Year 780 is close!

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

I have a really cool idea for Nova Vassa, but first I need to know: Is there a conversion of the Analyst prestige class to 5e?

I haven't seen anything like that, sadly a lot of the established classes and lore kind of went out the window in 5e.

I don't see it as 'went out of the window'. I see it as 'one book can't fully replicate two editions' worth of content while also adding on top of it'.
If we want more of the old content converted, we need to take it to our own hands. That's what we have netbooks for.

[Jeremy16]

Soon we will be in 2026 (our time) and 780 (RL timeline).

For those who do not know it, the various developers of Ravenloft did use the real years of our time as a way to scale what was happening in Ravenloft’s timeline. Year 2001 was 755 (RL campaign setting for the first 3e era books), so 2026 is set in 780.

The Time of Unparalleled Darkness happened (its foreseen climax was set to happen in 775), and we don’t know what kind of event it was. It was most probably a catastrophic event of the scale of the Great Upheaval of 740.

(the 5e VGTRL guide hints a dislocation of the core and other silly changes but let’s forget this dread possibility quickly )

So let’s forget the 775 event itself, since it wasn’t explained what would happen.

We can guess it did shake the world as the year 740 did.

What would be the main changes afterward? Which domain or darklord would change? Who would be erased, who would gain in power?

I've loved the concept of the Time of Unparalleled Darkness ever since it was introduced way back in Domains of Dread!

In order to do such a momentous event (or series of events) justice I think we would have to agree on its overall goal – both metagame-wise and within the setting itself.

First, some history...

The Grand Conjunction was not merely a culmination of a series of interconnected adventures. The collective authors of the campaign setting took it as an opportunity to "clean up" the Demiplane and refine some of the ideas that were introduced way back in the Black Box. Domains that just didn't logically fit next to others (such as Bluetspur and the Nightmare Lands) were ejected from the Core. Darklords that were too similar (such as Duke Gundar and Count Strahd, Alfred Timothy and Nathan Timothy, Ivan Dilisnya and Ivana Boritsi) were either killed off, set “free,” or had their domains combined. The drow were retconned, leading them to be eliminated entirely from the setting and replaced (eventually) with the Shadow Fey. Each of these alterations arguable made the darklords and domains that remained more cohesive and thematically appropriate.

So, a good first step in devising the Time of Unparalleled Darkness is to look at the Core as it stands now and see what needs to be "cleaned up." Obviously, this is highly subjective. Some people could argued that the human darklords are well past their prime and need to be replaced with new, updated versions (canon materials have supplied more than enough candidates to choose from on this front). I wouldn't advocate too many substitutions of this kind, however, because I think there are more creative fixes out there that the community as a whole can come up with.

The second step would be to figure out exactly how much of the status quo do we want to shake up? Do we want to keep the domains and darklords basically the same and just tweak a few things here or there? Or do we want to redraw the borders of the Core more drastically? Exactly how far can things be taken before the setting loses its Gothic Horror roots altogether?

Personally, I think it would be fun to use the Deadlands campaign setting as a guide. They created a twisted future version of their original Weird West campaign setting that advanced the timeline 13 years and transformed it into something called the Wasted West which was a cross between the western, horror, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi genres.

It's this line of of thinking that I would encourage when approaching the Time of Unparalleled Darkness. Let's go with Mangrum's idea to have every Dread Possibility from the Gazetteers come true. Let Borca get invaded by both Invidia and Falkovnia. Let Hazlik succeed with his great experiment to kill off all the Mulan and see what unintended side effects result. Let the Lamordians add a train line to the Northern Core. Free some of real power players of the campaign setting (such as the Illithid God-Brain from Bluetspur, Gwydion from the Shadow Rift, and Virundus from the Nocturnal Sea) to rise up and clash with each other over their dueling desires for domination. I could go on and on...

Anyway, this is all really just a preamble. I will follow up with some concrete ideas for each domain and its darklord in future postings.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

Soon we will be in 2026 (our time) and 780 (RL timeline).

For those who do not know it, the various developers of Ravenloft did use the real years of our time as a way to scale what was happening in Ravenloft’s timeline. Year 2001 was 755 (RL campaign setting for the first 3e era books), so 2026 is set in 780.

The Time of Unparalleled Darkness happened (its foreseen climax was set to happen in 775), and we don’t know what kind of event it was. It was most probably a catastrophic event of the scale of the Great Upheaval of 740.

