It is back!!! What we do know about VR Guide to Ravenloft?

[Zilfer]

Listening to Wes Schneider's interviews has me a bit more excited about the product. You can tell he's really excited about the product. While I still dislike the changes to some extent, I have to admit there are some interesting things there. Dementlieu's changes sound quite interesting, though I have to agree w/ Gonzoron that it sucks that it had to be Dementlieu. And yes, the pronunciations made my bilingual Quebecois brain hurt.

I am interested about what Zilfer mentioned about these playthroughs he listened to from Black Dice Society, esp as relates to Azalin. Do you know if it was canon form VRGtR that he is no longer Darklord, or was this just something this group had as their own storyline? If Azalin is no longer a Darklord, I will be mucho sad

I'll be interested in listening to each week's podcast to see what domain is next.

While I cannot confirm the status of Azalin as a Darklord or if he's doing some funny trick with Strahd being in the book, I can officially after having watched there aftershow confirm that the Carnival is it's own Domain. It still moves around other domains itself but according to the aftershow it is in the book and it's own domain. They did mention they are in this funny situation where they can't talk about the book but are also showcasing the book with an NDA. So like they can and can't share specific parts of it but obviously more parts are going to come out during play of the game. I'll try to keep people informed on what happens in game that I catch as canon, though I may just do cliff notes here and expand more in the other topic that is about the Black Dice Society.

As of currently we don't know if the party in the Carnival is still in Borca or another domain whenever they are leaving the carnival's edges.

VIEW CONTENT:

(Needless to say it almost seems like they may get into a fight with Professor Pecali here shortly)

[Mephisto of the FoS]

If Azalin is no longer a Darklord

If he is not I would guess it would be because he almost destroyed the Demiplane and the DP decided to let this one go... (roaming the countryside like Gundar) or maybe he became the DP .

I will be mucho sad .

Yes I (dis)like him too, he was badass before but then he became a mass murderer for an experiment that didn't even work... or partially worked... This is some really evil stuff (Lisa Smedman one of my favourite Ravenloft game designers wrote the adventure trilogy. But she made a mistake with Vito Romenza, I am fixing this for this year's QtR).

[FiranDarcalus]

Listening to Wes Schneider's interviews has me a bit more excited about the product. You can tell he's really excited about the product. While I still dislike the changes to some extent, I have to admit there are some interesting things there. Dementlieu's changes sound quite interesting, though I have to agree w/ Gonzoron that it sucks that it had to be Dementlieu. And yes, the pronunciations made my bilingual Quebecois brain hurt.

I am interested about what Zilfer mentioned about these playthroughs he listened to from Black Dice Society, esp as relates to Azalin. Do you know if it was canon form VRGtR that he is no longer Darklord, or was this just something this group had as their own storyline? If Azalin is no longer a Darklord, I will be mucho sad

I'll be interested in listening to each week's podcast to see what domain is next.

While I cannot confirm the status of Azalin as a Darklord or if he's doing some funny trick with Strahd being in the book, I can officially after having watched there aftershow confirm that the Carnival is it's own Domain. It still moves around other domains itself but according to the aftershow it is in the book and it's own domain. They did mention they are in this funny situation where they can't talk about the book but are also showcasing the book with an NDA. So like they can and can't share specific parts of it but obviously more parts are going to come out during play of the game. I'll try to keep people informed on what happens in game that I catch as canon, though I may just do cliff notes here and expand more in the other topic that is about the Black Dice Society.

As of currently we don't know if the party in the Carnival is still in Borca or another domain whenever they are leaving the carnival's edges.

VIEW CONTENT:

(Needless to say it almost seems like they may get into a fight with Professor Pecali here shortly)

Interesting...if Carnival is now a domain, that leads to the question have they made Isolde an evil darklord? That would be a shame. She had a pretty cool storyline. Also wonder if since she's there, if the Gentleman Caller is still a player.

Maybe I'll take a listen to their game threads.

[FiranDarcalus]

If Azalin is no longer a Darklord

If he is not I would guess it would be because he almost destroyed the Demiplane and the DP decided to let this one go... (roaming the countryside like Gundar) or maybe he became the DP .

I will be mucho sad .

Yes I (dis)like him too, he was badass before but then he became a mass murderer for an experiment that didn't even work... or partially worked... This is some really evil stuff (Lisa Smedman one of my favourite Ravenloft game designers wrote the adventure trilogy. But she made a mistake with Vito Romenza, I am fixing this for this year's QtR).

