The Sheltered Isles

[Rock of the Fraternity]

The Cluster is a subtropical archipelago, composed of three large island groups.
While there are three distinct domains, this fact is unknown to the locals. As far as they know, the islands are and always have been one nation with a shared culture.
False history refers to an age when the islands were ruled by a noble family with an extended aristocracy managing the outlying territory, but the king and nobles were gradually phased out of genuine power as society advanced in various ways.
Nowadays, there still is a royal family and a selection of noble families, who are filthy rich and enjoy quite a bit of prestige -- but no actual political power. The Sheltered Isles are ruled (at least in name) by a constitutional central government, with an expansive bureaucracy managing everything to the satisfaction of the wealthy the archipelago's people.

The three island groups are:
Wynd, Schlot and Crublu.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Wynd
Cultural level: 10 (Steam Age)
Composed mainly of forest and field, the islands of Wynd make up a green and pleasant land of rolling hills and tranquil woods. The island group is rural and the least developed of the cluster; the many small communities, which have outwardly not advanced beyond the medieval era, are devoted to the farming efforts needed to keep the cluster fed. The railways are the most advanced aspect of the island group, with the trains transporting people and massive amounts of food all over the domain and to the harbor.

Wynd's main attraction, apart from its power to produce food, is the presence of the cluster's most advanced boarding school for arcane magic. An ancient castle, rebuilt and expanded, the school provides a ten year curriculum for both studious and spontaneous arcane spellcasters. Its staff is acknowledged as the best in the cluster.

Darklord:
Professor Rastolfe
NE old male human Wizard 5 / FoS 4 / Loremaster 4 / Archmage 5
Professor Rastolfe is headmaster of the school. For decades, he has been training eager young mages to become heroes, sending them on secret missions to defeat villains - villains he identified as such to the influenciable youngsters under his care. This is, in fact, how he fell; Rastolfe started out as a genuinely well-meaning mentor to young heroes, but he started abusing his control over the young, turning them into his brainwashed assassins in a bid to eliminate competition for power.
Rastolfe is frustrated by the fact that he has been unable to expand his power beyond the isles of Wynd, which are bucolic, and the fact that his students immediately shake his control as soon as they leave the domain. His membership in the Fraternity of Shadows also has not brought him what he wants; although the dark lore of the Fraternity has been useful, he is frustrated by the fact that he is unable to advance to a higher rank, and that the cluster's superior Fraternity officer has chosen to hold offices well away from him.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Schlot
Cultural Level: 11 (Oil Age)
The Isles of Schlot are the darkest of the whole island group. This is due in no small part to the fact that they contain the bulk of the cluster's industry; factories spew smoke and soot into the air on a regular basis, with the cluster's prevailing winds blowing the taint away into the Mists, rather than over the other islands.
Another reason for the darkness is the fact that the Isles of Schlot are literally in the shadow of the Isles of Crublu; the shining towers and beautiful mountain ranges of the central island group block the sunlight that would otherwise fall on most of the Isles of Schlot for a considerable part of the day.
Areas that bask in sunlight are popular venues for sporting and dating venues, as well as after school clubs for children in education.

The local populace spends a lot of time working in the industries that make the (rest of the) cluster such a pleasant to live in. There is heavy mining on some of the Isles of Schlot, there are factories, foundries, all manner of production facilities. Some of the raw materials - food, wood and other organic materials - are imported from the other island groups, but virtually all finished products are created here and exported to the other island groups.
If not for the fact that the Isles of Schlot do not have a standing army and is forbidden from having one under the cluster's constitution, Schlot might hold the rest of the cluster hostage at any time.
As matters stand, people born on Schlot who have the means often spend an inordinate amount of time trying to enter jobs that do not require them to labor in the industries, or even to move to other island groups. Those who do not have the means struggle to see their children well-educated.

Although industry is the lifeblood of the Isles of Schlot, the people struggle to create lives that do not reflect this, engaging in all kinds of entertainment that they can afford and acquire. Movie theaters, dance clubs and all manner of sports are wildly popular.

