New Shades are gathering...

[Mistmaster]

Her domain is all pink then, lol. Maybe she is a wereboar Cleric of a deity of gluttony, and, as a youth, she used to starve; she became a follower of her deity to sate her hunger, and she woved to never starve again, on the point she started gorging food becaming obese; maybe she imposed her faith to a whole nation, andthat nation consumeda vast quantiti of resotces, forcing it to wage war on neigbouring countries; when they were defeated, and the people starved, she took all the food and locked hereself, alone with the food in her temple-fortress, feasting while a whole country starved; then the mist arose.

[Jack the Reaper]

Hehe. Definitely pink and slimy. I thought more on the lines of a psychological complex, twisted body image, harmful relationships etc. But I leave the details for the readers.

[Jack the Reaper]

Ra'am
Ra'am, the Master Fighter, is the most powerful warrior in a domain of eternal struggle, inspired by Mortal Kombat and The Hunger Games. Under perpetual storm clouds, all those trapped in the domain must fight each other in various arenas, in order to advance to higher stages of the tournament, and finally defeat Ra'am himself. Those who are killed are reincarnated later, having to resume the fighting from the beginning. Even close friends, lovers and family members must eventually face each other in vicious battle, for there could be only one winner in the games. Everyone believe that defeating Ra'am is the only way to escape, but in truth the winner will just take his place; there might be other ways out for those who don't play by the rules. Ra'am is a truly legendary warrior who can take the shape and powers of anyone he ever defeated, and great warriors from many worlds are drawn to his domain.

[Mistmaster]

Well, if he despises fighting it would be the perfect curse.

[Jack the Reaper]

I need your advice: I want to make a domain inhabited by cat-headed felinoids, ruled by a queen (who is the darklord). What do you think such a domain should look like, in order to be strange, creepy and surrealistic, fitting the Ravenloft atmosphere, rather than being just a regular D&D humanoid culture? Can you think of any interesting twist or dark aspect of the realm?

[Mistmaster]

Well, maybe the felinoids are, in truth, regular felines turned anthropomorphic by theyr queen's magic; So, they behave, mostly, as theyr species do, albeit more intelligent than usual; theyr domain may be a jungle or a maze like city; the queen is theonly human being there and the only able to talk; maybe her curse is to never satisfy her urges to find a human mate? Or she could be alergic to cats

[Jack the Reaper]

Okay, that's a possible direction. And how do you think their city and culture should be like?

[Mistmaster]

That depends on the queen 's own background. Historical Zimbabwe capital city of the Mutapa empire could be a good inspiration. Minoic Cnosso too.

[The Lesser Evil]

Well, maybe the felinoids are, in truth, regular felines turned anthropomorphic by theyr queen's magic; So, they behave, mostly, as theyr species do, albeit more intelligent than usual; theyr domain may be a jungle or a maze like city; the queen is theonly human being there and the only able to talk; maybe her curse is to never satisfy her urges to find a human mate? Or she could be alergic to cats

To build upon Mistmaster's suggestion, you might do some research on actual feline psychology/behavioral habits and incorporate them into your depiction. We often tend to think we know how animals operate and in D&D gloss over animals as simple creatures but animal psychology and behavioral patterns can have a lot of nuance not understood by people who haven't read about them.

[Jack the Reaper]

Well, I'm quite familiar with cats, we've got some of them dwelling in our backyard... I think what we need here is to focus more on the archetypal, symbolic or mythic traits of cats, e.g curiosity (which killed the cat), cruelty (playing like cat with mouse), sensuality, arrogance etc. I have a thought to make this domain a surrealistic, dreamlike place, where hedonistic catfolk languid in luxurious crystal palaces or toy with mouse-sized humans before devouring them. But the picture is still not clear enough in my head.

[Jack the Reaper]

I also want to make a domain inspired by 18th century United States and Pathfinder's Andoran - a democratic republic established on the principles of liberty and equality, in the spirit of good old America. Where do you think the horror in such a domain can come from? Who should be the Darklord? And how can the Dark Powers twist such virtues into something dreadful, showing that liberty can become no less dark than tyranny? (And no, I keep the P.C terrorism for another domain, so taking liberty to the extreme is not what I seek here)

[Mistmaster]

First of all, not all Domains are generally horrible; For example Darkon and Lamordia are not particularly horrible, per se; As an example for a a democratic republic domain here is one of mine:
http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/foru ... st#p229477

[Jack the Reaper]

Sure, I didn't mean it has to be overwhelmingly dreadful. Actually life there should be better than in most other domains. And yet, since it is a domain of dread, there must be some dark shadow lying upon it. Now, your domain is interesting, but I don't want the darklord to be just a regular evil guy, but rather someone whose background and curse are tied to the unique nature of the land. Kind of an evil George Washington, or other American-like character.

[Mistmaster]

Maybe it could be a Benedict Arnold-like figure?

[Jack the Reaper]

Maybe it could be a Benedict Arnold-like figure?

Could be... Victory of liberty as the result of treason is an interesting moral dilema. But I should think what could his curse be, and how it would affect the denizens.