Quoth the Raven #28 review thread

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Here it is, the thread where we analyze, gush over and generally discuss issue 28 of Quoth the Raven!

Go for it, folks. ^_^

[Joël of the FoS]

I hate Chibiloft.

[Joël of the FoS]

Ah ah ah, of course not

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I hate Chibiloft.

Ah ah ah, of course not

Please forgive Joël, he seems to have failed a Madness save in the course of editing this beast.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

I hate Chibiloft.

Ah ah ah, of course not

Please forgive Joël, he seems to have failed a Madness save in the course of editing this beast.

No worries.

[tomokaicho]

Yeah, so hate to sound the ingrate this being a work of passion and free and all that, but I can't help but notice it isn't on the site yet.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

It's there. Try refreshing the page your browser

[tomokaicho]

It's there. Try refreshing the page your browser

It appears that I had been momentarily cursed by the mists. Deleting my browser's cookies has sent the dark powers packing, and now I have the treasured tome.

[Jack the Reaper]

Alright then! First I want to quote here something I wrote in the Facebook group Mists of Ravenloft, which could be used as kind of introduction to the current QtR:

* * *

I just had a mind-boggling thought. Maybe there isn't only one Ravenloft. Maybe there are many.
The Mists may hold not only many different domains, but also many versions of each domain. There are several Barovias, several Darkons, several Falkovnias etc., each slightly or greatly different from the others. Ravenloft is a dark mirror of other realities, but it might not be an intact mirror but a splintered one - each splinter reflecting the origin somewhat differently, like the reincarnations of Tatyana, or the reflections of Amber in Roger Zelazny's books.
Thus, books and records inside Ravenloft may contain different, contradicting descriptions of apparently the same realms. Travelers in the Mists might return to a familiar domain, only to find out that it is not the same as the one they are familiar with. It could be quite an eerie and unsettling experience. The Darklord and the folk could be different, the geography or the history, the technological level or even some minor but irritating details. Their own families might not recognize them or even exist, and perhaps they'll encounter another version of themselves (watch the movie Coherence for such an example). The Fraternity of Shadows and other powers might have discovered this secret, seeking to use it for their agendas.
Most importantly, this new cosmology can put an end to the debates about different editions and fanfics. There's no need to choose one over the others; They could all be part of the many Ravenlofts, in the same setting.

* * *
Having said that, I just started skimming through the netbook, but I already saw that this year the articles actually fit the announced theme (which is not very usual ), and there are some new, original versions of the setting. I started with Dovehome, and was glad to see that it wasn't just a goody-good mirror image of Ravenloft, but a realm with no less tragic beauty and developed characters. I liked the concept of the Protectors, and it would be quite a shock for some Mists-travelers from Ravenloft to come upon such a domain and find out that the hated Darklord they knew is now a paragon of goodness!

I also liked the City of Ravenloft - another original and mind-boggling idea, enabling new levels of interactions between the Darklords and the PCs. Now I'm waiting for the next stage - the domains of Ravenloft compressed into a single castle/dungeon...

Mistmaster must be feeling at home in this issue, since alternative versions of the domain are his regular thing I admit I they are not always my taste, but some ideas from them can be adopted.

The Conch Shell of Sorrows also looks promising, with a great artwork.

My own donation is very humble this year - I was quite busy and only managed to gather 20 new cursed items. But some of them are quite malicious - I'm especially fond of the painting, the pillow, the necklace and the cloak. Let me know what you think.

Thanks to our dear FoS members and all contributors! Great job everyone.

[Hell_Born]

I should be sleeping, I've been up since midnight, but dammit, I just had to get this book when it was hot off the press! And of course, I've got to review what I've read, that's only fair, right?

Can't review my own works of course, so I'll skip those, but I will note I was expecting to be credited as 'Jonathon "Hell-Born" Crawford' in them, and instead I've got two different styles between the four articles.

