Raveloft Lore Tuesdays
Domain of May: Barovia – The First Domain of not quite the First Vampire
Domain Formation: 351 BC
Lore: Historical Event – The Arrival of the Necromancer
According to a tarokka card reading done by the famed Seer Vistana Madam Eva and later repeated by her predecessor, Madam Ilka, a Necromancer would arrive in Barovia and would be one of Strahd’s greatest foes and would bring war to the land of Barovia. That Necromancer was me 💀
The war itself amounted to a few skirmished before we both called it a day, but the events that occurred while conducting experimentations to escape back to my home world of Oerth changed the lands in the Mists forever. Though each failure brought me new data and new irritation to von Zarovich, they also, perhaps more importantly led to the creation of Forlorn, Arak, and Mordent. I myself explored Forlorn, but found nothing more than a sad creature locked away in their castle and far too many goblyns. Arak…would not permit me within and any surveyors I sent on my behalf went missing. Mordent…well, I have nothing more than vague recollections of the place but I know, for a brief moment, I had succeeded in allowing both Strahd and I to escape Barovia for far too short a time.
After the Mordent event, I knew I had been fooling myself and foolishly stepped into the Mists, following the sounds of the Vistani within in hopes of escaping back to Oerth. My efforts awarded me with my very own prison designed to torment me for eternity…
How to use Azalin’s Time in Barovia in Your Games
If you wish to use the formation of the Domains resulting from Azalin and Strahd’s experiments, then I suggest speeding up the timeline if you wish to use all three or just focus on one of them.
Forlorn’s appearance could easily result in a surge of goblyns pouring into Barovia. This is easily something for a group of adventurers to learn of and deal with. Goblyns, not to be confused with goblins, are humanoids twisted by magic into bug-eyes, sharp jaws, sickly looking creatures with long claws and no will but that of the one who created them and no pleasure but to eat anything they can get their hands on. Such creatures could quickly devastate a small town in Barovia.
Arak is a desolate land with Shadow Fey living far beneath its surface. Perhaps Barovia opens a mining expedition in the new land and…’dig too deep’, as is the classic fantasy tale, and uncover some ancient evil the dwelled below. The Shadow Fey are very much like the Unseelie Court and if a mine ended up unburying a few of them…well, that could result in odd Fey bargains such an individual who suddenly becomes incredibly wealthy and/or the Burgomaster of a town in Barovia, but…they must always walk backwards or only talk in riddles. An unknown horror could recreate a mind-controlled populace or possessed miners. There is a lot you could do with this.
As for Mordent, well the events of Azalin and Strahd’s time in Mordent are depicted in Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill. It is a…strange adventure at best where Strahd using the Apparatus and slips himself into his ‘good’ and ‘evil’ halves…players are pitted against his evil half throughout…Azalin just kind of watches? There’s a lot of oddities within, but if you want to do something similar and want to have Azalin in your game, well the events in Mordent could have split Azalin in two, but they aren’t put back together. His lich half could easily replace the lich in the Amber Temple in Curse of Strahd and his human half could be the ‘mad mage’ the resides on Mount Baratok.
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A Ravenloft Reading Recommendation (ARRR!)
Alright, everyone! It's almost Halloween, and you (probably) recently got Curse of Strahd and Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft but you want to know more about these terror-filled prisons. Well, grab your adventuring gear and delve with me into the Domains of Dread! This'll be a long one, so strap in and remember: Mistipedia is your friend.
This list covers Second Edition Ravenloft, Third Edition Ravenloft, and the novels. I can only hope I got everything in this.
Let's start with...
Second Edition Ravenloft
Realm of Terror
This is the original campaign setting for 2e Ravenloft, coming with 144 pages of rules, NPCs and domains, as well as a bunch of other goodies (maps, card stock sheets, and a transparent map overlay). Realm of Terror predates the Grand Conjunction timeline, so in terms of in-game time... it's a bit out of date. A lot of it, according to John Mangrum, is incoherent and many of the dates in this contradict others, so be careful about what you use here.
- You get... Rules for the Demiplane of Dread, alternate rules for Classes, Spells, the Dark Powers Check, fear and horror rules, as well as new spells, new magical items, and the different Dark Lords and Domains you can explore.
