Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

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Rock of the Fraternity
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Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by Rock of the Fraternity »

I'm reading through issue #24 right now, so consider this a running commentary:

I love 'the Three Faeries'! Some great plot hooks and ideas there. Cecil is my favourite out of the three. Brum is sympathetic, the Elegist is weird and creepy as all get-out (and may make an appearance in one of my games sooner or later), but Cecil gets my DM's blood running faster. ;)

Tepest, now.
I do like the reinforcement of the faerie tale elements - "So long as you stay on the path, you're safe" - and I did like giving the Mindefisk sisters each a unique skill and pointing out how they could have beaten their doom if they'd acted as the good girls of faerie tales, by working diligently and honestly. Apart from that, though, the domain writeup felt a bit short. Pointing out there are things that Tepest has which are actually wanted abroad opens so many possible doors, but the article does not quite step through them.

The concept behind the Jungle of Fire and Rain is fairly interesting, and I can see how it can potentially be a challenging domain to run an adventure in, but it felt like the writeup cleaved a bit too closely to the source material.

Okay, back to reading!
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by El Gambito »

Loving this at the moment and I've already got an idea who has Brum's coins: Garrett, of the Thief series of video games. I mean, he's stolen pretty much everything else... :mrgreen:
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by Rock of the Fraternity »

Oh man, the Confidences of Victor Gagné! :D Wonderfully written, tense, a quality villain ... I only wish the story had continued further. If at all possible, I hope to learn more about monsieur Gagné in future chapters of Quoth the Raven. ^_^

Zeindost ... do I spy the work of a Dutchman? ;)
I note the mention of a 'Lightlord', but she isn't mentioned in the description of notables, unless I've somehow overlooked her.
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by Mistmaster »

Rock wrote: Zeindost ... do I spy the work of a Dutchman? ;)

No, I'm Italian, but I did try to give the domain a Dutch atmosphere;
Rock wrote: I note the mention of a 'Lightlord', but she isn't mentioned in the description of notables, unless I've somehow overlooked her.
You did, my friend, Kalista van der Bergen is there.
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by Wolfglide of the Fraternity »

Rock wrote:Oh man, the Confidences of Victor Gagné! :D Wonderfully written, tense, a quality villain ... I only wish the story had continued further. If at all possible, I hope to learn more about monsieur Gagné in future chapters of Quoth the Raven. ^_^
Thank you very much!

I do intend to carry the story further. I plan on creating two more parts, each with a different central antagonist; the tricky part is to get it to make sense sequentially.

Victor Gagné is mostly a framing device for exploring the evil beings he meets, but it would be interesting to expand his image further in the future.
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by alhoon »

Just got it. I big thank you to all.
I haven't read it yet, I just skimmed through it really fast. Still, I am intrigued by the new take on Tepest and specifically, the "hospitable" new domain. I saw a nice article involving alchemy which also got my interest.
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by Rock of the Fraternity »

Yesss, articles on alchemical philosophy are lots of fun! That is one of the finest concepts in Ravenloft, in my ever so humble opinion. So many possibilities.... :D :lol: :azalin:
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Another great year, and thanks to everyone who contributed. Alas, I had planned an on-theme article of my own but never found time to write it. Maybe for next year...

And now, removing my FoS ring, and commenting as simply GonzoRon...

Tepest: I always love seeing a new spin on old favorites, and while I kind of like Tepest a lot as it is, this was some welcome added flavor. If my campaign leads there, I'd probably mix and match a bit of this with the Gaz description. Also always welcome is some differentiation between the sisters, who I always have trouble telling apart. I liked how their backgrounds were reflected in the land, that's always one of my favorite bits of Ravenloft's uniqueness.

Jungle of Fire and Rain: (I've always been honest with the fact that new domains rarely excite me, so take my comments with that in mind.) I think this does a good job of translating the source material into a domain. It made the story clear even for me, who hasn't seen the new film, and hasn't seen the cartoon version in decades (and any memory of it has mostly been replaced with Tale Spin). You picked a good darklord, and gave him a classic curse, and populated the place with a good amount of NPCs, surely helped there by the source material. Not my cup of tea, as I said, but done well enough.

Three Fairies: squee! I'm a NeoTiamat fanboy, particularly enamored with his take on the fey, so this was a home run for me. Totally gave me the creeps, and I could see myself using any of the three. Though, Cecil is the kind of character I sometimes feel like I'm not smart enough to play right. How can I give the impression of plans within plans when I can't see the point of those plans myself? But even so, this article is one of my favorites.

Victor Gagne: If I'm not mistaken, this is the author's first submission for us, and it's a doozy! Very evocative, a great villain, and as others have said, I too always love seeing alchemy done well. More, please!

