Review thread of VRGtRL 5e

[Mistmaster]

Eh... because she's a death knight. A creature of evil. She was once good, like Strahd was. Perhaps she was pure and admired, perhaps she was overlooked as naive and incompetent.
Now she a creature wholly consumed by evil and probably laughs at the naivety of her breathing days.
Because that's what a Death Knight is. She's not the first to be good-turned-evil.

It makes her fall much more deep and horrific for those that knew of her in her living days, as the merciful (and naive) ruler she was, to see her become an undead monster bent on death and revenge without a single redeemable quality in her.
That's Gothic approach, my friend.

Strahd was already Evil before he became a Vampire. Detto for Soth before he became a Death Knight. a Death Knight like a vampire or a Lich os any other undead does not need to be evil. They can be victim of curses who struggles to keep the straight and narrow path. . Thatvis gothic too.

[alhoon]

Eh... because she's a death knight. A creature of evil. She was once good, like Strahd was. Perhaps she was pure and admired, perhaps she was overlooked as naive and incompetent.
Now she a creature wholly consumed by evil and probably laughs at the naivety of her breathing days.
Because that's what a Death Knight is. She's not the first to be good-turned-evil.

It makes her fall much more deep and horrific for those that knew of her in her living days, as the merciful (and naive) ruler she was, to see her become an undead monster bent on death and revenge without a single redeemable quality in her.
That's Gothic approach, my friend.

Strahd was already Evil before he became a Vampire. Detto for Soth before he became a Death Knight. a Death Knight like a vampire or a Lich os any other undead does not need to be evil. They can be victim of curses who struggles to keep the straight and narrow path. . Thatvis gothic too.

Strahd was once good and turned evil and as a curse became vampire.
Soth was once good and turned evil and as a curse he became death knight.
However, at least canonically, anyone turned to vampire becomes evil. If Strahd turns paladin_13, that paladin becomes evil. Usually it happens immediately. Using Requiem rules (from 2e book), it becomes gradually.

What I am trying to say is that this woman becoming evil and returning to a cursed existence as an evil monster is not bad.

[Mistmaster]

Eh... because she's a death knight. A creature of evil. She was once good, like Strahd was. Perhaps she was pure and admired, perhaps she was overlooked as naive and incompetent.
Now she a creature wholly consumed by evil and probably laughs at the naivety of her breathing days.
Because that's what a Death Knight is. She's not the first to be good-turned-evil.

It makes her fall much more deep and horrific for those that knew of her in her living days, as the merciful (and naive) ruler she was, to see her become an undead monster bent on death and revenge without a single redeemable quality in her.
That's Gothic approach, my friend.

Strahd was already Evil before he became a Vampire. Detto for Soth before he became a Death Knight. a Death Knight like a vampire or a Lich os any other undead does not need to be evil. They can be victim of curses who struggles to keep the straight and narrow path. . Thatvis gothic too.

Strahd was once good and turned evil and as a curse became vampire.
Soth was once good and turned evil and as a curse he became death knight.
However, at least canonically, anyone turned to vampire becomes evil. If Strahd turns paladin_13, that paladin becomes evil. Usually it happens immediately. Using Requiem rules (from 2e book), it becomes gradually.

What I am trying to say is that this woman becoming evil and returning to a cursed existence as an evil monster is not bad.

Yes, but being evil alone does not qualifies you as a darklord that's what is bad. She did not commit any act of ultimate darkness she had actually tried to suit for peace. That said, in my hopinion canon is wrong and no creature should turn evil because of a curse.

[alhoon]

That said, in my opinion canon is wrong and no creature should turn evil because of a curse.

Well, it is a theme of Gothic Horror. Evil must be stopped because it breeds evil. A son born to a murderer would be "tainted"' and has a great chance to follow his father's footsteps. Etc.

[Mistmaster]

That said, in my opinion canon is wrong and no creature should turn evil because of a curse.

Well, it is a theme of Gothic Horror. Evil must be stopped because it breeds evil. A son born to a murderer would be "tainted"' and has a great chance to follow his father's footsteps. Etc.

I am a firm believer in free will instead. In my Mistworld nurture always prevails on nature.

