Ravenloft Horror Within - source book set for June 2026

[Le Noir Faineant]

This is where a certain style of play will always lead you, it seems: I run TOR at the moment, and will run Symbaroum in autumn.

Ya know? This is the second time I've seen TOR mentioned on a primarily D&D forum, the first being The Piazza (which does have TOR themed section).

Just to evade misunderstandings: I'm the same "Le Noir Faineant" that occasionally posts there, as well - Rafe of the Comeback Inn and the Blackmoor Discord. My twenty-year Blackmoor-inspired PBP spawned from a Ravenloft-Blackmoor crossover in the autumn of 2005. We switched to my homebrew setting in 2012, and eventually started experimenting with other systems. TOR 2e is surprisingly like OD&D, with an (understandable) focus on shared worldbuilding and wilderness/overland adventures. It's really not compatible with Ravenloft - although you can play horror in it quite well.

-- Symbaroum is what Ravenloft used to be for me: If I end up at a gaming store, if I buy anything RPG-related, it's likely related to Symbaroum. (I own about 95% of all Ravenloft, at least in PDF. Even gave a portion of my print books away, a few years ago. Not an indicator of sympathy; just an indicator of RL getting, what, four print publications since 2005. )

[Resonant Curse]

https://www.enworld.org/threads/lord-so ... in.718852/

Lord Soth is back to being directly mentioned in regards to Sithicus.

[Le Noir Faineant]

https://www.enworld.org/threads/lord-so ... in.718852/

Lord Soth is back to being directly mentioned in regards to Sithicus.

I think this is pretty cool, actually, if only because Weis and Hickman have made it clear that they're not looking to return to the character. Their new trilogy for Dragonlance begins publication presumably next year - and it's assumed to be a "soft reboot" of the DL setting in the "Age of Might". (In a different era than the Soth origin story.) Even if they don't do one trilogy, but two or three, and never care to return to any of their other IPs not owned by WotC, then it seems unlikely that they'd return to anything related to Soth before the late 2030s.
So, Soth being reinvented for the current generation of gamers presumably won't screw with their work as much as it is said to have done in the 1990s; at best, it's a lovely tip o' the hat to a character that we might not see again under other circumstances.

[SkiBird]

https://www.enworld.org/threads/lord-so ... in.718852/

Lord Soth is back to being directly mentioned in regards to Sithicus.

I think this is pretty cool, actually ...

Ditto! I'm excited to see how they intend to use him.

OG Sithicus had Lord Soth be the temporal ruler as well as darklord of the domain ... then upon Lord Soth's exit during the Sword & Sorcery years, Azrael stepped in as temporal ruler with Inza becoming darklord.

I know that Darklords can (very infrequently) be replaced, released, etc. I'm curious ... Have there been any instances of Darklords that were removed/replaced only to eventually return and take on the mantle of Darklord again?

[alhoon]

I know that Darklords can (very infrequently) be replaced, released, etc. I'm curious ... Have there been any instances of Darklords that were removed/replaced only to eventually return and take on the mantle of Darklord again?

Azalin

[The Dark]

Through the wonders of edition changes, Ivan as well - Darklord of Dorvinia, lost his position after the Grand Conjunction, then became co-Darklord of Borca in 5e.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

Through the wonders of edition changes, Ivan as well - Darklord of Dorvinia, lost his position after the Grand Conjunction, then became co-Darklord of Borca in 5e.

Wait
What was Ivan's status in post-grand-conjunction Borca in 3e?

[SkiBird]

After the Grand Conjunstion, Dorvinia and Borca essentially merged. Previously, Ivan and Ivana had each been darklords of distinct domains ... but after the GC, they were co-Darklords within the same domain.

Nathan Timothy, the cursed riverboat captain, was released as Darklord of Arkandale when his domain ceased to exist. During the GC, the domain ended up being absorbed by Verbrek. Verbrek is ruled by Nathan's son, Alfred. Unlike with Dorvinia/Borca, in this instance of domain-merging ... the co-darklord thing didn't happen and Nathan found himself released. His curse still applies, though, in that he may only temporarily set foot on land (he is essentially bound to the Musarde & Arden rivers ... but not necessarily domain borders).

A few other Darklords died (which I suppose is its own sort of release), Vecna, of course, escaped. But I cannot think of any other Darklords that set down the mantle of Darklord and then came back.

So maybe for Sithicus and the Soth/Inza thing ... instead of becoming co-darklords (it's been done before with Ivan/Ivana), or the 'I was released ' angle (like with Nathan Timothy), and instead of Inza dying/escaping ... we get a brand new version of what a domain looks like when a former Darklord gets reinstated? Perhaps they 'share' the title but at different times. By share, I kinda sorta mean 'are trapped by.' Meaning, if one is in the seat, that's it, they are darklord, and the other is not (as in, free to leave). But then, like every 6 months or so ... or as a result of the machinations of the other ... they have to switch.

