Pathfinder in the Mists

[Ryan Naylor]

I'm anxiously awaiting a PDF compilation of all this! In fact, how the Hell are you going to fit this all into one PDF? I never really thought about how many canonical characters there were in Ravenloft, not to mention all the fan-based additions... You've nearly completed "Ryanlords"! If you take into account the heroic characters and non-Darklord baddies, you've only scratched the surface! It could almost be called NPCloft!

This is why I said I was leaving all the non-darklords to you and Mortavius and anyone else who wanted to do them.

I realised the other day that over the last 18 months, I have written over 700 A4 pages of Ravenloft.

There will be 3 pdfs: the campaign setting (minus the actual campaign setting), the darklord codex, and the bestiary.

I don't see anything wrong with any of your interpretations of the Darklords. Its a great resource! You've done all the hard work for all us busy DMs.

If we view a Darklord differently we can make our own adjustments, but in any event, we now have a treasure trove of statistics to play with!

Thanks again!

Thanks! That's what it's there for after all. I was going to do (most of) this anyway, so I might as well make the lives of everyone else easier too.

[Ryan Naylor]

I think you nailed Juste, Ryan. He's a favorite of mine, and I wish I had your version when I used him IMC. And I agree with pretty much all the decisions in your author notes.

My only issue is that I'd like to see his save DC's even higher. Major Image would be DC20, plus sinkhole modifier (what rank? probably only 3 or so, I'd imagine. It's not Drakov's impalment spike grove, or Markov's lab or anything...) A good will save character with high wisdom at his CR level will have about a 50/50 chance of seeing through it. Considering that it's Juste's main shtick to do the whole "what is real and what isn't" thing, that's a very good chance of ruining a whole adventure.

I don't know how to fit it into PF "fairly," since you've given him most of the DC improvements that I know of. But I like Scaena to be a little bit deliberately unfair.

Thanks Ron!

As a darklord, Juste raises the level of a sinkhole of evil by 1 within 300 ft. i.e. the stage.

I'm certain, given the madness and slaughter the stage has seen, it'd be a pretty substantial sinkhole by itself. So, say, (including Juste being nearby), rank 4 or 5, with taints of madness and fear. Which means that any Will save in that area suffers a -4 or 5 penalty anyway, with an additional -2 or 3 penalty to saves that deal (directly) with madness or fear effects.

Also, the secret is that illusions only give you a save when you "study them closely or interact with it in some fashion." Juste is extremely intelligent and has been doing this for a long time, so he knows how to structure illusions to make them convincing. And he can nest them (so disbelieving one just reveals another), and cast new illusions as a swift action, as well. And people's personalities are draining away over time too. And if you spend 24 hours in a rank 5 sinkhole of evil, you need to make a Madness save.

So what you're actually looking at (if you want to be really unfair), is that most of his illusions don't give you a save straight off, and for when they do, they're at an effective DC of 24-28, and you're suffering ability damage and going mad the whole time as well.

[Ryan Naylor]

Design notes for Lemot Sediam Juste

Thanks for sharing Ryan. Honestly, I like reading these posts even more than the stat blocks themselves. Not that your stats are bad; I just like learning the reasons you decided to such-and-such when you do them.

Thanks! I do what I can to please.

And as I said, I'm always happy to discuss this and make changes based on feedback and debate ideas. That's what this is for, after all.

Eli Van Hassen
(The Endless Road)
(The Lonesome Road)

Seems like a solid character. I've not spent much time reading up on the 4E version of this domain or character, but I remember liking it when I skimmed it. Your work implies that you made him up mostly from whole cloth, or at least that there weren't really stats for him? Or was he like other 4E creatures, and didn't have a class and such?

He has a standard 4e write up, which involves a reasonable amount of guesswork: class, specific alignment, rogue abilities, etc etc.

Of the 4e darklords, he and Thakok-An are the only ones I'm going to convert. The others really don't move me to inspiration.

The Nightmare Man

Wow Ryan. Just a superb bit of work! I love your direction with the Nightmare Man, tying in the other members of the Court as parts of himself. I wonder if they were destroyed one by one, would they go back to him, and would he be crippled with guilt and remorse over his past? Or would he just not care?

Always had a soft spot for the Nightmare Lands since the box set came out. I'm glad to see you've done it justice.

That's a great idea!

Mangrum mentioned somewhere about a change that he would make (which I might incorporate into my final document as an optional rule) that sinkholes of evil impregnated with each darklord's Powers check crimes are scattered throughout their domain.

For example, Strahd's Powers checks:

Caress (Violence: acts of war: 4%; c.335 BC): Reputation for cruelty
Enticement (Black Magic: association with fiend: 16%; 347 BC): Wizard becomes his favoured class; 2 Fighter levels become Wizard levels.
Invitation (Black Magic and Violence: magical torture?: 8%; c.349 BC): Don’t really know what he did to deserve this; summoning Inajira may have been the third, and this for some other act of war. In any case, by third Powers check, gained CR +1 from bonus feats: Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes. Black Magic makes him feel young again, but constantly reminded of encroaching mortality.
Embrace (Betrayal and Violence: Murdering Alek: 16%): Gains most of the vampire template abilities, including fast healing and a desire to sleep during the day.
Creature (Betrayal and Violence: Murdering Sergei, massacre of guests: 100%): Becomes a full vampire and darklord of Barovia. Gains the Necromancer specialisation.


