Ravenloft

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Ravenloft

The Ravenloft logo
Designer(s) Tracy & Laura Hickman
Publisher(s) TSR, White Wolf
Publication date 1990
Genre(s) Gothic horror
System AD&D 2nd Edition, d20 System

Ravenloft is a fictional campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It is an alternate time-space existence called a "pocket dimension" with the name "the Demiplane of Dread", which consists of a collection of land pieces called "domains" and the lands are brought together by a mysterious force known only as "The Dark Powers". Each domain is mystically ruled by a being called a "darklord", which is a person or monster who has committed an act or acts of evil so foul as to attract special attention from the Dark Powers. The darklords are imprisoned within the borders of their domains and cannot escape by any means, although most can seal their domain borders with a thought. Within their domains, the darklords are forever tormented by the objects of their desire (often the objects they committed their crimes to achieve), which the Dark Powers dangle before them like the fruits of Tantalus. Each darklord's desires and motivations differ; some desire love, others hunger for glorious victory, or one might envy the defeat and humiliation of their enemies like another rival darklord.

Contents

[edit] Setting

Ravenloft is primarily a Gothic horror setting. Dungeon Masters are encouraged to use scenes that build apprehension and fear, culminating in the eventual face-to-face meeting with the nameless evil. Characters have a much greater significance attached to their acts, especially if they are morally impure, as they risk coming under the influence of the Dark Powers (through the game process called "dark powers checks") and gradually transforming themselves into figures of evil.

The magical mists of Ravenloft could appear anywhere in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, drawing evil-doers (or player characters) into the Ravenloft setting. Ravenloft has even spawned its own variants of canon planes, by tainting existing planes with its gothic energy. The affected planes are the Demiplane of Dreams and the Elemental Planes of Earth, Air, Water and Fire, the tainted areas are mentioned in the latest version of Planescape, the tainted Demiplane of Dreams creates the Domain called the Nightmare Lands, while from the Elemental Planes arise the Demiplanes of Grave, Mist, Blood and Pyre.

[edit] The Dark Powers

The Dark Powers are a malevolent force who control the Demiplane of Dread. Their exact nature and number are purposely kept vague, allowing for plot development in accordance with the Gothic tradition of storytelling—where the heroes are frequently outclassed and outnumbered by unknowably evil forces beyond their control.

The Dark Powers most frequently serve as a plot device for Ravenloft, especially concerning the Dark Lords, the de facto visible rulers of the Ravenloft Demiplane. Where the players are often tormented and opposed by the Dark Lords, the Dark Lords are themselves tormented and opposed by the Dark Powers. Of course, the difference lies in order of power—while many D&D adventures focus on allowing a band of heroes to prevail over a Dark Lord (much as in the spirit of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula), no such victory over the Dark Powers is conceivable.

Most frequently, the Dark Powers make their wishes and intents known through subtle manipulations of fate. Thus, Barovia's vampire lord Strahd von Zarovich's many attempts to win back his love, Tatyana, are doomed to failure, but the Dark Powers arrange such that he never truly loses hope. Each time, for example, Strahd's own actions may be partially culpable for his failure, and as such he may go through crippling self-recrimination, rather than cursing the gods solely and giving up. Most other Dark Lords have similar tales of frustration, kept all the more unbearable because the flicker of the possibility of success is never truly extinguished.

Not all Dark Lords acknowledge the Dark Powers directly, however. Strahd, for example, in his own memoirs, speaks only of a force known as "Death," who mocks him with the voices of his family and former colleagues throughout his life. Vlad Drakov, the Dark Lord of Falkovnia whose military expeditions are doomed to constant failure, seems even to be totally oblivious of any non-mortal factors in his repeated defeats.

The Dark Powers also seem capable of non-evil manipulations. Although their machinations are often directly responsible for the misery of many of Ravenloft's inhabitants, they also appear to play a role as dispenser of justice. Some tales of innocents, who have escaped Ravenloft for happier environs, are attributed to the Dark Powers, who have judged a being worthy of reward and release from their misty domain.

[edit] Speculation

The nature of Ravenloft seems to be a prison for the truly wicked, and the Dark Powers appear to be the jailers of this prison. Those with a true penchant for evil are drawn into the realm, and are 'rewarded' for the evil acts they do. These rewards are a trap however, tying the person who gains them to the demi-plane more and more. Eventually, if one is evil enough, a prison cell is made specifically for them (a realm). Until this point however, the wicked person may more or less travel freely.

