The Trouble with Sri Raji

[IanFordam]

That is impossible though, Jeremy. And furthermore, I disagree with the view that since it is the only Hindu domain, it should be jampacked to the brim with exotic wonders. Ravenloft is about gothic horror, in my opinion. An exotic twist is useful and entertaining, but it is not a tourist or anthropologist game. A few things that are useful for the adventure and to show how things are there is (again in my opinion) more than enough.

I think that any fan-made gazetteer should be slightly overstuffed, just to give the reader plenty of material to pick and choose from. Not every possibility, dread or otherwise, will work for every group. Jeremy looks for a more pervasive sense of wonder than I do. There's nothing wrong with that. I suspect your games are more gothic than mine. There's nothing wrong with that either! Ravenloft being Ravenloft, I would expect to find fewer marvels and more creepiness, but I feel that a good adventure will support both. Occasionally you've gotta remind the PCs and their players why the world is worth saving.

That said, I appreciate the reminder that Sri Raji is much smaller than India. We shouldn't expect to be able to fit everything in.

Just my pair of pennies.

[IanFordam]

Bonus Issues:

1) The Moon (Or Lack Thereof) – Can we just ignore this? I see no in-story or practical reason why this domain should have no moon. I think this aspect was first mentioned in Web of Illusion, but the only other product I'm aware of that references it is Carnival (in the background section for the Hideous Man-Beast).

Why is this even a thing? Was it an attempt to distinguish weretigers from werewolves? Was it used to make the jungle darker and more dangerous? I just don't get it. What purpose does it serve besides making connections to other lands that much more complicated?

My suggestion would be to say the domain as originally formed had no moon (this would account for its lack in Web of Illusion) but once it joined up with and created a cluster with Saragoss and the Wildlands the moon suddenly appeared in the sky. Alternately, the Grand Conjunction could be blamed.

"Praise the gods! Chandra has returned!"

2) Lord Arijani's Anti-Social Habits – In Web of Illusion this Darklord is saddled with two distinguishing features – he fears all outsiders and orders them to be seized and killed immediately, and he must eat one person a day to feed his demonic hunger.

The one-person-a-day thing is handled pretty well and survived into 3e, but his xenophobia poses a more difficult problem. Such as, how have so many explorers come and gone and survived to tell the tale? Killing all outsiders kinda makes it hard for anyone to visit and experience all this land has to offer.

I believe this stance should be softened, and the authors of the RLDMG seem to agree, as it was not mentioned in the domain write-up (correct me if I'm wrong). It would be pretty easy to suggest that Arijan's attention has been drawn elsewhere to explain why this is no longer such an obsession with him.

Ravenloft Campaign Setting asserts on p.162, "It remains to be seen when the Maharaja will turn his awful attention to these outsiders" from the Core. Given that, Arijani seems much less concerned about foreigners than he once was.

The whole eats-one-person-per-day thing bothers me a bit, but less so upon rereading the relevant section of Web of Illusion. I had been under the impression that there was an ongoing procession of albino elephants carrying victims to Bahru, which rather implied to me that all priestesses of Kali have at least one level in the Logistician prestige class. Oddly, I have an easier time with a magic elephant ride occurring on a daily basis.

[alhoon]

I suspect your games are more gothic than mine. There's nothing wrong with that either!

I wouldn't be so sure about that; I talk about gothic horror and I use elements in my game, but I am not a hardcore gothic horror DM. I put a lot of traditional D&D tropes in my games.

[IanFordam]

I wouldn't be so sure about that; I talk about gothic horror and I use elements in my game, but I am not a hardcore gothic horror DM. I put a lot of traditional D&D tropes in my games.

I stand corrected!

[Jeremy16]

While I agree with you on a technical level, I don't think this view is useful in a meta-game sense.

Sri Raji is ostenably the only Indian/Hindu domain PCs will ever visit within the Demiplane, and as such it should be filled with as many exotic wonders as can be packed in.

That is impossible though, Jeremy. And furthermore, I disagree with the view that since it is the only Hindu domain, it should be jampacked to the brim with exotic wonders. Ravenloft is about gothic horror, in my opinion. An exotic twist is useful and entertaining, but it is not a tourist or anthropologist game. A few things that are useful for the adventure and to show how things are there is (again in my opinion) more than enough.

Saying "filled with as many exotic wonders as can be packed in" may have been an overstatement that I meant more figuratively than literally, but my point is the same: Sri Raji should incorporate and reflect more of the Hindu culture it is based on in order to really shine.

I don't want to get too sidetracked by debating the differences between gothic horror and fantasy horror, but I would like to point out that there's plenty of canon domains with origins outside of the gothic milieu - Drakov's Falkovnia, Jacqueline Renier's Richemulot, The God-Brain's Bluetspur. So, saying Sri Raji can't have nice things such as exotic temples, a robust pantheon to worship, and vibrant cultural touchpoints because we have to keep it locked up in a straightjacket of gothic horror seems short-sighted.

