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Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft Review Round-Up – What the Critics Say
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<blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 8283555" data-attributes="member: 7635"><p>Part of the issue here was that Ravenloft always was at war with itself because the Weekend in Horror was the initial design intent. For most of 2e (up to Domains of Dread), the interplay between domains as minimal and superficial; there was no large scale faiths, no common languages, no stats for population, trade or the like. There wasn't even a sea until the Grand Conjunction. Sure, Barovia touched borders with Invidia, but that barely influenced anything between the domains until Gabrielle killed one of Strahd's Vistani servants. Even then, it's not like Strahd could march an army to punish her. For most domains, their neighbors mattered little and in some cases interconnection hindered Domain design (Valachan was a temperate forest filled with panthers... Ok.)</p><p></p><p>You can still have intrigue and interplay though. I don't think people have paid enough attention to Mist Talismans. They allow fairly reliable inter-domain travel. PCs and Mist Wanderers can use them, why not servants of a dark lord engaging in espionage? All your losing is some mundane trade, which the Vistani can now corner the market on. </p><p></p><p>Finally, the end of the core means Domains aren't set in some hierarchy of importance where a domain like Har'Akir is ignored for not being a Core domain by Keening gets a Gazetteer detailing it despite being nothing but a mountain, a banshee and a town of skeletons.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The Morninglord is mentioned in Curse of Strahd. It would be very easy to assume Jandar reawoke interest in an old Barovian faith.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Agreed. Wish Hala also made it.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This comes back to a major issue I've had with Ravenloft since time out of mind: it forgot it was a D&D setting in it's rush to mimic precisely the source material it was apeing. Old Ravenloft punished demihumans and spellcasters needlessly because there are no elf wizards in Frankenstein and no other reason. It often meant that the only PCs that could enter towns were the ones that could pass as humans and didn't obviously look like they used arcane magic (witchcraft!) Worshipped foreign gods (blasphemy!) Or were going to rob the joint (thieves!). In the era of play what you want, there was no way they could justify torches and pitchforks for elves and wizards or keep half a team hiding on the outskirts of town unable to engage in urban adventures or even buy rations and a warm bed. Many domains are still very human filled, but the "burn the elf" part is gone and good riddance!</p></blockquote><p>[/QUOTE]</p>
[QUOTE="Remathilis, post: 8283555, member: 7635"] Part of the issue here was that Ravenloft always was at war with itself because the Weekend in Horror was the initial design intent. For most of 2e (up to Domains of Dread), the interplay between domains as minimal and superficial; there was no large scale faiths, no common languages, no stats for population, trade or the like. There wasn't even a sea until the Grand Conjunction. Sure, Barovia touched borders with Invidia, but that barely influenced anything between the domains until Gabrielle killed one of Strahd's Vistani servants. Even then, it's not like Strahd could march an army to punish her. For most domains, their neighbors mattered little and in some cases interconnection hindered Domain design (Valachan was a temperate forest filled with panthers... Ok.) You can still have intrigue and interplay though. I don't think people have paid enough attention to Mist Talismans. They allow fairly reliable inter-domain travel. PCs and Mist Wanderers can use them, why not servants of a dark lord engaging in espionage? All your losing is some mundane trade, which the Vistani can now corner the market on. Finally, the end of the core means Domains aren't set in some hierarchy of importance where a domain like Har'Akir is ignored for not being a Core domain by Keening gets a Gazetteer detailing it despite being nothing but a mountain, a banshee and a town of skeletons. The Morninglord is mentioned in Curse of Strahd. It would be very easy to assume Jandar reawoke interest in an old Barovian faith. Agreed. Wish Hala also made it. This comes back to a major issue I've had with Ravenloft since time out of mind: it forgot it was a D&D setting in it's rush to mimic precisely the source material it was apeing. Old Ravenloft punished demihumans and spellcasters needlessly because there are no elf wizards in Frankenstein and no other reason. It often meant that the only PCs that could enter towns were the ones that could pass as humans and didn't obviously look like they used arcane magic (witchcraft!) Worshipped foreign gods (blasphemy!) Or were going to rob the joint (thieves!). In the era of play what you want, there was no way they could justify torches and pitchforks for elves and wizards or keep half a team hiding on the outskirts of town unable to engage in urban adventures or even buy rations and a warm bed. Many domains are still very human filled, but the "burn the elf" part is gone and good riddance![/QUOTE] [/QUOTE]
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