Dementlieu, Land of Manipulation & Hypocrisy: Maybe it's just me, but I can't really see what separates this iteration of Dementlieu from its 3rd edition counterpart, beyond the shift from 3.5 to PF1 mechanics, the introduction of the "Lightlord" concept that has been present since these "domain rewrites" began in, what, issue #26, and the subtle tweaks to d'Honaire's curse. I will say that I like this new curse a lot better than the classic one; Dominic was one of those "socially overwhelming" darklords who really just seemed all but unbeatable in their chosen arena, and the curse focusing almost exclusively on how he's perceived by women he desires was... well, it largely felt like it was a countermeasure to get him past the censors. The addition of new PF subclasses, spells and monsters must also be commended.

The Grand Estate Cluster: I have a love-hate relationship with Darkest Dungeon, so this is a Cluster concept that intrigues me greatly. The idea of making the Cluster work by taking each of the distinct regions of the game and making them separate domains based on the original locale's ongoing history isn't intuitive, but it works, and I really like the end result.

Olerick's Colloquial Guides Presents - Sacred Sites & Legendary Landmarks: I really like this article! Mechanics-lite, but lots of flavor to get the imagination fired up, and the sheer amount of different locales presented here is very impressive!

Excerpts from 'The Register of Monsters': I have mixed feelings about this article series, but I generally lean towards being fond of it, and this is certainly a solid entrant in the series.

Post-Apocaloft: This is a very interesting concept, and tying it to Ravenloft's little sister setting of Gothic Earth is genius. I'm not entirely sure if "Escape from New York" was really the best "showcase" domain for this alternative version of the Demiplane of Dread, and I must admit that it feels like too much of the article is spent just recapping the movie.

Cursed Items: It's essentially a d20 table of evil trinkets. Mildly interesting, but not that appealing to me.

Dovehome, the Anti-Ravenloft: It's a very interesting concept, but... I don't know, it's not really "my thing", this article. I will give it credit for creating a version of the Tristan/Malken backstory that is far less confusing than the one we canonically have.

Lamordia, Land of Progress & Technology: I do like the way this domain dials down the traditional "anti-magic" approach to arcane magic; it just never makes sense to me that in a world where arcane magic exists and can be treated as a fantastic science (see: wizard, artificer), that the "science" domain would be inherently anti-magical. Of course, I prefer magic-powerd pseudo-science and industrialized magic for my "weird tech" (steampunk, dieselpunk, etc), so I am biased and I'll admit that. And we have a Dr. Mordenheim who stays true to his Frankenstein roots whilst actually making the doctor into the Darklord, not his creation, so big props for that.

Falkovnia Uber Alles: ...You took the already Nazi-influenced Falkovnia, and gave them their own SS stand in. The author of this article has generative organs the size of a big man's fist, and I applaud their courage. Now that's out of the way, this article is very well written; I'm actually not sure how much of it is canon to itself, since so much of it is in "Dread Possibility" sidebars, but even so, you can see where the influence is coming from, but it feels like an organic part of the Ravenloft setting as a whole - something that developed naturally given the environment it hails from. Congratulations.

Sins of the Father: In this article, we take an incredibly minor character and flesh them out with a massive statblock and a sizable lore writeup. Very nicely done.

Falkovnian Rebels: This was a great article, filling in an obvious gap in Falkovnian lore; Vlad is just begging to have people lining up to kill him, so this really gives DMs some useful worldbuilding. Very nicely done.

The Spawn of the Lizard: I really like this article; I've always felt Ravenloft is too humanocentric. I am confused by the idea to make the Basilisk into a cursed bakali (Krynnish lizardfolk) instead of a draconian, though.

The Cyclops's Legacy: I want to say that this article is actually referencing and reworking a number of articles from very old - like, single digit issues - netbooks past, but I can't be certain of it. I do like the end result, however, since one of the things I actually like about Falkovnia is that it's a perfect opportunity to insert some diselpunk/ghostapo/stupid jetpack Hitler shenanigans into my game.

Borca, A Land of Poison & Intrigue: ...Why do people seem to be so focused on raising up Ivana Boritsi? The so-called "Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft" rewrote her to fit the cliche "Strong Independent Woman" archetype that has become so commonly badly done since 2016, and now here we have her being turned into the Lightlord. I mean, I guess with Camille Dilisnya as the darklord again she's superfluous, but I don't get why you'd bring Camille back in the first place, I really don't.