I actually have pretty fond memories of playing the final adventure in the trilogy. My friend was DM at the time & it was myself & two of my buddies playing in the basement of his house with an actual fireplace going as the only light source we had. We were totally shocked when we woke up in Il Aluk after the Doomsday device exploded and we realized we were now undead. The idea was cool, implementation not so much. I've always had a soft spot for Death, though I totally get why lots of people think he's lame. I actually still have Death Triumphant sitting in my closet still (not sure what happened to the rest of the boxed set). Lost a ton of my Ravenloft stuff after I moved from my childhood home in '99, but somehow that, Chilling Tales & Domains of Dread survived. Ah, the good old days.

Look forward to reading the re-writeup for Vito.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

The idea was cool, implementation not so much.

I agree it has many mistakes but in general the whole concept was really good and it made so many drastic changes to the Core.

Lost a ton of my Ravenloft stuff after I moved from my childhood home in '99, but somehow that, Chilling Tales & Domains of Dread survived. Ah, the good old days.

That sucks... I kind of know the feeling, the two largest G.I.Joe vehicles I had and an Atari 2600 in perfect condition were lost when they moved out from the house I grew up to (my appartment then was 12 sq.meters / 129 sq. feet so there was no space for them when I moved out). It's a shame cause being unemployed the first months of the pandemic I managed to get by, by selling G.I.Joes.

Look forward to reading the re-writeup for Vito.

It wasn't intentionally, somehow I was lead there by what I 've been writing, like being lead to him by that string divination trick he does. Well... I have a pretty good explenation for his card reading (though admittedly far-fetched, so don't keep your hopes up ) ...and no he is not another Dukkar.

VIEW CONTENT:

Though related to one...

[Zilfer]

^I actually wrapped up a campaign that was based off that trilogy loosely. The Party ended up helping gather up the pieces of Azalin souls while the horsement where hunting them down. The party didn't know the significance of the 'red fiery eyed zombies' at the beginning of the game but as it progressed more and more and Tavelia's plans to control Azalin and Death's plans to kill him permanently became more and more obvious. I also had a dead man's campaign happening to the south to give the feel of apocalyptic times, I can't remember if that was in the module or not. Again it was only veeeery loosely based on it. More taking the idea and making my own campaign.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

^I actually wrapped up a campaign that was based off that trilogy loosely. The Party ended up helping gather up the pieces of Azalin souls while the horsement where hunting them down. The party didn't know the significance of the 'red fiery eyed zombies' at the beginning of the game but as it progressed more and more and Tavelia's plans to control Azalin and Death's plans to kill him permanently became more and more obvious. I also had a dead man's campaign happening to the south to give the feel of apocalyptic times, I can't remember if that was in the module or not. Again it was only veeeery loosely based on it. More taking the idea and making my own campaign.

Death Undaunted (unfinished manuscript) By: John W Mangrum Based on an outline written by Steve Miller and Cindi Rice.
As unveiled by JWM during September 2006 at the FoS – http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/Library.html

[Five]

Can anybody clarify the number of domains in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft?

I've read it features over 30 domains (dndbeyond article) and I've read it highlights well over a dozen (dragonmag article, with quotes). While both statements may be true (30+ -is- a higher number than 12+), the base numbers themselves that were thrown out are vastly different when it comes to product hype. Odd difference to say the least.

Misspeak? Technical BS?

[HyperionSol]

A lot of the changes can be disappointing, but in many ways we can make them work. If not, 5-Minute Workday has an excellent supplement of bringing old Darklords into 5e.

As for new Darklords coming out, in terms of canon and lore, it would inevitably happen. I mean, time still keeps moving on and despite the Dark Powers meddling in some cases, the Darklords, especially the human ones just keep aging. Vlad Drakov was, what, in his 90's by the last major setting release, but still looked and fought like a man in his sixties or younger? He was still aging and with his style of rule, it wouldn't have been a stretch for one of his many offspring to decide to overthrow him. It would take someone just as evil as he is to make it happen and when they tried to succeed where he failed, perhaps by harnessing the undead themselves, it shaped Falkovnia to reflect them as a new Darklord.

The same could be said for Dementlieu. With how the politics and backstabbing and spying went on, second only to Borca's politics, it really would be a matter of time before Dominic was brought down. Especially since his focus was put more on his rivalry with the Brain. In this case, it seems like one of his relatives took over after someone killed him. It may seem unlikely, with Dominic's network of Obedient, but if someone just as evil, or more evil than the Darklord appears, the Dark Powers start paying attention to see who deserves the Domain more. A rare exception is the Dark Twins of Borca, who only fuel each other's curse.

