Review thread of VRGtRL 5e

[onmyoji]

Well, admitting to being green here but I was introduced to Ravenloft through COS after I got into D&D. 5th Edition is the only system I've ever know for it. Still, having an actual horror adventure and reading Ravenloft had been in previous editions got me hunting on DMSGuild where I managed to track down digital copies of the setting books and old adventures and I fell hard for the lore and world of Ravenloft.

I'm no professional analyst or mechanics sage, but I am someone who loves the game even as I'm learning more about it, how to be a better DM, and someone who loves Ravenloft and just wants to voice their opinion.

Like a lot of people, I like the mechanics portion. The lineages are interesting and can help make for interesting backgrounds or plot devices for a DM. Likewise with the classes and how they fit into the Ravenloft setting. The definition of types of horror and ideas on how to make adventures for them is interesting and can help better guide me when I'm putting together a horror adventure. The rules of fear, stress, and other horror toolkit aspects are all useful and helpful for making a horror adventure. Love the bestiary, although it really is lacking a lot of the more iconic monsters and even the Dread template, making already evil monsters worse in the Domains of Dread. I was really sad not to see the Dread Elementals. Still, there is plenty of good horror-related monsters there so I won't complain.

The lore though...as someone who greatly enjoys lore in adventures and settings, it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

EXACTLY my situation as well.

No, what really broke my heart was all the retcons, reimaginings, and outright removal of the Darklords, their domains, and their histories. So much of Ravenloft was just butchered in a lot of ways. They completely retconned Dementlieu, turning into one city and just chopping off the rest of the domain just felt...so incredibly lazy. The gender flips and other changes follow that trend. Rather than make them their own domains and give them individual identity, it does really feel like they were trying to tack their ideas they weren't sure were going to work onto famous names from the setting.

That and most NPCs escaped for the worse. Firan Zal'honan is no longer associated whatsoever with Azalin, though the Darkon chapter specifies that "Irik Zal'honan" is Azalin's son. Turning some characters into women or minorities without explanation still reads like pandering no matter how many times I try to look at it all with a clear mindset. I would've loved if they instead made a new NPC—maybe a black scholar who functioned as a sometimes-colleague-sometimes-rival of Van Richten—instead of just doing the bare minimum to pacify modern audiences.

And what they did to Jander Sunstar breaks my heart completely. Once I delved away from Curse of Strahd into the lore, I found I, Strahd, but before I got the chance to start it, I discovered that Vampire of the Mists also included Strahd and had been published first. I chose to read that one first, and I enjoyed it greatly. WotC had already done Jander dirty in Descent into Avernus, and tried to make it better by churning out some garbage about him mistakenly being cloned numerous times so that a copy of him appears in different planes, every one thinking they're the original? I'm sorry. Fanfiction authors can do—and by now probably have done—better. Oh and one of the clones has a daughter for some reason who also happens to hate him for some reason. And neither is explained. I'm sorry, but that goes beyond lazy writing. That's downright detestable.

Some people may complain the Darklords are truly difficult to beat and put down, but to me, that's the point. They are the center of their domains, they are the source of evil, and the Dark Powers want them to stay right where they are so as to keep playing their games with them.

Personally, I'm not one of those people who needed darklord statblocks. But after getting Strahd's in CoS and the host of big-name demons and devils we got in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, I'd argue there was no convincing reason to not include unique statblocks.

A lot of the history which built up the Demiplane of Dread likewise was just removed and forgotten. The key one being the Grand Conjunction. That event was the lynchpin to later storylines. G'henna becoming isolated, increasing the religious fervor there. It was the spark that lit the fuse to the Tepestani Inquisition, a major plot element that gave Tepest some needed depth and conflict to lure in adventurers. It made a rebellion from the Gundarakites, which helped give new avenues for plots in Invidia, Borca, and Barovia. Now all of it is just gone like it never happened.

Its biggest sin in my book. I'd rather have seen a fancy one-paragraph "explanation" that a lot of craziness went down but now this is how things are...... [insert new stuff]. As I said elsewhere on this forum, I'd have rathered they "forget" the problematic domains and just create a dozen or so new ones. It would've been a super elegant way to give new Ravenloft players something to enjoy AND classic Ravenloft players something new to test and play with. But that wasn't the easy path. It's one thing with Curse of Strahd, where they were expanding a classic well-loved module. But none of this book had any reverence or praise to anything classical, except perhaps the notion of Ravenloft as a campaign setting.

Viktra is a daughter or student to Mordenheim who seeks to outdo her mentor and complete the task he never could. She manages to create the heart which she uses to revive Elise. Of course, for all her immoral experimentation, she was given a domain of her own next to Lamordia, perhaps an island which is next to Lamordia, like Demise. Part of her torment is that her fame and scientific power are still dwarfed by Victor's despite accomplishing a feat of science she claims that he could not. This also truly puts Victor equal to Adam now as he is just as alone as the monster he made.

Or, as Mephisto and I accidentally proposed, Victor Mordenheim finally comes to the realization that his masculine body is a barrier to creation, and so he slowly transformed his own body into that of a woman—now Viktra—so that the powers of human creation would become available to them.

Sorry to borrow your points to make some of my own. They just inspired me.

— onmyoji

[A G Thing]

Hey everyone!
Long time since I found my way back here.
Life and a self destructing laptop that I hope to recover my many Ravenloft fan works off of.

Now to my basic review of "Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft" with a more personal detailed review to follow.
Basic Review
Art: Very good on its own divorced from context of the book and has some very beautiful and distinct takes on things.

DM Advice/Utility: Good and decent though certainly focused more towards directing narrative and setting rather than providing crunch which basically leaves the DM to do the heavy numerical lifting and how to adjudicate the more statistical parts alone. While on the surface this lends to freedom and customization it seems unfocused and also defeats much of the fluff resources as it makes them more to inform the RP aspects but does not inform about an NPC/Darklord abilities and how they shape those abilities nor does it inform how those abilities statistics were shaped by or shape these characters. The Spirit Board, horror adventure section and the Survivors option all help to expand options for the DM. The House of Lament adventure

Darklords: No stats and for the small entries the few sentences provided do not give more than a framework for new readers to adapt. Still some darklords' have gained purpose and also even significant improvements. Others have had their motives shifted, their genders flipped for little to no reason and others were removed and or replaced with decent lords but needlessly as they were solid in past lore. Still some lore changes give a further opening for certain debates. As stated before, the lack of real statistics for the lords leaves them mostly as less established though they are fleshed out enough for a good DM to easily use if from one of the more filled out entries.

Domains: Most of the same issues that apply to the combined darklord entries but the maps provided, the details vague as they are and the way the populations are described and or how the cultures of their populations function are more towards flavor for NPC's and interaction guidelines rather than fleshing out the culture or providing for native PC's to have solid foundations as to their culture or such.

