QTR 29 - comments and reviews

[Mistmaster]

Aayid al-Farra, by the way, would be a perfect example for the Pathfinder Rogue Archetype of the Frontier Barber I developed in my Markovnia.

[KingCorn]

Actually, all the mad science of the Falkovnian army makes we wonder what they supply chains and warcamps are like. Do they have a specific alchemy station, or specialized treatment tents for drug administration? You could have lamordian trained war medics working round the clock patching men up and pumping them with enough drugs to become frankensteinian berserkers. Hell, soldiers emerging out of a treatment tent and back onto the battlefield probably look and act like a bunch of rampaging flesh golems such that you couldn't tell the difference.

[Jack the Reaper]

If you download the pdf again you 'll get the corrected version with the footnotes and Jack the Reapers name corrected.

That's the most important thing! Thanks.

If anyone have read my articles, I would like to know what ideas you liked the most.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Same, of course. ^_^

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Quick notification: I've done a brief writeup of issue #29 on Mistipedia.
Quoth the Raven 29.
I invite all authors to come and update the item as needed.

[Speedwagon]

What an amazing issue of QtR! Everything in here has been absolutely amazing in terms of the sheer quantity and detail, and I'm more than happy to say that I'll be using all of these for my homebrew Ravenloft campaign. All those different versions of Markovia (plus the Sea of Sorrows Gazetteer preview and extra adventures) will come in extra handy for my current Saturday group, as I'm running a modified "Neither Man nor Beast" for them (with not just Akanga and the doctor on the island but Falkovnian troops of the Ministry of Science and King Crocodile's lizardfolk all trying to get Markov to work for them).

Plus, the Teufeulomance stuff is actually really cool! I used the map for the 5e VRGTR book for Borca (where my players started out) and in it, there's a place called the Scholomance. Having played World of Warcraft and hearing such a name, I researched it and learned of the Romanian legends of the Solomanari and the school run by the devil with 7 students, along with the fact that a group of content-makers on Patreon (the Lunch Break Heroes) made their own Scholomance supplement for Borca based off of the Romanian historical info and the little pieces of lore in the 5e book. So I ran that version of Scholomance (which was pretty detailed and also had a shadow dragon in the map provided by the Lunch Break Heroes) for my Ravenloft group, and they had a fun time there (it was a mist portal in the Scholomance that took them to Markovia, as the wizards of the Scholomance made a deal with Dr. Markov regarding the creation of Broken Ones in my heavily altered not-very-canon-compliant Ravenloft campaign). All this fluff to say, I read Mephisto's Teufelomance article and cursed myself for not using that too, cuz it's soooo good and so detailed! Well, I can always say that there's been more than one 'evil cabal/school' in the Balinoks region!

The stuff on the Richemuloise watch companies, the Falkovnian ministry of science, all that was great! And I really like the stuff that Rock did with the Centurions of the Night and the links with his original creations like Anaides and the Red Haunt. I was wondering when Rock would post more about the Wartorn Cluster either in a direct or tangential fashion, and this really sated my hunger for updates! Great to see Mistworld content as always, along with some love given to Pharazia and G'Henna. Plus the work of Jack the Reaper and the Bleysmith Family stuff and so much more, there's not enough message space to say it all, so I'll just say this: this is amazing and I'm so glad to be able to see it and appreciate all the members of the community who managed to work on this! I hope that someday, my (admittedly very homebrew) interpretation of the Mists can grace the pages of such an esteemed tome of dark lore!

Finally, please continue ChibiLoft! It's a welcome addition to the Gazetteers and the humor style is very endearing, and a good way to take a break in between massive QtR bundles like these (not that I complain too much)!

[Rock of the Fraternity]

What an amazing issue of QtR! Everything in here has been absolutely amazing in terms of the sheer quantity and detail, and I'm more than happy to say that I'll be using all of these for my homebrew Ravenloft campaign.

Hey, thanks! Please if you can, do let us know how it works out and how your players like everything.

I really like the stuff that Rock did with the Centurions of the Night and the links with his original creations like Anaides and the Red Haunt. I was wondering when Rock would post more about the Wartorn Cluster either in a direct or tangential fashion, and this really sated my hunger for updates!

Aww, you'll make me blush. It's wonderful to know people are looking forward to find out more about my original work. I'm planning something fairly big for next year's Quoth the Raven that'll be all about the Wartorn Cluster. I look forward to seeing what you'll think of it (but I'm not revealing what it is just yet).

I hope that someday, my (admittedly very homebrew) interpretation of the Mists can grace the pages of such an esteemed tome of dark lore!

Heck, if you've got an article, shoot it over! We'll read it, we'll proof it, and you too can see your name in Quoth the Raven.

Finally, please continue ChibiLoft! It's a welcome addition to the Gazetteers and the humor style is very endearing, and a good way to take a break in between massive QtR bundles like these (not that I complain too much)!

I'm smiling so much right now, you have no idea. Fear not, for I have no intention of stopping Chibiloft! ... No matter how much anyone begs. The chibis have plenty more adventures to muck up -- experience! I said experience, you can't prove anything.

[IanFordam]

The Pride Eater

I will admit that I beelined to this article. I've been running "Circle of Darkness" for nearly two years now, and so I've been neck-deep in G'Hennan lore. The Pride Eater, as (barely) described in that adventure, did not particularly catch my interest, so I appreciate that Mephisto has fleshed it out (so to speak) into something that does. Although there's the appropriate amount of crunch, what I really appreciated was Bogdan Sandu's history.

