Let me open by saying how hugely I appreciated this review. It's taken me a while before I could get around to replying to it, but I had a test to prep for. Je m'excuse. ^^;
A lot, indeed. I did a lot of digging to make all of this stuff, and finishing the Conquista Gazetteer was a challenge.IanFordam wrote:The first thing to note about this gazetteer is that it contains a lot. Three human ethnicities in conflict. Three gods and the Loa. Four sometimes-darklords. A whole slew of political parties. That complexity is both the strong point and the challenge to Conquista.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. ^_^ The horror of Conquista is a bit more 'real'-world than it is purely gothic, and I feel the lots of history reflects this. It's a complicated domain.IanFordam wrote:===== History
Here we meet the three tribes of Conquista and the dominant faith. We learn some false history. We learn of the rising of the Mists, although we receive no hint of the Darklord or his Act of Ultimate Darkness. And then we get history. Lots of history. Nearly thirty pages of history, including Dread Possibilities and other sidebars. I do think this section would have benefitted from subsection headings, just to break it apart slightly. Even without subsections, though, I still found it to be an interesting read. Much has happened in Conquista, some of it sounding alarmingly like the real world.
I realised while writing this complicated domain, with its history of bad decisions and calamities, that Conquista was in danger of becoming a hopeless slog. And that isn't the point. The point of a Ravenloft game (to me) is for heroes to face off against the darkness and make a difference, no matter how small or fleeting. "Politics and Hope" is one of the ways I sought to counteract this by pointing out where players could start to make a difference.IanFordam wrote:However, the best part of this section was the "Politics and Hope" sidebar, which accomplishes two useful tasks. First, it describes why the lengthy history might matter in a Wartorn campaign. Second, it summarizes the various factions, their beliefs, and their interactions.
While the Wartorn Cluster is an embuggerance to get to (the only two known Mistways require blood sacrifices for a start), I always meant for it to have connections to the rest of the Demiplane of Dread. For the Ulan, the link to Souragne seemed a natural fit, and I like the concept of the Loa. I liked the opportunity to spread their worship beyond the borders of Souragne.IanFordam wrote:===== Populace
The "Appearance" and "Fashion" subsections do their jobs nicely, but "Languages" is where the curveball gets pitched. I had not expected the tie-in to Souragne. I'm struck by the way that the Ulan look toward Souragne in much the same way some Souragniens look toward Liberté. Given this connection, the worship of the Loa (detailed later) makes sense when otherwise it might have seemed arbitrary.
Something to look forward to in the future. ^_^ Although my article "Beardoom Hollow" here on the forum is set in the Hengtlund Cluster already, so ... there's that.IanFordam wrote:The inclusion of StØj and Tegensprog and the corresponding "The Drowning Path" dread possibility felt extraneous to me. However, based upon the reference to the Hengtland Cluster, these bits may well fit into the author's larger view of the Domain of Dread.
Violence and intolerance towards the Other are important themes of Conquista (or they were to me, at least). For a time, the three tribes had a common foe so terrible that they had to either band together under the original Viejos Sagrados or perish. With that threat gone ...IanFordam wrote:By the time I finished this section, it had become quite clear that supernatural monsters are not the dominant source of evil in this domain. Despite the presence of changelings and fey and ogres and such, no, the people are the worst threat. (Much like G'Henna.)
Thank you. ^_^IanFordam wrote:"Attitudes Toward Magic" is a deceptively short section, and it blends nicely with the similarly terse "Attitudes Toward Science". I really like the description of little magics, and by this time the author had convinced me that his inclusion of mobíla, black-oil, and the radió was all part of a well-considered integration of technology into the land.
Glad you liked it! The supernatural effect governing the landscape are also there to remind players that although humanity is its own biggest threat in Conquista, this does not mean the supernatural is absent.IanFordam wrote:===== Landscape
I enjoyed Ciska's observations about the sometimes arbitrary nature of the Land of Mists. Sometimes a region is inhospitable because the Dark Powers have decreed that the region shall be inhospitable.