[alhoon]

Your game, your rules. But let me ask you this out of curiosity:
If one gets a green dragon egg and raises the wyrmling nicely, would it turn out to be a good green dragon? Or neutral one? Same with the egg of a bronze dragon taken by an evil warlord. I am honestly curious about your approach to this, not a gotcha question.

I agree it creates an interesting dynamic, where you more or less know that certain monsters are evil or good because of circumstances but can't be sure if that creature there is evil or not. But I prefer it more clear-cut. Chromatics are evil, werewolves are evil, etc.

[Mistmaster]

A green dragon raised by a good person might become a neutral of good dragon. Same way a bronze dragone raised by an evil one might become a neutral or evil one. The only creatures which are almost impossibile to play a different alognement would be an Outsider. You would need to change the very essence of an Outsider to change its alignement.

[Jeremy16]

Happy early Thanksgiving, here's another turkey of a domain...


HARKON LUKAS (old and busted)
Appearance – Gandalf's young hipster phase where he experimented with wearing a monocle
AoUD – an outcast among his own kind and the human society he adopted, killed a lot of people
Curse – never to rule over much of anything
Domain – a cultural backwater with lots and lots of wolves
Gothic Level – (5) he's a classic trickster character

HARKON LUKAS (new hotness)
Appearance – a black Charlie Daniels (look him up kids)
AoUD – a werewolf rock star that conquered a nation with his charm and sharp claws
Domain – Hollywood writ large
Torment (because curse is apparently too strong of a word) – being a perpetual one hit wonder
Wokeness Level – (6) he's basically a thinly veiled Harvey Weinstein stand-in


OVERALL IMPRESSION


Welcome to the “Me Too” domain. This entry is a not so subtle indictment of the entertainment industry in general and Hollywood culture in particular. And I'm not gonna mince words - The village full of actors is a dumb idea, followed up by the even more ludicrous one of a village full of special effects artists. Why not add a village of reclusive screenwriters as well?

Wolves have always symbolized danger as long as people have been telling stories about them. They are incredibly versatile stand-ins for everything from crazed serial killers to smooth talking ladies' men. So, while I admire the attempt at adapting another fairytale trope for the modern age, having the darklord “groom” proteges and literally eat them up is rather heavy-handed symbolizism.

Harkon Luka is yet another race-swapped NPC, but I don't mind this one so much since his original version was a wolfwere, and they were canonically able to imitate the appearance of any human whether male or female. I'm honestly surprised they didn't just substitue Akriel in his place to add in yet another female darklord.

[alhoon]

I haven't read that domain yet, but if it is indeed a village of actors and a village of special effects people, I would be really disappointed.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I checked who Charlie Daniels is

[DustBunny]

I checked who Charlie Daniels is

So will 'The Devil Powers went down to Georgia Kartakass' appear in your campaign soon?

But.... oh crap. That means Skald is the Ravenloft Nashville!

[Jeremy16]

Here's another review I expect to be controversial...


VICTOR MORDENHEIM (old and busted)
Appearance – standard 19th century mad scientist type and his unholy creation
AoUD – thought he knew better than the gods
Curse – never able to recreate his greatest creation or save his ailing wife
Domain – Switzerland analogue, very cold both in climate and the temperament of the inhabitants
Gothic Level – (10) you can't get more gothic than the grand-daddy of both the science fiction and horror genres

VIKTRA MORDENHEIM (new hotness)
Appearance – standard steampunk mad scientist type and her unholy creation
AoUD – thought she knew better than the gods, indifferent to the suffering of her fellow humans
Domain – steampunk to the max
Torment (because curse is apparently too strong of a word) – never able to retrieve or reproduce her greatest creation
Wokeness Level – (10) they turned Frankenstein into a lady!


OVERALL IMPRESSION


This is one hill I'm willing to die on – Frankenstein cannot be a woman! Mary Shelley, you know... the woman who wrote the book... got that. One of the many themes explored throughout the novel is man versus nature. Dr. Frankenstein tries to subvert the order of the natural world by taking over the reproductive quality of women and “improving” upon it. It is this transgressive action (among others) that he is afterwards punished for. Substituting a woman in his place robs the story of its power.

And I believe the writers agree with me, because instead of being obsessed with creating life this Dr. Mordenheim's main claim to fame is creating a medical miracle (the Unbreakable Heart) that heals the sick and extends their life indefinitely. That is interesting in and of itself, because in her backstory we are lead to believe she doesn't care about helping others at all. If all she really wanted is to prove her superiority as a scientist, there's several other subjects she could have chosen instead of biology. (You never here about mad astrophysicists trying to break the laws of the universe, for instance.)

