Got any plans to make new Channel Divinity Feats for all the deities, Doc?
I was all set to stat up a version of Nova Vassa's iconic plains cats as a big nasty beast that would jump on you, grab you, and tear you apart, but looking at the monster manual there's already a monster that does exactly that: the Owlbear. Yes, the owlbear. Use the DMG rules for reducing monster level to drop the angry critter to level 5, give it a new paint job and you have your plains cat, complete with a stunning scream; believe me, that is not something you ever want to face alone on a dark night. It's certainly a good crash test for the monster modification rules - I'm not confident that it wouldn't tear a level appropriate party apart, but adventurers are a lot more resilient these days. And if anyone else misses the Krensharr from 3.5 (anyone? anyone?) the stats could probably be used for that, too. The Nova Vassa "Blood Cat" may as well be the Spectral Panther, given that it exhibits a lot of the mystical properties attributed to it by legend.
Now a question for all you: what is the purpose of the Paka? I realize they have their nifty cat-shapshifter status but change shape is pretty cosmetic, and the rest of their stats are amazingly underwhelming. They like cats (and should likely be encountered as the leader of a feline entourage, but that telepathic bond ability isn't that useful unless a plains cat happens to be sitting nearby), don't like dogs, and can heal one hit point per round by licking their wounds... which stops being terribly useful after 1st level. With 13 hp at CR 5 they seem like glass vases waiting to be knocked over. I firmly believe these guys need a new MO; something that sets them apart from the shifters and lycanthropes and dopplegangers as a unique creature. Any suggestions?
4e Ravenloft Conversion Thread
I probably should, huh? Right now I'm just getting the basics done-description, dogma, and adventure hooks. But maybe I'll throw in a heroic tier feat if I can think of good ones.
As for paka...good question. Maybe they could be obsessed cultists of Sekhmaa who take on the violent, greedy nature of cats? I dunno.
As for paka...good question. Maybe they could be obsessed cultists of Sekhmaa who take on the violent, greedy nature of cats? I dunno.
Given the choice of either rewriting a century's worth of good fiction, including the I Strahd books & the Vampire in the Mists, to say nothing of the VRG to Vampires, or ruling that in Ravenloft most 4e vampires burn sooner or later in sunlight, I would think (perhaps mistakenly) that the choice is obvious. Remember how vampires could survive on animal blood outside of Ravenloft and how the Dark Powers removed that little ethical convenience? Well the Dark Powers and the community should maintain standards and most especially those that make Ravenloft interesting, distinct, gothic. That is not to say that one can't have a day walking vampire. In addition to the native elven vampire there is the Nosferitu. And any given vampire with the appropriate history can be an exception too.Isabella wrote: Vampires
No, they don't explode in sunlight anymore unless they're piddly little minions. Not that I blame WotC for taking that out; it was a weakness that either would not conceivably come up or was the point of the entire encounter... with the occasional clever PC exception (I heard a story where a PC sucked the mist form vampire into a pair of bellows and dumped it outside; not the most rules friendly solution but still awesome). So us Ravenlofters are either just going to have to accept that Strahd and Jander Sunstar can just prance about in the sunlight as they like now, or come up with another solution.
Proposed Solution
If you want your vampire to explode in sunlight, just say it explodes in sunlight.
As I said before, that weakness is usually either pointless or the entire point, so you might as well just do it as you like.
If you don't like the thought of the mighty Strahd blowing up after a round of sunshine, you could either say that vampires exposed to sunlight take the same penalties as if had not rested in its coffin, or that sunlight does 10 damage per round when exposed to sunlight. The problem with that being that it plays all sorts of havoc with its level, but that's probably what you wanted.
The cure for what ails you
We have a fine Gazeetter on, and a fine guide, to the Dread Doppleganger. Let's simply keep them and drag forward existing powers for the 4e inclined.Isabella wrote: Dread Dopplegangers
There doesn't seem to be any more mind reading magic. It had too nebulous a mechanical effect, my guess. Which means Dread Dopplegangers seem to have lost their main shtick.
Proposed Solution
Either leave the dopplegangers as the normal ones, of give them a new iconic power like the lycanthropes now have.
The cure for what ails you
As Mortavius said, we simply keep Reality Wrinkles and give them to those who currently have them. Angels, Demons and Devils still cause the problems that they always caused. As for "no brand of 'darklord' powers that reality wrinkles could cut off" they cut off exactly what they used to cut off, branded or not. 1e, 2e, and 3e never branded for Ravenloft Darklord Powers since those powers are part and parcel of what distinguishes Ravenloft from the rest of the d20 multiuniverse. 4e won't do this favour for us either.Isabella wrote: Reality Wrinkles
If you thought they were confusing in 3e, what will you do now? There's no more outsider type that can easily cover all the creatures that get reality wrinkles. There's no brand of "darklord" powers that the reality wrinkles could cut off. There's no easy mechanics to describe what a reality wrinkle even does.
Proposed Solution
I have no idea. I suspect if anything ought to remain in the realm of GM fiat, this is it.
The cure for what ails you
Okay, knuckle-crack, here's what I've got. This is my first time making feats, so please let me know if you think any of the feats are overpowered for heroic tier, underpowered, or just plain crappy. I think I did a solid job on the dieties themselves, however.
Dieties
Names: The direct naming of a god is considered, for the most part, to be bad luck unless done in the Supernal language as part of a ceremony. Instead, most people of Ravenloft use titles to describe their dieties, or 'everyday' names that serve a similar purpose. Not every faith in Ravenloft is split apart, as standard in the Player's Handbook, and that'll be noted in the entry. Furthermore, any PHB diety named as an alternate identity of a diety gives a worshipper access to said diety's related Channel Divinity feats.
Cults: Outside of these beings, many demonic lords, archdevils, and other, stranger things are whorshiped by dread cults in the silence of the night. See the Orcus and Yaun-Ti cultists in the Monsterous Manual for a good boilerplate on how wicked cults are organized.
The Morninglord, Good
Other Names: Belenus, The Overseer, Ra, Pelor, Bahamut
The Morninglord is the prince of the dawn, the bright hope, the faithful friend, patron of hope, salvation, justice, zeal, and the dawn. His temples are often secret, as they are most popular in oppressed or backward lands, for while praying to the Morninglord is not really illegal anywhere, openly wearing the vestments of his church is practicly declairing yourself an enemy of the darkness, something said nightmare creatures are a little sensitive about. Some say that's ultimately for the best; the Morninglord church in Barovia's known as a earnest, if ineffective, bastion of goodness in the land, but the temples of Belenus Morninglord in Tepest are known for their excess of zeal, have been twisted into a paranoid state religion in Nialdia, and even the venerable temples of Ra were rumored to once be far more appreciative of tyranny than they presently are. While his followers are imperfect, they are united in their earnest belief in doing a little good in a wicked world.
-Be a beacon of light in a dark world, but be wary of the shadows you cast.
-Battle evil wherever it works and wherever it breeds.
-Heed the words of the prophets, who are burdened with communicating the unknowable spiritual truth to a material world.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: The local temple secretly asks the PCs to discover if the burgomeister's daughter is really a necromancer, or just the subject of cruel rumor.
Paragon Tier: Exposing a local branch of the Tepestani Inquisition as the pawns of a Formorian king, before they trigger a war between Tepest and the local Feywild court.
Epic Tier: Cleansing the Kargat's control of the cult of the Overseer, at the secret behest of its less crazy than it seems leader.
Channel Divinity: Beacon of Morning
Prerequsites: Channel Divinity class feature, must worship the Morninglord.
The greatist gift of the Morninglord in all of his guises is simple and underestimated: hope.
Encounter * Divine, Impliment, Radiant
Minor Action * Close burst 3
Target: Self, any one within burst.
Trigger: Reduce an undead, fiendish, or obviously evil and monsterous target to 0 HP.
Effect: All allies within the burst gain a +1 radiant bonus to attack and damage, all enemies within burst suffer a -1 radiant penalty to attack and damage.
Special: Must posess Beacon of Morning feat.
The Lawgiver, Unaligned(Or is he? OooOOOoooh!)
