Jimsolo wrote:There's always things I would have liked to have seen. I'd really have liked to have seen Drakov successfully invade and crush the bejeezus out of someone. Borca, preferably.
The important thing about his curse of course is that Drakov can have military victories, provided they're not meaningful to him or enduring. So Borca (ruled by a woman and a fop) is the perfect place to have him stretch his muscles. And then, of course, he comes face to face (figuratively; or if Malocchio gets free, or if Vigo has similar powers, literally) with Strahd and gets humiliated again.
I really like the 'man-in-the-iron-mask' routine, but I think that Dominic is just the sort of petulant tantrum-thrower who would keep his domain closed indefinitely. Still, it would have been really easy to write something in to get around that.
My understanding of it is that it requires some concentration (perhaps at a subconscious level) - you have to want to stop people getting out. So if he sleeps, the borders open. If he loses the spite, the borders open. If he's drugged and can't focus, the borders open. The would actually make it worse for everyone, because instead of Dementlieu being completely isolated or completely normal, the borders would open and close randomly as Dominic gains and loses interest in it.
Or perhaps the Brain bribes him with female company if he keeps the borders open.
On a tangential note, I always thought closing the borders was about imprisonment - they keep people in, but have no effect on people trying to get in. But it seems I was the only one who believed that, and 3rd ed RL canonically makes them work both ways. Oh well.
I've never been a huge fan of the Shadow Rift.
Obviously. I think the important thing about a Great Old One is that they stay as a threat, or distant from the world in some way (e.g. at the bottom of the sea). While they'll break in/wake up eventually, it's important to keep ensuring that today is not the day, and that's enough of a victory.
I don't mind the Shadow Rift as a mysterious ominous canyon, but I see it as more of a place for adventures to come from than to take place in.
What's up with Lamordia? Would you have Aubrecker kick the bucket? Any significant developments on that front?
Yes, and his daughter takes over.
Adam and Mordenheim are too inwardly focused to really have much presence in this scenario, and Lamordia reflects that inward presence. I imagine it would stay neutral: Adam certainly doesn't care what Falkovnia's doing provided they don't bother him. However, I can see two ways they'd get involved: arms or mercenary supply to Falkovnia via Neufurchtenburg, or Mordenheim inventing a Doomsday Weapon and offering to sell it to the highest bidder (perhaps as a by-product of his normal research - "I was experimenting with a new type of power source, when I began to wonder if it could be weaponised. It was a trivial problem to solve, and I have also reduced my lab's dependance on coal for the generator. I have named the process after the smallest species of fey, the atomie...")
Steve Miller's original plan (I believe) involved PCs learning how things were going to go down in the Final Days and then travelling back in time with the knowledge of all the things they have to do to stop the end of the world. (He seems to be a man who likes the idea of time travel as much as I do). Mordenheim would certainly be interested in building a time machine to prevent Elise's mangling, so perhaps you could use that instead. And Adam, of course, would oppose that. And who wouldn't want to buy a chance to travel back and fix a few regrets here and there?
I used that idea in a previous campaign, based on the Doctor Who novel Anachrophobia. It worked really well.
So...I had never heard that Darklords inside of a Reality Wrinkle were cut off from their domain. I personally don't think I would run it that way, myself, because I think it seriously cuts down on the weight that a Darklord carries. Making the fiend immune to the Darklord's powers is one thing, but having the Reality Wrinkle cut the Darklord off seems like a totally separate one. Then again, you're a professional writer, and I am a hack with only two publishing credits to my name, so what do I know?
Chapter 5 of RL3e, in the section on reality wrinkles. But it's been a part of the system since VRGtF. The fiend supplants the darklord within its reality wrinkle, and the lord loses their lord powers - closing the borders, the lord is the land, mastery. In this case, I'd say Ivan and Ivana keep their immunity to poison, poison touch and persistence (so they don't suddenly age 50 years), but they can't close the borders, Borca doesn't reflect their mood, and if they had animal/undead minions, they don't get a Will save bonus. But it all comes back as soon as the fiend moves on. And if the fiend wasn't immune to poison, they could still try to poison it.
I really disliked the Spellplague, although I thought that several of the writers who were involved with it did a great job. (Specifically Richard Lee Byers and RA Salvatore) I like it a lot more now that I can justify it being completely Hazlik's fault. As a middle finger from the Dark Powers, though, I would have many, many of the Mulan who disappeared from Faerun wind up in Ravenloft. (Red Wizards in Darkon, anyone?) These 'immigrant' Mulan are totally beyond Hazlik's ability to wipe out, and although he did, technically, succeed in destroying all Mulan beyond Ravenloft's borders, he'll never know it, and only see his own niggling failures.
There's another thread on this. The spell was intended to wipe out all Mulan everywhere, in RL and out. I think there's enough knock on effects to keep Hazlik busy (like being haunted by the spirit or memory of Eleni, his nightmares, and the chaos that breaks out in Hazlan when the entire ruling class vanishes) that he doesn't need this. Essentially, there are other ways to make his victory ashes in his mouth. That I prefer.
I love the idea of the Inquisition becoming twisted and evil (-er) and killing Wyan. I'd love to see more activity from the hags, though. I'd personally like to see them taking an active role in spreading misery around Tepest, treating the whole place like their own micro-Ravenloft, with themselves as the Dark Powers, tormenting anyone unlucky enough to wind up there in subtle, unique, and twisted ways.
That's exactly how I see them.
An important point though is that the Inquisition is not completely wrong. They might be excessive, but they're not completely wrong. It's more of a parable about good intentions leading to hell than anything else.
I may crib some of this for my own game, if that's alright.
Feel free.