It's like they took all the interesting parts of Frankenstein, chopped them up, tossed them in a blender, and out came this strange amalgam. They literally made a Frankenstein's Monster out of the story of Frankenstein's Monster! (So meta.) Unfortunately, nobody checked to see if it was internally consistent or not. The original Dr. Mordenheim may be a pastiche, but at least he cleaves to the original character in all the salient points. This is why I think he is far superior to this gender-swapped darklord.

Also, and this is purely a personal preference, I don't like steampunk elements in my Ravenloft. I know this is something everyone is tempted to do with such a technologically advanced domain as Lamordia, but it just strains my suspension of disbelief. There's just no good way to prevent modernity creep when you add things like electric lighting and steam engines to D&D. I fail to see how some things are supposed to inspire wonder and others are supposed to inspire fear in such an environment.

P.S. - Yes, I know in the original version it was Adam who was the darklord, but we all know it is really Victor that deserved the title. This is one of the only things this retcon gets right!

[Jeremy16]

We are rounding the corner and heading towards the finish line...


LORD WILFRED GODEFROY (old and busted)
Appearance – angry school teacher from a Charles Dickens story
AoUD – brutally killed his wife and daughter and avoided getting punished for it, was the only ghost standing when Strahd and Azalin blew out of town
Curse – tormented by his wife and daughter's spirits every night
Domain – a pastoral English countryside with ancient manor homes and traditon-bound inhabitants
Gothic Level – (10) who doesn't like a good ol' fashioned ghost story?

WILFRED GODEFROY (new hotness)
Appearance – angry school teacher from a Charles Dickens story
AoUD – brutally killed his wife and daughter and avoided getting punished for it, caused the death of everyone in town while fiddling around with the Apparatus
Domain – a pastoral English countryside with ancient manor homes and traditon-bound inhabitants
Torment (because curse is apparently too strong of a word) – tormented by everyone's spirit every night
Wokeness Level – (0) how in the world did this crusty old white guy make the cut?


OVERALL IMPRESSION


So you're telling me everybody that dies in this domain becomes a ghost and is enslaved by the darklord? Everyone? Really? That's what we're going with here? The afterlife is sure going to get real crowded real quick!

This character has always been a tough one to get right. Sure, he's an evil ghost but for the most part he can be ignored as long as you stay off his lawn. I get the need to make him more interesting by having him take a more active in the goings on in his domain. This version, however, is pretty much a retread of the 3E version found in the Ravenloft Gazetteer III.

If you've been paying attention, this is like the 15th time a darklord's history has concluded with everyone dying in the end. Sure, having him personally responsbile for the creation and destruction of the Apparatus is a nice work around for the whole Strahd / Azalin episode from I10, but can't the authors come up with a different ending to these things by now?

[alhoon]

I haven't read Mordent because I was happy with how it was... but it seems from your review that little changed and perhaps to the better with the Apparatus being tied to Godefroy.

On the other hand, I agree with you that "killing everyone" is going a bit overboard. Strahd did it and it fit. Godefroy?! Isn't killing your wife and daughter in a fit of rage bad enough, or are we 21st century westerners so used to such violence that such a crime doesn't seem horrific enough!?
I will change it back to killed a few and is tormented only by his wife and daughter. I.e. keep the old Godefroy that would beat ghosts with his stick.
Also, I do recall that everyone that died in Gryphon Hill manor was bound to become a ghost and Godefroy would quickly beat that ghost to submission by reducing charisma to below 6. That's not new, that was there and the place was very crowded as described.

[Jeremy16]

Also, I do recall that everyone that died in Gryphon Hill manor was bound to become a ghost and Godefroy would quickly beat that ghost to submission by reducing charisma to below 6. That's not new, that was there and the place was very crowded as described.

Everyone who died in Gryphon Hill, yes, that makes sense.

But, here's the quote from the book: "After 24 hours, the spirit of anyone who dies in Mordent reappears as a ghost, a specter, or another incorporeal undead... Spectral agents of Lord Godefroy remain alert for useful souls that might be enlisted into the Darklord's service."

If that were true, there would be more dead people than living people in the domain!