That's Aquarius, that's Orion, and that's the Wivern!

[Jakob]

Hi to all!

I was wondering: what are the constellations in the Demiplane?

In my next campaign, since one of my gaming group will start adventuring from estern Darkon, one of my players was fascinated by the description of the Astrologers' Guild in Sidnar.

In the same month, in Dragon magazine was presented a Master Astrologer prestige class, based on the article on fantasy constellations presented in the same issue.
I was trying to convert the PrC for the Ravenloft setting, but I was wondering if, alongside with the name of months and days, the Demiplane shared the constellations of our world.

[Joël of the FoS]

The closest thing is the Celestines, by Dion. It's the article "Of Secret Skies And Troubled Lands" (USS 2002)

[Spiteful Crow]

Certain domains have a different sky.

Sithicus's sky uses the constellations from Krynn (Dragonlance setting), with the exception that Paladine is gone and the stars that make up Takhsis are brighter.

[Jakob]

I already read that article, but I didn't really like the PrC (no offense meant... ).

Certain domains have a different sky.

Sithicus's sky uses the constellations from Krynn (Dragonlance setting), with the exception that Paladine is gone and the stars that make up Takhsis are brighter.

I recall the only astrological exception in the Core are the moon of Sithicus and the Darkest Night of Darkon... Nothing in the Gaz about different constellations.

Anyway, my question was: do you think the constellations are the same as those in our world? Or there are unique constellations?
Something like... Tarokka-inspired constellations?

[Jester of the FoS]

Someone should really do a full night-sky article for QtR sometime dealing with planets, the moon, astrology and constellations.

Still, the Tarokka... an interesting idea Jakob.

Aquarius – The Spirit
Pieces – The Broken One
Taurus – The Hangman
Gemini – The Raven
Aries – The Beast
Cancer – The Prison
Leo – The Marionette
Virgo – The Innocent
Libra – The Horseman
Scorpio – The Temptress
Sagittarius – The Artifact
Capricorn – The Mists

That's 12 of the 14 High Cards leaving only the Dark Master and the Hero, because it would be poor taste or predictable to have a character born under either of those signs.

Now we just need planets and appropriate glyphs for all

[Jasper]

Acctuly there are 13 zodiac signs-

http://aquarianmysteries.com/ophiuchus2.html

So one could be born under both the Hero and Dark Master (one for those born during the day and the other for a nightime birth)

[Jester of the FoS]

It's a neat idea but adding a new sign to something so readily established and accepted is always problematic. No matter how factual it is people would complain about changing signs or tradition. Heck, that new chart bumps me from Virgo to Leo.

[Jasper]

I had far too much time on my hands so I made these-

http://www.geocities.com/jasperot9l/The_prison.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/jasperot9l/The_Temptress.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/jasperot9l/The_Spirit.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/jasperot9l/The_Raven.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/jasperot9l/The_Mists.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/jasperot9l/The_Marionette.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/jasperot9l/The_Broken_one.jpg

Temptress, Broken one and Manrionette are CC Talon Dunning. Used without permission. All other pictures public domain.

[Dion of the Fraternity]

There was a project two or three years ago for the Neverwinter Nights game mentioning 12 notable constellations seen in Darkon. I dunno ther names of the rest, but here are some of them (in English, because the names were in Latin):

The Queen of the Bloody Eye
The End of All Things
The Drinker in Stone
The Automaton
The Slinker in Filth
The Wanderer
The Headless Searcher

[Jakob]

Well, the 13th sign could be a "variable" sign... It could be both the Hero and the Darklord.

EDIT: Great work, Jasper.
But should'nt the Mists be... Well a nebula?

[Rotipher of the FoS]

If any game-setting screams for a 13-sign Zodiac, it's Ravenloft.

Because other domains seem to have adopted the same day-night and seasonal cycles as Barovia, as they joined the Core, it's likely that they all (with the unique exception of Sithicus ... though I have to wonder if that might change over time, since Inza wasn't from Krynn) share the same constellations as the Barovian homeworld. This wouldn't rule out a Tarokka-based Zodiac, by any means; the constellations could have been given such names in the centuries since the Vistani arrived in Ravenloft.

The days of the week and month share names with IRL Earth, but these were imported from Mordent, a fairly close parallel to our own world. In the Strahd novels, his journals refer to dates as simply "Second moon", "Fifth moon", etc. This suggests that months either didn't have unique names on the Von Zarovich homeworld, or that their names weren't routinely used by the nobility and/or military. (Perhaps the long-extinct Borjian pantheon considered the moon-deity an enemy of the sun-deity, so naming off months, as per lunar calanders, was regarded as a heathen practice in a realm devoted to Andrel?) Either way, astrology was probably not a major factor in Material Plane Barovia -- again, its old religion was solar-based -- so if an astrological tradition arose after the Vistani's arrival, it wouldn't have to displace an older, established system of constellations and birth-signs.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Well, the 13th sign could be a "variable" sign... It could be both the Hero and the Darklord.

For that matter, taking the Tarokka analogy even farther, each sign of the Ravenloft Zodiac could have two opposing meanings, just as laying out a Tarokka card that's reversed has the opposite implication from one that's dealt right-side-up. Other celestial factors, such as the planets or the time of day or night, could determine if someone born under a given sign has the "right-side-up" or the "reversed" version of that sign; OTOH, it might be the case that a person's own actions and choices determine which version of their "sign" their life's course will illustrate.

[William Blackmoor]

Still unfinished, but I tried to convert a PrC from "Relics and Rituals II" to Ravenloft once and so needed to find more fitting names for the constellations.

Omen Watcher of Sidnar/ High Astrologer (R&R II pg. 27)
PrC found among the elves of Sidnar

Celestrial constellations of the Northern Core
The Sickle
Starspirit: Grim Reaper
Spells: like Sikklos, the Scythe

The Raven
Starspirit: fiendish Dire Raven
Spells: like Nekheros, the Vulture

The Wolf
Starspirit: fiendish dire wolf
Spells: like Lycaeus, the Wolf

The Shadow Dragon
Starspirit: wyvern
Spells: like Drachys, the Dragon

The Rider
Starspirit: Nightmare
Spells: like Destrios, the Warhorse

The Great Tree
Starspirit:
Spells:

The Skull
Starspirit:
Spells:

The Bat
Starspirit:
Spells

The Dirgist
Starspirit:
Spells:

The Gravebeetle
Starspirit:
Spells:

The Scales
Starspirit:
Spells:

The Horned Beast
Starspirit:
Spells: hammer

[Jakob]

For that matter, taking the Tarokka analogy even farther, each sign of the Ravenloft Zodiac could have two opposing meanings, just as laying out a Tarokka card that's reversed has the opposite implication from one that's dealt right-side-up. Other celestial factors, such as the planets or the time of day or night, could determine if someone born under a given sign has the "right-side-up" or the "reversed" version of that sign; OTOH, it might be the case that a person's own actions and choices determine which version of their "sign" their life's course will illustrate.

I really like the concept.

[Jakob]

Aquarius – The Spirit
Pieces – The Broken One
Taurus – The Hangman
Gemini – The Raven
Aries – The Beast
Cancer – The Prison
Leo – The Marionette
Virgo – The Innocent
Libra – The Horseman
Scorpio – The Temptress
Sagittarius – The Artifact
Capricorn – The Mists

How did you make out the comparison?
I mean -did you work on the astrological traits of the signs?