D&D 5E Sunlight in Barovia vs Sunlight Sensitivity

[Sunseeker]

I think it's right there in the plain text: "it isn’t considered sunlight for the purpose of effects and vulnerabilities" this isn't limited to any one particular creature and therefore, applies to all. The whole point of Ravenloft's design is to basically boost evil. Drow, while they don't have to be evil people, much as you could have a good vampire, are still born of evil nature and thus, get boosted.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

There is also the possible side-effect of restricting anything boosted by sunlight. I am drawing a blank right now and do not have the books handy, but is there anything in 5th that would be negatively effected by not having access to real sunlight?

 

[BookBarbarian]

It's not Ravenloft, so much as the horror genre. Some people find drow to be inappropriate protagonists in a horror adventure. There was a section of one of the 2E Ravenloft books (or, maybe Dragon; it's been a while) about genre appropriateness of non-standard races. It has nothing to do with power level, whether it's "logical" for them to be taken, or anything of the sort. It's a meta-game thing. Unless, of course, Ravenloft chooses based on tropes, which isn't out of the question.

That's a very personal, taste-driven thing, though. I wouldn't fault anyone for allowing oddball PCs -- as long as the group is having fun. It was just a call-out for consideration related to the original question.

Personally, I'm not sure where I'd draw the line. Somewhere before myconids, for sure. I don't allow drow, anyway. Kender are obnoxious and very mood-breaking for horror; if a player was strongly interested in playing one, I'd have to ask myself whether they were actually into the "mood" side of a vampire lord or if I should just run the adventure as a dungeon crawl. 3E-style tieflings would be fine. 4E/5E tieflings would be a harder sell, as would dragonborn, but I'd give them a shot. Tinker gnomes would make kender welcome, by comparison. That's roughly my line -- I tend to prefer human-centric settings and parties at all times, though. Someone who likes Talislanta is going to feel very differently, and that's cool.

I can see your point.

I've been toying with the idea that Barovians would view any member of the uncommon races as a human that has been cursed by the "Devil Strahd". Maybe even having the Characters physical appearances change upon entering the mists, For example, a dragonborn would now look more like a human, but with slightly different skin color and a smattering of scales. Upon finishing the campaign the character would go back to normal.

Of course that doesn't actually change the background of the character so Drow still might not be a good fit for the setting.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Magical Sunlight is called out as still being "pure" sunlight and effective against vampires and such. I don't know of any spell that would require access to naturally occurring sunlight.

 

[BookBarbarian]

I think it's right there in the plain text: "it isn’t considered sunlight for the purpose of effects and vulnerabilities" this isn't limited to any one particular creature and therefore, applies to all. The whole point of Ravenloft's design is to basically boost evil. Drow, while they don't have to be evil people, much as you could have a good vampire, are still born of evil nature and thus, get boosted.

I'm leaning toward this as well. I won't tell my players before hand that this will be the case. I want it to be a surprise when a drow has to attack in broad daylight and finds themselves more effective.

I agree with the idea that Ravenloft boosts evil. I've already decided that if characters are afflicted with Lycanthropy or Vampirism I will give them a chance to embrace the curse without losing control of their characters, but there will be dire consequences (insert maniacal laugh here).

I want evil to be temping. I think the story will be more memorable for it.

 

[Mercule]

I've been toying with the idea that Barovians would view any member of the uncommon races as a human that has been cursed by the "Devil Strahd". Maybe even having the Characters physical appearances change upon entering the mists, For example, a dragonborn would now look more like a human, but with slightly different skin color and a smattering of scales. Upon finishing the campaign the character would go back to normal.

Both are interesting ideas. I think I saw something called out about that sort of reaction from townsfolk. Again, it was probably a 2E source. That is definitely a table thing. I have some players who'd be fine with that and others that would balk at having their elf (or other PHB race) subject to prejudice.

I think I like the idea of "humanizing" the various races more for a Ravenloft-born campaign. Ravenloft is very, very predominantly human in most places. There might be a reason for that; the plane starts to twist anything not human to human form. A dragonborn sucked into the demi-plane might have great-grandchildren who were entirely human, for all purposes. They might be shocked when they were dropped back into great-grandpappy's home world and suddenly shifted to the heritage.

Changing PCs on entry would be OK for a more visual medium. I'd be afraid that the group would spend a whole side-quest trying to fix themselves or otherwise draw more attention to their non-humanity, rather than less.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Both are interesting ideas. I think I saw something called out about that sort of reaction from townsfolk. Again, it was probably a 2E source. That is definitely a table thing. I have some players who'd be fine with that and others that would balk at having their elf (or other PHB race) subject to prejudice.

I think I like the idea of "humanizing" the various races more for a Ravenloft-born campaign. Ravenloft is very, very predominantly human in most places. There might be a reason for that; the plane starts to twist anything not human to human form. A dragonborn sucked into the demi-plane might have great-grandchildren who were entirely human, for all purposes. They might be shocked when they were dropped back into great-grandpappy's home world and suddenly shifted to the heritage.

Changing PCs on entry would be OK for a more visual medium. I'd be afraid that the group would spend a whole side-quest trying to fix themselves or otherwise draw more attention to their non-humanity, rather than less.

Yeah my player's would absolutely spend some time trying to fix themselves. I think I would have Strahd upon first meeting the party explain how they have been changed to suit his preference and if they like their new look. I might even have the Vistani inform the party.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I don't have CoS yet, but this is the first thing I've heard about the module that I don't like. At all.

For all his power, all his control over the land, all the minor vampire weaknesses he didn't share, Strahd has always had to slumber during the day and had to fear being caught out in the sun without shelter nearby. For that to suddenly no longer be a concern for him feels... Cheap. It cheapens him, it cheapens his backstory, it cheapens the vampire legend.

I know it's a minor detail, and I'm sure I'll still enjoy the adventure, but... No, sir, not a fan.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Some people find drow to be inappropriate protagonists in a horror adventure. There was a section of one of the 2E Ravenloft books (or, maybe Dragon; it's been a while) about genre appropriateness of non-standard races. It has nothing to do with power level, whether it's "logical" for them to be taken, or anything of the sort.

If you're going Barovia-native, I'd even recommend only humans.

But if you're someone from somewhere else grabbed by the mists, I think it makes sense that creatures who embrace the darkness and maybe truck a little closer to evil (like the drow) would be welcome in Barovia.

"Yes, come here. Be at home. Stab someone in the back. You can here, you know. No one will tell you you're bad for it."

 

[BookBarbarian]

I don't have CoS yet, but this is the first thing I've heard about the module that I don't like. At all.

For all his power, all his control over the land, all the minor vampire weaknesses he didn't share, Strahd has always had to slumber during the day and had to fear being caught out in the sun without shelter nearby. For that to suddenly no longer be a concern for him feels... Cheap. It cheapens him, it cheapens his backstory, it cheapens the vampire legend.

I know it's a minor detail, and I'm sure I'll still enjoy the adventure, but... No, sir, not a fan.

Yeah, I have to wonder why they did that. It goes on to say that Strahd and his vampire spawn minions don't venture out during the day even though they apparently can. Is this just to stop grapplers from chucking vampires and vampire spawn out the windows of Castle Ravenloft during the day? Too bad because that seems like a perfectly fine way to deal with vampires in my book.