So..... Dracov's dead.

[Zilfer]

Everytime I see the title of this thread i imagine...

So.... Drakov's dead....

JOY TO THE WORLD DRAKOV'S DEAD! THEY BBQ'D HIS HEAD!

And then I remember oh.... we're in ravenloft....

[Epically]

I'm sure the Falkovnian citizens are thinking that lol.

[Brandi]

I'm sure the Falkovnian citizens are thinking that lol.

Give 'em a few months (or years) of governmental chaos and they'll be sentimental for the old fiend.

[See Russian nostalgia for Stalin.]

[Intrepid]

Bit of a late comer to the thread (love what you have going on in your campaign by the way) but thought I would chime in with an answer to your question.

To Date I have ran aprroximately ten Ravenloft campaigns that have lasted long enough to be considered actual campaigns. In those ten campaigns my players have met Ivanna (back during the very first Ravenloft box set) Whom one of my players killed while she attmepted to seduce him (I was young and it seemed like a good idea). Outside of that they have encountered Strahd, Dominic, Drakov, and a couple of my own design. Along with meeting a handful of darklords I actually did have one character become a darklord himself which was actually a very memorable campaign all together.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Purpose of this thread is to ask how many of the darklords has your players met, and have you killed any of them off?

Ivan (brief cameo), Morpheus (just a sighting), Ghost Dancer (just a sighting), Gabby, Juste, Harkon (not really, it was a Scaena illusion), Dr. Dominiani (also not really, Scaena, and he wasn't a DL yet anyway), Radaga (not really, Scaena), Daglan (not really, Scaena), Dominic (brief cameo), Garvyn (brief cameo), Drakov (also not really, it was via magically reliving the memories of someone who did meet him), Azalin, Strahd (sort of... it was From the Shadows. The whole headless time-traveling Quantum Leap-style thing), Elena, the Nightmare Man (sighting) and Maligno

Of those, they killed: Radaga (not really), Dr. D (not really), Azalin (just sent him to his phylactery, really, and he let them do it) and Maligno.

Oh, and one of them met the Dark Powers, does that count?

ETA: In previous "campaigns" (little more than modules run consecutively, really) I've had other parties meet: the Feast of Goblyns crew for real this time (Harkon, Dr. D, Radaga & Daegon), Adam, Strahd, Azalin, Garvyn, Meredoth. And they killed: Dr. D, Radaga, Azalin (same caveats), Garvyn (maybe? I forget) and Meredoth (by webbing him and throwing him off a cliff).

[Epically]

What's your interpretation of the dark powers?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

What's your interpretation of the dark powers?

Who, me? Or was than an open-ended question?

For the most part, I don't worry too much about it. I define them more by what they do than why. They are known to both reward and punish evil. They are known to select for certain kinds of evil over others. (tragic, gothic, human, etc., over over-the-top splatter, gore, demonic, monstrous, etc.) Beyond that it doesn't matter to me much. But when pushed, I kinda like the "dark shadows of the gods" idea that (I think) Mangrum proposed once upon a time: The subconscious fragments of the psyches of the gods, judging and punishing in a twisted echo of what the gods really intend. The "Unspoken Pact" is the denial and reluctance of the gods to acknowledge that aspect of themselves.

But for the purposes of the PC who "met" them, that didn't really enter into things. If you're interested in how it went down, I collected the play-by-post where it happened and edited it into a narrative for my journal here:
http://themistway.com/RL-S19-Suriana.html

[Talum]

First ravenloft game i ever runed had a brief Strahd cameo, the players saw him looking at them from his castle.

My second game i had the players be prisioners wating execution in Falkovnia, but instead of the clasic impaling thing, Drakov was in a hunting mood, a few gentlemen from Lamordia were ofering to sell him guns to modernize his army, so the palyers runned through the forest, one of them died, one was almost raped, and the other one lost a leg, great one shot game

Almost forgot, my brothers paladin killed Maligno... WITH KINDNESS!!

[Zilfer]

First ravenloft game i ever runed had a brief Strahd cameo, the players saw him looking at them from his castle.

My second game i had the players be prisioners wating execution in Falkovnia, but instead of the clasic impaling thing, Drakov was in a hunting mood, a few gentlemen from Lamordia were ofering to sell him guns to modernize his army, so the palyers runned through the forest, one of them died, one was almost raped, and the other one lost a leg, great one shot game

Almost forgot, my brothers paladin killed Maligno... WITH KINDNESS!!

