In article mscs057@vax1.mankato.msus.edu writes: I WAS IN A RAVENLOFT CAMP. WE WERE TRAVELING. I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT UNDEAD IN RAVENLOFT. HOW COME THEY ARE SO POWERFUL? > How come you type faster and more accurately on your own computer/typewriter than on someone else's? Home territory, home team has the advantage. --- Jeffrey Getzin saintdor@vms.cis.pitt.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- O-kay, I would like to know from all of you, who have played, DMed, or even read Ravenloft. What is this demi-plane about? How did it come to be made? Could some one tell me why it is even there? Look I have a necro. in Ravenloft. What is going to happen to him? My DM alway smiled when I casted any necro spell. Explain, please? Steve ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In article <1992Apr9.115858.1691@vax1.mankato.msus.edu>, mscs057@vax1.mankato.msus.edu writes: > O-kay, I would like to know from all of you, who have played, DMed, or even > read Ravenloft. What is this demi-plane about? How did it come to be > made? > > Could some one tell me why it is even there? > > Look I have a necro. in Ravenloft. What is going to happen to him? > My DM alway smiled when I casted any necro spell. Explain, please? > > Steve >From the desk of a Ravenloft GM.... Ba Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha..... I wouldn't dare muscle in on your GM's perrogative by telling you flat out, but ...Don't get too attached to this necromancer. Evil things happen in ravenloft, and the PC's end up doing most of them.. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From Z_COOLIDGEJS@CCSVAX.SFASU.EDU Subject: RL-L: Zigon's Laws Here is something that came to me as I was walking. Zigon's Laws are a variation of Murphy's Laws, adapted for Ravenloft. They are axioms that are universal among not only everyone trapped within the Demi-plane, but also everyone who has played the RPG before.... Zigon's Version of Murphy's Law: If anything can go wrong, it already has. Zigon's Suggestion for Users of a Deck of Many Things: Go ahead and use it. You're ALREADY in Ravenloft. Maltov's Observation: The Dark Lords are miserable, and they are rich, absolute rulers. Ovenheimer's Hypothesis: An exit to Ravenloft does exist. It can be found deep in Castle Ravenloft, and can only be opened while Strahd's choking fog is raised. The device that operates the opening is an immoble statue in Lord Arijani's palace on the island of Sri Raji. McMahn's Fortune: If anything desirable is even the slightest bit in question, it will definitely not happen. For example, if a DM has a relative from Poughkeepsie, NY who speaks of visiting "sometime this year", a Ravenloft game planned two months in advance will be called off, because the DM's relative will be visiting the night of the game. Madame Eva's Statement: Anyone you can trust works for Strahd. Dr. Richten's First Law Regarding Werewolves: You don't know that he's a werewolf until after you have driven the wooden stake through his heart. Dominic d'Honaire's Sixth Law of Hypnotic Suggestions: Subliminal suggestions (you think) can be disguised in print (that this) as well as verbally. They can be (is funny) very effective. Hazlik's Code Regarding Hats: Don't say it. JUST DON'T SAY IT! Bistlestski's Theory Regarding Raising the Dead in Ravenloft: The priestly spell "Raise Dead" is only useful in Ravenloft for getting up in the morning. "Resurrection" is useful primarily in helping elves get up in the morning, but can also be used to destroy undead. The range would most likely be touch, and the casting time about two hours. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) So, it is useful only against extremely slow undead. If you have any additional ideas, by all means, let me know. I regret to say that I won't put them in an FTP site, however (I don't know how). If I get enough I'll post again. (Just don't send too much; I'm only allowed a tiny piece of disk space here.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >From kq07+@andrew.cmu.edu Subject: Rl-l:Help & Review Hey guys - I am getting ready to run Feast of Goblyns and I was wondering what kinds of things you put into your towns? That is, how did you "Flesh out" Harmonia and Skald? What kinds of Inns, traders, temples? I have a few ideas, but I would love some input. I was thinking about placing two instrument makers. They must see how well you can play before they will sell you an instrument. The moe they prize the instrument the better you have to play - out of respect for the music of course. (I have a bard in need of a ne lyre. Also How about a thieves guild of some sort. One that possibly is at odds with the Wolfweres? Stuff like that. If you have any ideas - I would really appreciate the. Review: I recently came across a book of short stories "The New Gothic" edited by Bradford Morrow and Patrick McGrath - Published byRandom House. Some of the Authors are: Anne Rice,Martin Amis, Janice Galloway, Lyne Tyleman, Angela Carter, Peter Straub, as well as many others. The book is fabulous. To be honest, the short story form of most of these writers is very obtusr, and it may be difficult to pull actual adventure ideas out of these things, but the methods for creating a believable/uncomfortable enviornment are wonderful! