I am about to start a Barovian campaign.
4 party members, 2 native, 2 outworlders.
The 2 natives are an "Archivist (HoH)" and a 1/2 Vistani "Rogue", brothers from Mordent who style themselves as "Investigators" of mysteries (perhaps "Mist-eries).
The 2 outworlders will be a 13 yr old girl Rogue who was abandoned by her family and adopted by an adventuring group, and a female Cleric of Pelor; the outworlders' party goes to capture a red-headed woodcutter who just performed a gruesome murder in a small village, but when they confront him they discover he truly is a Werewolf as he savages the party forcing both a Horror check at the brutatlity which he shall decimate the party and then Fear when the party is no more. Just as he is about to finish them they are rescued by the Mists.
The Natives will be arriving in Teufeldorf to investigate the disapearance of Dr. D and subjected to another Gundarakite "cart bombing" knocked out and captured (potentially). While in the woods, they rebels and captives will be found by the 2 outworlders who should rescue them (I will be granting the Cleric the ability to speak and understand Balok as it was her native Common, while the 13 yr old will get Luktar; courtesy of the Mists).
Motivations here in this party should be as follows:
Outworlders-Revenge on Murderer of their party "Family", Escape home
Natives-Investigate/help find murderer, Investigate Dr. D's Asylum (notes there which detail the "portal" in Castle Hunadora w/ samples of blood type "G")
Both-Investigate the Gundarakite Rebels in the area
13 yr old-Purposefully playing a "Lolita" type-Avoid being married to some peasant (she's the perfect age, if a little old)
Cleric-Find out why she can't reach Pelor; I'll be hitting her with dreams/visions of Andral in no time.
1/2 Vistani-Find his Father
Archivist-Deep Dark Secrets to bring to light
Future plots I see:
1. Investigate Hunadora to try to use Portal home, doesn't work.
2. Investigators contacted by an unknown Dilisnya to find a lost tomb of an ancestor to determine his cause of death (Leo's tomb) (Purpose to set loose against Strahd) (location known by Lyssa, helps PC's to find it, wants unloosed against Strahd)
3. Continue work against the rebels, earn notice of "van Holtz" and a commission against Ardonk
I also have thoughts involving Immol and Forlorn.
A few things I need some help on: I'd lime a map of Dr. D's asylum, not sure if it is in FoG or not, also one for Castle Hunadora, where can I find these? Thanks.
Another Barovian Campaign-Popular place isn't it
-
Lord Cyclohexane
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 512
- Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:59 pm
- Location: Tanelorn, OH
Geez, I'm starting to feel left out. Perhaps I should start a Ravenloft campaign...
Anyway, Dr. Dominiani's asylum was supposedly transported from Gundarak to his island of Dominia, so the asylum map from "Bleak House" should work just fine.
As for Castle Hunadora, I don't know where to find that one, if there is one. (It might have been one of those individual cards in the Black Box, but I don't recall)
Anyway, Dr. Dominiani's asylum was supposedly transported from Gundarak to his island of Dominia, so the asylum map from "Bleak House" should work just fine.
As for Castle Hunadora, I don't know where to find that one, if there is one. (It might have been one of those individual cards in the Black Box, but I don't recall)
My name is lost to me
I know not who I am
And I await the crimson fires
That'll wash this world away!
- Wolfbait, "In My Lonely Time Of Dying"
I know not who I am
And I await the crimson fires
That'll wash this world away!
- Wolfbait, "In My Lonely Time Of Dying"
-
yergerjo
- Conspirator
- Posts: 46
- Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:04 pm
- Location: Sarasota, Florida
- Contact:
Also, why did Dr. D get his domain this way? Is there was any explanation given for his immediate disappearance following the GC?Lord Cyclohexane wrote:Anyway, Dr. Dominiani's asylum was supposedly transported from Gundarak to his island of Dominia, so the asylum map from "Bleak House" should work just fine.
-
Joël of the FoS
- Moderator
- Posts: 6664
- Joined: Sun Nov 30, 2003 1:24 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location: St-Damien, Québec
Nope, it was never featured any where.Lord Cyclohexane wrote:As for Castle Hunadora, I don't know where to find that one, if there is one. (It might have been one of those individual cards in the Black Box, but I don't recall)
You can look in Specter of the Black Rose for a description of a few rooms, and start from there.
