What Darklords Should Go?

[Isabella]

It's true that there's some overlap, but I think the difference in their attitudes makes them different enough (just) to keep both. Lukas is a predatory animal who's learned to turn human assets and sins -- cunning and charm, treachery and cruelty -- against people, and he loves being a monster in human guise. Von Kharkov is an animal who was forced to be a man, and became addicted to it, yet couldn't bear to forfeit the beastial pleasures and savagery of his panther origins. He hates the animal lurking within himself, which makes him pathetic in a way that Lukas smugly refuses to be.

If anything, IMO, Von Kharkov has more in common with Adam than with Lukas. Neither can be as "human" as he wants, and neither really cares to forfeit the freedom from moral accountability that being a "monster" supposedly grants him.

Von Kharkhov always seemed to overlap too much for me - his control freak nature reminds me of Azalin and Dominic D'honaire, his brutal "big brother" state mirrors Falkovnia and Darkon, his self-loathing over his monstrous side is too like Adam... all of which could have been forgiven if Valachan really called out to me as a domain but it never really caught my eye. I threw in a bit of South American flavor instead, with Von Kharkhov determined to "civilize" his country when he can't even civilize himself - in the end, VK remained much the same, but it helped me visualize the domain better (and S. American architecture is much cooler than log cabins).

Ivan has made too many enemies. He's living on borrowed time (figuratively, not the poison of the same name he makes). Ratik Ubel from VRGtt Walking Dead seems like the vehicle of his imminent demise; a creature immune to his powers, able to stand against his guards, and who has a reason to want him dead.

Well, that's the problem with Borca. The entire domain is beautifully set up that the whole rotten system is eating itself apart from the inside, and if either of the two horrible people in charge dies the entire system will collapse like a soggy gingerbread house. Menawhile, the two darklords themselves are trying to kill each other, making hundreds of enemies, and neither of them has any kind of supernatural resilience. It's only a matter of time before Borca is either crushed or self-destructs... but then you can't use Borca anymore and Borca's a good domain.
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After fixing Easan the Mad I'd like to say that no Darklord is unsalvageable, even the crappy island of terror ones that have two sentances of cannon information on them, but King Crocodile just bores the snot out of me. He does what, exactly? Eats things? And his curse is that someday he's going to die? Okay, let's do that and get a real darklord in there. (I have some ideas on the subject that I'm going to keep mum just now.)

[Nathan of the FoS]

Davion the Mad must die.

Again, and again, and again.

And again.

...

(I think that covers it.)

[steveflam]

Er my two cents here. Does anyone else think Azrael is a lousy DL? I Know Lord Soth pretty much had lost interest in Sithicus, but that doesn't mean that he could return or in your "Ravenloft" he could be your Darklord of Sithicus. I won't say too much because I do have a game going on here right now, but I'm just throwing it out there

[High Priest Mikhal]

Well, that's the problem with Borca. The entire domain is beautifully set up that the whole rotten system is eating itself apart from the inside, and if either of the two horrible people in charge dies the entire system will collapse like a soggy gingerbread house.

That's as well as maybe. But quoting from the Ravenloft Gazetteer IV, "If Ivan Dilisnya dies, laws would stabilize and the commoners' lives would likely improve, strengthening Ivana Boritsi's rule. Without Ivan's treacherous diplomacy, however, Borca's borders would be far more vulnerable to its foes."

The last sentence only applies to worlds where the normal rules apply; remember this is Ravenloft and darklords are the ultimate masters of their domains. Ivana would simply have to close her domain's borders to kill off an invading army before it could get started. Ivana seems well aware of her abilities and won't hesitate to use them. Then there are her emordenung assassins who could take out troublesome infiltrators. If she was the sole ruler than aides would take over the actual rule while she drowns her sorrows. Borca wouldn't exactly suffer if they lost Ivan.

Azrael isn't the DL of Sithicus. Inza Kulchevich is. I'd say she's earned her title, but even she needs more fleshing out.

Crocodile is one I have to agree with Isabella on. His curse is to be hunted and killed by humans? What, is he going to spend eternity on someone's stinky feet as boots?

[steveflam]

Sorry bout that. I just prefer Soth over whomever is there. Old School thing, really

[Nikolas of the Mists]

The one DL that has always intrigued (and bothered me to some extent) has been the God Brain of Bluetspur.

