Review thread of VRGtRL 5e

[Speedwagon]

So the Burning Peaks are still active in your game?
Did someone replace Vecna?

I guess since "Vecna" appeared in Stranger Things we are probably going to see him again in official 5e products including Ravenloft. Well we are probably going to see him in Stranger Things season 5 as well.

PS
It is fun to see the kids in Stranger Things use D&D terms for monsters etc. You get more info on what is happening in the series.

I agree Mephisto, on both counts! It can be somewhat annoying to make the clarification sometimes but I figure that the more people get drawn into the tabletop hobby with DnD as a gateway experience, the better then! Plus, I plan to have something related to Vecna and Cavitius for this year's QtR so the increased focus on Vecna in both Stranger Things and in current 5e material (the whole Vecna Dossier with the new statblock (in which they couldn't keep their old lore and new lore consistent but what's new ) and the "Don't Say Vecna" one-shot, all really help me with brainstorming how to give an alternate take on someone like Vecna (and maybe even Kas, but no promises on that front).

[Speedwagon]

So the Burning Peaks are still active in your game?
Did someone replace Vecna?

I guess since "Vecna" appeared in Stranger Things we are probably going to see him again in official 5e products including Ravenloft. Well we are probably going to see him in Stranger Things season 5 as well.

PS
It is fun to see the kids in Stranger Things use D&D terms for monsters etc. You get more info on what is happening in the series.

I agree Mephisto, on both counts! It can be somewhat annoying to make the clarification sometimes but I figure that the more people get drawn into the tabletop hobby with DnD as a gateway experience, the better then! Plus, I plan to have something related to Vecna and Cavitius for this year's QtR so the increased focus on Vecna in both Stranger Things and in current 5e material (the whole Vecna Dossier with the new statblock (in which they couldn't keep their old lore and new lore consistent but what's new ) and the "Don't Say Vecna" one-shot, all really help me with brainstorming how to give an alternate take on someone like Vecna (and maybe even Kas, but no promises on that front) in a QtR focused on secrets (which seems to be one of Vecna's main hobbies).

[WolfKook]

Well, trying to get back to the land of the mists after 17 years of absence made me check Curse of Strahd and, of course, VRGtR. And, well...

I dig the general "horror for D&D" parts: The lineages look interesting and evocative, the dark gifts seem well thought-of, the subclasses and backgrounds great. I also like the chapter on genres on horror, horror adventures and the monsters.

Looking at chapter 3, however, I saw there was something that I didn't like overall... It wasn't only the fact that there's no Core and every domain is just an Island of Terror (Which I think is a missing opportunity for creating political intrigue), or the -let's say "politically correct" -changes on some of the darklords (That in some cases didn't add a lot to them). No. This was something deeper that bugged me.

Today I realized what it is.

I'm trying to create a campaign in Ravenloft, but VRGtR is not suited for a campaign.

Well, maybe it is, but the sort of campaign VRGtR portrays is a "weekend in hell" type of campaign, where you go from one domain to another and "solve" whatever is wrong in it (The tables on each domain support just that); then go to the next domain. Rinse and repeat.

For what I see, WotC is following TSR's tradition of using Ravenloft for one-offs and weekends in hell, and ditching the worldbuilding of the 3.5 era Sword and Sorcery / Arthaus books.

Thus, you see several domains being in a dire situation. On the verge of destruction. With all hope nearly lost.

This is not the "beautiful land worth fighting for" that I got from the 3.5 era. Even people are the making of the dark powers, with no soul whatsoever. What's the point in saving them?

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Yeah, it's no wonder a lot of us prefer to adapt what's worth salvaging from 5e to the 3.5 era Ravenloft.

[Joël of the FoS]

Hello Wolfkook, indeed, that era of RL isn't a great one, exactly for the reasons you mention.

Those are not domains, they are cinematic scenes that are meant to be brief. Nothing profound there.

Go to one domain, solve it with a simple solution, blam. next domain.

And indeed, many darklords are one trick poneys.

[Igor the Henchman]

4) I also like that they took the setting and advanced the timeline. I didn't need to read, again, that Azalin tried to escape and failed. That's been canon for decades. I really like that something happened in Darkon and we don't know what! Did he escape? Did he blow himself up? I really like that it's been left unknown.

Nitpick: It didn't advance the timeline so much as roll it back. Azalin blew up Darkon in the Requiem. He just never returned and now the land is vanishing. What happened to him is a big mystery, but one we'll never know the answer to.

Nitpick of your nitpick (sorry for necro-posting ): The Ravenloft: Mist Hunters module series uses Azalin as a recurring antagonist and final boss of the campaign, answering many questions about him that VRGtR left unaddressed. While it's debatable whether those modules should be considered canon (does the idea of "canon" even matter in 5e?) they give us an interesting new take on old Azzie, which...

...I don't hate.

If anything, I'd say they managed to improve Azalin in a couple of small ways. The fact that his curse is partially lifted when he's inside Irik's mausoleum, and that knowing that, he still refuses to visit his son, immediately tells you what kind of person he is.

Likewise, putting emphasis on his pride as a king, and letting him know that his domain and subjects are doomed if he leaves, adds an additional layer to his torment. Even if he does escape, that will only demonstrate that he is worthless as a king and as a father. His laboratory notes in the final adventure show him all but screaming that Darkon is not "real" and its destruction shouldn't matter to him, but we get the strong impression that a part of him still cares, and we are left uncertain what path he might choose in the end. Could Irik's ghost be right that some part of his father can still be redeemed? With Azalin, who knows?

Plus, I thought the writers' hinting at other ongoing plans involving a female clone named "Subject S" was a nice touch.