Zeindost: (again, remember the caveat that I don't love new domains...) I like what I see here. I probably wouldn't use it myself, unless one of my PCs found themselves unexpectedly monster-ized, and needed a sanctuary. But it's definitely a new spin on things, and well-worked out, with lots of NPCs, and plot hooks, all coming with pre-built interactions. I especially like the darklord's rival working behind the scenes to take over. Very creative, and probably a fun stand-alone setting. It's just not how I see Ravenloft, personally, so maybe better as an island or cluster but to each their own.

The Marauder's legacy: Excellent! Just the kind of out-of-the-box idea I'd hoped to see based on this year's theme. Not every Light in the Darkness needs to be a living person.

Archibald Everlast: A fun concept. Well written and evocative. My only quibble would be that I wish he hadn't been so intertwined in so many of the BIG name NPCs in Ravenloft. But that's a minor issue, since a DM could always drop the connections he or she doesn't want to use and keep only those that matter to that campaign. Nice backstory, and motivations. I could see myself using him, for sure.

Buck: I'm not familiar with the source material, to the point that I didn't even realize it was based on something until I looked up the Yeehat tribe to find out more about them. (turns out they only exist in London's works!) So I don't know how much was added vs. what was there. But the story fits right into Masque (and it's good to see that Masque isn't forgotten!)
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by Rock of the Fraternity »

Oh, wow. The Marauders' Legacy ... This was good. Really good. Made me tear up a bit. ^^;
I could easily see these items as the seed of an adventure chain to unite and liberate the souls of the Marauders. Particularly daring adventurers might even try to use the items to bring the Marauders back to life. And no doubt Azalin would be all over them like a fly on stink.

Buck, now. I think I read 'Call of the Wild' once, though it's been a loooong time; this story tickled some old memories, in any case. The Masque twist you gave it is quite good! Buck is a prime gothic villain (insofar as we can call him a villain); plenty of terror, but also sadness in his backstory.
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by alhoon »

Frankly, I could have made a contribution after all. I thought it would be redundant, expecting that someone with more tie would have contributed a bunch of good \ "good" \ goodish creatures a-la Volo's guide to monsters for the points of light or a bunch of few sites like a sacred grove that gives acts as an inverse sinkhole of evil. :(
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

alhoon wrote:Frankly, I could have made a contribution after all. I thought it would be redundant, expecting that someone with more tie would have contributed a bunch of good \ "good" \ goodish creatures a-la Volo's guide to monsters for the points of light or a bunch of few sites like a sacred grove that gives acts as an inverse sinkhole of evil. :(
Never assume someone else will do your idea, just do it! :)

Hey, between your idea you didn't write and my idea I didn't write, maybe next year should be "Lights in the Darkness vol. 2"! :)
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by brilliantlight »

With Tepest I wanted it to be more "fairy tale" like. If you are going to base it on fairy tales then base it on fairy tales. Go all the way with it. I also wanted to give hooks for what the girls may do.

Yes, they are petty goals but that is the point. Deep down they are poor peasant girls who want to live the high life not world conquerors or tyrants. They never wanted rulership which is too much work but to be wined and dined by rich, handsome gentlemen. As pointed out this was a goal they could have reached if they acted like the "good girls" of fairy tales. Also I think it is amusing for them to come up with complex schemes to get fine brandy, an emerald necklace and a lady's dress.

Also Tepest's exports are based on cheap versions of what they really would want. Cheap, potent wine instead of fine wine or brandy. Strong coarse clothing instead of fine clothing . Brass jewelry instead of gold or silver jewelry. They are a mockery of what the girls want.

Ravenloft hags, IMO, are closer to the hags of tales. They don't have a mere magical trick or two up their sleeve but real magical power. Standard D&D hags are barely magical at all. As 6th level sorcerers out of the gate they are a force to be reckoned with. Since if you raise their ECL with class levels you almost certainly would make the class levels sorcerer they would be even more of a magical threat. The hag potion also shows why hags are often depicted as being over a cauldron over a fire making potions. They are really good at that.
Last edited by brilliantlight on Thu Nov 02, 2017 5:49 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by Mistmaster »

alhoon wrote:Frankly, I could have made a contribution after all. I thought it would be redundant, expecting that someone with more tie would have contributed a bunch of good \ "good" \ goodish creatures a-la Volo's guide to monsters for the points of light or a bunch of few sites like a sacred grove that gives acts as an inverse sinkhole of evil. :(
Gonzoron is right; I, for instance would have read your contributes gladily;

Brilliantlight, I did like your take of Tepest.
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by brilliantlight »

Thanks, how did you like my Ravenloft Hags? I always thought hags needed a big magical punch. The standard D&D hag is lame, their magical powers little more than a joke. With the 6 sorcerer spell levels plus magic based bonus feats on top of the what they already had they are now decently magical creatures. I would say their ECL would be a good +2 over standard 3.5 hags.
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Re: Quoth the Raven #24: reactions

Post by Mistmaster »

I do agree; what do you think about my works?
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