I know that the inability to escape is one of the biggest aspects of Ravenloft, but I would still like to know how one is technically supposed to leave.
2. Permenant portals (very rare-unique): On the Isle of Agony there is one, in the shadowrift the shadowgate. But Both are hard to access.
3. Tempoairy Portals: If you gatter various rare artifacts or wait for a unique accurence. There is a small chance you might spot a tempoairy portal. But it's could be hard to access like in the middle of a 100 meter chasam.
Also, your not sure where you will exit (in second ed), You could find yourself in any prime. Even somewhere dangerous.
4. On the Video game Strahd's possesion (non-canon): Helm the lord of guardians rescuses the Party, But he only did so cause the mist had violated the unspoken pact and took a saccred relic. So Helm took the Relic and the Pc's back home"
5. Unique items like the Rift Spanner, wich requires the life energy of 100 people and permits 3 people to break free from Ravenloft.
6. Attaining Godhood (I think it's a god ratting 7+ to escape)
7. Die, (dosen't always work, my still be traped as an undead) but opun death technicly the soul leaves Ravenloft to be picked up by the appropriate God. For there it's in gods hands.
added,
8. If you or someone else kills a Darklord and there is no other darklord to take over. The Domain might shift back too it's homeplane taking back almost everyone present in that domain.
un-conventional
9. (Unprouven) click your heels 3 times saying "I wanna go home"
10. Annoy the Dm until he agrees to play something else than Ravenloft.
But, yes, leaving Ravenloft is a plot-device. It was always clearer to me when running RL as a "weekend in Hell"/"pitstop" campaign that the Dark Powers never do anything at random. The PC party is there for a purpose, and until that purpose is fulfilled, there they stay. The Dark Powers make the purpose known to them in subtle (or perhaps even not so subtle ways) and the same is true of the exit.
My all-time fave (both in print and in gaming) was the exit portal that temporarily appeared in Lord Soth--the PCs had to jump through Soth's chest to leave Ravenloft.
It was always clearer to me when running RL as a "weekend in Hell"/"pitstop" campaign that the Dark Powers never do anything at random. The PC party is there for a purpose, and until that purpose is fulfilled, there they stay. The Dark Powers make the purpose known to them in subtle (or perhaps even not so subtle ways) and the same is true of the exit.
That's why I bought the campaign setting, actually. I heard it was a fun distraction that could provide an opportunity for some Call of Cthulhu-esque role playing.
I was slightly disappointed when I read that the 3rd edition version tried to make it a real campaign setting, not just an adventure hook. Not too disappointed, though. I'm glad I bought the book.
Originally posted by Geethree
That's why I bought the campaign setting, actually. I heard it was a fun distraction that could provide an opportunity for some Call of Cthulhu-esque role playing.
I was slightly disappointed when I read that the 3rd edition version tried to make it a real campaign setting, not just an adventure hook. Not too disappointed, though. I'm glad I bought the book.
Actually, the 3rd-ed version was a continuation of what we started with "Domains of Dread." Although personally, I always thought Ravenloft was a perfectly viable standalone campaign setting. (I didn't think something along the line of the Gazetters would actually be as good a line as it's turned out to be, but I've been pleasently surprised!)
(For newcomers, I'm one of the "Second Generation" Ravenloft contributors... I came in after Bruce Nesmith and Andria Hayday, but I wasn't part of the Third Edition launch because of scheduling conflicts.)
Originally posted by Writer of Stuff
Actually, the 3rd-ed version was a continuation of what we started with "Domains of Dread." Although personally, I always thought Ravenloft was a perfectly viable standalone campaign setting. (I didn't think something along the line of the Gazetters would actually be as good a line as it's turned out to be, but I've been pleasently surprised!)
(For newcomers, I'm one of the "Second Generation" Ravenloft contributors... I came in after Bruce Nesmith and Andria Hayday, but I wasn't part of the Third Edition launch because of scheduling conflicts.)
The point is that (I think...) you should be able to play it as a "Weekend in Hell" if you wish and as a "true" campaign if you wish....
Your choice.
Originally posted by Arilou_skiff
The point is that (I think...) you should be able to play it as a "Weekend in Hell" if you wish and as a "true" campaign if you wish....
Your choice.
Well... there's nothing stopping anyone from playing the "Weekend in Hell" way, now or in the past.
However, the early Ravenloft adventures pretty much all assumed that a) the PCs came from somewhere else, and b) the setting dissolved when they were done with the adventure. From the Black Box forward, I felt the world needed to be a little more solid than that.
I think there's a middle ground between "everything is intricately linked like they are in FR and Birthright" and "nothing has anything to do with anything else." That was the middleground I was trying to stand on in 2E products I was able to have an impact on, like "When Black Roses Bloom," "Servants of Darkness," "Children of the Night: Vampires," and "The Evil Eye."
Originally posted by Writer of Stuff
That was the middleground I was trying to stand on in 2E products I was able to have an impact on, like "When Black Roses Bloom," "Servants of Darkness," "Children of the Night: Vampires," and "The Evil Eye."
Was the Gentleman Caller some attempt to do it?
It's tough, but probably the easiest surefire way to get out. Look for more detail in the Nightmare Lands supplement. You'll have to read between the lines. I'm not even sure it was intentional.
Originally posted by Lucifer_Abaddon_RL
Was the Gentleman Caller some attempt to do it?
Yep. His main use for me from a design standpoint originally was to provide a touch more connectivity and continuity in the setting without needing to write pages and pages of explanation, and without expecting gamers to know what was going on in other products.
Basically, the Truly Devoted who bought everything would have a thread and a mystery to play with, while those who only picked up the odd product now and then would not be tripped up by said thread.