Other Names: Bane, Asmodeus, Torog, Yutob, Set, Zababa
The Iron Faith, the state religion of Nova Vaasa, Hazlan, and any other domain touched by the achievements of the Vaasi people. They believe that the world is flawed, imperfect, ultimately a test by their creator; only through devout adherence to a divine structure of society can the people of the world be capable of transcending this world and the snares of the hell of slaves, entering the orderly peace of the Lawgiver's great celestial fiefdom. A demanding diety of self discipline, law in all of its forms, nobility, hierarchy, and soldiers, the Lawgiver's church is situated primarily in the southeastern core, but can be seen almost anywhere that armed men march into battle at the behest of the nobility. The Church is organized like a federation, with one central priesthood, and several local priesthoods recgonized by region or nation, so as to account for the lawful traditions and rules of the land they are situated in, and if nessicary, to depose a ruler who's ineffectiveness has relenquished the Iron Mandate. Recently, a heresy has quietly sprung up in secret places, preaching a mad doctrine of societal contracts, of the lower classes having 'Iron Rights' and the upper classes 'Iron Duties', but sane adherants of the true faith obey the simple commandments of their lord:
-Respect authority in all of its forms, for rebellion is the greatist evil, chaos the ultimate sin.
-Spread the word of the law, for ignorance of its tenants is not an excuse for breaking them.
-Only the Iron Faith can judge when a person is worthy of riseing or falling in the Sacred Hierarchy, heed their wisdom.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: Battling a chaotic bandit tribe with strange, almost divinly inspired powers.
Paragon Tier: Proving to the local Pave that a Mulani lord is so brutally mistreating his peasents that he needs to have his power stripped from him.
Epic Tier: Foiling a scheme by a rogue Biskop to start a holy war that could set the Eastern Core on fire.
Channel Divinity: Heart of Iron
Prerequistes: Channel Divinity class feature.
Those who march under the banner of an Iron Father dare not let the weakness of fear into their hearts.
Encounter * Divine, impliment
Standard Action * Personal
Target: One ally.
Effect: Make a standard attack against your target, the target gains damage taken in Fortitude and Will defense bonus.
Specal: Must posess Heart of Iron feat.
Our Lady In The Mists, Unaligned
Other Names: Ezra, Erathis, Avandra
The Church of Ezra is, perhaps, the largest organized religion in the Core. While a handfull of faiths follow tenants similar to Ezra's, the Church's policy of assimilation means that when discovered, they are often quickly welcomed into the fold with open arms. Ezra is seen as a goddess of salvation, of hope, of cities and reason, a once-mortal woman who's sacrafice and decency caused her to rise above the Dread Domains, becoming an advocate for the peoples of the world. Evangelical, the Church's open doors sometimes let in ideas and doctrines that might be called 'corrupt' by stricter faiths, but they also set fewer people on fire in the name of purity. There are four primary sects of Ezra; the Home Faith in Borca, the Temple of Mist in Mordent, the Alabaster Cathedral in Dementelu, and the Pure Bullwark in Darkon. While each sect is different, a few central tenants universially apply:
-Bring Ezra's love to the people through good works, kind deeds, and caring for your community.
-Bring Ezra's word to the unenlightened, so that they may share in her protection.
-Stand strong against the Legions of the Night, for they cannot abide a sure heart and stout mind.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: Search for a diary rumored to be written by one of Ezra's contempories in the deadly sewers of Ste. Ronges.
Paragon Tier: Save a lost Anchorite who vanished into the mists outside of Mordentshire...dangerously close to both the Verbek border, and haunted house country.
Epic Tier: Foil Theodorus Raines's mad plan to trigger the apoclyptic final battle with the Legions of the Night early, to ensure Ezran victory.
Channel Divinity: The Shield of the Lady
Prerequistes: Channel Divinity Power, must worship Our Lady In The Mists.
Ezra's love is most obviously seen in the misty shield that her Anchorites can call into being.
Encounter * Divine, Impliment
Minor Action * Close burst 1
Target: Self, burst area.
Effect: Use a healing surge, gain no health, you and any allies within burst range gain +2 to AC, Fortitude defense, Reflex defense, or Will defense, caster's choice.
Special: Must posess The Shield of the Lady feat.
The Merciful Hand, Unaligned
Other Names: Hala, Ligra, Melora, Sehaine
Often misunderstood as a primal diety closer to the fey than humanity, Hala does have strong ties with the Feywild, but primarily serves as a goddess of health, doctors, the benevolent aspects of nature, and secrecy. The latter is one of the reasons that her followers can be mistrusted; most of her temples, hospaces, and sacred places are hidden and tended to by several families who pass priesthood down from generation to generation, along with the ancient techniques for a warlock to make a pact with the Fey spirits. Despite this, she has a strong following throughout the core, small temples littered in almost every region along cell-like lines, as if the priests expected some great purge to try and destroy their faith if they ever fully organized. The Hand's diagnosis for purity is:
-Heal the sick, battle disease, sooth the wounded, and if possible, stop those who would spread sickness willingly.
-Do no harm to those who you have accepted to be under your care; the bond between healer and patient is sacred and unbreakable.
-Preserve the mysteries of the Merciful Hand, so that the way of the panacea is never completly lost to the ravages of the world.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: Challange the wilds of Verbek in search of the herbs needed for the local hospice to cure a sick friend.
Paragon Tier: Investigate a fallen hospice in hopes of discovering any survivors or records of what exactly happened.
Epic Tier: Battle a coven of hags before they can release a deadly plague apon the unsuspecting western Core.
Channel Divinity: Merciful Touch
Prerequisites: Channel Divinity Power, must worship The Merciful Hand.
The touch of a witch of Hala promotes health and expels sickness.
Encounter * Divine, Healing
Minor Action * Ranged 5
Target: Self, or one ally.
Effect: Use a healing surge, gain no health, the target may either gain your potential health gain, or use the potential health gain as a bonus for a saving throw to fight off a disease.
Special: Must posess Merciful Touch feat.
The Eternal Order, Unaligned
Other Names: Osiris, Anubis, The Raven Queen, Vecna
The Eternal Order was once the state faith of Darkon, a wicked organization Azalin used to control his people. However, in the wake of the Grim Harvest, the Darkonese turned away from the Order in droves, and this collection of Darkonese folklore, reverence of death spirits, and the cycle of life and death found one way to survive: adaptation. Taking several pages from more benevolent death cults, the Eternal Order primarily exists for two reasons; to understand the true nature of death, and to keep the undead from completly releasing themselves on the world. Several darker cults exist that believe the undead are a natural resource to exploit, or even deserve dominance of reality, but the Reformists do not accept their ways as legitimate paths of the Order, and in turn, they see the Reformists as weak willed fools who are sacraficing their heritage for survival. In return for holding back the Gray, the Eternal Order demands:
-Preserve the secret wisdom of the elders, and always work to expand this body of knowledge, because we must understand death in order to make peace with it.
-Lay the dead to rest, and give the undead the sleep they deserve. Undeath is a hell of the mind and the soul, poision that promises eternal life but grants only suffering.
-Preserve the Order, better to suffer some indignity than to be completly destroyed by the wrath of outsiders.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: Investigate the sudden vanishing of a Reformist cleric and its tie to a wight barrow becoming active.
Paragon Tier: Help put a family of ghostly beings, tied to the world by their outrage and the pain of the Grim Harvest, to make peace with their deaths.
Epic Tier: Brave the Necropolis of Il Aulk itself in order to rescue the heir apparent to the Watcher at the Gate post before her defenses fail and she becomes one of Death's loyal minions.
Channel Divinity: Eternal Repose
Prerequisites: Channel Divinity class power, must worship the Eternal Order.
Enforcing the boundry between life and death is an exhausting duty, requiring an unusual constitution.
Encounter * Divine, Impliment
Minor Action * Ranged 5
Target: You or one ally.
Trigger: Reduce an enemy to 0 hp.
Effect: Spend a healing surge, gain no HP, recharge your or one ally's encounter power of your choice, excepting Channel Divinity: Eternal Repose.
Special: Must posess the Eternal Repose feat.
The Hated Mother, Chaotic Evil
Other Names: Lolth, Kali, The Filth Breeder, The Queen of Spiders
A mysterious, destructive goddess, the Hated Mother is even feared by the nightmareish Shadow Fey of Ravenloft's forests and glens as the Queen of Spiders, the only diety to ever successfuly alter their kind. She has a mystery cult among the educated elite of the Core, is seen as the bringer of ruin and destructive change by the Sir Rajans, and secretly worshiped by a dozen beastly tribes as the patron of disease and decay, too horrible to even name outside of the title of her priesthood, the filth breeders. It is not nessicary to love her, it is only nessicary to fear her:
-Explore the secrets of the Mother, for the only path to knowledge is suffering, and suffering is her wine.
