the darklords into your campaign and that little which it does is generally nothing new to anyone who owned previous versions of the setting. Again, it fails at its extremely nominal premise.
The Game Master's Screen
Well, at least we get a screen with the purchase of this book. You can't go wrong with a screen, can you? Unfortunately, you can.
The screen has four panels of information, of which two are dedicated to a list of skill difficulty examples. There's some useful Ravenloft stuff, like powers checks, fear, horror, and madness checks. But where's the standard D&D adventuring stuff, such as attack modifiers or concealment bonuses? Where are the standard equipment lists? They're not here. But if you need to know how much a grandfather clock weighs, you're good to go.
Furthermore, the exterior art has some classic images from Clyde Caldwell. I love his stuff; whenever I see the image of Strahd on the balcony, it fills me with nostalgia. However, the images are very familiar. They've been recycled a few too many times now. I'd have been a lot more tolerant of the horrible quality of the screen if we at least got some brand new art.
Appraisal
This is an awful product. We needed so much more than they offered in this book. What little we get is plagued by terrible execution. The numbers don't add up correctly, the info isn't easily referenced, and the NPCs are not written with thematic focus. There is no advice on implementation or campaign design.
Heck, it doesn't even offer a comprehensive sample of darklords. Where are the lords of Har'Akir, Forlorn, G'Henna, Paridon, the Sea of Sorrows, and Souragne, among others? They are given full write-ups in the Domains of Dread, from where it seems that the current team has pulled both inspiration and artwork. As of this writing, it's been about two years since the setting book was published, but most of these darklords still haven't seen print. Why aren't they in this book?
So, do I have anything good to say about this product? Not really. If you're new to Ravenloft, this book will give you a ballpark estimate as to the abilities of these characters, but don't rely on their accuracy. They are not "ready to go."
This product has insignificant value. I do not recommend it at all.
---OMW
