Café de Nuit

The sun is quickly setting on Shadowfell’s Barovia and the adventurers sit around the fire that mercifully caught on the driest of the damp wood they'd collected… The day has been long and their epic pursuit will likely last another harsh day. Tomorrow perhaps, they will find Castle Ravenloft and enter in its murky halls!

On a nearby branch, an albino raven watches the exhausted and discouraged group while picking fleshy bites from a squirrel.

Poking the burning logs with a stick clutched in his claws, the thri-keen ranger busily keeps the fire alive, while his companion, a veteran Space Marine opens his hood to drink concentrated vitamins from his silver flask. Their new ally, an enigmatic warforged, still keeps three dangerous secrets from them: her Von Zarovich heritage, her psionically-bonded BattleMech hidden in the nearby trees, and that running within the blood-like fluid that powers her is the curse of the dhampire. Their guide in these lands is of vistani stock... he calls himself a "knight," thought he wears no armor. To pass the time, he casts bone dice by himself, and in the dim light, none of the others notice as the dice turn up 6's again and again, compelled by the power of "The Force" that he reveres.

Standing somewhat on the side, in deep religious meditation, is Joan of Arc, her eyes closed. But her right hand is firm on her bloody longsword. They have to be ready for anything the Devil Strahd could hurl at them again.

The thri-keen tells his friends that he hopes no more bats will come swirling around the camp this night, as every encounter with them makes him shriek with fear and run. The Vistani reminds him that he will need courage if they are to fight Strahd and save the insectoid’s kidnapped bride. The thri-keen was going to answer, but in the distance, the sinister howling of wolves erupts in the night …

While the static noise of the Jedi’s laser sword signals that the vistani is ready to fight, the warforged murmurs “Oh dear Ezra, will we survive the night?”


Yes, this incredibly exotic team stands together facing Barovia’s evil, in a brand new incarnation of Ravenloft!

Fifth edition, or "D&D Next," will be out soon and we are glad to announce the FoS is working on this incredible project. This is so important for us, it will be in fact the FoS's main project for 2012!

WotC has announced that D&D Next will be modular, and so will be Ravenloft! By enabling any PC from any universe to enter the mists, we feel we are bringing the setting back to its roots by having the Dark Powers snatching fools from any universe and bringing them to the land of the mists.

This April, we are glad we now can announce the following: we are one of the eight fan teams working with WotC to playtest the new 5e rules, and of course we will set our project in Ravenloft (heh!), hoping that it will seduce all multiverse fans and become the new canon.

And on the same day that the D&D Next players handbook will be released, we will release our own Ravenloft 5th edition Campaign Setting netbook.

Of course, we have been working on this for a while, and there are some of you out there that have guessed something about this project, of course we ask you to keep spoilers for yourself!

You’ll understand that we can’t say much about it at this moment, but here are a few teasers our masters have allowed to share:

- First, Ravenloft 5th edition will enable any PC from any universe or any game system to enter the mists and work. Yes, that is how easy and open D&D Next will be!

- Second, a big piece of news in D&D Next is that there won’t be magic-users, wizards, or sorcerers anymore as a class, since all PCs will have magic rituals, so everybody will have spell casting powers! Yes, even the barbarian! In Ravenloft, expect big changes in the darklords' background! Some of the core's darklords will be changed drastically! (And also expect some new darklords from universes that have never connected to Ravenloft before! We would tell you who one is, but He-shall-not-be-named!)

- Third, D&D Next will be more than just an RPG. Drawing on the success of the Castle Ravenloft board game, expect new elements in the form of cards, miniatures, tiles, and tokens. For example, players will get "charisma" points in the form of “chance cards”, which will be used to buy powers like healing surge or another save roll. And each monster will have a built-in "AI" attack pattern, in the form of a step-by-step procedure on its card to help the DM run encounters smoothly. In Ravenloft, it means players will be able to draw collectible cards for failed power checks! This new RPG / board game system will have no limits!

This is a summary of our 5th edition plan. But we need your feedback! Embracing the Open Playtest nature of D&D Next means we need to hear your thoughts! Please react to this preliminary proposition! And tell us how you see Ravenloft in D&D Next!

Again, those in the know, no spoilers for now!

Joël, for the FoS

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Some of the ideas seem interesting but I don't agree with others. I'll tell more about the pros and cons in a couple of days, after I make my mind and have a certain suggestion.

How much freedom and independence does the FoS have in commenting upon the project? (I mean in the editorializing/critiquing sense, not the Non-Disclosure sense - which is entirely understandable.)

I ask because in the run-up from 3rd to 4th edition, there was discussion about FoS remaining an independent editorial voice from WotC and thus would never accept a buy-out. I wonder how that dynamic is affected by inclusion in the WotC design process.

Of course, the benefits to the setting could be extremely profound: few other sites would have a contributor base as knoweledgeable and passionate about the setting as this one. But the question bears asking all the same.



