The Best of Quoth of The Raven and Kargatane Netbooks

[Castleguard]

Guys, I would like to know what's your favorite articles and chapters of the QotR and old Kargatane netbooks. Any highlights and good stuff you could recommend me? Thanks!!

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

In QtR 1, I especially liked the article Whispers in the Darkness, which has an excellent array of spells related to madness. There is also a good article about vampire "life" at the beginning.

QtR 24 has an article detailing three special fey characters, one of whom takes the form of a cat. As a fervent cat-lover, I am obligated to recommend that.

Children of the Night: Demons has plenty of great information. My favorite character from that book is Francois de Penible. Marasmos is also very interesting.

The Zherisia Gazetteer is worth reading, as it really fleshes out Paridon and Timor. VRS: Doppelgangers fits with it quite well. The other extra gazetteers are also helpful resources.

[Castleguard]

Thanks a lot Wolfglide! I will check on those!

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Children of the Night: Demons has plenty of great information. My favorite character from that book is Francois de Penible. Marasmos is also very interesting.

Ditto on that one.

A lot of the best of the Kargatane netbooks made it into the 3e books in one way or another, but are still worth reading, especially for the parts that were cut in the process. Among those are:
Faces of Deception (BoS 2)
The Gargoyle of the Great Cathedral (BoS 2)
Anchors of Faith (BoS 3)
Ardonk Szerieza (BoS 3)
The Effigy of Ivan Szimin (BoS 3)
The Framing Fiction of BoS4

Then there are the articles that are so good, they might as well be canon, for me:
Katarina (BoS 1)
Theokos (BoS 2)
Merilee Markuza (BoS 3)
The Red Wolf (BoS 4)
Marcos Vedarrak (BoS 5)

The 1-2 punch of The Realms Beyond (BoS 1) and Marcu Vasilis / The Man Who Lost His Mind (The Forgotten Children) were what finally convinced me that Illithids and Psionics had a place in Ravenloft.

I'm also a fan of the "grab bag" style of article, where there's lots of little random stuff I can drop into my campaign as seasoning:
Art in the Land (BoS 1)
A Year in Ravenloft (BoS 3)
Myths of the Mists (BoS 5)

To be honest, I didn't pay very much attention to QtR in its early days. I've been meaning to go back and read the early issues for a while but haven't gotten around to it. So most of my picks there will be from recent years...

I love all of NeoTiamat's re-imaginings of canon domains, namely:
Heart of the World (Barovia) (QtR 21)
The Domain of the Endless Word (Pharazia)
Die Kaiserreich (Falkovnia) (QtR 22)
Nation of Progress (Lamordia) (QtR 22)
Corpse of the Starved God (G'Henna) (QtR 23)

and his Midnight Market (QtR 22) is one of those "might as well be canon" articles to me.

Other faves include:
The Thompson Museum (QtR 20)
Ghastria (QtR 20)
Fey Lost (QtR 21)
Ol' Reaper (QtR 21)
Wolves to Guard the Sheep (QtR 22)
The Brightwell Legacy (QtR 22)
The Marauder's Legacy (QtR24)

If I may plug one piece of my own, I'm quite proud of Feasting with the Falcons (QtR18)

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Let me just thank you for your kind words for "the Brightwell Legacy".

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Oh, and the Souragne and Nocturnal Sea Gazetteers... let me not forget those. Fantastic work, on a monumental scale.

[Castleguard]

Gonzoron that's awesome man. Thank you so much, recommendations well beyond my expectations! You rock Sir. I will check on those. Already explored the Souragne Gazeteer, since I am running a campaign there. If I find any pearls in QotR I will post it here. Best regards!

[Joël of the FoS]

Not easy, since the volume of the fan made stuff is huge and I might forget things!

Nocturnal Sea FoS Report (the whole book)
Souragne FoS Report (the whole book)
Zherisia FoS Report & VRSRF Doppelgangers (the whole books)

Kargatane’s Book of Souls 1997
Burke & Hare
Marquis Stezen D'Polarno
Patchwork Bride
Kislova

Book of Sorrows 1998
Gargoyle of the Great Cathedral

Book of Secrets 1999
Anchors of Faith - Church of Ezra
A year in Ravenloft
Ardonk Szerieza & Effigy of Ivan Szimin
Gundar

Book of Sacrifices 01
Illithid God-Brain (Bluetspur),
Marcos Vedarrak (Falkovnia)
(if I can plug one of mine) Morts-qui-dancent
Addar's wood
Mictlan - Cumbre de Oro