(the 5e VGTRL guide hints a dislocation of the core and other silly changes but let’s forget this dread possibility quickly )

So let’s forget the 775 event itself, since it wasn’t explained what would happen.

We can guess it did shake the world as the year 740 did.

What would be the main changes afterward? Which domain or darklord would change? Who would be erased, who would gain in power?

I've loved the concept of the Time of Unparalleled Darkness ever since it was introduced way back in Domains of Dread!

In order to do such a momentous event (or series of events) justice I think we would have to agree on its overall goal – both metagame-wise and within the setting itself.

First, some history...

The Grand Conjunction was not merely a culmination of a series of interconnected adventures. The collective authors of the campaign setting took it as an opportunity to "clean up" the Demiplane and refine some of the ideas that were introduced way back in the Black Box. Domains that just didn't logically fit next to others (such as Bluetspur and the Nightmare Lands) were ejected from the Core. Darklords that were too similar (such as Duke Gundar and Count Strahd, Alfred Timothy and Nathan Timothy, Ivan Dilisnya and Ivana Boritsi) were either killed off, set “free,” or had their domains combined. The drow were retconned, leading them to be eliminated entirely from the setting and replaced (eventually) with the Shadow Fey. Each of these alterations arguable made the darklords and domains that remained more cohesive and thematically appropriate.

So, a good first step in devising the Time of Unparalleled Darkness is to look at the Core as it stands now and see what needs to be "cleaned up." Obviously, this is highly subjective. Some people could argued that the human darklords are well past their prime and need to be replaced with new, updated versions (canon materials have supplied more than enough candidates to choose from on this front). I wouldn't advocate too many substitutions of this kind, however, because I think there are more creative fixes out there that the community as a whole can come up with.

I think the first step should be to #Free_Adam.
Like, I'm not saying bro is a saint, but I think we can all agree he's one of the least 'deserving' darklords. Some of us already consider Mordenheim the real darklord.
But I think the way to canonize this has to go through Adam. It can't just be that the DP decided they have bigger fish, or even an Azalin-style magical escape. If Adam wants to be accepted as more than just 'Mordenheim's Monster', he needs to prove it.
I actually wrote a version of this months ago, as an attempt in 5e reconciliation - but it was my first piece of RL fanfiction, when I only had VRGtR and Mistipedia to guide me, so it doesn't really fit into the canon, and I'm considering a second attempt.

[Jeremy16]

Here's my take on what Barovia may look like after the Time of Unparalleled Darkness. Let me know what you think!

BAROVIA

Simple Substitution – There's a lot to choose from here. Candidates include Lyssa von Zarovich, Inajira, Leo Dilisnya, Ardonk Szerieza ... heck, even Sherif von Zarovich could fit the bill if you wanted to include that screwball.

Evil Evolved – But if you want to have your cake and eat it too you could just give this domain the ol' Necropolis treatment. That's right...instead of Azalin it's time to set Strahd free! Maybe one of those infamous heroic expeditions to Castle Ravenloft actually succeed in killing the vampire lord. Or Strahd finally managed to capture the heart of Tatyanna's reincarnation and seen the error of his past actions.

Either way, he's out of the picture. You might think that now that the devil Strahd is no more, the life of Barovia's inhabitants would improve and that maybe hey can finally start to embrace the progress that the rest of the Western Core has enjoyed for so many years.

But just the opposite happens. Without Strahd's strong hand all the monsters of the night become bolder and various factions around the domain take advantage of the power vacuum. Inajira lords over Teudeldorf in the guise of a powerful warlock. Ardonk Szerieza turns away from Invida and begin a successful campaign to reclaim the former Gundarak lands. Leo Dilisnya is set free from his centuries long curse and runs rampant throughout the countryside of Krezk. Lyssa von Zarovich either exercises her power from Zeidenburg or takes up residence in Castle Ravenloft as the heir to the throne. Even Sheriff von Zarovich carves out a little kingdom for himself somewhere out of the middle of the domain.

Basically, Barovia becomes Balkanized, a fitting fate for a domain based on the historical Transylvania . To the regular inhabitants the situation is just as bad as when the Tergs invaded all those centuries ago and there are some people who think the problem would be solved by bringing back a true Zarovich to the throne...

Extreme Makeover Edition – To build off that scenario even further, let's say that Jandar Sunstar hears of the turmoil that Barovia is now going through and decides to return and try to set things right now that Strahd is gone. But is he too late?