This map and room description could make a very cool QtR article by the way
Joël
"A full set of (game) rules is so massively complicated that the only time they were all bound together in a single volume, they underwent gravitational collapse and became a black hole" (Adams)
-
Lord Cyclohexane
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 512
- Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:59 pm
- Location: Tanelorn, OH
The basic reasoning is because Dr. D wasn't quite evil enough.yergerjo wrote:Also, why did Dr. D get his domain this way? Is there was any explanation given for his immediate disappearance following the GC?
Basic story: Dr. D assassinates Duke Gundar, so Dr. D becomes the Darklord of Gundarak. However, even after becoming Darklord, Dr. D is only interested in his asylum and could care less about the rest of Gundarak.
So, in the GC, the Dark Powers decided that Dr. D didn't deserve as large or powerful of a domain as Gundarak and split up Gundarak between Invidia and Barovia. Dr. D, meanwhile, was given his own Island of Terror which covered only his asylum and the ground surrounding it.
Basic reasoning: Since Dr. D didn't care about anything outside of the asylum, no purpose in making him Darklord of anything larger than that. But, since he was quite creative in his use of wanderers from the Mists, Dominia was allowed to rejoin the Core as an island in the Sea of Sorrows.
Anyway, though, the asylum on Dominia is supposed to be the exact same one as he ran in Gundarak, just transported physically to Dominia.
I believe you mean "Knight of the Black Rose" rather than "Specter of ...", as KotBR is where he's travelling the Core (and deals with Duke Gundar and Medraut) before becoming Darklord of Sithicus. Tiny nitpick.Joël of the FoS wrote:You can look in Specter of the Black Rose for a description of a few rooms, and start from there.
My name is lost to me
I know not who I am
And I await the crimson fires
That'll wash this world away!
- Wolfbait, "In My Lonely Time Of Dying"
I know not who I am
And I await the crimson fires
That'll wash this world away!
- Wolfbait, "In My Lonely Time Of Dying"
-
Joël of the FoS
- Moderator
- Posts: 6664
- Joined: Sun Nov 30, 2003 1:24 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location: St-Damien, Québec
-
Gonzoron of the FoS
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 7558
- Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location: New Jersey
- Contact:
-
yergerjo
- Conspirator
- Posts: 46
- Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:04 pm
- Location: Sarasota, Florida
- Contact:
Re: Another Barovian Campaign-Popular place isn't it
FYI-I found that Dr. D's Asylum is fully detailed in Bleak House (Ref. Domains of Dread) In fact that seems to be the only source for any information on Dominia.yergerjo wrote:A few things I need some help on: I'd lime a map of Dr. D's asylum, not sure if it is in FoG or not, also one for Castle Hunadora, where can I find these? Thanks.
Unfortunately I've been unable to acquire Bleak House as yet, one of those yet elusive adventures.
-
Luke Fleeman
- Criminal Mastermind
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2006 9:38 pm
- Location: Central California
- Contact:
-
yergerjo
- Conspirator
- Posts: 46
- Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:04 pm
- Location: Sarasota, Florida
- Contact:
Brother's Introit
Now I'm setting my game in 757 BC, although most of the political scene hasn't advanced much, the Gundarakites have become more violent in their rebellious activites.
Here is the Introit for the 2 native characters. The one featured is an archivist living in Mordent. I try to stick near canon as much as feasible, nd this is lengthy prose. His brother is a 1/2 Vistana Rogue. Together they style themselves as "investigators" of mysteries.
Thoughts, comments and ideas are welcome.
******
One afternoon while walking down the street in Mordentshire, you pass the old van Richten herbalist shop (now run by the Weathermay-Foxgrove sisters) and notice that it is closed yet again; the sisters are off again on one of their sojourns. As you pass back you notice a striking woman with long raven black hair, in her mid-twenties who looks very out of place; watching her from across the street, you realize that part of what makes her so striking is her Richemulot dress, but also with a provincial black,
heavy wool shawl and a kerchief on her head; she is holding what appears to be a heavy, black satchel.
Curious you approach her, “May I help you, Mademoiselle?”
“No Monsieur, I am merely waiting for Dr. van Richten to return.”
“I'm sorry to tell you, but he has been gone these past 7 years, and was presumed dead quite a while ago...”
“Then there is no one here who can help me find my lost mother.”
“Perhaps there is mon cheri, you see my brother and I are ones who may be of service to you in this mystery. Please come with me to our parlor, things of this sort are best not discussed out on the street.”
***********
Arriving at your modest domicile, you usher her into the parlor; with a quick survey of the house, you determine Gildenstern is not at home and so bring in tea for two. “Please allow me a quick introduction, my name is Rosencrans and my absent brother is Gildenstern; so please Mademoiselle, your story from the beginning.”