That was the idea at least.
Originally posted by Geethree
I recently bought the 3e Ravenloft Campaign Setting and there is only one vague reference about escaping from Ravenloft, something about powerful artifacts.
I know that the inability to escape is one of the biggest aspects of Ravenloft, but I would still like to know how one is technically supposed to leave.
Short Answer? Welcome Home :D
It is impossible for mere Mortals to get out of the "Deep Etheral Pocket Realm" known as "Ravenloft" without either the "Darkpowers" allowing it or by "Divine" help or by means of powerful Magic or Artifacts
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7. Die, (dosen't always work, my still be traped as an undead) but opun death technicly the soul leaves Ravenloft to be picked up by the appropriate God. For there it's in gods hands.
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It is more likely a Native or even a character may be corrupted to undead without proper burial
Characters drawn into Ravenloft may face the same fate as the "Mists" sucked them in for a reason, and the patron god may have allowed such an action to happen.
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8. If you or someone else kills a Darklord and there is no other darklord to take over. The Domain might shift back too it's homeplane taking back almost everyone present in that domain.
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A Very dangerous thing as
1) The Darklord is tied to the land and can do things to the immediate reality/ reality withing his/her Domain
2) You might end up the new "Darklord" as the reward as the "Darkpowers" have a twisted sense of humor
3) Everyone is instantly Killed as the Land "ceases to exist" and a "Nothing" takes it's place in worse case scenario (fall into Bottomless rift/ fall into Deep ethereal) or In "Mists" and have to find a new place to go to that may end up in a still Ravenloft domain
4) Nothing Happens. The Boarders of the surrounding domains absorb the Lordless land into their domain and Land seems same or changes to to match the annexing Darklord's curse but things like cities and towns are no different (The new darklord can use his/her "border abilities" that might cut through a town though)
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I was slightly disappointed when I read that the 3rd edition version tried to make it a real campaign setting, not just an adventure hook. Not too disappointed, though. I'm glad I bought the book.
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Why?
Just teak your game so that the "Dark Powers" let your Group in and out after adventures or the "Stager" NPC that needs something to be done in Ravenloft can either be of Divine Status or posses powerful Magic to freely put a party in and out of Ravenloft.
I.E. My Retired P.C. are inter-dimensional Merchants and have several depots in Ravenloft. They have magical/technological means to get into the "Deep Ethereal" that Ravenloft is in as they understand the dynamics of the "Deep Ethereal" that Ravenloft is in and can easily "Jump" into the Realm with their Floatstone depots "jump engines" (Powerful techno-magical devices)
And i doubt that it would be in a place easier that the library of castle avernus.
On a more serious note, I do believe that, IMC at least, and the C's of a few of my friends, there are only three ways to escape: One - Accidental Portal
Two - The Darkpowers decide to let you out... who the hell are we kidding. The DP's don't let people out!
Three - Kill the Darkpowers.
So really, only two ways. Okay, one way.
Just my two cents.
For one game I used a potion made from the most poisonous plants and animals from forlorn and made the results halucanogenic and deadly. The characters had to roll fortitude saving throws (DC 33) and negotiate the very warped descriptions given to them.
Some lived, some died, some escaped, some didnt.
Next time I'll use something else, not sure what yet.
Actually, ruptured dreamscapes seem like a way to escape into the deep ethereal, if you have some way to blow a big hole in the side of your dream.
Originally posted by RandomPrecision
I don't think leaving Ravenloft is something that people do very often, and by very often, I mean ever. However, I have always interpreted the inescapability as being directly caused by the Dark Powers. .....
Actually, ruptured dreamscapes seem like a way to escape into the deep ethereal, if you have some way to blow a big hole in the side of your dream.
In my game you never really leave Ravenloft, you take a few tiny tendrils of mist with you. When characters do acts of incredible evil, or witness them the tendrils can unwind and transport the characters, landscape, etc, etc, etc back to Ravenloft (as and when is suits the dark powers).
I use this to explain the way the lands expand, and where the population comes from.
I also play that souls never leave ravenloft, when people die their spirit gets trapped in the planer fabric available to be pushed into a body created by the mists for the latest story.
I use this to explain why the Ravenloft population stays steady, even though there are huge depreciations because of vamps, werewolves, war and so on. The mists roll down and that hamlet which wasnt there before is suddenly (a) there and (b) filled with people and (c) has a history and everything.
Do I explain anything else usefully? Not after a bottle of Vodka, I can tell you.
The mist idea is cool; I might have to add that to my original mechanism, actually...the Dark Powers seem the type that would let you go, as long as they can keep you on a leash.
Originally posted by Grimfondle
In my game you never really leave Ravenloft, you take a few tiny tendrils of mist with you. When characters do acts of incredible evil, or witness them the tendrils can unwind and transport the characters, landscape, etc, etc, etc back to Ravenloft (as and when is suits the dark powers).
I use this to explain the way the lands expand, and where the population comes from.
I also play that souls never leave ravenloft, when people die their spirit gets trapped in the planer fabric available to be pushed into a body created by the mists for the latest story.
I use this to explain why the Ravenloft population stays steady, even though there are huge depreciations because of vamps, werewolves, war and so on. The mists roll down and that hamlet which wasnt there before is suddenly (a) there and (b) filled with people and (c) has a history and everything.
Do I explain anything else usefully? Not after a bottle of Vodka, I can tell you.
Okay, that is by far the *best* explanation for the Ravenloft population i have ever heard
/applaud
All praise the divinatory powers of Vodka!
Originally posted by Mindshred
Okay, that is by far the *best* explanation for the Ravenloft population i have ever heard
/applaud
All praise the divinatory powers of Vodka!
Thanks. I thought so too.