Lampago: I didn't enjoy this story at all. I found it uninteresting and I just wanted it to be over almost as soon as I started reading it.

City of Ravenloft: Reworking the Demiplane of Dread from a continent into a fantasy mega-city, along the lines of Sigil? It's a very odd idea, but it works really well. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this article once I read the rest.

Scenes from a Starving Land: I'll be honest; I don't really care for G'henna. I'm not good with theocracies, and evil theocracies I can't actuially take down are epeially bad in my eyes. I couldn't even really describe this article beyond "a grabbag of stuff for AD&D G'henna". It's not a bad article, but I can't say it really gripped me.

The Conch Shell of Sorrows: The individual elements of this article - the cursed relic, the town in which it has come to rest, the individuals surrounding it and the new mechanics, are all really solid and great. But I'll be mogadored if I can figure out how to sum it up in a coheisive whole. But that's ultimately a minor flaw in a very solid article.

Invidia, the Land of Conflicts & Demagogy: I like the way this iteration of Invidia shifts from making Gabrielle the technical hero to making her the fully fledged bad guy. The idea to present wolfweres and pakas as fully acknowleged and integrated races is also really surprising, but quite interesting.

The Conferences of Victor Gagne: I must confess, when I saw from the subtitle that this was the final article in this series, I was relieved. I've not enjoyed this series at all; I've never been able to follow the narrative, in large part because I didn't really care about who the characters were or what they were doing. The technical aspects of this article, like its predecessors, are all solid, I just don't like this series.

Heroes of Chibiloft: Meh. Not really a fan.

Anyway, it's nearly 5 in the morning, I've not slept in nearly 36 hours, so I'm going to post this review and go to bed. Great job to all the people who submitted to this year's QtR; it's awesome to see that this fandom still keeps actively turning out netbooks, which many other supposedly bigger D&D fandoms fail to do.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

The Conch Shell of Sorrows:
I liked it! Very thorough, a decently-sized story with plenty of story hooks, an appropriately creepy atmosphere, and references to existing lore.
The suspected Illithid biomancy and the actual work of a Dagonite artefact, nicely points out the shared roots D&D Dagon and the Illithid have in the Cthulhu Mythos. My compliments.

Lampago:
A fast-paced story with interesting aspects. I liked how the brothers are clearly struggling together to live with their curses in a modern world. The implication that the younger brother cannot question the elder, as though he were somehow his thrall, was deeply unnerving.
I wish the story had been longer, and had delved deeper into what happened to bring the main characters here. I hope there will be more stories featuring them in the future.

Sins of the Father
A very solid build-up of a character that I feel deserved more attention than it originally got. I'm not entirely sure about giving Vigo the ability to perfprm power rituals, but it does make him a lot more dangerous.

Dementlieu, Land of Manipulation & Hypocrisy
Why did you feel the need to turn Alanik Ray into a human, Allan Ray?

[Mistmaster]

Well regarding Borca, I decided to bring back Camille because she was eviler then her daughter, and Ivana's backstory always sounded a bit unfair to me. With Camille as a Darklord I did not need an evil Ivana anymore and so she became the Lightlord.

Because an elf could not have been a university companion of Dominic and the Brain. He is actually of elven descent however.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I had been expecting this day for a bit less than a year, I m already reading it and I ll send a thorough review myself. First of all for those of you who already reviewed my articles, I am glad that you liked them, those of you who may not I would like to know your opinions on them.

I am re-reading mine first to check if there was any mistake in editing so far I have found one in page 226 the title of that section should be The Dragon, the Forgotten Emperor Basiliskis it is an honest mistake since, before reading the rest someone would think I was writing for the same "lizard" and not a reincarnation of it (I checked the document I sent and I had it correct). Also I believe having three lizardmen with a similar name was a bit confusing while editing , sorry for the headache.

The Spawn of the Lizard: I really like this article; I've always felt Ravenloft is too humanocentric. I am confused by the idea to make the Basilisk into a cursed bakali (Krynnish lizardfolk) instead of a draconian, though.

