Café de Nuit

We've voted, we've chosen, and the list of domains is already expanding. Right now, it would seem that Blaustein, Ghastria and Vorostokov will be the newest additions to the mix. But there are still four domains that we haven't voted for.

So, as the new year begins, we go on even farther, to explore the weirdest and more bizarre domains, looking for a couple of them to be added to our list.

And the candidates are:

Avonleigh: A phantasmal forest where an evil wizard waits to be brought back from the land of the mirror and recover his lost love.
Bluetspur: A barren land where uncanny and terrifying beings from a lovecraftian nightmare await to take your brain away.
G'Henna: A land of hunger and poverty where the corrupt priests have a hold on all the resources, which are to be brought to their devouring god.
Necropolis: The land of the walking dead, governed by Death itself and inhabited only by the unliving.

Please, take the time to vote for one of them and, if possible, to explain your decision. Why you vote for that domain and not for the others? Which makes this domain special? What would you change in the others to make them worthy of inclusion?

I've always thought Bluetspur had great promise. I think it needs a lot of work, though. The place is just such a death trap. Between mindflayers being so deadly and the inhospitable surface, there's not much wiggle room for the players.
Sometime ago someone suggested that Bluetspur should be modled after Antarctica ala At the Mountains of Madness. I thought that would make a great domain.

As I have said many times, in many posts. Necropolis just doesnt appeal. But it COULD work.

Atm this whole only the dead can enter theme just makes it silly.

Which why I suggested in the path is take a 4E slant on there 3E Necrpoltian idea.

Make death disapear slightly (absorbed into his realm or somthing), elect a new darklord, then turn the city into a funeral city.

A place for the dead (and maybe some living) to prepare the dead for burial.

AKA Necropolis Litharge in Sandman.

Well, if Necropolis isn't selected here, it could still get a chance of being included inside a larger domain (Darkon, duh!), or of being included with a serious retcon (I'll be accepting proposals soon enough). Perhaps you could suggest those changes then.

Anything but Bluetspur (sorry ScS). I never understood why this realm ever ended up in Ravenloft in the first place.

I like Bluetspur, but I think that a city of the dead is a must and Necropolis has quite well linked to the history of Ravenloft (even though imc Necropolis has been destroyed, but Bluetspur still exists).

G'Henna everytime (come on people they have meat eating cows!)

More seriously G'Henna offers a very different experieince than most other domains, its banged full of flavour and atmosphere. Fanatiscism, desperation, misguided faith, corruption, poverty and hunger are great background themes and handled properly make for an exceedingly memorable experience.

Necropolis has potential but needs reworking, the concept is great but I think it put too many peoples backs up by being placed where it was (although there was of course some irony in the dead taking back a piece of Azalins kingdom). As it is Im with NykylaiHellray, the city of the dead is good concept.

Bluetspur, I dunno, it alwasy just felt IMO like someone had taken a chunk of the FR Underdark and made a domain out of it. I like the idea of " invasion of the mad mindflayers from the moon" but its too deadly and too alien as is to really make it more than a dungeoncrawl.

Avonleigh I always just though a bit meh.

Depends on the theme of this Ravenloft, I guess. If it deals more with mortal evil, then something like Bluetspur shouldn't exist. If it's more about the Dark Powers either testing or observing evil of all forms, then my vote (as reflected in the poll) is, in fact, Bluetspur. Mind, I've never actually used the place (my experiences with Ravenloft are mostly contained in Barovia and Darkon), but I've always been intrigued by it (and especially since I've been reading Lovecraft).

What I've seen isn't perfect, but it's interesting to me. Make it Antartica-like and make it a continent/island/whatever by itself in the far north or south (if it can be made into something more like "At the Mountains of Madness" as suggested by ScS, I'm definitely all for it). Maybe it's not always accessible. Maybe the mists only pull back at certain times to reveal it (whim of the DP's, or more appropriate to the Lovecraft nature, "the stars align"). Whatever the case, that's my vote.

While G'Henna is a neat domain with some decent potential , particularly if we shoved it back into the core where it used to be, and Avonleigh and Necropolis can both work if we're doing to the 4E planar structure (examples of domains in Ravenloft's Feywild and Shadowfell respectively)... I have to vote for Bluetspur simply because it's the only domain here I've actually put to use. The Lovecraftian horror it offers isn't really found elsewhere in Ravenloft (before the Fraternity got their hands on the Nocturnal Sea, that is), and it works extremely well as a base of operations for a War of the Worlds style campaign, or possibly the origin of... whatever fel beastie's plaguing your village or duchy this week. Furthermore, it is one of the few Ravenloft domains which can be used to supply a psionic character with a background (due to alien influences and the like), something I as a fan of psionics would like to see more of, not less. It might not be for everyone, but it does have it's myriad of uses!