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >From @uga.cc.uga.edu:MBLANK@UTCVM.BITNET Subject: RA-L: Under The Fang I just finished reading an AWESOME book. It is a book of short stories about what would happen if vampires came forward and took over the modern world. It is called Under the Fang and I highly recomend it as a source for a new realm in Ravenloft. Grabbit Wileucan ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >From rgallo@ccmail.sunysb.edu Subject: RL-L:Of Ships & Ports & Islands of Terror Hi Netters - Has anyone considered the role of sailors and ports in the Ravenloft domain? There are at least two bodies of water in the domain and much of "Ship of Horror" takes place on open sea. According to the boxed set "No sailor in the vast sea of Mists can chart a course to these islands [of terror]. Nor would any sane sailor try." Should some (cursed?) sailors have the Vistani - like ability to move freely about the domain (at least on water)? Is there anything "special" about a navigator that can plot a course through the mists? The reason I ask is my players have just finished "Night of the Walking Dead" and are about to move on. I thought it would be interesting to have the party picked-up by Captain Garvyn of the Endurance (from SOH) at Port d'Elhour. Bob ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >From TABK1@ISUVAX.IASTATE.EDU Subject: RL-L:Re:ships & prots & islands of terror (oh my!) I was also thinking about having my party leave Souragne by ship, and was wondering about regular trade routes from/to the Isles of Terror. I thought that there would be regular ocean traffic around these Isles, but that there would be a chance that you ended up somewhere other than where you thought you would. In alloeing this you would have to give the captians a limited ability to control thier course through the mists, or at least an idea about how to get where they wanted to. Oddly enough, this goes very well with a question I was going to ask the list about, and that is Ravenloft pirates. Are there pirates in Ravenloft? This may have been covered somewhere, and my brain is just defective, but it seems that pirates would be a natural in a place like Ravenloft. Pirates hiding in the mists to strike would surely scare me if I were a sailor. The pirates in Ship of Horror don't really count, as it is part of the curse, but what about other, real pirates? There are many instances in history of creul and evil pirates, why would Ravenloft be different? Anybody have Pirates of the Fallen Star, and if so, is Ravenloft mentioned at all? P.S. To whoever originally asked about sailing in Ravenloft, let me know what you decide to do with your party, as I also need a way to get my players out of Souragne, or if you need help, don't hesitate to ask, maybe we can come up with something interesting. Bran Jones a.k.a. Skullkrusher TABK1@ccvax.iastate.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >From WMS2@VAXB.YORK.AC.UK Subject: pirates in ravenloft Yep I don't see any reason why there shouldn't be pirates in ravenloft as lonf as many of them are sea-wolfs or vampires.....8-) Pirates Of the Fallen Stars does mention a ravenloft character - a pirate who was drawn into the demiplane and became a spectre He is now the Lords of his domaign ( a longship crewed by shadows ) and drifts the demiplane, occasionally being drawn back to the Realms to wreak havoc. Incidentally, may I recommend a truely awful module for the D&D game called Into the Maelstrom, which came years before Spelljammer yet bears a strange resemblance to it. Anyway, it is shamelessly ripped off from Homer's Odyssy. and includes a number of really wierd things that could well be used in Ravenloft, including some ships crewed by undead. cheers wayne ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >From alvalent@husc Subject: RL-L: The Isles of Terror + LOTS of Pirate info I am getting ready to run this module. Any notes on problems I might face. Any suggestions on setting the atmosphere or playing the NPCs? How harsh a module is it? Did your players like it? Did they role-play a lot, or just look for a fight? Were they scared? I too agree that Ship of Horrors makes a nice follow-up to Night of the Walking Dead if it is scaled down a bit. The Ship can drop our intrepid adventurers off somewhere else as follows: Imagine being washed overboard or having the ship crash against some reef etc. Everyone is thrown in the water and thinks they'll drown for sure. They'll be wishing they were anywhere but in the water right now. Let Ravenloft answer their request. Groggy and water logged they wake up and realize that their clothes are fast drying out, being baked by the sun on the Isle of Har' Akir. From one extreme to the next, eh? If you are interested in Pirates in Ravenloft I have some suggestions: First, the Cursed Item List from Friday the 13th (available to original list subscribers and now to other via our ftp files at tybalt and greyhawk as mentioned in the new user info). Check out the pirate who was betrayed by his crew and allows gold to wash up in the hands of whosoever slays the descendents of the traitors. Also check out all the cursed effects possible with a gold dubloon. Next I submit to you, an item from Greyhawk Adventures called the Horn of the Azure Sea. Blow it on the open sea, and a pirate ship manned by undead monstrosities appear out of the fog. Greyhawk Adventures has a ton of really good sea going items that have a really haunting effect about them. They also have sea going Pirate Zombies with gaff hooks, etc., which brings me to my next point: If you want pirates in Ravenloft and really want to scare the hell