As for others, like replacing Adam and Victor Mordenheim if I saw correctly, that...I can't reconcile with. From what I read, both of them are effectively immortal so long as the other lives, aren't they? I can see them as maybe being proto-Darklords, perhaps an apprentice to Victor and an attempt to make Adam a bride, like out of Bride of Frankenstein, but I don't see the original lords of Lamordia being replaced.

The drifting domains bit, well, I'm not too thrilled about it, but I can see how to make it work. The Cluster of the Core and others are landmasses as far as the people who live INSIDE of Ravenloft are concerned. No one ever heard of a drifting landmass being isolated inside a world of fog. To those wise to the metaphysics of the planes and such, each land in Ravenloft is essentially its own plane. So to bring logic to their world, the people made their maps, identified clusters, and considered the world they live in to be a real world. The Dark Powers encourage this, allowing travel between the lands, making them appear connected by stepping through the fog at certain borders, and even giving glimpses if the barriers aren't up, giving the Darklords hope that there is a world beyond their borders, especially the ones like Azalin and Strahd who seek to escape, or more to conquer or control for those who seek more power.

While VRGtR may not be one hundred percent faithful to the original Ravenloft settings, we all had to expect there were going to be changes since culture and society changed since it was last released. Still, I'm going to buy this book and I am sure I will enjoy it. For the parts that I don't, I will do what any D&D player will do and keep the parts I like and leave out or change the parts I don't. That's one of the things which keeps me coming back to TTRPG games.

[Igor the Henchman]

The latest Adventurers League storyline is set to take place in Ravenloft. One detail caught my interest: the characters have to be natives of one of the Domains of Dread. This implies that the new setting is meant for more campaign styles than just Weekend in Hell. I hope it's true, even though at the same time they're removing the Core and making the domains less hospitable so the players will want to escape. So I'm definitely getting mixed signals now about what the setting tries to do.

[Five]

Star Wars: A New Hope?

Different domains/islands instead of different planets? Some sort of Mist boat/vehicle? Kinda cool concept (that I wouldn't use but would enjoy thinking about). Providence instead of the Falcon or Enterprise...?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Some sort of Mist boat/vehicle?

Now you're reminding of the "Avalon arc" of Gargoyles. That is not a bad thing...

[Igor the Henchman]

I hope the book provides new rules for how teleportation and scrying magic works between different domains. Naturally we want the PCs to feel trapped, but on the other hand these kinds of abilities give high-level D&D much of its uniqueness and charm.

[FiranDarcalus]

Hi guys, new podcast update interview w/ Wes Schneider about VRGtR. He talked about Hazlan today.

Here's some highlights (sorry I don't have a link, I listened to it as a podcast):

Hazlan now is a magocracy. Hazlik seems to have multiple apprentices that he uses and abuses & they all try to please him
Didn't sound like there is anything about Mulan & Rashemi (guess they scrapped it)
Basically, the domain is sort of like magic gone horribly wrong and destroying the place
Mentioned a part of the domain called The Seething (where that part of the map is literally crumbling into nothingness)
The lacuna sp? (the mists are rising up and devouring the land from within)
Giant sigils in some areas
A petrified forest
Place where meteors crash from the sky
Definitely does not sound like any kind of semblance of reason vibe would work here!!
Towns don't have enough food/water, etc except for Hazlik and his wizard apprentices
The part that really disappointed me is Hazlik's curse. It's basically Azalin's curse. He cannot learn new spells anymore. So his apprentices are actually more powerful than him so he plays them against each other to keep an advantage over them. That was weird to be honest. Not sure why they gave him part of Azalin's curse.
Also, and this was kind of cool, he ensures that his apprentices have the same tattoos as he does because he can see through those tattoos, sort of like a big brother 1984 vibe I guess. At least that's how I understood it.

That's about it. I don't think I missed anything. Not crazy about these changes to be honest. Maybe one of you can listen to it at some point and see if I missed anything.

[Zilfer]

Trying to find it but not sure where it would be. Interested in listening to it if anyone finds it.

Edit: Think it is this one.

https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/featur ... now-hazlan


He briefly talks about Dark Powers, and it sounds like they kept it up to the DM. It sounds like they give you some possibilities the Dark Powers may be (and possible agendas. One of them is you ignore answering the question it sounds like). (Retcon of the Amber Temple?)