Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Ravenloft
717 BC (Barovian Calender)
Scope
The motivation behind building Ravenloft
This is a fusion of all the different versions of Ravenloft (except 4e) that resulted from me trying to expand the 5e module for my party.
The goal of the project
I'm hoping for a good campaign story for my players and this is helping me settle out the effects of their actions while attempting to escape Barovia. Word can only go so far...
Ravenloft's Unique Selling point
As a result of me throwing the instructions for making the Apparatus at a party with little common sense, allied to closely with Strahd, and far too good at arguing "why not", this is a Ravenloft where Strahd is cut into his two selves from House on Gryphon Hill. Also. Barovia has been shaped by the actions and choices of the party (ignoring Krezk, getting Ireena killed, ect.) and, in an attempt to show that even in a game actions have consequences and reflect the mood of Ravenloft, I've gone a bit nuts on the effects.
The other major difference comes from how boring the Mists seemed to me. Rather than have the Mists as an almost unnoticeable force until the DM needs a deux ex machina, I've changed the entire demiplane to be chunks of land connected by a Mist otherworld. This makes the travel abilities of the Vistani be a bit more important to the players and gives me some ability to have fun with the party in between domains.
Theme
Genre
Gothic Horror! Actual Gothic Horror! If something can go wrong, it will and in the most twisted, panicky way I can think of that Poe would approve of.
Reader Experience
Dark and desperate but with a tinge of mystery to keep things from being too depressing. The party I'm running still tries to make things generally better, so I'll allow some of that but still be trying to avoid pure happy endings free of strings or problems.
Reader Tone
Dark as I can with a party half made with memelords.
Recurring Themes
Player/man vs the Mists (darklords and navigating the Mists), trust (which NPCs are trustworthy when everyone has an agenda?), cause and effect hates you.
Character Agency
The world will be very reactive and much of what happens will depend on the party's choices. Ultimately, they'll be forced to decide the fate of the whole demiplane.