Weird Headcanons Thread

[Tobias Blackburn]

I've always liked the idea that Viktra is a descendant of Victor's though Artisa Juvenoth (after she discovered her true identity).

My thought was that Adam and Victor came to their ends and Lamordia was released from the Mists. Time passed, some of Victor's discoveries were found and disseminated, resulting in the land becoming the more Steam/Snowpunk version we see in Viktra's version. She herself was intelligent enough to be Victor's equal, with a hunger for discovery that match (and perhaps even surpassed) his own. Eventually, she attracted the gaze of the Dark Powers (or maybe they had just been waiting for the next Dark Lord to rise) and took Lamordia back into their clutches.

The comic Orphan of Agony Isle has a page showing a hallway in Schloss Mordenheim with a very prominent painting that (I think) looks a lot like other depictions of Victor.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

I've always liked the idea that Viktra is a descendant of Victor's though Artisa Juvenoth (after she discovered her true identity).

My thought was that Adam and Victor came to their ends and Lamordia was released from the Mists. Time passed, some of Victor's discoveries were found and disseminated, resulting in the land becoming the more Steam/Snowpunk version we see in Viktra's version. She herself was intelligent enough to be Victor's equal, with a hunger for discovery that match (and perhaps even surpassed) his own. Eventually, she attracted the gaze of the Dark Powers (or maybe they had just been waiting for the next Dark Lord to rise) and took Lamordia back into their clutches.

The comic Orphan of Agony Isle has a page showing a hallway in Schloss Mordenheim with a very prominent painting that (I think) looks a lot like other depictions of Victor.

Cool

[Tobias Blackburn]

Another, for Dementlieu, is that Dominic was deposed at the start of the Time of Unparalleled Darkness after the Living Brain and him both activated their "Doomsday" scenarios to destroy one another. Dominic got the Brain, but he was accused of killing his wife and the deaths of his lovers came to light among the nobles in a way they could not ignore. He was shuffled off to the asylum before the rest of the populace got wind of the scandal, and the nobility took advantage of the situation to elevate a new Duke they believed they could control. It was during the ball to celebrate his installment that Sadira arrives.

Also, the reason the domain shrank so much was because of the scope of the new Dark Lord. She would want to rule over a large nation, but by shrinking the land it adds one more lie that she, and everyone else, has to pretend is true.

And while Sadira is the true Dark Lord, Dominic's torment continues. No longer in that he can't stand women that love him, but in having to watch everything he schemed over collapse. Worse for him, he controlled people like puppets from the shadows and used rumor and subtle pressure to trick the masses into believing what he wanted them to believe. From all the rumors he's heard, his replacement literally brute forces everything - being obviously inhuman but in a way that has everyone too scared to be the first to call it out.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

Another, for Dementlieu, is that Dominic was deposed at the start of the Time of Unparalleled Darkness after the Living Brain and him both activated their "Doomsday" scenarios to destroy one another. Dominic got the Brain, but he was accused of killing his wife and the deaths of his lovers came to light among the nobles in a way they could not ignore. He was shuffled off to the asylum before the rest of the populace got wind of the scandal, and the nobility took advantage of the situation to elevate a new Duke they believed they could control. It was during the ball to celebrate his installment that Sadira arrives.

Also, the reason the domain shrank so much was because of the scope of the new Dark Lord. She would want to rule over a large nation, but by shrinking the land it adds one more lie that she, and everyone else, has to pretend is true.

And while Sadira is the true Dark Lord, Dominic's torment continues. No longer in that he can't stand women that love him, but in having to watch everything he schemed over collapse. Worse for him, he controlled people like puppets from the shadows and used rumor and subtle pressure to trick the masses into believing what he wanted them to believe. From all the rumors he's heard, his replacement literally brute forces everything - being obviously inhuman but in a way that has everyone too scared to be the first to call it out.

My theory is that Dominic intentionally manipulated events to enable Saidra to replace him as a darklord, so he can either escape the domain for some purpose, or as a temporary publicity stunt to show the rebellious citizens that things could be much worse if the 'real' nobles weren't around and stop an upcoming revolution, or as part of a more elaborate plot. But this might be giving him too much credit in terms of Ravenloft lore.

[Tobias Blackburn]

My theory is that Dominic intentionally manipulated events to enable Saidra to replace him as a darklord, so he can either escape the domain for some purpose, or as a temporary publicity stunt to show the rebellious citizens that things could be much worse if the 'real' nobles weren't around and stop an upcoming revolution, or as part of a more elaborate plot. But this might be giving him too much credit in terms of Ravenloft lore.

That's a cool idea. Of having him continuing his manipulations from the "safety" of being inside the a cell. Just waiting for the right moment to leave and overthrow the usurper.

