Personal Canon

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Terminusvitae
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Re: Personal Canon

Post by Terminusvitae »

HuManBing wrote:Interesting, so it takes the theme of "carrying your own torment within you" and applying it even to religion. I like this interpretation - flavors of Frazier's Golden Bough and moral relativism, with a decent helping of anthropology.
Thanks! I feel it works pretty well with the assumed stranglehold the Dark Powers have on everything that goes on in the Dread Realms, including a follower's connection to, and relationship with, their own god. Regardless of what (or whom) the deities in Ravenloft actually are, even their influence and their very natures are reflected by the people who act in their name. For example, as the Lawgiver's clergy doubles down on their ceaseless demands of obedience and rigid stratification even while they pursue their personal debauchery in direct defiance of their own faith's tenets, the Lawgiver becomes less a god of unquestioning capitulation and master-servant classification. Instead, he becomes (and his faith subtly but inexorably alters to represent) a deity of ultimate hypocrisy and flagrant abuse of authority, with the old goose-and-gander aphorism eventually becoming a loudly espoused tenet of the faith.

Some of the religious alterations will be more subtle than that, and there are some that just don't provide much room to work with, such as the Wolf God; after all, a deity that represents the superiority of beast over man, and is venerated by creatures that already act as little more than slavering, brutish destroyers doesn't leave much potential for any real alterations. Perhaps if Alfred Timothy's clerical influence on the Wolf God's faith grows, and his own weaknesses and inability to lose himself in a lust for slaughter like other werewolves begin to pervade the Wolf God's religion...even then, I would imagine most werewolves would abandon their god if he started demanding tactical combat and strict emotional control. Then again, a suddenly organized and militarily competent army of lycanthropes could be a terrible, terrible problem for the Core to deal with.
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Re: Personal Canon

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High Priest Mikhal wrote:Um...are we talking about the same thing here, Dark Angel? The Craft (alchemy) skill is not magic, it's a fantasy equivalent of mundane chemistry. As are most items made with it (even some that say they can only be made by spellcasters, like acid). The Brew Potion and philosophical alchemy feats from VRA are magic. Most Borcan concoctions are purely misunderstood chemistry and herbal lore and are not at all magical. The ones who make them are apothecaries, not true alchemists.
I don't think we are and I am pretty sure it's my lack of clarity on the subject. As far as magic users go, Borca has a higher percentage of the mage specialist Alchemists (who are allowed to brew potions at earlier levels). Reminder (and possible source of furthering confusion), I am a solid 2nd edition DM (with a very basic understanding of 3rd). Sorry I wasn't more clear and lord knows how many others I have been mildly confusing.
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Re: Personal Canon

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Dark Angel wrote:I don't think we are and I am pretty sure it's my lack of clarity on the subject. As far as magic users go, Borca has a higher percentage of the mage specialist Alchemists (who are allowed to brew potions at earlier levels). Reminder (and possible source of furthering confusion), I am a solid 2nd edition DM (with a very basic understanding of 3rd). Sorry I wasn't more clear and lord knows how many others I have been mildly confusing.
Ah, now I see. I never had the money to get deep into 2e, so I was never sure how potions were made there. In 3.x a potion is a spell (of up to 3rd level, unless you use the Brew Greater Potion feat from DT&DL) brewed to be imbibed (potions and elixirs), anointed on something (oils), or used some other way to trigger the spell (like a grenade, for example). Just as any other magic item a potion requires gold and an XP expenditure to create, not to mention the requisite knowledge of the spell to be made into a potion.

In the advanced Cultural Levels as technology becomes more sophisticated the use of magic, or at least low-level spells, becomes somewhat moot as technology can replicate many effects with less time and money required. An arcanist or divine caster is still only one person and requires a great deal of time and money to be effective at things that increasingly modern weapons, surgery, and medicines can do just as well and without the attendant limit on spells per day or costly material components and foci. There will always be certain things that magic is better equipped to handle, though. Certain entities still require supernatural power to harm and there will always be diseases and medical conditions that magic can cure that science can't.

In very-low-level magic settings like Gothic Earth, where magic is all but unknown save to a few and is extremely hazardous, science necessarily takes its place. But that doesn't mean groups in power don't have access to magic. On Gothic Earth, however, secular and political power often means literal deals with the Devil (or at least the Red Death's minions). This is the crux of my own Gothic Journals in the fan fiction section.
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Re: Personal Canon

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For my current campaign, I'm using an idea I'd always had as "the way things are" in previous Ravenloft adventures, but none of those ever were quite grand in scope enough to be able to use it. The group I'm working with right now seems to be in it for the long haul, which means I get to gleefully rub my hands together and twirl my mustache.

