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Ravenloft 1K

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
hida_jiremi
Jun 02, 2004 3:59:25 Guys,

I was perusing some of my old Ravenloft books earlier today and thinking about my own personal penchant for genre-bashing combinations. This led me gradually to think about Ravenloft as a campaign setting with a progressing storyline. Since the setting was created, a good twenty-five years have passed in-game, and a great many advances have been made. Has anyone besides me actually considered the possibility of a Ravenloft game where the storyline has progressed decades or centuries, and technology has caught up to a more real-world level? Or beyond? After all, Doc Mordenheim already has a basic grasp of cell theory and electrical power in his lab. It's not that big a leap for someone else to figure those things out and actually use them in a bigger fashion than creepy reanimation attempts.

Another intriguing thing is that not all of the darklords - or even most of them - are immortal. A great many of them are getting older, even is a bit slower than normal, and will eventually die of old age. Has anyone given any thought to what will happen to their favorite domains when the darklord passes on (naturally or otherwise)? A lot of the Core lands are pretty stable, but as the Conjunction shows us, nothing is forever. A few of them have already gone through one or more transitions (Camille Dilisnya to Ivana Boritsi in Borca, Soth to Azrael in Sithicus, and so on) and come out pretty well, but what about generations of transitions?

Let's brainstorm here, if anyone's interested, at what a deeply changed Ravenloft in the year 1000 BC would look like! Not just old Core domains rethought, but what domains would disappear, and what would arise to take their place.

I'll start by proposing that Dementlieu is now ruled from the shadows by Chantal d'Honaire, a descendant of Dominic, who holds the domain in her velvety grip through force of personality. In public life, Chantal is the world's foremost supermodel, personally responsible for the last dozen major fads and clothing movements. In private, Chantal organizes Obedients, much as Dominic did, and keeps the nation so interested in fripperies and decadent pleasures that they never realize how miserable they generally are. Roughly a third of Dementlieu's population is addicted to drugs or alcohol, often given to them freely by the government's charitable medicine program, which has labeled addiction as a disease under their care program.

Let's rock!

Hida Jiremi
(Jeremy Puckett)
#2
MidwayHaven
Jun 02, 2004 4:52:19 From official and not-so-official RL sources I've read, yep I tend to think the darklords don't have to be permanent. Here's my take on who's gonna replace some of the current darklords:

Borca: Nostalia Romaine
Dementlieu: von Aubrecker (aka The Brain)
Har' Akir: Senmet
Hazlan: Eleni of Toyalis
Invidia: Malocchio Aderre
Tepest: Blackroot
#3
zombiegleemax
Jun 02, 2004 10:23:15
A few of them have already gone through one or more transitions (Camille Dilisnya to Ivana Boritsi in Borca, Soth to Azrael in Sithicus, and so on)

Azrael? I thought that it was Inza?
#4
zombiegleemax
Jun 02, 2004 14:00:56 It is.
#5
hida_jiremi
Jun 02, 2004 17:32:57 D'oh! Of course, you're right. I had a brain fart.

Regardless, this is not necessarily about which *current* NPCs will succeed the current darklords, but about what storyline might look like in 250 years. Come on, guys! Hasn't anyone else thought about a Ravenloft with werewolf motorcycle gangs and vampire airplane pilots?

Hida Jiremi
(Jeremy Puckett)
#6
The_Jester
Jun 02, 2004 23:11:43 Well motorcycles and airplanes might be a bit off. The most advanced domains are still 1600s tech so 250 years in the future is still only the 1850s. The rest of the domains would be somewhere in-between renaissance and the Industrial age.

However, the 1850s is the Victorian age in England so the Masque of the Red Death rules and such suddenly can apply. The only exception would be Lamordia which might have a few mad scientists doing things 50-75 years ahead of their time. So only one or two planes and hogs.

That’s even if they progressed at the same pace as Earth did over the same span of time. The economics and events that drive world-wide change and advancement would not exist in the Mists. No large scale wars and empire building and no colonialism.

If I was going to do a modern Ravenloft I’d either for a d20 Modern Masque (the RL: PHB hits there are more Masques out there, such as the Masque of the Jade Dragon). Or I’d just create an entirely alternate Core from scratch with made a few Domains based around similar themes to the original.

