Do people in RL know they're in RL? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Do people in RL know they're in RL?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
ozyburrfoot
Jan 16, 2007 12:50:38 More specificly, how aware of the fact are commoners that they are in the Demiplane of Dread with seperate domains controlled by various dreadlords and all that? Do most of them just know about their own domain and not much else, or are they aware of the world at large too?
#2
zombiegleemax
Jan 16, 2007 13:39:57
More specificly, how aware of the fact are commoners that they are in the Demiplane of Dread with seperate domains controlled by various dreadlords and all that? Do most of them just know about their own domain and not much else, or are they aware of the world at large too?

Essentially, the answer to your question is, "No." The common man in Ravenloft knows only that he is from "The Land," and has no knowledge of a less-dark Toril or Krynn or Oerth. For the most part, world travelers were an especially rare breed in the Earth time periods reflected in the Ravenloft campaign setting, and having anything beyond the most passing of interests in the nations beyond the borders of your own was rare, to say the least. Does a Barovian citizen even KNOW that there's a Darkon way up north? Probably, yeah, he's heard of it, and he may even have tasted a Darkonian or Hazlani wine on a special occasion, but has he been there? Almost certainly not. Is his mental picture of the place remotely accurate? No, probably not. Maybe he's heard tales about Falkovnia and knows that the ruler there is a harsh and terrible tyrant; maybe a bard or other storyteller has whispered tales to him in the Inn about the predominance of werewolves in the luch green of Kartakass.

Does he know of the Darklords? In my own campaigns, no. He (the Barovian guy previously mentioned) knows that Strahd von Zarovich is the ruler of his land, and it seems that he always has been, but he doesn't give it a long thread of mental energy. To put it into context, think about our own world: You know that the capitol of your state is, say, Tallahassee. Ever been there? Maybe, maybe not, but you've probably never been anywhere but the mall and a few stores you like (the Marketplace and a General Provisioner). You've almost certainly never bothered to go to the Capitol, but if you have, it was as a visitor. You, again, have almost certainly never met Governor Bush. The numbers go down exponentially when we change the nouns to Washington, D.C. and to President Bush. Make them London and Prime Minister Blair, and it's game over. When you start wondering about whether these figures you have only ever even heard about are really human or not, well, you're going to feel pretty darned silly about even ASKING.

Hope this helps!
#3
malus_black
Jan 16, 2007 13:41:06 Most people know their home village, the surrounding area and probably the nearest large trading town. Scholars, nobles and the like, especially from CL 8+ domains, know more of the world, but even they haven't the foggiest idea their world is drifting in the ethereal plane and is divided into artificial prisons ruled by figures cursed and empowered by mysterious entitites. That knowledge is generally restricted to students of the occult, wizards, and other people with Knowledge (the Planes).
#4
rotipher
Jan 16, 2007 13:41:38 Unless a character has skill ranks in Knowledge (Ravenloft) -- which are not easy to acquire -- it's assumed that they know nothing about darklords, the Dark Powers, and other "Behind the Curtain" secrets of the Land of Mists. They know that the Mists divide their world into Core, Clusters and Islands and can have strange effects, but they don't realize that this is in any way unusual, any more than a PC in a game-setting where the world is flat would think that a flat planet is odd.

People in most domains - which they call "realms", "countries", and so forth as often as "domains" - are not very informed about other lands, and will be unaware of many secrets of their own homeland also. (For instance, few folks in Borca know that Ivana Boritsi's favored courtiers have a poisonous touch, as most who learn this fact have discovered it by getting fatally poisoned!) In lands where education is more widespread, the average person may know more about their own and other lands; however, what they think they know may be distorted by cultural biases or error, such as Lamordians' belief that magic is a bunch of hogwash.
#5
ozyburrfoot
Jan 16, 2007 13:42:19
*snips*

Hope this helps!

Yes it has. Thanks.
#6
rotipher
Jan 16, 2007 13:48:28 Glad we could help!

Oh, and FWIW, to a person in the game-setting, "Ravenloft" is the name of a big castle in Barovia. That's all it is. The world in which they live is "the Land of Mists", or (more often) simply "the world".