out of everyone in your group you need look no further than John Carpenter's film, THE FOG. It is awesome; it is scary; it has Ravenloft written all over it. Another item that might fit in well is the following (this is not an original creation): sailors who die are set adrift on small sail boats which are set on fire, but a small scrap of the sail is kept. If one burns that scrap, the sailor will return as an undead to aid he who burned the sail. Other ideas for creepy drowning scenes, etc. can be gathered by watching the first Creep Show. That's all for now. Do check out Greyhawk Adventures, though. Lee ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From TABK1@ISUVAX.IASTATE.EDU Subject: RL-L:Pirates, Night of the Walking Dead After reading through the Ravenloft appendix of the monstrous compendium, I stumbled across the Bowlyn, an undead sailor. This would be perfect for the ships manned by undead (are they used in Ship of Horrors?). There are also things like Reavers, and the Bussengeist could be used ( a ships captian who ran his ship aground, or caused it to sink), so the elements are there for a pirate adventure. As for navigating in the mists, I said earlier a limited ability at this would almost be essential, because assuming that they were regular sailors and pirates, who would want to leave port, knowing they were going to get lost and end up god knows where. If I were going to do one, I would probably have the players end up stranded at sea for a while, just to add to the tension. I would also like to hear more on the Lord who is a pirate, and whose domain is a ship, from whoever mentioned it. (forgot already) About Night of the Walking Dead, when I ran it, the Players went strait for the cemetary, without bothering with much of the resst of it. It seems that this may be a little to obvious, undead walking around, and we can't get to one part of the cemetary, Hmmm. When you do it I would suggest making that part impossible to enter until later, cause the party that I DMed just climbed the walls and nearly got themselves killed (2 of 5 were 0hp or below) before they decided they shouldn't be there just yet. Well, enough rambling on nothing. Till next the mists allow it. Brian Jones TABK1@CCVAX.IASTATE.EDU ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From 99witzki@lab.cc.wmich.edu Subject: GIFs Hello, hello. For my first (non-folowup) post, I have something to share with the visually-oriented members of this list. Hidden away in the /pub/graphics/gif_G/fantasy directory of the anonymous FTP site garfield.catt.ncsu.edu you will find several Ravenloft-esque GIFs. The scanning seems excellent in most cases, and the pix seem to have been taken from the dividers of the Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix. My current favorite is lich.gif, which I bring up as my background in X11R5, mirrored so as to create the illusion of skeletal warriors walking o'er misty water. For those who don't know, use the newest version of xv! It reads multiple images formats and can SAVE them as well. I have reduced the size of my images by as much as 80% by saving them as jpegs instead of gifs. Check it out! Harlequin ============================================================================== From rgallo@ccmail.sunysb.edu Subject: RL-L:Sailors & Pirates Brian & Lee & other sailors in the sea of mist: Bolstered by general support on the net I intend to transport my players from Souragne via ship. In an earlier posting (RL-L:Night of the Walking Dead Hints) I went into some detail about what I would like to have done on this voyage. Unfortunately I ran "Ship of Horror" as part of a different campaign (but with the same players), so I'm only going to be using this encounter to clue the players in that the two worlds are loosely related. What follows are just some early random thoughts on the topic of sea travel in Ravenloft. Together with some of the other ideas I've seen posted, I think we have the beginnings of an interesting addition to the Ravenloft culture. 1) Ocean trade should not be so frequent or reliable as to diminish the feeling of isolation common to most Ravenloft communities. For my own purposes I don't want ships to become a convenient method of transportation within the domain or worse, out of the domain. If anything, I would like to see the prospect of a "rescue ship" serve only to add insult to injury. As an example, in the movie "Aliens" the feeling of being stranded was punctuated by knowing a rescue ship would arrive in 17 days which was clearly 17 days too many. 2) As a model for how reliable sea travel should be and how accessible the Islands of Terror are, I was thinking of using Blackthorn's voyage to the Japan's in _Shogun_ (but this might prove to be too restrictive, any other thoughts?) 3) As for the crew, serving on a ship would have to be an extremely dangerous business, engaged in only by those few souls who have been hopelessly seduced by the sea. In a way, I see RL sailors being obsessed with the ocean, they would quit if they could (it's far too dangerous) but each time they try, they find they are drawn back. 4) Plotlines, props, etc...: Ghost Ships, The Flying Dutchman, The seduction and furry of the sea, haunted wrecks, haunted lighthouses, etc... Any other pirate ideas or nautical magic items?, I like what I've seen so far. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: rgallo@ccmail.sunysb.edu Subject: RL-L:Night of the Walking Dead Hints ************************ Spoilers Follow ********************************* Well Lee, I would have to agree with Brian. When I ran "Night of the Walking Dead" I thought the cemetery looked pretty obvious as well. <> my players got distracted just before making a bee-line for the inner gate. If your party investigates the old graveyard prematurely you could loose over 60% of the module's material, this would be unfortunate because as an adventure, it really is very good (both GM and player opinion). What follows is just some general impression I got while running the module: The Swamp: The approach to Luc's hut is spooky and sets the tone for the rest of the adventure. I think you'll find the adventure starts rolling here. (The fortune-telling scene with the Vistani is necessary but just a little too routine for experienced players to be really scary) Marias d'Tarascon: The events in town actually make for an interesting (and playable) jack-the-ripper style murder mystery if you can keep the players out of the cemetery long enough for the story to develop. Make sure you are familiar with the events occurring just prior to the PC's arrival, I thought this was a little unclear in the module. The disappearances caused by Jean d'Tarascon and the deaths caused by Marcel are not directly related but will be confused by the PC's. As for mood it's generally well developed, just keep reminding the players of the building storm. I have only one small complaint/modification. The townsfolk are entirely too quick to accept that people who have died are coming back to life. My preference is for a rather "low entropy" world i.e.: magic is rare and mythical creatures (including undead) are rarer still. Dead people aren't supposed to just get up and walk about (this makes it all the more startling when they do). Along these lines I decided the cleric of d'Tarascon was unaware of what happened to Marcel after the failed spell attempt, and most of the town's people believe the animation of the dead is caused by an incurable plague (which alone is enough to terrify your average peasant). I left it to the PC's to discover the more unfortunate truth for themselves. (note that this will require considerable changes to the rumor list, which I didn't particularly care for anyway.) The Final Confrontation: The march of the undead army is <> and very effective at frightening players. Despite what the module might suggest, it's worth "bending" some of the encounters to ensure that Marcel gets at least part of his army on the move. As for mood, just watch the first 10 minuets of Dawn of the Dead. Resolution: When I suggested having the party picked up by the Endurance I didn't really want to imply that I would run that module next. (Actually, I've run "Ship of Horrors" at its original level and feel it's probably the best Ravenloft product on the market so far.) What I thought might be interesting instead, if you haven't already used the module, is to have Capt. Garvyn drop the PC's off into "Feast of Goblyns" (or whatever) while he is on his way to Todstein Island with the first of Meredoth's victims (see the ship's log). This allows some foreshadowing of events in SOH. How can you prevent early intrusion into the grave yard? 1) During the day this shouldn't really be a problem. The grounds keeper, constable, and priest should be enough to dissuade reasonably well behaved characters from intruding on holy ground. If you use the plague idea then the graveyard has probably been quarantined (except for the all too frequent funeral). 2) Night is your biggest problem. The module suggests that if the characters attempt to scale wall or pick the lock they should hear scary activity on the other side. I don't know about your players but if I tried this I might as well hand them a golden welcome invitation. I think the best solution is either use one of the town encounters as a distraction or have Jean d'Tarascon attack another victim within earshot if the party sets out for the yard. Bob Gallo ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Summary: Undead in ravenloft suck!! In article <1992Apr8.125724.1679@vax1.mankato.msus.edu> mscs057@vax1.mankato.msus.edu writes: >RAVENLOFT > >I WAS IN A RAVENLOFT CAMP. WE WERE TRAVELING. I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT UNDEAD IN >RAVENLOFT. HOW COME THEY ARE SO POWERFUL? > >STEVEN "MSCS057" OLSON > Well Steve! In October I was asking the very same questions as you. Let me take this opportunity to share our findings. The easiest way to explain it is that Ravenloft has their own list of monsters in the moster manual that are much more powerful. To have a little more realistic explanation: Any animal or predator is much more powerful and nasty in their own environment. Consider Ravenloft the den and home for Undead in general. They have a home court advantage so to speak. The whole realm reeks of undead and the magic that keeps them animate. Turning is even affected and the kind and oh so benevolent DM has their own chart. Throw away page 103 in the player's handbook. Turning will never be the same. Our party just completed "The house on Griffon Hill". We started in the castle campaign, but through some fluke of demensional rifting, we were sent through a dreaming state back to when Strahd was yet the "alchemist"! I'm proud to say that the other half of our party, the ones who stayed in the castle and were rude to us, were being pretty screwed over, but we Dual-classed 3/6 Priest/Necromancer(No healing except Vamp. Touch =8) Wylde Mage 7th level and 6th level Priest of Angels and Devas(No healing spheres) survived and kicked some butt! I wonder if there are any other parties out there with no or little healing and no fighters. It was really a role-playing experience and a lot of pulling *hi* out of our a&&es! Fun, fun, fun!! Ghostwheel speaks... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From Z_COOLIDGEJS@CCSVAX.SFASU.EDU Subject: Rise from your graves, networkers! Harlaquin is right, the lines are a tad too dead even for the Ravenloft list. So, here is something to gnaw on. Recently, the hot topic of discussion was the ocean. But when I look at my map of Ravenloft and the Isles of Terror, I see mainly a bunch of fog. The Ilses seem to be surrounded by fog in all direction. Is the ocean where the fog comes from? Is there unseen land below the fog? Or is there nothing but more fog below the fog--a pit down an unseen vortex to Heck and worse? And, when one becomes a lord in Ravenloft and gets a free esttate into which one is entrapped forever, where does the land come from? Where do the people come from? Do these both appear out of the air? This would suggest that Ravenloft has the power to create life as well as torment it. If Ravenloft instead has to steal life and land from neighboring worlds, then the Forgotten Realms and the like are in a bit of trouble! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From MSCS057@VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU Subject: necromancer player needs help I have a necro in Ravenloft, but our DM is quitting the camp. because other things came up and most of the group can not make it no more. So, I was wonder if one of you DMs would finish up my character's race to become a Lord of Ravenloft and send me the info. in his realm? Steve ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From @uga.cc.uga.edu:MBLANK@UTCVM.BITNET Subject: RA-L: Where does the land come from? In response to the question of where the land comes from: The land usually comes from another campagain world. (Ex. Strad's land was pulled in with him when he sealed the pact with the dark powers.) This would seem to say that the ravenloft realm is just in contact with the etheral plane, perhaps like the astral plane is, because the ethereal plane is different for each campagain world (according to the MOP). Any thoughts on wheather it is an outer plane an inner plane or an other like the ethereal plane? Oooo, how aboth an adventure where the characters HAVE to travel through Ravenloft to get somewhere? Grabbit Wileucan ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From kq07+@andrew.cmu.edu Subject: Rl-l: Responses Pirates and sea travel. I would not allow any mortal the know how to travel the mists with ANY degree of accuracy, with the exception of the Vistani. Allowing this would diminish the allure of the mists and make them [the mists] much less forbidding. In my opinion the mists are the Dark Powers themselves! They are the actual "bodies" of this/these evil entities which the demi-plane is. It might be interesting to create some sort of Vistani sailor/pirate who can do this however. Ocean Travel - InterRealm travel by sea. First off. the Isalnds of Terror are NOT necessarily Islands in the sense that they are surrounded by mist. The mists may be over water or land, but the isolation from contact with the other realms is why they are islands. Allowing a "trade" routh that is regular enough to be depended on is making the mists masterable and thus a mockery. (if I sound harsh, please excuse me. Mist-travel could work well with a slight change in campaign flavor. I'm just presenting an opposing opinion.) But for actual ocean travel, this is my idea. Why not create an actual ocean realm (or several) Ideas are - a Loacath or other sentient aquatic race with its lord, a Loch Ness (not a lake, but the same monster) monster, a realm of a living sea. I would attach them to the sea of sorrows through a small bottleneck of open sea. (I think the mists present a pretty horrific barrier where it feels even more unnatural than on land.) Where these oceans lead is another whole matter. When I was eighteen, I spent two weeks on a three mast sail boat in Maine. Let me tell you, at four o'clock in the morning, the dead calm of a cloudless sky can be pretty amazing. It is both at the same time eerie and beautiful. I remember watching the dawn rise over the big black horizon and just being awestruck! A red line ran the length of vision, like a razor wound bleeding upwards. This would be a great image for Ravenloft, so I agree that sea travel should definitely be included. A good movie to watch would be Dead Calm (It is on video), while not immediatly translatable to AD&D2, it could give someone a good inspiration on the feeling of terror that can be experienced on open water, with no where to run. (without the aid of magic) Also, Charon, the Styx-guy might be an interesting way through the mists? But I really suggest you get some old sea-movies (even as late as Jaws, but black-and white are great) they really play up the lost in the fog idea. The Realm on the other side: After weeks of travel on the oceans, being attacked by dragon Turtles and mermen the familiar flick of a distant light house is seen to the west. (Is it just another one of those flashing sea-=willow-the-wisps?) The ship sails to investigate. Soon the bells on the tower can be heard. Don't get too close, you don't want to hit the peninsula it gaurds. But the light