On my end, I always saw Dominic as being very selfish and trying to manipulate things to give himself the finest things he felt he deserved. I don't know if he would have put much thought into the underlying reality that had given him the position he held.

Dominic to Sadira is one of the changes I like in 5e. He was a far more passive Dark Lord, making Dementlieu one of the "safe" domains. Sadira, on the other hand, is much more active, taking out liars at balls in high society then going after the lower classes as the Red Death. She'll have staff and minions due to her position as Duchess, but the much more restricted domain size and her being busier makes it more likely that adventurers will cross paths with her at some point.

Honestly, I always felt Dominic was one of the weaker Dark Lords in terms of earning his position, so I'm OK with the title passing on to Sadira while he was still alive.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

My theory is that Dominic intentionally manipulated events to enable Saidra to replace him as a darklord, so he can either escape the domain for some purpose, or as a temporary publicity stunt to show the rebellious citizens that things could be much worse if the 'real' nobles weren't around and stop an upcoming revolution, or as part of a more elaborate plot. But this might be giving him too much credit in terms of Ravenloft lore.

That's a cool idea. Of having him continuing his manipulations from the "safety" of being inside the a cell. Just waiting for the right moment to leave and overthrow the usurper.

On my end, I always saw Dominic as being very selfish and trying to manipulate things to give himself the finest things he felt he deserved. I don't know if he would have put much thought into the underlying reality that had given him the position he held.

Dominic to Sadira is one of the changes I like in 5e. He was a far more passive Dark Lord, making Dementlieu one of the "safe" domains. Sadira, on the other hand, is much more active, taking out liars at balls in high society then going after the lower classes as the Red Death. She'll have staff and minions due to her position as Duchess, but the much more restricted domain size and her being busier makes it more likely that adventurers will cross paths with her at some point.

Honestly, I always felt Dominic was one of the weaker Dark Lords in terms of earning his position, so I'm OK with the title passing on to Sadira while he was still alive.

In terms of earning his position?
Like, on the one hand, he murdered his nanny. Like, maybe not directly, but he caused her death intentionally and without regret for no good reason (like, he had a reason, but it was stupid. Every kid has fantasies of revenge on some annoying adult, we don't usually go with them.) That's messed up. I think a lot of darklords earned their position through less than that. (For example, Gabrielle gained hers by leaving her mother to die during an emergency when having an understandable reason to be angry at her. Not the best of choices, but personally I'd assume she was in too much stress to think clearly and give her the benefit of doubt. Though her later on indoctorinating her son to commit genocide kinda eliminates that doubt.)
On the other hand, he was 8 years old when he did this. That's too young for the court and too young for me. I think any child capable of this level of cruelity is probably not quite sane, and I'd except the D'Honaires (like, isn't psychology their family trade or something?) to notice the signs earlier.
I guess everyone has the darklord they defend. As much as I love Ravenloft, I think there's something inherently problematic in pointing at a character and saying 'hey, you there! You're so fridging evil and unforgivable and irredeemable we're gonna curse you and imprison you forever, no second chance'. - then doing this again a hundred times without getting reptitive while also staying on theme. Because not only the question of whether and when someone can cross this 'moral event horizon' is extremely controversial, but that even if you thought it through and reached a good conclusion, if you want to create an entire world made out of villains like that and want them all to be unique, at some point you'll have to create a character that someone will disagree with you about their irredeemability.

In terms of of activity, I think Dominic is supposed to be very active behind the scenes. Like, you can count on one hand the number of times he actually shows up, but he's the mastermind behind everything. It's all part of his conspiracy.
Also, the question is whether getting your party to directly confront the darklord is always the goal. Sometimes you want a longer campaign centered around the same domain and killing the darklord would have to end it. Sometimes you want a more low-level adventure. Sometimes you just want your campaign to be different.

All of that said, I'm still a big Saidra fan. I just think it was a stroke of brilliance on the writers' side to keep Dominic around too.

[Tobias Blackburn]

I think I recall a theory that was on the old Kargatane site (when dinosaurs ruled the earth 3 and two 0.5 editions ago) that suggested Gabrielle had pre-arranged the werewolf attack on her mom due to her resentment, and that it was Timothy Alfred in his pre-Verbrek days. Also, that Timothy had turned on Gabrielle, which freaked her out and also aided in his rise to being a Dark Lord.

But yeah, I think the idea of Dominic being given a domain as a child was that he was a bad seed, and was going to get worse - which he did. His gaslighting his nursemaid to death was just an example of it. But it never really felt right, since the Dark Powers didn't usually grant domains based on potential evil.

It's one of the changes I like with Gabrielle in the new book. While we don't know much, changing her situation to be more Mom-From-Hell with her (maybe literal demon spawn) gives her a lot more agency and purpose in her evil. We can all picture that person who will do "ANYTHING" for their little angel...

