Café de Nuit

... the Forgotten Legacies revealed to me by the Thaani Gentleman had nearly cost me everything, body and soul. Pursued by monstrous agents of the law, and a mysterious witch with missing memories, I slipped into a dark marketplace of inhuman denizens, and took a mad, desperate flight through lands once thought lost to the ages ... These were the price of delving into my own murky origins. But now those secrets are sealed forever, and I return to the familiar home I'd made for myself. And while many fear this cursed land, it is a comfort to those of us who know and respect its dangers. Just don't go out at night, keep your garlic and silver close at hand, and don't ever, ever cross the Count. ah.. fair Barovia, where it all began...

The Fraternity of Shadows is now accepting submissions for the 23rd installment of Quoth the Raven, Ravenloft's most mysterious annual netbook. In honor of this year's return to the roots of our beloved setting in Curse of Strahd, the theme for the 2016 issue will be Barovia: I am the Land.

Count Strahd and his realm have inspired everything that came after them in the demiplane of dread. And this land of curses and terror has been expanded more than any other through the years since. It holds vampires of course, but also werewolves, vistani, mad mages, an ice spectre, hags, zombies, ravenkin, necromancers, gods of light and darkness, golemcrafters, toy sellers, lost relatives of Strahd, vampire hunters in disguise, Thaani, Forfarans, Tergs, conquered neighbors from Gundarak, the Baal Verzi, Wachters and Dilisnyas, a headless Trader, and even a kobold sorcerer and an infamous Sheriff. Tell us what else might be lurking within the lands of the choking fog. Pick a corner of the realm that's never been fleshed out before, or a character in need of an update, or a new menace or hero lurking in Strahd's demesne, or tackle the big man himself and give us a new spin on everyone's favorite obsessed vampire. Come back with us to where it all began, and make your mark in the place the vistani call the "Heart of the World".

As always, we are looking for anything related to Ravenloft, Masque of the Red Death, or horror in general. The theme is deliberately open ended, but still a suggestion, not a restriction. If you have something great that doesn't fit in with the theme, send it in anyway!

Ruleset doesn't matter! We accept articles using any edition of D&D rules, or even other systems. Some of the best articles don't have any rules text at all! And if you're interested in having your rules converted to another system, let us know. There are lots of volunteers eager to help.

See our submission guidelines for official rules.

Submit your articles to QTR@fraternityofshadows.com. The deadline is September 30th, 2016, but feel free to send your articles in early, especially if you're looking for feedback.

And remember, the master of Ravenloft is always looking for new dinner guests...

I'd personally like to encourage people to flesh out the cities of Barovia with people, stores, small hooks, and the like. Especially if those cities work with Curse of Strahd.

In general I'd like this to be the Curse of Strahd expansion for QtR...

I'm currently working on a pre-conjunction Teufeldorf, but it could be easily converted for after the Barovian takeover.

If I may, 2 1/2 months is cutting it a bit short. Yes, I should have known when the deadline would be, so I don't really have an excuse.

But as inexcusable I may be, I don't think I'll have the time. I have a half-cooked idea about an adventure that involves, prophecies, omens, family curses, insanity, ambition, greed... and I need to tie it all together in a coherent way + write it down.

alhoon wrote:If I may, 2 1/2 months is cutting it a bit short. Yes, I should have known when the deadline would be, so I don't really have an excuse.

True. We'd wanted to get this out earlier, but fate intervened. So, while we do want this to be Curse-of-Strahd-centric, we will, as always, be accepting other submissions.

I have Barovia things in mind, but not CoS. More towards the generic Barovia of the Gazeteer era. You know, Strahd not interfering much, all people have souls, a larger population so that it can have different settlements etc.

alhoon wrote:I have Barovia things in mind, but not CoS. More towards the generic Barovia of the Gazeteer era. You know, Strahd not interfering much, all people have souls, a larger population so that it can have different settlements etc.

I think this could easily fall into the "expanding CoS" category.

Pretty much yeah. What I have in mind COULD work with CoS although it has no connection with it.

I think I am Barovia-ed out after QtR #21. That said, I've got a G'Henna re-imagining to submit, and a Nova Vaasa one that is about 80% done. Will need to finish and send that in.

NeoTiamat wrote:I think I am Barovia-ed out after QtR #21.

Yeah, if only we'd know CoS was coming, maybe we would have sat on that one for a couple years. I think you've more than done your duty in service of Barovia....

If I can overcome my phlegma and laziness, I will submit a one-page dungeon (an adventure format that is IMHO yet underutilized for Ravenloft).
Or if I'm really feeling ambitious, maybe even a short series of OPDs from Level 1 to 3 as alternative to the haunted house entry scenario in CoS? The old CRPG adaption of I6, "Strahd's Possession", had some interesting ideas on how to pad the way between the gates of Barovia and the village with small adventures and could probably be milked and/or referenced.

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Yeah, if only we'd know CoS was coming, maybe we would have sat on that one for a couple years.

You need to have a serious word with your Vistani seers about that one.

Back from vacation, and we have already 5 submissions for QtR 23

John Berndt (3)
Mikhail Rekun
Paul West

If your name isn't there, or if you haven't received a confirmation that we received your article, let me know!

Joël

Hi, I'm working on a version of the Barovia map that includes the info from CoS on the black box map (you know, like I do). I know it's not much, and it hasn't got words with it (the best I could manage would be a list of references and some explanations as to why I put stuff where), but I think it might be useful to the community and wondered whether it would be acceptable as a submission in it's own right?

Good. Saves me the time to do it.

I've stuck my first draft up for general review on my map thread