PC Utility: The added stats for classes and racial options allow for interesting character options and this adds some without really subtracting much. Darkgifts and other background centered abilities are easy to use or adapt and no real issues to be found outside of perhaps some fluff debate on some of the descriptions. Still the setting materials are the main focus and they should be though they are not very useful for players outside a few notes for RP and they tend to otherwise outside crunch for players be hidden in the text.

[u]Personal Use:[/u] I honestly have few personal issues with the book since I can pick and choose what I want in a regular game and I have a home game set during the time of unparalleled darkness and a world warping, timeline crossing and even core disrupting events are reshaping my players Ravenloft. I plan to add in several of these lords not as full rewrites but as part of the chaos as every one of these monstrous versions seek to survive this merging and their older copies influence. Given that as the players are seeking to stop this and are hopping around to do so this requires them to deal with certain situations resulting and they have the chance to shape the Core quite a bit as they do.

Overview and Rating: My overview is that it is a useful if not overwhelmingly so product that provides many interesting and new ideas into the Ravenloft setting but lacking crunch and with more emphasis on weekend in hell or escaping domains rather than playing in them long term it leaves the DM to do quite a bit of work to have a campaign solely in the Land of the Mists.
Rating for me is 3.5 blood drops out of 5. Not perfect and I see its changes to how things are being swallowed up and absorbed by the mists of old much as the 4th edition content was. It may live in the game but I think it is destined to live in pieces.

[nothri]

This is the worst version of the Ravenloft Campaign Setting published to date.

Understand when I say that I am not being hyperbolic or saying the book has no merit. In terms of providing advice to a new DM about running a horror game in 5th Edition or making use of the material provided it works just fine. I have no particular issue with the expansion of rules for Player Characters or races, even if some of the new races are not especially to my taste (some of the new races feel like attempts to make classic monsters playable as characters without actually making the monsters playable, if that makes any sense). I wasn't blown away by anything but I saw no significant problems a new DM would encounter.

Calling this the worst setting has far more to do with holding it up against past editions. The advice on horror games is fine, but inferior to the words in the original Black Box or the Dungeon Master's Guide to Ravenloft. The Player Options are fine, but are not as interesting or expansive as previous versions of the setting provided. There are no stats for Darklords, and there are not nearly as many domains under discussion here as in past editions (and I'm being generous here and counting that section that offers a dozen or more domain in the course of a single paragraph apiece).

I don't intend to dwell on the sweeping changes the book makes to previous Ravenloft history. If I had to find a solution to incorporate Van Richten's Guide to RL into the existing canon I would rely on the concept of pocket domains for the more promising new darklords (I don't have a problem allocating a block or two of Port-a-Lucine to our Cinderella Lordess, for example, but she's going to replace my favorite chauvinistic mentalist over my cold dead body). And I just have to scratch my head at some of the utterly goofy decisions made in places (Dr. Dominiani is no longer a vampire slowly going mad who runs a clinic in which the insane are tortured, he now runs a clinic...where all his patients are himself....I'm sorry, WHAT?). It certainly doesn't help that my personal love for 2nd and 3rd edition renders 90% of the setting material useless to me, and I consider it a very bad decision on the part of the designers. As for the intent to clean up racist or otherwise troublesome elements and modernize the setting, I'll just say I applaud the intent and not the execution. You can change and add to character motivations without switching genders or rewriting histories. As I said elsewhere, this is equivalent to using a chainsaw when a scalpel would suffice. But others have said more than enough on that so I'll move on.

I think overall the greatest objection I have to the book beyond my own nostalgic preference for the material it abandons to retcons and genderswaps is the overall design philosophy. Way, way back I recall picking up a second edition Ravenloft book called Monster Compedium 2: Children of the Night. It described several NPC monsters with detailed backgrounds and unique powers. The introduction explained that part of the intent here was to expand the options available to a Dungeon Master so that the game did not become a samey sterotype and to keep the players guessing and on edge (avoiding, as the book described, a scenario in which the party starts gathering and sharpening their stakes when traveling in Barovia or getting their silver and wolfsbane ready when crossing Verbrek). To my mind the setting evolved from a rocky beginning to create as robust and full a setting as possible. New classes and races were added, languages and religions were discussed, politics and trade between domains was touched upon. The 3rd edition especially tried to create as many options as possible. The Gazetteers very deliberately took each domain and divided it into various regions with their own rumors and goings on so that even if a campaign took place in a single domain there was always a variety of adventure seeds to explore and numerous places a villain could hide. The "classic" Van Richten Guides provided details intended to make monsters more unique and deadly, offering an effective option for villains aside from the darklords to combat.

The current book has in many ways taken the precise opposite of this approach. There has been an active attempt here to reduce the scope and style of the Ravenloft setting. All domains are now disconnected from each other, more isolated and insular. Common elements of culture and religion between realms are almost nonexistent. Different styles of horror are discussed, although not in any lengthy detail, and various domains are shaped to focus solely on that style of horror. In some cases, this works fine, maybe even better than it had before. Bleutspur is a natural realm for cosmic horror and this book actually improves upon that domain significantly. Ghosts and Mordentshire go hand and hand, as do mummies and Har'Akir. Others feel far more shoe horned into their new roles. Why Dementlieu was supposed to be a good match for fairy tale horror instead of say Tepest or perhaps Pharazia (for an Arabian Nights take on the subject) will always be a mystery to me. The setting visibly strains under the rule of "domain cannot touch domain" with places like Tepest essentially trying to fulfill the role of two or three domains in the classic canon.

In some ways I understand the mentality. Some domains benefit from this reduced, focused treatment. But in other ways its reduced the possibities of the setting down to the bare bones. Each realm as described is only useful for a particular kind of game with specific kinds of opponents. There is less versatility here than there was before. What each domain does it does well for telling A story, but a DM hoping to connect different narratives and adventures together (especially if it were to involve more than one domain) has far fewer options than ever before. I do appreciate the attempt to make the nature of the horror of Ravenloft a bit more blatant when it comes to different genres (those different genres of horror have always been available of course- the designers certainly had cosmic horror in mind when creating Bluetspur, for example) but it was never stated outright until now. But overall we just aren't getting as much value here as we did in any other version of the setting, and that's my assessment before we factor in all the previous canon the book simply decides to abandon for no good reason.

[alhoon]

Overview and Rating: My overview is that it is a useful if not overwhelmingly so product that provides many interesting and new ideas into the Ravenloft setting but lacking crunch and with more emphasis on weekend in hell or escaping domains rather than playing in them long term it leaves the DM to do quite a bit of work to have a campaign solely in the Land of the Mists.
Rating for me is 3.5 blood drops out of 5. Not perfect and I see its changes to how things are being swallowed up and absorbed by the mists of old much as the 4th edition content was. It may live in the game but I think it is destined to live in pieces.

My opinion as well

Nothri: From what I understand from your review, you don't see the new book as horrible just worse than the previous iterations. I would agree if it wasn't for the 4e.
However, as I own large parts of the previous editions I will simply grab the useful parts I see from this book and domains I like. Honestly, I prefer some domains from their older iterations and I can easily put them on the core.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I had a dream the other night that I was looking at VRGtR in a store to buy it after some good reviews by the FoS forum, and although only 5-10% of the information within being useful to me, it was so well designed and made with pop-up cutaway illustrations and other stuff...
Then I woke up and realised that I it was just a dream and I am still not buying it.

