Positive Ethereal Resonance
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2026 2:42 pm
So a while ago I've read the explanation about ethereal reasonance (I think it was in the 3e Ravenloft Player's Handbook), and I noticed that ranks 1-3 get examples of reasonance left both by negative and positive emotions, but ranks 4 and 5 only get negative ones.
And, like, I get why. We're in the Domains of Dread, not the Domains of Delight! If something here happened to leave such intense emotions that they left a permanent imprint on the Near Ethereal, it was probably a terrifying one. This (more or less subtle) imbalance toward evil and misery is an inherent part of the setting.
Also, people generally have a harder time pinning down what makes them feel good than what makes them feel bad. I think we evolved that way because paying attention to dangers is more critical for survival.
But:
1) While danger-awareness is more necessary, I think understanding what makes us feel good can be extremely beneficial to our mental state and to determining our life goals, so this can be useful to practice.
2) When in the demiplane of eternal doom and gloom where nothing ever ends well, it's easy to get 'Too Bleak; Stopped Caring' (TB;SC for short, if you're the sort of internet nerd that writes TVTropes articles). A vision of extreme joy can both bring hope back to the narrative, and remind the players what the stakes are. Traveling into the shadow rift to find the darkling animated by John Doe's soul so you can get Mr. Doe's soul back sounds like a fun quest - but while investigating what happened to him you stumble into the kitchen and see a vision of his daughter's sixth birthday when he saw she really liked the pixie decorations on the cake he made, that was his first attempt ever at baking and decorating a fancy cake - suddenly seeing this man, whom you've only known as a random catatonic halfling who doesn't seem nearly interesting enough for the fae to go all the way to Richemulout to kidnap him, as a devoted father with an creative bent? Realising that if you fail, a kid would lose forever their amazing parent? Dam, now you actually give a dam about Jacky. Now it's personal. Now you're fighting for them, not just for the adventure. Positive ethereal reasonance can show you why the little people matter when said little people can't say it themselves.
3) Glimpses into the happy moments of a story can shed light on what led to its tragic end. For example, you might be trying to solve the murder of a young Borcan woman. You enter the garden where she used to meet with her secret lover, and see a vision of the day he proposed her. During the proposal, said lover states that he doesn't care what his grandfather thinks - she's the best wife he could ever hope for. If your players have a brain cell, they'd try to figure out what did the grandfather have against her. (Maybe. Maybe not. You should always give your players 3 clues for each question when running mystery, just to be on the safe side. But this can be one of them!)
So the point of this post is...
What experiences can induce in you positive emotions powerful enough to create ethereal reasonace, and of what rank?
Reminders:
- Everyone has different preferences, so this doesn't have to be universal.
- My main goal is to get examples for 4th and 5th rank reasonance, but you're more than welcome to give lower ranks too.
- The stuff that makes us happy doesn't have to look important from a logical or traditional perspective. Some of the silliest things can make us feel supreme joy.
- Please avoid giving mental illness, drugs or spell effects as examples. Not because I'm against discussing these themes, but because I don't want here examples that 'hack' the brain and artificially create a certain emotion. I want you to think when does your (or your character's) brain produce this emotion as a natural reaction to the situation.
- Someone is going to write an evil example like 'the darklord's sadistic joy while torturing their toxic crush'. If that's what makes you happy, go with it, but it's not as original as you think it is.
And, like, I get why. We're in the Domains of Dread, not the Domains of Delight! If something here happened to leave such intense emotions that they left a permanent imprint on the Near Ethereal, it was probably a terrifying one. This (more or less subtle) imbalance toward evil and misery is an inherent part of the setting.
Also, people generally have a harder time pinning down what makes them feel good than what makes them feel bad. I think we evolved that way because paying attention to dangers is more critical for survival.
But:
1) While danger-awareness is more necessary, I think understanding what makes us feel good can be extremely beneficial to our mental state and to determining our life goals, so this can be useful to practice.
2) When in the demiplane of eternal doom and gloom where nothing ever ends well, it's easy to get 'Too Bleak; Stopped Caring' (TB;SC for short, if you're the sort of internet nerd that writes TVTropes articles). A vision of extreme joy can both bring hope back to the narrative, and remind the players what the stakes are. Traveling into the shadow rift to find the darkling animated by John Doe's soul so you can get Mr. Doe's soul back sounds like a fun quest - but while investigating what happened to him you stumble into the kitchen and see a vision of his daughter's sixth birthday when he saw she really liked the pixie decorations on the cake he made, that was his first attempt ever at baking and decorating a fancy cake - suddenly seeing this man, whom you've only known as a random catatonic halfling who doesn't seem nearly interesting enough for the fae to go all the way to Richemulout to kidnap him, as a devoted father with an creative bent? Realising that if you fail, a kid would lose forever their amazing parent? Dam, now you actually give a dam about Jacky. Now it's personal. Now you're fighting for them, not just for the adventure. Positive ethereal reasonance can show you why the little people matter when said little people can't say it themselves.
3) Glimpses into the happy moments of a story can shed light on what led to its tragic end. For example, you might be trying to solve the murder of a young Borcan woman. You enter the garden where she used to meet with her secret lover, and see a vision of the day he proposed her. During the proposal, said lover states that he doesn't care what his grandfather thinks - she's the best wife he could ever hope for. If your players have a brain cell, they'd try to figure out what did the grandfather have against her. (Maybe. Maybe not. You should always give your players 3 clues for each question when running mystery, just to be on the safe side. But this can be one of them!)
So the point of this post is...
What experiences can induce in you positive emotions powerful enough to create ethereal reasonace, and of what rank?
Reminders:
- Everyone has different preferences, so this doesn't have to be universal.
- My main goal is to get examples for 4th and 5th rank reasonance, but you're more than welcome to give lower ranks too.
- The stuff that makes us happy doesn't have to look important from a logical or traditional perspective. Some of the silliest things can make us feel supreme joy.
- Please avoid giving mental illness, drugs or spell effects as examples. Not because I'm against discussing these themes, but because I don't want here examples that 'hack' the brain and artificially create a certain emotion. I want you to think when does your (or your character's) brain produce this emotion as a natural reaction to the situation.
- Someone is going to write an evil example like 'the darklord's sadistic joy while torturing their toxic crush'. If that's what makes you happy, go with it, but it's not as original as you think it is.