PLAYER'S GUIDE TO RAVENLOFT: written submissions closed!!!

[Dion of the Fraternity]

I'm working on the "ANCIENT DEAD" entry, which I'll post really soon.

Okay, domain-based Knowledge checks would be good. Here's an example:

BAROVIA

Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty)

10: The heart of Barovia is ruled by the von Zaroviches of Castle Ravenloft. By fiat they also have control of the Gundarak region, but resistance to their rule is contested, and armed resistance is prevalent.

15: Count Strahd XI is the current ruler of Barovia, although he rarely comes out of his castle, and has only occasionally been seen in the past ten years. The Vistani are under Count Strahd's protection, and are free to roam Barovia as they wish.

20: Many Barovians (in hushed tones) mention the Count as "The Devil Strahd," considering that he and his predecessors have been rumored to practice strange magics.

Knowledge (Religion)

10: Barovia is home to the Church of the Morninglord, a cult of sun-worshippers that seem to have ancient roots.

14: There is wide speculation that the Morninglord cult grew out of a much older solar religion, the Church of Andral, which died out in 350 BC.

18: Although the Morninglord Cult is a benevolent religion, there is evidence to suggest that some its most devout adherents are vicious hunters of creatures of the night.

========

I'm also extending the deadline of submissions to January 26, 2007 (my birthday, yay happy birthday me) to include higher quality submissions; that way you guys don't have to rush.

[Le Noir Faineant]

I'm also extending the deadline of submissions to January 26, 2007 (my birthday, yay happy birthday me) to include higher quality submissions; that way you guys don't have to rush.

Good news! I was actually visiting the boards right now to announce my withdrawal from the project, but with that new deadline, there will be no real problem.

[tec-goblin]

Hi, yes, the deadline seemed somewhat short for me. The good news are that I had a lot of time this weekend and now my submission is ready, just waiting for some final proofreading/checking-for-canon
Church of Ezra tick

if you also want something on Port-à-Lucine as I proposed to be the "sharn-like" main ravenloft city for example (or another city if you prefer) tell me

[Atrelegis]

I am currently writing on G' Henna, with emphasis on Zhakata and his church. I have included info on the domain and a tad of Yagno's history just in case.

[alhoon]

Updates:

I see that the deadline has (thankfully) moved forward. That's a good thing since I was up to my neck to social obligations and work and didn't have time to work on the calibans.

Is anyone else interested? Can I use the article on the calibans from the QtR?

[Dion of the Fraternity]

I see that the deadline has (thankfully) moved forward.

A lot of people were relieved, actually. In fact, I'm extending the deadline even further: all submissions must now be in by January 31, 2007.

I am currently writing on G' Henna, with emphasis on Zhakata and his church. I have included info on the domain and a tad of Yagno's history just in case.

Make sure that you really emphasize on Zhakata. No domains already listed in the RLPHB will be accepted for the Player's Guide.

Can I use the article on the calibans from the QtR?

As long as you make it player-friendly (no stats), then it'll be okay.

[Le Noir Faineant]

Hehehe... My SB write-up is on the way.

[tec-goblin]

I've already submitted mine on the Church of Ezra. If there are some chapters nobody has taken care of, tell me (I cannot do just anything on RV, but still I could help )

I am impatient to see the end result

[WolfKook]

Hey! I'm currently working on a Player Friendly account of history and Timeline for my players, which is composed mainly of false history from the gazetteers, but which doesn't involve weird things, like domains appearing out of nowhere, and other events a normal RL citizen wouldn't know, or believe (Indeed, it is told from a Lamordian historian's point of view). It is unfinished, and i guess it may be larger than the submission rules above would allow, but I guess it would be a great addition to the PGtR if I manage to finish it on time. Should I send it?

[tec-goblin]

I try to contact Dion, but probably he's on vacation .
I also progressed in my second submission: binders in Ravenloft. It contains some interesting info on Mists and Gwydion, from a player perspective (ie rumours, lies, truths, nothing that can be considered a spoiler). And it's very dark. With some added material it could become the Mists section. If somebody is interested in writing the Mists section, we can collaborate to avoid repetition and fit everything into one piece.

Up to now, can somebody post which entries have been assigned and which not?

[Dion of the Fraternity]

Hello all

I have received the following submissions so far:

The Church of Ezra
Zhakata

I am now currently writing two articles:

The Ancient Dead
The Arak

As for the timeline, I would say yes, it's okay to write a player-friendly version

[TwiceBorn]

I'm working on the "ANCIENT DEAD" entry, which I'll post really soon.

Okay, domain-based Knowledge checks would be good. Here's an example:

BAROVIA

Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty)

10: The heart of Barovia is ruled by the von Zaroviches of Castle Ravenloft. By fiat they also have control of the Gundarak region, but resistance to their rule is contested, and armed resistance is prevalent.