[nothri]

Nothri: From what I understand from your review, you don't see the new book as horrible just worse than the previous iterations. I would agree if it wasn't for the 4e.
However, as I own large parts of the previous editions I will simply grab the useful parts I see from this book and domains I like. Honestly, I prefer some domains from their older iterations and I can easily put them on the core.[/quote]

Yes, absolutely. In retrospect a less confrontational way to describe this book is that it is my least favorite version of Ravenloft. Although to be fair I'm unaware that there was a true 4th edition of the setting as such. I'd be interested in hearing more about this version if you wouldn't mind elaborating. And of course you are correct about adapting the setting for your personal games. But then again, I tend to think of this in two different terms- evaluating the book strictly on its own content compared to its predecessors, and evaluating what I personally would take or leave from it for my own games. I think part of my bitterness probably comes down to once again having an edition of Ravenloft fairly separate from other editions, which makes having a common point of reference in the fandom more difficult. Plus I just generally admired all the efforts the kargatane and the fraternity made to keep consistent with established canon and expand upon it in new and interesting ways. I can't help but view the approach of the current book as inferior for not making a similar attempt to do so.

Shrug. I likes my canons to stay canon, I guess. I prefer Marvel over DC. I'd rather not have this Crisis on Infinite Ravenlofts thing we have going on here.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

This is a very long and thorough review on Van Richtens Guide to Ravenloft. There are some possible spoilers for players ahead (although the new Ravenloft is so non-canon that a DM can change everything, as the writters did.)

I just had a quick look at VRGtR form D&D beyond. I have to say that it doesn't impress me as I found the few darklord stories I read weak. Ivana Boritsi's old story is better in my opinion than the Poison Ivy one presented in this book, since I liked the story of Camille being the previous darklord not trusting men and being murdered in a plot by her own daughter, also Nostalia's story was inspired by that one. Ivan is more like a pest than a darklord.

The other one I checked was Chakuna, although Von Kharkov is mentioned there is no really a reason for Chakuna to be a darklord except if anyone who kills one takes their place. Though I have read in this forum that Valachan ii/was one of the least favourite domains in Ravenloft, I disagree. If you take Urik's rule in a version close to conquistadors ruling over South American natives it doesn't sound so bad. I mean Valachan for me always had this vibe the contrast of lush rain forests and late medieval or early renaissance cities, as constrasting was it's darklords soul. I personaly like the beast turned man thurned vampire aspect of Urik and not knowing if he is either man or beast. Although the story of Chakuna catches on this colonial vibe, as her people are exterminated it misses the tragic story that made her darklord.

Then the other I was curious about was Hazlik. Yes I don't know about this new background story I prefer the old one and yes I agree he is now the old Azalin aquiring his curse and "The Eye of Sauron" aspect of Darkon and it's darklord. Even if I don't like the whole concept I like the rule on wild magic, although not the mechanics of it, the older mechanics of 2e and 3e are better, but someone can add these new ones tthe old for pluralism. I would use those rules on wild magic on Hazlan before the Grand Comjunction though as Hazlik destates other magic users his domain reflects that by making everyones arcane magic except Hazlik's to be treated as wild magic. In that way the civilians of Hazlan are more dreadful of magic seeing it as unpredictable and makes even more radical thechange of Hazlan after the Grand Conjunction, being the center of magic in Ravenloft.

The other thing I was interested in was the Genres of Horror, which makes it forunate to me that I didn't buy the book as the chapter that seemed more interesting to me was in fact a guideline for unexperienced DM's. It is good that it is there off course, but unecessary to an experenced DM I believe.

The Mists talisman idea is a good adittion for the new Ravenloft as it makes travel from one domain to the other possible, for the old version of Ravenloft it is unessescary but maybe it can add some atmosphere using it as a trope in desribing a trip through the mists. Maybe for instance it is a necessary element for safely traveling to the destined domain through the Mists usable by a Vistani or anchorite. Also it could be used as a folk legend that using this talisman you get there but they actuall don't work.

For Bluetspur I prefer the background story from The Illithid God-Brain article by Matthew L. Martin in Book of Sacrifices (Kargatane netbook), but the concept of a dying God-Brain makes "logical" the concept of the end of Thoughts of Darkness were the massive creature of brains lets the High Master drain him and turning him into a vampiric massive creature of brains. Mount Glysl finally described even in a few lines is a good addition and a stimulus for food for thought. And the whole alien abduction theme is good although pr-existing, check for instance The Realms Beyond article by John W. Mangrum in Book of Souls (Kargatane netbook). http://www.kargatane.com/

I prefer the old Carnival than it's new Ebonbane-like darklord and Feywild connection, which I didn't like as a background story, also I prefer Isolde without those pointy ears.

I like the idea of a falling out Darkon as a "what if" alternate reality domain and speaking of Darkon yes if Azalin had been placed in the Apparatus instead of Jander Sunstar probably his "good side" Firan Zal'honan (or better his mortal side as he probably has no good side at all) wondering trying to keep away from the Mists and Darkon and his "evil/undead side" being obliterated. Though he still seeks for his phylactery so maybe he is just the old "good" king as he appears most of the time masquarading his true nature behind layers of illusions and alterations. Well we get to see his human form after all, before that I pictured him as an old mortal king, but I actually like this version better (to my mind at least this is a new version of Azalin's image".

Alcio Metus not interesting at all...

Castle Avernus frozen at it's destruction is an interesting concept for the alternate reality Darkon or Time of Unparallel Darkness Darkon, or if the players didn't manage to help Azalin reconstruct himself in Death Undaunted (netbook) by John W Mangrum https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/Lib ... ed_JWM.pdf

As for Dementlieu yes I aggree with most nice concept, just change the name of the domain and any area presented there and keep the old Dementlieu as it was.

Falkovnia, I am sticking to the old version, I am already writting an article for QtR28 based on the old one. The zombie apocalypse could happen somewhere else. Maybe Vladeska Drakov could exist in a different domain reflecting her father's and maybe all the zombies could have her fathers visage, showing her guilt for trying to assassinate him though I doubt that but probably exemplifying her failure to do so. This new version sound inspired by the 2009 Norwegian comedy horror film Dead Snow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGg_HeCB0vM

For Har'Akir I have to say I always loved the stories and culture associated with Ancient Egypt so since there is so much historical and theological information from there I am keeping the Ancient Egyptian Pantheon for this domain as well as Sebua and keeping them part of the Amber Wastes cluster along with Pharazia. I like the oases described and I would place some of them in Sebua keeping the Muhar oasis in Har'Akir. I don't like the concept of the Labyrinth interconnecting all the tombs of Har'Akir. I prefer the old Ravenloft version of Ankhtepot's background from the 2e Darklords accessory and him becoming mortal with a sunset ritual until sunset. But although I prefer the old version of his backround I also like the lost Ka senario in his new version, in a way he has a reason to roam the land. The new background story isn't bad but I would use it as background to one of the various mummies in Har'Akir or Sebua. The other sites of interest are more fitting for Sebua as I also like the version of Har'Akir being nothing than a backward village of fearful people compared to the old empire that Ankhtepot ruled over.