At first, he is seen as an avatar of the Morning Lord and the people rally behind him. Hope is finally returned to the land! Instead of vampires preying upon the peasantry there are trained monster hunters that go and battle the creatures of the night. I'm picturing a situation similar to the movie Stakeland, where there are large areas that are considered “vamped” with small settlements being packed with refugees from the countryside.

Despite Jandar's best efforts, however, the vampire menace keeps growing. It's almost as if the cursed soil of the land is creating more and more of them. So, Jandar has to institute harsher and harsher protocols to protect the few remaining human enclaves before they are overrun completely. Now, the man that was once hailed as a hero eventually turns into something just as bad as Strahd was...

[Jeremy16]

Here's my take on what Barovia may look like after the Time of Unparalleled Darkness. Let me know what you think!

BAROVIA

Simple Substitution – There's a lot to choose from here. Candidates include Lyssa von Zarovich, Inajira, Leo Dilisnya, Ardonk Szerieza ... heck, even Sherif von Zarovich could fit the bill if you wanted to include that screwball!

Evil Evolved – But if you want to have your cake and eat it too you could just give this domain the ol' Necropolis treatment. That's right...instead of Azalin it's time to set Strahd free! Maybe one of those infamous heroic expeditions to Castle Ravenloft actually succeed in killing the vampire lord. Or Strahd finally managed to capture the heart of Tatyanna's reincarnation and seen the error of his past actions.

Either way, he's out of the picture. You might think that now that the devil Strahd is no more, the life of Barovia's inhabitants would improve and that maybe hey can finally start to embrace the progress that the rest of the Western Core has enjoyed for so many years.

But just the opposite happens. Without Strahd's strong hand all the monsters of the night become bolder and various factions around the domain take advantage of the power vacuum. Inajira lords over Teudeldorf in the guise of a powerful warlock. Ardonk Szerieza turns away from Invida and begin a successful campaign to reclaim the former Gundarak lands.Leo Dilisnya is set free from his centuries long curse and runs rampant throughout the countryside of Krezk. Lyssa von Zarovich either exercises her power from Zeidenburg or takes up residence in Castle Ravenloft as the heir to the throne. takes up her throne. Even Sheriff von Zarovich carves out a little kingdom for himself somewhere.

Basically, Barovia becomes Balkanized, a fitting fate for a domain based on the historical Transylvania . To the regular inhabitants the situation is just as bad as when the Tergs invaded all those centuries ago and there are some people who think the problem would be solved by bringing back a true Zarovich to the throne...

Extreme Makeover Edition – To build off that scenario even further, let's say that Jandar Sunstar hears of the turmoil that Barovia is now going through and decides to return and try to set things right now that Strahd is gone. But is he too late?

At first, he is seen as an avatar of the Morning Lord and the people rally behind him. Hope is finally returned to the land! Instead of vampires preying upon the peasantry there are trained monster hunters that go and battle the creatures of the night. I'm picturing a situation similar to the movie Stakeland, where there are large areas that are considered “vamped” with small settlements being packed with refugees from the countryside.

Despite Jandar's best efforts, however, the vampire menace keeps growing. It's almost as if the cursed soil of the land is creating more and more of them. So, Jandar has to institute harsher and harsher protocols to protect the few remaining human enclaves before they are overrun completely. Now, the man that was once hailed as a hero eventually turns into something just as bad as Strahd was...

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

Here's my take on what Barovia may look like after the Time of Unparalleled Darkness. Let me know what you think!

BAROVIA

Simple Substitution – There's a lot to choose from here. Candidates include Lyssa von Zarovich, Inajira, Leo Dilisnya, Ardonk Szerieza ... heck, even Sherif von Zarovich could fit the bill if you wanted to include that screwball.

Evil Evolved – But if you want to have your cake and eat it too you could just give this domain the ol' Necropolis treatment. That's right...instead of Azalin it's time to set Strahd free! Maybe one of those infamous heroic expeditions to Castle Ravenloft actually succeed in killing the vampire lord. Or Strahd finally managed to capture the heart of Tatyanna's reincarnation and seen the error of his past actions.

Either way, he's out of the picture. You might think that now that the devil Strahd is no more, the life of Barovia's inhabitants would improve and that maybe hey can finally start to embrace the progress that the rest of the Western Core has enjoyed for so many years.