Soth rules from his keep (once he deposes Azrael, naturally). Inza rules from her Chasm. When one is in charge, the other can travel the demiplane (or Soth could venture freely into his memory mirrors). Something like that. And then, when enough time has passed, these Darklords could be required to switch?

What hijinks could a darklord get up to if they were (occasionally, but only temporarily) allowed to set foot outside their prison? It might be a neat angle to explore.

[alhoon]

Well, aside of Azalin that was Darklord, escaped/blew up and returned as Darklord, I don't think any of the others apply. Ivan was Darklord of Dorvinia as mentioned and then immediately co-darklord of Borca. I don't think there was a period that he was not a Darklord.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

So maybe for Sithicus and the Soth/Inza thing ... instead of becoming co-darklords (it's been done before with Ivan/Ivana), or the 'I was released ' angle (like with Nathan Timothy), and instead of Inza dying/escaping ... we get a brand new version of what a domain looks like when a former Darklord gets reinstated? Perhaps they 'share' the title but at different times. By share, I kinda sorta mean 'are trapped by.' Meaning, if one is in the seat, that's it, they are darklord, and the other is not (as in, free to leave). But then, like every 6 months or so ... or as a result of the machinations of the other ... they have to switch.

Soth rules from his keep (once he deposes Azrael, naturally). Inza rules from her Chasm. When one is in charge, the other can travel the demiplane (or Soth could venture freely into his memory mirrors). Something like that. And then, when enough time has passed, these Darklords could be required to switch?

What hijinks could a darklord get up to if they were (occasionally, but only temporarily) allowed to set foot outside their prison? It might be a neat angle to explore.

It's giving me fey-politics vibe? Like, Seelie and Unseelie?

[Speedwagon]

I'm reminded of Kalakeri by SkiBird's idea. Ramya Vasavadan is the Darklord sometimes, but 5e Arijani and Reeva may occasionally get one over Ramya. So they end up taking the Darklord mantle before Ramya gets her get-back. Regarding the switch, I'd assume Soth and Inza have some way of knowing when time's almost up. Maybe an increasingly unbearable yearning or desire to return to Sithicus, or some weakening of their power outside of that land, the more time they spend away from it and the closer to the deadline they both approach?

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

I'm reminded of Kalakeri by SkiBird's idea. Ramya Vasavadan is the Darklord sometimes, but 5e Arijani and Reeva may occasionally get one over Ramya. So they end up taking the Darklord mantle before Ramya gets her get-back. Regarding the switch, I'd assume Soth and Inza have some way of knowing when time's almost up. Maybe an increasingly unbearable yearning or desire to return to Sithicus, or some weakening of their power outside of that land, the more time they spend away from it and the closer to the deadline they both approach?

Maybe make it something related to their theme?
Like, Inza's takeover is what started the Guilt of Sithicus - so maybe when her time's up, she feels strangely guilty for leaving the domain? (just throwing an idea, I don't know Sithicus that well yet).

[Igor the Henchman]

Is it bad that I actually snickered at that awful "If her name is INza, maybe she can get us OUTza" joke during the Dungeon Masters show?

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

Is it bad that I actually snickered at that awful "If her name is INza, maybe she can get us OUTza" joke during the Dungeon Masters show?

I laughed at it now, so I guess not.

[Le Noir Faineant]

So maybe for Sithicus and the Soth/Inza thing ... instead of becoming co-darklords (it's been done before with Ivan/Ivana), or the 'I was released ' angle (like with Nathan Timothy), and instead of Inza dying/escaping ... we get a brand new version of what a domain looks like when a former Darklord gets reinstated? Perhaps they 'share' the title but at different times. By share, I kinda sorta mean 'are trapped by.' Meaning, if one is in the seat, that's it, they are darklord, and the other is not (as in, free to leave). But then, like every 6 months or so ... or as a result of the machinations of the other ... they have to switch.

Soth rules from his keep (once he deposes Azrael, naturally). Inza rules from her Chasm. When one is in charge, the other can travel the demiplane (or Soth could venture freely into his memory mirrors). Something like that. And then, when enough time has passed, these Darklords could be required to switch?

I think I'd like that. -- That said, I think we're gonna get something else: They're going to retell Soth's story from the get-go, declare the James Lowder novels non-canon, and do a renarration of the kind that "The Legend of Zelda" does every couple of years. Soth apparently was one of the BBEGs for the (flopped?) 2022 Dragonlance remake. (That I only know from online summaries.) Difficult to think things won't pick up from where that one leaves off.