I'Cath used to be one of my least favourite domains, now it is something totally different (as most domains) but in this case this is an upgrade. I like the dramy new concept of I'Cath and Tsien Chang's background story, makes more sense than the totally evil with no exlpanation sorceress she was before in 2e Islands of Terror. Also the story with the Dragon fits the theme of the domain, while reading it I had images of King Hu's 1979 film Legend of the Mountain, Gordon Chan's 2008 film Painted Skin, the dreamy-like 1977 film Hausu by Nobuhiko Obayashi although that film is Japanes and not Chinese and images from The Yin Yang Master by Li Weiran.

For Kalakeri I will say that I prefer Kalakeri as another version of the Verduous Lands cluster, I preffer Saragoss as an Island of Terror making everyone in that domain fighting for survival and I never liked the Wildlands and the concept of talking sentient animals and the crocodile king as a concept (a bit The Jungle Book meets Peter Pan where Mowgli does not exist and the Baloo meets Tick-Tock the Crocodile). I am not so much in favour of the whole Arijani and Reeva being siblings with Ramya, reincarnated as fiends since I like the Arijani Ravanna connection from 2e and 3e and making Reeva into an arcanaloth messes up with the whole Arijani Inajira connection so... NO. It is like they blended everything into a mixer and Reeva was created. I would prefer a better explenation. If I used Kalikeri it would be bordering Sri Raji and there would be a conflict in Kalikeri as mentioned in VRGtV believing that Arijani is a beneficial maharaja. Since Arijani dwells high on the Yamata Mountains, in the ruins of Bahru known as the Accursed City I would place that north of Kalikeri and making Sri'Raji more advenaced than Kalikeri, then again I could actually never use Kalikeri at all, although I like that the darklord is a death knight. I really like Inajira's feud with Strahd and I really cant' understand why there was no backlash for this. Kalakeri nice try but no.

And we come to Kartakass one of my all-time-favourite domains since I first read about it, my favourite character class in 2e was the bard. Also one of my favourite domains since I read and llater played Feast of Goblyns in the 90's. And now I will go back to memory lane as my first take on Ravenloft was when I first saw the Denizens of Ravenloft miniature box set, then when I was 10 or 11 someone who worked in my local game-store had told me while I was looking at the miniatures that Harkon Lukas was a werewolf, I guess that guy had somehow had time-traveled and knew that in 5e HArkon Lukas would no longer be a Wolfwere but a werewolf. So why did they had to change the darklords monster description is something I can't figure out. In 3e the whole concept of Grandfather wolf and all those folk tales had made tis domain even better than before (a difficult task in my opinion). Well the Old Fortress of Skald could have inspired the background story of this version of Lukas and at least we get to have some impilcation of his evil instead of the, he was wandering in the streets of a town dreaming of power and conquest before the Mists transported him to Barovia were after a massacre of some wolves in the Barovian forests he was confronted by Count Strahd Von Zarovich and barely escaped with his life entering the Mists and being granted a domain for killing wolves and escaping the wrath of a vampire...
The whole darklords bite concept is a bit ridisulous as it is presented "May I bite you?", he sounds more like a creepy pervert instead of a powerful wolfwere...sorry werewolf.
Probably the only expanation for monstert-changing him is that they wanted to use this really good line...
Also the image of Akriel Lukas looks more like the Harkon Lukas's female form if he was still a wolfwere since in 2e and 3e he had both male and female forms which were the only ones he could take as part of his curse. I will not comment on the race-change of his or any other character in the book since I understand the reasons they did that, even if I disagree only on the grounds of changing ready-existing characters, but I miss his monocle.
So in general in Kartakass there is not such radical change except the nature of it's darklord, who is blent in with Mother Fury, the name of Akriel Lukas violin (Sundered Heart, her half brother now changed into a violin instead of a man in the end of Heart of Midnight I suppose), that the plants and animals can have friendly voices (reminds me of the Wildlands concept...) and Harkon expecting to be attacked by a toxic former student or lover in a public event... poor Harkon. This is radical.

Lamordia... Radiation-warped monsters, Rudolph Von Aubrecker makes it home and a really weak background compared to the tragic events of Schloss Mordenheim in 2e and 3e. The whole Frankenstein connection and tragicness of Adam and Dr. Mordenheim are far better than this Elise golden heart story. Still a nice idea for a non-darklord villain but not strong enough to match the echoes of Mary Shelley's masterpiece.

For Mordent mixing Lord Godefroy's story with the Apparatus is just another case of putting all the ingredients in the mixer and "creating something new". As I read through this chaprter I couldn't resist thinking that this whole "specific theme domain thing" is really a regress of the setting, all those different elements, in Mordent for instance as the Apparatus, the Renier family, Godefroy and the whole concept of Strahd Azalin experimentation on the Demiplane go to trash. Also it makes this whole Mordent is speciffically for adventures involving ghosts, haunted houses or the Apparatus to narrow. What about the sea? what about the other Mordentish noble families, how come we know about the aristocratic families of Borca, an easy task by the way just taking names from previous Ravenloft products creating a few new ones and just naming their households.
Well there is at least Idlethorp with it's miniature golems but if everything is themed, I have just read about Lamordia why should I do that there?

Now it is time for Richemulot... I will not comment on Jackies dressing style except that it reminded me of the "derelicte" collection in Zoolander https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVscQYjuq_s
Inspired by the 3e Dread Possibility The Comming Plague I have to say this domain is at it's weakest. All the backstabbings, intrigue and power struggle between the aristocrat and wererat population not even being mentioned, Claude Renier's history and controlling character (read the really good QtR20 article by Alhoon bearing the ex-darklords name) bieng just mentioned as "Her grandfather grew infirm over the years and less able to look at the families interests" which is probably how Jaqueline explains her betrayal to her grandfather. Also her weak background not being a natural wererat from a line of vermin but an afflicted one, these all are really a dissappointment. The only thing this domains description has to offer are mechanics and scenarios of how to run The Comming Plague Dread Possibility, but Richemulot was much more than that.

When I first saw Tepest's revies in this forum I was interested and disappointed at the same time. I liked Tepest as it was but I also like the new version of it being from a Salem like domain full of inquisitors against with existing witches and fey creatures to a domain more closely resembling films like The Wicker Man (1973) and Ari Aster's Midsommar (2019). First of all the Shadow Rift exists in the form of Arak as it was before the Grand Conjunction which complicates things since Tepest is a single domain, but I will by pass this one (at least they are still in Ravenloft). I think this one is the best domain development in 5e that could be a natural continuity from the older version of the setting. It would be nice for PC's to experience this change by having adventures in Tepest in the Inquisition era which was awful and in the future experience this new bright merry version of it, before horror enters the game again. Ah yeah hexbloods... not for my campaign, I am really conservative in my games as to what races I allow, mostly humans with a few exceptions if it suits the campaign. In general I like the old low-magic human centered feeling of Ravenloft that closely resembles historically the real world of medieval and early renaissance era.