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

I've always liked the idea that Viktra is a descendant of Victor's though Artisa Juvenoth (after she discovered her true identity).

My thought was that Adam and Victor came to their ends and Lamordia was released from the Mists. Time passed, some of Victor's discoveries were found and disseminated, resulting in the land becoming the more Steam/Snowpunk version we see in Viktra's version. She herself was intelligent enough to be Victor's equal, with a hunger for discovery that match (and perhaps even surpassed) his own. Eventually, she attracted the gaze of the Dark Powers (or maybe they had just been waiting for the next Dark Lord to rise) and took Lamordia back into their clutches.

The comic Orphan of Agony Isle has a page showing a hallway in Schloss Mordenheim with a very prominent painting that (I think) looks a lot like other depictions of Victor.

I rather like the idea of having a domain leave and get sucked back in later as a sort of legacy. It provides an interesting feeling of continuity, a reset, and an opportunity for growth and change that might not be as easy while within the Mists.

[Tobias Blackburn]

I rather like the idea of having a domain leave and get sucked back in later as a sort of legacy. It provides an interesting feeling of continuity, a reset, and an opportunity for growth and change that might not be as easy while within the Mists.

Thanks!

Another thing I've been thinking of is that there are legends of followers of a Good Fairy in Tepest who are speaking out/working against followers of the Mother. While some may expect it to be Maeve (who is doing her own work against Lorinda), it is actually Laveeda Mindefisk, Lorinda's annis hag sister.

In 5e, Annis hags are able to create iron tokens by plucking out one of their iron tooths or nails, and shaping it into a token like ring, pendant, coin, etc. They can speak telepathically with the holder of the item, but not see or hear around them. Just communication.

I imagine Laveeda had left several of these items around Tepest, both with agents and as a trick to ensnare new prey, before Lorinda trapped her and Leticia in the cauldron and started tapping into their powers. Now, Laveeda has been using the tokens to find people to make warlock pacts with and trying to use them to get free. For her, it is extremely frustrating as she was the more active sister, and she finds having to CONSTANTLY play a sweet and kindly person in the only outside conversations she can have to be horrifically aggravating. Especially with Leticia likely constantly distracting her in their close confines.

Leticia may have her own ways of influencing things, but haven't thought much on that. But it would add a little extra avenue of a resistance group for the players to team up with to fight against Lorinda. And then have everyone realize they made a HUGE mistake and possibly need to team up with their former enemy to put Laveeda and Leticia back in the pot they crawled out of.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

I rather like the idea of having a domain leave and get sucked back in later as a sort of legacy. It provides an interesting feeling of continuity, a reset, and an opportunity for growth and change that might not be as easy while within the Mists.

Thanks!

Another thing I've been thinking of is that there are legends of followers of a Good Fairy in Tepest who are speaking out/working against followers of the Mother. While some may expect it to be Maeve (who is doing her own work against Lorinda), it is actually Laveeda Mindefisk, Lorinda's annis hag sister.

In 5e, Annis hags are able to create iron tokens by plucking out one of their iron tooths or nails, and shaping it into a token like ring, pendant, coin, etc. They can speak telepathically with the holder of the item, but not see or hear around them. Just communication.

I imagine Laveeda had left several of these items around Tepest, both with agents and as a trick to ensnare new prey, before Lorinda trapped her and Leticia in the cauldron and started tapping into their powers. Now, Laveeda has been using the tokens to find people to make warlock pacts with and trying to use them to get free. For her, it is extremely frustrating as she was the more active sister, and she finds having to CONSTANTLY play a sweet and kindly person in the only outside conversations she can have to be horrifically aggravating. Especially with Leticia likely constantly distracting her in their close confines.

Leticia may have her own ways of influencing things, but haven't thought much on that. But it would add a little extra avenue of a resistance group for the players to team up with to fight against Lorinda. And then have everyone realize they made a HUGE mistake and possibly need to team up with their former enemy to put Laveeda and Leticia back in the pot they crawled out of.

Marvelous.

[brothersale]

I do have another little head cannon, that i have used. That source of headstones in the shape of the cross and on some vials of Holy Waters comes of the Church of the High Faith, the now dead religion of Mordent prior to its entry into the mists.
The symbol indicates the spirit ascending from the earth (its grave) to the heavens with the horizontal line of the cross representing the earth.
The use of the symbol spread out of Mordent with the collapse of the church, with various "merchants" selling what holy water was found in the church in Mordentshire in the containers it came in (marked with the cross). The value of the Holy water was also seemingly increased in value by the lack of physical undead noted in Mordent compared to other domains. The resulting effect was that "merchants" started to mark vials with the cross to increase profit and sales (a similar thing happened in the US with eggs, White eggs looked cleaner than the brown ones and started to sell better in the great depression, thanks to dust storms making the white looked better and could be charged more for, this slowly resulted in the hens being bred to only produce white eggs).
Likewise the various stone masons also clung to the cross head stone constructions as it was what they had always made, and pass the craft onto their apprentices, resulting in it slowly moving out of the domain as the craft was passed on.
However the lack of the religion using the symbol slowly lead to the meaning fading as the generations moved on, becoming more of a habit and tradition than a religious act.

