About the timeline, I gradually added a thousand years to it, otherwise Dementlieu would be only about 40 years old, which means a large part of the population would still remember the old days before RL ! Current year is 1747 (when Mallocchio, son of Gabrielle Aderre, is revealed to be the next Dukkar). Suggested current time in the book would be 1751.
The grand conjunction happened a bit over 100 years ago in 1640. That way, populations living near the great rift somehow have managed to get used to it and some local legends and histories had time to develop.
Dementlieu will be over 400 years old.
One of my PC is a scholar from Dementlieu so I must tell him a bit more about the history of his land. I’m not sure if I want to use the false history option. How can false history work? Let’s say Dementlieufolks believe they have always been part of the core and that everything is fine as it used to be, how can he accept the fact that all its neighbors are saying, no guys, there was only mist just a few years ago and you're just newbies to the core!
No, by adding a thousand years to the time line, new domains don't pop up every year so it is a rare occurrence but it does happen and it is part of the history books and people accept it as part of the normal creation of the world process the same way we accept volcanic and geological events as being "normal".
Actually, many enterprising folks brave the mist, trying to find new lands... most never come back. Ships are leaving Port-A-lucine to trade with Lamordia and Mordent but also, sometimes to explore the sea of sorrow, trying to find a new fortune. Most never come back. Sometimes, rarely, a ship come back full of treasure just to fuel the myth.
In my game when the PC will arrive in Port-A-Lucine, there will be a grand exposition of pharaonic treasures from the Amber wastes (Somehow a ship landed somewhere and the crew managed to walk in the desert through the mist and into this cluster, they came back with all this treasure...and a curse). I plan to build an adventure starting in Dementlieu involving the opera house, the pharaonic exposition and some curse. Everything Har'Akirish is the new fashion in town. Even the opera house is presenting something similar to the opera Aida. The "egyptolog" will be looking for brave adventurers to return a second time to this place...
Back on subject, my players will certainly ask questions about the history of Dementlieu and the surrounding domains. I better be ready with a believable answer (which doesn't need to be true) if I don't want to lose them.
Why DMs don't like Ravenloft or Cannon powder and fine wine
-
wolfgang_fener
- Agent of the Fraternity
- Posts: 93
- Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2006 10:32 am
- Location: Quebec/Canada
-
Scipion_Emilien
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 246
- Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2005 6:54 pm
To answer your governor question, the term "governor" mean more generally someone who govern in the name of someone else. You could have a governess in your house if you have the money. In your colonial exemple, the governor govern in the name of the metropolis of the empire.wolfgang_fener wrote:Another complain : The Governor.
Did these guys cared to check what a governor is ? I guess not.
I mean what kind of political system is this ?
Here's the Wikipedia defenition : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor
Usually a governor is in charge of a colonie and is placed under an higher ranking lord.
For exemple, if the current governor dies, who will take his place ? Will it be his heir or will the council vote for the next one or will all the noble will vote for the next governor? Can any citizen become a governor or is it limited to a pre-determined elite of noble family ? Can a wealthy merchant buy a title of nobility ?
Anybody have more info or ideas from their own game to share about the political system of Dementlieu ?
In the case of Dementlieu, Dementlieu is rule by the aristocratics and nobles families who elect the governor for life. I guess this election is made in an exceptional assembly like the États Généraux in France or how the pope is elect, but with only the representants of the noble family who can vote. (Hence the title of governement as an aristocratic republic and not a dictatorial state).
So the governor govern Dementlieu in the name of the aristocracy. The governor can then choose advisor to help him govern. Those advisors then form the council of brillance.
So in theory the Dementlieu republic governement would be like that:
1 Aristocratics families
. |
2 The lord governor
. |
3 The council of brillance
4 The people
Now, most of the people who read the threads in this forums know that in reality, things can change from what it is in theory. And the Dementlieu governement is no exception...
You could have most of this information in the Gazetteer 3, the first paragraph of the governemental section. If you are interested in RL politics, economy, etc. I strongly suggest you try to grab hem.
