What I am looking for is to tap the minds of this community and ask you to poke holes in these thoughts and ideas. Essentially I want to know if these ideas will float or sink under the pressure of your imaginations.
What I am not looking for is to debate the mysteries of the Dark Powers. That's why I respectfully pulled this out of that thread. Well, I love reading other people's thoughts and opinions on what the Dark Powers are or are not, but as I said I'm looking to play out a particular (yet mercurial) expression/explanation of said forces. As much as I can anyway. If I get not hits then I'll just roleplay the Devil's Advocate. haha
Here's the (initial) gist:
Also, I will be using Strahd as an example of an evil shadow simply because 1) I view him as Ravenloft, and 2) he's being hyped in "Curse of Strahd" (which I pre-ordered the minute I heard!).Five wrote:Currently I am playing with the idea of the Dark Powers from a sort of "Jungian Shadow" angle. It's a "physical" manifestation of both negative and positive aspects of people's unconscious personalities. Ravenloft heroes such as Doctor Rudolph van Richten would be stereotypical bullied bookworms/ meek scholars on a world like Faerun, and Strahd the vampire is Strahd the warlord's bloodlust personified. Nastiest people are Dark Lords (or in line for), mild manner reporters are superheroes (of the PC variety), and the rest of the crowd are stockart. haha Nah. They're sliders...people who have yet to "decide" in what direction their shadows will go. Best way to describe my POV would be to call them True Neutrals. Thing is, each individual's memories are wiped of their past lives and so it's spiritual-emotional gauntlet of sorts. To "get out" is to tune in to one's true nature. Sounds simple, but it's not.
I'm planning on writing a series of (short) adventures based around this idea, yet when they're finished I will more than likely move on like I tend to do and redefine the Dark Powers through a different perspective, if at all. At the table I never did define.
Edit: I just realised that I have yet to define the actual Dark Powers/drawing force in that particular take. I've only toyed with the inhabitants to date. Huh. Gotta think some more. Obviously.
Edit 2: I got it. The Dark Powers in this instance are that which the gods granted sentient life and are thus unable to control: Free Will. Ravenloft, the Realm (of Terror) is a zone/dimension where the gods cannot reach. The collective unconsciousness of sentient beings.
The Evil shadows are meant to hone the Good, and vice versa. They exist and battle for no reason other than emergence.
The inner conflict, the inability to accept ones shadow is what keeps people/individuals trapped in this divine dead zone. And not everybody has an extreme crisis of self identity (which vaguely explains why the realm doesnt house a billion billion personas).
And that's all I got for now. I'm at work. Haha
Doctor Rudolph van Richten will be my example when discussing a good shadow.
The meat of my posts will be to examine the Dark Powers as a cause, both Strahd and van Richten will represent their effects. My views and analysis of both are obviously going to be skewed (they're all of our opinions and tweaks) but please bear with me and poke holes in that too.