Ravenloft by Gaslight

[sndwurks]

"The greatest irony was not how little our actions changed the world, but how pointless it all seemed without the trappings of our curses." - Ivana Boritsi, 983 BC

Ravenloft has always been my favorite setting. It wormed its way into my heart when I was young, and has stayed there ever since. With my current, non-Ravenloft D&D game coming to a close soon, I am looking at what will likely be the next game I run, and I have decided that I will run a Ravenloft campaign.

However, I am going to do something I haven't done before. I am placing the game in the future of the main story of Ravenloft, where the Time of Unparalleled Darkness has come and gone, and the world changed. Two hundred years have passed. The Mists remain, but reason and science have overcome superstition and magic. The world has opened up, and exploration became possible. Monsters became nothing more than stories and legends, but it was only a matter of time.

I am planning on using d20 Modern with the Urban Arcana and d20 Past supplements to run a Gothic Victorian Horror Ravenloft game. In many ways, there are parallels to Masque of the Red Death, but while I like the setting, my playgroup is a little burned out of alt-history Earth settings, and I really don't like the system of d20 MotRD.

So, here's the thought experiment. The Time of Unparalleled Darkness happened, where, basically, the Dark Powers took the leashes off their pets, and let them run amok... only for the darklords to achieve their goals finally, and have it all turn to ashes around them. Strahd found Tatyana, turned her, only to have her kill him and herself in a despair murder-suicide over being forever separated from Sergei. Azalin simply... left. Dr. Mordenheim and Adam killed one another. Drakov invaded Darkon, and captured a wide swath of it, only to be beset with the burden of controlling an occupied kingdom while the other half of it remained free and fighting. He died in a bathtub, murdered by his own servants as a feeble old man. And so forth.

Two hundred years have passed, and the light of reason swept out of Dementlieu, Mordent, and Lamordia, and the monsters of the night simply... vanished. Falkovnia was beaten back to its borders after the death of Drakov, and stuck in a very one-sided relationship with its neighbors. Steam power was discovered, and the industrial revolution has firmly swept the Core. New lands, long thought rumor, were found beyond the Sea of Sorrows and the Nocturnal Sea. The world is on the cusp of enlightenment.

And somewhere, in the shadows, the ineffable Powers have waited long enough.

So, with all that in mind, what does the community think would be the ultimate fate of the various Darklords of Ravenloft? As well as the various NPC monsters, and the like. Would they still be around? The only one I have some real plans for is Ivana Boritsi, playing up on the aspect that she isn't aging, and is still alive, 200 years later. Other than that? I would like to hear what people have to say.

Thanks in advance.

[Strahdsbuddy]

It sounds like you whacked most of the big boys. I'd imagine Hazlik would leave also to take his revenge on Thay; though he was probably a little overconfident after being supreme ruler of Hazlan and got squashed. Ivan Dilisnya would not share his cousin's aging abilities, so may have died of natural or violent causes around the time of Unparalelled Darkness. Von Karkhov is probably still around, and is most likely the oldest vampire in the realm, though the way you describe the disappearance of monsters, he may have modified his m.o. a bit to stay off the radar of would-be stakers. Similarly Tristessa, the Three hags, Tristan ApBlanc, Godefroy, Ankhtepot, and the other monstrous darklords might be relegated to bogeyman status, even if they are still active in the affairs of their domains.

All this said, i think the setting in its current state can be run in the way you are talking about. My personal game has a carribean-esque domain that is colonized by major Core powers, new continents that are being discovered, as well as steam power, a railroad, and science, all existing side by side with more arcane oddities. That said, I think your idea has a lot of merit and I'd love to see you develop it furhter and share it with us.

[alhoon]

Very interesting idea!
I suggest you keep developing and actually update the first post once a while.

Ankhepot: Still around, sleeping as ever. The Pyramid was buried in a massive sandstorm that carried for 3 days.
Jaquiline Renier: Still around, although she doesn't lead the few remaining Renier wererats anymore but instead tries to dodge the attacks on her political power by the machinations of her husband. She can't find the strength to have him killed or executed, not after it took her so long to find someone she loves and she doesn't have to kill. The 2 dozen or so remaining wererats still consider her their leader, but they wouldn't go out of their way to obey her.

[sndwurks]

As much as I like Strahd as a character, I always felt that a tragic end was appropriate. And having Azalin walk away is another plot point. Suffice it to say, the worst thing I could think of doing to him was letting him escape... and pulling him back.

I like the ideas so far. Ankhetop sleeping beneath Har'Akir is fitting, though I'm still deciding where exactly I plan to place that cluster.

Von Kharkov going underground, or winding up far from Valachan might be good. Personally, I was thinking about making him the ruler of Markovia, or the Beastlands. He can emotionally get behind the combination of beast and man.

Tristessa, the Three Hags, and Tristen ApBlanc are all... still there, after a fashion. People don't go to Mount Lament, and Forlorn is generally avoided because no one lives there. While the Enlightenment has firmly seized the domains of Darkon, Borca, Invidia, Valachan, Richemulot, Dementlieu, Lamordia, and Mordent, I still see the more central domains in the heart of the Balinoks as being isolated and filled with superstition. There are places people just don't go, because there is no reason to go there.

I like Jacqueline Renier still being around, and keeping her own wererats on the low-profile ends of things. I see the Richemulot having a strong cultural divide between the older families, and the descendants of the refugees who came there after the death of Drakov, and Falkovnia losing a war on five fronts.

Where do people see the role of religion in this setting? I see the Church of St. Ezra as being more widespread, but less powerful as miracles simply... stopped happening. Same with the Church of the Lawgiver. The Eternal Order is gone, as without Azalin backing it, it basically collapsed during the Falkovnian invasion. The Cult of the Morninglord and the Druidic faith would likely still be around, but transformed into things like the Order of the Golden Dawn and other mystery cults.

