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MandarinB
Acolyte
USA
28 Posts |
 Posted - 25 Mar 2022 : 13:13:50
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I've been looking to do a short adventure in a Domain of Dread since Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft came out, but I've wanted to tie it to my own Forgotten Realms games since I've been trying to make all the campaigns my girlfriend and I run be in the same Realms canon. Thus, I was interested in using a domain of dread that was ripped from the Forgotten Realms setting. I experimented with fusing the old lore for Nova Vaasa with the small paragraph given in VRGtR, but ultimately I found there was little in the original lore that even felt like it came from the Forgotten Realms aside from the name Vaasa. (I couldn't even find where this Nova Vaasa was even meant to be prior to being made a domain of dread, so I ultimately ended up grabbing a piece of the Hordelands and using Wonderdraft to make a new map for Nova Vaasa based off the piece of land).
Ultimately, despite my work on the Nova Vaasa map coming out pretty good, I lost interest in that domain and moved on to new interests. That was all back when the book had just come out. I got a random itch to make a domain of my own again, though, but rather than relying on domains already stated to have their origins on Toril, I wanted to see what the lorekeepers here on Candlekeep would suggest.
I'd love to know of any fallen civilizations/cities, evil blokes in the setting's past, and other locations you guys think would make an interesting Domain of Dread. Thanks in advance.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 25 Mar 2022 : 14:12:40
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There's a fair number of people from the Realms in Ravenloft already, including at least a couple of the dark lords.
It may help if you narrowed the focus down a bit, either for a specific region or a type of area.
(Also, I'm not convinced that the Mists actually take lands from elsewhere. I think instead that the Mists form the new realm from scratch with a kind of environmental overlay from the source. So instead of ripping away a chunk of land from the Prime, they just make their own land, and then give it the same type of terrain their target came from.) |
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MandarinB
Acolyte
USA
28 Posts |
Posted - 25 Mar 2022 : 14:57:10
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I was under the impression that even if the lands aren't taken away from the original place, they are usually a copy of said lands. Strahd conquered Barovia before his actions caused it to become separated from his original world, for example. The implication there seems to be that the Barovia domain was the same Barovia he conquered and ruled before he became a dark lord. Or for Dark Sun there's Kalidnay which was a domain copied from the land the Dark Lord ruled- leaving behind a ruin in its place.
I know that probably doesn't apply to *every* domain, like I don't think 5e Hazlan is anything more than a domain made for Hazlik to rule over as opposed to a genuine chunk of Thay that was ripped out.
Honestly I don't really have much to narrow it down to, since I'm in the brainstorming stage and the only thing I know I want to do is base the domain off of a Realms character/location. |
Edited by - MandarinB on 25 Mar 2022 14:57:44 |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3741 Posts |
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MandarinB
Acolyte
USA
28 Posts |
Posted - 26 Mar 2022 : 15:40:23
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| After doing some thought, I can narrow it down to themes of horror I want to explore with a domain. I'm interested in Dark Fantasy, Folk Horror, Gothic Horror, or Disaster Horror. Regions/Characters that can help me build a domain on one of those themes would be great. I have a preference for things going on in Faerun since I'm more acquainted with it than Kara-Tur or Zakhara, but I don't mind suggestions regarding the latter two. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
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Gelcur
Senior Scribe
523 Posts |
Posted - 26 Mar 2022 : 23:04:31
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Castle Spulzeer is a specific game module that links Forgotten Realms with Ravenloft, you could use it as reference. I had planned on running it years ago but never got to it so I can't speak to its quality.
Ravenloft is a wonderful tool to break rules, norms, canon. Since it is intentionally left vague as to how it works basically none of the rule apply but you don't have to worry about will this ruin the continuity in my campaigns.
Examples of things I use Ravenloft to do:
*Players have PCs that are from different systems, different DMs, I restat them and no one questions how or why certain things have changed
*PCs or NPCs that are dead can make returns, they were whisked into Ravenloft or a copy of them is in Ravenloft, or a past version of them was taken into Ravenloft and then put back
*There is also no reason the Mists can't reach across time, backwards and forwards allowing characters to interact with characters that would normally not be possible in main continuity
*You want to run something devastating "horrific" maybe it'll have more punch if it happens to a place your players are fond of, but you really don't want to do that to ..., well it all happened in Ravenloft, and Ravenloft cleaned up after itself, maybe people remember it, maybe they don't, but you can just return to the status quo
I use Ravenloft pretty much every year for a Halloween quest. My players love that they can bring old characters back that they wish could have "one more session" and I do not have to worry about explaining anything. We can just hit the ground running.