Ok I come back to Valachan a mixture of 2e/3e Verbrek and old Valachan with displacer beasts and dinosaurs!!! no no no... not in my Ravenloft, thank you.

Cyre 1313, The Mourning Rail... I am not a fan of the Steam-punk genre in my games, but others are. Too bad they wated pages for remaking old domains instead of describing new ones as this one, even if I don't like the genre.

It is fortunate that some old domains didn't get the pages they could have cause they would have changed them too. Forlorn stays fortunatelly the same but Tristen is now a dhampir/ghost instead of a vampyre/ghost. I think Lisa Smedman made a really good and tragic backround to that charaster and I am glad they didn't have the pages to change it, also she described very well why he tranformed into a vampyre, he wasn't sired by a vampire, his mother was bitten while she was pregnant, the vampiric toxins tainted the child who would slowly become a vampire or maybe dhampir (who cares?) until Rual almost cured him of his vampirism before he killed her and she cursed him. A yes goblins with an "i" and not goblyns with an "y" roam the countryside and Castle Tristenoira now, it is really awful to see one of my favourite Ravenloft monsters and the best described humanoid culture of 2e disappear.

As I went through the less described domains of Ravenloft I was thinking why describe them at all if it is for just a few lines? I mean if I was new to Ravenloft I would want to know more about them and reading them while I know the whole story about them makes it unnecessary information. Or at least that was what I was thinking until I read Invidia. Oh that is really bad... you have one of the best Ravenloft adventures reduced into trash about a narcissistic mother grooming her son for greatness.

Klorr, let's say I prefer the pocketwatch... (even the other timepieces are better than this "domain with other domains?" description. By the way the Timepiece of Klorr is well written.

Markovia, a combination of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Brute and the Wildlands... nice... Never four lines did so much damage to a domain and a darklord. Why did this had to change? Dr. Moreau was too obvious? Is it because Markov was a speciesist? Well he still is...

Caroline Dinwiddy "Ubi Libertas Ilbi Patrium" is the motto of the real world Dinwiddy family crest, yes I checked it...
The Nightmare Lands or then again "how to minimize a whole box set into only 17 half-lines (8.5 regular ones that is) and just throw in a name that will destroy any element of mystery that this domain had..."

Niranjan has fortunatelly as much information as I actually wanted...

Nova Vaasa the thing I wrote before about Markovia I take it back, these four lines have never done so much damage to a domain and a darklord. It makes it even worse that this domain had already a big history of different versions. The White Wolf Gazetteer writters on Nova Vassa did what ever they could to fix all these problems but unfortunatelly most of the information was cut in editing and now came this to finish of Malken (or is it Malkan?) once and for all.

Odiare (or is it Odair... maybe Orderve) never was one of my favourite domains and still isn't, nothing has changed.

The Rider's Bridge completely destroyed the best 4e Ravenloft Dragon Magazine article, inspired by Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow bridge fight scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXfcFBUl-1g

Risibilos is another case of putting everything in a blender and creating something awfully "new?" somehow the writers of VRGtR mixed the illusionary battle description from the Book of Crypts adventure, Death's Cold Laughter saying " Low-level characters might therefore combat a werewolf, whereas high-level characters may face Strahd himself" somehow more literally, making Punsheron a distatefull charicature of Strahd Von Zarovich. Risibilos is not so important in my opinion as to even be mentioned, but I believe the Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer covers as much of it as it is necessary.

Scaena fall too in the category of not such an important domain for me although there are many who would disagree with me. There was a single change even in that one as in 2e the darklord had bolted the doors of the theater and set it on fire instead of murdering everyone on the play while the audience applauted.

The Sea of Sorrows has probably the biggest drawback as from the main sea of the Core pre-Grand Conjunction and then later one of the two seas of the Core now is reduced to a sea with islands adrift in the Mists. Pieter Van Riese has become Pietra Van Riese, which I still don't believe that swapping the gender of characters is a good idea but ok I will go past that and go to his/her backrgound story. Pieter had a really well made tragic story reminiscent of the Flying Dutchman who's story is now reduced to a Pirates of the Caribbean Disney cersion of the Flying Dutchman, named Pietra Van Riese. The writters forgot to mention the feud between Van Riese and Jack Sparrow...

Blaustein had a well crafted domain and darklord in the 2e accessory Darklords and then was fleshed out even more in Tales of Ravenloft, small fiction Sight and Sound and in the Fraternitys Sea Gazetteer preview on Blaustein in QtR 19 by Joël Paquin it was made into a Ravenloft reflection of the historical Republic of Pirates in Nassau (Bahamas) but instead of a republic Balustein has a tyranny supported by the inhabitants. Well written article that gives a lot more information than the one liner Blaustein of VRGtR. Also I don't get why the ghosts of his victims overthrew him since they were completely subordinated and protective of him. I guess it is to not promote femicide but still I believe that some stories, especially an old tale like Bluebeard have deeper meanings. In the original Bluebeard Perrault's (writers) moral is that curiosity only causes problems because it either leads to discovering something we wish we didn't know, or at best, we lose our sense of wonder as soon as the reality is revealed to us. I would also say that it shows a motive of a problematic relationship, for instance it is not explained why Bluebeard murdered his first bride; she could not have entered the forbidden room and found a dead wife. Some have theorized that he was testing his wife's obedience, and that she was killed not for what she discovered there, but because she disobeyed his orders. So the relationship was problematic because Bluebeard wanted to have full control over his wife and that is what actually makes him a villain.

The almost one-liner in Dominia is the least disappointing "the asylum patients are all dramatically different versions of Heinfroth inspired by who he was at various points during his lenghty life" ok this sounds like an imposed personality of Heinfroth's multible personalities. Someone probably saw the 2016 film with James McAvoy and was completely perplexed by it and wrote this abomination. "Leave Heinfroth alone..."

Isle of Ravens has a descent one-and-a-half-liner no comment, could be worse as also it could not be mentioned...

The Lighthouse sounds more mysterious to those who don't know the story in 2e Darklords or the Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/Libr ... etteer.pdf

Vigilant's Bluff since it is new it could be described more but I guess they didn't like the idea and just left it as a tiny description. I guess this is one of the reasons they changed every already known domains to so that they did actually make something, because they didn't have any fresh ones.

Nepethe's cousin Ebonbane appears as the darklord of the shadowlands. At least they didn't change anything in this one just mention the Knights of the circle and the other pre-5e darklords of the Shadowlands except her unicorn steed. Descent for such a small description.

