Review thread of VRGtRL 5e

[Jeremy16]

I haven't read that domain yet, but if it is indeed a village of actors and a village of special effects people, I would be really disappointed.

Since I've already pulled out my copy of VRGtR, here's the quotes from the book so you know I'm not making things up:

Under the heading for Emherst (page 132):

"On the surface, Emherst is an elaborate, immersive stage. Every "resident" is an in-character actor..."

And for Medria (page 133):

"The community's residents are uniquely inured to apocalypse scenarios, since early morning sound blasts, wandering puppets, and lurid but heatless explosions regularly emanate from the studios of local dramatic effects artists..."

[alhoon]

Clarification: I never assumed you make things up. I just thought you may be exaggerating in some parts or simply have a different take on what's there.

[alhoon]

Also, I do recall that everyone that died in Gryphon Hill manor was bound to become a ghost and Godefroy would quickly beat that ghost to submission by reducing charisma to below 6. That's not new, that was there and the place was very crowded as described.

Everyone who died in Gryphon Hill, yes, that makes sense.

But, here's the quote from the book: "After 24 hours, the spirit of anyone who dies in Mordent reappears as a ghost, a specter, or another incorporeal undead... Spectral agents of Lord Godefroy remain alert for useful souls that might be enlisted into the Darklord's service."

If that were true, there would be more dead people than living people in the domain!

Well, if I read the new Mordent and like it, I would change that. Although I don't like the old Mordent too much, I am not sure I would be replacing it anytime soon.

[Jeremy16]

Here's my penultimate domain review...

JACQUELINE RENIER (old and busted)
Appearance – a vampy older woman
AoUD – killed her own grandfather who was the original darklord of the domain
Curse – assumes her wererat form in the presence of anyone she falls in love with
Domain – Dementlieu's poorer country cousin, has large cities with a lot of abandoned buildings and massive sewers, home to wererat clans and their various intrigues, sort of a “free zone” for the Core's downtrodden masses
Gothic Level – 4, a subtle and manipulative femme fatale

JACQUELINE RENIER (new hotness)
Appearance – an over-the-hill Mouseketeer that can't let go of her glory days
AoUD – manufactured a plague that killed off everyone in her country because the peasants were getting too uppity
Domain – Europe during the Black Death
Torment (because curse is apparently too strong of a word) – constantly trying to prove her superiority
Wokeness Level – (5) yet another take-charge woman with homicidal tendencies


OVERALL IMPRESSION


Originally, Jacqueline had a lot going for her – Richemulot was refreshingly different from the surrounding lands. I guess that was because wererats didn't really have a lot of traditional gothic tropes attached to them.

Speaking of wererats, why was she turned from a natural wererat to an infected one? Something about that seems silly, like she's a pretender to both thrones ( which makes her initial attempt at taking control of her homeland just as illegitmate as her current rule is). Her ire at the peasants getting uppity seems forced and artificial, just like her being turned into a wererat. It's weird points like these (the same downgrading of monster type was done with Harkon Lukas as well) that make me wonder what was going on behind the scenes of this book.

The domain itself is reduced to a one-note dread possibility about fear of the plague (holy shades of Covid-19, Batman!). For those keeping track, this is like the fifth time modern fears have been grafted onto supposedly a Middle Ages society and it still doesn't work for me. Yes, I know the Black Death ravaged Europe, but there's no comparison here because if it was really as virulent this place would be depopulated within a very short time. It just strains my suspension of disbelief.

And what is Jacqueline's endgame here? She sends the plague to punish her political enemies, they die, then recover. Then they start to revolt again thus forcing her to take ever more drastic measures. At least the Becoming Plague dread possibility gave her a further motive of overpowering neighboring domains with her personal wererat army. Here, the concept is de-fanged (pardon the pun) of any menace it once had and shows the limits of keeping the domains separate and self-contained.

[alhoon]

New Richemulot is a great "could have been" for me. I don't disagree with the idea of a "fear the plague" domain, but it should have been handled much better, with a much larger population in 4-5 "clusters" with wilderness inside, and plague in one cluster enforcing "isolation". The circles should have been, IMO, like 1-2 clusters get hits every 2-3 years, clerics contain it but there are dead bodies.
I.e. Jacq should IMO use the plague more as a bogeyman than a whip or a last-resort WMD for unruly clusters.

