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Barovia before Strahd?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
May 30, 2006 20:52:32 Hey folks,

How dark and gloomy was Barovia before Strahd became a creature of the night?

There were wars and violence, but how many monsters and golbins caused trouble for the people of the land? Strahd led an army against some other faction of humans in the novel I, Strahd to regain the castle and these events eventually led to his fall to the Dark Powers and the "creation" of Ravenloft & the Mists as they are in the setting.

What about before then?

Ideas? Comments? Theories?

Regards,

Matt
#2
Matthew_L._Martin
May 30, 2006 22:14:25 Try to find a copy of Ravenloft Gazetteer I. Everything you wanted to know about Barovia history.

The short version: Bloody, war-ravaged, and fractious, much like the Eastern European nations it was modeled on.

Matthew L. Martin
#3
zombiegleemax
Jun 26, 2006 2:22:10 Exactly. Tergs = Turks. Strahd = Dracula. The 1st Gazetteer is great. I put a little more into Strahd as a fighter though, I made him a bit more "fighter" strong in my campaigns which of course, does differ from the cannon of the 3.5.

Eastern Europe has always had long history of brutality and faction fighting. Put him the worst case senerios imaginable, it forged him early on to be hard and tough, executive and ruthless.

Before Strahd and his family, make it a bunch of bicking feuding nobles who have let their country be torn apart by civil war and then weakened for the Terg invasion. Prior to that, have some well placed assinations of "great" or "good" leaders after which the country fell into dispair and clan/tribal/noble feuding.
#4
rotipher
Jul 05, 2006 8:36:01 While it's never stated outright, a number of clues suggest that Material Plane Barovia was a rather magic-poor world, by D&D standards. Most people were quite ignorant about magic or monsters (e.g. peasants confused the [human] Tergish invaders with goblins), and even Strahd himself had to send agents to hunt high and low for the paltry few low-level spellbooks he owned in life. Heck, it's even implied he had to consult his library to figure out that what he'd become was called a "vampire"! Most spellcasters (e.g. druids) were only distant rumors to the mortal Strahd, and he'd evidently never seen an elf before meeting Jander Sunstar in VotM, nor heard the word "zombie" before Azalin showed up and started referring to Strahd's animated-corpse guardians by that name.

Together with other quirks of history -- like how Kir, the High Priest of Andral, died from the strain of crafting the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, which is hardly in the "major artifact" league as magic items go -- it's likely that Barovia was a pretty mundane place to start out, where magical races and knowledge were even rarer than they are, in Ravenloft itself.
#5
thanael
Jul 06, 2006 4:02:25 You're right of course. It was a low magic world.

But your last example is interesting. It's not clear if Kir dies because he crafts the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind or just because he's old and he has finally completed his last important deed.

But I wonder if the HSoR does not have some more albeit hidden powers... Perhaps it would make a nice Legacy item or even a Relic (Complete Divine rules or Ravenloft ones...). Or it could be an intelligent item. (It does appear to whisper to Kir while he is creating it)
#6
humanbing
Jul 06, 2006 7:41:03 In my campaign, I'm going to give the Holy Symbol of Ravenloft and the Icon of Ravenkind a few more powers, but the main thing that they will have is the ability to ignore Ravenloft's limitations while the caster is holding them.

So spells cast actually function normally, turning attempts are at their usual level, and fear and horror and madness checks are not needed... for the person carrying the Holy Symbol and Icon.

Put together, this basically gives the PCs a fairly small bonus overall, but the gamplay ramifications of this are strong. In my campaign, this explains why Azalin wanted to acquire these items so badly - they essentially provide the holder with a direct link to the old Prime Material deities, and allow him to ignore Ravenloft's Dark Powers.

Azalin then caused the Grand Conjunction by holding onto the two items and forcing a Dark Powers check, which would have been the paradoxical equivalent of telling your calculator to divide by zero. At that point, the Dark Powers became locked in a battle of wills against the gods of old Barovia, weakening the Demiplane's barriers and letting Azalin escape.
#7
rotipher
Jul 06, 2006 11:51:32
But your last example is interesting. It's not clear if Kir dies because he crafts the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind or just because he's old and he has finally completed his last important deed.