Anton of Souragne is changed from a Louisiana style slave owner to a prison warden. In a way they made his evil more acceptable, sheck the the Stanford Prison Experiment, him being a slave owner made him look more evil. I believe that if people don't know historical facts they have a tedency to forget them and repeat them, for me history it's understanding and the presentation of it are some vital for the betterment of society. By putting everything under a rug there is no change just ignorance and pretention, so for me the way most issues being racial, sexist or whatever else that was seen as problematic that have been changed in the setting, have been changed in a superficial way or being put under a rug.

Stauton Bluffs darklord is now a woman and this is ok, although superficial but I liked the noose since the male version had hanged himself.

I never liked Vecna so the same applies for Kas and Tovag, for instance I never bought Vecna Reborn because I didn't care to buy it as I don't care on buying the printed VRGtR. When the Burning Peaks appeared in 2e Domains of Dread I wasn't thrilled at all, I was indifferent since I could easily ignore that cluster.

Vhage Agency... Well ok I know some of the writters slept while watching a film-noir movie and eating pop-corn when he/she/they woke up thought of the detective agency on
a black and white tv screen and had the great idea of making a domain... Now really how bad is this idea? Did they actually had nothing better to suggest?

Zherisia is better described in the Fraternity's Survey of the Zherisian Expedition and the Van Richten Society Dopplegangers (fraternity netbook). http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/Library.html

I kind of like the take on advanced domains using Keeper of the Feather rituals and seanses, not bad a bad develop for the society, seen more as entertainment for the ignorant but as a society still having a purpose.

The Vistani are described in amore neutral way than the drunkards they were described in the non-revamped Curse of Strahd which was the main reason for this whole change in the setting. "The news and goods Vistani bring ensures a genouine welcome and renewal in longstanding trade relationships" If only this was true in the real world, things would be better for Roma people. Well at least the old version was more truthful in how nomads are viewed by society, here it sais that they are viewed with suspicion by some dismal communities. It is neutral and is ok but if you want to check on the Vistani VRGttVistani is the book to do so in my opinion. Also I've mentioned it before Luba the halfling Vistani doesn't work for my Ravenloft, because it represents the Vistani as anyone following that way of life. No more giomorgo or giorgios.

Priests of Osybus and the Ulmist Inquisition... no no NO!!!

Alanik and Arthur well it is obvious this is a kind of codependent relationship which is unfortunate. Since they are now openly gay and married at least they should have a healthy relationship. Alanik being on a wheelchair has been already debated so I won't go into details.

Well in the Caller there are no Gentleman Caller children mentioned which is good for a book that already throws names to new audiences as they were supposed to already know them. So this is one really big problem with this book and the new ravenloft setting, in one way it sais we don't care about continuity everything starts fresh it is a complete reboot of Ravenloft and then you have all these names appearing from everywhere. For old fans it is annoying because they have changed everything for new players to the setting it is confusing if not annoying for being given minimal information for lots of characters, as if they are saying "oh you want to know who that is check the older Ravenloft versions".

Erasmus Van Richten's ghost is a bad idea, first I thought that vampires when they die become Crimson Deaths
"Legends tell of a connection between crimson deaths and vampires. One tale suggests that, when an undead vampire is destroyed, its spirit is transformed into a crimson death. Another tale suggests that, when a vampire is created, the monster’s lost soul is reborn elsewhere as a crimson death. This legend also suggests that a vampire may be restored to normal life if it is rejoined by its crimson death counterpart. A third legend says that extremely evil air elementals are condemned and cast out into the Prime Material plane in the forms of crimson deaths.".
Then there is the other thing Erasmus is now a ghost.
Why?...
Because the adventure ideas are not so convincing. Even the one with Godefroy is a rip-off from Alice Weathermay being used against her husband.

Ez(merelda) d'Avenir follows the same concept of atonement for the racism of Curse of Strahd against the representation of Roma in Ravenloft, the Vistani. They overdo this by making the Radanavich clan non-Vistani Vistani imposters. When debating on some gender, sexist or gender issues on this book, there was the opinion (and rightfully so) that evil or better bad people exist whatever their sex or race or whatever else, which is true. My debate was that when you have a majority oppressing minorities (the majority here being cis caucasian male) then making everything and everyone acting in an equally evil way is a form of reverse racism. This is in a different way what applies here, here it is like saying that Vistani are evil only if they are not actually Vistani but people pretending to be Vistani. I would say that they should have left most things as they were instead of changing things and in the way creating mixed messages from this book, which are confusing, because they actually don't know exactly what to say. For me this book is a paniced cover up for past racist presentations in WotC products. For instance they killed and replaced the only black darklord from the old version of Ravenloft Urik Von Kharkov with someone who is probably not black (as observed from the image of "Cahkuna corners her prey in the heart of Valachan") and changed the skin color of another Ravenloft darklord (Harkon Lucas) 1+1-1=1. Where was the change in Ravenloft being more inclusive? By the way Uriks portrait by Stephen Fabian is one of my favourite darklord portraits and in my opinion Urik has nothing to do with Blacula, his story is truly tragic as I mentioned before.

Firan Zal'honan has been already detailed here and as I mentioned it is truly wierd to have him in human form (as some Apparatus experiment similar with Strahd and the Alchelist) and then in the next description having Jander having used the Apparatus to explain why he is chained by Haruman in the infernal planes of Avernus (not Azalin's Castle but thethe first layer of the Nine Hells of Baator). Really bad writting for those who actually don't care so much about canon, more mixed messages.

The whole Amber Sarcophagus concept is really bad in my opinion.

Larissa Snowmane continues her tour around the core domains...ehm...sorry around the domains with a large body of water avoiding Captain Nathan Timothy, another "who the _ _ _ _ is this guy" moment for players new to the setting. "He is the captain of the Virago stupid it sais so here". Arkandale and Verbrek were a discrace for new Ravenloft thats why Alfred Timothy was excluded, kids should always love and respect their fathers, even if they are monsters...

Van Richten is alive and well still fighting monsters with his new trendy haircut, nothing really changed form the older versions except that he is still alive but this is a reboot so who cares, surely not the older fans.

The Weathermay sisters are back in town although I miss uncle George who is only mentioned as a manipulated fool, well he was but still he used to be one of the most celebrated monster hunters in old Ravenloft, one who actually gave Weathermay name back it's dignity and respect. Well Natalia Vhorishkova is still here, surprisingly, cause I thought she would have been excluded as the representation of a manipulative eastern-european femme-fatale stereotype (food for thought).

We go to the Game Play Questions, Setting Boundaries etc section of the book. Why is this not in the player's handbook or DM's guide and it is in the Ravenloft setting? Is Ravenloft such a problematic setting that only here these rules should apply? For _ _ _ _'s sake Jander Sunstar was crucified and impaled on an iron tree at Haruman's Hill in Avernus, 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. Why is this ok and no one needs boundaries for that?

Since I have always played with friends that I know for a long time these guidelines in general don't apply to my game but it's good that they exist.

Subvert Clichés- avoid drawing inspiration from stock character's in fiction or film. I think that sais it all the new Ravenloft was made to be all inclusive, anti stereotype and non-cliché. Well sometimes it helps to have real world, fictious or film inspired characters to flesh out the game.

