Usable stuff from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
Posted: Sun May 29, 2022 10:46 am
Keep the baby, throw out the bathwater. What is usable from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft for old school Ravenloft denizens?
Some of the things I appreciated AKA the baby:
*The genres of horror and suggestions for that.
*Many suggestions for adventures in the various domains.
*Cool maps and cool drawings of NPCs (although Firan Zal'Honan is portrayed too good looking).
*The new domains of Kalakeri (although, I would replace Arijani with a different name and keep Sri Raji as well), Klorr, Niranjan, Risibilos, Vhage Agency. Only Kalakeri is dealt with in any detail, however.
*The Ulmist Inquisition seems interesting. If only there was more elaboration.
*Places emphasis on gameplay.
Toss it out AKA the bathwater:
*The portrayal of the Vistani. The Vistani are much less interesting than they were portrayed in previously published "racist" products, such as Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani. Don't worry worry though, there is still racism in this product, since any ethnic group in conflict with Vistani are referred to as "dismal communities". Lovely.
*Madame Eva is referred to as a "controversial figure among Vistani". Absurd.
*Apparently disability makes you gay, because as soon as Alanik Ray was crippled and confined to a wheelchair, he married his sidekick, Arthur Sedgewick. Actually, this scenario seems more like the Stephen King novel Misery, so maybe the PC heroes can rescue the helpless Alanik Ray from his captor, Arthur Sedgewick. Strange that Alanik Ray has been denied medical care and is forced to be in a wheelchair. The marriage doesn't seem consensual at all in this context.
*A lot of the changed domains are changed to the extent that they could have been designed as brand new domains, thus adding to Ravenloft content rather than subtracting from it or retconning it. Kalakeri, for example, seems different enough to Sri Raji that it could be a completely different domain, but instead of making it a different domain entirely, they reuse characters from Sri Raji like Arijani. I think that the retconned domains are vastly different enough that one could simply rename the domains and NPCs and call it a day.
Some of the things I appreciated AKA the baby:
*The genres of horror and suggestions for that.
*Many suggestions for adventures in the various domains.
*Cool maps and cool drawings of NPCs (although Firan Zal'Honan is portrayed too good looking).
*The new domains of Kalakeri (although, I would replace Arijani with a different name and keep Sri Raji as well), Klorr, Niranjan, Risibilos, Vhage Agency. Only Kalakeri is dealt with in any detail, however.
*The Ulmist Inquisition seems interesting. If only there was more elaboration.
*Places emphasis on gameplay.
Toss it out AKA the bathwater:
*The portrayal of the Vistani. The Vistani are much less interesting than they were portrayed in previously published "racist" products, such as Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani. Don't worry worry though, there is still racism in this product, since any ethnic group in conflict with Vistani are referred to as "dismal communities". Lovely.
*Madame Eva is referred to as a "controversial figure among Vistani". Absurd.
*Apparently disability makes you gay, because as soon as Alanik Ray was crippled and confined to a wheelchair, he married his sidekick, Arthur Sedgewick. Actually, this scenario seems more like the Stephen King novel Misery, so maybe the PC heroes can rescue the helpless Alanik Ray from his captor, Arthur Sedgewick. Strange that Alanik Ray has been denied medical care and is forced to be in a wheelchair. The marriage doesn't seem consensual at all in this context.
*A lot of the changed domains are changed to the extent that they could have been designed as brand new domains, thus adding to Ravenloft content rather than subtracting from it or retconning it. Kalakeri, for example, seems different enough to Sri Raji that it could be a completely different domain, but instead of making it a different domain entirely, they reuse characters from Sri Raji like Arijani. I think that the retconned domains are vastly different enough that one could simply rename the domains and NPCs and call it a day.