-Accept that all things change, and in order to change, they must be destroyed. As is the world, so is the Hated Mother.
-Spread misinformation and make learning of the Mother a fearful, painful process, for only the worthy may endure her attentions.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: A visiting teacher from the University of Tvashti has a terrible secret. Is she a priestess of Kali Worldbreaker...or the target of the cult's wrath?
Paragon Tier: A rogue Rakshaa schemes to summon the devil Ravanna in the core, safe from the Maharajah's agents, leading to a strange alliance between the PCs and the cult of the Hated Mother.
Epic Tier: A massive earthquake strikes the eastern mountains of Darkon...despite that particular region never being prone to tetonic activity before. Can the PCs survive the horrific truth behind the natural disaster before it repeats itself?
Channel Divinity: Mother of Ruin
Prerequisite: Channel Divinity, must worship The Hated Mother.
Better for the body to suffer than to earn the wrath of the Hated Mother through failure.
Encounter * Divine, Impliment
Free Action * Self
Target: Self.
Trigger: An attack(including use of a power) misses.
Effect: Use a healing surge, gain no HP. You may reroll the attack attempt.
Special: You must posess the Mother of Ruin feat.
The Wolf God, Chaotic Evil
Other Names: Kord, Gruumish, The Withered Rat, Sekmet
Hunger, pain, strength. This is the natural ritual of the world; animals know hunger, they suffer being hunted or the challange of the hunt, and the survivor becomes stronger for it. This is the fundamental tenant of the Wolf God, the many-headed savage diety of strength and savagery. Some faithful believe that the Wolf God only desires that people struggle, while others believe he demands the ritualized death of any who do not serve him, some believe that the Wolf God's tenants can be easily applied to life in the city, the social arena, or any other aspect of existance, while others scheme of a day when civilization itself is destroyed, and all creatures return to the proper, natural order of things. While these sects do not have formal names or organizations, often the Wolf God's faithful decide what direction to go in based on which local priest is strongest, as decided in ritualized trials:
-Know the way of the beast, and embrace it. To do otherwise is to deny reality.
-Challange those who would stop you, but abide by the results of a fair struggle. There's always next time.
-Respect those who follow nature's way, destroy those who reject it. If either deserves to live, they will be strong enough to defend themselves.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: A local busniessman becomes suddenly and uncharacteristicly ruthless, shocking his friends and loved ones. Is he under some fell being's control...or has he just applied the way of the Wolf God to the busniess world?
Paragon Tier: War between orthadox werewolves and heretic lycanthropes over the true nature of the Wolf God starts spilling over their territory's borders. Can the PCs stop the conflict before it becomes completly lethal? And do they even want to, or would they rather aid one side or the other in an attempt to destroy both with a timely double cross?
Epic Tier: A priest claims the PCs are examples of civilized creatures that still posess strength, and they are forced to participate in several challenges sacred to the Wolf God. If successful, they'll bring someone less insane into power over the cult, but if they fail, they're dog food...
Channel Divinity: Wolf Howl
Prerequisites: Channel Divinity class power, must worship The Wolf God.
The spilling of blood is the greatist gift a devotee of the Wolf God can offer.
Encounter * Divine
Minor Action * Close burst 5
Target: You or one ally.
Trigger: You are bloodied.
Effect: Target gains a +2 to all rolls until you are no longer bloodied, or the encounter ends.
Special: Must have the Wolf Howl feat.
The Manifold Devourer, Chaotic Evil
Other Names: Tiamat, Zhakita, Sobek, Erlin, Sehkmaa
Hunger incarnate, the eater of worlds, greed and acquisition personified, the Devourer has many names, though its most famous is currently Zhakita, part of the state religion of G'Henna, a Balok-speaking theocracy known for its mad priests and starving population. The law of the Devourer is simple: Take what you can shalt be the whole of the law, as long as you give the Devourer her cut. The average peasent hopes to ward off the Devourer with ritual sacrafice, so their crops will grow and their children will remain healthy, while more...devout creatures emulate the Starving Maw in every possible way, from land hungry warlords to greed starved merchants to knowledge obsessed wizards, anyone who's desire is more important than anything else can find a patron in the Devourer.
-Whatever you can take is yours, whatever you cannot take is undeserved.
-There is no such thing as fair play, only success and failure. Rules are just ways to convince the deluded to handicap themselves.
-The Devourer's power is not free, if you would seek aid, offer payment in advance.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: A ghost is haunting the town, demanding a portion of money from any villaiger foolish enough to look it in the eye. But is this haunting real, or an elaborate hoax?
Paragon Tier: What strange being is kidnapping young woman throughout the Domain, and what does it have to do with the promise of a local rebel group to bring 'the power of the dragon' against Falkov's armies?
Epic Tier: A Sithican Devourer cult declares itself the state religion of Sithicus for lack of a better option; can the PCs stop it from siezing power or triggering another Sithican civil war?
Channel Divinity: The Gift of Greed.
Prerequisites: Channel Divinity class ability, must worship the Manifold Devourer.
In all her guises, the Devourer teaches one absolute truth: Get while the getting's good.
Daily * Divine, Implement, Healing
Free Action Personal
Trigger: Get a critical hit in melee combat.
Effect: Gain half of the damage you cause in temporary hit points.
Special: Must posess The Gift of Greed feat.
The Great Maker, Lawful Good
Other Names: Moradin, Ioun, Tvashti, Loturr the Quickening Thunderbolt
Beloved by smiths, scholars, artists and midwives, the Great Maker governs the act of creation itself; weather as Moradin the Soul-Forger, Tvashti, the patron of the university baring his name, or even the mysterious Quickening Thunderbolt, the psuedo-scientific being that the mysterious monks of a Lamordian monestary persue with scientific precision and fiery zeal. The Maker commands:
-Learn. Learning is as breathing to sentient peoples, expanding the ability to create and the options of creation.
-Create. Creation is the most sacred of acts, adding to the world, refining the unstable, and fortifing the spirit.
-Preserve. While change is inevitable, strength is gained by making the change work for you, instead of completly bowing to its whims. When you make something, make it to last, or make it adaptable.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: A small dwarf clan begs the heroes to find an ancient relic that's prophicised to restore fertility and wealth to their family.
Paragon Tier: A scientificly oriented wizard schemes to create the ultimate flesh golem; if the PCs oppose him, he argues that isn't the creation of life the ultimate form or reverence to the Great Maker? Can the PCs trust him to not abuse his power, and can they stop the golem if it does go rogue?
Epic Tier: The Order of Guardians contacts the PCs; they've made an alliance with the University of Tvashti, hoping to gain access to dozens of Sri Rajan artifacts and lore that must be protected from those that would abuse it, but the price is high: find a way to cleanse, not destroy, a powerfuly cursed artifact before it destroys the bearer. Can the heroes do it?
Channel Divinity: The Maker's Grace
Prerequisites: Channel Divinity class power, must worship the Great Maker.
The Great Maker's faithful preserve knowledge and artifice, even at the cost of their own health.
Encounter * Divine, Healing
Minor Action Ranged 5
Effect: Spend a healing surge, recieve no hit points. Instead, repair a single damaged item, unless the item has been damaged by a curse or similar complicated power.
Special: Must posess The Maker's Grace feat.
The Divinity of Mankind
Other Names: None.
A strange philosophy that espouses the only real divinity is the spark of sentient life(some sects say exclusivly human, some are less racist.), the Divinity of Mankind is the closest thing to a philosophy allowing atheists and angostics access to divine power. The gods might exist, they might not, but the important thing is the will to power that exists within the human(oid) soul. The Diviners persue lore of the body, mind, and spirit, hoping to perfect themselves and so scientificly document the path from base material to shining divnity. The basic commands are:
-Develop your mind and body, the perfect form must be achieved, not simply fallen into.
-Explore your surroundings, all knowledge could contribute to the achievement of perfection.
-Respect your peers, objective thought is the great defense from sloppy thought and the suffering it brings.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: A caliban ally of the PCs wants to be admitted into the local Divinity of Mankind lodge, but rather than be outright barred, he's been given a seemingly impossible task to complete. Can the PCs help their friend?