15: Count Strahd XI is the current ruler of Barovia, although he rarely comes out of his castle, and has only occasionally been seen in the past ten years. The Vistani are under Count Strahd's protection, and are free to roam Barovia as they wish.

20: Many Barovians (in hushed tones) mention the Count as "The Devil Strahd," considering that he and his predecessors have been rumored to practice strange magics.

Knowledge (Religion)

10: Barovia is home to the Church of the Morninglord, a cult of sun-worshippers that seem to have ancient roots.

14: There is wide speculation that the Morninglord cult grew out of a much older solar religion, the Church of Andral, which died out in 350 BC.

18: Although the Morninglord Cult is a benevolent religion, there is evidence to suggest that some its most devout adherents are vicious hunters of creatures of the night.

========

Hmmm... While I think it's important for DMs to have access to Knowledge check result tables, I don't think they belong in a Player's Guide at all. Consider the following scenario: the DM asks the player to make a Knowledge (Religion) check in Barovia. The player rolls a 10, and therefore would know that Barovia is home to the Church of the Morninglord, but little else. Yet the player who reads the Player's Guide L will have access to the entries that require higher DCs to know, which makes the Knowledge check kind of useless, IMO...

Or am I misunderstanding something here? Will there be a DM section or DM sidebars in the Player's Guide?

[tec-goblin]

Hmmm... While I think it's important for DMs to have access to Knowledge check result tables, I don't think they belong in a Player's Guide at all.

One of the important things about the philosophy of 3rd edition is to put power into the hands of the player. These Knowledge tables exist also to Player's Guide to Eberron for example. You trust the player to use them.
It helps a lot. A player can have a good idea of what his character knows and what he doesn't, so in an average in game conversation he doesn't really have to stop every 10 minutes to ask the DM "Do I know this?".

That said, some of the greatest secrets of the game should be only hinted by these checks. In the above table, Dion doesn't tell you about Strahd's story and link to the existence of the Ravenloft world. In my submission a DC 30 check is needed to learn that there is a secret society in the Mordent faction of the Church of Ezra, and the main text leaves some hints on that, but the player would have to read Heroes of Light to learn about the revelations to Lacrese etc.
In that way the player is intrigued to play to learn more...

Ravenloft Gazetteers work the same way. If a player reads a Ravenloft Gazetteer without the sidebars and appendixes, he clearly knows more than his character should. But he has a good image of how much he knows about his domain (most of the text), he is intrigued to learn more, and he has a better grasp of the adjacent domains than the RL PHB gives him, so he can roleplay better his Knowledge checks without always asking the DM.

[tec-goblin]

Hello all

I have received the following submissions so far:

The Church of Ezra
Zhakata

I am now currently writing two articles:

The Ancient Dead
The Arak

As for the timeline, I would say yes, it's okay to write a player-friendly version

Ok, since we don't have too many articles up to now, I take also the Mists section in full. It will include info about pact magic in Ravenloft if there's no problem with that.

So we have up to now:

Ancient Dead, The Dion
Arak Dion
Caliban Alhoon
Castle Ravenloft unassigned
Church of Ezra tec-goblin
Church of the Lawgiver unassigned (I could do it if I find time)
Church of the Morninglord Erik the Lightbringer
Created unassigned
Dead Man's Campaign unassigned
Devil Strahd, the unassigned (possibly together with Castle Ravenloft)
Great Upheaval in time-line by WolfKook
Grim Harvest in time-line by WolfKook
Nightmare Court unassigned
Mists, the tec-goblin
Shadow Rift Dion (Gwydion by tec-goblin)
Staunton Bluffs Rafael
Time of Unparalleled Darkness in time-line by WolfKook
Timeline WolfKook
Vampires unassigned
Vistani unassigned
Voodan Twiceborn
Witches unassigned
Zhakata atrelegis

[WolfKook]

Knowledge (Religion)

10: Barovia is home to the Church of the Morninglord, a cult of sun-worshippers that seem to have ancient roots.

14: There is wide speculation that the Morninglord cult grew out of a much older solar religion, the Church of Andral, which died out in 350 BC.

18: Although the Morninglord Cult is a benevolent religion, there is evidence to suggest that some its most devout adherents are vicious hunters of creatures of the night.

I would change the DCs of the last two entries and raise them by at least 2 each, though I would also change the mention of there being evidence of the militant nature of the cult, saying only that there are rumors on this direction.

BTW, I'm making progress in my Player Friendly timeline, I hope I would be able to send it by the end of the week.

And, yes, the timeline will include sub-entries on the Scourge of Arak, the Great Upheaval, the Grim Harvest and the Time of Unparalleled Darkness (That's a good excuse to go beyond the 2-page limit without breaking the rules... Thanks, Tec-Gob!)