Quoth the Raven #31 (Halloween 2024) Reaction Thread

[Rock of the Fraternity]

I've been taking my time reading this issue and I'm still reading some parts again. But here are some appreciations for content in this issue.

[...]

Little Horrors
By Rock
I really like Rock’s alternative takes on Ravenloft/horror. I really liked the narrative and it also presents the above viewpoint very well - where the typical fantasy/narrative leans towards thrillers, Madego and the Chi-folken narrative present a dark fairy. I believe there are other dark narratives that can be played this way too. Because why not have gothic horror and your little adorbs and cutsies?

Thank you. I appreciate your kind words.

[Baron Von Stanton]

I've been taking my time reading this issue and I'm still reading some parts again. But here are some appreciations for content in this issue.

Excerpts from: “The Register of Monsters”
By Stanton F. Fink’s
I really liked the bizarre designs and stories of many of these alien-ish monsters. The standout for me is Evil Eye, because of its simplicity and the abstract suggestiveness of its artwork.

Thank you! Evil Eye was inspired by the Monster of Ravenna, and then, going through with the potato eye/evil eye visual pun, I had it surrounded by finger(ling) minions.

[doctornecrotic]

The Broken Cog
By Doctor Necrotic
I like the overall industrial era setting, and I think that the ruined Ichthyos is an amazing contrast to it. In general I like to imagine Ichthyos as an ancient Mediterranean place full of fleshy monsters that use the old ways (~magic/non-technology).
I also like the idea of a Council being the darklord of Belagora.

There is still technology in Ichthyos, in the same way that it's Shadows over Innsmouth. Everything is caked in grime, poorly handled, breaking down. Likewise, the remaining town is too poor to invest in anything better.
As for the council? I always wanted a true hivemind as a darklord. The Hive Queen and the Nightmare Court don't really count to me.

Also, to an earlier post... Yes, Twelve Monkeys is one of the inspirations for Rockbaecche.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

[...]
Also, to an earlier post... Yes, Twelve Monkeys is one of the inspirations for Rockbaecche.

Huh! I'm surprised I got that right.

[IanFordam]

Very seriously, LeMaxul, thanks for reading, and thanks for reviewing. I'm sure the other authors appreciate your feedback as much as I do.

Four Came to Melesku’ta and Thaan Fallen
By Ian Fordnam
I really liked the alternative horror provided in Four Came to Melesku’ta. There’s something really sci-fi-ish there.

One of my influences was Gamma World, so yeah, there was definitely sci-fi there in the mix.

I’m no expert on Bleutspeur, but most stuff I read tend to focus on the underground cities of mind flayers. So, I really enjoyed reading Thaan Fallen and it’s provision of the surface perspective; there’s like an entire setting’s worth of material.

Bluetspur has never been one of my favorite domains, so I set myself the challenge of finding how I could change that. I'm glad to hear that my efforts paid off for you as well.

[IanFordam]

Post Apocaloft expansion
M.T. Kelly

Confession time: I have never seen any of the Halloween movies. I did read a novelization of the first movie, but that was four decades ago. Nonetheless, I have gleaned enough of the relevant pop culture to be entertained by M.T. Kelly's Ravenloftification of the franchise. I do think that the plot summary would have benefitted from being broken into a number of subsections. However, I appreciated the "Forbidden Lore", particularly the discussion about the true darklord of Haddonfield. I would not have guessed that the question would have much room for debate, but clearly it does!

[IanFordam]

Little Horrors
Mark "Rock of the Fraternity" Bartels

Anyone who recalls The Kindergarteners' Forklift already knows, I don't mind a bit of whimsy in my Ravenloft. Given that, it's perhaps no surprise that I found "Little Horrors" utterly unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable. Will I ever use Madego as presented here in one of my campaigns? Almost certainly not, but that's just fine. I'm glad Rock wrote this article regardless.

My favorite part was the introduction, in which Rock explains why he takes funny so seriously. However, there was much else that I also enjoyed. Lupta, for one. Has there ever been a less likely deity in the Land of Mists? Also, I appreciate that G'Henna of all places has ended up feeding Madego, which in part allowed for the destruction of Falkovnia. Clearly, the Provider has risen... like leavened bread! There's a surprising amount of hope in this article, and that's an important gleam of brightness within the dark.

