How can they make a 4e Ravenloft?
Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 10:38 pm
This is just something that I've been wondering about, and I was wondering if others here were wondering about it as well. I'm hesitant to do so, but I'm going to make the assumption that the general desire is for a 4th edition Ravenloft setting. However, like the title says, precisely how do you believe they could actually make such a setting, given that some of the most fundamental rules of Ravenloft have been assimilated into Core- as a Planar Effect. Gothic Fantasy as it is, there's something a bit too jarring about it to make the idea of a setting entirely housed in the Shadowfell valid.
One possibility that occurs to me is to set "4e-loft" on a world where the borders between the Materium and the Shadowfell are unusually thin- it's as easy to cross between the worlds here as it is to find a portal in Sigil. In this world, the brightest "points of light" are actually the Materium reflections of the canon Domains, and Darklords in Ravenloft are thus able to cross between the two planes more or less at will (the exact ease depends upon the individual DL); although they still cannot leave the borders of their Shadowfell Domain. Which may be more generous than their real world borders, if you follow my meaning...
While the precise methodology of transporting would likely be encoded in the local folklore and vary from area to area, there are almost certainly places that truly exist only in the other plane, so entering from one plane deposits the fools in the other. For example, Castle Ravenloft might be present in Materium-Barovia as a crumbling ruin. However, the real Castle exists in Shadow-Barovia, so anyone foolish enough to step into the ruins finds themselves in a miraculously intact castle... in the Shadowfell, and where Strahd can hunt them down with impunity. If they can step back through the main gates, they'll return to the Materium, but anywhere else just leaves them in the Shadowfell- and, of course, Strahd has the power to trap them in the castle.
Well, anyway, that's my theory. What are your theories?
One possibility that occurs to me is to set "4e-loft" on a world where the borders between the Materium and the Shadowfell are unusually thin- it's as easy to cross between the worlds here as it is to find a portal in Sigil. In this world, the brightest "points of light" are actually the Materium reflections of the canon Domains, and Darklords in Ravenloft are thus able to cross between the two planes more or less at will (the exact ease depends upon the individual DL); although they still cannot leave the borders of their Shadowfell Domain. Which may be more generous than their real world borders, if you follow my meaning...
While the precise methodology of transporting would likely be encoded in the local folklore and vary from area to area, there are almost certainly places that truly exist only in the other plane, so entering from one plane deposits the fools in the other. For example, Castle Ravenloft might be present in Materium-Barovia as a crumbling ruin. However, the real Castle exists in Shadow-Barovia, so anyone foolish enough to step into the ruins finds themselves in a miraculously intact castle... in the Shadowfell, and where Strahd can hunt them down with impunity. If they can step back through the main gates, they'll return to the Materium, but anywhere else just leaves them in the Shadowfell- and, of course, Strahd has the power to trap them in the castle.
Well, anyway, that's my theory. What are your theories?