Hi all,
I also had some difficulty DMing RL at least in the start, when I still thought that I really had to create horror for the players. It doesn't work, and I quit that. Which means that I have the conscience my campaign is not as dark as it is supposed to be, at least as you get from reading the books. And yet, I'm happy with it as it is, and getting happier by the time.
There are some reasons for this, but I think the first is a reduction of expectation from my part. I see the players having fun, laughing and cracking jokes and I no longer care about the mood, even when at times it gets silly, and I feel repaid when I see them suddenly getting amazed at some conclusion that suddenly becomes evident for them: as happened in the last session when one of them found he had gained low-light vision from a failed PC.
I think the best part in my campaign now is that the players are really, honestly trying to play their characters and that makes it worthwhile for everybody. The tone and feel is still very different from common fantasy, with all the gypsies, undead, mysteries and werewolves around, it doesn't feel epic and the players still feel they don't anything in a grand scale, and yet they like it, I think they feel comfortable in there.
They know I don't kill them easily, they have had time to develop their characters and especially the intra-group relations. I've told them that I no longer stress much on horror, but they've began asking me to roll horror checks... gosh, they must have liked the first ones they failed and now want to repeat, even when they roleplay it so well that no roll is necessary.
But for me, as a DM, it has only gotten better from the moment that I decided 'this will be just fantasy, perhaps with a darker mood and a very marked theme, but this is not horror, this is not to scare the players, this is not to screw their characters, this is not to kill them'. Actually, I never intended to kill characters, and in 55 sessions, only 1 death has happened... although some near-deaths have repeatedly occurred.
Alex
I also had some difficulty DMing RL at least in the start, when I still thought that I really had to create horror for the players. It doesn't work, and I quit that. Which means that I have the conscience my campaign is not as dark as it is supposed to be, at least as you get from reading the books. And yet, I'm happy with it as it is, and getting happier by the time.
There are some reasons for this, but I think the first is a reduction of expectation from my part. I see the players having fun, laughing and cracking jokes and I no longer care about the mood, even when at times it gets silly, and I feel repaid when I see them suddenly getting amazed at some conclusion that suddenly becomes evident for them: as happened in the last session when one of them found he had gained low-light vision from a failed PC.
I think the best part in my campaign now is that the players are really, honestly trying to play their characters and that makes it worthwhile for everybody. The tone and feel is still very different from common fantasy, with all the gypsies, undead, mysteries and werewolves around, it doesn't feel epic and the players still feel they don't anything in a grand scale, and yet they like it, I think they feel comfortable in there.
They know I don't kill them easily, they have had time to develop their characters and especially the intra-group relations. I've told them that I no longer stress much on horror, but they've began asking me to roll horror checks... gosh, they must have liked the first ones they failed and now want to repeat, even when they roleplay it so well that no roll is necessary.
But for me, as a DM, it has only gotten better from the moment that I decided 'this will be just fantasy, perhaps with a darker mood and a very marked theme, but this is not horror, this is not to scare the players, this is not to screw their characters, this is not to kill them'. Actually, I never intended to kill characters, and in 55 sessions, only 1 death has happened... although some near-deaths have repeatedly occurred.
Alex
Zumba d'Oxossi (A Stitch in Souragne)
Brother Eustace (The Devil's Dreams)
Robert de Moureaux (A New Barovia)
Brother Eustace (The Devil's Dreams)
Robert de Moureaux (A New Barovia)
-
wolfgang_fener
- Agent of the Fraternity
- Posts: 93
- Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2006 10:32 am
- Location: Quebec/Canada
Thanks Scipion, I'll take a look.
Ail, Horror needs contrast. Without light, there's no shadows. You need just enough light to spread the shadows. I agree it is not possible nor desirable to keep the players continually stressed.
