Ravenloft is the 2011 Campaign Setting

[HuManBing]

I'm all for it, 4e freak of nature that I am.

Can we be freaks together?

Stop getting freaky on this board.

Or at least post pictures if you do.

:popcorns:

[Isabella]

We're super-freaky.

[Nathan of the FoS]

PAGING RICK JAMES. RICK JAMES CALL YOUR OFFICE PLEASE.

[Scipio]

Just in time for me, given that I got a whole new gaming group that I can introduce to the Mists...

[Brandi]

I'm hardly playing any RPG anymore, and I'd invest in 4th edition GURPS before 4th edition D&D...

... but I look forward to seeing if the domains not gotten to by Arthaus et al finally get a writeup.

[Scipion_Emilien]

Well from what I see from the others books of 4e, (Eberron and FR, didn't look at darksun), I don't expect them to do something as extensive as the gaz, particularly for un-gaz domains. I expect them to retell the base domain, give us a small advance in the plotline to justify the advance in the timeline and add one or two new domains to give some novelty to the setting.

I expect the world to be set in the shadowfell.

[Le Noir Faineant]

^It is. Apparently, there will be a larger Shadow Fell Box coming out, and the setting will have its mention there as well.

[Chaderick]

I've been following this news with the mixed feelings that I'm reading about here. On one hand, I can't help but think that any Ravenloft is good Ravenloft...I've been DMing in the setting since it was first published and before that I ran the original modules (I6 and I10) at least once each year since the first one was published, tweaked a little each time to keep them fresh.

On the other hand, I don't want to see the setting turned into a mix of Twilight and World of Darkness. The original setting was smart enough to keep monsters in their place back when WoD was selling like hotcakes; now it seems that today's creative team is succumbing to the similar allure of Twilight.

Since it is happening, though, I have a feeling that we won't see any sort of timeline advance. My money is on a reboot back at the beginning, Black Box-era. I'm thinking this based on how many designers over the years have said that they felt slighted by the Grand Conjunction, because it radically changed the campaign setting without giving players any significant choice. Also, since the timeline has grown convoluted with years of Wizards' history and also years of Arthaus continuity that Wizards would most likely want to overlook, the simpler "back to its roots" mentality would be the easiest way to provide a common ground and the subtly alter it to exist within the Shadowfell.

What do you guys think?

[Le Noir Faineant]

Twilight

I think you just crossed a line.

[Jester of the FoS]

Since it is happening, though, I have a feeling that we won't see any sort of timeline advance. My money is on a reboot back at the beginning, Black Box-era. I'm thinking this based on how many designers over the years have said that they felt slighted by the Grand Conjunction, because it radically changed the campaign setting without giving players any significant choice. Also, since the timeline has grown convoluted with years of Wizards' history and also years of Arthaus continuity that Wizards would most likely want to overlook, the simpler "back to its roots" mentality would be the easiest way to provide a common ground and the subtly alter it to exist within the Shadowfell.

What do you guys think?

I think we'll mostly likely either see a Black Box or Red Box world, or a world slightly after Domains of Dread. The later will be the most likely so they can side-step Soth and reference in Inza article published in Dragon.

[Le Noir Faineant]

That matches with my own observations.

It's about reactivating old IP, and about making the RL themes acceissble to mainstream D&D players.

You know, stuff like Nightmare Lands in Eberron. Jolly Good.

[Chaderick]

Good call on that one; I wasn't thinking of the whole Soth problem...I have a feeling you're must closer to the truth than I was, Jester. I often find myself agreeing with what you post; looks like this is another of those instances!

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I'll just start my grumbling now.

I don't at all expect them to pick up the whole S, Gentleman Caller, etc metaplot, or even the seeds planted by Arthaus regarding Lucita, the Becoming Plague, and the like... but to ignore/invalidate even the later TSR stuff? ugh, such a waste. Worse than a spell-plague-like cataclysm, IMHO.

Sadly, though, it makes sense. "Reimaginings" are all the rage nowadays.

Still reserving judgement, and cautiously hopeful, just now even more worried than before...

[DocBeard]

Well, I think it is a safe bet that they're not going to use stuff that might be owned by Arthaus. But otherwise we really don't know yet.

[Le Noir Faineant]

I'll just start my grumbling now.

I don't at all expect them to pick up the whole S, Gentleman Caller, etc metaplot, or even the seeds planted by Arthaus regarding Lucita, the Becoming Plague, and the like... but to ignore/invalidate even the later TSR stuff? ugh, such a waste. Worse than a spell-plague-like cataclysm, IMHO.

Sadly, though, it makes sense. "Reimaginings" are all the rage nowadays.

Still reserving judgement, and cautiously hopeful, just now even more worried than before...

Is the new Gamma World out yet? That might be an indication of what to expect.

I am glad though they made RL its own game.
4e RL as I play it would have been fairly unnerving.