Power Check Questions

[Joël of the FoS]

Or to be coherent with what's been done, you could also say that upon reaching darklordship, many powers and odd effects are removed, to be replaced with darklord powers. There are no many darklords with strange physical caracteristics from earlier stage (white pupils, paws, reptilian skin, etc.).

It could even be seen at first as a reward from the darklords, i.e. "I look human once more, and gone are these freakish physical trait".

Joël

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Given that 1) there aren't thousands of darklords; and, 2) a number of crimes that are eminently Powers-check-worthy have been disdained by the DPs as either too bland (e.g. plain-vanilla homicide) or too sordid (e.g. rape or molestation) to rate a published domain, I still think that the primary thing that determines whether someone becomes a darklord ought to be the Dark Powers' cryptic (and Gothic) standards as to what "fits" their little pet project.

Let's face it: there are an awful lot of serious offenses that are simply inappropriate for the mood of the game-setting, and only a select subset of villains are dramatically suitable for Ravenloft. IMO, it's the other villains who ought to get the piddly little powers -- bribes to encourage them to become not only more evil, but more Gothic as well; if they haven't become dramatically-suited to a domain by the last stage of corruption, they get to be mist horrors or other monsters -- whereas wrongdoers who already fit the bill for a domain get snatched up in one go.

The most interesting darklords, IMO, are ones who lived fairly honorable lives, prior to their fall from grace. If everyone who gets a domain has to nickel-and-dime their way into it, then the whole idea of darklords condemned for a sudden, uncharacteristic crime of passion is ruled out ... which means, among other things, that we'd be throwing away Strahd as he's been portrayed, ever since VotM.

[Nathan of the FoS]

The most interesting darklords, IMO, are ones who lived fairly honorable lives, prior to their fall from grace. If everyone who gets a domain has to nickel-and-dime their way into it, then the whole idea of darklords condemned for a sudden, uncharacteristic crime of passion is ruled out ... which means, among other things, that we'd be throwing away Strahd as he's been portrayed, ever since VotM.

Allow me to offer a counterpoint to the "sudden fall from grace" paradigm; I don't think there are any darklords who are condemned for a single, uncharacteristic crime of passion; there is usually a culminating capstone incident which seals the deal, but there's always a pattern of activity leading up to it.

For example, Strahd's account states directly that a lifetime of war and bloodshed preceded his final downfall; we see him consorting with fiendish powers twice, betraying and murdering his brother with the intention of possessing his brother's fiancee, and going on a murderous spree when his scheme fails. Not having read Vampire of the Mists, I'm not sure what other things might be added to this catalog, but it hardly seems a single act of passion!

The discussion of outlander darklords is also complicated by the fact that Powers checks would, logically, not exist outside of Ravenloft proper, so the actions leading up to darklord status would, presumably, not leave any evidence of a "terror track" prior to the darklord's being taken by the Mists.

[Mangrum]

So under the system you propose you would have to have retconned all the small powers to every darklord?

Not quite sure where you're getting that from. Even under the current system, "small" powers can stack with later gifts, so that in the end it's entirely possible to end up with just one power -- which would be exceptionally potent in that case.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

The most interesting darklords, IMO, are ones who lived fairly honorable lives, prior to their fall from grace.

Allow me to offer a counterpoint to the "sudden fall from grace" paradigm; I don't think there are any darklords who are condemned for a single, uncharacteristic crime of passion; there is usually a culminating capstone incident which seals the deal, but there's always a pattern of activity leading up to it.

For example, Strahd's account states directly that a lifetime of war and bloodshed preceded his final downfall; we see him consorting with fiendish powers twice, betraying and murdering his brother with the intention of possessing his brother's fiancee, and going on a murderous spree when his scheme fails. Not having read Vampire of the Mists, I'm not sure what other things might be added to this catalog, but it hardly seems a single act of passion!

I didn't say he was ever a sweetheart, I said he'd been honorable up until his fall. If he'd been a scumbag previously, the Dark Powers wouldn't have looked twice at the guy, IMO: there are tons of gradually-slipped-into-evil war leaders, kinslayers, obsessed stalkers and so forth in the multiverse they've never bothered to snatch.

FWIW, the flashback to Sergei's murder in VotM -- an event depicted in the third person, hence exempt from Strahd's disinformation as seen in the Elrod novels -- states that Strahd had never knowingly lied to anyone in his life, until he tried to blame the killing on unknown assassins. Harsh and uncompromising, yes, but he was honorable (particularly by the standards of the culture that gave us the Dilisnyas ) before his obsession and fall.


(Sorry, got off on a tangent there. Back on topic....)

[Nathan of the FoS]

FWIW, the flashback to Sergei's murder in VotM -- an event depicted in the third person, hence exempt from Strahd's disinformation as seen in the Elrod novels -- states that Strahd had never knowingly lied to anyone in his life, until he tried to blame the killing on unknown assassins. Harsh and uncompromising, yes, but he was honorable (particularly by the standards of the culture that gave us the Dilisnyas ) before his obsession and fall.

Oh yes? That fits very well with my Unified Powers Checks Theory, now under assembly and coming soon (I hope) to a message board near you.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

"Unified Powers Check Theory"? Darn it, no fair! Now you've got me all curious....

[The Giamarga]

Not having read Vampire of the Mists, ...

I'm shocked, shocked i say. Why?