Mischief's 5e Forward Ravenloft Revisions

[Mischief]

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[Mischief]

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[Mischief]

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[kourkenko]

I hate to bump my thread for this but there is no "Ask Azalin" or "I have just one quick question thread" on the forum that I can easily find. (And I'd be glad to make one if there is demand!)

What generation number is Strahd using in "The house on Gyphon Hill?" (e.g. Is he pretending to be Strahd IV?)

That's a tricky question for sure. After checking in the house of the griphon hill and the timeline in Domains of Dread and in the wiki, their is no canon answer. We don't know.
In the I10, the Count is the alchimist and the vampire is just named "the beast". It even seem to be hve been partially retconned by the last timeline in Domains of Dread since mordent apear before the scenari.

Or perhaps i missed it.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I don't recall if the whole "Strahd XI" thing ever existed before Gaz I. I don't think it did. We can glean some clues from there.

"Strahd I" was the one at the wedding massacre in 351
"Strahd IV" forged the pact with the vistani in 470
"Strahd VII" sparred with Gundar in 593
"Strahd XI" was around for the Great Upheaval in 740, and is still in place "today".

the timeline puts Mordent's appearance, (and hence Strahd and Azalin's Excellent Mordentish Adventure) at 579. So if he changes his number roughly every (740-351)/10 years, (let's call it 40ish), it would be VI or VII.

[Mischief]

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[The Lesser Evil]

I have perused your material and it's got some pretty interesting ideas. I had a few general comments and thoughts, numbered below for convenience.
1) Your redoing of Azalin to focus on twisted relationships is interesting. With that and Darkon reflecting existential horror, I wonder if you could make his regime reflect the abusive parental relationship by tapping into a combination of the nanny state and Big Brother fears, where Pappy Azalin always knows best and the Kargat is always watching. (Although these may be relatively modern fears, they could be combined with the view in some medieval/antiquity states that the emperor is a divinely ordained figure or even divine in his own right). Azalin feels monsters, the undead, and fiends are more of a threat to him than ordinary people because the latter represent to him his subjects- mostly children like beings that ultimately need to have decisions made for them. Monsters, undead (that don't obey him), and fiends represent earnest rivals for control- subversive influences that could turn Azalin's subjects away from their rightful patriarchal figure. Death/Lowellyn Dachine would perhaps represent the worst combination of the subversive figure with the wayward child- a delusional, undisciplined son that tried to usurp all his father held dear.

2) I wonder how the bits on ichor relate to something from Curse of Strahd,

VIEW CONTENT:

the work of the Old Bonegrinder night hag trio in Curse of Strahd, specifically the barrel of demon ichor they use to summon dretch servants (CoS p. 126). It would be interesting if they created tainted variant of the common ichor to spread among the populace in order to seed more fodder for their demon summoning routines. By this I mean, what if they took to using the bodies of those who die to make material components, possibly making the name "Old Bonegrinder" a more literal name than you'd expect? Certainty, their dream pastries might be ichor products in the mold of that one healing pie you have.

Actually, tainted ichor for various nefarious purposes is a plot point that that could be exploited.

3)I checked out the map on your album page. When I first saw it, I thought the Harmonia Plateau might be some redefining of Kartakass due to the town of Harmonia existing within it. If the Plateau is not, you may wish to take steps to clarify the distinction.

If I'm reading your maps correctly (a little bit hard given the map of the zoomed out Core is in different colors than the close-ups), Souragne is the southwestern edge of the Core's central landmass. That seems like a good positioning if you were to add it there- it makes sense to have it on the coast, and it seems like a nice match for other southern Core domains as far as terrain, climate, and culture. The only alternative of Core placement I might consider is making it an island in the Sea of Sorrows, possibly connected to Arkandale/Verbrek or other domains that might be interpreted as "New World" domains.

I like that you've added a few more domains to the coastline- it makes for a more dynamic maritime/seaside dynamic- something I found a little wanting in the default Core. I hope you retain some more of the islands in your finished Core map.

4)Of the new additions, the one with the serrated coast and the central swirl shaped island looks quite promising- what is that?

[Mischief]

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[The Lesser Evil]

I think modern fears will connect with the players best. That's another reason I like the culturally more advanced setting because there are more institutions similar to modern life. I've seen some calls to simplify and go back to medieval Ravenloft. I don't think that's a winning strategy because it removes an essential point of charm. Where I really think the work needs to be done is fixing up the domains and darklords - mostly trying to make the domains charismatic on their own. I'm trying to work through those issues with Mordent and Godefroy right now, who appears as a supporting character in the Strahd vs. Azalin module notes.

That's fair. With Godefroy I see him as the epitome of privilege and the evils of entitlement that it can bring. Although he can be (and is) a grand schemer from behind the scenes, he is also one of the most PETTY darklords around. Godefroy is the evil, wealthy old blueblood stereotype combined with your evil landlord. Although he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, that doesn't mean he isn't manipulative and cunning. He'll do terrible things to you simply for causing him to look bad, ranging from the worst caning you'll ever feel to making backroom deals/coercion to tear your life apart from behind the scenes. Even if by accident you might stand him up.

