Café de Nuit

ewancummins wrote:Demiplane of Dread?

Does anyone actually call it that, in game? I mean, does Sara even know what a demi-plane is? That seems odd for a Ravenloft native, given that very few people have ranks in knowledge: the planes.

Just wondering. Canon lore tends to assume that the overwhelming majority of Ravenloft natives simply call their world, 'the World, or 'the Land' and know nothing of demi-planes. Other worlds are only dimly understood.

Of course, it might be different in Skybolt's campaign. He's the man in charge.

What do the common people in Ravenloft know?
The common people of Ravenloft have a limited understanding of the world they live in. The Mists have the ability to manipulate the minds of most of the inhabitants of Ravenloft, and to implant false memories. For example, when a domain is first created, the Mists create a "false history", a fake past that is believed by all the people who were created with the domain. As such, common people will not understand the concepts of "domains", "Darklords" or the demiplane itself.

The Dungeon Master should adjust commoner knowledge to fit his or her campaign, but in general, the following are examples of what a common person would know:

The name of their "realm" and neighboring "realms", and the most important rulers of those lands.
Magic is an unfamiliar, dangerous thing that is best left to those magic-using types, who should be avoided.
Many dangerous creatures lurk outside their village; they will know some of the details of the most common animal nearby, and some details about a species of monster if it commonly preys upon humans.
Of the many dangerous creatures out in the world, there are a few that look like men. Some are called dwarves, elves, gnomes or halflings, though the differences between them aren't really clear. Some folk trade with these queer folk, but its safer to avoid them.
The land has always been the way it is now. Any talk about Grand Conjunctions or demi-planes is just a lot of nonsense - mostly from those magic-using types.
No one knows what's beyond the Mists, and no one wants to know.
From time to time, strange people might appear with strange clothes and languages, who might claim to be from some land far away. Its best to keep your distance from these people; they're often magic-using types, and always trouble.
The Vistani are a strange type of nomads who wander all over the land. Sometimes they put on shows outside of town. Some are thieves and conmen, and others can tell the future, but all have eerie powers.
Common knowledge varies from domain to domain; certain peoples have more experience with phenomena such as magic and divine clerics, while others do not. The following is a short list of exceptions to general knowledge:

The Vistani know a great deal about the demi-plane, including information about domains, darklords, magic, curses and many species of monsters. They will not, however, speak with the same terminology familiar to players.
The people of Darkon have more experience and comfort with demi-human races.
The people of Hazlan have more experience with arcane magic due to the number of wizards retained by their lord Hazlik.
Merchants and sailors may know a great deal about traveling through the Mists, as well as the mistways that link domains.
The people of Lamordia do not believe in the supernatural, nor do they believe in gods of any kind. They are aware of many scientific phenomena.
Some domains have an active clergy, and can produce priests with sufficient training and faith to use divine magic. In these domains, commoners may be more familiar with divine magic and healing.

tarlyn wrote:
My pc if he was from RL would call it the lands or something like that

tarlyn wrote:Yeah and speaking of Skybolt, have our pcs run into other pcs yet on the road? Have we made it to the village?

tarlyn wrote:Yeah, especially Arnulf's reaction to Cob. That is pretty freaky to him.

BigBadQDaddy wrote:Just so there isn't any misunderstanding, I made sure to put a disclaimer in my ooc post regarding Ravenloft and Knowledge: the Planes since Huln does have a pretty descent rank in that particular skill. I was not sure how he wanted to handle any possible knowledge of the land from an outlander's perspective.

kintire wrote:Alia knows all about the planes. They are the big flat grassy things that run between the mountains. South Central Cormyr is full of them...