Quoth the Raven: vol 16th

Discussing all things Ravenloft
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ScS of the Fraternity
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Quoth the Raven: vol 16th

Post by ScS of the Fraternity »

Hello all,

After completing a project like Quoth the Raven, I like to step back and take a fresh look at everything. A lot of the articles were shoved into the book at the last minute, so I didn’t get to know them as well as I would have liked.

If you haven’t read the book yet, then do so now. I command you!

We’re seeing a near-total drop in “crunchy” material. It may just be recalcitrance, but I’m placing the blame on 4th edition. 4th edition strips all the mystery out of the game: The rules are forcing players to concentrate on the trite details of tactical position and the precise actions of every other character. I liken it to the first four minutes of the Leroy Jenkins video. Not exactly fitting with a gothic horror aesthetic. Of course, this is all just temporary since as soon Wizards is done repackaging all of 3rd edition’s books they’ll surely be releasing 5th edition.

But I digress.

We had a really great showing with our Dark Corners contest this year. Many thanks go out to Joel for organizing the contest. We didn’t give the community much notice, but we still received a lot of great submissions all the same.

Hidden Places
This was one of our earlier entries. I enjoyed the format of a short setting description. By using just a few paragraphs Jack the Reaper told a story and set down a lot of great ideas. We’d end up stealing this format when we ran our contest, as well as the article’s title. Though these articles were in the running in the contest, Jack the Reaper warranted an article under his own name.

I found it interesting that all of the sites described are differentiated from the world around them by their supernatural aspects. This would be much less case with all of our other contest entries. It seems that for Ravenloft, both evil and mystery are inseparable from the supernatural. Though, that might lead one to wonder whether evil is of unnatural origins, or whether it is mortal evil that attracts the supernatural.

Finally, it should be noted by players who end up walking down the “Lonesome Road”, the demon might in fact be warded off if, and only if, they can play the best song in the world.

Dark Corners Contest:
It was difficult choosing a winner for this contest. We had so many different entries, and each of so different from one another. Frat members disqualified their own work from the contest, which was a shame since I really enjoyed The Drowning Chapel and The Gears.

I wonder if the wording of the contest rules gave our contestants some more inspiration. The entries included a greater mix of the supernatural and the mundane, the malignant as well as the benign. Still, the setting being Ravenloft, most things of note are in fact evil. Even the hospice of Hala carries a taint of dark cynicism.

Olerick’s Colloquial Guides: Hospices by Jeremy Roby
I’m a big fan of these guides and I’m glad Jeremy was able to send us one for QtR 16. Hospices are a pretty important part of the game, since characters inevitably need healing. I enjoyed the many individual touches Jeremy gave each hospice. Those will definitely help keep players occupied while one or more of them are laid up healing. I especially liked the Lamordian clinic in an old butcher shop. I wonder if they have a cafeteria?

Through the Cellar Door by Sharon:
This was an article that almost didn’t make it into the book. I’m really glad we were able to include it, because its one of my favorites. Like the best articles, it’s short, sweet and sinister. I really love the idea of the Frat messing with demons and reality wrinkles. The description really set the mood. The story behind Hishonor’s Boudoir brings the reckless hubris factor back into the Fraternity. I also enjoyed the return of some minor villains from a previous adventure.

Atolls in the Sea of Mist by ScS
Ever since I read Van Richten’s Guide to the Mist, I have been kicking around some ideas for oubliettes, the domains in miniature. I kind of like the idea of a temporary domain; a setting where the darklord doesn’t have to be powerful, imposing, or even necessarily a threat. I kind of like to think of the Mists as being filled with these tiny oubliettes, each with their own resident weirdo. A journey through the mists would be like walking through an insane asylum. I had initial sketches for several more oubliettes, but I scrapped them as uninteresting.

Rites of Decay by Alhoon:
Well, 4th edition was bound to rear its hideous head sooner or later. Alhoon feeds the beast with some interesting new rituals and a smattering of items and powers. I can’t really judge how well these new rituals will work in a 4th ed. game, but so long as a wizard doesn’t have to make an attack and move 5ft before raising a zombie, I’ll be happy. The intro fiction is always a welcome addition to an article.


Starbury Valley
I first wrote about Starbury two years ago when I wrote a Gothic Earth article about Bleakstone, a city of my own creation. I decided that the valley deserved a little fleshing out. I based Starbury off of the history my own home town. Most of my ideas in the article come from things I heard about when I worked at a museum in Copper Cliff.

Empire Hospital
This article fleshes out Empire Hospital, which was briefly described in my article on Bleakstone. There are some pretty obvious inspirations running around here, but more than a few of my own original creations. I originally went a little hog wild with the architecture. Joel helped me tone it down some.



In summary, we’ve put out a great book.
I think that this comming year we will have to hold another contest, although we might not be able to offer as much swag to the winner.
I think we need a more inspiring theme for the next edition. I think the community was more confused than inspired this year.
Evil Reigns!!!!
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