And I have even missed the part that she's now infected. Lol.
Personally, I would have kept the old story of the Reniers, Louise, Claude, the empty buildings, the unknown builders, the "immigrants welcome!" mentality and intrigue and add a more subtle and insidious use of the plague as means of population control by the evil masters of the land.
Blowing up Richemulot to 150K people, 110K-120K of which live in villages and farms around 4-5 urban centers of a few thousand people with miles of forests and wilderness in between the clusters (and a few border forts and inns on the road etc) would work.

[Jeremy16]

Here's my real penultimate review (I had forgotten about Valachan coming up)...


THE THREE HAGS (old and busted)
Appearance – your typical coven of witches straight out of Macbeth
AoUD – seduced and robbed wealthy travelers, betrayed each other in a scheme to escape from their dreary lives
Curse – they're hideous creatures that prey upon the innocent, ugly on both the inside and outside
Domain – filled with simple and superstitious folk who fear the “wee beasties” that inhabit the forests, home of a strident inquisition known for burning witches at the stake
Gothic Level – (8) a dark mirror of the witch mania that swept 16th and 17th century Europe

MOTHER LORINDA (new hotness)
Appearance – a cross between Baba Yaga and a leprechaun
AoUD – took over sole control of her domain after imprisoning her sisters in a magical cauldron
Domain – just imagine the Children of the Corn all grown up
Torment (because curse is apparently too strong of a word) – she just wants to have a child to call her own
Wokeness Level – (3) we're stilling calling them hags, but we traded in three for one so I guess that's progress


OVERALL IMPRESSION


This is another domain that scraps all the cool nooks and crannies that were so painstakingly built up in former editions. Once again, we are told most of the domain is uninhabited and only scattered ruins are left.

This entry is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, it combines elements from its neighbor (from previous versions, that is) the Shadow Rift. It's easy to see why, because you can't have shadow fey without it, and they need a home close by since bordering domains are now verboten. Another interesting development is a reference to the past history of this domain's darklords. It's not so much a reimagining as an evolution of the Three Hags' and their land.

But, we lose a lot by moving the plot forward. Wyan is nowhere to be seen. Ditto for any trace of the Tepestani Inquisition. Goblins aren't mentioned at all. The shadow fey get a few lines but are presented as no where near the threat they used to be. The Avanc and the Lady of the Lake are missing in action, too.

I like folk horror like The Wickerman, so I can't complain about the Tribute subplot, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth that the rest of the domain was thrown out once again.

[Jeremy16]

We've finally made it to the end, my friends...


BARON URIK VON KHARKOV (old and busted)
Appearance – a black Strahd
AoUD – a panther transformed into man due to a convoluted wizard revenge plot, escaped into Darkon and became a vampire Kargat agent, escaped into the mists and gifted with a domain of his own
Curse – his hands look like claws, eternally searching for the perfect bride but inevitably turning his bestial rage against her
Domain – a mish-mash of disparate elements that include redwood forests stalked by werepanthers, mushroom eating villagers, and a dreaded White Fever brought on by the predations of nosferatu vampires
Gothic Level – (4) he's one of the undead, but a villain rooted in D&D conventions not the gothic tradition

CHAKUNA (new hotness)
Appearance – not really pictured, just a deadly glowing-eyed shadowy hunter
AoUD – avenging the depradation of her people by killing the previous darklord
Domain – pretty much The Hunger Games set in a jungle
Torment (because curse is apparently too strong of a word) – forced to kill people to keep her domain from falling apart
Wokeness Level (7) – another in a long line of strong female leaders with a little anti-colonial cred thrown in


OVERALL IMPRESSION


Don't have an original backstory for your new darklord? Why not just have her kill the previous one? Usually, if you kill a darklord that means you're one of the good guys right? So, uh, why was Chakuna made the new darklord? Because the land demands it? Then the land's the real darklord, right? I don't get this set up at all.