Gaz III goes a lot into the lost noble families of Mordent. With all that detail, it's kinda my head canon that he played a important role in the downfalls of the other noble families that occurred in his lifetime or thereafter. Ironically, this would contribute to the downfall of the nobility in general that would leave him with a lack of suitable living candidates to lead Mordent later on. The Dark Powers might have been looking at him already. And when Azalin and Strahd came to Mordent, they may have taken up Mordent then and there, leaving Godefroy thinking he "inherited" the domain being the most suitable being after the two left, but still compared to them Godefroy might think he was the diet cola of masterminds. (Any significant interaction with Godefroy might cause Azalin to think him an impertinent upstart and unruly child, putting Godefroy in a situation inverted from what he's usually used to.)

Regarding Strahd vs. Azalin, I could see Godefroy having provided funding for the Alchemist's experiments in order to profit from the Alchemist's findings, perhaps hoping to put it to some nefarious use. Or perhaps in a moment of prescience, Godefroy thought the Apparatus could feel death coming on and hoped that the Apparatus could separate him from his sins and thereby save him from some terrible afterlife in hell or as a lingering spirit. Ironically, such a Godefroy would die shortly before being able to test out his theory. In an actual I10 like setup, he might act as to suppress knowledge of Mordent's awful secrets while at the same time venting his frustrations upon anybody who earns his wrath. Godefroy might have also sewn the seeds of antipathy between Strahd and Azalin, since in your version they aren't terribly fond of each other but also aren't each other's archenemies.

  Further out (if I have time! I can't promise!) is the Orospero (Doomsday) Gazetteer, a domain based on Portugal, the Age of Exploration, and the Crusades. The curse borrows very heavily from a certain Poe poem. I'm experimenting there with flipping the usual Darklord / Domain mechanic around. The domain exerts a curse on everyone - the Bravo or Fool's Hope. There is a Darklord curse, but Orospero goes through Darklords like toilet paper, sometimes even passing it back and forth based on who is more qualified at the moment.

Sounds intriguing. I'm interesting to hear what mechanisms you have for the darklord mantle changing hands. I don't know the specifics of what you have planned, but it would seem to imply a society that's in a state of constant social flux and even chaos.

The map is still in a pretty rough state. I've learned my lesson long ago about not investing too much time into making a fantasy map look nice until you have finalized the location of the features. Yep, I moved Kartakass to a high plateau smack in the middle of the "civilized" core. Why? Because being in the boonies, overlooking all the twinkling lights of great cities is way worse for Meistersinger Harkon Lukas. He is so close, yet so far. The plateau is a tilted plate with its thousands of feet-high side facing Falkovnia. Dementlieu artists like to paint it, especially because there are some beautiful waterfalls, the highest in the core. Even if Vlad Drakov wanted to throw down with a nation that thinks rap battles are an appropriate way to elect political officials, he can't invade unless he creates a flying squadron or extreme mountaineering troop. Sometimes he entertains the idea, usually during Alphorn season. Water flows down the Harmonia Plateau towards Richemulot feeding the Musarde which then dumps into the Vuchar, which after its hundred-of-miles journey through Darkon and Falkovnia is appallingly filthy.

I see the reasoning, it all makes good sense. This placement also makes the Harmonic Hall within reach of the artsy Core at the same time acting as a screening mechanism. Only the truly dedicated students (the ones willing to find a way up the cliffs) make it to enroll. By "dedicated" here, I mean dedicated to their own agendas, highly opinionated, and likely a little mad, thereby making them hard to manipulate by Harkon Lukas even as Harmonic Hall gets some of the most ingenious and venturesome talent the Core can offer. So you might have these amazing talents eventually returning home, giving the outside impression that the plateau is a place of virtually utopic high culture and civilization, even though in many ways the plateau is rustic and provincial. The irony there could drive Harkon Lukas absolutely insane, especially when he would have to explain the disparity between the domain and its reputation.

A meteor struck there the night of a major shower. Even the far-away Barovians with their shrouded skies recall the especially bright fall that year and the Wizard of Wines winery commemorated a vintage to the event. The oldest locals recall the crater was initially small, a hundred yards across and maybe 50 feet deep, but the earth started continuously sinking all around it over the next few decades, driving farmers from their drowning lands. It even changed the course of a major river, causing it to divide into two - the new branch is called "The Stranger." The growth of the impact site has slowed down to negligible, but summiting the crater walls overland is nearly impossible - think that maze of razor ridges on the way to Mordor but with poisoned water in the crevasses and glowing mist so you can't see. Entry by sea is more promising, but there are jagged toothy reefs, the "Hook Reef", which sailors swear move. The Vistani won't touch it. If anyone has gotten into the bay and returned, they keep their stories to themselves.

Interesting, this would seem like a natural introduction for the doppelganger plant (or other malevolent alien life that could conceivably be spore based) to the rest of the Core, both through the initial impact and through strange weather/geographical activity patterns.

In any case, I like the directions you're taking things and look forward to seeing how they develop forward.

[Mischief]

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[Mischief]

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[Mischief]

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[Mischief]

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[Mischief]

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[Mischief]

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