Café de Nuit

Long story short, I plan to do an article for this year's Quoth the Raven talking about how to integrate the races from Grim Hollow into Ravenloft, much like how I discussed doing with the subclasses last year. Whilst for the most part this is just a matter of my needing to put my head down and actually write, one race is posing a problem. The Ogresh. Largely, I admit, because I actually don't like this race much even in its native setting.

For the unfamiliar, Ogresh are a demihuman race implied to have giant ancestry. They are 6ft to 7ft tall and enormously broad; during their decades long youth as wanderers, they may weigh between 200 and 300 pounds on average, but once they reach full adulthood and settle down in their permanent place of residence, their appetite balloons to the point they average between 600 and 700 pounds. Indeed, part of the Ogresh maturation process is finding a place with ample natural resources and well away from other Ogresh, so their food supply is unthreatened. But they are not a "big bruisher" race. They're tough (+1 Constitution) and certainly capable of toting a fair load (Powerful Build racial trait), but they're primarily defined by their cunning and social adeptness (+1 Wisdom, +2 Charisma, two free social skills, resistance to Charm, and a 1/short rest Charm Person + information gathering ability). They maintain extensive communications through chain letter networks and often become subtle powerbrokers wherever they reside.

Here's an article from Ghostfire Gaming that fleshes out their racial lore further: https://ghostfiregaming.com/blog/sage-a ... he-ogresh/

So, does anyone have any opinions on how (or even IF) Ogresh might fit into Ravenloft? It's really flummoxing me, and considering I can see places for the Weschelkind (changeling-golems) and Laneshi (aquatic elf necromancers), that's saying something...

given their appearance, food requirements, nomadic nature, my view would be that the locals would likely regard them as some sort of resourse draining ogre to be driven out of the area. if they were to stay in an area, it would likely be as a hidden secret entity, manipulating the locals from the shadows rather than directly as part of the comunity.

Mmm, they remind me the Duke in Resident Evil Village; they might be refined merchants whic repay their consuptions in in informations and items. Every tie they are asked aboutthir sources they would spoke about far cousins; maybe once every decade they meet for a big family reunion (But everyone brings its own food)

Giants are relatively rare in Ravenloft, appearing in Daglan (various types, although dissolved in canon), Invidia (mostly ogres, ettins, and giant-kin), Hazlan and Sithicus (ogres both), Monadhan (death giants) and Kalakeri (stone giants). If they were violently inclined, I could have seen them working in Invidian armies- perhaps acting as either officers or as part of the supply train?. But in general, most of the above domains are decidedly wild n' woolly or sinister in nature, which the ogresh may or may not appreciate from your description?

If they didn't mind dealing with the likes of evil giants and undead, i could see them perhaps serving a important role in the infrastructure of Daglan (as much as it exists). Though the domain's defunct in canon Ravenloft, the Nocturnal Sea Gaz (p. 46) reinstated the domain's existence as part mostly not fleshed out Duskreach cluster. I could see them spreading to the new domains bordering Daglan, acting as merchants or otherwise establishing ties to the bandits of Donskyar/Donskoy's Land, the monstrous creatures outside the city in Estrangia, and such. They could have also moved into Vechor via the Road of the Lost mistway, and anything is known to appear there.

If you wanted to have Daglander ogresh but still have the domain dissolved, some of them may have fled the domain to the surrounding lands. If you needed a reason for them to be tolerated, perhaps they and they alone know how to produce the ultra-useful ghee grass outside of the domain. (All of the stuff on Daglan is singularly covered in Feast of Goblyns, although you can also check the Mistipedia for info.)

The Lesser Evil wrote: Tue Aug 23, 2022 10:47 pm Giants are relatively rare in Ravenloft, appearing in Daglan (various types, although dissolved in canon), Invidia (mostly ogres, ettins, and giant-kin), Hazlan and Sithicus (ogres both), Monadhan (death giants) and Kalakeri (stone giants). If they were violently inclined, I could have seen them working in Invidian armies- perhaps acting as either officers or as part of the supply train?. But in general, most of the above domains are decidedly wild n' woolly or sinister in nature, which the ogresh may or may not appreciate from your description?

Now I'm remembering the giant in chains in the movie 300.