Quoth the Raven #28 review thread

[Baron Von Stanton]

I may be mistaken, but weren't Aztec pyramids temples that were in use by the living, whereas Egyptian pyramids were tombs with traps and curses inside?

Aztec (or Mayan) pyramids temples were used by the living to create more dead people.

That simplification can be applied to literally any temple.
Mesoamerican pyramid temples were civic centers where the priests performed rituals, celestial observations, and sacrifices, and discussed with the rulers and leaders to maintain political balance so the priests could continue performing their rituals, celestial observations and sacrifices with minimal interruptions. That, and unlike Egyptian pyramids, the Mesoamericans would periodically expand their pyramids by building on top of them, until they were abandoned and or destroyed.

In some of the larger temples, like El Templo Mayor for example, the bodies/body parts of sacrificial victims, human and beast, were ritually interred in either chambers that were then sealed forever, or in between foundation stones.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

The Spawn of the Lizard
Emperor Basiliscus – This article starts off with a Game of Thrones like rundown that honestly turned me off. Endless recitals of long ago battles and vanished races doesn't do it for me. Nobody reads Tolkien for the genealogy, it's the action and drama that brought that brings a world alive.

Since the Notes of Amrocar exist in the "present" I think these notes were needed for more atmosphere, they also give a sense of the main villains, Basiliscus (No1) character from reading his background. There is a chance that he becomes a full ancient dead villain so these are needed to flesh him out, in my opinion.

Basiliscus (The Traitor Emperor) / Bakiliskis (The Dragon) – Just keep the history of the various reincarnations briefer and make them more distinct.

I wanted the reincarnated soul of Basiliscus to have similarities throughout it;s reincarnations, the pit were he dies becomes the arena pit and the arena pit creates the rebel.

Basilisk the Freedom Fighter – Now we are finally getting somewhere! I like how he is transported to Falkovnia and his introduction to Vlad. And the descriptions of the gladiatorial combat, as well. In fact, this section brings home the brutality of Drakov's regime better than Vigo's demonic antics and all crazy Nazi experimentation stuff.

Thanks, this was actually the article I wrote first the rest came later...

The Willows et al – I like this Dread Possibility a lot, but it is long enough to give it its own chapter.

Probably it did need it's own chapter.

Personally, I would leave the Green Maiden out of this spot's origin and say it became a sinkhole of evil due to the many deaths that occurred there and use that as the excuse for the Death's Head Trees accelerated growth.

Death's Heads trees grow were massacres happen and they take decades to grow, in a sense it is created because it is a sinkhole of evil, so I needed a reason to accelerate their groth and the Green Maiden just happened to be travelling i that domain anyway so I used her.

Blutfalk et al – I'm a sucker for a town that is hiding an evil secret. I love the raptor knight NPC and his mechinations. I'm not big on Octoberfest but local festivals are great adventure seeds so I will let it pass.

Octoberfest was a last minute addition to the article before submitting it, it wasn't necessary I wrote it for an over exaggeration of the 3e connection between Nazi Germany and Falkovnia. Not really necessary I agree.

Vladik's Ford – This is nice twist on the phantom army legend.

This was actually inspired by how Saint Petersburg which was built where a swamp was:

"On 16 May 1703, while looking over sparse marshlands near the mouth of the Baltic Sea that he had taken from the Swedes, Tsar Peter the Great cut two strips of turf from Hare’s Island on the Neva river, laid them in a cross and declared: “Let there be a city here.” As he spoke, an eagle appeared overhead in an auspicious omen. A brand new capital city for the Tsardom of Russia, was built from scratch in the Neva River delta on the land around Nyenskans. The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia; several Swedish prisoners of war were also involved in some years under the supervision of Alexander Menshikov. Tens of thousands of serfs died building the city."

The Fragmented Soul of the Basiliscus – You have buried the lead here. This should be put up front right after the three incarnation's histories are completed. It's the main driver for the subsequent adventures after all.

If it wasn't for the whole Green Maiden stuff and Blutfalk I believe it would be OK. Since I added these later in the article I put them after the Basilisk (as I wrote before I agree that these should be in a different article/section.)