“My name is Mariska Borishka, I was born in the city of Teufeldorf in Gundarak in 730 BC, my parent's only child. In those days a burdensome tax was laid upon families with girl children for failure to bear boys; for 5 years my father, a cobbler was able to pay that tax, but in 735 some of Duke Gundar's men took offense when they came to my father's shop and found no boots of their size. They beat my father, broke his hands and then burned the shop to ash while my parents and I could only
watch in horror; I can still feel the heat of that fire upon my face. That year, when Gundar's men came for the yearly tax (thankfully it was not the same men) we were already destitute, instead they raped my
mother in front of my father and then took her away to Dr. Daclaud Heinfroth's asylum for “treatment”.
We had all heard rumors of the experiments performed by the doctor, but none knew the truth. I never saw my mother after that day. A year later, Gundar was murdered by Dr. Heinfroth and soon the land fell into chaos as the Doctor cared nothing for the land save his asylum; following the Great Upheaval our neighbor Count Strahd von Zarovich came with his militias in 740. At first we welcomed his men with open arms, but he is as cruel a tyrant as Duke Gundar ever was; during this time the Doctor vanished.
Since that time my people have been living under the Count's
harsh laws, subservient to all, unable to own a weapon larger than a dagger, living in abject poverty. My father and I escaped the land in 742, we traveled for a time until we finally settled in Richemulot's capital of Pont-a-Museau. Returning to his cobbler's trade, my father was able to support us, as much as it pained him (his hands had never fully healed), occasionally he would take trips away for weeks at a time. It wasn't until recently that I learned where or why; he would travel to Invidia and once to Barovia making contact with the Gundarakite rebels trying to get whatever information he could about the whereabouts or end of Heinfroth as well as anything he could learn about my lost mother. My father died 2 months ago, charging me with the continuing task of finding my mother, and if possible place his ashes in the same place with her remains (for he had given up all hope of her continued existence). Will you help me?”
“Mlle. Borishka, this is just what my brother and I excel at; speaking for my brother yes, we can and will help you. Unfortunately, this would appear to be a costly venture and as good hearted as we are, I
would be remiss if we did not discuss some form of payment, my brother would surely insist; one cannot live on the good will of others or on good deeds done for their own sake, it does not quite satisfy the pallet.”
“Of course my dear Rosencrans, I would not wish you to perform such an endeavor without some recompense. I have hear a tome which my father had managed to acquire from the rebels holding Castle Hunadora in Invidia shortly before he died; it reputedly is an arcane tome from the collection of Duke Gundar's son Medraut. It was this which I was planning on offering the good Doctor for his aid, as though I'd not heard of his reputed death, I had heard of his penchant for exotic books; but to you I
will also add 150 Barovia gold Wolf-fangs, minted in 735 BC well before the Great Upheaval.” She brings the book and coins out of the satchel for your examination; the book is ice cold to the touch but you sense a power from it which is intoxicating to your archivist senses, the coins you realize that they hold a higher intrinsic value than a mere 150 gold to a collector of such antiquities (your brother should not be too displeased with this arrangement). After you finish examining the items, she returns them to
her satchel.
“Mademoiselle, we shall travel forthwith to Teufeldorf to bring your family's tragedy to closure and return with what news we can. Have you some place to stay here in Mordentshire?” “No, good sir. I had intended to return to Pont-a-Museau as soon as I was able.”
“Then we shall come find you there when this quest is over. I must begin our preparations for departure, but if you have no other plans for this evening, perhaps you would care to join me for dinner?”
“I'm sorry, I already have another engagement this evening, but I would be glad to accept when you bring me tidings in Richemulot.”
“Until then my dear, Mademoiselle.”
****************
“Brother, we have ourselves a mystery to solve. On the morn, we travel for Barovia.”
Here is the Introit for the 2 native characters. The one featured is an archivist living in Mordent. I try to stick near canon as much as feasible, nd this is lengthy prose. His brother is a 1/2 Vistana Rogue. Together they style themselves as "investigators" of mysteries.
Thoughts, comments and ideas are welcome.
******
One afternoon while walking down the street in Mordentshire, you pass the old van Richten herbalist shop (now run by the Weathermay-Foxgrove sisters) and notice that it is closed yet again; the sisters are off again on one of their sojourns. As you pass back you notice a striking woman with long raven black hair, in her mid-twenties who looks very out of place; watching her from across the street, you realize that part of what makes her so striking is her Richemulot dress, but also with a provincial black,
heavy wool shawl and a kerchief on her head; she is holding what appears to be a heavy, black satchel.
Curious you approach her, “May I help you, Mademoiselle?”
