Quoth the Raven #25 reactions

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

The Conferences of Victor Gagné - A delight to read! Just as good as the first, if not better. Some real nice "body horror" which I'm not always a fan of, but it really worked here. I wasn't familiar with this creature, but the depiction of it here, as a physical presence writhing around the narrator's guts, was super-disturbing, in a novel way, and now I want to use one.

Thank you very much!

In general, I tend to shy away from body horror; it is very easy to take it too far. However, the tsochari require some degree of it by their very nature. Aside from that, they make for a very subtle aberrant presence compared to some of the other entities out there. I first came to like them when I read the 4th edition version of the Book of Vile Darkness, where they were characterized as knots of tendrils pulled from the Nine-Tongued Worm itself. The 3rd edition supplement Lords of Madness characterizes them as a proper race unto themselves, originating from a ruined, windswept world.

[brilliantlight]

Verbrek - a nice twist on the domain. I did like the original canon version, but this has its charms. I would certainly use some of it as source material in an attempt to combine them, if I ran an adventure there. The only quibble I have is the werewolves living openly among humans. That's a little high-fantasy for my taste, but whatever works for you.


Fifty Shades - This is exactly my kind of article. Loved it. Plenty of neat ideas, and if one doesn't grab you, there are plenty more that might.

Frozen Reaches - Some interesting ideas here, especially in terms of Sanguinia as a debauched tourist destination. I'm not sure how many denizens of Ravenloft have the means and courage to brave the mists for a vacation here, but maybe the Dark Powers provide a stream of them to keep the party going.

Richemulot - a noble effort, but I think I prefer the canon version (sorry, Mistmaster). I think the emphasis on religion was higher than I'd like. I think we have enough cultist darklords. I prefer a Richemulot more about secrets and politics. I would consider using some of the new NPCs, though.


Overall another excellent year, worthy of the 25th issue. Thank you again to all our contributors!

I liked Mistmaster's version of Verbrek , although it is different than mine, and I did find it interesting we both seemed to prefer the QTR version of the domain to the canon one and both saw Noah TImothy interesting enough to make him a major player, in mine he is a Dark Lord.

I was hoping you would like my changes to Vorostokov as it makes it far more livable. It worked for a "Weekend in Hell" but for a permanent domain you have to ask the question why everyone hasn't either been eaten or starved to death.

As far as Sanguinia I thought "If you are going to base it on Poe's 'Masque of the Red Death' then truly base it on Poe's story. The background is very similar until the curse hits and then goes off on a tangent. The one thing that impressed me about the story was that the prince was a selfish hedonist who locked himself in a castle partying while the commoners were simply ignored. So I made the main city a "party town".

As far as the Mists YRMV, in mine they are mainly a plot device. They are no more prevalent at the borders as anywhere else. Whenever the Dark Powers find it amusing to send someone somewhere they use them to do it, they aren't particular about where it happens. The Islands of Terror are entered into whenever the Dark Powers find it amusing and the people taken there are those the Dark Powers find interesting to move there at the moment.

The core, and indeed almost the entire Mistlands, are MUCH bigger in mine than in the canon. The Core is about the same size of the US so that means big domains with big populations so it is no problem. There are a number of wealthy domains in RL including Mordent, Richemulot, Darkon, and Dementlieu among others. So with my version there are plenty of rich people who have no real reason to fear travel. They simply get on a boat in an advanced domain and arrive. There are some real threats such as pirates and storms at sea but that didn't stop the wealthy from traveling abroad.

In the canon version the Dark Powers probably have to pick out rich people from the multiverse and change their memories to believe they meant to set out there or something similar.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lilliend - OK, as I've said, new domains just aren't really my thing. And this one was enormous in content, which is probably why it took me so long to proofread; Rock sent in the first draft in November of 2016!

Thanks for sticking with it in spite of this. ^^;

A true gazetteer-level of info, which I couldn't help but enjoy, despite my predisposition. I'm a little confused by the inclusion of Ogier. I don't really see how they fit the rest of the domain. Maybe it will be clearer in the rest of the cluster?

That is my intention. Unfortunately, the domain the Ogier hail from is a few volumes into the Cluster... Please bear with me.

Also, a lot more rape and incest than we usually get in our entries (hence the mature themes warning). I could have done without some of that.

I can only hope I have not given serious offense to anyone here. If I have, please remove Lilliend as-is and I will do a rewrite for next year.

I was also a little confused by the inclusion of the goddess Brightwell. I assume there's some relation there to the Brigthwell Coven from your Qtr22 article? But I thought they were devoted to Hala. Is Brightwell meant to be an alias of Hala? Or do you just like the name?

To this, I can only say... Shh. Spoilers.
Well, that and: the Brightwell Coven on Gothic Earth was involved with all kinds of spirits, deities and demons, and as I recall the character "Mu" mentioned she was not sure whether the cult had been involved with Hala as well or not.

Overall, an epic endeavor with some really creepy moments. Great job, "Mroark"!

Thanks very much, Ron. ^_^ I appreciate it!

[tomokaicho]

On the Subject of the death knight - a good idea to soup up the death knight, as they are clearly outclassed in PF/3.x. Lots of useful powers for that. I could have done without Van Richten in the framing fic (he just seems to be everywhere, and know everyone, you know? I'd rather a new character) but the fic itself was fine, and mainly there to set up the template, not to stand on its own.

An early draft hopefully corrected in the revised issue!

Also, a lot more rape and incest than we usually get in our entries (hence the mature themes warning). I could have done without some of that.

This is a shame because the true sins of Adam are crying out for explication. Do we really think that Adam is a darklord merely because of poor socialization and butthurt?

