Gothic Earth lives again! Here's a new Ravenloft setting!

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Apologies for the late announcement....
The winner for March is.... DeepShadow!* His version of Fu Manchu will be in the netbook.

The next darklord we need to see is... Caligula. What could an ancient roman tyrant be doing in 2012 on Gothic Earth? We'd love to find out. Get your entries in by May 11th!

[Abbot Suger]

I am new to the board, but have been a fan for quite some time. I was referred to this site by a mutual friend. I am interested in doing some write ups for the Dark Lords (or at least attempt), but I have a few questions to ask, and some critiques to offer. I am a simple minded guy who happens to have a love for something not easily explainable to most, and I will attempt to make my comments as brief as possible.

1) Why Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wendigo Fu Manchu? Others like Mangele, and Ching Shih were real people. Why such the deviance
a real person? I am not questioning the Dark Power authority but more so the reasoning.... I know it’s too late for suggestions but quite a few, not so common names could have fit the bill of possible dark lords, for instance Pope Urban II who relinquished the Christian Armies of their sins in turn for their "sacrifice" of liberating the eastern churches of Turkish control. More so would he be a Red Death type than Jade horror.

Are you going to be suggesting more fictional characters of our youth? Seriously though how could Frankenstein’s monster or the Wendigo communicate with common PC types. Are they supped up bass assess or just Werewolf / flesh golem types? In the case of originality I can see the Wendigo being a really rare type of Monstrous manual type of creature.... but Frankenstein has already been done. Just some thoughts, I am not trying to make fun of any one... just from some of you other writings on this site and the Kargatane one before it I had become accustomed to those predications. Just a thought. I love the endless possibilities of Caligula, this is on a more illustrious scale than Mangele, whose own story I also found strangely enticing.

2) I was pondering on what I do know about Ravenloft... that some of the Dark Lords histories are intertwined Soth and Strahd, also Azalin and Strahd.... so are any of our creations going to have similar origins... and Hypothetically if say I wanted to do a write up on... Anne Boleyn who as you know indirectly lead to Britains excommunication from the Catholic church at the time (Red Death??) and directly led Queen Mary I's disdaine for the religious "heretics" who she when giving first opportunity put the stake scores of innocents (Jade Horror??) (I guess we could implicate Henry VIII as well and make him a Dark Lord)... I guess what I am asking is whether or not we could write that each Dark Lords pact with the dark powers, could have attained through the attrition of the relationship of the patron/matron dark lord?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Hi Abbot Sugar, and welcome!

1) Gothic Earth Eternal follows in the footsteps of the original Gothic Earth setting, as described in the Masque of the Red Death products published by TSR and Arthaus. This mixing of real and fictional characters goes back to those original products, and some (self included) would say that it's one of the real charms of the setting. Even real authors like Arthur Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker exist side-by-side with their "creations" like Holmes and Dracula. (the assumption being that on Gothic Earth, those books were non-fiction.) So we've attempted in this contest to include a mix of real and fictional (or legendary) darklords.

Frankenstein's monster in the original novel was certainly intelligent and tragic enough to be a real NPC, not just an end-boss. And while the Wendigo is indeed a stretch, we thought it would be a nice challenge (and I think you'll be impressed by the winning entry. I was.) And yes, Frankenstein's Monster's been "done," but has he been done on Gothic Earth, in the year 2012? Well, he has now.

As for other darklords, there are tons of possibilities, but sadly only a limited number of months before we release the netbook, so the number of contest darklords is limited. But once the netbook is released, we hope the Gothic Earth Eternal setting will thrive, and any other ideas for darklords could be shared here on the boards, or submitted as articles to our annual Quoth the Raven netzine.


2) Connections between darklords are always cool, but would be tough to pull off under the limitations of this contest. There's no guarantee that the winning Anne Boleyn and the winning Queen Mary would be written by the same person, so they could go in completely different directions. Again, something like that would probably work better as a Quoth the Raven article after the netbook release.

Anyway, thanks for your interest and comments, and we hope to see some of your entries in the contest!

Remember folks, Caligula is waiting for you to write about him! You do not want to disappoint this guy...

[MadStepDad]

That's my boy, by the way. Long time campaign buddy (he's in all my write-ups too). OK so I'm out of the shadows now, because this is exactly what I needed. But I have a few questions as well.

OK so obviously I'm very familiar with both the original 2E MotRD and the hardback revision... I'm very familiar with 3.5E and D20 Modern. How does this world - setting and fluff wise - differ from Urban Arcana? I understand maybe you want to make your own rules different, but I don't care about that part so much as the background and history. Basically everything you've said describes Urban Arcana. Which is great, because I love that setting.

Also you need more guns, gangs and drugs. But I'm assuming you're purposely trying to steer AWAY from Book of Vile Darkness stuff right? Well I at least hope you find space for at least a brief mention of that. There are tons of great modern prestige classes and stuff that fit that archtype.

Last, DID ANYBODY SEE 2PAC COME BACK FROM THE DEAD??? Happened at the coachella concert this past weekend and you HAVE to google the footage if you haven't seen it yet. Awesome. So awesome it made me look into it more and by accident I discovered "Project Blue Beam". Familiar with that? That could be the entire cruz of the GEE campaign right there. Straight Red Death izh. Makes me say OMG WTF LOL

peace,

MSD

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

This might be a question better answered by Rucht, MSD, but I'll take a stab at it. I don't know much about Urban Arcana, but the big idea for Gothic Earth Eternal is the connection to the original MotRD setting to modern times, with the added complication of the Jade Horror. So unlike Urban Arcana, you've got darklords in Gothic Earth Eternal, and they are drawn from history, fiction, and legend, and they now serve two masters (intentionally or not, knowingly or not), the Red Death and the Jade Horror, which can put them at odds with each other.