Supernatural hazards
It should come as no surprise that the Isles of Schlot are home to the majority of the cluster's indigenous vampires. While these undead are not nearly as powerful as 'standard' vampires, they have strong arcane traditions of their own, which are in fact essential for their reproduction.
While the people of Schlot are largely ignorant of arcane magic, the vampires regularly perform rituals in their hidden lairs and craft magic items for their own use. Some of the vampires are keen to travel to the Isles of Wynd and get their hands on the library of the school of magic there, but as a species they dread and loathe the prospect of traversing the Isles of Crublu which lie between.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Crublu
Cultural Level: 12 (Information Age)

Crublu is the largest and most prosperous of the three island groups. It is also inarguably the most beautiful.
While the central island is almost wholly urbanized, the Great City is a splendid combination of the old and the hyper-modern, and the urban is blended with nature in the form of parks, gardens and zoos. Smaller urban centers tend to be charming and more relaxed than the big city.
The further outward one travels from the center, the wilder the islands become, as forests and jungles dominate. The domain's beaches are the envy of the whole cluster and a popular vacation destination for those lucky enough to be allowed there.
As the Isles of Crublu do not produce food or process raw materials, one might ask why it dominates the whole cluster. The answer is that these islands were once the seat of the royal family, and now house the finest schools, the heart of the cluster's entertainment industry, and the government houses and their bureaucracy.
All the luxuries of the cluster are gathered in Crublu, and the bureaucracy makes sure that this remains the case.
It is rare for a month to pass without some traditional festival or an impromptu party to erupt anywhere in the Isles of Crublu. The people of Wynd and Schlot sometimes grumble that the Isles of Crublu are 'party islands', and morals on the largest island group are known to be ... on the relaxed side.

Supernatural danger:
Wild magic The Isles of Crublu are beautiful and lush, with the wilderness celebrated rather than repressed. Unfortunately, the wildness of nature finds its reflection in the Weave. Local arcane spellcasters tend to default to wild magic, through no conscious effort of their own.
As the main educational facility for arcane magic is on the Isles of Wynd and the use of arcane magic is haphazard on the Isles of Crublu (some people never encounter it, some don't believe it exists, but it is available for those who know where to look and sometimes pops up unexpectedly), it is perfectly possible for people to stumble into the use of wild magic ... and to have terrible accidents.

The great archive
Professor Rastolfe may be a member of the Fraternity of Shadows with a base all his own, but the cluster's leader of the Fraternity is Dolor Merryweather (NE male human Illusionist 5 / FoS .
Rather than deal with Rastolfe, who he considers to be a self-serving, greedy coward, Brother Merryweather has built a secret base for the Fraternity on the Isles of Crublu. Having built an alliance with the greatest Wild Mage of the cluster, Brother Merryweather keeps the Fraternity's secrets well-hidden - including an archive of every spell that secret society has ever recorded. New spells arrive every year, and Brother Merryweather's cell is compiling them into their archives and into a minor artefact known as the Master Tome.

Darklord
Lula Ainglory
NE caliban Alchemist (Vivisectionist) 7 / Ranger (Dandy) 7
Lula hails from Darkon, half of a pair of twin daughters born to an accomplished wizard. While her sister was beautiful, Lula was mutated in the womb due to exposure to her father's magic.
Lula received a thorough education from her guilt-stricken father while her sister entered the social scene of Darkon. In spite of the alchemical and medical advances she made, Lula yearned for a chance to be courted and adored, to thrill to the social scene as her twin did. (Unknown to her, her sister bitterly envied her for what she believed was a much stronger bond with their father, while she was constantly forced to leave the house.)
Lula's obsession advanced to the point that she developed a method for grafting the skins of others onto her own body, allowing her to become outwardly beautiful. The Mists seized her and deposited her on the Isles of Crublu after she assaulted and skinned her own sister.
Now, Lula is deeply invested in her domain's social scene, but her disguises wear out almost as fast as she can acquire them. Even magical disguises concocted with standard extracts last much less time than they should, and Lula is forced to keep reinventing herself, even while she struggles to maintain a hold on the power and funds she has.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

This is a bunch of ideas and notes I'm compiling for this cluster.
I'd appreciate any input you guys would care to offer. Constructive criticism is preferred.

[tomokaicho]

Have you read The March of Progress: Cultural levels in Ravenloft in QtR #2? That might be helpful since you are doing more advanced domains. You Information Age domain probably goes a bit further, so integrating that into the cultural levels from that essay works pretty well.

[Manofevil]

Firstly, Movie theatres are too advanced for RavenLoft. I'd change that to a stage theatrical community. Maybe even allow for the invention of the stage musical.
Secondly, who is the DarkLord of Schlot, or have you not decided yet?

[Five]

Movie theatres are too advanced for RavenLoft. I'd change that to a stage theatrical community. Maybe even allow for the invention of the stage musical.

Hang on there. Before we start capping creativity let's give it a think.

Ravenloft can steal, hold, create and host any land from anywhere in the multiverse and from different tech levels. That much is evident from what's published. Even canon slaves should be able to admit that.