Actually, Kir was younger than Strahd, who'd referred to him as such in a conversation with Sergei (check "I, Strahd"). Strahd was only in his forties, so unless Kir had some kind of a congenital heart condition, it was the strain of the enchantment-process that killed him.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax May 30, 2006 20:52:32	Hey folks, How dark and gloomy was Barovia before Strahd became a creature of the night? There were wars and violence, but how many monsters and golbins caused trouble for the people of the land? Strahd led an army against some other faction of humans in the novel I, Strahd to regain the castle and these events eventually led to his fall to the Dark Powers and the "creation" of Ravenloft & the Mists as they are in the setting. What about before then? Ideas? Comments? Theories? Regards, Matt
#2 Matthew_L._Martin May 30, 2006 22:14:25	Try to find a copy of Ravenloft Gazetteer I. Everything you wanted to know about Barovia history. The short version: Bloody, war-ravaged, and fractious, much like the Eastern European nations it was modeled on. Matthew L. Martin
#3 zombiegleemax Jun 26, 2006 2:22:10	Exactly. Tergs = Turks. Strahd = Dracula. The 1st Gazetteer is great. I put a little more into Strahd as a fighter though, I made him a bit more "fighter" strong in my campaigns which of course, does differ from the cannon of the 3.5. Eastern Europe has always had long history of brutality and faction fighting. Put him the worst case senerios imaginable, it forged him early on to be hard and tough, executive and ruthless. Before Strahd and his family, make it a bunch of bicking feuding nobles who have let their country be torn apart by civil war and then weakened for the Terg invasion. Prior to that, have some well placed assinations of "great" or "good" leaders after which the country fell into dispair and clan/tribal/noble feuding.
#4 rotipher Jul 05, 2006 8:36:01	While it's never stated outright, a number of clues suggest that Material Plane Barovia was a rather magic-poor world, by D&D standards. Most people were quite ignorant about magic or monsters (e.g. peasants confused the [human] Tergish invaders with goblins), and even Strahd himself had to send agents to hunt high and low for the paltry few low-level spellbooks he owned in life. Heck, it's even implied he had to consult his library to figure out that what he'd become was called a "vampire"! Most spellcasters (e.g. druids) were only distant rumors to the mortal Strahd, and he'd evidently never seen an elf before meeting Jander Sunstar in VotM, nor heard the word "zombie" before Azalin showed up and started referring to Strahd's animated-corpse guardians by that name. Together with other quirks of history -- like how Kir, the High Priest of Andral, died from the strain of crafting the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, which is hardly in the "major artifact" league as magic items go -- it's likely that Barovia was a pretty mundane place to start out, where magical races and knowledge were even rarer than they are, in Ravenloft itself.
#5 thanael Jul 06, 2006 4:02:25	You're right of course. It was a low magic world. But your last example is interesting. It's not clear if Kir dies because he crafts the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind or just because he's old and he has finally completed his last important deed. But I wonder if the HSoR does not have some more albeit hidden powers... Perhaps it would make a nice Legacy item or even a Relic (Complete Divine rules or Ravenloft ones...). Or it could be an intelligent item. (It does appear to whisper to Kir while he is creating it)
#6 humanbing Jul 06, 2006 7:41:03	In my campaign, I'm going to give the Holy Symbol of Ravenloft and the Icon of Ravenkind a few more powers, but the main thing that they will have is the ability to ignore Ravenloft's limitations while the caster is holding them. So spells cast actually function normally, turning attempts are at their usual level, and fear and horror and madness checks are not needed... for the person carrying the Holy Symbol and Icon. Put together, this basically gives the PCs a fairly small bonus overall, but the gamplay ramifications of this are strong. In my campaign, this explains why Azalin wanted to acquire these items so badly - they essentially provide the holder with a direct link to the old Prime Material deities, and allow him to ignore Ravenloft's Dark Powers. Azalin then caused the Grand Conjunction by holding onto the two items and forcing a Dark Powers check, which would have been the paradoxical equivalent of telling your calculator to divide by zero. At that point, the Dark Powers became locked in a battle of wills against the gods of old Barovia, weakening the Demiplane's barriers and letting Azalin escape.
#7 rotipher Jul 06, 2006 11:51:32	But your last example is interesting. It's not clear if Kir dies because he crafts the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind or just because he's old and he has finally completed his last important deed. Actually, Kir was younger than Strahd, who'd referred to him as such in a conversation with Sergei (check "I, Strahd"). Strahd was only in his forties, so unless Kir had some kind of a congenital heart condition, it was the strain of the enchantment-process that killed him.