Adventuring After Ravenloft

[Hell_Born]

This was an idea that just came to me... in the "good(bad) old days", the typical use for Ravenloft was the "Weekend in Hell". Well, I've been wondering; exactly what impact might/could such a session have on a compaign running in a different setting?

On a similar (sort of) train of thought, how might an "inversion" of this function? Basically, you start as a Ravenloft party, but at some point in the campaign, you leave (if temporarily) the Demiplane of Dread (and I'm not talking about the Grand Conjunction here) for some other plane/setting- how might that work?

[Dion of the Fraternity]

Had that once. I brought my party to Ravnica. Not necessarily horrific, but convoluted as heck

[HuManBing]

One possible way is to have them roll up two sets of characters (or perhaps to just duplicate their characters when they enter Ravenloft).

One set adventures in Ravenloft, and the other set adventures in the other world. If your campaign is primarily based in RL then you can have dream sequences where they deal with other-world adventures instead. This can provide a break here and there from the Gothic setting for a more homebrew or traditional fantasy setting.

I tried that a while back, but it turns out my players were actually more interested in Ravenloft than our old homebrew world, so I dropped it eventually.

[kottakinge]

And what about bring the whole homeland into Ravenloft?
Most domains were bring to Ravenloft that way and the elder sometimes speak about the old time "before the mists".
Like Mordent before the apparatus and the alchemist.
The gazeeter have many references about the primary homeland of the domain.
U can start the adventure in the other world and then something terrible happens and the whole kingdom is taken into the mists.

[Jason of the Fraternity]

On a similar (sort of) train of thought, how might an "inversion" of this function? Basically, you start as a Ravenloft party, but at some point in the campaign, you leave (if temporarily) the Demiplane of Dread (and I'm not talking about the Grand Conjunction here) for some other plane/setting- how might that work?

Depending on your situation/adventure, the party might be wisked away to one of the other worlds when something happens with the local Darklord. If the Darklord were to be defeated or even redeemed, the Dark Powers might disolve the domain and deliver the remainin inhabitants into the world from which the land was derived (versus having the neighboring domains absorb the land).

Or you could even have the mists transport the group (temporarily?) in the original world in order to provide a deeper insight into the Dark Lord's history. For example, having a party that has been visiting Hazlan be delivered to Thay might give characters a chance to learn more about Hazlik's twisted history and better understand him.

This was an idea that just came to me... in the "good(bad) old days", the typical use for Ravenloft was the "Weekend in Hell".

Hmm... I find a certain delicious irony to the thought that sending a party of Ravenloft-native characters to one of the lower planes (Baator or the Abyss, perhaps) would truly define the "Weekend in Hell" scenerio.

[HuManBing]

I dunno. The Lower Planes idea always seemed to me to be a tad cheesy. D&D's entire demons and devils lineup always struck me as being sort of medievally uninspired. Look! Most demons are shaped like humanoids with bats' wings! Except those that aren't, and then they're cobbled together with "pick animal from column A and meld with animal from column B" type design.

I always thought that something living on a separate plane of existence from you would have completely different biology and practically be "life... but not as we know it". (Douglas Adams spoofed this masterfully in Hitchhiker's Guide by having a "hyperintelligent shade of the color blue" as a creature.)

So in my opinion Ravenloft, though more recognizable, is still more scary and spooky insofar as it's horror, based on something you know and are familiar with. The lower planes looks like a leaf out of Marvel Superheroes at times, which is fine if you like that sort of thing. But it lacks subtlety and class, in my book.

[Ronia Sun]

I've most definitely considered the reversed "weekend in hell" idea, and imagine I will eventually implement it. I've got a party of all RL natives--so one of these days I'm going to drop them into Eberron. (Ignoring the whole different multi-verse nonsense) I figure they'll find the apparent overuse of magic rather freaky, since magic is viewed with such deep misgivings in RL. I think it'll be fun!

[WolfKook]

Random gibberish that just came to my head:

Consider that the characters are good ol' RL veterans, who know the world for what it is, who have seen too much pain and suffering and injustice and have started to consider that there is no hope after all, that RL is just not worth it. Then, all of a sudden, the mists release them, leaving them in a "good" world. One that is worth living in (The worlds of the Game of Thrones and the Blue Rose campaign settings come to mind, Eberron will do, also, though the idea of leaving them in a place that mirrors the domain they were upon also seems interesting). Suddenly, the characters see things in a new light: The mists are not everywhere, evil is not widespread, things seem quite nice for them.

But that's not the end of the RL campaign. Three possibilities:

1 - The Lonesome Road: The characters start dreaming about those they left behind in Ravenloft. In their dreams, they are suffering, and asking for their help. Something tells them that they will die if they don't come to their rescue. Suddenly, small bits of information start suggesting that there may be a road that leads back to RL... Will the character(s) leave their newfound freedom and happiness for their friends, knowing that there might not be a way back?

2 - The Time of Unparalleled Darkness: As they live their lives in the new world, the characters slowly find out that there are legends and prophecies about a dark time falling upon it. As they investigate, they discover that these legends talk about mists and darkness and creatures of the night and things they are very familiar with, and that they have to prevent a series of events (Sometimes with great sacrifice to themselves) to stop the mists from taking over their new home.

3 - The Mistrix: In the new world, the characters discover that there are people who know them, that they seem to have had a life different than that they had on the mists. Indeed, it seems that the mists are just fantasies from a time when their mind was clouded and confused. However, the evidence starts to contradict itself, leading to the ultimate question: Which one is the dream, and which one is reality?

[Kessler]

I've made it once. PCs got a "weekend in paradise" in Forgotten Realms with lots of high magic, elves, deep dwarves, aquatic elves and gods.

And the charcters still haven't recovered from the shock of homecoming to Ravenloft .

[Cole Deschain]

Send 'em to Athas.

They'll be BEGGING to go back to good old Barovia after they run out of water in the Tablelands....

[WolfKook]

4 - Final Destination: The characters escaped RL, but something escaped with them, and for some reason, that something starts following them and killing the people they talk to or befriend, in completely horrible ways. For the way they die, it's clear that the PCs should be clearly overmatched by their mysterious follower, and that it's after them.