A person who remains pure and good is not punished by the realm itself, though they are certainly tormented by those who have succumbed at least partially to the realm's influence. The Dark Powers do not normally aid such individuals, but they do not punish them directly, and these individuals are the ones with the true hope to leave Ravenloft.

In the novel "Knight of the Black Rose", the Death Knight Lord Soth, in his final travels, is seemingly given one last chance at redemption. When he attempts to escape through the Misty Barrier surrounding Ravenloft, he is taken to a place where the cataclysm of Krynn did not occur (because he fulfilled his duty rather than giving in to jealousy and rage, and forsaking his oaths), he is offered a chance to "have" such a life, to perhaps accept blame, and renounce the anger and hate in himself. He nearly does so, but relents, attacking the vision of himself and his happy elven bride. There is a voice, somewhat melancholy, that seems to express a "you made your choice" sentiment. The mists expand outward revealing a new realm, now all his own. This would apear to support the theory that the "Dark" Powers, are more jailors than evil tormenters, and that Ravenloft is a final chance and ultimate prison for the vilest of beings. If a prison, however, Ravenloft failed to be effective for Soth. He chose to ignore the mockery of his castle and the games that the Dark Powers played with him by endlessly changing his castle's form to prevent any sense of order, and by keeping what seemed to be the object of his desires, the woman Kitiara Uth Matar, just out of his reach. Eventually, he was expelled from the Demiplane of Dread. He ignored his prison cell so utterly that it's possible the Dark Powers were no longer amused with him and threw him out.

Another factor that's clear is that the Dark Powers aren't just interested in great acts of evil, but also seek out evil that is particular and unique among the planes. Thus why only one Elder Brain of the Mind Flayers has ever been brought to the Demiplane though the Mind Flayers are infamous for their racist acts.

Although the ultimate question still remains: why do innocents and basically good people end up there at all? It appears that when Strahd came to Ravenloft, he didn't just come himself, but his entire country, the Barony of Barovia, went with him, forming his domain. Why? Did it really come with him, or is it just a mirror? Who knows? But the possibility that the "Dark powers" are not all "dark" and must obey certain rules of equality or equilibrium might be one possibility; has it not been said before that light and darkness cannot exist without the other? Thus, the presence of some "good factor" in a realm of great evil may be part of what keeps it from falling into pure oblivion (But all is but speculation, which, by basic design of the game, is left to exist in the eye of the beholder!). Although: the theory certainly does present a good explanation for why it is that whoever controls/manipulates the realm of dread seems to imprison greatly evil creatures and yet, at the same time, grants them extraordinary powers (A plus for a minus? A great right for a great wrong? A hope for despair? Etc.)

It is possible that Ravenloft itself is the "Dark Power". In a manner similar to that of the Labyrinth from the Death Gate series of novels, it might be a self-aware realm moving all things within it to its whim.

[edit] Inspirations

Ravenloft is noted for its use of analogues of fictional characters from Gothic and horror literature and, rarely, historical figures. Examples include Count Strahd von Zarovich and Vlad Drakov, who are analogous of Bram Stoker's character Count Dracula and his historical inspiration, Vlad Ţepeş, respectively; Doctor Victor Mordenheim and his creation, Adam, analogous of Mary Shelley's characters Doctor Frankenstein and his Creature; and Frantisek Markov, an analogue of H.G. Wells' character Doctor Moreau. The Vistani are a horror-film-inspired stereotypical representation of gypsies. The Vistani often have fortune-telling powers, often using the Tarokka, a fantasy version of the Tarot. Other notable mirror images in Ravenloft included Sir Tristen Hiregaard and his alter ego Malken who are also directly inspired from the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story; a lesser known Dark lord by the name of Maligno (A puppet that comes to life) who is an obvious darkly twisted version of the Pinocchio story; the three hags who are closly related to the three witches in William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and other mythological female trios that predates the play.

In addition to borrowing from the world of literary horror, Ravenloft incorporated characters and features from existing Dungeons & Dragons settings. Lord Soth, a villain from the Dragonlance setting, appeared as a darklord in Ravenloft, as did the Greyhawk lich-god Vecna and his traitorous former lieutenant, the vampire Kas. The Lost King Gondegal, from the Forgotten Realms setting, also appeared, though not as a darklord. These are examples of characters already well-established in their respective origin campaign settings. Some Ravenloft characters were given back stories saying they hailed from existing campaign settings, although in some cases the original settings have no record of them. These include the Greyhawk lich Azalin Rex, the Dark Sun templar Thakok-An, and the Dragonlance mercenary Vlad Drakov, all of whom were retroactively placed from these worlds by Ravenloft's designers.