I failed at horror the first few Halloweens, trying to run quests out of Ravenloft modules or reference this or that D&D book on horror. Do yourself a favor get a copy of the Call of Cthulhu RPG, you don't need to use the system. Just read up on how to make a horror based quest. First year I do that people loved how much it creeped them out and couldn't stop going on about it for years. |
The party come to a town befallen by hysteria
Rogue: So what's in the general store?
DM: What are you looking for?
Rogue: Whatevers in the store.
DM: Like what?
Rogue: Everything.
DM: There is a lot of stuff.
Rogue: Is there a cart outside?
DM: (rolls) Yes.
Rogue: We'll take it all, we may need it for the greater good. |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 27 Mar 2022 : 00:25:00
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An undead stalked Thay ruled by Tam could work perhaps.
My favorite would actually be a cold realm dominated by Zhengyi (sp?) The Witch King before he got axed. He was actually one of my favorite villains in the Forgotten Realms once the Bloodstone Lands were placed there.
I toyed with making Zhentil Keep a realm; but Manshoon just didn't rise to the level of truly dark and vile evil for me.
A domain dominated by Set's cult could be cool...with not so much an Avatar of Set, but one of his Incarnations.
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The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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MandarinB
Acolyte
USA
28 Posts |
Posted - 27 Mar 2022 : 15:31:44
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quote:
Originally posted by Gelcur
Castle Spulzeer is a specific game module that links Forgotten Realms with Ravenloft, you could use it as reference. I had planned on running it years ago but never got to it so I can't speak to its quality.
Ravenloft is a wonderful tool to break rules, norms, canon. Since it is intentionally left vague as to how it works basically none of the rule apply but you don't have to worry about will this ruin the continuity in my campaigns.
Examples of things I use Ravenloft to do:
*Players have PCs that are from different systems, different DMs, I restat them and no one questions how or why certain things have changed
*PCs or NPCs that are dead can make returns, they were whisked into Ravenloft or a copy of them is in Ravenloft, or a past version of them was taken into Ravenloft and then put back
*There is also no reason the Mists can't reach across time, backwards and forwards allowing characters to interact with characters that would normally not be possible in main continuity
*You want to run something devastating "horrific" maybe it'll have more punch if it happens to a place your players are fond of, but you really don't want to do that to ..., well it all happened in Ravenloft, and Ravenloft cleaned up after itself, maybe people remember it, maybe they don't, but you can just return to the status quo
I use Ravenloft pretty much every year for a Halloween quest. My players love that they can bring old characters back that they wish could have "one more session" and I do not have to worry about explaining anything. We can just hit the ground running.
I failed at horror the first few Halloweens, trying to run quests out of Ravenloft modules or reference this or that D&D book on horror. Do yourself a favor get a copy of the Call of Cthulhu RPG, you don't need to use the system. Just read up on how to make a horror based quest. First year I do that people loved how much it creeped them out and couldn't stop going on about it for years.
I think I'll look into Castle Spulzeer for inspiration, though ultimately my goal is to make a brand new domain that just happens to have root in the Realmslore. I do like the idea of dead villains/NPCs making a return, regardless of how they died. It gives me some ideas regarding my own Realms games and it opens up the possibilities for who could be a Darklord. Thanks for the advice.
quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden
An undead stalked Thay ruled by Tam could work perhaps.
My favorite would actually be a cold realm dominated by Zhengyi (sp?) The Witch King before he got axed. He was actually one of my favorite villains in the Forgotten Realms once the Bloodstone Lands were placed there.
I toyed with making Zhentil Keep a realm; but Manshoon just didn't rise to the level of truly dark and vile evil for me.
A domain dominated by Set's cult could be cool...with not so much an Avatar of Set, but one of his Incarnations.
Manshoon is a fun villain, but I also don't really know how to make him rise to the evil of a Dark Lord unless its the result of one of the clones going far off the deep end. An incarnation of Set, honestly an incarnation of any of the Mulhorandi or Untherite gods, would be ****ing awesome. The god themself wouldn't be the Dark Lord, but instead the mortal incarnation who maybe committed some atrocities during his or her reign. Bonus points if the god they're an incarnation of isn't around in the Realms anymore. |
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Suggestions Wanted: FR-Based Domain of Dread
