Review thread of VRGtRL 5e

[Speedwagon]

I don't know if it's enough interest for you to finish your draft, but I can say that I am interested, so that's one person. And it's nice to hear your thoughts, Rucht. I got into the setting thanks to the 5e book, so color me biased.

[Joël of the FoS]

I also didn't like Vladeska Drakov. I liked Vlad Drakov as an allusion to Vlad Tepes. Also, I just feel that character works better with male energy. I think that a female version of Vlad Tepes wouldn't have been an impaler in my mind. She would have done something different. Like Countess Bathory of something. Now there's a Darklord that would have been awesome.

I love the new domain of Falkovnia now, though. Before, zombie horror in Ravenloft was only something you could get in one module...now there's a great domain for it.

This new Falkovnia and its tropes is a solid domain, but it doesn't replace 3e era Falkovnia in the Core for me.

But I would gladly rename it and use it as an island in the mists.

(or as an eerie parallel Falkvnia, as an island in the mists, if I find a good reason for its existence)

[Rock of the Fraternity]

It could be an expansion on Falkovnia, ruled by a rebellious daughter of Drakov. Non-Darklords wouldn't be able to tell the difference between their lands.
In addition to Vladeska being cursed, the presence of her Falkovnia lying between Drakov and Darkon would cause him even greater frustration. Now he has to fight his way past two undead hosts and a military leader very familiar with his style of tactics to get at the prize he so desires.
A woman is preventing him from getting what he wants; it'll drive him nuts.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

If I ever use Vladeska it will be from a parallel universe QtR#28 (inspired by The Man in High Castle)

[alhoon]

I will be the first here to say it Rucht:

Why so defensive? This is the FoS. We don't engage in mud slinging and monkey poo hurling. You have an opinion, perhaps unpopular and we are all adults and can handle it.
As long as the arcane lock on your door and windows is good, the wards solid and you don't invite the fellow without shadow that shows up in the night to your house, you'll be fine! Also, avoid eating things we leave at your door.

Now, this is the part where I respectfully disagree with your view:
That it is better for new players.
I honestly don't think so. Ravenloft of the Gazetteer era was engaging, expansive and a place you could love. same with Curse of Strahd's Barovia.
VRGtR is a short synopsis with swallow villains and heroes and (IMO) lackluster description of a few horror tropes that leaves a bad taste to my mouth. VRGtR horror descriptions lack the evocative presentation they deserve.

That said: Saidra for the Win. Better than Dominic, hands down.

[Speedwagon]

It could be an expansion on Falkovnia, ruled by a rebellious daughter of Drakov. Non-Darklords wouldn't be able to tell the difference between their lands.
In addition to Vladeska being cursed, the presence of her Falkovnia lying between Drakov and Darkon would cause him even greater frustration. Now he has to fight his way past two undead hosts and a military leader very familiar with his style of tactics to get at the prize he so desires.
A woman is preventing him from getting what he wants; it'll drive him nuts.

That's an angle that I've been somewhat working with in my own homebrew map of the Core (that I'll be posting on the board someday). Vladeska is one of Vlad's daughters and Vlad is conflicted. He has 2 children he's actually proud of and considering putting in charge of Falkovnia as he gets older, Vladeska and Vigo. Vigo isn't even his (he doesn't know that) and Vladeska is a woman. Already Vlad has had to deal with one rebellious daughter causing a civil war (Josephine Parkorov and the breakaway territory of Freienbauerland from QtR 22, which is in-between Richemulot and Falkovnia in my map) so he's reluctant to give Vladeska too much power. Unfortunately, by the time of the 4th Dead Man's War he had to suck it up and she was the one to lead the charge. One bad war later (and a really bad arcane mishap thanks to Anatoli Chernov of A Hundred Shades of Dark) and Vlad (and Azalin) have 2 new Domains bordering them: Talonica and Chernaya. Talonica is 5e Falkovnia and is nestled between Darkon and Falkovnia, with a misty border as well. It also borders Chernaya, which borders only Talonica and Darkon. If 5e Falkovnia is zombie horrors, then Chernaya is a radioactive wasteland meant to evoke Chernobyl (and crawling with its own nuclear nightmares). Occasionally the conflict in Talonica (from the zombies that come in from the Misty Border, the Darkonese border patrol and the Chernayan nightmares) spills over into Falkovnia, necessitating constant military vigilance on the border and annoying Vlad from being able to do the troop buildup he wants. Coupled with the fact that the zombies flooding into Talonica are not just coming from anywhere, but from Tovag, and it's just another headache for Vlad to deal with. There's still communication between him and Vladeska but the land is acknowledged by everyone but him to be its own breakaway state.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

So the Burning Peaks are still active in your game?
Did someone replace Vecna?

[Speedwagon]

Yeah the Burning Peaks are still active in my game. So is Vecna, as I've got my own timeline for how I want the setting to go down. The year in game is 1364 AGC (After Grand Conjunction). Barovia formed as the first Domain in 1476 BGC (Before Grand Conjunction).