Ravenloft Campaign Setting (Box)
The revised campaign setting for 2nd Edition. Takes Grand Conjunction into account. Not to be confused for the book from 3rd Edition.
Domains of Dread
Third and final version of Ravenloft in the days of TSR. Introduces clusters and pocket domains, as well as new secret societies and several new classes. Postdates Requiem: The Grim Harvest.
Masque of the Red Death
A sub-setting of Ravenloft, taking place on a 1890's Gothic Earth.
- The Gothic Earth Gazetteer: Like the Ravenloft Gazetteers, you get details on the lands of Gothic Earth and their inhabitants.
- A Guide to Transylvania
And More...
Islands of Terror - Self explanatory, new island domains! Nidala, Wildlands, Sceana, I'Cath, etc.
Darklords - This covers a handful darklords.
Forbidden Lore - A Ravenloft setting expansion. Rules for the Tarokka Deck and Dikesha Dice. Secret societies, spells, cursed items, as well as expanded psionics, curses, and power checks. You also get the domain of Kalidnay.
Forged in Darkness - Lots of cursed items.
Children of the Night: Vampires - 13 New vampire NPCs.
Children of the Night: Ghosts - 13 New ghost NPCs.
Children of the Night: Werebeasts - 13 New lycanthrope NPCs.
Children of the Night: The Created - 13 New construct NPCs.
Champions of the Mists - New heroic NPCs and new Character Kits.
Carnival - NPCs that make up Isolde's Carnival.
Classic Van Richten's Guides
(Either 2nd or 3rd Edition)
These have Van Richten lore in it, so I would read these if not for the main content.
Van Richten's Arsenal
With VR Arsenal, you get new tools and devices, new arcane and divine spells, new magic items, and alchemical devices and feats. It also comes with Prestige Classes like the Alchemical Philosopher and the Anchorite of the Mists, as well as a guide to plan investigations and battles and plenty of NPC stat sheets with detailed backgrounds.
Van Richten's Guide to Demons
Van Richten's Guide to Ghosts
Van Richten's Guide to the Ancient Dead
Van Richten's Guide to the Created
Van Richten's Guide to the Lich
Van Richten's Guide to the Mists - We usually ignore this book because of it's questionable lore.
Van Richten's Guide to the Shadow Fey
Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani
An excellent exploration of Vistani.
Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead
Van Richten's Guide to Vampires
Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts
Van Richten's Guide to Witches
Included within VR's Compendium 3.
Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium I
(Vampires, Werebeasts, Created)
Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium II
(Ghosts, Liches, Ancient Dead)
Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III
(Demons, Vistani, Witches)
Modules
Feast of Goblyns - The first module of the Grand Conjunction series. Domains: Kartakass, Gundarak, Daglan.
Ship of Horror - The second module of the Grand Conjunction series. Domains: Sea of Sorrows, Nebigtode.
Touch of Death - The third module of the Grand Conjunction series. Domains: Har'Akir.
Night of the Walking Dead - Fourth module of the Grand Conjunction series. Domains: Sourange.
From the Shadows - Fifth module of the Grand Conjunction series. Domains: Darkon, Barovia.
Roots of Evil - Sixth and final module of the Grand Conjunction series and the follow-up of From the Shadows. Domains: Barovia.
Death Unchained - Part one of Grim Harvest.
Death Ascendant - Part two of Grim Harvest.
Requiem: the Grim Harvest (Boxed Set) - Death Triumphant, the last part of Grim Harvest.
Death Undaunted - Written by John Mangrum, never published, but still good!! Played it with a wonderful DM.
Book of Crypts - Nine short module anthology. Contains: Bride of Mordenheim, Blood in Moondale, The Dark Minstrel, The Cedar Chest, Corrupted Innocents, Rite of Terror, The Man With Three Faces, The Living Crypt, and Death's Cold Laughter.
Thoughts of Darkness - Elder brains, Mindflayers and a Von Zarovich, oh my! I played this one with a wonderful DM. Very fun.
