The World of Ravenloft

[bungeeman]

Hi Everyone.

Firstly, I'd like to apologize for how silly I'm going to sound. But I have a few questions about the Ravenloft setting and I'm struggling to find answers for in the wiki. Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough, but if someone would be so kind as to indulge me I'd be very greatful. I'm about to start a campaign in the setting and would very much like to know the following things:

How do the various Kingdoms or locations or whatever you'd call them fit together on a larger-scale world map? For example, I am somewhat familiar with the area known as 'Darkon' and have played an adventure set in the swamps of Souragne. But I can't seem to find any info regarding where they are in relation to each other. Is this deliberately left unexplained or is there some large map that has eluded me thus far? Is the somewhat mobile nature of certain land-masses in the Ravenloft setting the reason for this lack of apparent connectivity? Does it have something to do with the mists?

I'm planning on running a campaign set in Darkon and I'd like to be able to know where to go if the player's decide to stroll beyond its borders. It would also be nice to allow the player's to have characters who are from various locations throughout the world.

If a more experienced player could point me in the right direction that would be fantastic.

Thanking you in advance.

Ben.

[bungeeman]

OK. Since typing this I have discovered this map of the core:

http://www.gryphonhill.com/core/map/colormap.jpg

However, if a veteran can clear up my other confusions I'd still be very grateful.

Ben.

[Rudolf Weathermay]

Hello Ben,
Well you found the map of the Core, travelling from each domain in the core to another would be easy as long as the domain lord does not close his or her borders. Travelling to other domains like Souragne or even cluster domains like the amber wastes can by following mistways. Locations of those mistways can you find in the players handbook. Keep in mind that most of those mistways will not always bring you to the desired location. Sometimes you can also just step into the mist and arrive somewhere else. Or a mist, fog, snowstorm abduct your group and bring you to another country. Pretty easy and simple. In fact there is not a real distance between the core and domains which aren’t part of the core. Travelling from Darkon to Souragne can be a few days, but can take even a few weeks or months. Sometimes travelers arrive BEFORE they actually left their home place. Pretty weird but keep in mind that the domains of dread is not a world like our own. It exist in another reality, another dimension.

You mentioned about allow players to have characters who are from various locations throughout the world. To be honest I would not do this. In my campaign I made a small village together with my players and every single character hails from that town. It gives a reason to stick together. You don’t have to be from the same town, city of course but I suggest to let everyone be of the same domain. Let your players explore the world. 

[Manofevil]

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How do the various Kingdoms or locations or whatever you'd call them fit together on a larger-scale world map? For example, I am somewhat familiar with the area known as 'Darkon' and have played an adventure set in the swamps of Souragne. But I can't seem to find any info regarding where they are in relation to each other. Is this deliberately left unexplained or is there some large map that has eluded me thus far? Is the somewhat mobile nature of certain land-masses in the Ravenloft setting the reason for this lack of apparent connectivity? Does it have something to do with the mists?

Well, Ben, as far as these issues are concerned. I suppose I could share with you my earliest impressions of RavenLoft in this regard. Here they are in broad strokes. Somehow, giant chunks of land are yanked from other worlds and put together in ways that leave seemless borders but can still be moved about like puzzle pieces. Initially, I assumed that this was somehow still a standard planetary system like our own earth. So how would it work? Well, if there were a planetary gas giant with one moon orbiting a sun similar to our own, a powerful magical force COULD in theory use it as a staging area for creating something similar to Ravenloft. The planetary gas itself would be what the populace calls the Mists and the lands that compose Ravenloft, even the ones which are large bowlish ones that hold whole seas, float on the surface of this planetary mists. My initial impression.