house has been (deliberatley) badly placed and the ship grounds itself on a reef. It begins to list and then to sink. The ghost of the light house...I'll let you continue from there. Where does the Land Come from? The demi-plane is located the what is known as the Deep Ethereal. Each Prime Material plane does have its own Ethereal plane, this is known as a Border Ethereal, which envelops the Prime plane like a blanket. But each, border ethereal connects to the chaotic Maelstrom of ether known as the Deep ethereal. Therefore, it is quite possible for the demi-plane to annex land and people from any surrounding Prime it wishes to get. The way I see this, is actually like the creation of a Prime Plane anyway. I see all Prime material as a coalescence of Ether (thus another way to get "Land" into Ravenloft, the condensation of Ether) When enough of this ether has condensed into prime material, the "hunk" has enough mass to "float" of out of the Deep Ether and take a minor "ethereal skin" (its own Border Ethereal) with it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From kq07+@andrew.cmu.edu Subject: Rl-l: Book Review About a year ago I read a fabulous book by Anne Rice, which is just now available in paperback. "The WItching Hour" Wow, ten pages into it and I was rivoted, and scared as hell. (It was three AM when I started.) The imagery she uses far surpasses anything she has yet to write. I won't go into any plot details, because the ending will stun you. The last ten pages of the book, really turn even this twisted world upsidown. We begin our journey in an old mansion in New Orleans. An old woman, who has been in a drug-indused catatonic seziure for the last twenty or thirty years, is wheeled out onto the porch to enjoy each afternoon. This day, the new doctor is on his way to make his first visit. The old one recently died. (This is all rather cloudy, so if a screw up the facts don't kill me) He approaches the house, walking down the flagstone path surrounded by weeds to the decripite ole building. Off to his right he can see the still-motionless old woman sitting on the porch. She stares out to the street blankly. A tal handsome man leans down to whisper something intimately into her ear. The maid lets him in. She tells him that there was no man, and will not discuss them matter. But the man's resence is felt again. This book spans something like 700 years, so some of the ideas can be easily used in Ravenloft. She has a very believable idea on how this family has "passed"on its own witchcraft for generations. (the book is actually about the culmination of these offspring) It is truely amazing!!! As, you can see, I am having difficulty writing about the book without giving away the plot so I will shut up. BUT IF YOUARE A RAVENLOFT DM AND YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK THEN YOU BETTER SOON..... RAX ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From kq07+@andrew.cmu.edu Subject: rl-l: The DARK POWERS I have a theory on the Dark Powers' origin. Don't worry it is rather ambiguous by nature so apcceting this or rejecting it will not have any immediately demi=plane shattering effects. The Dark Powers are actual sentient creatures of Ether. As we already know anything on the Ethereal plane is composed of ether anyway. These creatures are natives to the Deep Ether, and being such are quite alien from any "Human" form, of intelligence. They are HUGE. The size of their physical bodies is virtually unimaginable, as they gain self-awarness they begin to condense. This is how Prime Material worlds are created. (This may sound familiar from a recent post.) Samll pockets of matter begin to form within the creature and out of the creature. Like dense clouds of matter in an amoeba, they roam within its body freely, crashing into others and making even larger clumps. As the creature condenses it begins to be able to understand itself as an entity different from the surrounding ether. It can sense its physical boundaries, an so doing, gains a strong concept of "me." The creature begins to gain the ability to make some "choices", where it will go, what shape it will take, eventually what form the matter clumps within it will take. They are generally rather slow thinkers, and their logic can not be understood by simple mortal thought. (For more information on this kind of creature rea Ann Rice's, The witching Hour - it is the inspiration for this knid of thing.) As these creatures continue to develope, some create worlds, eventually inhabitable by living creatures, by the point that this arrives, most of these creatures have almost entirely condensed into Prime Material (virtually freezing all thought - sowing it to the rate, that only major techtonic plate movement is truely controllable - etc.) When they get this dense, they usually break off and sail out of the deep ether - still keeping a net of ether (the new Prime's Border Ethereal) around them. They are now a new full fleged Pirme Material Plane. Others of these creatures lose their will to exist and simply melt back into the ether. Ravenloft is a strange example of this however... Ravenloft s a sort of comminity of these creatures. While in the stage of "clump-froming" the condensing matter clouds of several of these creatures collides and joined, creating a sort of umbillical between the two, and making them physically inseparable. After a fair amount of this, we have a small community of these creatures which have a decent amount of their make-up