So, modern day Darklords in classic styles…
I’d recast Azalin as a republican-style governor or senator. Some skeletal individual with tightly stretched skin and white hair who someone keeps getting elected and is approved of. Inflexible and hasn’t changed his policies in 20 years.
#7
cyrus_hunter
Jun 03, 2004 0:00:03 If technology advances, to the point of what we've had in the last 100 years then you run the risk of having problems. Our society was founded on the principle of trade (like with the car, modern production lines, economic theories, plastics, etc.) and with the limited mobility between the realms, this sort of thing just doesn't become possible. The Vistani would be probably the only ones who could reliably ship materials and knowledge from place to place and thus would prosper more than anyone else, and that just doesn't seem right.

Besides, with technology, people become less fearful (after all, shadows are much less scary when you can just flick a light switch and dispel them). After the Victorian era, people just aren't scared of the little things anymore and then Ravenloft loses that certain je ne sais pas.

Like Masque of Red Death is one thing and perfectly cool for keeping the same theme, but once you introduce things like powerful guns, electricity, modern communications systems and the like, then you really lose the whole feeling of Ravenloft.

Oh, by the way, there was a prestige class called the Luminaire in Dragon Magazine 315 that was for the Masque of Red Death setting.
#8
zombiegleemax
Jun 03, 2004 0:30:18 Well many horror movie/history take place in the present and are scary...just think about movies such a suspiria,the exorcist,damien omen etc... etc...

The three hag could have opened a school of ballet or somehting to hide their coven and they could have some hag apprentice and control some goblin minion in the new tepest...

Strahd could be the master of a powerfull corporation or the dictator in a communist like barovia.

Vlad Drakov descendant could rule falkovnia and be facist or maybe falkovnia have fallen to the vampyres...

And our world is full of scary place. I mean I could take montreal and transform it into a good domain. And dont forget good old east europe,louisiana,new orlean and south america in general.
#9
hida_jiremi
Jun 03, 2004 0:47:01
Originally posted by Cyrus_Hunter
If technology advances, to the point of what we've had in the last 100 years then you run the risk of having problems. Our society was founded on the principle of trade (like with the car, modern production lines, economic theories, plastics, etc.) and with the limited mobility between the realms, this sort of thing just doesn't become possible. The Vistani would be probably the only ones who could reliably ship materials and knowledge from place to place and thus would prosper more than anyone else, and that just doesn't seem right.

Not necessarily. There's a great deal of trade right now in Ravenloft, and people prosper or die based on it. As the reliability of Mistways increases, even some of the outer islands are becoming well known. For goodness' sake, coffee from Har'Akir is a sign of great wealth in Borca. Twenty years ago, nobody knew where Har'Akir was, and now there are archaeological expeditions there (as evinced from some of the fiction in the RL core book). Not to mention that they've been telegraphing since the setting was reprinted for D20 that some big Core-shaking war is on the way.

Besides, with technology, people become less fearful (after all, shadows are much less scary when you can just flick a light switch and dispel them). After the Victorian era, people just aren't scared of the little things anymore and then Ravenloft loses that certain je ne sais pas.

One of the most intriguing techniques of modern horror is the deprivation from technology or the uselessness of it. Having nicer toys doesn't make us less afraid - it makes us more afraid when we lose them. I could easily see a 20th-century-style Ravenloft where they're still using arclights or neons for street lights, and the modern bulb is nowhere to be seen. It would still be technological, but not as bright or sterile.

I would also thoroughly disagree that people aren't scared of the little things any more. Stephen King was correct when he said that horror, much like God, is in the details. The continuing popularity of horror novels and movies proves that the modern mind is still susceptible to horror. It's just of a different sort.

Like Masque of Red Death is one thing and perfectly cool for keeping the same theme, but once you introduce things like powerful guns, electricity, modern communications systems and the like, then you really lose the whole feeling of Ravenloft.

As we all know, in a horror movie, guns are quite unlikely to save you. Your cell phone will certainly not save you, and even having a fast car is unlikely to save you. As one of my friends once said about Call of Cthulhu, "Burn all the books, smash all the old relics, keep all the lights on, never go outside, cut off all ties to humanity, and only eat sterilized food - you're still going crazy in three sessions." A bit of an exaggeration, but the idea stands.

