Isle of Ravens discussion
Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:21 pm
The Fraternity of Shadows is currently accepting submissions for our ongoing Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer-type project. There are five domains in this area and I’ll cover the Isle of Ravens.
I presented a micro-gazetteer on the Isle of Ravens in Quoth the Raven XIII, and I expect the information in the Gazetteer will be similar to what's presented there. That said, there's always room for expansion and elaboration, and the more people contribute ideas, the richer the domain will be! Ideas which contradict the information found there will be less likely to reach the final draft, unless they're just too good to be denied.
To offer a synopsis of my vision of the Isle of Ravens:
The real problem with the Isle from a DM's point of view is that, as initially written, there's very little to do there other than get turned into a raven. I have endeavored to address this problem in three ways:
1) By making the Lady of Ravens someone who is willing, even eager, to recruit adventurers to work for her (and willing to recruit by fair means or foul). If the PCs can be useful to her, she's more than willing to use them instead of destroying them.
2) By putting fey on the island. These are deliberately reminscent of the spirits in Shakespeare's The Tempest, and give both another kind of encounter and an opportunity (through Caliban, the Lady's erstwhile servant) to oppose the Lady of Ravens with "inside help".
3) By (very briefly) describing the Tower of Flint and its occupants, thereby creating the potential for a dungeon crawl up the tower. (I know, dungeon crawls...but a little combat now and then is good for the system!)
Making the Isle of Ravens a truly dynamic domain is rather difficult; you could never set a campaign there, for example. However, it might well be possible to build a campaign around the Isle of Ravens, especially by using Felauragoth (see the Book of Sacrifices) and/or by using the Lady of Ravens as a plot instigator--someone whose actions kick off a chain of events which sweeps up the PCs. I hope that our finished product will make that both a viable and an attractive option for Ravenloft DMs.
Things in bold are those I think offer the easiest points of attack for would-be contributors:
1) Physical description of the island:
Terrain: The island is roughly 1 mile square; the coasts are steep and rocky on all sides except one white sand beach at the southeast corner coast on all side.
Flora: Essentially a temperate rain forest; thick deciduous forest with lots of moss and ground cover, with a few conifers near the foot of the tower
Fauna: mostly ravens, with a few small mammals and largish ground-nesting birds (pheasants, turkeys), plus the various fey (naiads, dryads, Caliban)
Might there be other features of note?
2) Shipwreck is also integral to the Isle of Ravens (as it is to the Ile de la Tempete), and there are presumably many of these shipwrecks around the island. (Sailors in Ravenloft should just stay home!) Some can be interesting adventure hooks to bring people there for a reason (see the examples in Quoth the Raven).
3)Domain specifics:
- Date of domain creation? This is extremely unclear for the Isle of Ravens, and dread possibilities relating to this point are particularly welcome.
- Background story (see QtR 13)
- Powers: see QtR 13
- Closing the border: see QtR 13
- Her hope: OtR 13
- Strategies to describe: How does the Lady of Ravens react when approached by a shipwrecked crew? What determines her reaction to them? How does she decide who becomes a raven? Does she actively attempt to create shipwrecks, as Monette does? If so, how? How might she be laid to rest permanently (QtR 13 does offer one suggestion, but others are welcome)? What does she do to search for her name and history? Who is helping her in the search? Is anyone (other than the Dark Powers) opposing her, and if so, why?
Also, please note that the entire Tower of Flint is up for grabs; I offer a brief description of its interior and "inhabitants" in QtR 13, but I'm willing to change pretty much everything I wrote there in favor of more detailed things (ghosts, magical servants of the Lady, traps, things that the Lady has acquired, and so forth).
What I have written so far appears in the Book of Sacrifices and in expanded, revised, updated 3.5 Quoth the Raven. I recommend the latter, as it has all the information the first does and more besides.
Please discuss here of your ideas / suggestions on this domain, and what you’d like to write to add to this domain description. Do not forget, you can add adventure hooks and dread possibilities sidebars! Sight and sounds too!
