Tell me about Ravenloft
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Yair
Community Supporter
Not a real expert, but as a player...
The setting is based on the idea that there are different "realms", or "domains", each one with its own gothic story, technology level, culture, and so on, all seperated by mysterious mists. Each one is controlled by a Dark Lord who is the focus of a sad tale, evil, and also extremely powerful. For example, one is controlled by a benevolent ruler who takes care of his land and hunts down his nemesis - a werewolf. Except he is the werewolf, but is not aware of it.
The rules are basically D&D - with wizards, clerics, fighters, and so on. There are also a few other changes and additions (such as the half-vistani race), but the major change is the addition of Horror, Fear, and Sanity checks. These are will saving throws you make, and if you fail Bad Things happen. The checks are called for whenever you see or realize something revulting/horrible/frightening/unnerving. I thought the idea was good when I read it, but it doesn't really work in my experience. For example, my party virtually had a TPK as a result of realizing we had dinner with a darklord... our response was basically "so what?!". I find overriding the player's roleplaying to be a no-no.
Another major change is that Evil acts will "curse" you, and eventually turn you into an NPC.
The setting is intended for "gothic horror" play, with all kinds of horrible revelations, characters losing their sanity, having nightmares, and so on. Everyone is evil, deceptive, and scheming, and you are bound to be suprised for the worst.
I can't say I like the setting. It is not a setting for heroes - they don't get rewarded or respected, really, have no chance of winning against the ever-present powerful evil forces of the world, and are their own worse enemies (going catatonic instead of bravely fighting the Big Bad Evil Guy when they learn he was really the kindly old man, for example). I prefer my heroes more... heroic. But your mileage may vary.
Yair
The setting is based on the idea that there are different "realms", or "domains", each one with its own gothic story, technology level, culture, and so on, all seperated by mysterious mists. Each one is controlled by a Dark Lord who is the focus of a sad tale, evil, and also extremely powerful. For example, one is controlled by a benevolent ruler who takes care of his land and hunts down his nemesis - a werewolf. Except he is the werewolf, but is not aware of it.
The rules are basically D&D - with wizards, clerics, fighters, and so on. There are also a few other changes and additions (such as the half-vistani race), but the major change is the addition of Horror, Fear, and Sanity checks. These are will saving throws you make, and if you fail Bad Things happen. The checks are called for whenever you see or realize something revulting/horrible/frightening/unnerving. I thought the idea was good when I read it, but it doesn't really work in my experience. For example, my party virtually had a TPK as a result of realizing we had dinner with a darklord... our response was basically "so what?!". I find overriding the player's roleplaying to be a no-no.
Another major change is that Evil acts will "curse" you, and eventually turn you into an NPC.
The setting is intended for "gothic horror" play, with all kinds of horrible revelations, characters losing their sanity, having nightmares, and so on. Everyone is evil, deceptive, and scheming, and you are bound to be suprised for the worst.
I can't say I like the setting. It is not a setting for heroes - they don't get rewarded or respected, really, have no chance of winning against the ever-present powerful evil forces of the world, and are their own worse enemies (going catatonic instead of bravely fighting the Big Bad Evil Guy when they learn he was really the kindly old man, for example). I prefer my heroes more... heroic. But your mileage may vary.
Yair
Its a fairly decent game, but running a good RL game is substantualy diffrent from running a good D&D game.
The basic premise is that the Dark Lords are evil creatures stolen from various planes of existance (back in the days of 2e there were "domains" from just about every published campaing setting) and kept "prisoner" in the "Demiplane of Dread" by an unknown force called the "Dark Powers"... yea, the word Dark gets thrown around alot in RL... Each Dark Lord is given a domain to rule over with near absolute power, but alwasy with a twist (which relates to the Evil they did before they were taken). Heros can be either natives of the plane or hapless travlers who somehow found their way in (dimentional magic is greatly restricted so players cant just Gate out).
There used to be a realy good website for Ravenloft (www.kagarate.com or some such) but it closed down over a year ago.