Modern horror doesn't have to stop being Gothic, either. Just look at Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches or Vampire Chronicles. Both of them are good examples of Gothic horror and dark fantasy in the modern world. Looking beyond Rice, you also have Brian Lumley, Mercedes Lackey, and a whole host of other writers in the modern Gothic tradition.

I believe that it is possible to run a modern Ravenloft game and still maintain the flavor of the setting. That's what this thread is really about. Good questions have been brought up - I hope it continues.

Hida Jiremi
(Jeremy Puckett)
#10
hida_jiremi
Jun 03, 2004 0:59:54
Originally posted by mephistopheless
Well many horror movie/history take place in the present and are scary...just think about movies such a suspiria,the exorcist,damien omen etc... etc...

The three hag could have opened a school of ballet or somehting to hide their coven and they could have some hag apprentice and control some goblin minion in the new tepest...

Strahd could be the master of a powerfull corporation or the dictator in a communist like barovia.

Vlad Drakov descendant could rule falkovnia and be facist or maybe falkovnia have fallen to the vampyres...

I like these ideas. I especially like the idea of Castle Ravenloft still standing and still the home of the von Zaroviches (really just one, but hardly anyone knows that), one of the last aristocratic ruling families in the Core. Barovia would make an ideal Balkan communist state, I think, almost like Latveria in Marvel Comics.

Let's take a moment to think about technology levels too. After Renaissance (9), we should start a new scale, perhaps something like Modern era 0-9. I'll go ahead and use this temporary solution to propose the new modern cultural levels (MCL).

MCL 0: Renaissance
MCL 1: Enlightenment
MCL 2: Colonial
MCL 3: Post-Colonial (Independent States, maybe?)
MCL 4: Industrial Revolution
MCL 5: Steam
MCL 6: Electricity
MCL 7: Globalism (World War I era)
MCL 8: Reconstruction (1930's)
MCL 9: Modern (WWII-1960's)

There would also be the theoretical MCL 10 (Phlogiston), in which pseudo-spacefaring domains could occur. I imagine that the majority of Ravenloft's Core nations would be somewhere between MCL 2 and 5, with Lamordia probably being at MCL 6. This still gives the possibility of Gothic steampunk and "murder on the Balinok Express" sort of stuff.

Now there's an idea! As Ravenloft develops, and people turn their eyes to the skies, there could well wind up being a "darklord of Space," much like there are darklords for the Sea of Sorrows and the Nocturnal Sea.

Let me hear you, people.

Hida Jiremi
(Jeremy Puckett)

PS: I just watched Pitch Black tonight, so I'm still sort of stoked about futuristic horror settings. ;)
#11
zombiegleemax
Jun 03, 2004 6:45:25 Keep at least D&D ... we already have Spaceships, Spelljammers! Spelljammers would only be able to come about in reaaaal magical Domains, but can you imagine the Crystal Sphere Ravenloft could expand into ... whole Planets as domains ... you'd have to mold the real original Ravenloft into a planet, which it isn't now, and sorta make the sky consistent from Domain to Domain, but it could happen ...
#12
zombiegleemax
Jun 03, 2004 9:58:32 what about having real world villain as darklord I mean Hitler and Staline could make good darklord.

Imagine staline haunted by the ghost of lenine and suffering from paranoia or hitler trying to create a perfect race, but most of the newborn are not blond with blue eyes and it totally **** hitler off...

Cleric in the domain of hitler could worship scandinavian gods, and since hitler experimented a lot with occult during ww2 maybe nazi secret forces could be composed of wizards. And sorceror could be killed when they first manifest their power since they are a menace to the state.
#13
zombiegleemax
Jun 03, 2004 11:54:23
Originally posted by Perilanku
Keep at least D&D ... we already have Spaceships, Spelljammers! Spelljammers would only be able to come about in reaaaal magical Domains, but can you imagine the Crystal Sphere Ravenloft could expand into ... whole Planets as domains ... you'd have to mold the real original Ravenloft into a planet, which it isn't now, and sorta make the sky consistent from Domain to Domain, but it could happen ...