But just the opposite happens. Without Strahd's strong hand all the monsters of the night become bolder and various factions around the domain take advantage of the power vacuum. Inajira lords over Teudeldorf in the guise of a powerful warlock. Ardonk Szerieza turns away from Invida and begin a successful campaign to reclaim the former Gundarak lands.Leo Dilisnya is set free from his centuries long curse and runs rampant throughout the countryside of Krezk. Lyssa von Zarovich either exercises her power from Zeidenburg or takes up residence in Castle Ravenloft as the heir to the throne. takes up her throne. Even Sheriff von Zarovich carves out a little kingdom for himself somewhere.

Basically, Barovia becomes Balkanized, a fitting fate for a domain based on the historical Transylvania . To the regular inhabitants the situation is just as bad as when the Tergs invaded all those centuries ago and there are some people who think the problem would be solved by bringing back a true Zarovich to the throne...

Extreme Makeover Edition – To build off that scenario even further, let's say that Jandar Sunstar hears of the turmoil that Barovia is now going through and decides to return and try to set things right now that Strahd is gone. But is he too late?

At first, he is seen as an avatar of the Morning Lord and the people rally behind him. Hope is finally returned to the land! Instead of vampires preying upon the peasantry there are trained monster hunters that go and battle the creatures of the night. I'm picturing a situation similar to the movie Stakeland, where there are large areas that are considered “vamped” with small settlements being packed with refugees from the countryside.

Despite Jandar's best efforts, however, the vampire menace keeps growing. It's almost as if the cursed soil of the land is creating more and more of them. So, Jandar has to institute harsher and harsher protocols to protect the few remaining human enclaves before they are overrun completely. Now, the man that was once hailed as a hero eventually turns into something just as bad as Strahd was...

OMG, you're an evil genius...

[Jeremy16]

BLAUSTEIN

While my preference for these one-note island domains is to demote the darklords and move them to one of the coastal domains I think having a pirate haven somewhere in the Sea of Sorrows is worth keeping around.

Something fun do to with this domain would be to go Shakespearan on Bluebeard's butt... Taming of the Shrew style! Yes, the darklord has finally met his match with his latest bride, who turns out to be a literal femme fatale...

You see, in this version, Katerina happens to be a rather ambitious Red Widow. We've never gotten this type of darklord before and this seems like a good spot to drop it in (Red Widows are, after all, native to the Demiplane). Anyway, Bluebeard tries his usual tricks with her and she through manages to turn the tables on him thru malicious compliance, gaslighting, etc. She revels in this type of psychological manipulation, but eventually tires of the game and out come her fangs to dispatch the darklord once and for all.

So, the island gets a new ruler, Lady Redcap, whose control is more subtle than its former lord but no less complete. And, now, the Red Widow has an entire island full of brigands to play with that no one will ever miss!

BLUETSPUR

I want to literally blow this place up. No, really, hear me out...

I think Bluetspur's darklord, the Illithid God-Brain, makes for a great bogeyman. But his domain just kinda sits there; no one would willingly go to a place that only leads to certain death. So why not break up the mindflayer's homeland and scatter them across the Core where they can be actually be engaged with?

Maybe one of their many experiments went wrong and the IGB was blown into a million pieces that have somehow become attached to random people all across the Demiplane. Or maybe it is a deliberate ploy by the mindflayers to spread their influence in the realms beyond.

Either way, now there's a group of people that suddenly start acting strange, seeking each other out and holding secretive meetings together, all in pursuit of some alien, unfathomable purpose (perhaps simply seeking to bring the scattered pieces of the IGB back together so he can be reconstituted within the Core itself). This would add an Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibe to this group and bring them into play better than just having some centralized hive of mindflayers “out there somewhere” that no one ever encounters.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

I enjoy the idea of Bluebeard being eaten alive / used as father/incubator for a nest of red widow hatchlings.
What would Katerina's curse as Darklady of Blaustein be, though?

[IanFordam]

I like that the darklord transition in the Blaustein proposal essentially involves Bluebeard being caught in his own kind of snarl. Not every change of darklordship needs to work that way, of course, but I like the poetry when it does.

[Jeremy16]

I enjoy the idea of Bluebeard being eaten alive / used as father/incubator for a nest of red widow hatchlings.
What would Katerina's curse as Darklady of Blaustein be, though?

I don't want to get sidetracked by worrying too much about what each new proposed darklord's curse would be, but for Lady Redcap I would imagine it would have to be built around the reproductive cycle of the Red Widow. Either she is infertile and driven mad with desire for children of her own or she could potentially be hyper-fertile and all her children eventually attempt to kill her and take her place.