Night of the Officers – This is not really needed. It veers too far away from the main plot and doesn't add anything.

Yes it wasn't, I just always wanted to use this murder mystery fillm plot https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062038/ which I really liked when I saw it decades ago.
And was another way to led the PC's to Blutfalk. (again these should probably be a different article)

The Imperial Bracelet et al – This and the Lost Notes of Amrocar are good plot devices to draw PCS into the story. Trelan the Odem, not so much. The Bakiliskis' Hand already fills that role nicely. And, if we are really dealing with a fragmented soul trying to reunite its scattered parts, why not have the soul control the hand and be the main instigator in this drama?

I made the odem as a different way to be involved in the plot, it sounds a bit like the "animator wars" in Circle of Darkness that I never liked as a concept though. My view when making an article is giving as many plot devices as possible and the DMs decide what to keep and what are unnecessary.

Overall Impression

Thanks for the review

[Mephisto of the FoS]

The Conch Shell of Sorrows
Framing Fiction - I like seeing the Umbra make an appearance, but that afterword should have been placed, you know, at the end.

Yes I believe you are right with that I made the errata correction, but somehow I sent it to a different thread by accident, thank you Wolfglide for the repost.

Cedrik Paddock – a human “doppleganger” is an interesting concept and I like that his past ties in so well to what he eventually becomes. I would have liked him to have spent a little more time in other reality altering domains; Vechor seems like a natural option. That would give him more gravitas in his chosen field of expertise.

I am not a big fan of Vechor, I like the background of Easan the Mad and his ties with the mechanical golem Ahmi Vanjuko. I also prefer the Nightmare Lands as a concept tied with Lovecraft themed stories more than Vechor.

Saulbridge Sanitorium – I love the return of this old asylum and the good doctor McClintock! It makes for a very Lovecraftian setup, and I am sucker for things like that.

We have John Mangrum to thank for that.

Douglas Danton - This anchorite fellow is an interesting NPC but it's really the Soul Searcher Medallion that is the star of the show. It was hard for me to keep the stories of his friends Alinda and Bran straight and Douglas himself seemed like a bit character in the overall drama of the household. Also, I'd prefer him to be more proactive and seek out Cedrik instead of running away from him.

I actually created this character a few days before submitting the article after I wrote the fiction, because I thought that since I mention him I should write something about him, then the article went off the rails as I ended up adapting the Dungeon Magazine adventure The Unkindness of Ravens). The Soul Searcher Medallion is the star of the show since the FoS don't own one and is one of the magical items created before Ravenloft became a campaign setting.

Also, I'd prefer him to be more proactive and seek out Cedrik instead of running away from him.

This could be a failed horror check... (I just made that up... excuses....excuses)

The Unkindness of Ravens – I am not familiar with this adventure so I can't say how well it is adapted or even tell what parts are original and what have been adapted. The focus on knights and wereavens makes it seem like it would be more at home in Barovia because a castle in Mordent would stick out like a sore thumb.

The Mordent Cartographic Society placed it in Mordent so I followed that "fan canon", for me it is OK why should everything that has something to do with ravens should be situated in Barovia? We already have the Keepers of the Black Feather there, wereravens exist in other places too.

Also, who and where are all these other unnamed wereraven protectors and what have they been doing all this time?

This was vague in the original adventure calling it an "Unknown Kingdom" so it originates from the place where Prime Material Mordent existed. Since there is no information on that I left it vague myself.

The Six Artificers – Its hard to keep track of all these boons and oaths and curses. Is having six wereraven protectors not enough? Having six ghosts haunt the underground dungeons seems a bit much.

This was all in the Dungeon magazine adventure which I didn't want to change many things, I just wanted to do the minimum to adapt it to Ravenloft.

Dread Possibilities – I'm calling a flagrant foul for violating the rules for Dread Possibilities. If a DP is over a page long it may as well just be woven into the surface story! j/k

Red card accepted.