Like Kirk, Spock, Bones (and a red shirt or two) would sometimes stumble into or onto planets that differed in technology (some even alt Earth), so too can a party of adventurers. A weekend in (wtf?)...

Tying the idea into the Core is or can be a bit of an issue, but even then far from impossible (some of the domain placement and varying degrees of economic and technological stagnation don't make sense to begin with).

As a floating pocket, sky's the limit.

Besides, in standard-cut fantasy D&D, where spells can restore life to those centuries dead, and powerful wizards can create reality through mere wishes, why isn't there the equivalent to a movie theatre? Illusion magic, light magic as "green screen", actors of all egos, greedy and indie production companies,...that sort of thing.

Why is that NOT a thing?

[Manofevil]

Well, as I understand it, Revenloft is meant to keep to a pre-civil war level of technology to avoid advances in firearms and other troublesome devices. Movies as we know them are definitely too intricate for the level of technology in RL. Your idea about a magical version, however, is a very good idea. Perhaps it could start with something like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_lantern

[Rock of the Fraternity]

I invite you to look at the domains' cultural levels. ^^;

These domains are specifically - and intentionally - more advanced than the Core and the usual domains. And why not? Not all roleplaying has to take place in the Dung Ages; Ravenloft itself shows us that Renaissance-age domains are well-suited to the genre of Gothic horror.
So why not try it in even more advanced societies?

[Manofevil]

Well, Rock, this IS your idea for a domain so if you wanna go there, go there. Historians will say the first projected film was invented by Thomas Edison and everything developed since then has been engineering. He was the first to make pictures move. Currently, in Ravenloft, there is no functioning plumbing, no telegraph or morse code equivalent, only two known functioning steamships, no horseless carriages, no telephone, No mechanical airships, and despite the concerted efforts of several, no railroad. If you want to take your new domain all the way to Fritz Lang's Metropolis, it's going to have to be built by some very serious industrial titans, either in Ravenloft or outside of it. There's no reason it can't be done though.

[Mistmaster]

Currently, in Ravenloft, there is no functioning plumbing, no telegraph or morse code equivalent, only two known functioning steamships, no horseless carriages, no telephone, No mechanical airships, and despite the concerted efforts of several, no railroad.

In canon, yes, you are right. Canon not withstanding, my take on Lamordia begs to differ thought.

[Manofevil]

Currently, in Ravenloft, there is no functioning plumbing, no telegraph or morse code equivalent, only two known functioning steamships, no horseless carriages, no telephone, No mechanical airships, and despite the concerted efforts of several, no railroad.

In canon, yes, you are right. Canon not withstanding, my take on Lamordia begs to differ thought.

Well, don't be shy about sharing.

[tomokaicho]

I invite you to look at the domains' cultural levels. ^^;

These domains are specifically - and intentionally - more advanced than the Core and the usual domains. And why not? Not all roleplaying has to take place in the Dung Ages; Ravenloft itself shows us that Renaissance-age domains are well-suited to the genre of Gothic horror.
So why not try it in even more advanced societies?

I think the naysayers are concerned with cultural and technological pollution into the less advanced domains. There are ways of handling it. One is simple isolation. You can't get from this cluster to other clusters. Alternatively, the natives do have technology, but they are unable to produce more of it. This scenario is similar to The Temple of the Frog, which can easily be repurposed for Ravenloft. You've got androids, lightsabers, blaster guns, robots, genetically engineered mutants - the whole works. Oh, and alien vampires.

When used this way high technology is just a variant of magic from the point of view of lower tech people. Technology and magic could interact as well. If you can't recharge your blaster because you don't have the fusion reactor or whatever is required, magic can do the recharging for you (which has costs, which therefore puts the blaster on par with a magic wand).

D&D has always had a bit of Sci-Fi on the fringes. There is City of the Gods (related to Temple of the Frog). Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. Tale of the Comet. All D&D canon. If you want to go crazy with it, have the Dark Powers harvest NPCs from the Gamma World setting.

In terms of what is in D&D Sci-Fi canon, the approach that I described above is used. It's in the campaign setting, but does not overwhelm the campaign setting.

[Mistmaster]

Currently, in Ravenloft, there is no functioning plumbing, no telegraph or morse code equivalent, only two known functioning steamships, no horseless carriages, no telephone, No mechanical airships, and despite the concerted efforts of several, no railroad.

In canon, yes, you are right. Canon not withstanding, my take on Lamordia begs to differ thought.

Well, don't be shy about sharing.

I 'm not it's on this year Qtr.