Strahd's sinkholes of evil:
1 A field (perhaps in the Gundarak territories) that was the site of a great battle centuries ago (it doesn't have to be the original battle site, just where the sinkhole of evil is now - good for those whose domains were created whole cloth).
2 Another field somewhere else (perhaps at a bend in the Old Svalich Road looking up to Mount Baratok) where Strahd was camped, preparing for the final campaign - probably near Zeidenberg, given that's where Inajira is now.
3 The cellars of Castle Ravenloft
4 Strahd's old bedroom, where Alex was murdered.
5 Sergei's bedroom, where he was murdered.

If you go to all those places, and destroy the sinkholes of evil, you (a) experience those memories first hand, which gives the players some chance to directly interact with the rich character backgrounds of all these NPCs, which can be quite difficult otherwise and (b) weakens the darklord - perhaps by giving them a negative level.

The Nightmare Man might be a special case, where destroying his facades weakens him and drives those negative emotions back to him.

The more I think about this, the more I like it. What a great idea!

[Ryan Naylor]

ever think of doing bluebeard?

Already done. Look at the first page of this thread.

[Zilfer]

Just a small note I think they left Strah'd bed room and where outside fighting in the rain.... when he killed Alec....

[Mortavius]

Of the 4e darklords, he and Thakok-An are the only ones I'm going to convert. The others really don't move me to inspiration.

I thought Thakok-An was originally published in 2E?

If you go to all those places, and destroy the sinkholes of evil, you (a) experience those memories first hand, which gives the players some chance to directly interact with the rich character backgrounds of all these NPCs, which can be quite difficult otherwise and (b) weakens the darklord - perhaps by giving them a negative level.

The Nightmare Man might be a special case, where destroying his facades weakens him and drives those negative emotions back to him.

The more I think about this, the more I like it. What a great idea!

That is a fantastic idea! I love it! It would really give players a reason to CARE about these all-powerful Darklords, and it would allow the DM to share some of this wonderful background info that's normally just privy to us. And, it introduces an element of a scavenger hunt into the game, which I find engages many players.

[Ryan Naylor]

Lost in time... like tears in the rain...

The sinkhole doesn't have to be where the event actually was. Given Strahd made a final indignity of bundling Alec's corpse into a wardrobe (where Azalin found it, in fact - LotN), I'd keep it in the bedroom.

But it was just an example. Let's not get too hung up on the details. (Even though I am a massive pedant myself)




Also: Yes, Thakok-An was from 2e, but she appeared in 4e as well.

It's Graefmotte and Sunderheart et al that I have no interest in. That was my point.

[Mortavius]

Ahhh, I had no idea that Thakok-An appeared in 4E. Shows how much I kept up with the edition towards the end, I guess.

[Zilfer]

Lost in time... like tears in the rain...

The sinkhole doesn't have to be where the event actually was. Given Strahd made a final indignity of bundling Alec's corpse into a wardrobe (where Azalin found it, in fact - LotN), I'd keep it in the bedroom.

But it was just an example. Let's not get too hung up on the details. (Even though I am a massive pedant myself)




Also: Yes, Thakok-An was from 2e, but she appeared in 4e as well.

It's Graefmotte and Sunderheart et al that I have no interest in. That was my point.

Wait a second Azalin found it? When Strahd checked back the body had disappeared! He had been worried about someone finding it so he checked it the very next day if I am recalling correctly.... o.O'

What did Azalin do with the body if so?

In a campaign sometime in the future I do want to use Alec probably as an undead or something for the PC's to run into, and to give Strahd a 'haunt' from his past.

[Mortavius]

I remember Azalin found the body in the novel, Lord of the Necropolis. But I can't recall if he did anything with it.

[Ryan Naylor]

In Lord of the Necropolis, Azalin destroyed his old body in order to travel back in time (in Oldar). His spirit then possessed Alec's freshly murdered body. When he went back to his own time, Alec's body came with him (which is why it vanished in I, Strahd), so between 740 BC and 750 BC, Azalin was wearing Alec's body. Then, after Alec's body was destroyed in the Requiem, Azalin came back into his son Irik's body.

[Zilfer]

Ok I haven't read all that book yet, in fact i did read that part! How could I forget!

Didn't he bring along the decentant of the first book? I thought he was in that body.... but he was having problems controlling someone still 'in body' so he went out to find that. Ok starting to come back now... but he came back with the body? o.O

And since I haven't gotten to the end which I guess is non cannon for some reason. What happens.... does the body 'explode?' or could there still be a husk left over? I could see that much positive energy possibly reviving a body.... hmmm possibly before the shroud kicks in or being immune to the shroud. (well for my campaign because I don't need to follow the rules! XD)

[Ryan Naylor]

Shredded.

The end is non-canon because it defines what the Dark Powers are. So everything after the Doomsday Device gets switched on is just a dream of Azalin's, according to Gaz II.

[Zilfer]

Shredded.

The end is non-canon because it defines what the Dark Powers are. So everything after the Doomsday Device gets switched on is just a dream of Azalin's, according to Gaz II.

I see. Shredded xD Well I'm still going to use that eventually. XD Though I find a bit of humor in Azalin being in Alec Gywlims body. I forget his last name anyways. cool to know because the more I know the more I can hint in my sessions.

[jules]

how about vechna & his lutenent then? (see domains of dread for the base idea)