The White Tower / Ghost Warrior – Introducing too many characters without giving each of them room to grow and breath just makes this article seem crowded. This ghost is a good NPC to get PCs interested in the manor, though.

I created that to explain why the oaths taken in the white tower bind people into servitude, since in the Dungeon adventure there were many oaths with no exlenation whatsoever why they should be so powerful. The Ghost Warrior was thought based on that. Most of the characters mentioned in Crawford Manor were taken from the adventure itself and since they are detailed there I didn't want to rewrite them here.

The Scarecrow – This is a little too overboard for me, but I do like the idea of Mr. Gaunt acting as an instigator and drawing the attention of the PCs. If he's bound to the medallion shouldn't he be able to follow Danton around? As for the DPs for this character, I'm not as enthused by them. (That dang Apparatus makes yet another appearance!)

Well the Apparatus is part of Mordent itself in my opinion, Mr. Gaunt had been in the original adventure and I had to find a way to make him obsessed with the medallion as in the original adventure he goes to take vengeance on the ravens that stole an amulet of protection. I am not a big fan of pumpkin monsters but thats how he was in the original adventure and didn't change that but thought I had to create some adventure ideas for him and thats what I thought of at the time.

Ravienne – I like this interpretation very much. You have made it resemble Innsmouth much better than I ever could! I'm not a fan, however, of having an entire village being transformed (even though that cleaves closer to its source material). Rather, I'd prefer that these transformations are triggered by someone's actions and have them be slowly corrupted in both body and mind. That allows one or two holdouts that can ask for help and explain the lay of the land to the PCs.

Well your article inspired me for this one, so I am glad you like it. I didn't want the transformations to substitute Powers Checks, then I wanted some villagers to be affected and some stay "normal" since everyone participates in those ceremonies they should all have been transformed in some level and I didn't want that. Also I wanted PC's to be affected by transformations without knowing what might have caused it, making it more Lovecraftian horror.

Dame Dominique – This is another great extrapolation of a NPC from a one line mention. Giving her tentacles for legs is very creepy.

She was based on a character by the Spanish movie Dagon: La Secta del Mar (2001) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZg5iigPaHs

The Conch Shell of Dagon – At first, having a magical item with a reality wrinkle didn't work for me, but after my second read thru I figured out that its the essence of Dagon that causes the reality wrinkle not the shell itself. This should have been explained more clearly. Also, I would like to think that the Dark Powers are smart enough to not trying and bring such a powerful entity and artifact into their personal playground, but maybe they didn't learn after the Vecna debacle. I mean, we're talking about bringing an Elder God into the demiplane!

Actually Paddock theorises that Dagons essence in the Conch Shell was responsible for the creation of the Sea of Sorrows before the Relentless appeared after the Grand Conjunction. When the Grand Conjunction collapsed the Dark Powers managed to manipulate the artifact's reality wrinkle making it smaller but altering reality in it as the essence of Dagon is condensed. So this is prior to Vecna's imprisonment in the Demiplane.

The Spear of Dagon – I always like tidbits like this. Just like henchmen are useful foils for darklords, built-in adversaries or weaknesses are helpful at making NPCs more fleshed out and dynamic. My only problem is this lead is never followed up on. Why not spend a paragraph or two on that dread possibility? We can't have a bloodthirsty cult taking over a seaside town without a built-in antidote somewhere, can we?

This was also a last minute addition and I didn't know if someone has already written something about the Spear of Dagon appeared in John W. Mangrum's Teeny Tiny Tales of Terror project (contributed by Gemathustra), from posts on the Fraternity of Shadows message board.

Transformation Tracks – Very nice details on this. Reminds me of terror tracks from the old days.

There is one missing though (special transformations) was accidentally left out, I have it in the QtR28 errata and hopefully will appear in the final pdf.

The Caller From the Deeps – This is an interesting monster but I'm a little confused on how it ties into the article's theme? Is this an avatar of Dagon or just another sea creature that has been drawn to the Conch Shell? Anyways, it makes for a nice reveal as the true menace after the PCs dispatch Dame Dominque.

