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New Domain concept

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
sptjanly
Feb 13, 2007 9:22:00 Hi everyone,

I have been playing Ravenloft for about 7 years now and I can say without a

doubt that it is my favorite realm setting. I could go on with my reasons why

but that isnt the point of this posting. Ive been wanting to create a domain

for my DM and group for awhile now and let them see the insparation they

have instilled in me.

Finally, after afew years of writing I have settled on a

concept. The cultural level is stone age, so there is a nice savage feel to

the setting. Life is short, brutal and only those that can adapt survive.

Those who can not manage are culled quickly by the strong. The Dread

Lords are a warlord (barbarian) and a witchdoctor (shaman, i am using the

class out of Oriental Adventures). Their weakness is their fear and

dependence on eachother as they mutually lead the massive tribe they hold

in their power. They came to Ravenloft after a ritual they preformed to

assure eachother of their trust by allowing the other to sacrifice their first

born sons. The entire tribe was taken by the mists to their current domain.

Over the years, the warlord and his excess desire to take consorts (like many

leaders in our own past) lead to the births of hundreds of children. After

many generations of his blood lines broke off here and there and formed their

own tribes. Some ally with the original tribe and some are at war with them.

That is the base concept. Feel free to post any imput and use it in any of

your games.
#2
Mortepierre
Feb 13, 2007 15:49:38 What's their curse?

Don't they age at all or do they age more slowly? (like Vlad Drakov)

In what way do they depend on each other now? For instance, if one of them died, what would happen to the other?
#3
sptjanly
Feb 13, 2007 18:31:31 Their curse is their dependence on eachother. They hate and fear one

fear one another. The warlord does not understand matters of spirits and

could not manage the tribe without the shaman. The shaman is weak and

needs the protection of the warlord. They feel they have to renew their

trust every few generations by sacrificing another first born. Their aging has

has become timeless, they maintain their same physical appearence as when

they came into the mists.

Killing them is tricky because it can only be done by convincing one to topple

the other. Like Borca, if one goes the other will soon fall as well do to the

missing aspect of their power base agreement they have held for so many

years.
#4
sptjanly
Feb 13, 2007 19:04:48 I did forget class in the original posting.It is kind of restrictive due to the

cultural level.

Barbarians make up the protectors of the tribes and the most respected class

outside of the shaman.

The shaman is special because there is only one in a tribe, but they may

one apprientice they are training at the moment. They are the conection to

the spirits of the domain. Their word is law next to the warlord of a given

tribe. Healing is considered proof that the spirits favor the shaman in

question.

Rangers are the elite scouts and hunters of the tribes.

Sorcerers are something a player should consider very carefully before

choosing. Their magic is considered an ill omen of the tribes because they

feel that their magic is from demons or wicked spirits. If a sorcerer is caught

casting this feared magic they will be put to trial to see if they can cast

healing magic (Healing Touch, Necromancy Sor/Wiz 3 would be a suggested

spell to take if the sorcerer values their life to fool the tribe) and if they

cannot they will be put to death. If the sorcerer can manage to pull off this

ruse they the are expelled from to the tribe into the wilds A sorcerer might

want to invest in feats such as silent spell and still spell. Also spells that

increase physical attributes may come in handy to help them pass as normal

tribesmen.

All of the npc classes make up the bulk of the tribe except adept (see

sorcerer description).

The restricted classes are obvious in most cases.

Wizard

Bard because most of the elders and heroes of the tribes can fit this role

without having to add this class in.

Clerics can exsist outside of watchfull eye of the shaman if deities choose to

reveil themselves to the inhabitants of the domain. More than likely these

clerics will form cults in secret out fear from the rest of the tribe. This may

act as an interesting opposing power base.

Fighters just seem to refined for the cultural level.

