Café de Nuit

Hello Everybody !

I have again an another question, lol. Do you know if in the world of Ravenloft there is a domain or land which looks like Scotland with its mists, steep-sided moutains and great lakes like the Loch Ness. And also with its dark legends like the immortal people in the Highland as the MacLeod's clan or Macbeth the cursed in the play of William Shakespeare?

Nikolaï Von Zarovich

Forlorn generally has a Scottish feel. The material from Gazetteer I on Forlorn is a good read.

Have to agree that Forlorn is the most Scottish of the domains. The boxed set also had useful stuff in it but don't let the players go near the loch

Forlorn's a bit of a mish-mash of Scottish and Welsh. the names, for one, are mostly welsh. The trouble with Forlorn is that it's barely populated. So you have to make do with the handful of natives and the few Forfaran expatriates in the neighboring domains.

Unless you're willing to extend the curse on Castle Tristenoira over the rest of the country. If you do that, then you could have a lot of inhabitants - in given time phases, that is.

Thank you everybody !

If I good understand, the problem with Forlorn is the fact that there are few inhabitants? It is pity. I would have like to start in a domain like the Scotland in a dark, and gothic version.

Otherwise, From your point of view what domains are interesting to start a campaign in Ravenloft? What are the domains that you prefer?

Sorry for my (too) many questions, lol.

Nikolaï Von Zarovich

Forlorn is a fine place to play in, just increase its population and add a few other elements that interest you. The important thing is to keep the atmosphere and keep the Lord and his curse in mind. In my games I've increased the number of inhabitants and made it more of a potential destination for adventures that don't revolve around its lord. I tend to play up celtic myths, make the people very superstitious and spiritual, expand the influence of druids and the significance of redheads, toss in some friction between the settled peoples and there you go. (and Forlorn does effectively have a "loch ness" already)

Nikolaï Von Zarovich wrote:If I good understand, the problem with Forlorn is the fact that there are few inhabitants? It is pity. I would have like to start in a domain like the Scotland in a dark, and gothic version.

As Jack of Tears said, there's no reason you can't expand the population of Forlorn if it suits your style. If you have access to them, I'd recommend reading the section on Forlorn from the 3e Gazetteer Vol I, and/or the 2e Castles Forlorn boxed set. (Warning: Castles Forlorn contains a very wonderful, but very complex adventure. I wouldn't recommend running it as your first adventure in Ravenloft, but the boxed set gives you a very detailed description of the domain and its history.)

Otherwise, From your point of view what domains are interesting to start a campaign in Ravenloft? What are the domains that you prefer?

I would look at the adventures you want to run and then decide where to start. Almost any domain is a good starting point in some sense. Since you mentioned starting with Night of the Walking Dead, why not start in Souragne? (and if you do, be sure to have a look at our own Souragne Gazetteer in the Library.)

Alternatively, ask your players what kind of characters they want to play, and use that as a starting point.

For example, in my current campaign, I had an apprentice gunsmith, a spiritualist, and a ranger aiming to become a Knight of the Shadows. From these seeds, I gave them some background: The gunsmith on the run from Borca (where his master was killed for supplying guns to the Falkovnian resistance), the spiritualist on the trail of Dr. Van Richten in Mordent (the only clue to find the ghost that killed his mother), the ranger searching for a way to Nidala (for clues to his mother's secret past). That gave me an excuse to put them all in Dementlieu. (The gunsmith on the run, in a land with other gunsmiths. The spritualist on the way to Mordent from Darkon, and the Ranger on the way from Barovia to the coast to look for a ship to Nidala).

Then I sprung the first adventure on them when they met in Port-a-lucine: Pity the Child from children of the night: ghosts

But that's just one example. it really depends on what kind of game you and your players are looking for.

Also, The FAQ has something to say on this topic too.

Sorry for my (too) many questions, lol.

Never. That's what we're here for. Ask as much as you like!

I'm quite fond of Mordent as a starting point. It's a relatively calm and peaceful domain. This means that when you go to strange places they are truly strange to your PCs.

Lamordia is another good starting point for much the same reason. Then your PCs get to be logical characters in a supernatural world.

(Warning: Castles Forlorn contains a very wonderful, but very complex adventure. I wouldn't recommend running it as your first adventure in Ravenloft, but the boxed set gives you a very detailed description of the domain and its history.)

The Forlorn Boxed set is, however, one of the best boxed sets ever created so while I would not recommend trying it (the specific adventure that comes with it, that is) until you really have your feet under you as a Ravenloft GM, I would most certainly recommend getting your hands on a copy.

If you don't mind homebrew I may have something soon. A while back I created a homebrew domain based loosely on welsh myth that I've been toying with expanding into a cluster with areas based on Scotland, Ireland, and England (Cromwell is way too easy of pickings for darklord inspiration.)

Scipio wrote:If you don't mind homebrew I may have something soon. A while back I created a homebrew domain based loosely on welsh myth that I've been toying with expanding into a cluster with areas based on Scotland, Ireland, and England (Cromwell is way too easy of pickings for darklord inspiration.)

What I always found with Forlorn as Scotland is that they had no one to rebel against. The same goes for Tepest as Ireland (but being Irish myself Tepest is sometimes hard to take seriously).

Thank you everybody for your answers !

If I good understand Scipio, you have created your own domain look like the Wales? If you are agree I am interested by your creation and can you send me your works in a e-mail? If you are ok, I give you my e-mail adress in a private message.

Thank you everybody !

Nikolaï Von Zarovich

Or keep Forlorn as is, and make your guys living now in a village in Barovia close to the Barovia-Forlorn border, Teufeldorf or Immol.

These people could be Forlorn expats, so they would have a link with Forlorn, while living in Strahd's Barovia now (a cool place to start).

Joël

I'll look through my old documents and see if I can locate the homebrew domain for you Nikolai. Hopefully it's one of the files that survived the demise of my old computer. (I lost a lot of my work on Monte Mal, my Republic of Venice inspired domain.)