My plan for Vecna is to eventually do the plotlines from "Vecna Reborn" and "Die, Vecna, Die!" but until them, I'm keeping him around with a new curse and characterization. Instead of being the complete Gary Stu "I can do the thing no one else can do cuz I'm Vecna" he has something of a character, with me focusing on how the loss of his mother led to his journey into undeath, his relationship with the serpent, and how his curse (he can now feel the same physical sensations that he felt in life and, having been a lich for millennia, is starting to get addicted to simple pleasures like food and drink and other bodily stuff after having self-imposed sensory deprivation for so long). He's still Palpatine levels of evil and revels in said evil, but he's also got flaws of his own that can be exploited. I also mainly keep him around cuz I like Cavitius and Tovag being an epic scale version of what Darkon and Falkovnia have going on, and I really wanted to have some degree of interaction between Azalin and Vecna. When Vecna escapes in the 1380s AGC (around the same time that the God-Brain, the Nightmare Court and Gwydion and Ebonbane will be making their big moves as well), it'll really mess with Azalin. The only other Oeridian Darklord, and a lich too, got out, but not him. They'll have interacted before, in that there's a Mistway from Darkon into Cavitius and vice-versa, so there's trade between them. I might have them interact more through emissaries and secondhand agents.

[Sith]

I like the idea of Vladeska being Vlad's daughter and it was one of first things I thought reading about her in the book. If I was in the shoes of this guide's authors, I would have developed the character following this line. Continuity with the past and innovation together.

[Jester of the FoS]

4) I also like that they took the setting and advanced the timeline. I didn't need to read, again, that Azalin tried to escape and failed. That's been canon for decades. I really like that something happened in Darkon and we don't know what! Did he escape? Did he blow himself up? I really like that it's been left unknown.

Nitpick: It didn't advance the timeline so much as roll it back. Azalin blew up Darkon in the Requiem. He just never returned and now the land is vanishing. What happened to him is a big mystery, but one we'll never know the answer to.

As far which Darklords I don't like and which changes I disagreed with....

There are only a few changes that I totally disliked. First would be Lamordia. For me, the Frankenstein story is definitely a twisted father and son story and works best that way. Also, I simply don't find Viktra Mordenheim to be all that interesting. I'm going to keep Victor Mordenheim and Adam from the old material.

I also didn't like Vladeska Drakov. I liked Vlad Drakov as an allusion to Vlad Tepes. Also, I just feel that character works better with male energy. I think that a female version of Vlad Tepes wouldn't have been an impaler in my mind. She would have done something different. Like Countess Bathory of something. Now there's a Darklord that would have been awesome.

I love the new domain of Falkovnia now, though. Before, zombie horror in Ravenloft was only something you could get in one module...now there's a great domain for it.

I also liked the old version of Mara in the House of Lament, so when I've run it I've kept that same storyline. Mara's tale is twisted because it's the classic save the princess storyline, but in the end the princess isn't saved and the noble hero is slaughtered. Very Game of Thrones. Anyhow, I'm keeping that in the House of Lament.

I think the general consensus is the new lords and changed domains are cool... but could have easily been brand new lands.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Nitpick: It didn't advance the timeline so much as roll it back. Azalin blew up Darkon in the Requiem. He just never returned and now the land is vanishing. What happened to him is a big mystery, but one we'll never know the answer to.

VIEW CONTENT:

Well there is this wandering wizard searching for amber coffins...

[alhoon]

OK, I will say it:
Viktra Mordenheim sounds a more interesting villain than Viktor. At least, she has some novelty function and is a couple steps away from Dr Frankenstein; easily recognizable but not a near-clone.
Also, new Falkovia seems to be about 2000 square miles, so it can be 50000 people (if you assume a magic touch on farming and a looot of fishing) which is decent.
Toning down the steampunk elements to "steam engine and firearms with a few steampunk touches" and changing the "3 miles per 105 pixels" to "5 miles per 105 pixels" turns this to 5500 square miles, giving us a decent population of 100K people without changing the distances that much.

[TwiceBorn Reborn]

Nitpick: It didn't advance the timeline so much as roll it back. Azalin blew up Darkon in the Requiem. He just never returned and now the land is vanishing. What happened to him is a big mystery, but one we'll never know the answer to.

Is it plausible that VRGtR may in fact be set post-ToUD, and that the changes made in VRGtR represent the aftermath of that event, with WotC leaving it up to old guard Ravenloft DMs to decide how exactly things unfolded? I don't see why the DPs couldn't just reshape the domains and darklords on a whim, if only to inject more variables into their grand game/experiment. Sure, the amber coffins, demon lord vestiges, and Osybus (and his priesthood) throw an annoying wrench in the spanners, but that could just be more misdirection and reshuffling of the proverbial deck by the DPs manipulating the "new DPs"... couldn't it?

I'll admit that, even though I own hardcopies of all Ravenloft material published by TSR/WW/WotC over the years, I haven't kept up with the lore as well as I would have liked to... so forgive me if the above suggestions/questions seem inane.

Alternately, perhaps the ToUD was merely the changing of editions in the background (and virtual disappearance of Ravenloft during 4E, combined with controversial revisions/changes in 5E)?

[alhoon]

Not really, I don't think so. Too many things are very different. There was never a core. Ivan, Ivan, Mordenheim are different. Saidra has a sliver of Dementlieu and Dominic didn't exist. Hazlik doesn't hate the Mulans and he got Azalin's curse etc.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

So the Burning Peaks are still active in your game?
Did someone replace Vecna?

I guess since "Vecna" appeared in Stranger Things we are probably going to see him again in official 5e products including Ravenloft. Well we are probably going to see him in Stranger Things season 5 as well.

PS
It is fun to see the kids in Stranger Things use D&D terms for monsters etc. You get more info on what is happening in the series.