Druids may form circles outside of the tribes in the wilds.
#5
Mortepierre
Feb 14, 2007 7:11:53 If you need sources of inspiration, you might want to take a look at Dragon magazine #68 ("Thrills and Chills") and at http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/IceAge/
#6
sptjanly
Feb 15, 2007 17:44:49 Thanks for the Gurps info, my buddy has a copy of the book that ill have to

into.
#7
rotipher
Feb 16, 2007 7:40:04
Lords are a warlord (barbarian) and a witchdoctor (shaman, i am using the class out of Oriental Adventures). Their weakness is their fear and dependence on eachother as they mutually lead the massive tribe they hold in their power. They came to Ravenloft after a ritual they preformed to assure eachother of their trust by allowing the other to sacrifice their first born sons. The entire tribe was taken by the mists to their current domain.

Hmmm. That's pretty twisted, but it could be even nastier. As it stands, it really isn't that much different than rival kings swapping their kids as political hostages, then attacking each other anyway, which isn't that unprecedented in IRL history.

What if, instead, they had agreed to sacrifice each others' second sons, only to betray one another and wind up killing the wrong kids? The barbarian knows that the witchdoctor's firstborn is the only son of the shaman with a knack for magic, so he secretly has the older youth drugged and brought to the sacrifice, thinking he'll deprive his rival of the chance to keep the shaman-hood in the family. At the same time, the witchdoctor arranges so the two victims will be swapped, so the barbarian will unwittingly kill his *own* son, thus invoking a terrible curse which afflicts all kinslayers in their culture: a curse the witchdoctor had arranged for his first son (a novice shaman) to covertly deflect from himself with a protective ritual.

As both men are counting on their rival not knowing who he is killing, the victims' faces are hooded as they're brought in for the sacrifice. Both men strike at the same time, then pull the hoods off and see that they've murdered their own heirs, thus invoking the kinslayers' curse upon both the barbarian (who thought he'd been killing the shaman's firstborn) and the witchdoctor (who, having sacrificed his first son rather than his second, had nobody around to deflect it). Enraged at this proof of one anothers' betrayal, they turn on each other ... and the Mists close in.
#8
sptjanly
Feb 16, 2007 14:04:31 I love how a plot gets more depratved and dark. Thank you for that

addition, it will do nicely.
#9
The_Jester
Feb 25, 2007 12:55:53 So other than the lords what is the land like?
#10
sptjanly
Mar 17, 2007 8:15:46 Still working alot of that out. I will post progress as it comes.

