Can you do a whole campaign (say 3 to 15+ ish) in one domain? I love Guide to Ravenloft but a lot of the domains seem explicitly designed to be so small your stuck doing a one shot and can't really create an entire campaign around it. Anyone got ideas?
Well, the Curse of Strahd book can handle level 1-10, so clearly a single domain can support at least ten levels of campaign, if not more. And I would imagine if you structured it similar to Planescape campaign book where there are several points of interest in a given domain and the players have to visit those and resolve issues to level, you could squeeze a few more levels out of the adventure. The plan, I assume, would be to "start local" like you would in any other campaign and spiral out form there. The players don't even have to deal with the domains dread lord, just maybe other problematic factions or foes that inhabit the world with them.
Is the issue that you feel there is little published information about these other domains? If this is the case, you might go on a short research spree and look for some 3rd party adventures paths that could be repurposed in flavor to fit the domain you are interested in and use that domain more as set dressing?
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
Well, the Curse of Strahd book can handle level 1-10, so clearly a single domain can support at least ten levels of campaign, if not more. And I would imagine if you structured it similar to Planescape campaign book where there are several points of interest in a given domain and the players have to visit those and resolve issues to level, you could squeeze a few more levels out of the adventure. The plan, I assume, would be to "start local" like you would in any other campaign and spiral out form there. The players don't even have to deal with the domains dread lord, just maybe other problematic factions or foes that inhabit the world with them.
Is the issue that you feel there is little published information about these other domains? If this is the case, you might go on a short research spree and look for some 3rd party adventures paths that could be repurposed in flavor to fit the domain you are interested in and use that domain more as set dressing?
It's more the issues I have especially with Darkov and Dementilu is
Dementilue: The entire plane revolves around attending a ball once you attend it and (hopefully) escape the VERY grouchy wraith dark lady what now? I mean can't attend again and it get boring after maybe twice
Darkov: There's a zombie apocalypse every week and the Dark Lady is an egomaniacal idiot and can't run an army for crap. I mean it get pretty boring really quickly
Well for Dementilue, I would suggest more of a social campaign, that is hyper localized (the castle), but is full of politicking and mystery. If you want inspiration for such a campaign, maybe look up material like Shadows House. They managed to squeeze multiple seasons out of that sort of concept, so it shouldn't be too hard to do as a campaign if you are interested and have players who buy into the idea.
As for Darkov, I'm hearing some combination of the Walking Dead and a war story. Maybe try to Band of Brothers this, but with zombies? What you are looking to do is tell a war epic, but the enemies are endless and don't die for very long. There are some adventures that I have in my collection that would be a good start to seed such a thing. Consider Army of the Damned as a good one. It takes place in Magic's Innistrad, but can be adjusted slightly to fit your needs.
Yes, and I love the suggestions here. To riff a little further...
Many of the domains are sizable enough to allow travel and exploration. I'd include Borca, Darkon in this group. You would want to flesh out the geography and I recommend doubling down on the defining characteristics and theme of the specific domain. Curse of Strahd does this for Barovia, for example.
Enlarge the geographic scale of the domain (same map, just adjusted map scale). I did this for Barovia in my campaign, and while the adventure pace slowed, it allowed for much more meaningful exploration, supported side quests, and a more realistic world. The sense of dread and danger remained.
The dark lord is not central to the campaign plot. External threats, warring factions, etc. could keep adventurers busy for many levels.The shrewder dark lords might even hire the party into dealing with some threat to their rule. Or, escaping the domain could be the ultimate objective.
Choose a domain that fits the style of game you wish to run and home-brew from there. Dementlieu makes for a fantastic social (role-play heavy) game with its urban setting. I've thought about adapting Waterdeep: Dragon Heist here, for example.
Yes, and I love the suggestions here. To riff a little further...
Many of the domains are sizable enough to allow travel and exploration. I'd include Borca, Darkon in this group. You would want to flesh out the geography and I recommend doubling down on the defining characteristics and theme of the specific domain. Curse of Strahd does this for Barovia, for example.
Enlarge the geographic scale of the domain (same map, just adjusted map scale). I did this for Barovia in my campaign, and while the adventure pace slowed, it allowed for much more meaningful exploration, supported side quests, and a more realistic world. The sense of dread and danger remained.
The dark lord is not central to the campaign plot. External threats, warring factions, etc. could keep adventurers busy for many levels.The shrewder dark lords might even hire the party into dealing with some threat to their rule. Or, escaping the domain could be the ultimate objective.
Choose a domain that fits the style of game you wish to run and home-brew from there. Dementlieu makes for a fantastic social (role-play heavy) game with its urban setting. I've thought about adapting Waterdeep: Dragon Heist here, for example.
Slight problem with that is Dementiliue is only 1 city the countryside is an illusion. Like no matter how far you walk you never reach it kinda thing and no one can name family members there
True, and if you're set on Dementlieu you'd have to be creative. I dunno, perhaps the ball would have to be an occasional, recurring event where the main action takes place in the streets, salons, and underbelly of the city. Dueling factions, heists, outside threat invade the domain, etc.