Paragon Tier: The PCs must brave the sewers of Timor in order to save the lives of an exploratory party of Divines before they're forced to reveal the location of the secret lodge within Timor.
Epic Tier: A order member finally achieves apothesis...or at least she claims to. Quickly siezing control of the local lodges, the supposed demigoddess makes stranger and stranger demands...can the PCs discover her true intentions before she converts the lodge into a mummy lord's cult?
Channel Divinity: Enlightened Will
Prerequisites: Channel Divinity class power, must worship the Divinity of Mankind.
The Divinity of Mankind teaches disicpline that seems almost supernatural to outsiders.
Encounter * Divine
Interrupt Personal
Trigger: Failed Will save.
Effect: May reroll a failed Will save, using the superior roll of the two.
Special: Must take Enlightened Will feat.
Dieties
Names: The direct naming of a god is considered, for the most part, to be bad luck unless done in the Supernal language as part of a ceremony. Instead, most people of Ravenloft use titles to describe their dieties, or 'everyday' names that serve a similar purpose. Not every faith in Ravenloft is split apart, as standard in the Player's Handbook, and that'll be noted in the entry. Furthermore, any PHB diety named as an alternate identity of a diety gives a worshipper access to said diety's related Channel Divinity feats.
Cults: Outside of these beings, many demonic lords, archdevils, and other, stranger things are whorshiped by dread cults in the silence of the night. See the Orcus and Yaun-Ti cultists in the Monsterous Manual for a good boilerplate on how wicked cults are organized.
The Morninglord, Good
Other Names: Belenus, The Overseer, Ra, Pelor, Bahamut
The Morninglord is the prince of the dawn, the bright hope, the faithful friend, patron of hope, salvation, justice, zeal, and the dawn. His temples are often secret, as they are most popular in oppressed or backward lands, for while praying to the Morninglord is not really illegal anywhere, openly wearing the vestments of his church is practicly declairing yourself an enemy of the darkness, something said nightmare creatures are a little sensitive about. Some say that's ultimately for the best; the Morninglord church in Barovia's known as a earnest, if ineffective, bastion of goodness in the land, but the temples of Belenus Morninglord in Tepest are known for their excess of zeal, have been twisted into a paranoid state religion in Nialdia, and even the venerable temples of Ra were rumored to once be far more appreciative of tyranny than they presently are. While his followers are imperfect, they are united in their earnest belief in doing a little good in a wicked world.
-Be a beacon of light in a dark world, but be wary of the shadows you cast.
-Battle evil wherever it works and wherever it breeds.
-Heed the words of the prophets, who are burdened with communicating the unknowable spiritual truth to a material world.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: The local temple secretly asks the PCs to discover if the burgomeister's daughter is really a necromancer, or just the subject of cruel rumor.
Paragon Tier: Exposing a local branch of the Tepestani Inquisition as the pawns of a Formorian king, before they trigger a war between Tepest and the local Feywild court.
Epic Tier: Cleansing the Kargat's control of the cult of the Overseer, at the secret behest of its less crazy than it seems leader.
Channel Divinity: Beacon of Morning
Prerequsites: Channel Divinity class feature, must worship the Morninglord.
The greatist gift of the Morninglord in all of his guises is simple and underestimated: hope.
Encounter * Divine, Impliment, Radiant
Minor Action * Close burst 3
Target: Self, any one within burst.
Trigger: Reduce an undead, fiendish, or obviously evil and monsterous target to 0 HP.
Effect: All allies within the burst gain a +1 radiant bonus to attack and damage, all enemies within burst suffer a -1 radiant penalty to attack and damage.
Special: Must posess Beacon of Morning feat.
The Lawgiver, Unaligned(Or is he? OooOOOoooh!)
Other Names: Bane, Asmodeus, Torog, Yutob, Set, Zababa
The Iron Faith, the state religion of Nova Vaasa, Hazlan, and any other domain touched by the achievements of the Vaasi people. They believe that the world is flawed, imperfect, ultimately a test by their creator; only through devout adherence to a divine structure of society can the people of the world be capable of transcending this world and the snares of the hell of slaves, entering the orderly peace of the Lawgiver's great celestial fiefdom. A demanding diety of self discipline, law in all of its forms, nobility, hierarchy, and soldiers, the Lawgiver's church is situated primarily in the southeastern core, but can be seen almost anywhere that armed men march into battle at the behest of the nobility. The Church is organized like a federation, with one central priesthood, and several local priesthoods recgonized by region or nation, so as to account for the lawful traditions and rules of the land they are situated in, and if nessicary, to depose a ruler who's ineffectiveness has relenquished the Iron Mandate. Recently, a heresy has quietly sprung up in secret places, preaching a mad doctrine of societal contracts, of the lower classes having 'Iron Rights' and the upper classes 'Iron Duties', but sane adherants of the true faith obey the simple commandments of their lord:
-Respect authority in all of its forms, for rebellion is the greatist evil, chaos the ultimate sin.
-Spread the word of the law, for ignorance of its tenants is not an excuse for breaking them.
-Only the Iron Faith can judge when a person is worthy of riseing or falling in the Sacred Hierarchy, heed their wisdom.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: Battling a chaotic bandit tribe with strange, almost divinly inspired powers.
Paragon Tier: Proving to the local Pave that a Mulani lord is so brutally mistreating his peasents that he needs to have his power stripped from him.
Epic Tier: Foiling a scheme by a rogue Biskop to start a holy war that could set the Eastern Core on fire.
Channel Divinity: Heart of Iron
Prerequistes: Channel Divinity class feature.
Those who march under the banner of an Iron Father dare not let the weakness of fear into their hearts.
Encounter * Divine, impliment
Standard Action * Personal
Target: One ally.
Effect: Make a standard attack against your target, the target gains damage taken in Fortitude and Will defense bonus.
Specal: Must posess Heart of Iron feat.
Our Lady In The Mists, Unaligned
Other Names: Ezra, Erathis, Avandra
The Church of Ezra is, perhaps, the largest organized religion in the Core. While a handfull of faiths follow tenants similar to Ezra's, the Church's policy of assimilation means that when discovered, they are often quickly welcomed into the fold with open arms. Ezra is seen as a goddess of salvation, of hope, of cities and reason, a once-mortal woman who's sacrafice and decency caused her to rise above the Dread Domains, becoming an advocate for the peoples of the world. Evangelical, the Church's open doors sometimes let in ideas and doctrines that might be called 'corrupt' by stricter faiths, but they also set fewer people on fire in the name of purity. There are four primary sects of Ezra; the Home Faith in Borca, the Temple of Mist in Mordent, the Alabaster Cathedral in Dementelu, and the Pure Bullwark in Darkon. While each sect is different, a few central tenants universially apply:
-Bring Ezra's love to the people through good works, kind deeds, and caring for your community.
-Bring Ezra's word to the unenlightened, so that they may share in her protection.
-Stand strong against the Legions of the Night, for they cannot abide a sure heart and stout mind.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: Search for a diary rumored to be written by one of Ezra's contempories in the deadly sewers of Ste. Ronges.
Paragon Tier: Save a lost Anchorite who vanished into the mists outside of Mordentshire...dangerously close to both the Verbek border, and haunted house country.
Epic Tier: Foil Theodorus Raines's mad plan to trigger the apoclyptic final battle with the Legions of the Night early, to ensure Ezran victory.
Channel Divinity: The Shield of the Lady
Prerequistes: Channel Divinity Power, must worship Our Lady In The Mists.
Ezra's love is most obviously seen in the misty shield that her Anchorites can call into being.
Encounter * Divine, Impliment
Minor Action * Close burst 1
Target: Self, burst area.
Effect: Use a healing surge, gain no health, you and any allies within burst range gain +2 to AC, Fortitude defense, Reflex defense, or Will defense, caster's choice.
Special: Must posess The Shield of the Lady feat.
The Merciful Hand, Unaligned
Other Names: Hala, Ligra, Melora, Sehaine
Often misunderstood as a primal diety closer to the fey than humanity, Hala does have strong ties with the Feywild, but primarily serves as a goddess of health, doctors, the benevolent aspects of nature, and secrecy. The latter is one of the reasons that her followers can be mistrusted; most of her temples, hospaces, and sacred places are hidden and tended to by several families who pass priesthood down from generation to generation, along with the ancient techniques for a warlock to make a pact with the Fey spirits. Despite this, she has a strong following throughout the core, small temples littered in almost every region along cell-like lines, as if the priests expected some great purge to try and destroy their faith if they ever fully organized. The Hand's diagnosis for purity is:
-Heal the sick, battle disease, sooth the wounded, and if possible, stop those who would spread sickness willingly.