P.S. - More musings re: gothic horror vs. fantasy horror... One of the tropes of gothic novels is the presence of the outre or strange, the sense that something isn't right or doesn't belong. But if done right, Sri Raji could turn that concept on its head while preserving that sense of foreboding. You could get just as much mileage out of the PCs being the ones that don't belong because its culture is so foreign to them and they always feel out of step!

[Jeremy16]

The whole eats-one-person-per-day thing bothers me a bit, but less so upon rereading the relevant section of Web of Illusion. I had been under the impression that there was an ongoing procession of albino elephants carrying victims to Bahru, which rather implied to me that all priestesses of Kali have at least one level in the Logistician prestige class. Oddly, I have an easier time with a magic elephant ride occurring on a daily basis.

I don't want to be that guy, but I feel like if Lord Arijani really did eat one person a day that the three villages in the domain (even if they do rotate duties) would soon be decimated.

I was thinking of easing up his need for human flesh to once a month (or maybe, one for each day of the full moon) so as to make it more "realistic." It would be easy enough to write off the whole eats-one-person-a-day to propaganda created to make the Sri Rajians seem more barbaric to outsiders.

[Mistmaster]

My Sri Raji being very populated, this problem is not existant. The perks of playing in a full sized material plane. I agree with Ian, gazetters should be the fullest possible of options. Everyone can then decide what to keep and what to leave out.

[IanFordam]

I don't want to be that guy, but I feel like if Lord Arijani really did eat one person a day that the three villages in the domain (even if they do rotate duties) would soon be decimated.

I was thinking of easing up his need for human flesh to once a month (or maybe, one for each day of the full moon) so as to make it more "realistic." It would be easy enough to write off the whole eats-one-person-a-day to propaganda created to make the Sri Rajians seem more barbaric to outsiders.

I came dangerously close to worrying about that same thing, but then I remembered that the Domains of Dread would be virtually empty if we start worrying about realistic predator/prey ratios.

That said, I personally have no issue with reducing how often Arijani needs to feed. However, to compensate I do feel that his curse should become worse in some other way. Just off the top of my head: Perhaps he fell in love (as much as a rakshasa can) with one of his victims, and he was on the verge of freeing her when the hunger struck. Nowadays his victims have a nasty habit of sometimes taking on her appearance, at least to his perception. He knows it's just maya, but it torments him nonetheless.

[IanFordam]

To return for a moment to an earlier point...

2) Lord Arijani's Anti-Social Habits – In Web of Illusion this Darklord is saddled with two distinguishing features – he fears all outsiders and orders them to be seized and killed immediately, and he must eat one person a day to feed his demonic hunger.

The one-person-a-day thing is handled pretty well and survived into 3e, but his xenophobia poses a more difficult problem. Such as, how have so many explorers come and gone and survived to tell the tale? Killing all outsiders kinda makes it hard for anyone to visit and experience all this land has to offer.

I believe this stance should be softened, and the authors of the RLDMG seem to agree, as it was not mentioned in the domain write-up (correct me if I'm wrong). It would be pretty easy to suggest that Arijan's attention has been drawn elsewhere to explain why this is no longer such an obsession with him.

After rereading Web of Illusion, I understand better why Arijani is portrayed as so hostile to outsiders. Ravana granted him the boon of being immune to harm by rakshasas, which is very much in keeping with Hindu tales. Somehow that boon has expanded into being immune to harm by anyone native to Sri Raji. Assuming that he knows this, of course he's going to seek to have foreigners killed.

Why did his protection expand? And how does he know what the limits are? That is, how does he know that no natives can harm him yet any outsider can?

I'd far rather have Sri Raji a place where traders can conduct their business and where foreign students can study at the University of Tvashti, but these questions have been nagging at me.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

if Lord Arijani really did eat one person a day that the three villages in the domain (even if they do rotate duties) would soon be decimated.

It would be easy enough to write off the whole eats-one-person-a-day to propaganda created to make the Sri Rajians seem more barbaric to outsiders.

I like this.

[alhoon]

I agree, this could serve as a good rumor that is not true.
I would also strongly tone down the xenophobia.

[IanFordam]

Web of Illusion makes reference on p.10 to a "city map of Pakat". Was that map actually included with the module? I bought my copy used, and it doesn't include one.

[Jeremy16]

Web of Illusion makes reference on p.10 to a "city map of Pakat". Was that map actually included with the module? I bought my copy used, and it doesn't include one.

I'll take a look after I dig my copy out of storage and report back...

[Jeremy16]

The only map I have from Web of Illusion is one that shows Sri Raji in detail and an inside/outside view of Mahakala that I believe is an exact copy of the cardstock map included in the Black Box. No detailed view of any of the cities.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

The only map I have from Web of Illusion is one that shows Sri Raji in detail and an inside/outside view of Mahakala that I believe is an exact copy of the cardstock map included in the Black Box. No detailed view of any of the cities.

Yes this is how I remember it to. The whole adventure is filled with directions on how to run the encounters leaving the DM to do the job of creating/designing them. I guess the same goes for the map. Maybe it was left out during editing because of space.