APRIL FOOLS: What we do know about VR Guide to Ravenloft?
Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:54 am
EDIT on April 2nd: Collected below are the April Fools 2021 posts originally posted on the Real VRGtR news thread. Thanks everyone who played along with us!
The FoS got our advance for-review copy a few days ago, and midnight last night was the embargo not to speak about it. So now we can reveal a few things.
Major things confirmed :
- Yes, as announced, all domains are island in the mists, no surprise. There is very few politics between domains.
- As mentionned in the Wes Schneider interview (see link above), there are mistways-like « conduits » between some of the domains. Some are difficult but I think most are easily reached (unless borders are sealed).
- it’s about one domain per 3-5 pages.
We've been talking it over amongst ourselves in the meantime and will cross-post some of our thoughts/reviews from the FoS private board. Our conclusion is well, it seems more solid than we first expected, and for exemple :
Jester’s comment : Darkon was well handled, and it was nice they kept Death as a local power while not being a separate lord, so Il Aluk/Necropolis is still connected.
Ron : Of all the old domains I thought might be updated, Ramsay's Isle was was not even on the list. But, I guess someone on the team has a soft spot for that old Dungeon adventure. It's weird to see the tiny island expanded to a major continent, though I guess that's necessary if you're going to run more than a one-shot there. And the Ramsay family themselves being race-swapped to Dragonborn is a really odd choice, but it works surprisingly well!
Joël : the integration of CoS into Barovia expands that land sandbox and is quite well made. Expect some fan favorite returning in 5e.
Joël : The new take on Vechor is strange (even for Vechor !). While Vechor is kept as an everchanging place and Easan the Mad is darklord, but there is a now a « mirror » domain to it called Controversy? It’s a partitioned realm where the population is always divided : 50 % for / 50 % against any idea, or any new proposition. Even a convicted serial killer will have half of the population defending him. So while everybody angrily discuss (without really listening, and no one changes their mind), nothing can move and all is fixed into immobility as people fight verbally and insult each other. I won’t reveal who the darklord is (but it’s a known and loved Ravenloft NPC return, yeah!). Half the people think is he uninteresting and bland, the other half do admire him as some kind of rock star like icon. You probably have guessed by now who that darklord is?
Joël : Darkon has new epic feature close to Martyra Bay - Bayblaadenn arena, where people fight until they die, while people cheer on and take bets. A kind of Roman era arena, or perhaps like the Walking Dead Governor's fight arena, or the angry energy of old Il Morai Carnival, bread and games, angry valve for the population and all that. The enigmatic master of the arena is called Tuuber, depending on the day and wanted features (think Toben the Many, but I think cooler). Quite exciting creature’s background (his/her), I think.
Jester: There are many new domains in the book, I counted 6 new ones. The new domain that jumped out at me was Erendelle. Being a land of eternal winter, at first I assumed it was a copy of Vorostokov (which isn’t in the book), with a female darklord. But then I realized it was a different take on the Snow Queen myth. And the inclusion of the dying sister as a possible redemption element or final sin gives the DM some options.
Joël : There a new domain in the book, I think we can now talk about it (we got early copies and the silence embargo fell last night), called Monopolistic. I had to read it thrice to get it, as it was not obvious at first and I think the proposition is quite subtle and complex. I think it replaces Paridon as Paridon is not in the book. You'll see Monopolistic is a nearly all built, densely populated city, a quite modern domain like Paridon. This said, the darklord curse is about trying to buy as much land as he can, while other people charge him for every move he makes. Odd, but it has possibilities, especially when the Boritsi Trade Co gets in the buying game (won't say more until the book is out not to keep the surprise).
Ron : Now I come to Bolasia.... I'm a big Magic: The Gathering fan, but was very wary when WotC started "crossing the streams" between MtG and D&D a few years back, with the Theros and Ravnica books. Ravenloft even got a shout-out in one of the online-only supplements, which said you could place Curse of Strahd in Innistrad. I didn't think things would go much further than that, but here we are with one of the big bads of Magic getting his own domain. Nicol Bolas, the scheming mastermind elder dragon. I suppose if anyone from Magic earned a domain, it would be him. But in the lore of Magic, he's already trapped in his meditation plane, so seeing him here ruling a thriving society that doesn't believe he exists is a little odd. Hopefully everyone who's been wanting a dragon darklord will be pleased.
Ron : I never really got into the Wildlands in the past, so the revamp here is quite welcome. Rather than the cliche King Crocodile, we've got four co-darklords, all hippos. A strange-seeming choice unless you know that the hippopotamus is actually the world's deadliest land mammal. Anyway, four different darklords, with each claiming a quarter of the domain, scheming against each other and using the other animals as their proxies to wage a war over territory and more importantly, the scarce food in the domain. I like how there is a parallel between how hungry they are for power and also for food. Well done!
Ron : OK, we all knew it was coming eventually, but I didn't expect the crossovers to include Nerf so soon. I was expecting that to be in the Free RPG Day supplement, but here it is in the main book. Despite what was surely corporate meddling to fit this in. HOWEVER, they managed to find a very clever way to make it work, by taking some inspiration here from the classic Icelandic body horror film, Mjúkur Svampapúki Elskan. Once again the writers are showing they know their obscure horror sources. I did think they went a little too far, though... did the terrain AND the native wildlife have to be made of the same "unsettlingly spongy substance"? I do like the new weapons introduced here, and I might use them for less lethal encounters.
We’ll post more in the coming hours and days.
Do you have any specific question on the book?