-Do no harm to those who you have accepted to be under your care; the bond between healer and patient is sacred and unbreakable.
-Preserve the mysteries of the Merciful Hand, so that the way of the panacea is never completly lost to the ravages of the world.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: Challange the wilds of Verbek in search of the herbs needed for the local hospice to cure a sick friend.
Paragon Tier: Investigate a fallen hospice in hopes of discovering any survivors or records of what exactly happened.
Epic Tier: Battle a coven of hags before they can release a deadly plague apon the unsuspecting western Core.
Channel Divinity: Merciful Touch
Prerequisites: Channel Divinity Power, must worship The Merciful Hand.
The touch of a witch of Hala promotes health and expels sickness.
Encounter * Divine, Healing
Minor Action * Ranged 5
Target: Self, or one ally.
Effect: Use a healing surge, gain no health, the target may either gain your potential health gain, or use the potential health gain as a bonus for a saving throw to fight off a disease.
Special: Must posess Merciful Touch feat.
The Eternal Order, Unaligned
Other Names: Osiris, Anubis, The Raven Queen, Vecna
The Eternal Order was once the state faith of Darkon, a wicked organization Azalin used to control his people. However, in the wake of the Grim Harvest, the Darkonese turned away from the Order in droves, and this collection of Darkonese folklore, reverence of death spirits, and the cycle of life and death found one way to survive: adaptation. Taking several pages from more benevolent death cults, the Eternal Order primarily exists for two reasons; to understand the true nature of death, and to keep the undead from completly releasing themselves on the world. Several darker cults exist that believe the undead are a natural resource to exploit, or even deserve dominance of reality, but the Reformists do not accept their ways as legitimate paths of the Order, and in turn, they see the Reformists as weak willed fools who are sacraficing their heritage for survival. In return for holding back the Gray, the Eternal Order demands:
-Preserve the secret wisdom of the elders, and always work to expand this body of knowledge, because we must understand death in order to make peace with it.
-Lay the dead to rest, and give the undead the sleep they deserve. Undeath is a hell of the mind and the soul, poision that promises eternal life but grants only suffering.
-Preserve the Order, better to suffer some indignity than to be completly destroyed by the wrath of outsiders.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: Investigate the sudden vanishing of a Reformist cleric and its tie to a wight barrow becoming active.
Paragon Tier: Help put a family of ghostly beings, tied to the world by their outrage and the pain of the Grim Harvest, to make peace with their deaths.
Epic Tier: Brave the Necropolis of Il Aulk itself in order to rescue the heir apparent to the Watcher at the Gate post before her defenses fail and she becomes one of Death's loyal minions.
Channel Divinity: Eternal Repose
Prerequisites: Channel Divinity class power, must worship the Eternal Order.
Enforcing the boundry between life and death is an exhausting duty, requiring an unusual constitution.
Encounter * Divine, Impliment
Minor Action * Ranged 5
Target: You or one ally.
Trigger: Reduce an enemy to 0 hp.
Effect: Spend a healing surge, gain no HP, recharge your or one ally's encounter power of your choice, excepting Channel Divinity: Eternal Repose.
Special: Must posess the Eternal Repose feat.
The Hated Mother, Chaotic Evil
Other Names: Lolth, Kali, The Filth Breeder, The Queen of Spiders
A mysterious, destructive goddess, the Hated Mother is even feared by the nightmareish Shadow Fey of Ravenloft's forests and glens as the Queen of Spiders, the only diety to ever successfuly alter their kind. She has a mystery cult among the educated elite of the Core, is seen as the bringer of ruin and destructive change by the Sir Rajans, and secretly worshiped by a dozen beastly tribes as the patron of disease and decay, too horrible to even name outside of the title of her priesthood, the filth breeders. It is not nessicary to love her, it is only nessicary to fear her:
-Explore the secrets of the Mother, for the only path to knowledge is suffering, and suffering is her wine.
-Accept that all things change, and in order to change, they must be destroyed. As is the world, so is the Hated Mother.
-Spread misinformation and make learning of the Mother a fearful, painful process, for only the worthy may endure her attentions.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: A visiting teacher from the University of Tvashti has a terrible secret. Is she a priestess of Kali Worldbreaker...or the target of the cult's wrath?
Paragon Tier: A rogue Rakshaa schemes to summon the devil Ravanna in the core, safe from the Maharajah's agents, leading to a strange alliance between the PCs and the cult of the Hated Mother.
Epic Tier: A massive earthquake strikes the eastern mountains of Darkon...despite that particular region never being prone to tetonic activity before. Can the PCs survive the horrific truth behind the natural disaster before it repeats itself?
Channel Divinity: Mother of Ruin
Prerequisite: Channel Divinity, must worship The Hated Mother.
Better for the body to suffer than to earn the wrath of the Hated Mother through failure.
Encounter * Divine, Impliment
Free Action * Self
Target: Self.
Trigger: An attack(including use of a power) misses.
Effect: Use a healing surge, gain no HP. You may reroll the attack attempt.
Special: You must posess the Mother of Ruin feat.
The Wolf God, Chaotic Evil
Other Names: Kord, Gruumish, The Withered Rat, Sekmet
Hunger, pain, strength. This is the natural ritual of the world; animals know hunger, they suffer being hunted or the challange of the hunt, and the survivor becomes stronger for it. This is the fundamental tenant of the Wolf God, the many-headed savage diety of strength and savagery. Some faithful believe that the Wolf God only desires that people struggle, while others believe he demands the ritualized death of any who do not serve him, some believe that the Wolf God's tenants can be easily applied to life in the city, the social arena, or any other aspect of existance, while others scheme of a day when civilization itself is destroyed, and all creatures return to the proper, natural order of things. While these sects do not have formal names or organizations, often the Wolf God's faithful decide what direction to go in based on which local priest is strongest, as decided in ritualized trials:
-Know the way of the beast, and embrace it. To do otherwise is to deny reality.
-Challange those who would stop you, but abide by the results of a fair struggle. There's always next time.
-Respect those who follow nature's way, destroy those who reject it. If either deserves to live, they will be strong enough to defend themselves.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: A local busniessman becomes suddenly and uncharacteristicly ruthless, shocking his friends and loved ones. Is he under some fell being's control...or has he just applied the way of the Wolf God to the busniess world?
Paragon Tier: War between orthadox werewolves and heretic lycanthropes over the true nature of the Wolf God starts spilling over their territory's borders. Can the PCs stop the conflict before it becomes completly lethal? And do they even want to, or would they rather aid one side or the other in an attempt to destroy both with a timely double cross?
Epic Tier: A priest claims the PCs are examples of civilized creatures that still posess strength, and they are forced to participate in several challenges sacred to the Wolf God. If successful, they'll bring someone less insane into power over the cult, but if they fail, they're dog food...
Channel Divinity: Wolf Howl
Prerequisites: Channel Divinity class power, must worship The Wolf God.
The spilling of blood is the greatist gift a devotee of the Wolf God can offer.
Encounter * Divine
Minor Action * Close burst 5
Target: You or one ally.
Trigger: You are bloodied.
Effect: Target gains a +2 to all rolls until you are no longer bloodied, or the encounter ends.
Special: Must have the Wolf Howl feat.
The Manifold Devourer, Chaotic Evil
Other Names: Tiamat, Zhakita, Sobek, Erlin, Sehkmaa
Hunger incarnate, the eater of worlds, greed and acquisition personified, the Devourer has many names, though its most famous is currently Zhakita, part of the state religion of G'Henna, a Balok-speaking theocracy known for its mad priests and starving population. The law of the Devourer is simple: Take what you can shalt be the whole of the law, as long as you give the Devourer her cut. The average peasent hopes to ward off the Devourer with ritual sacrafice, so their crops will grow and their children will remain healthy, while more...devout creatures emulate the Starving Maw in every possible way, from land hungry warlords to greed starved merchants to knowledge obsessed wizards, anyone who's desire is more important than anything else can find a patron in the Devourer.
-Whatever you can take is yours, whatever you cannot take is undeserved.