[bungeeman]

Thanks for replying guys. That has certainly cleared up a few things for me. I think it is really quite cool that the mists can literally abduct adventurers and take them anywhere. It makes it a lot easier for me as a DM to justify large scale movement.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Firstly, I'd like to apologize for how silly I'm going to sound. But I have a few questions about the Ravenloft setting and I'm struggling to find answers for in the wiki. Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough, but if someone would be so kind as to indulge me I'd be very greatful. I'm about to start a campaign in the setting and would very much like to know the following things:

Welcome, bungeeman! Please don't worry about sounding silly. We're here to help! I'm sorry the wiki didn't help. It's a work in progress. Maybe we need an overview/intro page of some sort. I'll try to figure out where to put it. In the meantime, the FAQ might be useful to you:
http://fraternityofshadows.com/FAQs.html
specifically section I, questions 5-7, to get a feel for the "landscape"

How do the various Kingdoms or locations or whatever you'd call them fit together on a larger-scale world map? For example, I am somewhat familiar with the area known as 'Darkon' and have played an adventure set in the swamps of Souragne. But I can't seem to find any info regarding where they are in relation to each other. Is this deliberately left unexplained or is there some large map that has eluded me thus far? Is the somewhat mobile nature of certain land-masses in the Ravenloft setting the reason for this lack of apparent connectivity? Does it have something to do with the mists?

Some land-masses are connected more-or-less permanently. These are called "clusters," with the largest one being "The Core". Here's another map of the Core, which I will be adding to the wiki shortly:
http://fraternityofshadows.com/Portrait ... llery.html

The reason you may be confused is because Darkon is part of the core (stretching across the northern edge) and Souragne is not. Souragne is a "Island of Terror" off in the Mists. To get there from the Core, you have to travel through the Mists somehow. The major ways to do this, in decreasing order of reliability are:

1) Find a vistani who is willing to guide you through the Mists. (vistani have a Mist Navigation ability that lets them control where the Mists take them)
2) Find a high-level Anchorite (priest of Ezra) to guide you. (similar to the vistani, but they aren't as intimately tied to the Mists)
3) Find a "Mistway," which is a more-or-less stable current in the Mists. (In the case of Souragne, the "Wake of the Loa" mistway leads from Northwestern Nocturnal Sea to Northern Souragne and vice versa... most of the time.)
4) Walk into the Mists and hope for the best. (not advisable, but it could happen. Once you walk into the Mists, you are at the mercy of the Dark Powers, (i.e. the DM) who will drop you out where they want to drop you.)
5) Wait for the Mists to snatch you up and take you there. (The edges of almost all large-scale Ravenloft maps are assumed to be the Misty Border, a vertical wall of Mists that you can walk or sail into. But the Mists can manifest themselves anywhere, even within domains, to snatch someone up and bring them elsewhere. If the DM requires it.)

I'm planning on running a campaign set in Darkon and I'd like to be able to know where to go if the player's decide to stroll beyond its borders. It would also be nice to allow the player's to have characters who are from various locations throughout the world.

Most people found in Darkon would be from somewhere in the Core originally. But some could be from other clusters, islands, or even other worlds (the Mists can reach into any world in the D&D multiverse.)

However, there's a quirk about Darkon you might want to be aware of.

Due to Azalin's desire for unswerving loyalty, Darkon has the most obvious and unique curse in Ravenloft. After spending from one to three months within its borders, anyone not native to Darkon loses all memory of their original homeland, instead believing themselves to have always lived in Darkon. Additionally, they lose all personal desire to leave the country, though some do so anyway out of necessity or circumstance. The memories include a whole new life history and victim often adopt gravestones at the local cemeteries as graves of their ancestors. The lost memories return upon leaving the domain. In From the Shadows, it is shown that their memories are magically recorded in a book in a library in Avernus.

If you choose to ignore this for the purposes of your campaign, that's fine, but some of us find it fun to play with. You could always come up with some reason why Azalin would let these individuals keep their memories.

I think it is really quite cool that the mists can literally abduct adventurers and take them anywhere. It makes it a lot easier for me as a DM to justify large scale movement.