The Dark Powers themselves aren't gods, fiends, or really even entities in the sense that they have a concrete existence: they're actual principles given agency, though calling them something like "principles" paints them as something better than the unbelievably malevolent forces they are. "Traits" or "flaws" is probably more accurate, and insofar as they have awareness and intellect, they act upon their interests to see their namesakes, and their very nature, fulfilled. The ones I have fleshed out, so to speak, are:

Intransigence: the property of stubbornness; the incapacity for change; the unwillingness to acknowledge one's failings; the evil of willful blindness

Megalomania: the property of inflated self-worth; the unwavering belief in one's superiority; the hunger to dominate; the evil of pride and ego

Temptation/Corruption: the twin-souled property of malevolent agency; the uninhibited slide into depravity; the knowledge of doing wrong even with the knowledge of its effects; the evil of self-indulgence

Monstrosity: the property of woe; the infliction of suffering upon others; the euphoric, addictive joy of sadism; the evil of needless cruelty

Captivity: the property of eternal imprisonment; the inescapable quarantine; the despair of never gaining release; the evil of enslavement

I'm also using the idea a previous poster had of Madam Eva being a former Dark Power who took physical form to do something to keep the others somewhat at bay. In this campaign, she has an ally who's already given the party a hand on a couple of occasions, and the Dark Powers took immediate notice and have been moving their pawns to thwart those efforts. The players aren't yet aware that there's anything bigger going on than a resistance movement burning down the capital city of Nidala (which they inadvertently aided even as they were helping Elena stamp it out, thus underscoring the need for players to be thorough in their investigations) and that someone powerful is unhappy with them for slightly related matters (*cough* Othmar *cough*), but as long as they insist on continuing down the rabbit hole, they'll come to the horrifying realization of how it all ties together...assuming they live that long.
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Re: Personal Canon

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This is something I used to be against but, after much thought and consideration, I've found that I rather like it. The 3e rules for reality wrinkle sizes makes them too big. Instead I cut them down to a quarter of their size: 500 ft. per HD/level for true outsiders, 250 ft. per HD/level for ascended ones. That's just over two miles in radius for true outsiders at 20+, less than one mile for ascended outsiders. Compare that to the RAW which would put them at just under eight miles and four miles, respectively. I also agree that any reality wrinkle would fail utterly in the presence of a darklord. But at the same time the darklord would lose their powers, including the ability to overcome immunities, because they're effectively cut off from their domains. They wouldn't be able to leave their domains through a reality wrinkle, though. The ultimate prisoners of Ravenloft are not so easily freed.

The one exception is Malocchio Aderre, who could bring darklords along with him in his reality wrinkle, before being imprisoned himself by the Vistani. His combined heritage of darklord, fiend, and Vistani, as well as being the Dukkar, is a perfect storm that's unlikely to happen again.
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Re: Personal Canon

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Zettaijin wrote:
Someone reposted my old (and I do mean OLD) Rokushima Taiyoo gaz in these forum, and then someone else reposted it, again. But, as much as some folks on the old mailing list liked my take in the Japanese domain (at the time influenced by a burgeoning interest in contemporary anime), it is pretty dated and was never unofficial canon of anything remotely close to that. It's just that no else had an interest in the place.

I wouldn't rule out some of my ideas, but I'd certainly revisit most of them were I intending to use them.

I'd definately keep the concept of each island representing a different era of Japan by blowing up to the point of caricature its defining traits of its ruling class (aloof nobles more ineterested in court intrigue, beauty and love making than their people; a warrior rule concerned solely with breeding future rank and file soldiers, stepping on everyone's toes; etc.).

But the anime references would be tossed out the window.
It's cool Zetta, I remember that article pretty well and any attempt to tackle Rokuma would at the very least start there.
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Re: Personal Canon

Post by IrvyneWolfe »

My own Personal Canon?

- Advanced Firearms exist, but are only made in Zherisia. They are exported to the core, but they have a cost on par with magical items in other settings. "Put down that revolver!! It cost 3,000gp!" In my mind it also lends a little weight to the idea of Zherisia being able to afford to import most of their raw materials.

- Nosos is part of the Zherisia cluster. It's the pollution filled industrial district where the poorest natives go to work building the technological wonders that makes Zherisia viable.

- The Falkovnian Military is actually pretty heavily nuanced, due partly to the fact that Viggo Drakov has been using his "father's" good graces to perform a series of experiments in unconventional warfare. Combat alchemy, Magus' and more. This is all in anticipation of Viggo making an ill fated attempt to usurp Vlad.

- Bluetspur is the moon seen over most of the core. It's reached in all the traditional ways, but the idea that people looking up into the sky from the surface of Bluetspur may see the core is chilling.

- Population and distances are increased pretty much across the board. After all, there's more room for sleepy little towns for weird stuff to happen if there's more space between the important places.
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Re: Personal Canon

Post by Galeros »

I have been toying around with a few ideas in my head for a bit...