[The Dark]

One I'm still noodling around with is that whatever Azalin did at the end of 3e (the "S"/Gentleman Caller/Madame Eva plot) got metaphysically entangled with something Klorr was doing, and rather than just a normal disaster like the Grand Conjunction or the Grim Harvest, he ended up breaking time. That's why VRGtR is set in the same year as the Black Box and why certain events in the Black Box's past (Ravenloft/House of Strahd, Firan entering Darkon) now seem to be in the present or future of the setting. It's not just parallel universes, but also a case of time being broken.

[The Dark]

Tying in to my Fractured Domains theory, there's a version of Tepest where Wyan became the Darklord unexpectedly. See, the prior Darklord wasn't exactly the three hags. It was the coven, and when Lorinda imprisoned her sisters, that left Tepest without a Darklord. The zealotry of Wyan's Inquisition made him the best candidate as a replacement, and now the Inquisition hunts anyone accused of having magical powers, consorting with the fae, or otherwise having any connection to anything supernatural. Simultaneously, there has been an uptick in the number of caliban born in the domain, forcing families to hide their children to avoid condemnation by the Inquisition. Many of them seek to have their children taken in by the mysterious Mother who, it is said, will raise any caliban as if they were her own child. These semi-feral witch-children of the woods are a hazard to anyone traveling between Viktal and Kellee, and the Inquisition points to them as justification for the persecution of the supernatural.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

When you count canon and homebrew from multiple editions, Ravenloft seems to have a surprising variety of 'spookily mutated humanoids' racial options.
The thing is, the distinction between these subtypes only ever matters to us, the players.
No one - aside from a handful of scholars - would read the in-world versions of 'Brutes and Banshees' or 'A Primer to the Umbral Peoples'.

Of course, most members of these species would likely only ever hear the labels 'freak', 'monster', 'deformed' and 'wtf is this'.
But I think even in places where there's enough of a community and some scraps of academical knowledge on the subject, the in-world definitions would be a lot messier than what you have on your character sheet.

- For example, nobody wants to be called a hexblood, right? It sounds like your blood is cursed or something. I think in the few domains where arcane magic is valued, a lot of people from the DND lineage called 'hexblood' would prefer to be called 'witchspawn' cause it sounds nicer. Maybe in Hazlan, for example, there's a 'witchspawn' subculture actually made of both, as well as calibans with magical affinity of any subrace, and even the occasional sorcerer.
But on the other hand, considering how rare witchspawns are, they're likely to be identified as the more well-known tieflings.

- In the same vein, I think both 'cannibal' calibans and deathtouched 'ghuls' would prefer the label 'living ghouls' - the former to avoid the misconception that they actively engage in cannibalism, the latter to emphasize they're alive and not mindless undead monsters.

- APttUP mentions female fetches (half-ghosts) are often mistaken for banshee calibans - and when you think about it, this is a far more serious problem than it seems: Both these racial options are mentioned to have medical complications - but for fetches these complications can be far more debilitating.
Like, a girl with clear 'ghostly' features could go around for years complaining about constant, crippling fatigue and being told by the village healer that she's a banshee and just exagerrating before realising she's actually a fetch. Which is tbh a little too realistic.
On the other end, I think whatever's going on with the Godefroy family - connection to ghosts, disturbingly alluring charisma alongside physical fraility etc - is suspiciously similar. I think the average Mordentish folk might see these three phenomenons as points on the same spectrum of 'ghost-touched' individuals.

- Also, notice that the Reborn lineage was created as a placeholder for a variety of undead and constructs rather than a specific playable version of one creature. Its flavour isn't about the kind of creature you are, but about the experience of having returned from death and now needing to pick up the shards of what you used to be and start over.
It's not a race - it's a mentality, a phase in life. You can be a reborn ghedan, a reborn dhampire, a reborn lebenthod! I can even see fully undead, fully npc-zoned creatures adopting the label. It's psychological, not necrological. The are probably even 'reborn' broken ones, when you think about it.
(BTW, this one is actually applicable to players. You can steal the 'faded memories' mechanic for any character whose backstory involves an extreme physical and mental transformation, regardless of their actual race/lineage/species.)