Yes, it's a nice bonus feature for the lazy DM. But beware of using it too often. If players feel like the Mists will always take them from adventure to adventure, they may feel railroaded or cheated out of their freedom. It's best used sparingly, IMHO.

[bungeeman]

Thanks again for the very detailed reply. Since my original post, my group and I have played a failry long session in the Ravenloft setting and I have personally been searching through every game store bargain bin and combing the web to get my hands on any Ravenloft material. In short, we're loving the setting and I can see this being a grim home for many adventures to come. There is, however, one more question that I keep trying to find an answer to and can't quite seem to find, and I'm hoping one of you guys can clear it up for me.

I'm aware that the mists have a kind of 'old wives' tale' status to them and the FAQ on this site says that "legends speak of people who have walked into Mists only to find themselves moved elsewhere". However, I was wondering just how 'common knowledge' it is for this within the peasant/uneducated community of the core world (or indeed any cluster).

If, for example, the PCs find themselves suddenly snatched up by the mists and then wander out of them into a village or a town or whatever. Upon describing the experience to the locals, would they be met with a knowing nod or a look of bewilderment? Is this relative to the town or village or is this something that only academics, scholars and studiers of the arcane would be aware of? Is it only the vistaani who are truly aware of the mists? The inhabitants of Martira Bay in Darkon are going to be making up a large part of the NPC populace of the next section of my campaign and they seem to be a particular conundrum, as many of them are people who have wandered out of the mists, spent months trying to find a way back to their own realm and then forgotten that they ever existed anywhere else. Are they aware of the power of the mists or has that been wiped from their memory as well?

Again, I'd imagine this is standard knowledge to the veterans on this board, but if you could just give me a few pointers for role-playing reactions to the mists in general, that would make my life a lot easier, as I'm planning on the PCs having their first introductions to the concept of the mists in the next session.

Thanks in advance.

Ben

[Germaine]

While the other replies have already covered things pretty well, I'll throw in my two cents as well. Over time, I've changed many of the islands and clusters from being totally Mistbound to theoretically existing in, and being reachable by, the seas- just with navigation being a bit...uncertain. This has allowed for a number of things IMC, including varied party members and a Souragne Quarter in Port-a-Lucine. However, I have always left the more isolated or/and bizarre domains- Bluetspur and Zherisia, for example- as Mistbound islands.

[Ryan Naylor]

I'm aware that the mists have a kind of 'old wives' tale' status to them and the FAQ on this site says that "legends speak of people who have walked into Mists only to find themselves moved elsewhere". However, I was wondering just how 'common knowledge' it is for this within the peasant/uneducated community of the core world (or indeed any cluster).

If, for example, the PCs find themselves suddenly snatched up by the mists and then wander out of them into a village or a town or whatever. Upon describing the experience to the locals, would they be met with a knowing nod or a look of bewilderment?

I'd say that most people would be familiar with the legends of Mist-led people, even if they've never met them before. Rather than a knowing nod though, they'd probably greet Mist-led folk with a spit on the ground and a warding gesture against evil. Lots of unpleasant, or just disruptive, things come out of the Mist.

[bungeeman]

Thanks again guys. I'll keep that in mind when running my campaign.

[HuManBing]

While the other replies have already covered things pretty well, I'll throw in my two cents as well. Over time, I've changed many of the islands and clusters from being totally Mistbound to theoretically existing in, and being reachable by, the seas- just with navigation being a bit...uncertain.

I'll just chime in and say I agree with Germaine. I've done this a few times too. My PCs had to get from Darkon to Har'Akir for the adventure Touch of Death, and I allowed them to take along a Vistani ally to navigate their ship through the Mists to get there. The adventure calls for the PCs to meet a family of Vistani in Har'Akir anyway, so I just made the meeting happen in Darkon first.

It also meant that they really cared about Dulcimae the Vistani woman personally, because she already spent time with them on the sea trip up to Har'Akir and may have had the start of a romantic interest in one of them.