There's not a lot I can say about this domain because it's described as a dense jungle without any other significant features. It seems to be Valachan in name only, because they imposed a colonists versus natives scenario onto it that wasn't there in the original. Sure, Baron Von Kharkov preyed upon the populace but he was never framed as a foreign invader. Valachan was strange amalgamation to begin with and it seems no one has a better handle on it in 5E either.

The former darklord was always an odd man out, too. I believe someone on these boards once said every trope associated with him is more successfully handled elsewhere. He copies Strahd with his bridal lottery. His Black Leopards mirror Azalin's Kargat. Alfred Timothy and Jacqueline Renier have the werecreature template covered. And Hazlik and Lord Soth even have that whole tyrant overlord thing going. So, I can understand why they decided to overhall both the lord and the land.

But... it's a really bland, lifeless presentation. The PCs arrive, get targeted as “contestants” and then the hunt is on. There's no twists or turns; no safehouses, no secret helpers. It's pretty much the definition of railroading. This could literally be any jungle in any other world and work just as well.

[alhoon]

Haven't read Valachan. That sounds line a nice... Verbek. I would say I would use it as the new Verbek with Timothy on the head but that's how Verbek was about. So... nope new Valachan doesn't seem impressive from your review. Colonists vs Natives could be done but from your review... it is not done, it's a backdrop.
This seems to be a fun, non-horror, one-stop adventure of PCs get hunted by were-somethings as they try to cut their way out.

An encounter with some beasts and "oh, no! Where are we?"
A skill challenge with a foreboding sense of something happening
An encounter with some werecreatures with one giving hints
A skill challenge
A bigger encounter with some werecreatures with some giving some better context
And out of the jungle to a real domain "a few steps ahead" from a large force of werecreatures.

That's not horror btw, that's an action-packed adventure with some horror tropes.

The end. Entire time in domain: 1 easy encounter, one mid-to-tough encounter and one tough+ encounter + 2 skill challenges.
That's a short session. Lost your notes before the session? Throw this one and design the encounters and skill challenge on the bus.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

And Verbrek was more interesting than contemporary 5e Valachan... It was about Timothy's power play with the other werewolves, a village inhabited by werewolves disgussed as a normal human settlement. You had ultra speciesists werewolves who run around the forests as wolves not seeing themselves more than beasts and then you have the Wolf God cult as well as Alfred's relationship with his river captain father.

Recipe for New Vlachan:
Take all the interesting stuff away, keep only the hunt story from Verbrek and then take out the only official black darklord in Ravenloft and replace him with one missing an interesting backstory (I like that Urik was a panther) and you have Valachan.

As for Urik he is more in my opinion than a combination of Strahd/Azalin/Hazlik

He is a tragic figure of not knowing what he exactly is, really big self doubt and self worth problems. Born a beast turned into a man and then becoming a vampire. A beast turned to human turned to monster, he is neither man nor beast.

Strahd has only three brides, a rip off Bram Stoker's Dracula, Urik wants to have a bride but his animalistic side takes over and devours her.

Urik was a Kargat who learned a lot about exercising power from Azalin and used this knowledge to supplement it into his domain, in 2e adventure Felkovicks Cat he already has complete power over his subjects. Azalin wants to have complete control and can shape the memories of people in his domain (that power came later).

Hazlin and Urik have in common that they were both used by Red Wizards of Thay, if it wasn't stated that Hazlik murdered the person he was enamoured with I would have speculated it was Urik's human form.

But having a beast turned into a man and then turned into vampire is really original in my opinion, and this is the base of Urik, his existential struggle, and this is Gothic tradition even if it comes from a D&D point of view.

[Mistmaster]

And Verbrek was more interesting than contemporary 5e Valachan... It was about Timothy's power play with the other werewolves, a village inhabited by werewolves disgussed as a normal human settlement. You had ultra speciesists werewolves who run around the forests as wolves not seeing themselves more than beasts and then you have the Wolf God cult as well as Alfred's relationship with his river captain father.

Recipe for New Vlachan:
Take all the interesting stuff away, keep only the hunt story from Verbrek and then take out the only official black darklord in Ravenloft and replace him with one missing an interesting backstory (I like that Urik was a panther) and you have Valachan.