I found this monster in D&D 3.5 Stormwrack environment book but I made it bigger and stronger, an armageddon kind of monster. As I see it is the manifestation of Dagons essence (not avatar) that is conjured in the deepest parts of the Sea of Sorrows. In the Forgotten Realms there was the concept of "wild tides" so this is like a manifestation of a "wild tide" in Ravenloft.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Dagon

Drowned Ones – I love cannon fodder monsters like this that have unique and creepy characteristics. Anyone with a fear of drowning will want to avoid these things.

I found these in the 5e Caller of the Deeps monster description and adapted them for 3e

Overall Impression
There is a lot going on here. And while I like all the ideas, the two scenarios (the haunted tower and the evil seaside resort) don't connected very well. Maybe they should have been split into separate articles.

You re right, at first I had written only the seaside stuff but after writing the fiction I adapted/created also the Crawford Tower stuff in the article. I guess this is obvious from the way these are connected, only though the brief interaction of two NPC's which is not a really good connection, I know.

[/quote]I would have liked more interaction between Dame Dominique and Cedrik. I wonder if they would they get along? Or are they working at cross purposes?[/quote]
I wanted to leave that on the DM to choose if Paddock is in cahoots with Dame D, or if he is an adversary or just a person who is objective interested only in his research.

Also, I would have loved to see a little scenario outlined where Dame Dominique succeeds in summoning the Caller from the Depths and what happens afterward.

Well you only have to use it in your campaign and see

[Jeremy16]

I actually created this character a few days before submitting the article after I wrote the fiction, because I thought that since I mention him I should write something about him, then the article went off the rails as I ended up adapting the Dungeon Magazine adventure The Unkindness of Ravens). The Soul Searcher Medallion is the star of the show since the FoS don't own one and is one of the magical items created before Ravenloft became a campaign setting.

I thought you took the Soul Searcher Medallion from VRA.

The Mordent Cartographic Society placed it in Mordent so I followed that "fan canon", for me it is OK why should everything that has something to do with ravens should be situated in Barovia? We already have the Keepers of the Black Feather there, wereravens exist in other places too.

You make a good point - just because wereravens are involved doesn't mean it has to be set in Barovia. I fell victim to the same old "like goes with like" approach that I hate. I meant that the keep aspect should have been played down to make it fit into Mordent better. An elaborate manor home yes, but a full blown castle with walls and towers seems like a stretch.

Well your article inspired me for this one, so I am glad you like it. I didn't want the transformations to substitute Powers Checks, then I wanted some villagers to be affected and some stay "normal" since everyone participates in those ceremonies they should all have been transformed in some level and I didn't want that. Also I wanted PC's to be affected by transformations without knowing what might have caused it, making it more Lovecraftian horror.

I see your point about not wanting to mimic powers checks and terror tracks. I think my preference for such "punishment fits the crime" mechanics is because I so rarely see failed powers checks used at all. If you go by the rulebooks every henchmen in the land should have at least one or two failed powers checks under their belts. Plus, I think they are an easy way to add unique and memorable attributes to NPCs. After all, everyone remembers the six-fingered man from Princess Bride even if no one remembers his real name.

She was based on a character by the Spanish movie Dagon: La Secta del Mar (2001) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZg5iigPaHs

I actually saw this movie a long time ago, but didn't recall that character.

Well you only have to use it in your campaign and see

This is another good point, and I will try it out if I ever run an adventure in the domain! I do online reviews for comic books as well and I sometimes forget to switch gears between the two narrative styles. With comics you definitely don't want to leave the denouement offscreen. Roleplaying is a tad different, obviously, since most designers attempt to leave things more open-ended in order for DMs to add their own interpretation to the material.

[Jeremy16]

I made the odem as a different way to be involved in the plot, it sounds a bit like the "animator wars" in Circle of Darkness that I never liked as a concept though. My view when making an article is giving as many plot devices as possible and the DMs decide what to keep and what are unnecessary.