[The Dark]

To make Katerina's curse follow in the Blaustein "lineage," possibly she's only fertile with people from outside Blaustein, so like Bluebeard seeking wives from other lands, Lady Redcap now sends out her pirates to seek husbands from other lands.

(For a darker addition that won't work for every table, unlike Bluebeard she doesn't have an aversion to the locals, so it takes her a while to realize the curse's effect...and the demographics of Blaustein are now a bit skewed from her predations.)

[alhoon]

I think the first step should be to #Free_Adam.
Like, I'm not saying bro is a saint, but I think we can all agree he's one of the least 'deserving' darklords. Some of us already consider Mordenheim the real darklord.

I respectfully disagree that Adam is not DL material. He has been portrayed to us as irredeemably evil. That we have not seen ultimate darkness from him, doesn't mean he is not DL material. Adam is not Frankestein's monster, he is Mordenheim's monster. His unbeating heart should be cold and his thoughts dark. He should - kinda like what his creator envisioned - be completely immoral and unconcerned about what Gods or humanity considers "good", a creature that lives outside the normal order etc. etc.
What I mean is that Adam doesn't need to kill an innocent woman every few years to "verity" he is irredeemably evil, he is supposed to be irredeemably evil. Adam would not hesitate to kill again if it is convenient to him, he has no moral compass.

Thus, it falls to US the DMs of Ravenloft to portray Adam as a DL. His evil doesn't need to be all out and perverse for it to be there.

[Mistmaster]

But I do not want him as a Darklord.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

I think the first step should be to #Free_Adam.
Like, I'm not saying bro is a saint, but I think we can all agree he's one of the least 'deserving' darklords. Some of us already consider Mordenheim the real darklord.

I respectfully disagree that Adam is not DL material. He has been portrayed to us as irredeemably evil. That we have not seen ultimate darkness from him, doesn't mean he is not DL material. Adam is not Frankestein's monster, he is Mordenheim's monster. His unbeating heart should be cold and his thoughts dark. He should - kinda like what his creator envisioned - be completely immoral and unconcerned about what Gods or humanity considers "good", a creature that lives outside the normal order etc. etc.
What I mean is that Adam doesn't need to kill an innocent woman every few years to "verity" he is irredeemably evil, he is supposed to be irredeemably evil. Adam would not hesitate to kill again if it is convenient to him, he has no moral compass.

Thus, it falls to US the DMs of Ravenloft to portray Adam as a DL. His evil doesn't need to be all out and perverse for it to be there.

That's a paradox.

If a creature is 100% inherently evil, it cannot choose between good and evil and thus cannot be held accountable for its evil acts. (Efforts, including violent ones if needed, should be made to stop it from harming others - but there's no point in punishing it for something it can't regret.)

If a creature isn't 100% inherently evil, its morality should be measured by the choices it made out of the options it had. Even the best people have cruel or selfish urges once in a while - the question is whether or not we act on them.

[The Dark]

I think the first step should be to #Free_Adam.
Like, I'm not saying bro is a saint, but I think we can all agree he's one of the least 'deserving' darklords. Some of us already consider Mordenheim the real darklord.

I respectfully disagree that Adam is not DL material. He has been portrayed to us as irredeemably evil. That we have not seen ultimate darkness from him, doesn't mean he is not DL material. Adam is not Frankestein's monster, he is Mordenheim's monster. His unbeating heart should be cold and his thoughts dark. He should - kinda like what his creator envisioned - be completely immoral and unconcerned about what Gods or humanity considers "good", a creature that lives outside the normal order etc. etc.
What I mean is that Adam doesn't need to kill an innocent woman every few years to "verity" he is irredeemably evil, he is supposed to be irredeemably evil. Adam would not hesitate to kill again if it is convenient to him, he has no moral compass.

Thus, it falls to US the DMs of Ravenloft to portray Adam as a DL. His evil doesn't need to be all out and perverse for it to be there.

This circles back around to one of the issues I have with Adam's portrayal. The way he's written in canon, removing himself from civilization to ruminate and brood while being an amoral creature unconcerned with conventional morality - that aligns with true neutral as well as it does with neutral evil in 2e, or with unaligned in 5e. There's enough fuzziness or overlap between the alignments that without actions, it's hard to determine exactly where a character lies on the grid, and the claims of some deep evil can feel like an informed attribute rather than something that organically grows from the character's description. It falls to the DMs to portray all the Darklords as evil, but in Adam's case the writing does a poor job of setting the DM up for success.