As for Urik he is more in my opinion than a combination of Strahd/Azalin/Hazlik

He is a tragic figure of not knowing what he exactly is, really big self doubt and self worth problems. Born a beast turned into a man and then becoming a vampire. A beast turned to human turned to monster, he is neither man nor beast.

Strahd has only three brides, a rip off Bram Stoker's Dracula, Urik wants to have a bride but his animalistic side takes over and devours her.

Urik was a Kargat who learned a lot about exercising power from Azalin and used this knowledge to supplement it into his domain, in 2e adventure Felkovicks Cat he already has complete power over his subjects. Azalin wants to have complete control and can shape the memories of people in his domain (that power came later).

Hazlin and Urik have in common that they were both used by Red Wizards of Thay, if it wasn't stated that Hazlik murdered the person he was enamoured with I would have speculated it was Urik's human form.

But having a beast turned into a man and then turned into vampire is really original in my opinion, and this is the base of Urik, his existential struggle, and this is Gothic tradition even if it comes from a D&D point of view.

My big problem with Urik is that I don't see him deserving of Darklordship.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

My big problem with Urik is that I don't see him deserving of Darklordship.

I believe it is mentioned somewhere that he was the cruelest of the Kargat, I don't have my Ravenloft library with me, probably it is mentioned in Darklords accessory, if I am not mistaken.

[Mistmaster]

My big problem with Urik is that I don't see him deserving of Darklordship.

I believe it is mentioned somewhere that he was the cruelest of the Kargat, I don't have my Ravenloft library with me, probably it is mentioned in Darklords accessory, if I am not mistaken.

But at that time he was already a traumatized pantherwere turned vampire and I do not think his sire was a nice parental figure who let him free and cared to soothe his inner demons.

[Jeremy16]

Okay, let's run some numbers here...


SUMMARY - PART 1


Gender-Swapped Darklords – 2 (Victor Mordenheim, and Vlad Drakov)
Darklords Replaced by Women – 3 (Arijani, Dominic D'Honaire, and Urik von Kharkov)

These adjustments bring the number of women darklords featured up to 10 and the male darklords featured down to 6. (The one missing darklord is the Illithid God-Brain who I am counting as asexual for the purposes of these calculations) Clearly, editorial decisions were weighted in favor of female representation and the changes made were pretty aggressive.

Race-Swapped Darklords – 2 (Isolde/Nepenthe and Harkon Lukas)

On the other hand, racial alterations were kept to a minimum with only two darklords and one major NPC (Arthur Sedgewick) undergoing that treatment. As for other ethnicities and their representation it was a pretty egalitarian spread – there's one Asian, one Hindu, one Native American, and one Middle Easterner (if you can count ancient Egypt in that category) for a total of 6. That still leaves 10 darklords of European (read: white) origin. (That dang God-Brain throws the numbers off once again!) The domains selected definitely show an editorial bias in favor of non-European based domains but I don't see anything too egregious in that because they were already there to begin with.

Total Darklords – 17 (counting Isolde/Nepenthe as one, Ivan/Ivana as two, and ignoring the mess in Darkon)

While I'm of the opinion that modern calls for “representation” is just tokenism by a different name, I don't really mind these recombinations. Clearly, the outrage against these changes was a tempest in a teapot. On the flip side, I'm sure the publisher was very aware these decisions would provoke just such a reaction and would in turn get more eyeballs on their product. So despite all my poking fun at it, I'm not one of those people that are up in arms about darklords being gender- and race-swapped. I see it as more of a symptom rather than the problem.

No, my main problem with this book is that in general all the updates (for domains, NPCs and rules) were done so poorly.

[Manofevil]

No, my main problem with this book is that in general all the updates (for domains, NPCs and rules) were done so poorly.

Exactly. It's not bad when it's done well. It's bad when it's done poorly.

[alhoon]

While I think it was not possible to do something that would compare to the level of love and care the Kargatane did for Ravenloft Gazeteers for 3e, I agree that this product could have been better. Some ideas I really like, like Saidra's domain but even these, require care to flourish and to fill the gaps. Long story short it's a cashgrab running on the coattails of Curse of Strahd without coming close to the quality of even that, standalone, product.