CotN: demon
Boreas
François de Penible
White Fiend

Forgotten Children 98
Angelique Molière
Barton DeForet
Hungry Lucy

Haunted Sites 98
Cell Number 4
Grotto
Almadrask’s Lighthouse
Rose Garden

QtR 2 Dr. Rudolph van Richten, a portrait for three eras
QtR 2 the Rat
QtR 5 Har'Akir - In the Ruins of Eternity
QtR 8 Guide to the Caliban Race (Brutes and banshees)
QtR 8 Shay-Lot Cultist
QtR 8 Aberrations in Your Campaign Things that Should Not Be
QtR 9 Pirates of Ravenloft - Scourge of the Misty Seas
QtR 10 Fraternity Unleashed
QtR 11 Arlington Farm
QtR 13 Conte Aerik D’Eauberville, Ermintrude
QtR 15 Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Qtr 18 Feasting with the Falcons
QtR 21 Heart of the World
QtR 22 Die Kaiserreich & Nation of Progress & Midnight Market (in my top 5 best fan made article)


USS 01 Asylum - madness, methods, sample patients
USS 02 (next is one of mine again:) Keith De Lalune & Traumatized Spirits & Hospice Of Silver Light & Tsuu-Y-Teke & Yatehcaa & Guillotine & the Whaetelys
USS 03 Sisters & Vallaki Gazetteer

Sorry for those I forgot

[IrvyneWolfe]

Then there are the articles that are so good, they might as well be canon, for me:
The Red Wolf (BoS 4)

I'm blushing. Not bad for something I wrote nearly 20 years ago when I was 18 and stupid.

Also, no one at the Kargatane told me that my article was going to tie into the framing fiction so when the main character was one of the Irvyne's men I nearly peed in excitement. (I now have immense Ravenloft cred among my players because my character is Semi-canon).

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Then there are the articles that are so good, they might as well be canon, for me:
The Red Wolf (BoS 4)

I'm blushing. Not bad for something I wrote nearly 20 years ago when I was 18 and stupid.

Also, no one at the Kargatane told me that my article was going to tie into the framing fiction so when the main character was one of the Irvyne's men I nearly peed in excitement. (I now have immense Ravenloft cred among my players because my character is Semi-canon).

Yeah, tying him into the framing definitely made him cooler, but he was a brilliant concept to begin with. My current campaign is starting in Nidala, and I owe a lot to your work.

[Starscream]

I like all the netbooks, but if I have to choose.. QttR 18, because of Feasting with the Falcons.
That adventure is so interesting that I want to insert it in my soon-to-start campaign, because there is so much in it that I can place how many hooks I need!

[NeoTiamat]

QtR 24 has an article detailing three special fey characters, one of whom takes the form of a cat. As a fervent cat-lover, I am obligated to recommend that... VRS: Doppelgangers fits with it quite well. The other extra gazetteers are also helpful resources.

I love all of NeoTiamat's re-imaginings of canon domains, namely:
Heart of the World (Barovia) (QtR 21)
The Domain of the Endless Word (Pharazia)
Die Kaiserreich (Falkovnia) (QtR 22)
Nation of Progress (Lamordia) (QtR 22)
Corpse of the Starved God (G'Henna) (QtR 23)

and his Midnight Market (QtR 22) is one of those "might as well be canon" articles to me.

QtR 21 Heart of the World
QtR 22 Die Kaiserreich & Nation of Progress & Midnight Market (in my top 5 best fan made article)

Got to say it is profoundly flattering seeing my work show up in so many places. Even the VRS: Doppelgangers thing, which I'm a trifle embarrassed of now (it was my first major work, and god, I was green).

For my own part, and this is going purely off of memory...

Markos Vedarrak from BoS 5 is probably the piece of fan writing that I have used more than anything else. Vedarrak very much defined Falkovnia for me, and his fingerprints are all over my Die Kaiserreich article. Ended up being one of the major characters in my first campaign, so I'll always have a soft spot for him. (And then his creator joined said campaign, causing no little terror in the process).

Francois de Penible from CotN Demon and Marcu Vasilis from Forgotten Children are two of the more compelling horror villains I've seen in Ravenloft. I've seen so many dubious Darklords or dodgy characters, but those two have just stuck in my brain for years.

And of course, one might accuse me of some bias, but the Brightwell Legacy, the Northwest Train Line, and the Criminal Circles of Nova Vaasa, all from recent QtRs, are absolutely grand.

[Mistmaster]

Dier Kaiserreich is my canon Falkovnia, expecially about Drakov; I also love all your takes of canon domains, bigger and more nuanced.
I'm also a fan of Arringhton Farm (which inspired my Harrington Dale Domain) but every number have something which inspired me, from Arkandale/Verbrek to the various Gothic Earth articles.
I have only published three articles, one of witch unconplete, the first, on QtR 23, on Sergei von Zarovitch. If I may quote one of my own works, I'm very affictionate to Zeindost, on QtR 24.

[Starscream]

the Northwest Train Line

since I haven't read all the netbooks yet, I didn't know of this article. I have read it now and... wow! I HAVE to place it in my campaign!

[IrvyneWolfe]

Dier Kaiserreich is my canon Falkovnia, expecially about Drakov; I also love all your takes of canon domains, bigger and more nuanced.
.

Same. Dier Kaiserreich is my definitive Falkovnia.