"incursions" in Ravenloft - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

"incursions" in Ravenloft

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Nov 07, 2005 6:50:21 i'm curious to know if anyone has used the Demiplane of Dread in a Planescape campaign. I think the PCs would be chased at sight (of course there's a good possibility that none of them is human, and, in any case, their look and mannerism would be weird to Ravenloft natives ..not to speak of "distinctive traits" tiefling of baatezu, tanr'ri or yugoloth heritage ) and, most important, as planars they probably have a deeper knowledge of Ravenloft position and scope in the Mutiverse, so most of the setting mood would be lost to them..on the other hand, in Ravenloft there are some wonderful "planar" adventures seeds..for example, helping Inajira to retrieve his book of keeping (or blackmail him, if the PCs had already found the book), or the possibility to help Isolde destroy the Gentleman Caller and gain the forgivness of celestal hierarchies--so what do you thnik of Ravenloft use in planar campaigns?
#2
zombiegleemax
Nov 07, 2005 16:24:14 Hmmmm, at first glance, Ravenloft would seem to be a dubious setting to drop a bunch of Planar characters in. The combination of having a much greater likelihood of understanding the "artificialness" of the place better, no frame of reference for a lot of the concepts that most of the domains build upon, and possibly having seen some of the Lower Planes first-hand, could all do their share to "numb" a Planar to some of the Demiplane's horrors. IIRC, the Fraternity of Shadows website even outright says that transferring Planescape (and Dark Sun) characters to RL is unlikely to work.

Still, I would surmise that good DM:ing could overcome these factors, and create a horror-style experience even for a bunch of fairly jaded Cagers. Not having actually tried any of all this, I could very well be horribly wrong (or the results of the ideas might just be plain un-fun). But here goes anyhow:

Two domains would seem to lead the way in what could be done: Verbrek, and Scaena. The first, in that the challenges put up by the world of Ravenloft, while sometimes seemingly crude and simple, still are of such a nature that they invalidate much of a Planar's previous skills and experiences (leaving him "lost and hunted in the wilderness", as it were, with no portals to escape through, most aid and comforts of his previous life abruptly cut off, and the power of his beliefs as likely as not to turn against him as the Dark Powers find ways to toy with them). The second, in that the character may well, for the reasons that first would seem to "de-scarify" Ravenloft to him, be stuck with a feeling of permanent frustrated alienation: he knows himself to be watching a series of malevolently sentimental plays (and unlike natives and some Primes that draw similar conlusions, he will also be denied the possibility to think of them as a horrid but grand mystery of "the world". If he wasn't a Bleaker before, he at the least sure would be likely to begin understanding how they regard the entire Multiverse, which might well be depressive enough in its own right.), but there is nothing he can do to leave them behind. He is in all likelihood unable to truly adapt to the ways of his new world (because unlike for a Prime, they have a very low likelihood of resembling what he used to know. Furthermore, if he wishes to interact with the natives with much success, he may well have to act as if many things he'd consider to be plain truths were not so, lest he be thought insane.), but neither can he hope to truly change them. A logical extension of these circumstances, though one that is unfortunately likely to be very ineffective if the players have even the slightest knowledge of being in a cross-over, would be to give the characters cause to doubt their own past or present sanity (consider the case of a Prime who once had to take in the new lessons of the Outer and Inner Planes, and now finds those being called into question as well...).

In short, while a traditional horror campaign in Ravenloft might well be doomed to fail for a group of Planescape characters, there does seem to be a number of other ways of letting the place truly get to them.
#3
caoslayer
Nov 09, 2005 13:05:51 ummm, I think that a ravenloft adventure captures perfectly the name of the other site: planescape.

Being near imposible leaving this plane sets a great chalenge to the planewalkers, it is better set if the DM before casting the mist give them an urgent reason to leave that plane so they get ever more frustrated.
#4
vedicdragon
Nov 10, 2005 12:47:51 Die Vecna Die would be a great module to end this on.

We've managed to have three successfull campaigns both enter and leave Ravenloft.

One was a campaigns where the mists could constantly intrude on the PC's lives in various points in time. Very "Stranger in a Strange Land". That was the first involving planeswalkers as my Primary PC got dragged into that nightmareish plane and did a considerable amount of adventuring there before being "released".

It took wild magic, an artifact and a chance roll, and a portal to hell opened up.

Given a choice of Baator: the Nine Hells or the Domains of Dread, he chose Hell. Having been conscripted in the Blood War, he knew several portals out of there, so he was able to lead his party away from the Demiplane and back to (semi) familiar and friendlier environs after battling through several layers of hell.

It was quite rewarding an experience.

That being said a second party, one from Oerth, was hunting Vecnan cultists and got sucked into the events surrounding Tovag Baragu, Vecna Lives, Vecna Reborn & Die Vecna Die.

The third situation is barely worth mentioning, save that it too, was a rewarding if somewhat unusual experience.