As for where I'm placing the clusters... I have placed Sanguinia and Vorostokov far to the northwest in Sea of Sorrows, past Markovia, with the Shadowborn cluster near to the southwest. Rokushima Taiyoo joined with the Steaming Lands, and is east of the Core, past Vechor. I also considered adding Souragne and the Staunton Bluffs to the Shadowborn cluster to round it out somewhat.

[Manofevil]

You know, you could probably bring Drakov and/or Elena back as ghosts or something. As historical figures, they're bound to have a certain following among historians the way, say, Torquemada and Mengele do in the real world. Most will condemn and despise them and dread the day when their kind will be seen again. Others will make apologies or justifications for them for whatever reason. Revisionists may even try to rewrite their histories under the guise of demythification. Still others will admire them exactly as they are for twisted reasons. This strikes me as something that the Dark Powers would almost certainly try to tap into.

[alhoon]

Just a note:
The Eternal order was basically collapsing after the Requiem, supplanted by the church of Ezra.

[Strahdsbuddy]

Malken could still be active if you like. He may still be in one of the Hiregaard sires or perhaps another virtuous soul, but as the embodiment of dark personality, I don't think age really affects him at all. In fact, his syndicate of organized crime may have filled the vacuum of power in the Balinoks making them a major rival to sophisticated rulers of the West.

Malken could be synonymous with shadowy underworld bosses (Kaiser SOZE!) or maybe he has finally overthrown the Vaasi aristocracy and installed himself as the head of state. A true Kleptocracy!

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

I think the elves of Sithicus would try and prevent enlightenment reaching them. If you have enlightenment = the Industrial Revolution, elves wouldn't want swathes of their forest being cut down in the name of progress. Perhaps they want to keep Sithicus their green and pleasant lands.

What about the Shadow Rift in this version of the setting?

[Rotipher of the FoS]

With the beating-back of the wilderness, Markov has nowhere to hide himself or his creations from the scrutiny of an increasingly news-hungry world. He is now reduced to running a freak show, displaying his Broken Ones for a pittance and guzzling as much alcohol as he uses to sterilize the scalpels which craft them. With his curse no longer in effect, he's no longer a beast-bodied shapechanger, but the multiple surgeries by which his carefully-trained Broken One assistants rebuilt his human body have left him a walking mass of scar tissue. No longer able to regenerate, he ages normally, but keeps himself alive by stealing organs from the young and healthy.

After generations of frustration, Meredoth's creative spark finally returned to him, and he began making serious progress on perfecting his ideal undead. Before he could finish this work, yet another band of adventurers arrived, and his poor choice of words to Colin Graben -- "No matter what it takes, do NOT let them kill me!" -- got him fatally backstabbed by his own creation. Free at last, Colin grinned even as the adventurers cut him to pieces ... and then stopped grinning, as this group took care to make sure his pieces burned all the way to ashes.

Sodo's twin afflictions of uncontrolled shapechanging and resurrection-by-touch ended simultaneously, to his delight. Unfortunately, his ability to restore life had been a crucial factor in maintaining his authority over the other doppelgangers; without it, and with his magical blade lost since the events from "Shadow of the Knife", his promises to always restore his loyal minions can't be kept. Before long, infighting erupts among the doppelganger clans, and the Grandmaster must use his newfound self-control to switch from one anonymous life to the next, in order to keep from being assassinated by status-seeking rivals. Too attached to the urban environment to dare leave Paridon, he sulks in solitude, embittered by the fact that he still can't settle down into an imago and live in peace.

[cure]

Harkon Lukas could be leader of a proto-Green movement, arguing for the defense of the forests and especially the wolves of the southern Core. For when they are gone, he is down to one life. He could actually be pretty persuasive in this role.

[Manofevil]

I don't know as that would work. If I recall correctly, the naturalist movement was, at most, in it's infancy in the victorian age. It really take off until after the turn of the twentieth century with John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt. (feel free to correct that if anyone knows different) It might make more sense to have Harken change into a sort of Tarzan/Mowgli character who has siezed the forest and is determined to defend it. God help anybody who comes a-huntin'

[alhoon]

I'm not actually fond of the proto-green movement darklord.
Sabotage yes, flags and riots... nah.

[cure]

Well, the term is wildly prejorative, but eco-terrorism then if you like, albeit with some extremely stirring musical accompanyment. Basically radical druidism, but with excellent public relations.

[alhoon]

The excellent public relations is my problem. :/

A few crazed "old-timers" sabotaging progress and being hated by all seems better IMO. Now, in his public persona their leader could be an insignificant village bard.

[cure]

Lukas is, statistically, one of the most charismatic and compelling figures in the Land of Mists, regardless of epoque. If is an arguement can be made - in prose and poem, in speech and in song - for saving trees, for saving wolves, and agaisnt the evils and discontents of civilization, it can be surely made by him. Not of course that he has an instrincially radical druidic, anti-civilization bent. He does not. But things have gotten to the point that the forest is fast vanishing and once the wolves are gone, he is down to one life. It is a question of his own survival and I would expect him to bent all his talent and all his wile to the task. For example, burning down the new hospital, with the patients inside, is not going to make the cause popular. Burning down the tax collection office, with the tax collectors inside, might be far better received. The campaign will not be one indiscrimate violence, but rather a carefully targetted affair so as to not rouse the opposition of the mass. There should be an all most Robin Hoodesque aspect to it. In brief you may not agree with his end or even all his methods, but you cannot but help admire the panche with which the campaign is executed pursued.