What would you want in an official 5e Ravenloft setting?

[ewancummins]

That means 75% are college age and up. A strong majority. But I would have guessed more like 85% adults, and with twice as many high schoolers as younger kids.

Sure, but a company like WotC wants to make products that could appeal to everyone and not just 85%.

And remember that even if 75% of players are older, that doesn't mean that 75% of tables have no one younger. Yes, people tend to play within their peer group, but at game stores, etc, there's not always the luxury to pick and choose. Almost by definition, you'll have a larger percentage of groups with a younger person in it than the percentage of older players. And not every older player wants "mature" stuff in the game they play to escape.

I'm not sure if you understand me either. I'm in favor of keeping it generally PG-13. That will likely appeal to a larger number of customers than something more explicit and graphic, so it's good business. But my real concern isn't how well WotC does in sales, as I don't work for the company. I'm not paid to care. I like the PG 13 approach because it seems a better fit for Ravenloft aesthetics. It's more like old horror movies and the Gothics.
(Well, not all the Gothics...The Monk)

[Mischief]

@Jester, the description makes it sound more suitable for Sigil. Candlekeep did appear briefly the Avernus module, which I am 99% sure without checking is the also the module with Jander Sunstar stuck up in a tree.

I think the "key to a door" text is more metaphorical and not literal. Besides which, WotC is always going to default to setting modules in the Realms.

I know, but one could hope a little.

Baldur's Gate video game.

Is there any lore connection between Baldur's Gate and Ravenloft? I think I shoulder-surfed someone playing it for about an hour, but I forget who/what was important in it.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

MODERATOR HAT ON:

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[ewancummins]

Kewl beans.

I've noted my preference: a Mordentshire mega-module with ghosts and haunted houses, cursed things on the moors, all that.
I'm not sure I have more to add to that at this point, except to say that Jester might be the guy they should hire to write it, from what I've seen of his Ravenloft content and his conversion work.

I agree with Gonzoron about Candlekeep Mysteries. It sounds adaptable to Ravenloft. I'm no Realmslore expert, but Candlekeep, from what little I have read of the place, seems like a wonderful choice for this sort of module anthology. So, color me intrigued.

[Jester of the FoS]

The moral panic today is not about Satanism or the occult but about "racism" and " sexism" in games. Some of that comes from actual gamers, and a lot of it from self-appointed moral censors in media, schools, and political groups. Tabletop RPGs are by their nature impossible to censor and control in the same ways as video games, movies, and books. The creative freedom of players and referees trumps corporate policy and political activism. Thank goodness! And only D&D is high profile enough to attract a large number of horrible little entryists.

The big difference between this "moral panic" and the moral panic of the 1980s is the people complaining now are members of the gaming community and not mothers who have never played the game or authors of Chick Tracts condemning the "Satanism".
Instead, a lot of it is coming from actual gamers with the books who play the game and find something uncomfortable. It's the actual audience of the product. And when the consumers of a product give feedback on said product to the company, it behooves said company to listen to said feedback.

Yeah, there's still a lot of outsiders calling out issues in D&D and throwing stones online. But I think WotC can tell the difference between general online malcontents and people with legitimate feedback.
If they get a lot of feedback from many different people that all says the same thing, that's something they should look into.

I'm a pretty strong advocate that D&D should be for everyone. Since I love D&D, I want everyone who wants to, to able to play. I want to remove as many barriers to entry as possible.
And if there is someone who wants to play but feels uncomfortable because of sexism or racism or ableism at the table or in the books, it should probably be addressed.

[ewancummins]

VIEW CONTENT:

I'm not replying to that here, as a moderator has asked us all to stay on the main topic. But, as ever, I appreciate your comments and feedback, Jester. I've sent you a PM.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Baldur's Gate video game.

Is there any lore connection between Baldur's Gate and Ravenloft? I think I shoulder-surfed someone playing it for about an hour, but I forget who/what was important in it.

Well.... there's a minor one, if you choose to count it.

The characters of Misnc the ranger and Boo, his (I'm not making this up) miniature giant space hamster animal companion originated in the video game and came to Ravenloft (Barovia, Curse of Strahd version) with the rest of their adventuring party in the 2016 5-issue comic series Shadows of the Vampire. It's officially licensed, and I suppose "canon". And quite well done, despite the hamster.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

the Avernus module, which I am 99% sure without checking is the also the module with Jander Sunstar stuck up in a tree

Holy cow! how did I miss that?