-There is no such thing as fair play, only success and failure. Rules are just ways to convince the deluded to handicap themselves.
-The Devourer's power is not free, if you would seek aid, offer payment in advance.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: A ghost is haunting the town, demanding a portion of money from any villaiger foolish enough to look it in the eye. But is this haunting real, or an elaborate hoax?
Paragon Tier: What strange being is kidnapping young woman throughout the Domain, and what does it have to do with the promise of a local rebel group to bring 'the power of the dragon' against Falkov's armies?
Epic Tier: A Sithican Devourer cult declares itself the state religion of Sithicus for lack of a better option; can the PCs stop it from siezing power or triggering another Sithican civil war?
Channel Divinity: The Gift of Greed.
Prerequisites: Channel Divinity class ability, must worship the Manifold Devourer.
In all her guises, the Devourer teaches one absolute truth: Get while the getting's good.
Daily * Divine, Implement, Healing
Free Action Personal
Trigger: Get a critical hit in melee combat.
Effect: Gain half of the damage you cause in temporary hit points.
Special: Must posess The Gift of Greed feat.
The Great Maker, Lawful Good
Other Names: Moradin, Ioun, Tvashti, Loturr the Quickening Thunderbolt
Beloved by smiths, scholars, artists and midwives, the Great Maker governs the act of creation itself; weather as Moradin the Soul-Forger, Tvashti, the patron of the university baring his name, or even the mysterious Quickening Thunderbolt, the psuedo-scientific being that the mysterious monks of a Lamordian monestary persue with scientific precision and fiery zeal. The Maker commands:
-Learn. Learning is as breathing to sentient peoples, expanding the ability to create and the options of creation.
-Create. Creation is the most sacred of acts, adding to the world, refining the unstable, and fortifing the spirit.
-Preserve. While change is inevitable, strength is gained by making the change work for you, instead of completly bowing to its whims. When you make something, make it to last, or make it adaptable.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: A small dwarf clan begs the heroes to find an ancient relic that's prophicised to restore fertility and wealth to their family.
Paragon Tier: A scientificly oriented wizard schemes to create the ultimate flesh golem; if the PCs oppose him, he argues that isn't the creation of life the ultimate form or reverence to the Great Maker? Can the PCs trust him to not abuse his power, and can they stop the golem if it does go rogue?
Epic Tier: The Order of Guardians contacts the PCs; they've made an alliance with the University of Tvashti, hoping to gain access to dozens of Sri Rajan artifacts and lore that must be protected from those that would abuse it, but the price is high: find a way to cleanse, not destroy, a powerfuly cursed artifact before it destroys the bearer. Can the heroes do it?
Channel Divinity: The Maker's Grace
Prerequisites: Channel Divinity class power, must worship the Great Maker.
The Great Maker's faithful preserve knowledge and artifice, even at the cost of their own health.
Encounter * Divine, Healing
Minor Action Ranged 5
Effect: Spend a healing surge, recieve no hit points. Instead, repair a single damaged item, unless the item has been damaged by a curse or similar complicated power.
Special: Must posess The Maker's Grace feat.
The Divinity of Mankind
Other Names: None.
A strange philosophy that espouses the only real divinity is the spark of sentient life(some sects say exclusivly human, some are less racist.), the Divinity of Mankind is the closest thing to a philosophy allowing atheists and angostics access to divine power. The gods might exist, they might not, but the important thing is the will to power that exists within the human(oid) soul. The Diviners persue lore of the body, mind, and spirit, hoping to perfect themselves and so scientificly document the path from base material to shining divnity. The basic commands are:
-Develop your mind and body, the perfect form must be achieved, not simply fallen into.
-Explore your surroundings, all knowledge could contribute to the achievement of perfection.
-Respect your peers, objective thought is the great defense from sloppy thought and the suffering it brings.
Adventure Hooks
Heroic Tier: A caliban ally of the PCs wants to be admitted into the local Divinity of Mankind lodge, but rather than be outright barred, he's been given a seemingly impossible task to complete. Can the PCs help their friend?
Paragon Tier: The PCs must brave the sewers of Timor in order to save the lives of an exploratory party of Divines before they're forced to reveal the location of the secret lodge within Timor.
Epic Tier: A order member finally achieves apothesis...or at least she claims to. Quickly siezing control of the local lodges, the supposed demigoddess makes stranger and stranger demands...can the PCs discover her true intentions before she converts the lodge into a mummy lord's cult?
Channel Divinity: Enlightened Will
Prerequisites: Channel Divinity class power, must worship the Divinity of Mankind.
The Divinity of Mankind teaches disicpline that seems almost supernatural to outsiders.
Encounter * Divine
Interrupt Personal
Trigger: Failed Will save.
Effect: May reroll a failed Will save, using the superior roll of the two.
Special: Must take Enlightened Will feat.
Right, hence the proposed solution.cure wrote: Given the choice of either rewriting a century's worth of good fiction, including the I Strahd books & the Vampire in the Mists, to say nothing of the VRG to Vampires, or ruling that in Ravenloft most 4e vampires burn sooner or later in sunlight, I would think (perhaps mistakenly) that the choice is obvious.
Back to Dread Doppelgangers:
Proposed Solutions
Here's an idea for the combat mechanics for the dread doppelganger that doesn't involve mind reading (which I think was left out purposefully):
-) Baleful Transposition (standard; recharge 5,6)*Psychic, Teleportation
Ranged 5; Charisma vs. Will; the target and doppelganger trade spaces.
Assuming you as a GM decide that the switch has no other visible effects it could change shape as a minor, then swap with a PC. I'm not entirely sure about this idea since it might get a little complicated in execution at the table.
Another idea:
-) Read Mind (standard; sustain minor; at-will)*Psychic
Ranged 5; Charisma vs. Will; The doppelganger gains a +2 to all defenses against the target creature. The doppelganger retains this bonus as long as the effect is sustained. The doppelganger may only target one creature at a time with this power.
It's the Psycho Mantis power!
Change numbers to taste, of course. I left out the attack numbers since they're depended on dread doppelganger level, which is as of yet undetermined.
"No, but evil is still being — Is having reason — Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
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Jester of the FoS
- Jester of the Dark Comedy
- Posts: 4536
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This one bit seems a bit fuzzy for my taste (I can hear the refrains of players protesting "come on, it's OBVIOUSLY evil" already) but otherwise it looks pretty nifty. Also, you should probably specify when the effect ends. Rest of the encounter?DocBeard wrote: Channel Divinity: Beacon of Morning
Prerequsites: Channel Divinity class feature, must worship the Morninglord.
The greatist gift of the Morninglord in all of his guises is simple and underestimated: hope.
Encounter * Divine, Impliment, Radiant
Minor Action * Close burst 3
Target: Self, any one within burst.
Trigger: Reduce an undead, fiendish, or obviously evil and monsterous target to 0 HP.
Effect: All allies within the burst gain a +1 radiant bonus to attack and damage, all enemies within burst suffer a -1 radiant penalty to attack and damage.
Special: Must posess Beacon of Morning feat.
"No, but evil is still being — Is having reason — Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
I'm flattered! Thank you.Nice stuff DocBeard. I might have to steal some of that for a Fraternity conversion sheet.
Right, my bad. "Intellegent, evil aligned."-if it's Unaligned, even if it's a giant death plant or a huge dire bear, well, it's just an animal. You could refine it to undead and/or fiendish, too, if you want.This one bit seems a bit fuzzy for my taste (I can hear the refrains of players protesting "come on, it's OBVIOUSLY evil" already) but otherwise it looks pretty nifty. Also, you should probably specify when the effect ends. Rest of the encounter?
And yeah-it's just supposed to last the encounter.
Keep on the Shadowfell
So I've been reading the Ebberon and Forgotten Realms versions of H1 and I keep thinking, jeeze, throw out trying to figure out alternate rules for fear/horror/madness/powers checks for a minute, why not just adjust set dressing accordingly to make this a Ravenloft piece? Now I'm just spitballing here but I wanted to get some input (linix style, we can make this amazing if everyone puts in):
The village of Winterhaven is located in the domain of Kartakass. It is far enough away from Harmonia that it only occasionally sends merchants to trade (about every other month, save in winter). It is unseasonably warm and Harkon Lukas spends his winters there often (it is in fact winter) but hasn’t yet arrived in town (the PC’s will meet him on the way back from their first foray into the keep).