I wanted to return to this point. I know a lot of my criticisms regarding these QTR articles is that there are too many characters or too much going on regarding a particular scenario that it seems too unbelievable. And the counterpoint to that argument is just what you have written above. I believe Gonzoron dubbed it the "buffet" approach to writing. But just because you can throw everything from body-possessing spirits, political conspiracies, and monstrous fey at the PCs doesn't mean you should. Crowding an adventure with too many disparate elements just muddies the narrative flow and makes things confusing. Plus, I'm a strong proponent of "killing your darlings" as not every idea a writer has is going to be a winner (alas, I say this from personal experience). Sometimes focusing on just one really good idea or concept is better than writing up 10 mediocre ones - quality over quantity, so to speak.

I much prefer the Stan Lee approach to Ravenloft... treating it like a a living, breathing world filled with real people who react much like you or I would when placed in extraordinary situations.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

After all, everyone remembers the six-fingered man from Princess Bride even if no one remembers his real name.

Count Rugen! I win!
I did double check to make sure I remembered it right. According to Wikipedia, his first name is Tyrone, which I didn't remember.

[Baron Von Stanton]

I much prefer the Stan Lee approach to Ravenloft... treating it like a a living, breathing world filled with real people who react much like you or I would when placed in extraordinary situations.

Aren't there domains where the world really is a living, breathing entity?

[Jeremy16]

These next handful of review I have been wary of posting. Domain rewrites (much like fan made domains) are highly subjective affairs and just not my cup of tea. But, since I've read several back issues of QTRs and appreciate the effort Mistmaster has put into his previous writings, I thought I'd give it a go.

I do have couple of caveats, however:

1) Most of these articles come across as too post-modern for me. By that I mean I don't believe creatures of the night like zombies or werewolves should be free to run around in the open along with other humanoids. I like my monsters to be bad guys and it goes against my conception of the game to have predator and prey living side by side in harmony.

2) The domains as described are much too modern for my tastes, as well. I like to keep Ravenloft as low tech as possible without any cross-contamination from the steampunk genre or more modern inventions. Some people are okay with stuff like that, others not so much. YMMV.

Besides those notable exceptions, there's a lot to like in these entries. The cosmological and cultural angle relayed at the beginning of each article reads much more like a cohesive world than Ravenloft has ever been presented as before. It's almost like reading a real European history book with all the conflicts and cultural transmission between different societies and religions. Overall, it is a very imaginative and ambitious presentation so don't think because I pick out one or two things that I personally don't like that I'm not impressed by the work as a whole.

That being said, let's get on with the review of our first domain of the issue...


DEMENTLIEU - LAND OF MANIPULATION AND HYPOCRISY


History - I like making this domain's history cleaves more closely to its real world counterpart (France) more closely than before. I especially like have a Reign of Terror episode in its background. Having an actual Falkovnian invasion take place is also a great idea. This political backdrop helps facilitate all the interpersonal intrigues that this domain is known for.

Places of Interest - I like the additions of the towns of Carlion-le-Duc and Chataeunoir. This domain always deserved more than just two cities.

Religions - I like that this is kept very simple here. I feel like having too many religions usually just makes things more crowded.

The Famed and Infamous - Sorry, I don't care for the retconned Alanik Ray. I do, however, like the more personal rivalry set up between Dominic and The Living Brain here. Beginnning their competition further back in Rudolph's history is a stroke of genius. I also love the call out to Spider-Man and J.Jonah Jameson.

Organizations - These are all pretty straightforward and match the domain well.

The Darklord - Dominic's progression into darklordship seems more organic with this version since the need for him to enter the mists with his family is done away with. I also like his curse, which makes more sense than his official one.

Misc - Crysteel seems like a material that should have been saved for the Lamordia article. That domain fits better because it presumably has both mines to harvest the raw material and more advanced metallurgy techniques.


Overall Impression


This article avoids many of the pitfalls I outlined above and I consider it one of the better offerings of the bunch. Dementlieu has always been one of the more modern domains so what is presented here isn't much more advanced than canon material.