Social campaigns with many NPCs can be a challenge to run. I'd look at non-DnD settings for ideas, such as Blades in the Dark, which is set in a single, doomed city with rich lore. In Dementlieu, you're not running a traditional dungeon crawl, that's for sure. An all-bard party would be fun there.
Most of the domains just aren't big enough in scope to handle a complete campaign. Darkon is probably the one that seems the most viable, though I could see having Bluetspar as a source for problems in a long-running campaign set elsewhere.
Kalakan (the Indian-flavoured setting) and Lamorda (icy, steampunk, Frankenstein) both look to have enough in the setting to allow you to run more extensive campaigns. The suggestion of adjusting the scale of the map to give the DM however much space they feel they need is a good one.
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Can you do a whole campaign (say 3 to 15+ ish) in one domain? I love Guide to Ravenloft but a lot of the domains seem explicitly designed to be so small your stuck doing a one shot and can't really create an entire campaign around it. Anyone got ideas?
(examples are Borca, Dementilue and Darkov)
Well, the Curse of Strahd book can handle level 1-10, so clearly a single domain can support at least ten levels of campaign, if not more. And I would imagine if you structured it similar to Planescape campaign book where there are several points of interest in a given domain and the players have to visit those and resolve issues to level, you could squeeze a few more levels out of the adventure. The plan, I assume, would be to "start local" like you would in any other campaign and spiral out form there. The players don't even have to deal with the domains dread lord, just maybe other problematic factions or foes that inhabit the world with them.
Is the issue that you feel there is little published information about these other domains? If this is the case, you might go on a short research spree and look for some 3rd party adventures paths that could be repurposed in flavor to fit the domain you are interested in and use that domain more as set dressing?
It's more the issues I have especially with Darkov and Dementilu is
Dementilue: The entire plane revolves around attending a ball once you attend it and (hopefully) escape the VERY grouchy wraith dark lady what now? I mean can't attend again and it get boring after maybe twice
Darkov: There's a zombie apocalypse every week and the Dark Lady is an egomaniacal idiot and can't run an army for crap. I mean it get pretty boring really quickly
Well for Dementilue, I would suggest more of a social campaign, that is hyper localized (the castle), but is full of politicking and mystery. If you want inspiration for such a campaign, maybe look up material like Shadows House. They managed to squeeze multiple seasons out of that sort of concept, so it shouldn't be too hard to do as a campaign if you are interested and have players who buy into the idea.
As for Darkov, I'm hearing some combination of the Walking Dead and a war story. Maybe try to Band of Brothers this, but with zombies? What you are looking to do is tell a war epic, but the enemies are endless and don't die for very long. There are some adventures that I have in my collection that would be a good start to seed such a thing. Consider Army of the Damned as a good one. It takes place in Magic's Innistrad, but can be adjusted slightly to fit your needs.
Ah this is interesting and watching PHD DnD he made a really interesting adventure set in these you could be inspired by.
Yes, and I love the suggestions here. To riff a little further...
Many of the domains are sizable enough to allow travel and exploration. I'd include Borca, Darkon in this group. You would want to flesh out the geography and I recommend doubling down on the defining characteristics and theme of the specific domain. Curse of Strahd does this for Barovia, for example.
Enlarge the geographic scale of the domain (same map, just adjusted map scale). I did this for Barovia in my campaign, and while the adventure pace slowed, it allowed for much more meaningful exploration, supported side quests, and a more realistic world. The sense of dread and danger remained.
The dark lord is not central to the campaign plot. External threats, warring factions, etc. could keep adventurers busy for many levels.The shrewder dark lords might even hire the party into dealing with some threat to their rule. Or, escaping the domain could be the ultimate objective.
Choose a domain that fits the style of game you wish to run and home-brew from there. Dementlieu makes for a fantastic social (role-play heavy) game with its urban setting. I've thought about adapting Waterdeep: Dragon Heist here, for example.
Slight problem with that is Dementiliue is only 1 city the countryside is an illusion. Like no matter how far you walk you never reach it kinda thing and no one can name family members there
True, and if you're set on Dementlieu you'd have to be creative. I dunno, perhaps the ball would have to be an occasional, recurring event where the main action takes place in the streets, salons, and underbelly of the city. Dueling factions, heists, outside threat invade the domain, etc.
Social campaigns with many NPCs can be a challenge to run. I'd look at non-DnD settings for ideas, such as Blades in the Dark, which is set in a single, doomed city with rich lore. In Dementlieu, you're not running a traditional dungeon crawl, that's for sure. An all-bard party would be fun there.
Most of the domains just aren't big enough in scope to handle a complete campaign. Darkon is probably the one that seems the most viable, though I could see having Bluetspar as a source for problems in a long-running campaign set elsewhere.
Kalakan (the Indian-flavoured setting) and Lamorda (icy, steampunk, Frankenstein) both look to have enough in the setting to allow you to run more extensive campaigns.
The suggestion of adjusting the scale of the map to give the DM however much space they feel they need is a good one.