Not quite; it serves to foment internal conflict. Originally, Conquista was an Island of Terror; Masogan wasn't a problem. Making the southernmost cantón uninhabitable to all but a rabid Darklord serves the purpose of increasing inter-tribe tensions. The Casians hold the northernmost cantón, the Canana (grudgingly) live in the middle cantón, but there is no way the Ulan could survive in the southern cantón. This means they have to continue to live near the other two tribes, which causes friction.IanFordam wrote:I assume that the author's and/or the Dark Powers' intention behind the southernmost cantón is to provide a formidable barrier which the Masogani must cross before they can threaten the rest of Conquista. (And it also gives a place for Cliffton Willgoat to hang out, but I wouldn't think he would need a whole cantón for that.)
Taiia is one of those interesting additions to 3X Deities & Demigods that I haven't seen used very widely. To my way of thinking, she makes a very nice fit for the Demiplane of Dread. As a sun goddess whose light burns away fog, she could give people hope and contrasts with Ezra. As a monotheistic deity whose church teaches that other gods are blasphemies and do not exist, she can foment conflict.IanFordam wrote:===== Religion
Here we find descriptions of Taiia, the Loa, Brightwell, and il Demonio. Taiia is exactly what she needs to be: powerful and intolerant, even in her more benign aspect. As I said before, the Loa fit because of the detail given to the Ulan, and I very much appreciate that the Ulan have their own Loa applicable to Conquista. I haven't read the Lilliend Gazetteer in probably five years, but plenty sufficient information is given here to understand how Brightwell and il Demonio are perceived by Conquistan worshippers.
Ciska's story is essential to the development of the Cluster (to me, at least). The narrative content, the development of her character arc, is going to be very important ... if I can swing it.IanFordam wrote:===== Sites of Interest
Distributed among these sites is a surprising amount of narrative content (not to mention a description of the black-oil industry). That's not at all a bad thing, and in fact it helped this section read quickly. The real heart of the article occurs in "The Demon's Hollow". We get a more mechanical explanation later, but here we see what's truly happening in Conquista through Ciska's eyes. It's a good way to wrap up everything before the DM's Appendix.
Alsem is another way I sought to prevent Conquista from becoming a hopeless slog. Gothic horror still needs little pinpricks of light, places where heroes can recover and regroup before riding off to fight the tides of darkness once again.IanFordam wrote:I appreciate the inclusion of Alsem. While there is the "Twin Covens" dread possibility, Alsem is still the least sinister place among the Sites of Interest. Sometimes it's easy to forget to include places which PCs will want to help.
They could choose not to participate, and yes, that might cause them to eventually be disqualified from the Dread Election. But that might require them to want to relinquish power... which would be difficult for them to do. In a way, all four co-Darklords are obsessed with gaining control and the deep-rooted fear that they have none.IanFordam wrote:===== DM's Appendix
The idea of four potential darklords competing for the position is a novel concept, and I like it. However, we do see many villainous sorts over the course of the gazetteer. What about these particular four people makes them suitable candidates? How did they figure out what to do to claim darklordship? Could others in the domain make the attempt? When a potential darklord fails to attain the title, how is their curse affected? Could they just... not participate in the future?
Cliffton Willgoat wants to be a "man among men", but is reduced to living like a wild beast. Euphonia Root's whole religious worldview was overturned, and she wants to drag her goddess to ultimate triumph. Sandra Williamson is used to being a witch queen, but her old certainties - family obeying her, magic elevating her - are being eroded as the world moves on around her. Fredewulf van Slecht feels incomplete, which makes him prey on other people's insecurities and weaknesses to shore up his self-image.
Thank you so much!IanFordam wrote:===== Summary
As I said to begin with, there is a lot in this gazetteer, and I won't pretend that I have fully grasped the domain which it details. Nonetheless, the author himself clearly understands Conquista, and despite the length of this article he has presented a consistent view of it, not to mention some tantalizing peeks into the larger cluster. Rock has a vision, and I appreciate him sharing with us.
If you don't mind my asking, what did you think of the various Prestige classes in the DM's appendix, or the Viejos Sagrados-group?