“No Monsieur, I am merely waiting for Dr. van Richten to return.”
“I'm sorry to tell you, but he has been gone these past 7 years, and was presumed dead quite a while ago...”
“Then there is no one here who can help me find my lost mother.”
“Perhaps there is mon cheri, you see my brother and I are ones who may be of service to you in this mystery. Please come with me to our parlor, things of this sort are best not discussed out on the street.”
***********
Arriving at your modest domicile, you usher her into the parlor; with a quick survey of the house, you determine Gildenstern is not at home and so bring in tea for two. “Please allow me a quick introduction, my name is Rosencrans and my absent brother is Gildenstern; so please Mademoiselle, your story from the beginning.”
“My name is Mariska Borishka, I was born in the city of Teufeldorf in Gundarak in 730 BC, my parent's only child. In those days a burdensome tax was laid upon families with girl children for failure to bear boys; for 5 years my father, a cobbler was able to pay that tax, but in 735 some of Duke Gundar's men took offense when they came to my father's shop and found no boots of their size. They beat my father, broke his hands and then burned the shop to ash while my parents and I could only
watch in horror; I can still feel the heat of that fire upon my face. That year, when Gundar's men came for the yearly tax (thankfully it was not the same men) we were already destitute, instead they raped my
mother in front of my father and then took her away to Dr. Daclaud Heinfroth's asylum for “treatment”.
We had all heard rumors of the experiments performed by the doctor, but none knew the truth. I never saw my mother after that day. A year later, Gundar was murdered by Dr. Heinfroth and soon the land fell into chaos as the Doctor cared nothing for the land save his asylum; following the Great Upheaval our neighbor Count Strahd von Zarovich came with his militias in 740. At first we welcomed his men with open arms, but he is as cruel a tyrant as Duke Gundar ever was; during this time the Doctor vanished.
Since that time my people have been living under the Count's
harsh laws, subservient to all, unable to own a weapon larger than a dagger, living in abject poverty. My father and I escaped the land in 742, we traveled for a time until we finally settled in Richemulot's capital of Pont-a-Museau. Returning to his cobbler's trade, my father was able to support us, as much as it pained him (his hands had never fully healed), occasionally he would take trips away for weeks at a time. It wasn't until recently that I learned where or why; he would travel to Invidia and once to Barovia making contact with the Gundarakite rebels trying to get whatever information he could about the whereabouts or end of Heinfroth as well as anything he could learn about my lost mother. My father died 2 months ago, charging me with the continuing task of finding my mother, and if possible place his ashes in the same place with her remains (for he had given up all hope of her continued existence). Will you help me?”
“Mlle. Borishka, this is just what my brother and I excel at; speaking for my brother yes, we can and will help you. Unfortunately, this would appear to be a costly venture and as good hearted as we are, I
would be remiss if we did not discuss some form of payment, my brother would surely insist; one cannot live on the good will of others or on good deeds done for their own sake, it does not quite satisfy the pallet.”
“Of course my dear Rosencrans, I would not wish you to perform such an endeavor without some recompense. I have hear a tome which my father had managed to acquire from the rebels holding Castle Hunadora in Invidia shortly before he died; it reputedly is an arcane tome from the collection of Duke Gundar's son Medraut. It was this which I was planning on offering the good Doctor for his aid, as though I'd not heard of his reputed death, I had heard of his penchant for exotic books; but to you I
will also add 150 Barovia gold Wolf-fangs, minted in 735 BC well before the Great Upheaval.” She brings the book and coins out of the satchel for your examination; the book is ice cold to the touch but you sense a power from it which is intoxicating to your archivist senses, the coins you realize that they hold a higher intrinsic value than a mere 150 gold to a collector of such antiquities (your brother should not be too displeased with this arrangement). After you finish examining the items, she returns them to
her satchel.
“Mademoiselle, we shall travel forthwith to Teufeldorf to bring your family's tragedy to closure and return with what news we can. Have you some place to stay here in Mordentshire?” “No, good sir. I had intended to return to Pont-a-Museau as soon as I was able.”
“Then we shall come find you there when this quest is over. I must begin our preparations for departure, but if you have no other plans for this evening, perhaps you would care to join me for dinner?”
“I'm sorry, I already have another engagement this evening, but I would be glad to accept when you bring me tidings in Richemulot.”
“Until then my dear, Mademoiselle.”
****************
“Brother, we have ourselves a mystery to solve. On the morn, we travel for Barovia.”
-
Gonzoron of the FoS
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 7558
- Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location: New Jersey
- Contact: