As pointed out, there may lie spoilers ahead, so be wary traveller!
I've just skimmed my copy and I'm loving the Domains of Dread. I'm super torn on my favourite, I love The Carnival and Bluetspur, but I think my favourite is Cyre 1313. Something about a haunted train does it for me, especially one tied to Eberron!
So what's everyone else's favourite and why?
Oh, and if you've made your own Domain of Dread, what is it? Might be cool to expand each others Ravenloft settings with Domains shared here.
I'm going to assume by the title that spoilers are allowed in this topic.
Honestly, I wish Cyre 1313 was really expanded on. The concept of haunted trains is neat to me and Eberron doesn't get enough love.
While I agree, I think it'd be really hard to expand on Cyre 1313 without also taking away some of the mystery of the Mourning. One of the defining features of the Mourning is that no one knows what happened, so it empowers the DM to make their own version of events (if they want to). This is something that Keith Baker has been very emphatic about
I'm going to assume by the title that spoilers are allowed in this topic.
Honestly, I wish Cyre 1313 was really expanded on. The concept of haunted trains is neat to me and Eberron doesn't get enough love.
While I agree, I think it'd be really hard to expand on Cyre 1313 without also taking away some of the mystery of the Mourning. One of the defining features of the Mourning is that no one knows what happened, so it empowers the DM to make their own version of events (if they want to). This is something that Keith Baker has been very emphatic about
So that's kind of what I would expanded on. We learn that the Mists kind of mutate creatures and provide potential hallucinations or other such external conditions, how about a table for those. Here is the current lore in Eberron, here are some ideas for who "The Last Passenger" could be, but ultimately its your choice.
It kind of remind me of what the Seven Sisters used to be. In AD&D 2nd, the Seven Sisters were these talked about beings, but the 7th wasn't named until like 3 or 3.5. The 7th I always thought was this lovely idea to be used by DMs to be creative within that same vein. I would have loved to see Cyre 1313 expanded in such a way.
I think Dementlieu is the one that really inspired the most thought from me. I'm really fascinated by that as an adventure setting. I think I would almost prefer these places if they were not "demiplanes of dread" but "real" places. Of course I can make Dementlieu into a broader campaign setting, but unlike a lot of these places, Dementlieu feels more like a functioning society. There are a few of these demiplanes where I can't really wrap my head around them yet. I really appreciate when places "make sense" as cohesive, self-regulating system (even when you have to resort to magic as a part of that machine.)
Darkon is another fascinating place. I have had the idea to have a Dark Souls inspired run of Curse of Strahd, but I think Darkon is a much better world to make that work. Give the players the goal of slaying the dark lord to stop the calamity of the plane collapsing. Maybe give them some quests to build them up for the finalé, having a brutal dark fantasy adventure, only to discover that the dark lord is dead/absent and his throne lies empty, which gives the players a final choice: do they take the throne, become the new dark lord knowing that it means being corrupted and turned into an evil tyrant or turn away from power, dooming themselves and everyone else in Darkon, but saving their souls.
Dementlieu. It feels a lot like a less dark version of White Wolf’s RPG Changeling: the Lost, and I love the “dark fairy tale” style it leans towards. Perfect for psychological horror.
I’m having a hard time picking favorites, but it’s either got to be Lamordia or Richemulot. Cyre 1313 is probably my absolute favorite, (DOOMTRAIN!!!) I just wish there was a bit more.
Haven't gotten the book yet, but from what I hear of people talking about previous versions, Darkon sounds fascinating. Were I to run a game in it, I'd make a little twist: everyone in Darkon was a person from outside that desperately wanted to forget something, and had their minds rearranged to think they were always there.
"Oh, and if you've made your own Domain of Dread, what is it? Might be cool to expand each others Ravenloft settings with Domains shared here."
For my pie-in-the-sky planned campaign, I'm making a country at risk of becoming a Domain. King Danys' dream of making Jubilate a utopia has lead him subtly toward decisions that showed he values that dream more than the people who are meant to benefit from it, the Dark Powers have taken notice and are watching for opportunities where he'll go to terrible extremes for this. If Danys becomes a darklord, Jubilate will be the "false utopia" idea, with the added "benefit" of it eventually collapsing forcing Danys to rebuild it all over again.
Dementlieu. It feels a lot like a less dark version of White Wolf’s RPG Changeling: the Lost, and I love the “dark fairy tale” style it leans towards. Perfect for psychological horror.
Not sure how a ghost that murders people for being fake is a less darker version of Changeling when Lost is about roleplaying as half human half fairy PTSD sufferers.
My favorite is Dementilue frankly not read many domains. Also not sure what you can do with the Dorian Gray themed plane he murders like 50 people every month and becomes a hedonist that doesn't sound very fun to work with...