[Speedwagon]

Post-Apocaloft by M.T. Kelly
I've always been somewhat interested in Masque of the Red Death but it never really reached out at me in a way that drew me in. Similarly for World of Darkness and yet not the case for Call of Cthulhu and related expansions. All of this is to say that, when I first began reading this article, I was wondering how much of it I would be able to appreciate or really say anything on. I then read further and saw all of the stuff relating to Halloween and became much more hooked. While I'm quite picky with my slasher films (to my girlfriend's chagrin), I've always liked Halloween for blazing the trail and setting the trends of much of 80s slasher films (to my girlfriend's delight---she adores Halloween and has Michael Myers plushies and holds her autograph by John Carpenter to be a great accomplishment and prized possession). M. T. Kelly goes into a lot of detail on the deeper lore of the series that I only know thanks to my girlfriend rambling to me about it (I ramble about Ravenloft, she rambles about Halloween, it's a fair trade) while bringing it into Ravenloft and Masque of the Red Death. It makes for a very solid and enjoyable read, even as someone who's seen the vast majority of the franchise's films. I'd say my only gripe (and it's rich coming from me) is that I wish there were a bit more mechanical crunch so I could better pick-up and use the ideas herein. But already, I can see Haddonfield, IL, and lots of the horror in Halloween being applicable to some Domains of Dread. Farelle comes to mind, if only because of the discussion that was had about it on Discord and in the FoS forums where Ryan Naylor gave his take of it evoking a strong 2000 Maniacs, Children of the Corn and The Hills Have Eyes sort of vibe. I think I could see Michael Myers also working somewhat in that dimension. Or I could just run a Masque of the Red Death game. This article definitely influenced my opinion to do so more towards yes!


Little Horrors by Rock
I think my favorite part of this article, beyond the detail Rock gives to Madego in both crunch and fluff, is the introduction. A lot of what Rock says is something that I both strongly agree with and resonates with me. While everyone's welcome to run their Ravenloft games a certain way, I've always held myself to the idea of balancing the horror with moments of respite, of giving both great darkness and great light. It's something I also appreciate that Rock has a very good command of---both in his prior articles of the Wartorn Cluster as well as in Sarcantasy, you get a sense of where and how Rock knows what sort of vision of Ravenloft he's presenting as well as the method he portrays it. It's a lovely portrayal, and it's a vision that I overall agree with, even if there are always going to be minor variances and disagreements because I am not Rock and Rock is not me, Speedwagon. But for an issue about uprisings (which you can somewhat see already both within the article, regarding Falkovnia getting destroyed, as well as within the netbook as a whole, with the people of the Broken Cog ready to rise up and the peoples of Bluetspur and Nidala probably benefiting from an uprising if it's done correctly) and how bleak a subject matter that can be, I think this was an excellent final piece to round out issue #31. And for that, thank you Rock!

[doctornecrotic]

I'm finally finding some time to reread things over. I think I'm starting to get more of an idea on what to expand for a Gaz. Though, it'll have to go on queue as I finish stuff for Wildspace Magazine and some other things.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Time for me to sit down and give my comments on the last few entries in this year's Quoth the Raven.

Beneath the Eye of Belenus
by Speedwagon and IanFordam
&
Of Larks and Men
by IanFordam

Simply put: I deeply enjoyed these articles. Where Beneath the Eye of Belenus sets up the Shadowlands and expands on them, giving a wealth of information, including NPCs and adventure hooks, Of Larks and Men gives players a chance to put some of that material to use.

The Shadowlands are terrifying, and Beneath the Eye of Belenus shows this very well. In some ways, they are scarier than many another Cluster I might name; religious mania is some of the worst evil you can encounter, be it in real life or in a game, and Elena Strangle-hold can go toe to toe with Strahd or Azalin in sheer, gut-wrenching evil. In delusion, she's a match for Alfred Timothy or the Tepestani Inquisition.
In many ways, Elena is scarier than Ebonbane and Morgoroth. She may not be on their level where supernatural power is concerned, but unlike them she is an active leader of a nation, an organizer with multiple organizations at her beck and call, and capable of rallying men and women to her cause. Though I'm sure both Ebonbane and Morgoroth could squash Elena like an insect in a direct confrontation, therein lies the rub; they can't get at her directly, and in a proxy conflict run by agents, she just might have them beat.

I was not aware of the bargain going on between Morgoroth and the Knights of the Shadow before reading this article. It was quite chilling to see that such devout champions of Good are willing to at least partially compromise their morals, because they have no other way of battling the evil of Ebonbane.

My favourite among the various qabals mentioned in Beneath the Eye must be the Woodlarks. It has been noted before on the forum that I like using scholarly villains, but I also highly favour this kind of hero: teachers of the truth, who travel to spread the word and protect the vulnerable.
The Woodlarks are genuine heroes, trying to bring light into the world even though they are hardly equipped to face off on equal footing with Elena's lackeys, who we've already seen in Ardaghy are ready to brutalize anyone who doesn't tow the line - and ready to call anything not immediately lethal 'mercy'.

Of Larks and Men gives us a fast-paced, intense tale of adventure and woe in Nidala, as well as a chance for DMs to introduce their players to some of the dark wonders outlined in Beneath the Eye. It also gives some nice hooks for further adventures in the Cluster, which is always a big plus.