That second game sounds brutal o.O'

[Deewun]

I've run a few campaigns, but don't have one going currently (though I hope to have that change soon). Lemme see who all we've met/killed

In a pirate campaign, they met Markov (killed him, but that doesn't matter), Bluebeard, Captain Alain Monette (killed him all kinds of dead), the Lady of Ravens, Meredoth (brief encounter), Maligno (killed him all kinds of dead; Odaire got swept up and added to Borca just between it and Invidia), Malus Sceleris, and the guy from Whal from the BoS books. Was a good campaign.

[Jimsolo]

One of the players has an adopted daughter, who, while educating herself with the vast library they've inherited, has developed a crush on a certain von Zarovich. (Because teenage girls love vampires...duh. )

I've been thinking about having someone drop a prophecy to him that a vampire will come between him and his daughter. The player is pretty knowledgeable about the ORIGINAL Ravenloft, and has been anticipating trouble from the Strahd angle for a while. I'm thinking it would be funny if it turned out to be Von Kharkov.

Side note, since the last time I responded, one of the PCs actually did try to contact Strahd. After the group found a mirror of opposite alignment, they spent a great deal of time debating what to do with it. Deciding it was evil, the wizard said he would destroy it, only to secret it away and send it to von Zarovich! (I think he also anticipates trouble from Strahd down the road, and is trying to curry a small amount of favor to get his neck out of harm's way.)

[brilliantlight]

My players met Gabrielle, Ivan and a bard who works for Herself. The bard is actually CG as Jacqueline (In my game) is a villainess with good publicity and you can't detect evil in Ravenloft. The bard is a spy for Herself and the party knows that. However he has proven too damn useful to them for them to get rid of. He also has done nothing to betray them and he gave them a lot of useful info. Jacqueline sees the party as useful indirect tools and is doing nothing to hinder them in any way. My villians tend to be smart and sophisticated and aren't stupid evil.

[Alastor]

I've been reading Gaz IV, about Inza, but I can't work out what her curse is. Could be that it's 5:26am, but I don't know.

Do you guys know?

Based on her description in Dragon #351, it seems that her only curse is the knowledge that good people exist. Before becoming a Darklord, she was smugly sure that everyone was as equally depraved, but now she can't use this delusion to justify herself.
It seems a little weak as a curse explained that way, but Spectre of the Black Rose probably explains it better.

[brilliantlight]

Since the last time I posted they had a cameo appearance by a dark lord I made up myself called Antonio Scalleni who was roughly based on Caligula, another by Teri Bundleberri a Halfling darklord I made up roughly based on Pol Pot, they should soon meet Herself and the Prime Minister of Falkavona who is named Irene Charkov who I am having take over after a Falkanovian revolution. It looks like it will be evenly spread between male and female darklords and I didn't even plan it that way.

[thekristhomas]

My players in my current campaign have so far met 6(well, 5) darklords. So far, they have worked for all 6 of them.

I say 6, because Dracov is dead. Vladimir Ludzig is the new darklord, whom they've met and worked for. If he wants to seal the borders, thousands of ravenous bats don't let anyone leave. His curse; as he lives in the underground labyrinth of Lekar, he and his people can not find a way out and continuously get lost. Just when they think they've re-mapped it out. It changes again. Thus he'll never be able to usurp the city which he so desires.

I can go into a huge detail about how this whole ordeal surpassed, which in my opinion was a hell of a lot of fun as DM, and how there was a massive game of thrones played which lead to his death, but only if you guys want to read it.

Purpose of this thread is to ask how many of the darklords has your players met, and have you killed any of them off?

In my current campaign my PCs have met Azalin, Strahd, Gundar, Haarkon, and Ivana. They killed Gundar, married Strahd and...no wait, they killed Gundar, were at the wedding of Sergei & Tatyana, got killed by Strahd over and over, worked for Azalin, got helped by Haarkon, bribed Ivana, and although they didn't meet him, they hired 6 units of Talons from Vlad Drakov, that they proceeded to get killed to the last man, and they were in a room briefly with Ankhtepot but didn't get to chat, so I don't really count that.