Replace mention of Orcus with Vecna, throughout the mod.
Ravenloft should be harder than a normal game. It is my advice that you look at the level of the party and increase the difficulty of encounters by 1 but never more than 2 over the party level (3 seems to be the Zen for the almost TPK).
The party should be lured here by the hook that the Weathermay-Foxgrove twins have lost their uncle, a longtime friend of the party against the darkness, and he hasn’t been seen in months. Douven’s last name is Foxgrove.
Have the Shadowfell just be an even darker version of Ravenloft (time to re-dye your blacks). I thought about whether or not to keep the planar Ravenloft problem and just decided that this should mostly be a mod with some Ravenloft flavor, as changing cosmologies could have all kinds of unknown effects on the module (as we’re only in H1).
Add some encounters based on the domain:
Kobolds aren’t very Ravenloft. Instead, replace them in the following ways. They are now:
Madcaps, Small Natural Fey
Keep all stats save that their description is: These creatures resemble children save for their long moustaches, blood-red caps, long sharp teeth and diaphanous wings on their backs that are fall too small to lift them.
After Arriving in Winterhaven:
Ninaran is a Dusk Hag, which will come up later. She still looks like an elf. She doesn’t appreciate the attention of the villagers and while she hasn’t been attacked (she literally smells funny to the wolfweres) she does clue the PC’s into the danger they’re in:
On DC 17 Diplomacy:
“I’d be careful around here if I were you. Some of the inns residents don’t always check out, which I’ve found during my stay. I can’t say why but I’d be careful about where I slept.”
Inn Fight:
Several of the villagers are actually wolfweres and attack the party before fleeing. This attack should be by surprise while they’re resting in the inn. Three wolfweres (below) and Bairwin (don’t bother with the whole added cult thing, rather just use the stats) attack after the first on the road attack. For every party member past the fifth, add a wolfwere. As soon as a wolfwere reaches bloodied it flees. They won’t answer questions about who’s a wolfwere and who’s not. If fleeing is impossible they fight to the death. They lead with Sleep, then follow by attacking in melee. Assume the room at the Inn is a cramped 2Wx4L square affair and remember to use the rules for squeezing. Beds are at each end, the second to bottom right wall has the door (which the wolfweres kick down) and the opposite wall has a large window.
A3: Replace Irontooth with Ironteeth. Use Sightless Reapers in place of Kobold Dragonshields. Dark Servants replace Kobold Skirmishers.
Add 1 social encounter challenges where they get to meet Harkon Lukas and either impresses him with their singing or he sends packs of wolves to kill them after courteously leaving. Until I read this section of the DMG someone else will have to write this up.
Replace Hobgoblin Soldiers with Skeletons and the hobgoblin artillery with Dark Casters from the Forgotten Realms adaptation
The gnome has poisoned Douven Foxgrove and the antidote is held by Kalaran. Douven explains that Kalaran wanted his help on the dig but that he wouldn’t give in to evil:
“In this dark world it seems tempting even when one’s life is on the line to fall to it. They offered me the antidote if I would help on the dig but I would not. Now I’m doomed to slowly rot to death as the Zomboo poison slowly rots my limbs. Please fight Kalarel and if he should have the antidote he promised bring it back to me.”
This provides some more tension for the party and strengthens the resolve to enter the keep and confront Kalarel. Also seeing the wretched state of their friend will motivate them to act quicker.
Shadow wolves are useful as well and can provide some relief from the repetitive kobold encounters by replacing some of those with Lurker based encounters instead
Wolfwere:
Use werewolves and replace silver with Cold Iron and replace Bloodrage with Sleep (wizard, +2 vs. Will). -5 to all attacks initiative, and defenses, -2 damage takes to CR 3.
__________________
"If hope was at the bottom of Pandora's box then that means that not only did the god's think that hope was an evil, but that it was also the first evil they thought to save humanity from..."
-Some people on the Cthulhu d20 board
The village of Winterhaven is located in the domain of Kartakass. It is far enough away from Harmonia that it only occasionally sends merchants to trade (about every other month, save in winter). It is unseasonably warm and Harkon Lukas spends his winters there often (it is in fact winter) but hasn’t yet arrived in town (the PC’s will meet him on the way back from their first foray into the keep).
Replace mention of Orcus with Vecna, throughout the mod.
Ravenloft should be harder than a normal game. It is my advice that you look at the level of the party and increase the difficulty of encounters by 1 but never more than 2 over the party level (3 seems to be the Zen for the almost TPK).
The party should be lured here by the hook that the Weathermay-Foxgrove twins have lost their uncle, a longtime friend of the party against the darkness, and he hasn’t been seen in months. Douven’s last name is Foxgrove.
Have the Shadowfell just be an even darker version of Ravenloft (time to re-dye your blacks). I thought about whether or not to keep the planar Ravenloft problem and just decided that this should mostly be a mod with some Ravenloft flavor, as changing cosmologies could have all kinds of unknown effects on the module (as we’re only in H1).
Add some encounters based on the domain:
Kobolds aren’t very Ravenloft. Instead, replace them in the following ways. They are now:
Madcaps, Small Natural Fey
Keep all stats save that their description is: These creatures resemble children save for their long moustaches, blood-red caps, long sharp teeth and diaphanous wings on their backs that are fall too small to lift them.
After Arriving in Winterhaven:
Ninaran is a Dusk Hag, which will come up later. She still looks like an elf. She doesn’t appreciate the attention of the villagers and while she hasn’t been attacked (she literally smells funny to the wolfweres) she does clue the PC’s into the danger they’re in:
On DC 17 Diplomacy:
“I’d be careful around here if I were you. Some of the inns residents don’t always check out, which I’ve found during my stay. I can’t say why but I’d be careful about where I slept.”
Inn Fight:
Several of the villagers are actually wolfweres and attack the party before fleeing. This attack should be by surprise while they’re resting in the inn. Three wolfweres (below) and Bairwin (don’t bother with the whole added cult thing, rather just use the stats) attack after the first on the road attack. For every party member past the fifth, add a wolfwere. As soon as a wolfwere reaches bloodied it flees. They won’t answer questions about who’s a wolfwere and who’s not. If fleeing is impossible they fight to the death. They lead with Sleep, then follow by attacking in melee. Assume the room at the Inn is a cramped 2Wx4L square affair and remember to use the rules for squeezing. Beds are at each end, the second to bottom right wall has the door (which the wolfweres kick down) and the opposite wall has a large window.
A3: Replace Irontooth with Ironteeth. Use Sightless Reapers in place of Kobold Dragonshields. Dark Servants replace Kobold Skirmishers.
Add 1 social encounter challenges where they get to meet Harkon Lukas and either impresses him with their singing or he sends packs of wolves to kill them after courteously leaving. Until I read this section of the DMG someone else will have to write this up.
Replace Hobgoblin Soldiers with Skeletons and the hobgoblin artillery with Dark Casters from the Forgotten Realms adaptation
The gnome has poisoned Douven Foxgrove and the antidote is held by Kalaran. Douven explains that Kalaran wanted his help on the dig but that he wouldn’t give in to evil:
“In this dark world it seems tempting even when one’s life is on the line to fall to it. They offered me the antidote if I would help on the dig but I would not. Now I’m doomed to slowly rot to death as the Zomboo poison slowly rots my limbs. Please fight Kalarel and if he should have the antidote he promised bring it back to me.”
This provides some more tension for the party and strengthens the resolve to enter the keep and confront Kalarel. Also seeing the wretched state of their friend will motivate them to act quicker.
Shadow wolves are useful as well and can provide some relief from the repetitive kobold encounters by replacing some of those with Lurker based encounters instead
Wolfwere:
Use werewolves and replace silver with Cold Iron and replace Bloodrage with Sleep (wizard, +2 vs. Will). -5 to all attacks initiative, and defenses, -2 damage takes to CR 3.
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"If hope was at the bottom of Pandora's box then that means that not only did the god's think that hope was an evil, but that it was also the first evil they thought to save humanity from..."
-Some people on the Cthulhu d20 board
Examining Isolde again, I believe she should be an Angel of Vengeance.
I'm sure you're all thinking "well, duh."
Originally I did NOT like the angelic role she was locked into, but I'm now convinced it's fine. Once Isolde was sent to Ravenloft, she was permanently cut off from her deity (whoever that was). Her decision to take care of Carnival rather than devoting all of her existence to pursuing the GC was a choice on her part, her accepting that she no longer had a god to tell her what to do and that she was now master of herself. In many ways, Carnival is as much a new start for her as well as all the troupers.