Show how multiple people from the same culture are different. Like the Radanavich family... oh... sorry... bad example they are not actually Vistani. They just pretend to be, following a nomadic life and all the rest of the cultural stuff Vistani do. Ask Luba the halfing Vistana she knows if they are actual Vistani or not.

Don't use cliché accents especially to marginalized people. Tell that to the creators of Neverwinter: Ravenloft. Well in general it is good that these exist although I don't agree with the first and last one.

The rest are similar to the guidlines of horror since 2e nothing special here but useful for new DMs.

I will not comment on the House of Lament Adventure, I am sure it has good elements and if someone wants to make it more closely resembling the 2e version they will not have a big problem doing it. My only objection is that amber coffin... Bloody Osy Bus https://www.google.com/search?q=osy+bus ... 27&bih=821

Bodytaker plant name is not really inspired and is a give away I prefer the old name doppelganger plant (although this is a give away too) also I prefer the old 2e image of the plant, this one looks like an alien from a 50's movie, not the Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) this is what the old version looks like. Subvert Clichés- avoid drawing inspiration from stock character's in fiction or film, at least they follow that rule too.

The Boneless image is better than the older version but in general I didn't like most images in this book they seemed to generic like the darklord stats...

Brain in a jar, a ubnique well written villain restamlishes himself in his old house and becomes a franchise.

Carrion Stalker looks like the Body Snatchers from the 1993 movie.

Carrionette is size S (bigger than a kid)

Dullahan or "a 2e darklord and 4e villain becomes a generic monster" better than using a generic monster for the stats of a darklord... Oops I think it is the same.

Gallow Speaker sounds like a Bussengeist combined with a Valpurgeist eccept that is not so tragis and more dangerous. Not a good one.

Gremishka has the best image ever made for this pest.

Jiangshi is OK

Loup Garou is a werewolf as it used to be, in general I don't play 5e so I will not comment on mechanics just inspiration and images.

"Don't drink that it is a Necrichor..."

Nosferatu or the Return of Count Orlok! I am still avoiding inspiration from films and fiction.

Priests of Osybus... no comment.

Relentless Killer came right away from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), blaster (avoid inspiration from films and fiction)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbQy-0SzshA

Greater Star Spawn Emissary, you can use this for Gwydion's stats I suppose...

Strigoi "in Romanian mythology are troubled spirits that are said to have risen from the grave. They are attributed with the abilities to transform into an animal, become invisible, and to gain vitality from the blood of their victims." or in other worls strigoi is a the romanian word for vampire. In VRGtR strigoi are half-men-half-stirge flyong humanoids with mosquito like heads. This is so inspired...

I am not even going to comment on the Inquisitoprs as I didn't comment on Osybus Priests (waste of pages, they could have described, or _ _ _ _ up one more domain)

This is the funkiest monster since party guy otyugh from the 2e monstrous compedium
http://taxidermicowlbear.weebly.com/upl ... 8_orig.png

Vampiric Mind Flayer Flower...

Wereraven now have hands, at last I can use kenku miniatures as weravens!!!

Zombie clot... even the name sounds funny

The spirit board is one of the best additions to the setting.

In general I have to say that I believe the writters were really confused when they were deciding what to keep and what to change. They made superficial changes that probably will create more problems in the ravenloft gaming society, creating a rift between older players and new. If you are an old fan of Ravenloft this product is really not necessary for you as in game mechanics even the darklords are generic monsters from 5e. In one way it is good that they didn't just produce just another version of Ravenloft for 5e rules since they actually don't care to create more Ravenloft products (as I have understood from the companies views on canon or the total freedom they have given DM's in doing or creating whatever they want with the setting without thinking about canon).

This is good for freedom of creativity but then again why should someone buy this product? It is good for new gamers to buy it and learn the settings mechanics but on the other hand there is so much information that is just mentioned and not explained in this book that will make many newcommers wonder who is this character, place, item etc. and then have to check the older stuff to learn that information and then I believe they will be amazed form the tones of information that existed prior to this product. So yes it is good as an introductive book to Ravenloft, but any book that would make you check Ravenloft more thoroughly would do, and this is not a plus for this product as any product that bore the brand Ravenloft would do.

All the issues that had arised from Curse of Strahd or even, in some peoples opinions, from older Ravenloft products were just superficially changed, used more as a marketing bonus card than as a sincere change. My opinion is that since they wanted to change things in the setting they should have probably focused on new characters and domains than changing pre-existing ones. The truth is that for me as an old Ravenloft fan the reason to buy this book would be if there was a continuity of the setting's history development from the 3e era. Since I don't play 5e and most information in VRGtR for me is unusable I don't need it. The only good continuity I found in this book was in Tepest. But even there with all these limitations on genre or theme in every isolated domain, lacking the physical interconnection of domains that made Ravenloft feel like a real world the setting feels less than it ever did. Even in the beginning of the setting when it was used usually as a weekend in Hell, I always had my friend's PCs be native to the world even before Domains of Dread made some rules for native characters and created new deities like Ezra. The White Wolf 3e products especially the gazetteers gave so much life and character to the setting that having it taken back to a weekend in Hell kind of scenarios feels like a stick in the mud.

Also the changes that have been made I believe will confuse and divide ravenloft fans between the two versions of the setting as I mentioned before. As I expected there is a really small percent that I can use from this book to combine it with the old setting so I wouldn't recomend it to an old Ravenloft DM. I just hope this reincarnation of Ravenloft (because it has changed a lot) will bring more fans to the setting that will be interested also in the old stuff. And if not at least it will make this community grow and somehow coexist between the two Ravenlofts.

[Daisu]

When someone can not tell the difference between fantasy and reality, the problem lies in the person not the literature. Pandering and excessive handholding was the problem I found in this book. It like taking something rated R and making it for general audience, it come out lackluster. I start to wonder what temple of elemental evil be like if one does not want to hurt a players feelings...

I am not hurt by not having Stat blocks, they could provide supplements later. If anyone wrote articles for books they would realize the editing process can hurt. (I still hurting from my article submission to FoS) It could be for space or even for allowing it to be easier to convert to different editions in levels. I think they did good job in including a lot of domains with space they have.

I do not like their current richemulot or falkovia, but I can still see that having everything as pocket domain can still be work around if needs be but allows other things that be too out of place for populace if attached as a core.

I need to run more 5ed to get better grasp on some of the other elements of the book.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I start to wonder what temple of elemental evil be like if one does not want to hurt a players feelings...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yeA7a0uS3A

[KingCorn]

I did not create this, but felt I had to share this, as it's one of the best 5e homebrew domains I've found
https://www.reddit.com/r/ravenloft/comm ... blackmoor/
Some real HAL-9000 vibs with this one. Its not the best in a gothic sense, but I think is the best example of embracing new horror

[Jeremy16]

Here's my half-serious, half-facetious review of domains from VRGtR, starting with Barovia and its Darklord...