Im leaning towards temperate forests and hills, like western europe

(specificly France, Spain and Portagal)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 sptjanly Feb 13, 2007 9:22:00	Hi everyone, I have been playing Ravenloft for about 7 years now and I can say without a doubt that it is my favorite realm setting. I could go on with my reasons why but that isnt the point of this posting. Ive been wanting to create a domain for my DM and group for awhile now and let them see the insparation they have instilled in me. Finally, after afew years of writing I have settled on a concept. The cultural level is stone age, so there is a nice savage feel to the setting. Life is short, brutal and only those that can adapt survive. Those who can not manage are culled quickly by the strong. The Dread Lords are a warlord (barbarian) and a witchdoctor (shaman, i am using the class out of Oriental Adventures). Their weakness is their fear and dependence on eachother as they mutually lead the massive tribe they hold in their power. They came to Ravenloft after a ritual they preformed to assure eachother of their trust by allowing the other to sacrifice their first born sons. The entire tribe was taken by the mists to their current domain. Over the years, the warlord and his excess desire to take consorts (like many leaders in our own past) lead to the births of hundreds of children. After many generations of his blood lines broke off here and there and formed their own tribes. Some ally with the original tribe and some are at war with them. That is the base concept. Feel free to post any imput and use it in any of your games.
#2 Mortepierre Feb 13, 2007 15:49:38	What's their curse? Don't they age at all or do they age more slowly? (like Vlad Drakov) In what way do they depend on each other now? For instance, if one of them died, what would happen to the other?
#3 sptjanly Feb 13, 2007 18:31:31	Their curse is their dependence on eachother. They hate and fear one fear one another. The warlord does not understand matters of spirits and could not manage the tribe without the shaman. The shaman is weak and needs the protection of the warlord. They feel they have to renew their trust every few generations by sacrificing another first born. Their aging has has become timeless, they maintain their same physical appearence as when they came into the mists. Killing them is tricky because it can only be done by convincing one to topple the other. Like Borca, if one goes the other will soon fall as well do to the missing aspect of their power base agreement they have held for so many years.
#4 sptjanly Feb 13, 2007 19:04:48	I did forget class in the original posting.It is kind of restrictive due to the cultural level. Barbarians make up the protectors of the tribes and the most respected class outside of the shaman. The shaman is special because there is only one in a tribe, but they may one apprientice they are training at the moment. They are the conection to the spirits of the domain. Their word is law next to the warlord of a given tribe. Healing is considered proof that the spirits favor the shaman in question. Rangers are the elite scouts and hunters of the tribes. Sorcerers are something a player should consider very carefully before choosing. Their magic is considered an ill omen of the tribes because they feel that their magic is from demons or wicked spirits. If a sorcerer is caught casting this feared magic they will be put to trial to see if they can cast healing magic (Healing Touch, Necromancy Sor/Wiz 3 would be a suggested spell to take if the sorcerer values their life to fool the tribe) and if they cannot they will be put to death. If the sorcerer can manage to pull off this ruse they the are expelled from to the tribe into the wilds A sorcerer might want to invest in feats such as silent spell and still spell. Also spells that increase physical attributes may come in handy to help them pass as normal tribesmen. All of the npc classes make up the bulk of the tribe except adept (see sorcerer description). The restricted classes are obvious in most cases. Wizard Bard because most of the elders and heroes of the tribes can fit this role without having to add this class in. Clerics can exsist outside of watchfull eye of the shaman if deities choose to reveil themselves to the inhabitants of the domain. More than likely these clerics will form cults in secret out fear from the rest of the tribe. This may act as an interesting opposing power base. Fighters just seem to refined for the cultural level. Druids may form circles outside of the tribes in the wilds.
#5 Mortepierre Feb 14, 2007 7:11:53	If you need sources of inspiration, you might want to take a look at Dragon magazine #68 ("Thrills and Chills") and at http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/IceAge/
#6 sptjanly Feb 15, 2007 17:44:49	Thanks for the Gurps info, my buddy has a copy of the book that ill have to into.
#7 rotipher Feb 16, 2007 7:40:04	Lords are a warlord (barbarian) and a witchdoctor (shaman, i am using the class out of Oriental Adventures). Their weakness is their fear and dependence on eachother as they mutually lead the massive tribe they hold in their power. They came to Ravenloft after a ritual they preformed to assure eachother of their trust by allowing the other to sacrifice their first born sons. The entire tribe was taken by the mists to their current domain. Hmmm. That's pretty twisted, but it could be even nastier. As it stands, it really isn't that much different than rival kings swapping their kids as political hostages, then attacking each other anyway, which isn't that unprecedented in IRL history. What if, instead, they had agreed to sacrifice each others' second sons, only to betray one another and wind up killing the wrong kids? The barbarian knows that the witchdoctor's firstborn is the only son of the shaman with a knack for magic, so he secretly has the older youth drugged and brought to the sacrifice, thinking he'll deprive his rival of the chance to keep the shaman-hood in the family. At the same time, the witchdoctor arranges so the two victims will be swapped, so the barbarian will unwittingly kill his own son, thus invoking a terrible curse which afflicts all kinslayers in their culture: a curse the witchdoctor had arranged for his first son (a novice shaman) to covertly deflect from himself with a protective ritual. As both men are counting on their rival not knowing who he is killing, the victims' faces are hooded as they're brought in for the sacrifice. Both men strike at the same time, then pull the hoods off and see that they've murdered their own heirs, thus invoking the kinslayers' curse upon both the barbarian (who thought he'd been killing the shaman's firstborn) and the witchdoctor (who, having sacrificed his first son rather than his second, had nobody around to deflect it). Enraged at this proof of one anothers' betrayal, they turn on each other ... and the Mists close in.
#8 sptjanly Feb 16, 2007 14:04:31	I love how a plot gets more depratved and dark. Thank you for that addition, it will do nicely.
#9 The_Jester Feb 25, 2007 12:55:53	So other than the lords what is the land like?
#10 sptjanly Mar 17, 2007 8:15:46	Still working alot of that out. I will post progress as it comes. Im leaning towards temperate forests and hills, like western europe (specificly France, Spain and Portagal)