[Jeremy16]

LAMORDIA - LAND OF PROGESS AND TECHNOLOGY


History - Again, I like the backdrop of a full-blown war with Falkovnia. This conflict gives the land a more militant feel and at the same time gives it something in common with surrounding domains. Usually Lamordia is characterized as being more aloof and isolated from its neighbors.

Places of Interest - Mark me down as one of those old fogeys that doesn't like trains in his Ravenloft. (But anyone who's been paying attention to my previous reviews already knows that.)

Religions - I like having a wolf cult that is associated with winter.

The Famed and Infamous - While I'm not sold on the lightlord concept I actually like giving Elise a more active role in this particular darklord's life. Having her spirit able to possess her niece both is creepy and effective. I love the cameo from a Dilisnya scion. Those guys are dangerous where you find them! The callback to the Hoftmann Hospital (from QTR #6) is a nice touch, as well.

Elisestahd – Adam building a haven for other constructs is an intriguing idea. Societal cast-offs trying to build a place where they can belong without being persecuted is a very compelling motif. It echoes a lot of X-Men stories I've read, which is a good thing. A lot could be done with this concept – Adam could very well create his own personal army to overrun the entire domain or the his effort could end in complete failure as his cohorts sour on taking orders from him and wander off one by one until he is all alone once again.

Organizations - I'm not big on elite groups that go on special missions hidden within the military so organizations like the InnereStaatssicherheit Miliz don't do anything for me. If every country has something like this (see Invidia for a similar group) then it's not that special, is it?

The Darklord - Yes, Victor is put in his rightful place once again as the true darklord of this domain! Having him hold the position as head of a university is nice change of pace from his usual misanthropic representation. It does a nice job of bringing him out of his self-imposed exile and can lead to a lot more interesting scenarios that involve him directly.

Misc - The artificer is a neat alternative take on the scientist but I will leave whether the mechanics work or not for others to comment on. I'm not big on crunch. The attention to detail here, however, is to be commended! Steel/Nano Golems are an natural progression but way too sci-fi for my liking. The Winter Wolf template is great and dealt with too briefly. I think it brings a much needed supernatural flavor to the land instead of the standard “golems everywhere” that PCs would expect.


Overall Impression


Yes, it is still way to modern for my tastes, but there's a lot of interesting developments in this version of Lamordia that make it more versatile. I like the addition of Mordenheim University and the winter wolf concept the most. Making Lamordia survive a guerilla war with Falkovnia is another nice addition that gives Victor and any other mad scientists plenty of wounded soldiers to use as test subjects and serves as background motivation for all this advanced experimentation with flesh golems to begin with.

[Jeremy16]

BORCA – LAND OF POISON AND INTRIGUE


Ivana Boritsi - This entry starts out by saying that her touch is poison, but then goes on to say she has conceived 3 children. How does that work exactly? Further on in the article, under Camille's entry, it says Ivana conceived her children first then was cursed with her poison touch later on. The timeline of events needs to be made clearer here.

Gato Foukai – Having a Rokushima drug cartel trying to muscle their way into this place is an interesting concept. It doesn't make sense as presented, though. There's no ports or mistways that lead directly to and from Rokushima Taiyoo so where exactly are all their foot soldiers coming from? Plus, any gang members would be easily targeted by the local militia since they would stick out like a sore thumb amongst the people in this land. (In fact, I think it would work better in Richemulot since that has been described in canon as a land that accepts all immigrants.) The Nightclaw persona provides a good foil for this group, though.

The Desfrayas – I like the addition of another powerful family into the mix to put between the machinations of the Boritsi and Dilisnya clans.

The Tollere Service – The Dread Possibility which hints at this group's use as a money laundering operation is very useful. It could very have branch offices in other cities across the Core, which would allow outsiders (such as PCs) to get caught up in their web.

The Darklord - I diagree with making Camille as the darklord instead of Ivana. I see no need to swap out the mother for the daughter as it doesn't really add anything to either of their stories. In fact, the only advantage of keeping Camille as the political leader is if Ivana was actually the true darklord and just kept her mother around to serve as a decoy for assassination attempts and such. It just seems like you changed this set up for change's sake.