[edit] System

Since 2001, Ravenloft has used the d20 System, with a few modifications. Additional new saves are used within Ravenloft: Fear, Horror and Madness, as well as the standard Fortitude, Will and Reflex saves. New Prestige Classes, spells and feats have also been added.

[edit] History

First published as a stand alone Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure module also called Ravenloft, it was popular enough to spawn a Pick-A-Path book, a sequel module (I10: The House on Gryphon Hill), and in 1990 was launched as a full-fledged campaign setting with the Realm of Terror boxed set, popularly known as the "Black Box". The campaign setting was revised twice during Second Edition - first as the Ravenloft Campaign Setting "Red Box", then as the Domains of Dread hardback - before Wizards of the Coast cancelled the line after acquiring TSR. In 1991, the "Black Box" won the Origins Award for Best Graphic Presentation of a Roleplaying Game, Adventure, or Supplement of 1990.

TSR also published a series of novels set in Ravenloft. Each novel was typically focused on one of the darklords that inhabited the Ravenloft world, with several focusing on the figure of Count Strahd von Zarovich.

Ravenloft was licensed to Arthaus Games for Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition and revised "3.5" Third Edition and published by White Wolf Game Studio through the Sword & Sorcery Studios imprint. Arthaus' license to the Ravenloft setting was allowed to revert to Wizards of the Coast on August 15, 2005, but Sword & Sorcery retained the right to continue to sell its backstock until June of 2006. This reversion means that the Ravenloft supplement Van Richten's Guide to the Mists will not see print; it was released as a free download in late September 2005.[1]

Currently the future of the Ravenloft setting is unknown, though there is speculation among fans that it will be shelved until another gaming company pursues a license from Wizards of the Coast.

In 2006, Wizards of the Coast announced the reprinting of the classic Ravenloft novels, among which Vampire of the Mists and Death of a Darklord, fueling speculation that more reprintings or new material may soon become available. In October 2006, Wizards of the Coast released Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, a updated hardcover, version of the original 1st edition adventure for the 3.5 rule set. The 2006 version includes maps from the original Ravenloft adventure and a new encounter format that may become a D&D standard in the future. The new adventure also includes a new prestige class and Ravenloft-specific feats. Expedition to Castle Ravenloft is not part of the Arthaus Games product line, and only requires the three core books for usage.

[edit] Novels

A number of tie-in novels were released, set in the Demiplane of Dread:

Ravenloft's first full novel provided a clear link between the Forgotten Realms and Ravenloft.
Featuring Lord Soth of the Dragonlance setting in the Demiplane of Dread.
Details a druidess's journeys through the dark island of Souragne.
Presented as the diary of Strahd von Zarovich detailing his origin, so inconsistencies with established Ravenloft canon can be explained as Strahd's biased point of view.
Removed from Ravenloft canon due to contradicting Tristen Hiregaard's origin.
Essentially a retelling of Frankenstein
A collection of short stories by different authors. Some of the stories intersect with other Ravenloft characters and artifacts.
Removed from Ravenloft canon for explicitly defining the dark powers and their motives. Inconsistencies again attributable to biased PoV.
This novel goes in-depth into the popular Shadowborn clan and the origins of the classic Shadowborn cluster.
Presented as the diary of Strahd von Zarovich written during the period of war between Barovia and Darkon.
The final novel in the TSR Ravenloft line, this novel details Lord Soth's exit from Ravenloft and the instances that led to this great event.

[edit] Notes

    [edit] See also

    [edit] External links

    • Fraternity of Shadows - the largest Ravenloft fansite, with many Ravenloft netbook, information, official book errata, etc. The site also has a large FAQ section, should you need more game information on Ravenloft.
    • Secrets of the Kargatane - now closed, this website was once one of the largest sources of Ravenloft information on the Internet
    • Midway Haven Alchemical Observatory - another popular Ravenloft fansite that supplies netbooks and features light-hearted takes on Ravenloft in general. The Midway Haven website is expected to expand in early 2007, when its in-game storyline takes its characters to new and bizarre directions.
    • White Wolf Downloads - a page where you can download extracts of d20 System Ravenloft products and the entire unpublished Van Richten's Guide to the Mists.
    • Ravenloft UK - a UK-based Ravenloft fansite
    • TSR Archive Ravenloft product list
    • Ravenloft Prisoners of the Mist - A Persistent world based in the Ravenloft setting for a game called Neverwinter Nights.
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