composed of Prime Material, but enough of themselves to remain within the Ethereal Plane. They begin to cooperate, and soon Barovia is sucked into their world (possibly form one of the more rambunctious creatures trying to free itself form the bondage of the others) Now they have people, and it feels good to control others, instead of constantly battling between themselves. Thus, the demi-plane is born. Questions that arise: Are the Dark Powers really evil? The definition of evil is open ended, but at their level of existance, their own concerns are clearly more important to them that tose of the things which roam their bellies. Why are they so attracted to evil things. Maybe it was pure chance. The fact that Strahd was first enveloped might just have corrupted the powers way of "thinking" Or maybe they didn't want to change a good thing, so they sought out those that look like Strahd. Do they fight? I would think that they don't always "agree" and this could cause some problems that might trickle down to affect those "living" in the demi-plane. Questions, Comments, Criticsm?... RAX ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From alvalent@husc Subject: RL-L: Where does the land come from I would suggest to you that not all lords are sucked up by the land, but that the demi-plane can create lands, people, memories,etc. Ivan Dilisnya's family chased him into the mists and Dorvinia was FORMED. People, places, everything. People who are 25 years old, and born yesterday, practicing trades they might believe tohave been practicing for 40 years, that their great grandfather practised supposedly. Or perhaps they have no memories of the past and do not wonder why. The only thought they know is that as far back as they remember, Dorvinia's always been this way. They may not even sense a lack if the plane has built them right. I play around with concepts such as these regularly as most of the PCs in my games are native "born" Ravenlofters. It can steal 'em, sure. But it can make 'em too. Conjunctions don't occur all that often. Lee ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From brian_vickers@isd.Jpl.Nasa.Gov Subject: RL-L:Upcoming products (Hykosian Prophecy) Okay everyone here's what I know: There will be 2 more modules released this year that will wrap up the Hykosian Prophecy. RQ2 Thoughts of Darkness This should be the Sri Raji adventure (not confirmed, but it is the next sequential number). It will feature mind flayers and a Spelljammer tie in. RQ3 From the Shadows This is be the prophecy's finale, and will feature Ravenloft's #2 man (make that lich), Azael (sp?)! Pretty cool stuff, eh? I think that with all of the ship board talk that the list has been generating recently, the Spelljammer tie in will probably work out well. -- Brian brian_vickers@isd.jpl.nasa.gov ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From kq07+@andrew.cmu.edu Subject:RL-L: AD&D:NEW PRIEST KITS HI, I run a Forgotten Realms AD&D2 campaing - soon too be Ravenloft. One of the things that I was dissapointed NOT to find in the FR Adventures book was that there were no specialty Priests dedicated to a particular alliance of Gods. The AD&D1 cyclopedia listsed several groups of gods that frequently worked together, and I have created a few specialty priests to compensate for this. I would love any and all criticism, as they have not yet been introduced into the campaign yet. (For those Running Ravenloft Campaigns, these priests might both be able to work in the demi-plane ) WRATH Portfolio: Destruction (Worships the Gods of Fury: Auril, Malar and Umberlee) Requirements: Strength 13; Wisdom 12; Constitution 15; alignment CE Weapons Allowed: Any weapon doing a minimum of 1d8 damage Armor allowed: Any Major Spheres: All, Chaos, Combat, Elemental (only when used to destroy), Healing (reversed versions only - no healing), Weather Minor Spheres: Animal, Creation (Reversed only), Necromantic (No positive spells - may use the spell "slay living"), Plant, Summoning Magical Items Allowed: as cleric Granted Powers: - may turn/command undead normally - control weather once per day by making it one category worse than the present (as PHB pg 232) - May incite a destructive rage in any one creatre/round. The attack is a combination gaze/spoken suggestion (if the creature can not see or hear then the attacks results in a fear spell) The victim must save vs. paralyzation or follow a single command from the Wrath pertaining to the destruction of something (i.e. burn this building, destroy this field, or kill everyone you meet.) for the next 4-10 rounds (2d4+2) If the save is successful, the subject has resisted and can not be affected for an entire day. - Wraths also have the ability to resist all of the effects of any destruction/disaster in which they have made a significant contribution. That is, they may stand before an oncoming tsunami and not get a single drop wet, or they may stand in a collapsing mine, only to have a shaft to the surface open up above them, etc... - They are also immune to mind affecting magic, this does not include illusions, but it does include most enchantment/charm spells. Other Notes: This specialty priest is actually created at 10th level from any of the specialty priests of either Malar, Auril, or Umberlee. Thus it is very Rare. At 9th level or beyond a specialty priest of one of those Powers may find themselves in the midst of a disaster that they created with no way for them to escape alive. If this is the case, and the disaster