* Falkovnia does not exist and instead other domains are a bit larger to make up for the space.
* The Shadow Rift is actually a deep, primeval forest instead of a gaping hole in the ground.
* Demihumans do not exist.
* The Dread Elemental Domains I worked on here on the forums exist.
* The technology level is around late 1800s-Early 1900s, basically like Masque of the Red Death.
* Most of the Islands of Dread are as they are in the books.
* Fiends exist, but the details of what exactly the lower planes are like is fuzzy and unknown.
* The Afterlife for most is a bleak land similar to the Core, but everyone carries over how they looked when they died into the afterlife.
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Re: Personal Canon

Post by IrvyneWolfe »

Other bits of personal Canon

-Much like Jander Sunstar inspired the Church of the Morninglord in Barovia Isolde accidentally inspired the Church of Ezra. Yakov Dilisnya was saved by her upon her arrival in Ravenloft, and even as he suffered from a fever and concussion she explained her mission to him (she needed to vent, what can I say. She also needed local information). When he was finally found he recounted the bits of her story that he could recall into the first book of Ezra. She hasn't figured out that they based a religion on her (she's been awfully busy with the Carnival) . However, she's likely to keep her distance just because of how uncomfortable the notion of being worshipped would make her.

- The cloistered cleric Archetype is the default for most spellcasting priests. Each temple has maybe a single spellcasting priest and they are typically low level cloister clerics geared more towards book keeping than raining down divine power. All other functions of the church are handled by experts. Only the extraordinary members of a given faith are "normal" clerics. Most are too busy actually running the faith to learn how to wear medium armor and cast flamestrike.

- The halflings of Sithicus are Kender, statistically the point is largely moot (especially since most of them are undead monsters), and are easily one of the most dangerous things in Sithicus.

- The Abber Nomads are not named until they can walk, at which point the child is taken to an Abber Shaman who uses vague visions to name the child, supposedly based on something that figured prominently in the vision.
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Re: Personal Canon

Post by Galeros »

I have also thought about removing Sithicus as without Soth, I do not see much point for the realm. So, I would do the same as I did with Falkovnia and just expand the other somains to make up for the space.
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Re: Personal Canon

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I'd been waiting to drop this one on my players for a while, and I think it's gonna happen in the next couple of sessions: the writings of Bastion Raines's sect detailing the coming of the ToUD are written in [intentionally] vague and easily mis-interpreted Nostradamian quatrains. I fully expect to have at least a handful of d20's thrown at me when I hand them the "prophesies."
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Re: Personal Canon

Post by Le Noir Faineant »

My personal canon evolves mainly around Barovia - essentially, Tatyana is an avatar of Ezra,
and Jander Sunstar and Harkon Lukas are NPC heroes on the hunt for Strahd.

The burning of Vallaki as per "The Nine of Hearts" is a crucial event in my take on RL, and my personal RL timeline evolves around it.
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Re: Personal Canon

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Decades ago, when war with Falkovnia loomed once more, the Darkonian people were terrified of the Creeping Death rising once again.

A lay minstrel, famed for his beautiful hymns to the Eternal Order, offered himself in sacrifice to make peace with the dead. He was duly inhumed and given a Heroes' Wake, and his sacrifice placated the undead for a while. For his intercessory role, he became known in later generations as "Loquitur" - "He Who Speaks" on behalf of the living to propitiate the dead.

How important or effective his sacrifice actually was, is unknown. Certainly, some Eternal Order high ranking priests credit him with enough sway to steal his jawbone from his tomb and to secretly house it in Nartok. And the Creeping Death keeps coming...
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Re: Personal Canon

Post by Ravenous »

My players tend to read more about he story than they should and end up metagaming even if they swear it's not what they intend to do, so I have always had to play two years ahead of the current canon and introduce changes so nothing happens as they expect it

For instance, in Kartakass they found a Meistersinger called Luka Marcone, whom everybody loved in Skald and who was none other than Harkon Lukas, having faked his own defeat with a new identity in the Meistersinger duel, getting rid of rumors and all the things previous campaigns may render him as an obvious Darklord for the domain.

The Pcs even helped him getting rid of all those things left by the "previous, evil" Meistersinger and helped legitimate his good intentions and leadership by fighting against the minions of Mother Fury, who tried to invade Skald and Harmonia. The PCs got really angry when they found out, thanks to Mr. Ambrose and co, that they had been deceived by such an expert deceiver in disguise.

They had been thinking all the time that Harkon Lukas was hidden somewhere plotting and killing NPCs and expecting him to come somewhat publicly with the pack of other Vebrek werewolves, while they had been helpin him out all along :)
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Re: Personal Canon

Post by Hamiclar »

Way neat ideas. I've started in Tepest since the lands arrival in the mist has had the inquisition heavy involved in south towns in the north near Darkon the people are not as fanatical yet towards those from Darkon. I have Dwarves mining in Tepest currently but that will change when the group returns home. The Land of Sourougne I change after reading the Gaz online. I have the church Of Ezra there but mostly worshipped by rich but I'm changing it to now be the start as fourth sect or shism for the religion of Ezra. The dark part of the faith which is lead by a character similar to the priest in Poltergeist 2 which wrote these versus and had the party priestess discover them. The old one which will be a nemesis for the group will influence a certain young priest in Darkon to preach his faith.

Gundarak I'm making more classical age or Spartan when it was ruled by a Tyrant.
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