Before we begin, I want to explain how I've chosen to portray the Dark Powers. In my setting, there were a number of wars the gods fought. Among themselves, against Titans, and other much worse foes. Not all gods survived these wars, and those that perished, were reborn as the Dark Powers and do everything they are supposed to do in Ravenloft lore.
Now for the scenario I have in mind. Better pull up a chair because this is a hell of a story. In my setting, beings powerful enough to be considered gods are portrayed as being just as fallible as the mortals who worship them. Before they seeded the world with life, the gods were actually a dysfunctional family of celestial energy beings, kind of like the Q Continuum from Star Trek or the Archivists/Collectors from The Owl House (in fact, much of what you are about to learn draws from The Owl House)
The beings who would be worshiped as gods by mortals, and those who would become the Dark Powers, were a group of siblings who were once actually very much like real life teen bullies. They pulled cosmic pranks on each other, and acted like dumb kids. But their favorite victim, was actually the youngest brother them, who was a little kid by their kind's standards. I haven't named him yet, but this brother was also a tag along kid whom the older siblings didn't want around and eventually, they tricked him into going down to a freshly born planet that had primordial living there, then ran away laughing.
But when their mother (yes, I'm going that route) learned this, she naturally admonished her children for being bullies, then heard a frightened cry from their brother, the family rushed back to the planet, but could not find their youngest son/brother. But they did find the ultimate evil of this setting with hostile intentions and after a fierce battle, imprisoned it. But they could not find the youngest among them. The mother was in denial and began searching the cosmos for her youngest child. The older siblings, believed their brother was dead and it was all their fault.
So, out of guilt, the older siblings seeded the planet with life and destroyed the primordials whom they believed had played a role in their brother's death. In other words, they became gods in an act of penance for their cruel behavior in the past. Even when some of them fell back into old habits and became the gods of evil, those that remained on the side of good, chose to honor their youngest siblings memory by laboring in their roles. This even applies to those among them who perished in other conflicts and were reborn as the Dark Powers and imprisoned Strahd and other Dark Lords in the Domains of Dread.
But unbeknownst to any of them, including the Dark Powers, their youngest brother is still alive. And in one campaign I'm keeping on the shelf, a part of the quest is learning the truth about the gods and why they did all this for mortals. At the end of it, the final ultimate evil is imprisoned again or destroyed once and for all, and the divine family is reunited again. It's meant to be a very emotional scene where the gods truly, and sincerely apologize for how they treated him, and how they thought they would never see him again. And I've also decided that even the Dark Powers manifest here, to also give a heartfelt apology. Each of them have different personalities and values, but they are all motivated by penance for their poor treatment.
So, that was a lot to take in. But what do you think would be a nice way for the Dark Powers to manifest and apologize in this scenario? Bet you never thought the Dark Powers would ever be portrayed like this. But, that's what can happen when you allow players to make the Dark Powers whatever you want them to be.
I'm gonna be blunt here -- will the players have any reason to care at all about a Dark Powers family reunion? Do they have any role to play in this scenario?
Or is this just going to be the party sitting around while you tell a side story with a bunch of god-like NPCs -- at least some of whom, if this is a Ravenloft/Dark Domains campaign, will be responsible for the PCs imprisonment in the Domains, and thus have a massive extra hurdle to overcome to get any sympathy at all from the players?
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) PIPA - Planar Interception/Protection Aeormaton, warforged bodyguard and ex-wizard hunter (Warrior of the Elements monk/Cartographer artificer) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I've got a few Ravenloft side quests in the form of haunted houses programmed in to get them familiar with the Dark Powers. Plus, I established the Dark Powers as undead gods before I added the dysfunctional family elements. So the Dark Powers ended up being present in this because they would also be family.
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Before we begin, I want to explain how I've chosen to portray the Dark Powers. In my setting, there were a number of wars the gods fought. Among themselves, against Titans, and other much worse foes. Not all gods survived these wars, and those that perished, were reborn as the Dark Powers and do everything they are supposed to do in Ravenloft lore.
Now for the scenario I have in mind. Better pull up a chair because this is a hell of a story. In my setting, beings powerful enough to be considered gods are portrayed as being just as fallible as the mortals who worship them. Before they seeded the world with life, the gods were actually a dysfunctional family of celestial energy beings, kind of like the Q Continuum from Star Trek or the Archivists/Collectors from The Owl House (in fact, much of what you are about to learn draws from The Owl House)
The beings who would be worshiped as gods by mortals, and those who would become the Dark Powers, were a group of siblings who were once actually very much like real life teen bullies. They pulled cosmic pranks on each other, and acted like dumb kids. But their favorite victim, was actually the youngest brother them, who was a little kid by their kind's standards. I haven't named him yet, but this brother was also a tag along kid whom the older siblings didn't want around and eventually, they tricked him into going down to a freshly born planet that had primordial living there, then ran away laughing.
But when their mother (yes, I'm going that route) learned this, she naturally admonished her children for being bullies, then heard a frightened cry from their brother, the family rushed back to the planet, but could not find their youngest son/brother. But they did find the ultimate evil of this setting with hostile intentions and after a fierce battle, imprisoned it. But they could not find the youngest among them. The mother was in denial and began searching the cosmos for her youngest child. The older siblings, believed their brother was dead and it was all their fault.
So, out of guilt, the older siblings seeded the planet with life and destroyed the primordials whom they believed had played a role in their brother's death. In other words, they became gods in an act of penance for their cruel behavior in the past. Even when some of them fell back into old habits and became the gods of evil, those that remained on the side of good, chose to honor their youngest siblings memory by laboring in their roles. This even applies to those among them who perished in other conflicts and were reborn as the Dark Powers and imprisoned Strahd and other Dark Lords in the Domains of Dread.
But unbeknownst to any of them, including the Dark Powers, their youngest brother is still alive. And in one campaign I'm keeping on the shelf, a part of the quest is learning the truth about the gods and why they did all this for mortals. At the end of it, the final ultimate evil is imprisoned again or destroyed once and for all, and the divine family is reunited again. It's meant to be a very emotional scene where the gods truly, and sincerely apologize for how they treated him, and how they thought they would never see him again. And I've also decided that even the Dark Powers manifest here, to also give a heartfelt apology. Each of them have different personalities and values, but they are all motivated by penance for their poor treatment.
So, that was a lot to take in. But what do you think would be a nice way for the Dark Powers to manifest and apologize in this scenario? Bet you never thought the Dark Powers would ever be portrayed like this. But, that's what can happen when you allow players to make the Dark Powers whatever you want them to be.
I think this should be in Dungeon Master's Only.
I'm gonna be blunt here -- will the players have any reason to care at all about a Dark Powers family reunion? Do they have any role to play in this scenario?
Or is this just going to be the party sitting around while you tell a side story with a bunch of god-like NPCs -- at least some of whom, if this is a Ravenloft/Dark Domains campaign, will be responsible for the PCs imprisonment in the Domains, and thus have a massive extra hurdle to overcome to get any sympathy at all from the players?
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
PIPA - Planar Interception/Protection Aeormaton, warforged bodyguard and ex-wizard hunter (Warrior of the Elements monk/Cartographer artificer)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I've got a few Ravenloft side quests in the form of haunted houses programmed in to get them familiar with the Dark Powers. Plus, I established the Dark Powers as undead gods before I added the dysfunctional family elements. So the Dark Powers ended up being present in this because they would also be family.