Also, the blurbs I'm reading about Urban Arcana mention dragons, bugbears, etc. MotRD has always focused on the more classic horror Ravenloftian creature types.

As for guns, drugs, and gangs: our world's got 'em, so it's a good bet Gothic Earth Eternal has them too.

[Abbot Suger]

"Also you need more guns, gangs and drugs. But I'm assuming you're purposely trying to steer AWAY from Book of Vile Darkness stuff right? Well I at least hope you find space for at least a brief mention of that. There are tons of great modern prestige classes and stuff that fit that archetype." Guy's I am pretty much in line with MSD on this. With one exception changing "gangs" to criminal activity. I have been to a few different places in the world, and I think these days the old school rogue class would very much suffice for a majority of PC classes or at least main bad guy NPC (not darklord). Eastern Europe is BAAAADDD. Russia is even worse.... Lenin started it all in my opinion.

I have read the disclaimer upon creating my account and something struck me as peculiar. The whole thing about "VULGARITY", and its malapropos on this site. Which brings me to my question of; in Ravenloft how could vulgarity be avoided? Or is it a matter of TRYING to avoid it? Or is the site family friendly. Forgive me for asking things that may have been discussed previously but I was not part of those conversations?... What exactly is VULGAR? How can it be avoided? Should we refrain from intricate details (the gore, the pills pedophiles) or are those aloud, because they do actually exist?

[Abbot Suger]

Yeah so I guess my question was already answered "As for guns, drugs, and gangs: our world's got 'em, so it's a good bet Gothic Earth Eternal has them too. " seeing as you responded while I was responding.

Still interested to see if someone could explain the Vulgarity thing though? Thank you.

[MadStepDad]

I'd assume that means no excessive profanity. Or graphic details or depictions. Just the general means will suffice. And don't post naked pictures or pictures of m***juana. Obviously.

[Abbot Suger]

Ok so there is no boycott on the "Book of Vile Darkness" then. How about the "Book of Exhaulted deeds? MSD your so smart.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Those are more general questions for the board, and not this thread in particular, but yes, we do try to be "family friendly" in as much as that can be done for a horror site. Since Ravenloft and Masque are rooted in Gothic Horror and not graphic splatter flicks, for the most part, we can usually get at the gist of things without being too explicit. So, yeah, use your judgement. Try to abide by the "grandma rule" as far as individual words go, and we'll let you know if you're getting out of hand. Honestly, it's rarely been an issue.

For the purposes of this contest, rules don't matter, we're just looking for "fluff," so there should be no need to refer to the BoVD, BoED, or any other rulebook.

[Abbot Suger]

Thanks Ron, Just wanted to make sure so when I submit my write up for Caligulia, no one is disgusted.

Another question; Is there a limit of submissions for each dark lord could we submit each of them?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Thanks Ron, Just wanted to make sure so when I submit my write up for Caligulia, no one is disgusted.

Yeah, I realize the Caligula entries could walk the line a bit. But try to get the point across without too many gory details. remember you only get 500 words anyway.

Another question; Is there a limit of submissions for each dark lord could we submit each of them?

No limit. Submit for every one if you like. (though the winner is declared already for the past ones, so don't submit now for Frankenstein, Mengele, Ching Shih, etc.. there's no point. We're not going to change the winners.)

[Rucht Lilavivat]

Hey, I just wanted to jump in here and talk about the differences between Gothic Earth Eternal and Urban Arcana, adding onto what Gonzoron had to say.

I think the Gonzoron hit the major highlights. You have historical figures and figures from fiction running around. You have two major entities at war with each other. You also have a frightened populace that is somewhat aware of the supernatural, but doesn't like to talk about it.

If I were put on the spot in an elevator and had to give you the big differences in 3 minutes, I would say that one of the bigger differences between GEE and Urban Arcana is that this is primarily a gothic horror game. Urban Arcana is a blend of fantasy and urban action - kind of like what you have in the Dresden Files. Gothic Earth has more of an X-Files or Fringe vibe. There is a certain amount of crossover to be sure, but there are some key differences.

For example, in Urban Arcana, you're not having to make horror checks or madness checks. Also, the d20 Modern system is not that is focused specifically on investigation and mysteries. You can certainly have investigative adventures with the d20 Modern system. But it is not primarily focused on that. The Gothic Earth Eternal system is.

MSD, what you might want to do, since you've asked about guns and society, etc - is to check out the Gothic Earth Eternal primer, if you haven't already done so. The primer answers a lot of your questions.

As far as gangs and gang violence go, I agree that these things would factor into Gothic Earth Eternal if you wanted to go in that direction. I, myself, specifically avoided going down that path, because, for me, at that point the violence and horror become a bit too real for me. But that's just me. That may not be the case for you.

[Le Noir Faineant]

It might be just me lacking reading comprehension, but do you guys plan to release this in print as well?

Like, say, via LULU, or similar POD services?

I'd certainly welcome that!

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

It might be just me lacking reading comprehension, but do you guys plan to release this in print as well?

Nope, sorry. As ambitious as this project is, it remains a fan-produced, unauthorized work. We are giving it away for free as a downloadable netbook, just like all our other work.