[Jack the Reaper]

Thanks for the kind reviews Ron (and all the rest)!

Just updating that more shades are already gathering for the next year's issue...

[Skyrock]

So, any word on a revised version?

I would be especially curious about the final version of the Death Knight template.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I was hoping you would like my changes to Vorostokov as it makes it far more livable. It worked for a "Weekend in Hell" but for a permanent domain you have to ask the question why everyone hasn't either been eaten or starved to death.

That sort of thing is always something I like to see, since I prefer native campaigns to WIH's. To be honest, it's been so long since I've looked at the Vorostokov source material (It's never really been one of my fave domains) that I wasn't sure what was yours and what was unchanged from the original! So I didn't feel confident commenting on it much.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I can only hope I have not given serious offense to anyone here. If I have, please remove Lilliend as-is and I will do a rewrite for next year.

Please don't misunderstand. I'm not offended by it. It's just not something I would include in my game at that high volume (as I would prefer not to offend those I'm playing with). If it weren't something I felt comfortable posting on our site (after an appropriate disclaimer), I would have contacted you for revisions before we published.

[Mistmaster]

I would like to point out, however, that my Jacqueline is not a cultist, she is only exploiting a cult (which was the priestly caste of wererat's warrens also in the Gazetteer III) for her masterplan. There are still plenty of intrigues in the domain.

[Skyrock]

Re: Death Knight by tomokaicho

Note: I have received the expanded article by PM, which didn't make it into the current revision of QtR. My feedback is about the expanded article.

I like how you dissected the pre-existing official Death Knight stats in AD&D, MM2 and 3.x Dragonlance first and derived your version from it, such designer notes are always useful to GMs wanting to tinker with and alter the write-up.

I would consider to open the template also for monstrous humanoids, giants and native outsiders. There are some very well-fitting creatures in those categories, like hobgoblins, half-giants or tieflings who would make great death knights. An aasimar who has fell from grace could also be an interesting possibility.

Not a fan of the new heroic stat array. It is an unnecessary and clunky hack that also makes calculating the stats of a creature gaining the template in the course of the game harder. Just handing out bigger ability score bonuses would be a more elegant way to achieve the same effect.

If the death knight was a former paladin, or knight of some sort, consider using the fighter class for the death knight.

Blackguard works also well, as does the Crusader. Note also the optional variant Paladins in UA - especially LE Paladins of Tyranny would be great fit. The code of conduct fits to a T to a death knight.

Epic Death Knights: Death Knights that reach epic levels (21 HD) continue to acquire salient abilities normally, with the following differences. Upon reaching 21 HD the death knight gains a bonus salient ability. Additionally, any epic bonus feat that a death knight gains through leveling may be used to instead to acquire a salient ability, if desired.

I think a more elegant way to express that would be a new epic feat with prerequisite: Death Knight that allows to acquire a new salient ability.

Salient Ability: Occultist

I would consider to add a note about ignoring ASF from wearing armor.

I would also like to add that this is a template that could benefit a lot from integrating Tome of Battle. Some of the salient abilities would work better in 3.5 being modeled as maneuvers rather than as SLAs, and would also make the difference between the more martially oriented Death Knight and more magically oriented other undead more pronounced.

[Mistmaster]

I'd like to have the revised version of the Death Knight too, if possible, Tomoachiko.

[Starscream]

Have you read more deeply, Starscream? By the way, our dear Brothers of the Shadow Ron and Joel, what do you think of this year issues articles?

I know i am late, but I read Verbrek deeper. I feel like Gonzoron. I always liked the canon version, but there are good ideas I could use even in the canon version. but, like Gonzoron, the only perplexity I have is the the werewolves living openly among humans. Too far for my Ravenloft taste. But If it works for you, good!

[Mistmaster]

For the question on Werewolves living beside human beings well, that is a byproduct of making it a populated american-fronteer-sort-of nation; since it has a long history, like the rest of my Mistworld, the two people (Humans and Werewolves) fought each other, hunted each other, killed each other for a long time, then, one day, they fought together against a common enemy; in a land were more then Half of the population is a Werebeast (a werewolf, commonly), once you have accepted my postulate, that all sentients of not Outsider origin, do have free will, I can't see a reason because the most reasonable heads of humans and werewolves can't prevail, after fighting together against a common enemy (Invidian invasion). Werewolves existence is common knowledge, many of them are perfectly willing to get along with humans, in Verebrek, and they are traditionally trained to keep the beast in check; that is not the case for extra-Verbrek werewolves. You don't need a domain to play the classic Werewolf hunting or hunted by werewolves;My Verbrek is the place were you can explore another kind of evil; the evil of civilization against the evil of wilderness. As I underlined, the fact that werewolves are aknowledged as people, does not mean they are or feel wellcomed in most human communities; clue the Sisters Yellowfang, who prefer to keep that information fot themselves; My Verbrek is a place were human and werewolves can coexist, yes, but peacefull cohexistence is still far from behing a reality; personally, find the potential for discrimination, racism, prejudice and value dissonamce being very gothic and there is still roomal for some werewolf hunt classic (or escape from the werewolves classic) adventure, if you want. Basically, like all what I write, the idea is to give more room for doing more things, in a domain.

By the way, Wolfglide, what would you take from my version to use within canon Verbrek?

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

By the way, Wolfglide, what would you take from my version to use within canon Verbrek?

I am not sure if you are addressing me, or if you misidentified Starscream. Either way, I have been rather busy lately, and I have not read as much of the new QtR as I would like. Also, I realize now that I have not read much about canon Verbrek, so I would have to look at both before I could provide a developed opinion.

[Mistmaster]

Excuse me, Wolfglide, yes, I meant Starscream.