Speedwagon and Ian knocked the Shadowlands out of the park this year, and I am already curious to see what they'll bring to the table in Quoth the Raven #32!

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Post-Apocaloft Expansion
by M.T. Kelly

I am not acquainted with the Friday the 13th-franchise beyond superficial knowledge of its existence and Michael Meyers as the silent killer, but this article looks well-put together to me.

I remember liking the idea from the previous Post-Apocaloft article that the dreaded Red Death had been overtaken by history and other horrors, causing it to change into the Neo Red Death. Still, it suits the setting that the exiled Dark Power's evil is nor entirely gone, nor is its empowerment of villains.
The series of small domains, centered around the iconic villains of various slasher franchises, is clever, and offers opportunity to adopt many popular franchises to Ravenloft.

As I've already said, I am not familiar with the deep lore of Friday the 13th, but the background you gave - and which I assume ties into the plot of the movies - is good stuff and offers plenty of detail. That the identity of the Haddonfield Darklord is in question suits the article; though I usually like to be certain where a domain's evil comes from, the fact that Thorn has been affecting Michael (and now possibly Dr. Loomis as well) casts some doubt on him being responsible for everything that has gone wrong in this domain.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Little Horrors
Mark "Rock of the Fraternity" Bartels

Anyone who recalls The Kindergarteners' Forklift already knows, I don't mind a bit of whimsy in my Ravenloft. Given that, it's perhaps no surprise that I found "Little Horrors" utterly unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable. Will I ever use Madego as presented here in one of my campaigns? Almost certainly not, but that's just fine. I'm glad Rock wrote this article regardless.

I'm afraid that I'm not familiar with the Kindergarteners' Forklift. Would you please tell me more?

My favorite part was the introduction, in which Rock explains why he takes funny so seriously.

Much obliged. ^_^

However, there was much else that I also enjoyed. Lupta, for one. Has there ever been a less likely deity in the Land of Mists?

Lupta's deification is a case of mistaken identity and hilariously good or bad timing, depending on your point of view, which suits me fine. Ravenloft has plenty of dark gods and dreadful gods and compromised gods, but Lupta's church is all about celebration and good food. She's the kind of goddess that would appeal to the Chi-Folken.

Also, I appreciate that G'Henna of all places has ended up feeding Madego, which in part allowed for the destruction of Falkovnia. Clearly, the Provider has risen... like leavened bread! There's a surprising amount of hope in this article, and that's an important gleam of brightness within the dark.

In the current Core, the Shadow Rift is the black and aching hole where the land's heart used to be; the heart that was ripped out by the Grand Conjunction. When G'Henna was still in place, it was the Core's starving and maddened heart. What better place for Madego to pull away from pointless imitation of the Core, than at its heart?
(I really like that 'risen like leavened bread'-line. )

[Rock of the Fraternity]

[...]

Little Horrors by Rock
I think my favorite part of this article, beyond the detail Rock gives to Madego in both crunch and fluff, is the introduction. A lot of what Rock says is something that I both strongly agree with and resonates with me. While everyone's welcome to run their Ravenloft games a certain way, I've always held myself to the idea of balancing the horror with moments of respite, of giving both great darkness and great light. It's something I also appreciate that Rock has a very good command of---both in his prior articles of the Wartorn Cluster as well as in Sarcantasy, you get a sense of where and how Rock knows what sort of vision of Ravenloft he's presenting as well as the method he portrays it. It's a lovely portrayal, and it's a vision that I overall agree with, even if there are always going to be minor variances and disagreements because I am not Rock and Rock is not me, Speedwagon.

I am glad that my intro is so well-received. You always put yourself out there when you write things for others to read, but this intro is more than Ravenloft gaming material, it is my motivation for many of my contributions. To know others appreciate it is very good.

But for an issue about uprisings (which you can somewhat see already both within the article, regarding Falkovnia getting destroyed, as well as within the netbook as a whole, with the people of the Broken Cog ready to rise up and the peoples of Bluetspur and Nidala probably benefiting from an uprising if it's done correctly) and how bleak a subject matter that can be, I think this was an excellent final piece to round out issue #31. And for that, thank you Rock!

And I thank you for reading and commenting. ^_^ No matter what Dracula said, to someone who writes and draws, it is the comments that are the life.

[IanFordam]

I'm afraid that I'm not familiar with the Kindergarteners' Forklift. Would you please tell me more?

Happy to oblige! See viewtopic.php?p=252153#p252153

[Rock of the Fraternity]

I'm afraid that I'm not familiar with the Kindergarteners' Forklift. Would you please tell me more?

Happy to oblige! See viewtopic.php?p=252153#p252153

Oh, my...! That poor machine. ^^;