I'm really new to the Ravenloft world but senior to Dnd. I've DMed for about 6 years, and have always tried to capture the feeling of a gothic, horror, and dark game, so it was only a matter of time till the mists took me...
Anyways, here is my idea of my game PLEASE let me know what you think since I'm not sure what elements I will need to dwell on inorder to 'reconfigure' the already gothic game to a Ravenloft one.
Right now, the players are all on an island of thieves and murders, where secert plots are masterminded by aspiring liches and necromancers, and only the worst of the worst survive.
I like the idea of a grand gothic metropolis, with secert dark lords looming over the city, while the aristocratic elite plot and twist in thier little social lives and the simple folk carry the greatest weight of torment and suffering.
So the actual point of the post: What things do you think belong in a enormous Gothic City set in Ravenloft?
) in dsecribing a similar situation to my party. The way the always dark and ominous towers twist and rise upwards is unforgettable. Also, almost any Tim Burton movie has some nice views in it (like Sleepy Hollow or even Nightmare Before Christmass!!! :D ).Now, apart from the scenery, on the social part of your setting I think it would seem nice to set the social discrimination you describe from the first moment your party enters the city. Something like closed borders for the poor on some city districts, ghettoes or slums on the outskirts etc. I think you get the picture.
I hope this got you in some mindwork. I couldn't think of anything else at the moment, just these popped in my mind.
Cheers!!
Now, how would the Dark powers twist the city? Since the city is full of crime and villiany already, what sort of twisted monstrousitys would befall the city now? Or, in a more general question, how do the dark powers shape a city?
-Gloom
The presence of the police/militia/constable etc is the source of all the murders, violence and crime. Either the chief captain is in fact a paranoid who dreams of sowing chaos everywhere OR (which i like more), the DPs are tormenting the righteous, pious and zealous (etc) captain by making his pressence be the source of all wrongdoings. I suggest you find and read the "Carnival" by St.Miller and J.Mangrum. (btw, UNBELIEVABLE work there, I only bought it a few days ago, read it 3(!!!) times each day and still think it's genious) It describes the way a powerful good entity (in Carnival's case an Outsider, in your case maybe a powerful paladin or something) reacts with the land, creating a twisted aura around him, with malevolent results. So, if we have a true defender of justice and law, everything around him just slowly slips to anarchy and violence....
...Man, I like this!!! Sorry, I'll use this first!! I just came up with it!Must note it down somewhere!
Cheers!!
Ok, now, in Ravernloft, there isnt a strong godly presence. What will happen to the clerics and what not once they are in Ravenloft? Will they simply change gods, or continue to pray.
-Gloom
Originally posted by Gloom of the Night
Ok, now, in Ravenloft, there isn't a strong godly presence. What will happen to the clerics and what not once they are in Ravenloft? Will they simply change gods, or continue to pray.
Clerics in general feel "distanced" from their gods, but nothing else (this feeling is completely natural for native clerics). It is, however, believed that the Dark Powers take on the role as the source of a cleric's magic in place of his/her god, due to the gods' inability to do anything with the demiplane.
Keep in mind that while all the poor helpless bystanders are the subject of all the evil...the most punished in ravenloft ARE the evil beings. The dark powers aren't evil...and they aren't good...but they recognize evil and make it relevant whether you are good or evil. (In fact the dp are the only ones that can recognize evil). The darklords are in the most torment of all...they are all trapped within their domains and have to live (or unlive) with all the evil they've done. They will never achieve their goals, they are the most punished and doomed of the denizens of the demiplane of dread.
-Gloom