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Jander_Sunstar
"Jander was crucified and impaled on an iron tree at Haruman's Hill, while his body was kept functioning by the work of stirges that injected him with the blood of other companions who had met the same fate"

Now that's dark! Poor Jander.....

I'll have to track down that module, now....

[Jester of the FoS]

the Avernus module, which I am 99% sure without checking is the also the module with Jander Sunstar stuck up in a tree

Holy cow! how did I miss that?

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Jander_Sunstar
"Jander was crucified and impaled on an iron tree at Haruman's Hill, while his body was kept functioning by the work of stirges that injected him with the blood of other companions who had met the same fate"

Now that's dark! Poor Jander.....

I'll have to track down that module, now....

It doesn’t mention Ravenloft IIRC. It’s like they found the NPC in the 2nd Ed Forgotten Realms Book and used him, and drew solely from that, tying his lore to the module villain’s backstory. It doesn’t really mesh with his established ‘Loft lore at all.

[ewancummins]

the Avernus module, which I am 99% sure without checking is the also the module with Jander Sunstar stuck up in a tree

Holy cow! how did I miss that?

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Jander_Sunstar
"Jander was crucified and impaled on an iron tree at Haruman's Hill, while his body was kept functioning by the work of stirges that injected him with the blood of other companions who had met the same fate"

Now that's dark! Poor Jander.....

I'll have to track down that module, now....

Hardcore!

I like it.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Jander's fate was this because he panicked and closed some gate in Avernus among some other adventurers who panicked, thus trapping their leader and some other comrades in Avernus. I wonder what an eminent vampire with a deathwish like Jander saw that made him panic...

Also I would like to know how he escaped Ravenloft.

A really unheroic fate for one of Ravenloft greatest heroes...

[ewancummins]

Barovia may be a tad grim, but it's not like one of the Nine Hells.
The threats there are spiritual and psychic as much as physical, and an immortal being has eternity to suffer. Or maybe he closed the portal because he wanted to keep what he saw on the right side of it, not letting it leak through into the Prime Material Plane?
I'm just speculating based on the wiki. I don't know about the game source.

Like you, I am curious as to how he escaped Ravenloft.

[Jester of the FoS]

The characters of Misnc the ranger and Boo, his (I'm not making this up) miniature giant space hamster animal companion originated in the video game and came to Ravenloft (Barovia, Curse of Strahd version) with the rest of their adventuring party in the 2016 5-issue comic series Shadows of the Vampire. It's officially licensed, and I suppose "canon". And quite well done, despite the hamster.

Since we were discussing Chris Perkins as a DM earlier, he ran a session at the D&D Live show back in 2019 with the writer of that comic (Jim Zub) playing as Minsc in full cosplay. (Famed voice actor and DM of Critical Role, Matt Mercer, plays Boo.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqLwCAt7Gbc

It's a fun session and utterly ridiculous. I'd recommend giving it a watch, as the live studio audience really adds to the experience. (It seems long at 90 minutes, but you can often listen to shows like this at 1.25x or even 1.5x and get through them much faster.)

[Five]

Since we were discussing Chris Perkins as a DM earlier, he ran a session at the D&D Live show back in 2019 with the writer of that comic (Jim Zub) playing as Minsc in full cosplay. (Famed voice actor and DM of Critical Role, Matt Mercer, plays Boo.)

Side: Funny, I was watching Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic a while back and Sinbad's voice sounded awfully familiar but as I couldn't place it, I looked the voice actor up and found out about Matt Mercer's other talents/hobby. Turns out it was Attack on Titan that triggered the memory, though I would've swore it was more than that (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba was just put into my to watch list, so there's that as well, though if the action-dialogue ratio is balanced I'll more than likely just flick on subtitles. Sorry buddy. Haha). Guess he's just got one of those "classic anime male dub voices". And I say that with respect. If I was more connected online with Dungeons and Dragons no doubt the revelation would've been reversed.

Anyway, that's that. End of side.

[Jester of the FoS]

Turns out it was Attack on Titan that triggered the memory, though I would've swore it was more than that

I just spent 5 minutes trying to think about Levi's voice in Attack on Titan and trying to recall if I recognized it as Mercer. Only to remember I'm only watching the subtitled version and have no idea what his English dub voice is like...