As for the Basilisk being bakali and not draconian, I see your point but I wanted an ancient villain for the various tombs scattered in the east of Falkovnia and the 1989 Time of the Dragon, which describes Taladas where Vlad Drakov comes from, gave me that opportunity with Blackwater Glade and the ancient ruins of the bakali empire. Also the name of Bakiliskis which came to me after researching (in Time of the Dragon) is a combination of the Kothian (Krynn minotaur language) suffix -iskis, which is an honorative title given to prominent members of the League (minotaur empire) with bakali to make the name Bakiliskis. So in a way the story and research lead me to that. I did though use a draconian as to give more emphasis on the name Basilisk when he killed a draconian in the arena who turned to stone.

Also the basilisk as a medieval monster is a legendary reptile reputed to be a serpent king. Are dragons (and draconians) regarded as serpents? They could but at the same time they couldn't, a lizardman is unquestionably a serpent, and goes better with the whole "Spawn of the Lizard" name of the canon resistance group.

PS
A draconian in my mind is always evil and I wanted this group of kobolts not be necessarily evil, they just want to survive in a world were everyone regards them as monsters.

[FiranDarcalus]

I must say, I'm loving all the Falkovnia stuff. Have not read it all yet, but looks great. Now how can I figure out how to stick my PC's there and use some of this even though I was not planning a Falkovnia expedition.

And I love whenever an Olerick's Guide is included. Looking forward to delving into that as well, esp anything Dementlieu related.

Great work everyone!

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I'm not entirely sure about giving Vigo the ability to perform power rituals, but it does make him a lot more dangerous.

It was the only way to explain how he can be so close to Vlad Drakov without him realising that something is wrong with him (his reality wrinkle). Even if Vlad is the darklord with the least magical connection to his domain, being unable to magically close the borders of his domain, I believe he would recognise something in an outsider being so close to him. I was more concerned with the time shifting elements of Vigo, maybe they are too much but being of Zarovan ancestry it seemed right.

Also my other dilemma was having him being Vito Romenza, a male Vistani with the power of Foresight and a locate divination ability from Death Ascendant, this would make him one of the Dukkar. My dilemma was having Vito becoming a disguise of Vigo Drakov or being one of his half-siblings (one of the many children fathered by the Gentleman Caller). Since the doomsday gazetteers never revealed the rest of the Gentleman Caller's children I wasn't sure if Vito would have officially be one of his children, especially as he is described as good hearted in Death Ascendant, and we know that probably as good hearted these half-fiends are, they are more monster like, so Vito should have either be evil, although Lisa Smedman has him as Neutral Good in that module or be something else. So I decided to use him as an excuse for the canon mistakes made in Death Ascendant (anyway this is a parallel worlds themed issue ). Having him disguised as Romenza was something that worked for the background and scenarios I thought of, without messing with Death Ascendant too much, unless if there is a paladin in the party (oops...).

I am going to the power rituals again, I wanted to have Vigo Drakov's actual form being frightening but if I did that as a child of the Gentleman Caller he should be good as the Beast of the Hills.

This section contains Potential-canon info, revealed by the creators from never-published sources
In truth, the Beast is the unfortunate giomorgo ("half-vistani" offspring of a Vistani mother and the incubus known only as the Gentleman Caller. Unlike the rest of the Children of the Gentleman Caller, the Beast is not human-looking like on the outside but evil on the inside. Instead, the Beast represents an inversion, monstrous and inhuman on the outside but a good person on the inside. The Beast suffers from a crippling lack of self-esteem, a flaw inherited from her mother. A missing Dread Possibility cut from Gazetteer I has the Stone of Death (formerly owned by Radaga) tempting the Beast to use its vile powers to make her look human.

So the only way to make him more monstrous was to have him being born as a regular baby (with fiery eyes witnessed only by the midwife who delivered him before dying from fright and his survival instincts kick in and disguises them) and have him be corrupted by power rituals to give him a more monstrous appearance. plus I needed him to have some powers. Don't forget that Van Richten's Monstrous Compedium III in the demon section has Malocchio Aderre have a reality wrinkle, land-based-powers and a Corruption Index:13 so power rituals for Gentelman Callers cambion children is canon.