The Created - Odaire
Web of Illusion - Sri Raji
Castles Forlorn - Forlorn
Dark of the Moon - Vorostokov
Adam's Wrath - Lamordia
The Awakening - Nova Vaasa
Hour of the Knife - Zherisia
Howls in the Night - Mordent
When Black Roses Blood - Sithicus
A Light in the Belfry (Boxed Set) - Avonleigh
Circle of Darkness - G'Henna
Chilling Tales (Anthology) - Through Darkened Eyes (Tepest), Undying Justice (Borca), Gazing into the Abyss (Darkon), Family Feud (Valachan), Surgeon's Blade (Lamordia), Scarlet Kiss (Mordentshire), Ancient Dead (Har'Akir), The Taskmaster's Leash (Dementlieu)
The Evil Eye - Invidia
The Nightmare Lands (Boxed Set)
Neither Man Nor Beast - Markovia
The Shadow Rift
Vecna Reborn
Die, Vecna, Die!
Third Edition Ravenloft
Ravenloft Third Edition (Campign Setting)
An update of Ravenloft to 3e.
Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide
Campaign creation, creating domains and communities, sinkholes of evil, samples of NPCs, as well as psionics and magic within Ravenloft. Cursed / Magic Items. Basically chapter one of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, but more fleshed out.
Ravenloft Player's Handbook
New mechanics like class weaknesses and magic ratings.
Secrets of the Dread Realms - Contains a new prestige class and a list of darklords by domain (with detailed backgrounds!)
Denizens of Darkness - New monsters! (3e)
Denizens of Dread - New monsters! (3.5e)
Heroes of Light - Focuses on heroic characters and deeds within Ravenloft. Prestige classes, secret societies, NPCs, and a heroic campaign guide.
Champions of Darkness - Focuses on anti-heroes. Prestige classes, secret societies, NPCs and an anti-hero campaign guide.
Legacy of the Blood - THIS IS A GOOD BOOK. Details on several powerful familes of the Core. Includes options to make characters related to that family and story hooks that go with it. Includes: Boritsi, d'Honaire, Dilisnya, Drakov, Godefroy, Hiregaard, Mordenheim, Renier, and the Von Zarovich families.
Masque of the Red Death (3rd Edition)
No modules in this one.
Ravenloft Gazetteers
A DM's dream come true... You get a massive amount of information and lore with these. Comes with a side-story. Very good!
- Volume 1 - Barovia, Hazlan, Forlorn, Kartakass
- Volume 2 - Darkon, Necropolis, Lamordia, Falkovnia
- Volume 3 - Dementlieu, Richemulot, Mordent
- Volume 4 - Borca, Invidia, Verbrek, Valachan, Sithicus
- Volume 5 - Nova Vaasa, Tepest, Keening, Shadow Rift
Modules
Dark Tales and Disturbing Legends - More modules! This is an anthology.
Expedition to Castle Ravenloft - Update to I6: Ravenloft.
Novels
Vampire of the Mists (Good!)
Knight of the Black Rose (Not a big fan of Soth, in my honest option.)
Dance of the Dead
Tapestry of Dark Souls
Carnival of Fear
I, Strahd (A classic.)
I, Strahd: The War Against Azalin (Read this one. Excellent!)
The Enemy Within
Mordenheim
Tales of Ravenloft (19 Short Stories - The Caretaker is my favorite. It has Strahd.)
Tower of Doom (Personally, if you don't want your eyes cursed, I would not read this. This has been a warning. I told you so.)
Baroness of Blood
Death of Darklord
Scholar of Decay
King of the Dead (A must-read. It's that good.)