The basic premise is that the Dark Lords are evil creatures stolen from various planes of existance (back in the days of 2e there were "domains" from just about every published campaing setting) and kept "prisoner" in the "Demiplane of Dread" by an unknown force called the "Dark Powers"... yea, the word Dark gets thrown around alot in RL... Each Dark Lord is given a domain to rule over with near absolute power, but alwasy with a twist (which relates to the Evil they did before they were taken). Heros can be either natives of the plane or hapless travlers who somehow found their way in (dimentional magic is greatly restricted so players cant just Gate out).
There used to be a realy good website for Ravenloft (www.kagarate.com or some such) but it closed down over a year ago.
Ryltar
First Post
www.kargatane.com is what you're looking for.
Keeper of Secrets
First Post
Ravenloft is OK. It comes off as sort of a Universal Studios horror feel. The kinds of movies like the old Frankenstein and Dracula. If you like that kind of thing its great. But the basic premise of it being a horror game is not really true. How scared for your PC can you be when he has 56 hit points? Do ghouls and zombies really do that much to you?
If you are looking for something that adds some real horror to your game, try Midnight. It does horror very well in a way that Ravenloft can't. On the other hand, if you want to run a horror game, then ditch fantasy and walk right up to Call of Cthulhu.
If you are looking for something that adds some real horror to your game, try Midnight. It does horror very well in a way that Ravenloft can't. On the other hand, if you want to run a horror game, then ditch fantasy and walk right up to Call of Cthulhu.
Ravenloft can be a lot of fun, its not really one setting as much as it is 40+ mini-settings, since each "domain" can have a totally different flavour from the last.
There's also room in it for DMs to craft a variety of atmospheres, anything from cheesy humour /zombie killing to lovecraftian dark pacts with unexplainable things, though the default is this gothic (as in 19th century, not White-Wolf-gothic) romance about intensely good fighting great evil. But in the true tradition of the gothic romanticist style, the "great evil" is NOT one-dimensional, they are instead tragic figures, brought down to a loss of humanity due to their own particular epic character flaws.
Of course, another equally good and almost as popular way to run it is the "neutral characters wanting desperately to escape Ravenloft" style. Usually this is played with the PCs initially not caring about fighting the evil and just wanting to find a way to escape the mists, but the DM usually leading them to realize that in order to be free of the mists they must come to stand against the evil and help the innocent.
Its a good setting and I have to say that the new edition is fairly well done (the largest mistake being that the main book doesn't even actually tell you who the dread lords of each realm are.. forcing you to get another book just to find out). Its different enough in play from Call of Cthulhu, my "default" horror setting, that it has a place in my library.
Nisarg
There's also room in it for DMs to craft a variety of atmospheres, anything from cheesy humour /zombie killing to lovecraftian dark pacts with unexplainable things, though the default is this gothic (as in 19th century, not White-Wolf-gothic) romance about intensely good fighting great evil. But in the true tradition of the gothic romanticist style, the "great evil" is NOT one-dimensional, they are instead tragic figures, brought down to a loss of humanity due to their own particular epic character flaws.
Of course, another equally good and almost as popular way to run it is the "neutral characters wanting desperately to escape Ravenloft" style. Usually this is played with the PCs initially not caring about fighting the evil and just wanting to find a way to escape the mists, but the DM usually leading them to realize that in order to be free of the mists they must come to stand against the evil and help the innocent.
Its a good setting and I have to say that the new edition is fairly well done (the largest mistake being that the main book doesn't even actually tell you who the dread lords of each realm are.. forcing you to get another book just to find out). Its different enough in play from Call of Cthulhu, my "default" horror setting, that it has a place in my library.
Nisarg
Storyteller01
First Post
The novrl where the Lich King managed to free himself (and turned his Doamon onto Necropolis in the process) alluded to creatures of far greater evil watching over the Domains. Has anyone heard anything else about this?
DarkSoldier
First Post
One of the subsequent novels (Lord of the Necropolis) explicitly defines the nature and motives of the Dark Powers, and for this reason, was stricken from Ravnloft canon.Storyteller01 said:
Storyteller01
First Post
So (If I understand the novel correctly) Ravenloft is a realm designed to hold The Dark Powers. Since they cannot escape, they bring other evil individuals into the realm. The hope that these individuals can escape (even though one of the Domain Rulers [Vecna] is a god, and he hasn't escaped). Or maybe he has??
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