We cannot spoil everything (no I won’t put the list of all covered domains!), but if you have specific questions, please ask ahead.
EDIT on April 2nd: April Fools!
The FoS got our advance for-review copy a few days ago, and midnight last night was the embargo not to speak about it. So now we can reveal a few things.
Major things confirmed :
- Yes, as announced, all domains are island in the mists, no surprise. There is very few politics between domains.
- As mentionned in the Wes Schneider interview (see link above), there are mistways-like « conduits » between some of the domains. Some are difficult but I think most are easily reached (unless borders are sealed).
- it’s about one domain per 3-5 pages.
We've been talking it over amongst ourselves in the meantime and will cross-post some of our thoughts/reviews from the FoS private board. Our conclusion is well, it seems more solid than we first expected, and for exemple :
Jester’s comment : Darkon was well handled, and it was nice they kept Death as a local power while not being a separate lord, so Il Aluk/Necropolis is still connected.
Ron : Of all the old domains I thought might be updated, Ramsay's Isle was was not even on the list. But, I guess someone on the team has a soft spot for that old Dungeon adventure. It's weird to see the tiny island expanded to a major continent, though I guess that's necessary if you're going to run more than a one-shot there. And the Ramsay family themselves being race-swapped to Dragonborn is a really odd choice, but it works surprisingly well!
Joël : the integration of CoS into Barovia expands that land sandbox and is quite well made. Expect some fan favorite returning in 5e.
Joël : The new take on Vechor is strange (even for Vechor !). While Vechor is kept as an everchanging place and Easan the Mad is darklord, but there is a now a « mirror » domain to it called Controversy? It’s a partitioned realm where the population is always divided : 50 % for / 50 % against any idea, or any new proposition. Even a convicted serial killer will have half of the population defending him. So while everybody angrily discuss (without really listening, and no one changes their mind), nothing can move and all is fixed into immobility as people fight verbally and insult each other. I won’t reveal who the darklord is (but it’s a known and loved Ravenloft NPC return, yeah!). Half the people think is he uninteresting and bland, the other half do admire him as some kind of rock star like icon. You probably have guessed by now who that darklord is?
Joël : Darkon has new epic feature close to Martyra Bay - Bayblaadenn arena, where people fight until they die, while people cheer on and take bets. A kind of Roman era arena, or perhaps like the Walking Dead Governor's fight arena, or the angry energy of old Il Morai Carnival, bread and games, angry valve for the population and all that. The enigmatic master of the arena is called Tuuber, depending on the day and wanted features (think Toben the Many, but I think cooler). Quite exciting creature’s background (his/her), I think.
Jester: There are many new domains in the book, I counted 6 new ones. The new domain that jumped out at me was Erendelle. Being a land of eternal winter, at first I assumed it was a copy of Vorostokov (which isn’t in the book), with a female darklord. But then I realized it was a different take on the Snow Queen myth. And the inclusion of the dying sister as a possible redemption element or final sin gives the DM some options.
Joël : There a new domain in the book, I think we can now talk about it (we got early copies and the silence embargo fell last night), called Monopolistic. I had to read it thrice to get it, as it was not obvious at first and I think the proposition is quite subtle and complex. I think it replaces Paridon as Paridon is not in the book. You'll see Monopolistic is a nearly all built, densely populated city, a quite modern domain like Paridon. This said, the darklord curse is about trying to buy as much land as he can, while other people charge him for every move he makes. Odd, but it has possibilities, especially when the Boritsi Trade Co gets in the buying game (won't say more until the book is out not to keep the surprise).
Ron : Now I come to Bolasia.... I'm a big Magic: The Gathering fan, but was very wary when WotC started "crossing the streams" between MtG and D&D a few years back, with the Theros and Ravnica books. Ravenloft even got a shout-out in one of the online-only supplements, which said you could place Curse of Strahd in Innistrad. I didn't think things would go much further than that, but here we are with one of the big bads of Magic getting his own domain. Nicol Bolas, the scheming mastermind elder dragon. I suppose if anyone from Magic earned a domain, it would be him. But in the lore of Magic, he's already trapped in his meditation plane, so seeing him here ruling a thriving society that doesn't believe he exists is a little odd. Hopefully everyone who's been wanting a dragon darklord will be pleased.
Ron : I never really got into the Wildlands in the past, so the revamp here is quite welcome. Rather than the cliche King Crocodile, we've got four co-darklords, all hippos. A strange-seeming choice unless you know that the hippopotamus is actually the world's deadliest land mammal. Anyway, four different darklords, with each claiming a quarter of the domain, scheming against each other and using the other animals as their proxies to wage a war over territory and more importantly, the scarce food in the domain. I like how there is a parallel between how hungry they are for power and also for food. Well done!
Ron : OK, we all knew it was coming eventually, but I didn't expect the crossovers to include Nerf so soon. I was expecting that to be in the Free RPG Day supplement, but here it is in the main book. Despite what was surely corporate meddling to fit this in. HOWEVER, they managed to find a very clever way to make it work, by taking some inspiration here from the classic Icelandic body horror film, Mjúkur Svampapúki Elskan. Once again the writers are showing they know their obscure horror sources. I did think they went a little too far, though... did the terrain AND the native wildlife have to be made of the same "unsettlingly spongy substance"? I do like the new weapons introduced here, and I might use them for less lethal encounters.
We’ll post more in the coming hours and days.
Do you have any specific question on the book?
We cannot spoil everything (no I won’t put the list of all covered domains!), but if you have specific questions, please ask ahead.
EDIT on April 2nd: April Fools!