Edit: on further consideration, it occurs to me that this idea is actually exceptionally poorly thought through. Currently the FoS doesn't appear to be incorporated, meaning a sophisticated publishing house like WotC could easily exert its influence in the editorial process by mere corporate fiat. I think it's worth your time to get somebody over to the state agency responsible for incorporation and do so, asap. It's usually not expensive, for a non-profit function, and if you do this in a pro-corporation state such as Delaware you might even get a significant tax break.

(Tax issues: I know Congress is still going back and forth on the corporate tax rate margin right now, but if you organize either as an S-Corporation or as a Limited Liability Company, you can bypass all the messy double taxation problems and just opt for flow-through. Given that FoS isn't for profit, this should be a mere formality... but when you're talking potential sales of revenue or profit-sharing with WotC, you don't want to just "play this one by ear". An ounce of prevention, and all that.)

Boring legal stuff:

I have to say it is about time that they did this. I had been sending them posts and knew so many people who wanted these changes and now to see them listening to our suggestions just makes me happy. I will certainly buy this when it finally comes out!

By the way, if the FoS is seriously committed to this project, they would have to make sure the output is 100% compatible with all editions of DnD, as well as players' house rules, and to accommodate any range of private gaming groups' preferences. After all, I understand that's the 5th Ed. stance and if Ravenloft stands as the odd one out among campaign settings purely because of a lack of versatility among its writers, that's simply not good enough.

Accordingly, we'll need rules on role-playing demigods like Vecna and Gwydion. (Maybe Gonzoron could write those, drawing on personal IRL experience.)

Thanks for the legal advice, HMB, but I think we'll be alright. The legal guy from WotC seemed really nice and trustworthy. And I read at least 50% of the contracts before signing. (man, some of that legal stuff is so boring!)

I'd love to work on Vecna and Gwydion; I'm thinking of using the Call of Chtulhu or Amber Diceless RPG rules for them. (or for a really radical take, maybe Toon?) That's one of the great things about D&D Next, you can choose the perfect system for each character! But I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever finish the Dread Sparkling Vampire template I'm working on now. It's been causing me no end of trouble...

Aw, man, how long have you been working on that? Equinox already has a ruleset, so you might actually be able to crib from that. (Although as an attorney I would never suggest copyright infringement.) The site requires you to sign up but they seem like nice people - I'm sure they would help out with the heavy pulling.

Also, specifically for Gwydion, I've heard there's a "grim and gritty" ruleset called "F.A.T.A.L.", I've always wanted to put together some LARP rules for that and I think it could go down well with Ravenloft's cosmopolitan areas. I can get a draft manuscript to you maybe in a couple of weeks, faster if you can find a good illustrator.

HuManBing wrote:Aw, man, how long have you been working on that? Equinox already has a ruleset, so you might actually be able to crib from that. (Although as an attorney I would never suggest copyright infringement.) The site requires you to sign up but they seem like nice people - I'm sure they would help out with the heavy pulling.

Also, specifically for Gwydion, I've heard there's a "grim and gritty" ruleset called "F.A.T.A.L.", I've always wanted to put together some LARP rules for that and I think it could go down well with Ravenloft's cosmopolitan areas. I can get a draft manuscript to you maybe in a couple of weeks, faster if you can find a good illustrator.

People really are gullible HAHHAHAH!

tarlyn wrote:

HuManBing wrote:Aw, man, how long have you been working on that? Equinox already has a ruleset, so you might actually be able to crib from that. (Although as an attorney I would never suggest copyright infringement.) The site requires you to sign up but they seem like nice people

People really are gullible HAHHAHAH!

I know, right? "Sign up" to get their rules? clearly a phishing scheme. I bet signing up just gets you on the promotional mailing list for their "vampire rock band". No thanks, I'll go it on my own for now. I've got a pretty cool idea for the "patriarch" level where the sparkles can actually manifest as weapons. (At ancient, the sparkles can blind observers 3/day.) Just need to work out the rules details.

YA GOT ME AGAIN, GUYS!! YA GOT ME AGAIN!!

Yes, April 1st is over now, so it's safe to let the cat out of the bag. (Ow! my face! maybe it wasn't safe after all). This one was a real group effort. Many thanks to Jester, Joel, and ScS for this silly announcement!

I really almost fell for this until a read the thing about wizards and sorcerers. Then I noticed the italicized words and figured it out. Not saying anything was like holding my breath.
An excellent April Fools.

starfalconkd wrote:Not saying anything was like holding my breath.

Others had the same sharp eye, though not the same tactful restraint, that you did. You're an example to us all!

We were aiming at being silly, and we sincerely hope 5th ed won't be anything like this

Many added comments by you guys were also funny

Joël

HuManBing wrote:

starfalconkd wrote:Not saying anything was like holding my breath.

Others had the same sharp eye, though not the same tactful restraint, that you did. You're an example to us all!

I played along. So I showed as much restrain.