STRAHD VON ZAROVICH (old and busted)
Appearance – classic brooding vampire lord
AoUD – killed his brother Sergei on his wedding day and drove Tatyana to jump to her death in order to avoid his unwanted advances
Curse – his lost love Tatyana is reincarnated every generation but always manages to slip thru his fingers
Domain – the first domain in the demiplane, annexed Gundarak after the GC, full of superstitious locals with a revolution brewing underneath the surface
Gothic Level – 10, when you steal from the best the genre has to offer (looking at you, Dracula!) you can't go that wrong ( ::side eyes:: Expedition to Castle Ravenloft pirate elf Strahd)

STRAHD VON ZAROVICH (new hotness)
Appearance – classic brooding vampire lord
AoUD – killed his brother Sergei on his wedding day and drove Tatyana to jump to her death in order to avoid his unwanted advances
Domain – much smaller, full of lifeless automatons that you don't have to feel guilty about not saving
Torment (curse is apparently too strong a word these days) – his lost love Tatyana is reincarnated every generation but always manages to slip thru his fingers
Wokeness Level – 0, he's possessive... abusive... paternalistic... the very definition of toxic masculinity


OVERALL IMPRESSION


They didn't really mess around with Strahd's personality or history (besides turning him from a liberator to an invader), but they sure tried their best with the mishmash of identities for Tatyana's reincarnation – it's a man now (edgy)... no, it's Strahd's second cousin once removed on his mother's side (icky)... actually, it's a sheep (illegal, in most states)! Give me a break.

For some unknown reason, the author is really hung up on Strahd being “The First Vampire”. I never really understood the cachet. Why does he have to be first? Can't we all just agree that he's the best? If I remember correctly, wasn't Jander Sunstar older than Strahd in Vampire of the Mists? (Oops, I forgot I'm not supposed to reference non-canon novels anymore.)

Besides those nitpicks, the main problem I have is the relentless breaking of one of the cardinal rules of the original campaign setting – you don't reveal what the Dark Powers are! I didn't like it in Curse of Strahd and I don't like that they doubled down on it here in a feeble attempt at a metaplot for PCs to follow. Especially in the same book where they threw out previous editions' continuity.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

'First Vampire' was supposedly a title Strahd gave himself, but only amounted to him being the first vampire in Barovia, as in, all other local vampires are of his lineage. Of course this is nonsense, as people must have known what a vampire was before Strahd became one, so supposedly some had passed through the region before. It could be argued that he was legitimately the first vampire in Barovia-in-the-Mists, of course.

[Jeremy16]

The domain of Bluetspur and its Darklord are next in line...


THE GOD-BRAIN (old and busted)
Appearance – giant brain in a vat of chemicals tended by mindflayer minions
AoUD – never explicitly stated
Curse – never explicitly stated
Domain – very alien landscape, once part of the Core, it didn't interact well with other domains and was thus demoted to Island of Terror status
Gothic Level – 5, more Lovecraftian than Gothic, but still horrifying

THE GOD-BRAIN (new hotness)
Appearance – giant brain in a vat of chemicals tended by mindflayer minions
AoUD – transgressed against the laws of his own kind
Domain – very alien abduction vibe, part physical location and part mindscape
Torment (curse is apparently too strong a word these days) – an immortal afflicted with mortality, leading to mad schemes to prolong his life
Wokeness Level – 3, presented as asexual and beyond simplistic moral concepts such as good and evil


OVERALL IMPRESSION


It's hard to do an apples to apples comparison here. The Illithid God-Brain was introduced in Thoughts of Darkness way back in 2nd edition and has never really been updated since (excepting fan-canon). I have to give the writers kudos for attempting to rehabilitate such an obtuse entity. Its history and current plans kinda fall flat for me, but at least all the classic elements (an actual curse and some pretty heinous behavior) are in place here, unlike some other Darklords I will mention later on...

It is interesting to note, however, that within four pages of vivid descriptions the M-word (madness) is not mentioned once. Extra points to the writers for that masterful verbal contortion!

[SkiBird]

I am enjoying these synopses and look forward to your thoughts on other ‘old vs new’ domains.

[Jeremy16]

Next up is the old 2-for-1 domain of... Borca!

IVAN (old and busted)

Appearance – your average egomaniacal bully
AoUD – temper tantrums, killed his beloved sister and her husband, attempted to murder their newborn child
Curse – surrounded by the finest things in life, but unable to taste or enjoy them
Domain – originally created as an offshoot of Barovia, melded with his cousin Ivana's domain during the GC, court politics with a dash of poison to liven things up
Gothic Level – (7) based off the infamous pair Rodrigo and Lucretia Borgia who ruled during the Italian Renaissance

IVAN (new hotness)
Appearance – a 60-year-old baby that moves around in a crib shaped like a spider
AoUD – temper tantrums, killed his entire family including his beloved sister in a fit of rage
Domain – mostly confined to his manor home Degravo
Torment (because curse is too strong of a word for this new Ravenloft) – he just wants to be loved, but no one wants to play with him
Wokeness Level – (5) he's handi-capable but also evil so it kinda evens out

OVERALL IMPRESSION

Ivan 2.0 is just too weird for me. He likes to use people like toys, I get that, but why infantilize him so much? I'm getting a very Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? vibe. And his letter writing scheme that the DPs help out with seems forced. Why are these inscrutable entities so eager to help their pawns play such evil games? Plot convenience, that's why.

I like the old version much better. He was a barely constrained madman that would gladly watch the world burn if only he could do it all over again the next day. He also had a touch more of class, being a nominal patron the theatrical arts. And, let's not forget that he created the poison known as Borrowed Time, which highlighted his devious intelligence.




IVANA (old and busted)
Appearance – young and beautiful
AoUD – murdered her mother Camille in revenge for killing her (Ivana's) one true love
Curse - poison flows thru her veins, she kills anyone she touches, and wakes up each day looking like a bloated corpse
Domain – originally created from Barovia, melded with her cousin Ivan's domain during the GC, court politics with a dash of poison to liven things up
Gothic Level – (7) based off the infamous Rodrigo and Lucretia Borgia who ruled during the Italian Renaissance

IVANA (new hotness)
Appearance – that punk rock / goth girl you see at a rave, or a biker rally, or wherever the kids gather these days...
AoUD – killed her entire family in a very hostile takeover
Domain – court politics with a dash of poison to liven things up
Torment (because curse is apparently too strong of a word) – gnarly looking varicose veins, nobody takes here seriously, has to deal with all the headaches that come with being a CEO
Wokeness Level – (7) a strong self-confident woman who knows how to take care of business

OVERALL IMPRESSION

The differences between the two are subtle, but I like the depth given to Ivana 1.0. Sure, she was a blank slate out of the Black Box, but slowly grew with the addition of her emorduneng army, her confidante Nostalia Romaine, the backstory on how she became DL by surpassing her mother's manipulations, and fostering the growth of the church of Ezra. All that has been tossed out in exchange for a more bland woe-is-me / poor-little-rich-girl routine.