Only gamers, speaking OOC, call it "Ravenloft".

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ozyburrfoot Jan 16, 2007 12:50:38	More specificly, how aware of the fact are commoners that they are in the Demiplane of Dread with seperate domains controlled by various dreadlords and all that? Do most of them just know about their own domain and not much else, or are they aware of the world at large too?
#2 zombiegleemax Jan 16, 2007 13:39:57	More specificly, how aware of the fact are commoners that they are in the Demiplane of Dread with seperate domains controlled by various dreadlords and all that? Do most of them just know about their own domain and not much else, or are they aware of the world at large too? Essentially, the answer to your question is, "No." The common man in Ravenloft knows only that he is from "The Land," and has no knowledge of a less-dark Toril or Krynn or Oerth. For the most part, world travelers were an especially rare breed in the Earth time periods reflected in the Ravenloft campaign setting, and having anything beyond the most passing of interests in the nations beyond the borders of your own was rare, to say the least. Does a Barovian citizen even KNOW that there's a Darkon way up north? Probably, yeah, he's heard of it, and he may even have tasted a Darkonian or Hazlani wine on a special occasion, but has he been there? Almost certainly not. Is his mental picture of the place remotely accurate? No, probably not. Maybe he's heard tales about Falkovnia and knows that the ruler there is a harsh and terrible tyrant; maybe a bard or other storyteller has whispered tales to him in the Inn about the predominance of werewolves in the luch green of Kartakass. Does he know of the Darklords? In my own campaigns, no. He (the Barovian guy previously mentioned) knows that Strahd von Zarovich is the ruler of his land, and it seems that he always has been, but he doesn't give it a long thread of mental energy. To put it into context, think about our own world: You know that the capitol of your state is, say, Tallahassee. Ever been there? Maybe, maybe not, but you've probably never been anywhere but the mall and a few stores you like (the Marketplace and a General Provisioner). You've almost certainly never bothered to go to the Capitol, but if you have, it was as a visitor. You, again, have almost certainly never met Governor Bush. The numbers go down exponentially when we change the nouns to Washington, D.C. and to President Bush. Make them London and Prime Minister Blair, and it's game over. When you start wondering about whether these figures you have only ever even heard about are really human or not, well, you're going to feel pretty darned silly about even ASKING. Hope this helps!
#3 malus_black Jan 16, 2007 13:41:06	Most people know their home village, the surrounding area and probably the nearest large trading town. Scholars, nobles and the like, especially from CL 8+ domains, know more of the world, but even they haven't the foggiest idea their world is drifting in the ethereal plane and is divided into artificial prisons ruled by figures cursed and empowered by mysterious entitites. That knowledge is generally restricted to students of the occult, wizards, and other people with Knowledge (the Planes).
#4 rotipher Jan 16, 2007 13:41:38	Unless a character has skill ranks in Knowledge (Ravenloft) -- which are not easy to acquire -- it's assumed that they know nothing about darklords, the Dark Powers, and other "Behind the Curtain" secrets of the Land of Mists. They know that the Mists divide their world into Core, Clusters and Islands and can have strange effects, but they don't realize that this is in any way unusual, any more than a PC in a game-setting where the world is flat would think that a flat planet is odd. People in most domains - which they call "realms", "countries", and so forth as often as "domains" - are not very informed about other lands, and will be unaware of many secrets of their own homeland also. (For instance, few folks in Borca know that Ivana Boritsi's favored courtiers have a poisonous touch, as most who learn this fact have discovered it by getting fatally poisoned!) In lands where education is more widespread, the average person may know more about their own and other lands; however, what they think they know may be distorted by cultural biases or error, such as Lamordians' belief that magic is a bunch of hogwash.
#5 ozyburrfoot Jan 16, 2007 13:42:19	snips Hope this helps! Yes it has. Thanks.
#6 rotipher Jan 16, 2007 13:48:28	Glad we could help! Oh, and FWIW, to a person in the game-setting, "Ravenloft" is the name of a big castle in Barovia. That's all it is. The world in which they live is "the Land of Mists", or (more often) simply "the world". Only gamers, speaking OOC, call it "Ravenloft".