And it's always good to see my buddy Jugo Hesketh again!

[IanFordam]

Aayid al-Farra, by the way, would be a perfect example for the Pathfinder Rogue Archetype of the Frontier Barber I developed in my Markovnia.

Article synergy achieved!

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Once again just want to say, love the Falkovnia stuff from Mephisto. The many drugs reminds me of the methamphetimine problem that plagued the German army in WW2 (no doubt the inspiration for the section)

Indeed it was, I liked your mental image of "medical" tents for administration in the battlefield, I hadn't thought of it much, I was more fixed in the aftermath of a campaign with many drug addict veterans trying to cope in the cities.

I loved the Twisting Tower with its many headed dragon of Romanian legend (far better than my trapped Red Abishai Zmeu)

Thanks I searched for the Zmeu and they are similar, I think I am going to use that in another article I have been working on for some time but had not found the right background or nature of a particular 2e darklord...
No I am not saying who...

and I especially love Markovia. It had everything I expected that the domain would bring it: frontier towns and opportunists that where taken with the Conjunction. I loved the attempts to give Markov more personality, like his hypocritical vanity and self-obsession, as well as his hobbies. Giving darklords simple mundane hobbies I feel just gives them so much more life.

Thanks! some of the ideas for the settlements are Rotipher's (past FoS member) I just worked on them and changed some. Rotipher also hd the interesting idea of having Markov's gorilla form being incapacitated from torture on the Table of Life (with minus on that forms Dex). While I liked the idea I had the image of Markov changing forms constantly to heal himself so there was no reason to just focus on that form alone. I developed the idea to have disjoined bones on his legs (or hind legs) and gave him a movement disability as found in critical hits rules. Markov's vanity was inspired by the official Ravenloft Markov miniature where he is not dressed in robes but in "fancy" clothes. There had to be a way how to use that miniature after so many decades...

https://www.google.com/search?q=frantis ... 04&dpr=1.1

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Plus, the Teufeulomance stuff is actually really cool! I used the map for the 5e VRGTR book for Borca (where my players started out) and in it, there's a place called the Scholomance. ... I read Mephisto's Teufelomance article and cursed myself for not using that too, cuz it's soooo good and so detailed! Well, I can always say that there's been more than one 'evil cabal/school' in the Balinoks region!

I han't seen the Scholomance village in Borca 5e before, well this could be adapted for there too I guess. I learned about it before I began writing Secrets of the Twisted Tower I came upon the historical cabal while searching a background for the Gundarak cabal mentioned in the White Wolf Ravenloft Gazetteer I,which I was about t use ages ago while creating Feast of Golblyns part II for my group which we never played. While writing other articles I thought of making one for that obscure cabal (since the theme was secrets [societies]), I am glad you liked it. I personally thought that the dragon was a bit too high fantasy for Ravenloft but gave it a try nonetheless, trying to make it as more fitting to the campaign setting as I could.

The stuff on the Richemuloise watch companies, the Falkovnian ministry of science, all that was great!

Thank you. I am going to finish the heraldry soon for the final version and there are more Falkovnian inventions that didn't make it to this on so I am going to have one next yer too.

I hope that someday, my (admittedly very homebrew) interpretation of the Mists can grace the pages of such an esteemed tome of dark lore!

Please do!

[IanFordam]

People of the Misty Hollows

Despite knowing nothing of Etharis or Grim Hollow, I enjoyed this article, in particular the discussion of how the characteristics of each race might be incorporated into a particular PC or NPC's story.

[IanFordam]

The Cyclops' Legacy II

The Faceclay is seriously creepy.

I also like the Stone Soup. It's such a straightforward, practical idea, and it's not directly related to bloodshed. Really, it's a wonder that Drakov approved the project in the first place.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

The Faceclay is seriously creepy.

Adapted/inspired from Batman: The Animated Series episode "Feat of Clay"

I also like the Stone Soup. It's such a straightforward, practical idea, and it's not directly related to bloodshed.

Stone Soup is a European folk story in which hungry strangers convince the people of a town to each share a small amount of their food in order to make a meal that everyone enjoys, and exists as a moral regarding the value of sharing. What better than distort the fable's moral lesson into something else...

In varying traditions, the stone has been replaced with other common inedible objects, and therefore the fable is also known as axe soup, button soup, nail soup, and wood soup. In the French, Hungarian and Russian versions of the tale, the travelers are soldiers returning home.

Really, it's a wonder that Drakov approved the project in the first place.

Well Drakov is no fool, he is an experienced commander of troops, it is his curse and Ravenloft's nature that makes him fail repeatedly, along with his taboos on what warfare and fighting is. The distaste of magic and the belief that gunpowder is a coward's weapon are the things that make him look like a fool but in reality he is a victim of his own prejudice. In the end he is just human with faults (many faults that is ).

[Mistmaster]

I agree, even if I downplayed those distaste and prejudices (Fire arms in my ravenloft are simply too expensive for equipping whole armies with, and my Drakov does employs a Minister of Magic). My Drakov actually has won every battle he fought in. He did conquer lands, only he keeps losing it because he us too stubborn to delegate.