In any case, the goal of a good DM should never be to continually grind at the PCs. Most players like RPGs as long as they feel they are building something. It is important not to complettely rob them of this feeling of accomplishment. Then again, contrast is the key. If you want the PCs to suddenly feel lost and far away from home, they must have had the feeling of being at home first. If you want them to be sad at an NPC's death, you must first make sure they had the time to build a relationship. Sometimes it is also better to let them keep what I call a pillar. This pillar may be their home base or an important NPC or anything they gravitate around or rely to. It is important in any gaming world but even more so in Ravenloft.
I only recently foud out one long standing NPC in my game is such a pillar. I didn't know about it until I had the chance to talk about him with the players. That evening I was not in perfect shape and I was aving trouble speaking his voice properly. One of the player was shocke because it was making sound stupid !
That NPC is far from stupid, he's a young elven bladesigner (fighter-mage) with an intelligence of 16 that I always try to role play adequately. He's the only elf they have ever see in the campaign, he's a bit detached, always speaking as if he's just a temporary spectator of this whole human madness. He often advise the group about very important matters as if he was just looking over the shoulders of peoples playing a strategic boardgame and just advising on the next move. I try to show this in his voice tone.
He first followed the PC because they had been extremely helpfull to him in the past but now, he does so mostly because the PCs entertain him (and because he's stock in RL anyway). At first I was busy with another NPC and this elf was just tagging along. Now that they lost teh other NPC, the elf remains the voice of the DM in the game. Since the guy is wise, the PCs trust him and have come to see him as some kind of lighthouse. Honestly I didn't know about it and I was about to torture the poor NPC to death pretty soon. Finally I wont. I found out it would be a big mistake because many players have somehow built their own character around this NPC and are not psychologically strong enough to stand on their own. It is difficult to explain in words (in part because english is not my first language). Anyway, my point is that sometimes you need to leave something to cling to to your players. I'm very happy it's an NPC and not some magical item or material treasure.
Ail, Horror needs contrast. Without light, there's no shadows. You need just enough light to spread the shadows. I agree it is not possible nor desirable to keep the players continually stressed.
In any case, the goal of a good DM should never be to continually grind at the PCs. Most players like RPGs as long as they feel they are building something. It is important not to complettely rob them of this feeling of accomplishment. Then again, contrast is the key. If you want the PCs to suddenly feel lost and far away from home, they must have had the feeling of being at home first. If you want them to be sad at an NPC's death, you must first make sure they had the time to build a relationship. Sometimes it is also better to let them keep what I call a pillar. This pillar may be their home base or an important NPC or anything they gravitate around or rely to. It is important in any gaming world but even more so in Ravenloft.
I only recently foud out one long standing NPC in my game is such a pillar. I didn't know about it until I had the chance to talk about him with the players. That evening I was not in perfect shape and I was aving trouble speaking his voice properly. One of the player was shocke because it was making sound stupid !
That NPC is far from stupid, he's a young elven bladesigner (fighter-mage) with an intelligence of 16 that I always try to role play adequately. He's the only elf they have ever see in the campaign, he's a bit detached, always speaking as if he's just a temporary spectator of this whole human madness. He often advise the group about very important matters as if he was just looking over the shoulders of peoples playing a strategic boardgame and just advising on the next move. I try to show this in his voice tone.
He first followed the PC because they had been extremely helpfull to him in the past but now, he does so mostly because the PCs entertain him (and because he's stock in RL anyway). At first I was busy with another NPC and this elf was just tagging along. Now that they lost teh other NPC, the elf remains the voice of the DM in the game. Since the guy is wise, the PCs trust him and have come to see him as some kind of lighthouse. Honestly I didn't know about it and I was about to torture the poor NPC to death pretty soon. Finally I wont. I found out it would be a big mistake because many players have somehow built their own character around this NPC and are not psychologically strong enough to stand on their own. It is difficult to explain in words (in part because english is not my first language). Anyway, my point is that sometimes you need to leave something to cling to to your players. I'm very happy it's an NPC and not some magical item or material treasure.