The Lesser Evil wrote:On the topic of Vlad, somebody earlier this thread said Vlad was a good merc unit commander but not so good as the overseeing general or lord of a nation. That got me thinking, Vlad's losses started piling up after he became a darklord (and thus unable to leave his domain.) I wonder if part of his curse is that he can't be there on the front lines leading his troops (he's effectively given up that role in favor of becoming a head of state- the whole ironic wish-giving thing Ravenloft does.) If this is true, then perhaps it's the weak links in his command chain that cause his failures (well, beyond his hidebound warrior nature thing he has going on.) I could see his temper making his insubordinates tell him what he wants to hear, even if it's not quite true.
As I see it, Vlad's curse is similar to that of Harkon Lukas; both are trapped in domains that don't meet their desires and find fulfillment of their great ambitions impossible.
The people of Kartakass will
never make Lukas their king, for all that one of the two towns is happy to reelect him as Meistersinger. Kartakass will never become a developed, wealthy, large and powerful state. The folk reject such ambitions. They won't federate, they won't launch an ambitious colonization effort, and they certainly won't march into neighboring realms and annex territory the way Barovians did.
Vlad conquered Falkovnia, but failed to win the respect and glory he wanted from doing so. And now he can't ever conquer anyplace else.
Falkovnian agents could assassinate the entire gov't of Dementlieu, thus eliminating D'Honaire, and the Living Brain would become the new darklord. Soon after, any invading Falkovnian army would be subverted.
I don't think the DPs will ever let Vlad add a square foot to Falkovnia.
Vlad's seeming triumphs will always turn to ashes in his mouth.
Being doomed to lose in this way is a harsh curse, but I wonder if it weakens him a little as a villain?
Would he be scarier if he could win?
Or does he work well as a threat mainly to people within his own realm?
NOTE/EDIT-
I've never really liked the ''hidebound warrior' stuff. It's not part of how he was originally presented. In the Black Box, he doesn't care for magic, but he's smart enough to make use of magic items. And he has no limitations arising from a code of honor or any adherence to laws of war.
He doesn't really seem hidebound.
I wonder if maybe it would make sense to raise Falkovnia's CL to 8 and give Vlad's armies some bombards and culverins and such.
They can use bows for the same reasons that England maintained archers in military service rather longer than some other realms.
Then apply draconian gun control. Guns and powder are state monopolies: anyone caught with contraband of this sort is liable to be impaled.
Civilians are forbidden to own such items for the same reason they are generally barred from owning weapons (that last part being canon).
This would make his defeat by small states like Dementlieu all the more humiliating. It's not even the result of a big technological disparity. How humiliating!
His commanders in Demenetlieu betray him after initial successes, and the cunning Dementlieuse spies always seem to ferret out his plans. In Borca the officers and even whole detachments get poisoned (which has probably only enhanced the unpleasant reputation of the Borcans as poisoners-- it's chemical warfare, basically).
In Richemulot, hordes of filthy rats devour the supplies and spread disease in camp. No doubt the work of witches and priests!
All this has support in 3E canon, as I understand it.