Whence Rides The Apocalypse; Epic Adventurers in Ravenloft
Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:15 am
It is a common wisdom, at least so I am of the impression, that Ravenloft is best suited for low-level campaigns. And this is something I honestly can agree with; D&D, at its core, is a heroic fantasy emulator - as PCs grow stronger, they become more resilient, more capable, better suited for overcoming what obstacles they face, and that challenges the basic assumptions of standard Ravenloft.
But... an imp of the perverse compels me to ask: what if we ignore this logic? What if we consider allowing epic level - as in, 15+ - adventurers into Ravenloft?
The first thing to come to mind is to simply roll with; play Ravenloft as an Action Horror setting - less Bram Stoker's Dracula, more Castlevania: the PCs did their time sweating it out at low levels, terrified of everything that went bump in the night, but they persevered, they got stronger, and now it's payback time. I know some folks will sneer at this whole idea, but, hey, there are players who would be perfectly happy with that interpretation. I'm not knocking the standard assumptions of Ravenloft, but I have known folks who prefer the idea of "Ravenloft as the Castlevania setting".
The second thing to come to mind is this: turn the epic level on its head. I read recently somewhere that DC basically thinks of its cast of heroes as modern day gods - which, as this source put it, makes them rather terrifying figures when you think about them from the perspective of the people around them. Epic level adventurers in D&D are, similarly, figures that lower level beings would find terrifying. This is heightened in 4th edition, which really embraced the heroic fantasy core of D&D, but in any edition, a sufficiently high-leveled band of adventures is a band of figures that can massacre towns, cut down armies, level buildings. They are an apocalypse walking around. With this in mind, I could easily envision a scenario in which the party plays as low-level native adventurers in the wake of a band of epic leveled Outlanders who have reacted to the torments of Ravenloft by lashing out. Not blindly, but still, their wake is one of fear, chaos, bloodshed and destruction. How do you, as a mere mortal, defeat demigods who do not recognize you as anything but something to break if it gets in their way? I'm sure that you brilliant minds can figure out how to make such a campaign into one of fear, right?
Finally, I can't help but wonder; what about melding these two ideas in some way? Say, your party gets to the high levels - and that means the challenges they face escalate as well? They cut down the rampaging werewolf pack with almost casual ease, and then they see the locals they saved are as terrified of them as they were of the beasts - after all, no "men" could defeat such monsters like that; the party must be monsters as well. As they grow into people with the power to reshape nations, their reputation precedes them - bringing terror in its wake. When once they battled small bands of brigands, now, they might be drawn into battle against armies fielded by intimidated tyrants, and the more they fight, the more monstrous they will seem.
I don't know... what do you all think?
But... an imp of the perverse compels me to ask: what if we ignore this logic? What if we consider allowing epic level - as in, 15+ - adventurers into Ravenloft?
The first thing to come to mind is to simply roll with; play Ravenloft as an Action Horror setting - less Bram Stoker's Dracula, more Castlevania: the PCs did their time sweating it out at low levels, terrified of everything that went bump in the night, but they persevered, they got stronger, and now it's payback time. I know some folks will sneer at this whole idea, but, hey, there are players who would be perfectly happy with that interpretation. I'm not knocking the standard assumptions of Ravenloft, but I have known folks who prefer the idea of "Ravenloft as the Castlevania setting".
The second thing to come to mind is this: turn the epic level on its head. I read recently somewhere that DC basically thinks of its cast of heroes as modern day gods - which, as this source put it, makes them rather terrifying figures when you think about them from the perspective of the people around them. Epic level adventurers in D&D are, similarly, figures that lower level beings would find terrifying. This is heightened in 4th edition, which really embraced the heroic fantasy core of D&D, but in any edition, a sufficiently high-leveled band of adventures is a band of figures that can massacre towns, cut down armies, level buildings. They are an apocalypse walking around. With this in mind, I could easily envision a scenario in which the party plays as low-level native adventurers in the wake of a band of epic leveled Outlanders who have reacted to the torments of Ravenloft by lashing out. Not blindly, but still, their wake is one of fear, chaos, bloodshed and destruction. How do you, as a mere mortal, defeat demigods who do not recognize you as anything but something to break if it gets in their way? I'm sure that you brilliant minds can figure out how to make such a campaign into one of fear, right?
Finally, I can't help but wonder; what about melding these two ideas in some way? Say, your party gets to the high levels - and that means the challenges they face escalate as well? They cut down the rampaging werewolf pack with almost casual ease, and then they see the locals they saved are as terrified of them as they were of the beasts - after all, no "men" could defeat such monsters like that; the party must be monsters as well. As they grow into people with the power to reshape nations, their reputation precedes them - bringing terror in its wake. When once they battled small bands of brigands, now, they might be drawn into battle against armies fielded by intimidated tyrants, and the more they fight, the more monstrous they will seem.
I don't know... what do you all think?