Domains of Dread Versus Realm of Terror

[BedrockBrendan]

So I recently started a 2E Ravenloft Campaign using the old material (which I mostly found on Amazon). One thing I discovered was I didn't like the Domains of Dread book as much as I had remembered. Now I wasn't able to track down the Realm of Terror Boxed set, so my memory of that could be equally shoddy. But I think DoD feels stripped of the atmospherics that I remember RoT having. I read the entire thing multiple times, and it just feels like they shied away from the Gothic Horror aspect of the game and tried to pair it more with fantasy (which I think in the end didn't work for me). They did try to make Ravenloft a more workable steady campaign setting, and I appreciate the innovation there. But I think the end product falls flat for me now. My memory of the RoT boxed set is it included a lot more material on actually running a horror game and it paid more attention to gothic literature as a source of inspiration.

Curious what other people feel about these products. I don't think there is a right or wrong view on things.

[Jester of the FoS]

Looking at my old reviews (in the Drawing Room) I commented on the lack of flavour in Domains of Dread. Although, my personal favourite is still the Red Box.

[BedrockBrendan]

Looking at my old reviews (in the Drawing Room) I commented on the lack of flavour in Domains of Dread. Although, my personal favourite is still the Red Box.

The red box was awesome as I remember it. I tried to track it down and failed to find a complete copy.

[Strahdsbuddy]

Brendan,

I believe your assessment of DoD is correct, although I would not go as far as to say it was a failure. IN fact, as far as progressing the setting, it introduced concepts such as Clusters that colored the way the setting was treated through much of 3E, as well as trying most of the darklords to other settings (for better or worse. I think better). Looking back, Ravenloft seemed to get a lot of campaign settings--3 in 8 years. I don't think Forgotten Realms or any other setting got that much overview material during the 90s. With so much "How to run a horror game" material in both the Black and Red boxes, the designers may have felt that would be redundant for people who had ready access to the line throughout its life. Fast forward 15 years and it only looks like a problem in hindsight.

Don't give up on finding Realm of Terror, which is still the quintessential starting point for me. There are at least 3 on the first page of an eBay search and they are all priced reasonably. A Buy It Now for $10 can't go wrong!

[BedrockBrendan]

Brendan,

Don't give up on finding Realm of Terror, which is still the quintessential starting point for me. There are at least 3 on the first page of an eBay search and they are all priced reasonably. A Buy It Now for $10 can't go wrong!

Thanks. Part of the problem with purchasing Ravenloft material (and any 2E boxed set material for that matter), is a lot of people claim to sell the entire boxed set but only sell a small section of it. This happened to me on a number of occasions (though on amazon, not ebay). So there is a gamble each time you buy it. I tried to buy the red boxed set and ended up only getting the domains book. I also tried to buy Feast of Goblyns, and only ended up with the outer sleeve. In both cases the sellers claimed they thought that was all they came with (though I don't see how you can claim to sell a boxed set if you are only sending out a book). I intend to try again soon. But I think this time I will communicate with the seller first.

That said I bought a wealth of 2E ravenloft material online. I used to have an enormous Ravenloft collection but through most of it out when I needed storage space a few years ago. It was great re-exeperiencing the original material.

[Jack of Tears]

The original Black Box will always be the definitive Ravenloft for me. The red box and DoD book simply relied more on the fantasy and the idea of progressing a fantasy setting than the original material did. In fact, I have never used the Grand Conjunction or the Reqium material, as I felt it destroyed the original intent behind the game. To this day I base the vast majority of my game on the early material, (including the Forgotten Lore, Castles Forlorn and Nightmare Lands boxed sets) and ignore much of the latter stuff. (basically once the Red Box came out I stopped considering the official material ... well, official, and stuck to the earlier releases) That said, aside from the Castles Forlorn, the early printed adventures were absolute garbage and only the Van Richten's Guides and other early works held any weight for me. (I have no idea if latter adventures were more worthy of respect)

[ScS of the Fraternity]

I always liked the black box, Realm of Terror. It was my first real introduction to Ravenloft. But, all things considered, it wasn't great for a boxed set. The maps were only so-so and the card stock inserts were not particularly useful. The box was very much aligned towards a "Weekend in Hell" situation.
Domains of Dread, however, met the demand for Ravenloft as a campaign setting. I still love how much is crammed into two covers. Domains, stats, character classes and spells are all provided and indexed. Domains also introduced a number of different domains and characters that were covered in the supplementary products.
This single book opened the door for extended campaigning in Ravenloft, with unique rules for creating native characters with specialized classes. I feel that Domains was the product that took Ravenloft from a sideshow attraction to a main event.

[Jack of Tears]

I still love how much is crammed into two covers. Domains, stats, character classes and spells are all provided and indexed. Domains also introduced a number of different domains and characters that were covered in the supplementary products.
This single book opened the door for extended campaigning in Ravenloft, with unique rules for creating native characters with specialized classes. I feel that Domains was the product that took Ravenloft from a sideshow attraction to a main event.

Actually, aside from retaining the material from the Grand Conjunction - which, as I stated, I was none too fond of - I think the DoD was a fine product ... certainly not the product to launch Ravenloft, but a good book to maintain it. Indeed, as you say, having all the information from Realms of Terror and the various expansions in one book was a wonderful treat. For looking up rules, charts, and info on lords, the DoD is still a product I keep on hand. (I think the point I wanted to make with this response, other than a "me too" reply, was that - while one can prefer the Black Box over DoD, there is no reason it must be an "all or nothing" decision.)

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Indeed, I see them as complimentary... The Black Box established the tenets of the setting, DoD evolved it. Would it have been better to chop out the redundant character creation info from the PHB at the back and replace it with more "how to do horror?" maybe. Would it have been nice if the hardcover was part of a boxed set with beautiful poster maps? sure. But if you have both, you have both, and unless you're carrying your books in a backpack of non-holding, you don't have to decide on one or the other.

[Guardian of Twilight]

If I may ask... is The Red Box Islands of Terror from 2E, or another? I'm still working on getting my collection together from 2E, and would like to make sure I have all that I can. Thank you.

[Jack of Tears]

If I may ask... is The Red Box Islands of Terror from 2E, or another? I'm still working on getting my collection together from 2E, and would like to make sure I have all that I can. Thank you.

"Islands of Terror" was a book supplement put out for 2nd Edition; the Red Box Set was also second edition, but these are two separate products.

[Guardian of Twilight]

Ah, I see that now. Visited a site I like to peruse when curious, and found the one mentioned.

http://www.tsrinfo.net/archive/rv/rv.htm

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Ah, I see that now. Visited a site I like to peruse when curious, and found the one mentioned.

http://www.tsrinfo.net/archive/rv/rv.htm

As a note, we have our own list of Ravenloft products here:
http://fraternityofshadows.com/DrawingRoom.html

(It's missing the recent Kalidnay article and Histaven product, I know. I'll get them up soon.)