Misc - I like the arithmancer prestige class but would like a few lines about how they could be put to use. Are they basically accountants with a few spell slots? Or are they wizards with a talent for making money? Does every bank in the land have one? Are they considered insurance against magical thefts – sort of like a fighting fire with fire approach? It's a neat idea but needs to be fleshed out more.


Overall Impression


There are a lot of interesting personalities presented in this article which flesh out this domain, but the substitution of Camille for Ivana as the darklord (not to mention the elimination ofIvan Dilisnya as a co-darklord) isn't something I will use. This presentation of the domain seems more one-dimensional; I prefer the canon version were the danger it presented was a mix between an openly hostile madman in Ivan and the more subdued but no less deadly menace of Ivana.

[Jeremy16]

INVIDIA – LAND OF CONFLICTS AND DEMAGOGY


Domain / People – I don't like the idea of a Vistani domain. Wasn't there a legend they told (probably from VRGtV) that they are eternally searching for their homeland and if they ever found it they would end their wandering? That's hard to reconcile with what is presented in this article. This is the first domain (at least for this QTR issue) that has monsters openly living amongst the regular populace. Once again, I prefer to keep my monsters lurking in the shadows and as things to be feared, not someone you can share a lunch with.

Religions - I'm not sold on the Vistani native religion. Not every group needs its own set of gods and separate origin myths. That goes double for the Wolfweres and the Paka.

Religions (again) - Is Zhakata the same as Bane in this cosmology or is that a typo? It seems weird to combine them.

The Famed and Infamous - I know this is a re-imagining but the main actors and their backgrounds here are changed a bit too much for my tastes. Describing the child of an incubus as “innocent” doesn't seem right. And having Gabriella's mother still very much alive is very jarring. Plus, turning Vlad's rape of her into something more consensual leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The Darklord - Gabrielle being retconed into marryying her implied rapist (I'm speaking of Bakholis the werewolf) is another disturbing change that I can't get on board with. Her curse seems too similar to Dominic's, as well.

Misc – You've definitely given a lot of thought and provided plenty of tools to play Vistani. That may be a bridge too far for traditionalists like me, but at least it's impressive. The rundown of Dukkars is full of fun plot hooks, too. At the very least, it could serve as background material for an epic, apocalyptic Ravenloft campaign.


Overall Impression


I don't care for this domain at all. Let the Vistani be eternal wanderers and keep an air of mystery around them. It was a nice effort but fell flat for me.

[alhoon]

As a review of QtR as a whole and this site's endurance, I will mention that the FoS had the most users online in its ... 19? 20? years of history the day QtR 28 was out. Hundreds of people came here that day.
QtR is becoming a tradition for all of us.


A great thank you to all contributors, present and past.

[tomokaicho]

Just been thinking of Conferences again. We've seen some nasty creatures from those pages, including horrifying outsiders. But have we experienced true fear yet? I think not. For the Red, White and Black Ethergaunts are out there, standing ready to bring cold, inhuman rationality to the world of Ravenloft.

Can Victor's mind handle the pressure, or will crack under the pressure?

Hint hint.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Yikes, those are scary!
I wonder how their philosophy would fare if they become trapped in the demiplane's Border Ethereal, though. There are other things in the Mists; things that defy reason.

[tomokaicho]

Yikes, those are scary!
I wonder how their philosophy would fare if they become trapped in the demiplane's Border Ethereal, though. There are other things in the Mists; things that defy reason.

I'd say that they would get angry, but they are probably incapable of feeling anger. The interesting things about the Ethergaunts is that their philosophy, their lack of emotion, might even make them ineligible targets to be Darklords. It's hard to imagine that they would experience torment at all.

That doesn't mean the Ethergaunts won't be useful to the Dark Powers. Their mere presence in the Dread Domains will spread evil, and their philosophy could easily infect people that are capable of emotions.

Given that the Ethergaunts live on the etheral plane, they likely avoid the demiplane of Ravenloft. If they ended up in the Dread Domains, it would be due to happenstance or bad luck.