Not nescessarily. Just think of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Then imagine what the Giant Turtle carrying Ravenloft on it's back would be like.

Thankfully, noone can hear you scream in wildspace.

Incidently, it has been suggested several times that Bluetspur would move to Ravenlofts moon. Imagine the jolly scenario of War of the Worlds on Ravenloft. Heat-ray slingin Illithids, with giant harvestors picking up peoples brains... That would be neat.
#14
zombiegleemax
Jun 04, 2004 3:20:58 This has in fact been done before, tho from a different approach. On another board, someone put forward an idea of a modern domain for Ravenloft. He suggested a modern citscape- ghetto/poor neighborhood- in which a young hispanic woman is so badly mistreated and manipulated by the local gang leader that she commits various murders and attracts the attention of the Mists. The threads exchanges involved the spookier aspects of the modern inner city landscape and such. Another poster suggested a 1984 based domain with Big Brother as the DarkLord. This entire exchange didn't just inspire me it transfigured me! I found myself cranking out ideas faster than I could type. Imagine a domain based on 'Terminator' with SkyNet as the DarkLord. It continues to try and send its HKs across the misty border but the minute they cross, they malfunction and collapse. On occasion, they keep functioning somewhat but SkyNet can no longer control them and part of they're programming is wiped, so any competant GM can do whatever they like with them. As you can see, this particular idea was closely examined. Another idea was a Crow- based domain in which an Eric Draven stand-in functions as a sort of Anti-DarkLord who is doomed to constantly see people he loves killed and then avenge them. Then there was and X-men-based domain in which a group of vampires, undead, and werebeasts manage to get a handle on their curses and begin to defend the local living from the dangers of the night but are still hated by both sides. Also the Giger Aliens would easily adapt to a Ravenloft domain. Perhaps that would be the future of Markovia. I recall mentioning domains based on Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees but for some reason found them less exciting. Of course, the creatures from the 'Predator' movies could pop in every now and then, too. There could also be a Dark City clone, a 'Running Man'-based domain, and a RoboCop setting. Parts of 'Total Recall' and 'Tank Girl' would also work. And someone could do'The Matrix' whenever they felt like it, too. As I said when I started that thread, The possibilities!!!! The Possibilities!!!! This new thread adds a new wrinkle. The old domains modernized. I could probably see the god-brain going dormant for a couple centuries, then in the finest tradition of Cthulu, get woken up by bonehead scholars hunting for relics. I'Kath could probably stay as it is for 2-3 centuries just because nobody lives there. I'm really drawing a blank on Valakhan, Blaustein, and Nidala, I'd imagine Bluebeard would go through at least another 8 or 9 wives at least. Maybe he'd start making pornos.:D
#15
gloom_of_the_night
Jun 04, 2004 10:53:29 Using the MCL posted by hida_jiremi, I would run most games in the 2-5 possibly 6 area. I have always loved steampunk and games like Acranium: of steamwork and magika and Deadlands where magic and technology combine. I can see rail roads streaching aross the domains and vampire hunters weilding steampowered clockwork swords.

I would wonder though, would it be a American Industrial revolution, or an English one, because they are fairly different. In America, it was about expantion and inovation for a fairly industrialized peoples. In England, it radically changed the communities (driving the peasents from communal lands to the cities, Increased private properity, pollution and pestilence in the cities, etc.)

I think I would go with a English IR, simply because it would fit easier with RL.

-Gloom
#16
The_Jester
Jun 05, 2004 0:55:33 The problem with most of those is the break from reality, change the world and you're no longer playing in the modern world but some twisted sci-fi version of Ravenloft and lose all the essence of the Gothic world and subtle horrror that is Ravenloft. There is very little that is subtle about legions of man-killing robots, nothing you can sypathize with or humanize.