Illustrators are of course more then welcome to submit drawings, or contact me for specific works.
Nathan
I presented a micro-gazetteer on the Isle of Ravens in Quoth the Raven XIII, and I expect the information in the Gazetteer will be similar to what's presented there. That said, there's always room for expansion and elaboration, and the more people contribute ideas, the richer the domain will be! Ideas which contradict the information found there will be less likely to reach the final draft, unless they're just too good to be denied.
To offer a synopsis of my vision of the Isle of Ravens:
The real problem with the Isle from a DM's point of view is that, as initially written, there's very little to do there other than get turned into a raven. I have endeavored to address this problem in three ways:
1) By making the Lady of Ravens someone who is willing, even eager, to recruit adventurers to work for her (and willing to recruit by fair means or foul). If the PCs can be useful to her, she's more than willing to use them instead of destroying them.
2) By putting fey on the island. These are deliberately reminscent of the spirits in Shakespeare's The Tempest, and give both another kind of encounter and an opportunity (through Caliban, the Lady's erstwhile servant) to oppose the Lady of Ravens with "inside help".
3) By (very briefly) describing the Tower of Flint and its occupants, thereby creating the potential for a dungeon crawl up the tower. (I know, dungeon crawls...but a little combat now and then is good for the system!)
Making the Isle of Ravens a truly dynamic domain is rather difficult; you could never set a campaign there, for example. However, it might well be possible to build a campaign around the Isle of Ravens, especially by using Felauragoth (see the Book of Sacrifices) and/or by using the Lady of Ravens as a plot instigator--someone whose actions kick off a chain of events which sweeps up the PCs. I hope that our finished product will make that both a viable and an attractive option for Ravenloft DMs.
Things in bold are those I think offer the easiest points of attack for would-be contributors:
1) Physical description of the island:
Terrain: The island is roughly 1 mile square; the coasts are steep and rocky on all sides except one white sand beach at the southeast corner coast on all side.
Flora: Essentially a temperate rain forest; thick deciduous forest with lots of moss and ground cover, with a few conifers near the foot of the tower
Fauna: mostly ravens, with a few small mammals and largish ground-nesting birds (pheasants, turkeys), plus the various fey (naiads, dryads, Caliban)
Might there be other features of note?
2) Shipwreck is also integral to the Isle of Ravens (as it is to the Ile de la Tempete), and there are presumably many of these shipwrecks around the island. (Sailors in Ravenloft should just stay home!) Some can be interesting adventure hooks to bring people there for a reason (see the examples in Quoth the Raven).
3)Domain specifics:
- Date of domain creation? This is extremely unclear for the Isle of Ravens, and dread possibilities relating to this point are particularly welcome.
- Background story (see QtR 13)
- Powers: see QtR 13
- Closing the border: see QtR 13
- Her hope: OtR 13
- Strategies to describe: How does the Lady of Ravens react when approached by a shipwrecked crew? What determines her reaction to them? How does she decide who becomes a raven? Does she actively attempt to create shipwrecks, as Monette does? If so, how? How might she be laid to rest permanently (QtR 13 does offer one suggestion, but others are welcome)? What does she do to search for her name and history? Who is helping her in the search? Is anyone (other than the Dark Powers) opposing her, and if so, why?
Also, please note that the entire Tower of Flint is up for grabs; I offer a brief description of its interior and "inhabitants" in QtR 13, but I'm willing to change pretty much everything I wrote there in favor of more detailed things (ghosts, magical servants of the Lady, traps, things that the Lady has acquired, and so forth).
What I have written so far appears in the Book of Sacrifices and in expanded, revised, updated 3.5 Quoth the Raven. I recommend the latter, as it has all the information the first does and more besides.
Please discuss here of your ideas / suggestions on this domain, and what you’d like to write to add to this domain description. Do not forget, you can add adventure hooks and dread possibilities sidebars! Sight and sounds too!
Illustrators are of course more then welcome to submit drawings, or contact me for specific works.
Nathan