Ravenloft/Gothic horror: Morality Play vs. Evoking Dread

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The Lesser Evil
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Ravenloft/Gothic horror: Morality Play vs. Evoking Dread

Post by The Lesser Evil »

So I've been doing some thinking about Ravenloft (and maybe gothic horror in general?) Two big goals have come to mind, in that one is the morality play or thought experiment, to show the depths of how far humanity can transgress and what it can lead to, and two, evoking dread and horror as emotions. These two goals can sometimes or even often align themselves with each other but not always, as the first usually relies on moral agency and knowledge to make moral decisions, whereas the second one often relies on the unknown and factors that may rely outside of moral agency.

For example, I don't find something like Frankenstein necessarily scary in evoking dread or horror as feelings but more an examination of morality in action with dramatic and fleshed-out characters and dark atmosphere.

The question I get from all these random musings is, to what degree is Ravenloft is about morality play/though experiment vs. to what degree is it about evoking horror and dread as emotions? What are your thoughts on how they interact?
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Re: Ravenloft/Gothic horror: Morality Play vs. Evoking Dread

Post by ewancummins »

Leaving aside a discussion of the differences in novels or films and games...


One of the fears Ravenloft can bring up is the fear of perdition.
Will a person's sinful acts lead him into hell?

Hell is dreadful.
To be a darklord is to enter a personal torment. It's not about being kickass or having kewl powerz. It's about the punishment. The curse.

I think if you can use the powers checks system the right way, you can combine the moral choices and the fear/dread stuff.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

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Re: Ravenloft/Gothic horror: Morality Play vs. Evoking Dread

Post by Hell_Born »

Well, personally, I don't think the whole "morality play/dread" divide can really be said to exist, because my reading of Gothic Horror has always been that they're supposed to serve as both at the same time.

Unfortunately, one of the problems Gothic Horror faces is that, much like Lovecraftian Horror, it's very much rooted in the cultural zeitgeist of its times. The best such stories touch on themes that can survive outside of its intended audience, but others, more heavily rooted in the mores and beliefs and standards of the time, don't fare so well. It's one of the reasons why Frankenstein and Dracula have been retold time and time again, whilst Jekyll and Hyde or the Invisible Man are almost forgotten save amongst devoted horror buffs.

Gothic Horror depends heavily on a particular way of viewing the world that was endemic at the time when the stories were written, but which in many ways modern culture has outgrown. The thread I started on Althea's darklord position was an example of how a lot of Gothic Horror standard articles no longer hold so much weight as inherently justified or naturally condemned with how our societies have moved on since those days. Gurps Screampunk opens with an excellent dossier on how the world was supposed to work in the late Georgian/early Victorian England whence this style of horror began and thusly how the flouting of those conventions became food for both horror and morality tales.

Long story short, you can't really seperate the two aspects because both are supposed to be equally important. The problem is, the morality play angle is inherently conflictive, because not everyone will see the play in the same way. Again, I refer you to my thread on Althea, where the whole mess started because I inherently disagreed with the idea that Althea really deserved punishment as the Darklord given the nature of her "crimes" was ultimately that she snapped under her husband's abuse and murdered him.
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Re: Ravenloft/Gothic horror: Morality Play vs. Evoking Dread

Post by thekristhomas »

I tend to steer away from morality and towards consequences. It is true that almost all horror, gothic or otherwise, is rooted in the morality of the day, even if one can argue that Stoker and Shelley were reacting against conventional mores. The difficulty being that morality, now maybe more than ever, is subjective, and certainly far removed from the morality of the past. That being said, it could be approached as an exercise in role-playing, for a character to subscribe to a system of morality that is different perhaps even alien to their own.

Consider that whenever a PC takes on the role of a priest of a specific deity in a "normal" campaign, they are usually given a rough idea of what their religion's views are on issues and those might not match with the players own views, and that's perfectly normal. I think if the "over-arcing" morality is clear and understood by the players beforehand then it shouldn't be a problem.
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