The fallen gang girl and the Eric Draven style domains would fit but most else is as Ravenloft as Kaliday.
#17
zombiegleemax
Jun 06, 2004 7:06:44 Singk holes of evil could effect electric and radiowaves, lights dim, mobiles dont work, etc. The presence of a ghosts, darklords, etc also has this effect, stopping cars, lghts ,e tc.
#18
zombiegleemax
Jun 07, 2004 0:19:04 Also, the wartorn landscapes lend themselves well to the gothic and mist-filled landscapes. Same as the Gotham-like cityscapes. I think that's what gave that thread and this one their legitimacy.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 hida_jiremi Jun 02, 2004 3:59:25	Guys, I was perusing some of my old Ravenloft books earlier today and thinking about my own personal penchant for genre-bashing combinations. This led me gradually to think about Ravenloft as a campaign setting with a progressing storyline. Since the setting was created, a good twenty-five years have passed in-game, and a great many advances have been made. Has anyone besides me actually considered the possibility of a Ravenloft game where the storyline has progressed decades or centuries, and technology has caught up to a more real-world level? Or beyond? After all, Doc Mordenheim already has a basic grasp of cell theory and electrical power in his lab. It's not that big a leap for someone else to figure those things out and actually use them in a bigger fashion than creepy reanimation attempts. Another intriguing thing is that not all of the darklords - or even most of them - are immortal. A great many of them are getting older, even is a bit slower than normal, and will eventually die of old age. Has anyone given any thought to what will happen to their favorite domains when the darklord passes on (naturally or otherwise)? A lot of the Core lands are pretty stable, but as the Conjunction shows us, nothing is forever. A few of them have already gone through one or more transitions (Camille Dilisnya to Ivana Boritsi in Borca, Soth to Azrael in Sithicus, and so on) and come out pretty well, but what about generations of transitions? Let's brainstorm here, if anyone's interested, at what a deeply changed Ravenloft in the year 1000 BC would look like! Not just old Core domains rethought, but what domains would disappear, and what would arise to take their place. I'll start by proposing that Dementlieu is now ruled from the shadows by Chantal d'Honaire, a descendant of Dominic, who holds the domain in her velvety grip through force of personality. In public life, Chantal is the world's foremost supermodel, personally responsible for the last dozen major fads and clothing movements. In private, Chantal organizes Obedients, much as Dominic did, and keeps the nation so interested in fripperies and decadent pleasures that they never realize how miserable they generally are. Roughly a third of Dementlieu's population is addicted to drugs or alcohol, often given to them freely by the government's charitable medicine program, which has labeled addiction as a disease under their care program. Let's rock! Hida Jiremi (Jeremy Puckett)
#2 MidwayHaven Jun 02, 2004 4:52:19	From official and not-so-official RL sources I've read, yep I tend to think the darklords don't have to be permanent. Here's my take on who's gonna replace some of the current darklords: Borca: Nostalia Romaine Dementlieu: von Aubrecker (aka The Brain) Har' Akir: Senmet Hazlan: Eleni of Toyalis Invidia: Malocchio Aderre Tepest: Blackroot
#3 zombiegleemax Jun 02, 2004 10:23:15	A few of them have already gone through one or more transitions (Camille Dilisnya to Ivana Boritsi in Borca, Soth to Azrael in Sithicus, and so on) Azrael? I thought that it was Inza?
#4 zombiegleemax Jun 02, 2004 14:00:56	It is.
#5 hida_jiremi Jun 02, 2004 17:32:57	D'oh! Of course, you're right. I had a brain fart. Regardless, this is not necessarily about which current NPCs will succeed the current darklords, but about what storyline might look like in 250 years. Come on, guys! Hasn't anyone else thought about a Ravenloft with werewolf motorcycle gangs and vampire airplane pilots? Hida Jiremi (Jeremy Puckett)
#6 The_Jester Jun 02, 2004 23:11:43	Well motorcycles and airplanes might be a bit off. The most advanced domains are still 1600s tech so 250 years in the future is still only the 1850s. The rest of the domains would be somewhere in-between renaissance and the Industrial age. However, the 1850s is the Victorian age in England so the Masque of the Red Death rules and such suddenly can apply. The only exception would be Lamordia which might have a few mad scientists doing things 50-75 years ahead of their time. So only one or two planes and hogs. That’s even if they progressed at the same pace as Earth did over the same span of time. The economics and events that drive world-wide change and advancement would not exist in the Mists. No large scale wars and empire building and no colonialism. If I was going to do a modern Ravenloft I’d either for a d20 Modern Masque (the RL: PHB hits there are more Masques out there, such as the Masque of the Jade Dragon). Or I’d just create an entirely alternate Core from scratch with made a few Domains based around similar themes to the original. So, modern day Darklords in classic styles… I’d recast Azalin as a republican-style governor or senator. Some skeletal individual with tightly stretched skin and white hair who someone keeps getting elected and is approved of. Inflexible and hasn’t changed his policies in 20 years.