I mean the domain before the upheaval was right smack dab in the middle of the core, which means someone in development had to have something greater planned for it -- at least more than we ever saw. Guessing whatever those plans were got shot down and with the upheaval the God Brain got tossed out of the core and onto an island.

It's not so much that it exists, rather that we don't know how or why he became the dreadlord, and what the DPs cursed him with.

[steveflam]

Try to DM THoughts of Darkness its a hard game for pc's!

[High Priest Mikhal]

It's not so much that it exists, rather that we don't know how or why he became the dreadlord, and what the DPs cursed him with.

I can't say why it was cursed, but I'd always heard it was cursed to live life precariously through others, never able to experience anything itself. That's a pretty lame curse for an elder brain, so I've always thought it was something else first--a humanoid who wanted awesome psionic power and got it, but was cursed to never be able to use that power as it had intended.

And no prob on Soth, Tarlyn. Truth be told I kinda miss him myself. But then Inza is a lot more active (and easier to run), so I make the best I can. But I still wonder what curse Azrael would have had as a DL. He wants to be a darklord. Or is denying him that right his curse?

[Isabella]

He wants to be a darklord. Or is denying him that right his curse?

Yes.

[cure]

Losing the demon infused mad elf on the other side of the Noctural Sea would not be a bad thing.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Well, when(ever) the Nocturnal Sea netbook comes out, hopefully you'll be pleased with how we've tried to make Easan and others from the region a bit more palatable/useful. FWIW, Jester in particular made "lame darklord salvage operations" an important priority, while working on Liffe.

I agree about King Crocodile, FWIW, but the God-Brain is tolerable if you adopt the netbook version of its backstory.

[Nikolas of the Mists]

Try to DM Thoughts of Darkness its a hard game for pc's!

I have DMd it twice in AD&D, twice with my own revision of it in d20, and I am in the process of updating it again in 4E for a convention in April next year where I will run it once or twice over the course of event.

As for the difficulty of the module I have run it in a couple of different level brackets (7-9)(9-12) and the AD&D standard of (12-15). Because you're dealing with the slavestock and servants more often than the Illithids in the scripted encounters it's really easy to scale up or down the difficulty level.

It's a real fun adventure to GM, because it is as much an adventure to mess with the player's heads as it is the PCs

[Isabella]

Well, when(ever) the Nocturnal Sea netbook comes out, hopefully you'll be pleased with how we've tried to make Easan and others from the region a bit more palatable/useful.

I am constantly wondering how that Dread Possibility I sent in will even work with the new Easan the Mad backstory.

[lostboy]

...but King Crocodile just bores the snot out of me. He does what, exactly? Eats things? And his curse is that someday he's going to die? Okay, let's do that and get a real darklord in there. (I have some ideas on the subject that I'm going to keep mum just now.)

Dont everyone go mental but does that description sound like another IoT DL, a certain Arijani?

Don't get me wrong Arijani is one fo my favourite DL and he has an excellent backstory, and is a great badass character, but what exactly does he do? Unless I've missed anything, as far as I can tell he eats stuff and looks for Ravanna's Bane, or actually no he doesnt, he gets the dark sisters to look for it. As written there is no motivation in his character to do.... well anything really, providing the sacrifices keep coming he can just sit around and worry about silver crossbow bolts.

And this really bugs me, enough that Im starting reworking the entire domain and adding some stuff in to get Arijani off his ass and do something about (did someone say civil war?).

[NeoTiamat]

Hrm. I generally despise most of the people mentioned here. Von Kharkov just kind of bores me, Azrael/Inza also.

But the Darklord I always felt was a waste of a perfectly good domain was Malken. At least in Gaz V, Nova Vaasa has this incredible Ivan-the-Terrible vibe going with Othmar Bolshnik and his black caps. It really feels like a dark version of Russia, which as a Russian I like, and its Darklord....

.....is a pretty mediocre Jekyll & Hyde villain.

I dunno. Malken does nothing, his 'criminal empire' feels a little shoehorned in, his serial-killer aspect is nowhere near what the Midnight Slasher or Bloody Jack can do, and he doesn't really do anything.

Othmar Bolshnik at least has his mad autocrat credentials nicely polished, while at the same time being much more intelligent than Vlad Drakov and much more lethal. (The man has managed to grab power on his own and hold it for decades.)