is large enough (sometimes this is arranged by the powers that be) a manifistation of the God may appear out of the middle of the chaos and award the priest for his service just before he passes out. He will awaken following the disaster wounded and in pain, on the shore of a hurricane destroyed island or from the embers of a burned building. He will instant;y understand that he is to replace one of the older Wraths. There may only be thirteen of them in the Realms at any given time, and when one goes astray a new one is needed to replace him. (Sometimes the new priest is called upon to actually detroy the old) The new priest now has NONE of the granted powers of this priesthood and will refuse to use any weapon that does not do at least the aforementioned damage (even subjecting himself to proficiency penalties to do so), and all of his spells will be granted from the new spheres. He does not gain these Granted powers until he has proven himself worthy by advancing one level through the destruction of everything and anything he can think of. These priests are the true powers of destruction in the realms. It is said that there is not a disaster without their hand in it somewhere. They are feared by everyone - even the priests of the Gods of Fury. The only ones who they see on their own level are the Stormlords of Talos, and this is only out of respect for the God (Whom they also serve indirectly) They are "welcome" in all of these churches, and may demand food, shelter, and assistance from these places for as many days as they have levels. (The temples of Talos will usually deand a service in return, if the Wrath's plans do not alredy fir the bill.) At least every other period of as many days as the priest has levels these priests must destroy the life or lives of at least one person or persons. They can do this in as many ways as possible. Burning a farmer's crops, then terrorizing and killing off his family, taking his health, and finally allowing him to live in poverty and sorrow. After such a trek, the priests has a number of days equal to his level to rest. Also once each season he must cause a disaster that effets at least twice the number of people that he has levels. If a priest fails to do so, he loses all special abilities and does not gain spells until this requirement is met. If the priest fails again, he loses all powers forever and will be destroyed by the Gods and a new initaite will be selsected. This is done wothout mercy. Wraths prefer to dress for ceremony in their own unique clothes - always black with white or silver highlights, and arching collars, drastic cuffc, ornaments, etc... All priests must be chaotc evil. Their symbol is a small shattered skull made out of silver and embeded into an amulet of obsidian. This will be found on the priest upon waking up after his "vision", and the priest on the way out will find his to have disappeared, if he is not yet dead. New Spells: may include - summon tsunami, create inferno, wither, and a version of Beltan's Burning Blood. MOON GAURDS Portfolio: Protectors of Night Travellers (Worshippers of Mystra and Selune) Requirements: Intelligence 15; Wisdom 17; any good alignment Armor: None Weapons: as a mage, plus the firts new weapon they take must be a short bow. Major Spheres: All, Astral, Divination, Gaurdian, Healing, Necromantic, Protection, Summoning, Sun, Travelers, Wards, Weather Minor Spheres: None Granted Powers: - +1 to saves vs. spells - gains the spell craft prof. without usingf a slot - can turn undead normally - granted 30 feet infravision - can turn lycanthropes as they turn undead. Other Notes: Moon Gaurds (I hate the Name too) are a dual class character. They Must have been a mage or a specialist mage who has attained 6th level before switching to the priest clas. They can take this class any time thereafter, and cease gaining experience as a mage. They do NOT, however, lose the ability to use their mage powers. They operate as both classes whatever priest level they are. They do NOT, however, gain new proficiencies or hit points until they surpass their origional level. And, finally, they can only cast their priest spells beneath the night sky. (This offsets the use of their mage abilities, as well as the number of major spheres). This religion is a small secretive sect dedicated to those who travel by night. The church is not very organized - they have no temples of their own (being content to worship under the light of the moon), but they are welcome amoung the priests and priestsesses fo either Goddess. They fight as a priest of their level, and wander the night looking to aid those in trouble. They will help fight off bandits and monsters - usually asking for nothing in return. They will not ignore a night time cry for aid, and most often travel alone. There are more, but I don't have the time to type them in right now, if people wish to see them let me know. I'll post if there is an interest. Questions, Comments, Criticsm? RAX ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From 99witzki@lab.cc.wmich.edu Subject: RL-L: Where does the land come from (fwd) In response to alvalent@husc.harvard.edu's message: > It can steal 'em, sure. But it can make 'em too. Conjunctions don't occur > all that often. Agreed. This is mentioned in the boxed set. When a new domain is formed, the mists simply roll away to reveal a land populated by folk who have "always" been there. Harlequin ----------------------------------------------------------------------