Van Richten and The Time Of Unparalleled Darkness

[Stygian Inquirer]

I would also like to see it. If you could send it my way too, whenever it is ready, that would be great. My email is stygiansalt@gmail.com.

[The Giamarga]

Why not make it available on the site?

[Boccaccio Barbarossa]

Why not make it available on the site?

Amen! That sounds like some good reading right there!

[Willowhugger]

Why not make it available on the site?

Amen! That sounds like some good reading right there!

Okay day.

Though I do need one bit of help for the 'clean up.'

What year was it supposed to be in?

[Seamus]

775 Barovian Calendar

[Mortepierre]

Yeah! Ravenloft: War of Souls!

Given that DL trilogy robbed us of Lord Soth, I don't find the comparison amusing..

[Le Noir Faineant]

Yeah! Ravenloft: War of Souls!

Given that DL trilogy robbed us of Lord Soth, I don't find the comparison amusing..

Having become my universal denomination for hasty, pseudo-cataclysmic and money-hungry sequel-writing, War of Souls was indeed one of the worst books I ever read and destroyed the flair of DL completely, IMO.

There are a dozen settings I would like to see revived, but really, better be forgotten, than revamped like DL...

Anyone who now mourns about RL's end, consider this.

[Willowhugger]

To the War of Souls credit...

It was a work designed to bring Dragonlance largely back to Status Quo.

For breaking every law of logic to undo Dragons of a Summer Flame and its Sequels...

It largely succeeded.

[monty--]

I'm a big DL fan but even I had to say that from 'Dragons Of Summer Flame' onwards, it just turned rubbish. The ending to 'Dragons Of A Vanished Moon' is unforgivable. It stinks of a cash in and exploits the loyalty of DL fans everywhere. I was disgusted. Spoiler, I know, but you need to be warned before you part with your hard earned cash.

Having said that, I'd like to give a big THANK YOU to Willowhugger. I started this thread over a year ago due to frustration towards the creators of Ravenloft . They implanted a fantastic idea into DoD which suggested to me that there would be an upcoming campaign/boxed set. I looked forward to this the same way a kid looks forward to Christmas morning. Year after year, nothing. Then I buy the a PC to access the internet and what do I find? The idea for The TOUD was just to stimulate creative minds. I was more than disappointed. I considered it an opt out from Steve Miller et al (sorry Steve!)

Then a creative mind comes along with an idea so good, I consider this idea 'canon'! I'm using it once I get to grips with the story. Heck, I'm half tempted to write a novel about it.

Thanks Willowhugger! You've done me a great favour!!

[Steve Miller]

The idea for The TOUD was just to stimulate creative minds. I was more than disappointed. I considered it an opt out from Steve Miller et al (sorry Steve!)

*shrug*

I've never believed in spoonfeeding when it comes to campaign settings. What Willowhugger did was exactly what the ToUD concept was always intended to bring about.

DoD NEVER said there was a boxed set coming, and even when I wanted to use the ToUD as the touchstone for the product that became "Die Vecna Die!", it still would have been left flexible enough so that it could be used to spawn as many campaigns as possible. (The ToUD idea actually has its roots in "Bleak House", because I wanted to keep Van Ricthen around. I didn't like the idea of killing off the character.)

I'm sorry if my material wasn't up to your standards, but I've never been shy about my approach to writing game material.

[Boccaccio Barbarossa]

The idea for The TOUD was just to stimulate creative minds. I was more than disappointed. I considered it an opt out from Steve Miller et al (sorry Steve!)

*shrug*

I've never believed in spoonfeeding when it comes to campaign settings. What Willowhugger did was exactly what the ToUD concept was always intended to bring about.

DoD NEVER said there was a boxed set coming, and even when I wanted to use the ToUD as the touchstone for the product that became "Die Vecna Die!", it still would have been left flexible enough so that it could be used to spawn as many campaigns as possible. (The ToUD idea actually has its roots in "Bleak House", because I wanted to keep Van Ricthen around. I didn't like the idea of killing off the character.)

I'm sorry if my material wasn't up to your standards, but I've never been shy about my approach to writing game material.

Amen to that. Too much canon is confining. I like some stability because it gives everyone a "stable" base, something that everyone can accpet as part of the game world, but too much can kill.

And keeping Van Richten alive was a must, I think. At least, I appreciate that... (And this coming from the guy whose early Ravenloft experience involves a failed encouter with some carrion crawlers: my character died, and so did Van Richten, who was with us for who knows what reason. Well, they decided Van Richten was worth raising from the dead but that I was "food for worms"... Typical. That's what canon material does - it keeps my PCs dead.. )

[Willowhugger]

*shrug*

I've never believed in spoonfeeding when it comes to campaign settings. What Willowhugger did was exactly what the ToUD concept was always intended to bring about

I understand Steve and frankly given that with the '1 year=1 year of game time" that we'd not see it for 25 years, I probably picked up on the fact it'd never be detailed. However, I wanted it to be though and also give a hurrah for the setting.

I figured there was a lead up that was planned, even in the vaguest sense and its fair to know there never was anything but a general sense of doom leading up to it.

What I did was basically a fanfic of trying to tie together all of the disperse elements of Ravenloft to see if there COULD be something that incorporated enough of them to call it Ravenloft's grand finale.

I honestly don't think I succeeded but I tried to pay homage to all the many horrible things that have been laid out for later development as possible and I thank the developers for setting out everything from Carnival to the Dukkars.

[monty--]

The idea for The TOUD was just to stimulate creative minds. I was more than disappointed. I considered it an opt out from Steve Miller et al (sorry Steve!)

*shrug*

I've never believed in spoonfeeding when it comes to campaign settings. What Willowhugger did was exactly what the ToUD concept was always intended to bring about.

DoD NEVER said there was a boxed set coming, and even when I wanted to use the ToUD as the touchstone for the product that became "Die Vecna Die!", it still would have been left flexible enough so that it could be used to spawn as many campaigns as possible. (The ToUD idea actually has its roots in "Bleak House", because I wanted to keep Van Ricthen around. I didn't like the idea of killing off the character.)

I'm sorry if my material wasn't up to your standards, but I've never been shy about my approach to writing game material.

Sorry Steve. I wasn't having a go. I was just expressing how I felt when I found out there's be no 'TOUD' supplement/boxed set. I'd assumed there'd be a forthcoming boxed set.
As for your work, it is at a high standard! I was just bitterly disappointed with no forthcoming TOUD.

Sorry if I offended you.

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Amen to that. Too much canon is confining. I like some stability because it gives everyone a "stable" base, something that everyone can accpet as part of the game world, but too much can kill.

See Dragonlance...

[Steve Miller]

Sorry Steve. I wasn't having a go. I was just expressing how I felt when I found out there's be no 'TOUD' supplement/boxed set. I'd assumed there'd be a forthcoming boxed set.
As for your work, it is at a high standard! I was just bitterly disappointed with no forthcoming TOUD.

Sorry if I offended you.

No worries. No offense was taken, because it seemed pretty clear that you weren't attempting to cause any. I was just trying to explain my viewpoint on the issue. (Heck, the only time I take offense at someone expressing dissapointment the way you were is if it's coming from someone who hasn't even bothered to read the material they are 'dissapointed' in. You'd read, you'd hoped, and you had a legitimate reaction.)