#7 cyrus_hunter Jun 03, 2004 0:00:03	If technology advances, to the point of what we've had in the last 100 years then you run the risk of having problems. Our society was founded on the principle of trade (like with the car, modern production lines, economic theories, plastics, etc.) and with the limited mobility between the realms, this sort of thing just doesn't become possible. The Vistani would be probably the only ones who could reliably ship materials and knowledge from place to place and thus would prosper more than anyone else, and that just doesn't seem right. Besides, with technology, people become less fearful (after all, shadows are much less scary when you can just flick a light switch and dispel them). After the Victorian era, people just aren't scared of the little things anymore and then Ravenloft loses that certain je ne sais pas. Like Masque of Red Death is one thing and perfectly cool for keeping the same theme, but once you introduce things like powerful guns, electricity, modern communications systems and the like, then you really lose the whole feeling of Ravenloft. Oh, by the way, there was a prestige class called the Luminaire in Dragon Magazine 315 that was for the Masque of Red Death setting.
#8 zombiegleemax Jun 03, 2004 0:30:18	Well many horror movie/history take place in the present and are scary...just think about movies such a suspiria,the exorcist,damien omen etc... etc... The three hag could have opened a school of ballet or somehting to hide their coven and they could have some hag apprentice and control some goblin minion in the new tepest... Strahd could be the master of a powerfull corporation or the dictator in a communist like barovia. Vlad Drakov descendant could rule falkovnia and be facist or maybe falkovnia have fallen to the vampyres... And our world is full of scary place. I mean I could take montreal and transform it into a good domain. And dont forget good old east europe,louisiana,new orlean and south america in general.
#9 hida_jiremi Jun 03, 2004 0:47:01	Originally posted by Cyrus_Hunter If technology advances, to the point of what we've had in the last 100 years then you run the risk of having problems. Our society was founded on the principle of trade (like with the car, modern production lines, economic theories, plastics, etc.) and with the limited mobility between the realms, this sort of thing just doesn't become possible. The Vistani would be probably the only ones who could reliably ship materials and knowledge from place to place and thus would prosper more than anyone else, and that just doesn't seem right. Not necessarily. There's a great deal of trade right now in Ravenloft, and people prosper or die based on it. As the reliability of Mistways increases, even some of the outer islands are becoming well known. For goodness' sake, coffee from Har'Akir is a sign of great wealth in Borca. Twenty years ago, nobody knew where Har'Akir was, and now there are archaeological expeditions there (as evinced from some of the fiction in the RL core book). Not to mention that they've been telegraphing since the setting was reprinted for D20 that some big Core-shaking war is on the way. Besides, with technology, people become less fearful (after all, shadows are much less scary when you can just flick a light switch and dispel them). After the Victorian era, people just aren't scared of the little things anymore and then Ravenloft loses that certain je ne sais pas. One of the most intriguing techniques of modern horror is the deprivation from technology or the uselessness of it. Having nicer toys doesn't make us less afraid - it makes us more afraid when we lose them. I could easily see a 20th-century-style Ravenloft where they're still using arclights or neons for street lights, and the modern bulb is nowhere to be seen. It would still be technological, but not as bright or sterile. I would also thoroughly disagree that people aren't scared of the little things any more. Stephen King was correct when he said that horror, much like God, is in the details. The continuing popularity of horror novels and movies proves that the modern mind is still susceptible to horror. It's just of a different sort. Like Masque of Red Death is one thing and perfectly cool for keeping the same theme, but once you introduce things like