Changes to her ought to be minor:
-She's locked into human form, so she loses her flight speed. Likewise, some of her abilities need a paint job (she does not turn into a a pillar of blue flame when bloodied, but she could be surrounded by it).
-She's only supposed to have one longsword (although I can't see who would care if she had two, save perhaps Prof. Pacali).
-2e gave her paladin abilities in exchange for losing her alternate form. I don't really think she needs them in 4e, but she might get some Paladin class features (probably Divine Challenge and Lay on Hands) if you want to give them to her.
I was thinking of upping her to a solo build but decided against it. Not only will she usually have a few troupers with her, but she's already tough enough to beat the tar out of most things (including Hazlik, who we know she defeated and left him begging for his life). I'm still not convinced her reality wrinkle needs to be written up. What would you even say? 60 square aura, Isolde can do whatever she wants within the area, except for some arbitrarily decided things the Dark Powers say she can't do? What's the point of even tacking that on? Belongs solely in the realm of fluff, IMO.
I'm sure you're all thinking "well, duh."
Originally I did NOT like the angelic role she was locked into, but I'm now convinced it's fine. Once Isolde was sent to Ravenloft, she was permanently cut off from her deity (whoever that was). Her decision to take care of Carnival rather than devoting all of her existence to pursuing the GC was a choice on her part, her accepting that she no longer had a god to tell her what to do and that she was now master of herself. In many ways, Carnival is as much a new start for her as well as all the troupers.
Changes to her ought to be minor:
-She's locked into human form, so she loses her flight speed. Likewise, some of her abilities need a paint job (she does not turn into a a pillar of blue flame when bloodied, but she could be surrounded by it).
-She's only supposed to have one longsword (although I can't see who would care if she had two, save perhaps Prof. Pacali).
-2e gave her paladin abilities in exchange for losing her alternate form. I don't really think she needs them in 4e, but she might get some Paladin class features (probably Divine Challenge and Lay on Hands) if you want to give them to her.
I was thinking of upping her to a solo build but decided against it. Not only will she usually have a few troupers with her, but she's already tough enough to beat the tar out of most things (including Hazlik, who we know she defeated and left him begging for his life). I'm still not convinced her reality wrinkle needs to be written up. What would you even say? 60 square aura, Isolde can do whatever she wants within the area, except for some arbitrarily decided things the Dark Powers say she can't do? What's the point of even tacking that on? Belongs solely in the realm of fluff, IMO.
"No, but evil is still being — Is having reason — Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
Off the top of my head, Isolde and anyone in her reality wrinkle can waltz through otherwise closed domain borders, can likewise escape Strahd's fog about the village of Barovia, are not subject to the Dread Possibility of the Smothering of Reason when in Lamordia, cannot be betrayed by any spell they cast when in Hazlan, might actually be able to penetrate unharmed the death shroud about Il Aluk(!). Good stuff all. Additionally, any magic that stops at the border, likewise ceases. So a thrall of Dominic would stop being one in Isolde's presence.
The cure for what ails you
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Mistress of Mockery
- Conspirator
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 5:51 am
I don't know too too much about Ravenloft (I got whatever I can get from the internet and my Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, plus whatever little bits from Dragon) so I can't be all that much help. I just decided to redo the Knight of the Raven prestige class as a paragon path. It's probably not the greatest, but *shrugs*.
Knight of the Raven
“The raven is not a god – it’s a symbol. A symbol of virtue, of light in the darkness, of life and vitality in the face of death.”
Prerequisites: Paladin or Cleric class; member of the Order of the Raven organization
Your commitment and dedication to righteousness leads you along the path of the Knight of the Raven. You become the pinnacle of undead bane and a symbol of hope and virtue. With every undead slain the beacon of light grows, and it is your job to keep the crumbling order that keeps this light steady alive. You are one of the proud and few Knights of the Raven.
Knight of the Raven Path Features
Raven’s Action (11th level): When you spend an action point to take an extra action, you can also choose an enemy within 5 squares of you. That enemy is surprised until the beginning of your next turn.
Undead Bane (11th level): Whenever attacking undead creatures any roll of 19 or 20 is considered a critical hit.
Searing Blade (16th level): Your attacks ignore the resistance of undead creatures.
Knight of the Raven Prayers
Smite Undead Knight of the Raven Attack 11
Your blade glows for an instant, burning with divine light that pierces undead flesh easily.
Encounter + Divine, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Target: One undead creature
Attack: Strength + 4 vs. AC
Hit: 3[W] damage. The target is marked.
Burst of Vitality Knight of the Raven Utility 12
Your heart jump at the shear number of undead surrounding you but something within doesn’t give up.
Encounter + Divine, Healing
Standard Action Personal
Effect: You may spend a healing surge. In addition to the regained hit points, you gain resistance necrotic 5 for a number of rounds equal to your level.
Light in the Darkness Knight of the Raven Attack 20
You unleash radiant light from your blade, burning the flesh of the undead shambling towards you.
Encounter + Divine, Radiant
Standard Action Close burst 5
Target: Each undead creature in burst
Attack: Wisdom vs. Will
Hit: 5d12 + Wisdom modifier radiant damage, and the target is stunned until the end of your next turn.
Some notes -
I know that the Knights of the Raven are supposed to get a raven harrier thingy and be able to talk to ravens and whatnot, but the wizard lacked a familiar so I was kind of lost with what to do with it. I don't think it would hurt to make a paragon feat for Knights of the Raven (ouch, though, feats for paragon paths?) that allowed them to talk to ravens at will. Perhaps, though, the raven familiar could just be a fluff thing. The game focuses a lot more on combat now, so things like raven familiars and speaking to ravens is hard to do (as there's no feats/powers to base it on).
Anyways, I think it looks pretty good for a 5:30 in the morning thing...
Knight of the Raven
“The raven is not a god – it’s a symbol. A symbol of virtue, of light in the darkness, of life and vitality in the face of death.”
Prerequisites: Paladin or Cleric class; member of the Order of the Raven organization
Your commitment and dedication to righteousness leads you along the path of the Knight of the Raven. You become the pinnacle of undead bane and a symbol of hope and virtue. With every undead slain the beacon of light grows, and it is your job to keep the crumbling order that keeps this light steady alive. You are one of the proud and few Knights of the Raven.
Knight of the Raven Path Features
Raven’s Action (11th level): When you spend an action point to take an extra action, you can also choose an enemy within 5 squares of you. That enemy is surprised until the beginning of your next turn.
Undead Bane (11th level): Whenever attacking undead creatures any roll of 19 or 20 is considered a critical hit.
Searing Blade (16th level): Your attacks ignore the resistance of undead creatures.
Knight of the Raven Prayers
Smite Undead Knight of the Raven Attack 11
Your blade glows for an instant, burning with divine light that pierces undead flesh easily.
Encounter + Divine, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Target: One undead creature
Attack: Strength + 4 vs. AC
Hit: 3[W] damage. The target is marked.
Burst of Vitality Knight of the Raven Utility 12
Your heart jump at the shear number of undead surrounding you but something within doesn’t give up.
Encounter + Divine, Healing
Standard Action Personal
Effect: You may spend a healing surge. In addition to the regained hit points, you gain resistance necrotic 5 for a number of rounds equal to your level.
Light in the Darkness Knight of the Raven Attack 20
You unleash radiant light from your blade, burning the flesh of the undead shambling towards you.
Encounter + Divine, Radiant
Standard Action Close burst 5
Target: Each undead creature in burst
Attack: Wisdom vs. Will
Hit: 5d12 + Wisdom modifier radiant damage, and the target is stunned until the end of your next turn.
Some notes -
I know that the Knights of the Raven are supposed to get a raven harrier thingy and be able to talk to ravens and whatnot, but the wizard lacked a familiar so I was kind of lost with what to do with it. I don't think it would hurt to make a paragon feat for Knights of the Raven (ouch, though, feats for paragon paths?) that allowed them to talk to ravens at will. Perhaps, though, the raven familiar could just be a fluff thing. The game focuses a lot more on combat now, so things like raven familiars and speaking to ravens is hard to do (as there's no feats/powers to base it on).
Anyways, I think it looks pretty good for a 5:30 in the morning thing...