To Sleep with Evil
Lord of the Necropolis
Shadowborn
Spectre of the Black Rose
Heart of Midnight
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#3
so, there was this one time when I was DMing a game set in the Ravenloft setting. my players included a very angsty Bard who was going for an Avenging Executioner build (trust me, it worked more smoothly than you'd think), a Rogue who was cursed to be malformed (the Caliban race, which basically has the racial traits of Half-Orcs but is technically human. represents characters like Quasi Modo from Hunchback, or Eric from Phantom of The Opera), a third character who I can't seem to remember at the moment, and a Human Paladin who was largely based off of Simon Belmont from Castlevania.
now, when I heard that one of my players wanted to play a Paladin in the Ravenloft setting, I got very excited. I thought to myself, this couldn't get any better. to be fair I let them know that Paladins had a couple extra handicaps in this setting. and he was still cool with it because he knew that only a Paladin could really have the tools to effectively handle some of the threats that they would face. needless to say I was stoked.
and I was right to be. throughout the course of the campaign, my players each got plenty of moments to shine, and they surprised me at every turn. in a world so full of danger and suspicion, they were consistently compassionate and merciful. when they tracked down a mysterious murderer and learned that his murderous hatred stems from mistreatment by the village he targeted, they took steps to reform him instead of slay him, with the Paladin taking a direct role in mentoring him (though later on in the campaign, during one of their visits, they would find the murderer-in-reform hung himself). when they were ambushed by a Water Naga along the river the Bard befriended the creature, it was almost romantic in a certain sense. when they met a powerful Rakshasa who played them like puppets, the Paladin (who was able to effortlessly see through the fiend's illusions and disguises every time) never hesitated to stand against him as righteous rival. this Rakshasa became a long-term villain under the shadow of Strahd. when the party took a side quest to try to free a clan of Dwarves from the rule of a Vampire, the Paladin was visibly shaking in his boots at the dinner table, but ultimately negotiated with the Vampire lord (and in so doing, despite taking charge to do the right thing and save literally every victim, became an ex-Paladin because he willingly associated with an evil being). the best part? instead of going Blackguard, or replacing Paladin Levels with Knight-Errant levels, he insisted on seeking atonement. he came so close to being forced to take a non-Paladin level before completing an atonement quest and being granted an Atonement spell, the very encounter in which he completed it all was worth the EXP to level up. so he took his Paladin level and received his Bonded Weapon (alternate class feature to Paladin Mount).
this was it. the moment to begin the climax. the main adventure began. I started the Expedition To Castle Ravenloft adventure module here (supplemented with some elements taken directly from the 2nd-edition AD&D Curse of Strahd module). covens of whiches led by powerful hags bound to Strahd and who were attempting to summon a demon to depose him; werewolves riled up by Strahd to misdirect any would be threats and force them to work for him instead of against him to quell the lycanthrope threat; various agents and hunters and assassins sent by Strahd to spy on the players; HORDES of undead caused by a foul magical plague Strahd released on the village; and Strahd himself in his castle, attempting to make the woman he believes to be the reincarnation of his ancient lover into his vampire queen.
along the way, the party teams up with a divine order of undead-hunters, and makes their way to the church. there, the Paladin's pastor, the town Cleric, was revealed to have gone crazy and evil, tormented by the sudden death of his nephew, and corrupted by a foul necromantic book he thought he could use to ressurect the boy. of course, the ressurection created a terrible undead monster instead. the party faced off against both the monster, and the cleric, with undead under the cleric's control. and in the fight the Paladin fell to a death spell and was reanimated as a ghoul. he was able to shake off the cleric's control, and sacrificed himself to defeat both the cleric and the undead nephew.
he rolled up a new character for the rest of the adventure. a wizard who would help them out while being crotchety and old. but that's less relevant to this story.
that Paladin had, I am completely convinced, the FULL Paladin experience. a righteous quest, a Paladin's Dilemma resulting in an unavoidable Fall, a devoted Atonement, newfound holy power, and a Heroic Sacrifice. and all within the Dread Realms. it was the perfect drama.
in the end, when the party finally faced off against Strahd for the final battle, it was quite intense. spells were flung, steel clashed, so many dice were rolled, and so much strategy was tensely rehearsed, implemented, and adjusted on-the-spot. we ended the adventure on a cliff-hanger mid-battle, and at that point it was anyone's game. at any point one die roll now could decide the entire battle. Strahd could strike a decisive blow at any moment and effectively ensure his victory. or one of the party members could end him with one well-struck blow. in my mind we ended on a freeze-frame like when two anime characters are charging eachother with their final simultaneous attack. we never picked up the campaign, leaving the battle undecided. and I kind of like it that way.
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