I would have a divine oracle or agent of some kind warn the party of planar adventurers that they are approaching a threshold where even their gods may not be able to help them, as they approach the Demiplane in the Border Ethereal.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Nov 07, 2005 6:50:21	i'm curious to know if anyone has used the Demiplane of Dread in a Planescape campaign. I think the PCs would be chased at sight (of course there's a good possibility that none of them is human, and, in any case, their look and mannerism would be weird to Ravenloft natives ..not to speak of "distinctive traits" tiefling of baatezu, tanr'ri or yugoloth heritage ) and, most important, as planars they probably have a deeper knowledge of Ravenloft position and scope in the Mutiverse, so most of the setting mood would be lost to them..on the other hand, in Ravenloft there are some wonderful "planar" adventures seeds..for example, helping Inajira to retrieve his book of keeping (or blackmail him, if the PCs had already found the book), or the possibility to help Isolde destroy the Gentleman Caller and gain the forgivness of celestal hierarchies--so what do you thnik of Ravenloft use in planar campaigns?
#2 zombiegleemax Nov 07, 2005 16:24:14	Hmmmm, at first glance, Ravenloft would seem to be a dubious setting to drop a bunch of Planar characters in. The combination of having a much greater likelihood of understanding the "artificialness" of the place better, no frame of reference for a lot of the concepts that most of the domains build upon, and possibly having seen some of the Lower Planes first-hand, could all do their share to "numb" a Planar to some of the Demiplane's horrors. IIRC, the Fraternity of Shadows website even outright says that transferring Planescape (and Dark Sun) characters to RL is unlikely to work. Still, I would surmise that good DM:ing could overcome these factors, and create a horror-style experience even for a bunch of fairly jaded Cagers. Not having actually tried any of all this, I could very well be horribly wrong (or the results of the ideas might just be plain un-fun). But here goes anyhow: Two domains would seem to lead the way in what could be done: Verbrek, and Scaena. The first, in that the challenges put up by the world of Ravenloft, while sometimes seemingly crude and simple, still are of such a nature that they invalidate much of a Planar's previous skills and experiences (leaving him "lost and hunted in the wilderness", as it were, with no portals to escape through, most aid and comforts of his previous life abruptly cut off, and the power of his beliefs as likely as not to turn against him as the Dark Powers find ways to toy with them). The second, in that the character may well, for the reasons that first would seem to "de-scarify" Ravenloft to him, be stuck with a feeling of permanent frustrated alienation: he knows himself to be watching a series of malevolently sentimental plays (and unlike natives and some Primes that draw similar conlusions, he will also be denied the possibility to think of them as a horrid but grand mystery of "the world". If he wasn't a Bleaker before, he at the least sure would be likely to begin understanding how they regard the entire Multiverse, which might well be depressive enough in its own right.), but there is nothing he can do to leave them behind. He is in all likelihood unable to truly adapt to the ways of his new world (because unlike for a Prime, they have a very low likelihood of resembling what he used to know. Furthermore, if he wishes to interact with the natives with much success, he may well have to act as if many things he'd consider to be plain truths were not so, lest he be thought insane.), but neither can he hope to truly change them. A logical extension of these circumstances, though one that is unfortunately likely to be very ineffective if the players have even the slightest knowledge of being in a cross-over, would be to give the characters cause to doubt their own past or present sanity (consider the case of a Prime who once had to take in the new lessons of the Outer and Inner Planes, and now finds those being called into question as well...). In short, while a traditional horror campaign in Ravenloft might well be doomed to fail for a group of Planescape characters, there does seem to be a number of other ways of letting the place truly get to them.
#3 caoslayer Nov 09, 2005 13:05:51	ummm, I think that a ravenloft adventure captures perfectly the name of the other site: planescape. Being near imposible leaving this plane sets a great chalenge to the planewalkers, it is better set if the DM before casting the mist give them an urgent reason to leave that plane so they get ever more frustrated.
#4 vedicdragon Nov 10, 2005 12:47:51	Die Vecna Die would be a great module to end this on. We've managed to have three successfull campaigns both enter and leave Ravenloft. One was a campaigns where the mists could constantly intrude on the PC's lives in various points in time. Very "Stranger in a Strange Land". That was the first involving planeswalkers as my Primary PC got dragged into that nightmareish plane and did a considerable amount of adventuring there before being "released". It took wild magic, an artifact and a chance roll, and a portal to hell opened up. Given a choice of Baator: the Nine Hells or the Domains of Dread, he chose Hell. Having been conscripted in the Blood War, he knew several portals out of there, so he was able to lead his party away from the Demiplane and back to (semi) familiar and friendlier environs after battling through several layers of hell. It was quite rewarding an experience. That being said a second party, one from Oerth, was hunting Vecnan cultists and got sucked into the events surrounding Tovag Baragu, Vecna Lives, Vecna Reborn & Die Vecna Die. The third situation is barely worth mentioning, save that it too, was a rewarding if somewhat unusual experience. I would have a divine oracle or agent of some kind warn the party of planar adventurers that they are approaching a threshold where even their gods may not be able to help them, as they approach the Demiplane in the Border Ethereal.