powerful guns, electricity, modern communications systems and the like, then you really lose the whole feeling of Ravenloft. As we all know, in a horror movie, guns are quite unlikely to save you. Your cell phone will certainly not save you, and even having a fast car is unlikely to save you. As one of my friends once said about Call of Cthulhu, "Burn all the books, smash all the old relics, keep all the lights on, never go outside, cut off all ties to humanity, and only eat sterilized food - you're still going crazy in three sessions." A bit of an exaggeration, but the idea stands. Modern horror doesn't have to stop being Gothic, either. Just look at Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches or Vampire Chronicles. Both of them are good examples of Gothic horror and dark fantasy in the modern world. Looking beyond Rice, you also have Brian Lumley, Mercedes Lackey, and a whole host of other writers in the modern Gothic tradition. I believe that it is possible to run a modern Ravenloft game and still maintain the flavor of the setting. That's what this thread is really about. Good questions have been brought up - I hope it continues. Hida Jiremi (Jeremy Puckett)
#10 hida_jiremi Jun 03, 2004 0:59:54	Originally posted by mephistopheless Well many horror movie/history take place in the present and are scary...just think about movies such a suspiria,the exorcist,damien omen etc... etc... The three hag could have opened a school of ballet or somehting to hide their coven and they could have some hag apprentice and control some goblin minion in the new tepest... Strahd could be the master of a powerfull corporation or the dictator in a communist like barovia. Vlad Drakov descendant could rule falkovnia and be facist or maybe falkovnia have fallen to the vampyres... I like these ideas. I especially like the idea of Castle Ravenloft still standing and still the home of the von Zaroviches (really just one, but hardly anyone knows that), one of the last aristocratic ruling families in the Core. Barovia would make an ideal Balkan communist state, I think, almost like Latveria in Marvel Comics. Let's take a moment to think about technology levels too. After Renaissance (9), we should start a new scale, perhaps something like Modern era 0-9. I'll go ahead and use this temporary solution to propose the new modern cultural levels (MCL). MCL 0: Renaissance MCL 1: Enlightenment MCL 2: Colonial MCL 3: Post-Colonial (Independent States, maybe?) MCL 4: Industrial Revolution MCL 5: Steam MCL 6: Electricity MCL 7: Globalism (World War I era) MCL 8: Reconstruction (1930's) MCL 9: Modern (WWII-1960's) There would also be the theoretical MCL 10 (Phlogiston), in which pseudo-spacefaring domains could occur. I imagine that the majority of Ravenloft's Core nations would be somewhere between MCL 2 and 5, with Lamordia probably being at MCL 6. This still gives the possibility of Gothic steampunk and "murder on the Balinok Express" sort of stuff. Now there's an idea! As Ravenloft develops, and people turn their eyes to the skies, there could well wind up being a "darklord of Space," much like there are darklords for the Sea of Sorrows and the Nocturnal Sea. Let me hear you, people. Hida Jiremi (Jeremy Puckett) PS: I just watched Pitch Black tonight, so I'm still sort of stoked about futuristic horror settings. ;)
#11 zombiegleemax Jun 03, 2004 6:45:25	Keep at least D&D ... we already have Spaceships, Spelljammers! Spelljammers would only be able to come about in reaaaal magical Domains, but can you imagine the Crystal Sphere Ravenloft could expand into ... whole Planets as domains ... you'd have to mold the real original Ravenloft into a planet, which it isn't now, and sorta make the sky consistent from Domain to Domain, but it could happen ...
#12 zombiegleemax Jun 03, 2004 9:58:32	what about having real world villain as darklord I mean Hitler and Staline could make good darklord. Imagine staline haunted by the ghost of lenine and suffering from paranoia or hitler trying to create a perfect race, but most of the newborn are not blond with blue eyes and it totally **** hitler off... Cleric in the domain of hitler could worship scandinavian gods, and since hitler experimented a lot with occult during ww2 maybe nazi secret forces could be composed of wizards. And sorceror could be killed when they first manifest their power since they are a menace to the state.
#13 zombiegleemax Jun 03, 2004 11:54:23	Originally posted by Perilanku Keep at least D&D ... we already have Spaceships, Spelljammers! Spelljammers would only be able to come about in reaaaal magical Domains, but can you imagine the Crystal Sphere Ravenloft could expand into ... whole Planets as domains ... you'd have to mold the real original Ravenloft into a planet, which it isn't now, and sorta make the sky consistent from Domain to Domain, but it could happen ... Not nescessarily. Just think of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Then imagine what the Giant Turtle carrying Ravenloft on it's back would be like. Thankfully, noone can hear you scream in wildspace. Incidently, it has been suggested several times that Bluetspur would move to Ravenlofts moon. Imagine the jolly scenario of War of the Worlds on Ravenloft. Heat-ray slingin Illithids, with giant harvestors picking up peoples brains... That would be neat.
#14 zombiegleemax Jun 04, 2004 3:20:58	This has in fact been done before, tho from a different approach. On another board, someone put forward an idea of a modern domain for Ravenloft. He suggested a modern citscape- ghetto/poor neighborhood- in which a young hispanic woman is so badly mistreated and manipulated by the local gang leader that she commits various murders and attracts the attention of the Mists. The threads exchanges involved the spookier aspects of the modern inner city landscape and such. Another poster suggested a 1984 based domain with Big Brother as the DarkLord. This entire exchange didn't just inspire me it transfigured me! I found myself cranking out ideas faster than I could type. Imagine a domain based on 'Terminator' with SkyNet as the DarkLord. It continues to try and send its HKs across the misty border but the minute they cross, they malfunction and collapse. On occasion, they keep functioning somewhat but SkyNet can no longer control them and part of they're programming is wiped, so any competant GM can do whatever they like with them. As you can see, this particular idea was closely examined. Another idea was a Crow- based domain in which an Eric Draven stand-in functions as a sort of Anti-DarkLord who is doomed to constantly see people he loves killed and then avenge them. Then there was and X-men-based domain in which a group of vampires, undead, and werebeasts manage to get a handle on their curses and begin to defend the local living from the dangers of the night but are still hated by both sides. Also the Giger Aliens would easily adapt to a Ravenloft domain. Perhaps that would be the future of Markovia. I recall mentioning domains based on Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees but for some reason found them less exciting. Of course, the creatures from the 'Predator' movies could pop in every now and then, too. There could also be a Dark City clone, a 'Running Man'-based domain, and a RoboCop setting. Parts of 'Total Recall' and 'Tank Girl' would also work. And someone could do'The Matrix' whenever they felt like it, too. As I said when I started that thread, The possibilities!!!! The Possibilities!!!! This new thread adds a new wrinkle. The old domains modernized. I could probably see the god-brain going dormant for a couple centuries, then in the finest tradition of Cthulu, get woken up by bonehead scholars hunting for relics. I'Kath could probably stay as it is for 2-3 centuries just because nobody lives there. I'm really drawing a blank on Valakhan, Blaustein, and Nidala, I'd imagine Bluebeard would go through at least another 8 or 9 wives at least. Maybe he'd start making pornos.:D
#15 gloom_of_the_night Jun 04, 2004 10:53:29	Using the MCL posted by hida_jiremi, I would run most games in the 2-5 possibly 6 area. I have always loved steampunk and games like Acranium: of steamwork and magika and Deadlands where magic and technology combine. I can see rail roads streaching aross the domains and vampire hunters weilding steampowered clockwork swords. I would wonder though, would it be a American Industrial revolution, or an English one, because they are fairly different. In America, it was about expantion and inovation for a fairly industrialized peoples. In England, it radically changed the communities (driving the peasents from communal lands to the cities, Increased private properity, pollution and pestilence in the cities, etc.) I think I would go with a English IR, simply because it would fit easier with RL. -Gloom
#16 The_Jester Jun 05, 2004 0:55:33	The problem with most of those is the break from reality, change the world and you're no longer playing in the modern world but some twisted sci-fi version of Ravenloft and lose all the essence of the Gothic world and subtle horrror that is Ravenloft. There is very little that is subtle about legions of man-killing robots, nothing you can sypathize with or humanize. The fallen gang girl and the Eric Draven style domains would fit but most else is as Ravenloft as Kaliday.
#17 zombiegleemax Jun 06, 2004 7:06:44	Singk holes of evil could effect electric and radiowaves, lights dim, mobiles dont work, etc. The presence of a ghosts, darklords, etc also has this effect, stopping cars, lghts ,e tc.
#18 zombiegleemax Jun 07, 2004 0:19:04	Also, the wartorn landscapes lend themselves well to the gothic and mist-filled landscapes. Same as the Gotham-like cityscapes. I think that's what gave that thread and this one their legitimacy.