I really like Dementlieu as well, I'm pretty sure I will use it one way or another, although not necessarily through a Domain of Dread (which it does not really need, actually), as the way our groups play D&D is very much heroic, something that does not mix that well with horror.
It's a realm ruled by a ghost who insists she's rich and alive which she is niether her curse is to never know anyone of equal social or financial status then her and she often kills 'fakers' in her realm thus she always has to reveal people as 'losers' which ticks her off. She also wanders aimlessly as The Red Death thus the plague kills people that might succeed her intentions and let's her self loathe herself for being what she is: An undead abomination
Your Jubilate notion bears a lot of resemblance to I'Cath, in the book. I'Cath's Darklord is chasing a futile, impossible dream and causing her subjects to waste away and rot in reality while she does so. It may be a bit more literal a 'dream world' than you're looking for, but I'd suggest reading that section of the book for ideas that may boost Jubilate.
I haven't cover-to-covered the book yet, and my reading initially focused on all the stuff other than the Domains of Dread, so I haven't read and absorbed them all yet. Of the ones I have gotten to, Cyre 1313 is a neat and evocative idea, even if it'd be difficult to run a campaign on. Simply not enough space, would have to be a short interlude in a larger game, but it's awesome to see Eberron get more love. I've got a fondness for the mobile/unfixed Domains, both Cyre 1313 and the Carnival, as well as the Sea of Sorrows as a useful stand-in for any sort of Flying Dutchman encounter. Domains that can intrude unexpectedly on your game, even if you're not in Ravenloft proper. Tools that allow a DM to give their players an "Oh shit, we're doing this now? ****, I was not prepared for this!" moment.
Hell, Cyre 1313 doesn't even need to be playable to do that to your players. Just have the train barrel through an entirely different domain in the player's eyesight, lavishly describe this rumbling, crackling lightning-wreathed titan rushing by on charged metal rails that appear just before it and disappear just after it, with gaunt, pallid faces pulled taut with fright and tension peering out shockingly uniform windows in the flanks of the great metal worm. Emphasize all the Eberron details and all the terror of this lightning ghost train, then have it zip out of sight and disappear from the game. Enjoy watching the players all exchange "What the **** was that?! What the **** was THAT?!" and pull their hair out trying to figure out what the appearance of an evil lightning phantom train means in their game.
I think Dementlieu is the one that really inspired the most thought from me. I'm really fascinated by that as an adventure setting. I think I would almost prefer these places if they were not "demiplanes of dread" but "real" places. Of course I can make Dementlieu into a broader campaign setting, but unlike a lot of these places, Dementlieu feels more like a functioning society. There are a few of these demiplanes where I can't really wrap my head around them yet. I really appreciate when places "make sense" as cohesive, self-regulating system (even when you have to resort to magic as a part of that machine.)
Darkon is another fascinating place. I have had the idea to have a Dark Souls inspired run of Curse of Strahd, but I think Darkon is a much better world to make that work. Give the players the goal of slaying the dark lord to stop the calamity of the plane collapsing. Maybe give them some quests to build them up for the finalé, having a brutal dark fantasy adventure, only to discover that the dark lord is dead/absent and his throne lies empty, which gives the players a final choice: do they take the throne, become the new dark lord knowing that it means being corrupted and turned into an evil tyrant or turn away from power, dooming themselves and everyone else in Darkon, but saving their souls.
To answer the thread...Carnival. But I agree with these thoughts on Dementlieu. It seems like this is a much more interesting place if it is tied to the Prime Material plane because it seems to be a functioning society. Maybe as a threat that is increasingly encroaching on the Prime as it increases trading partners and as its culture penetrates other communities?
Agree also that Darkon is also an interesting place.
One thing I'd like to have seen is a section on hooking the Domains of Dread in with a campaign. With Curse of Strahd, for example, the whole hook is 'escape'. You went through the mists and now you are trapped and trying to find a way out. But to be versatile it would be good to give DMs some idea hooks for why players have to go into that domain (get some mcguffin) and then have to navigate their way back out. And it shouldn't always be having to kill the Dark Lord of the domain. Just some ideas on some sets of circumstances that will allow escape again.
But maybe I missed that section. I was just skimming the book and reading certain section.
The book's general gist is that the DM is empowered to set whatever escape condition they like. Often, violence is no escape at all - several of the book's Darklords are trivially simple to defeat in combat. Dr. Viktra Mordenheim of Lamordia, for example, could easily be killed by a Tier 1 party (provided they could physically get at her past whatever defenses her estate has set up) without any real effort on the Tier 1 party's behalf. But killing Dr. Mordenheim in no way makes the party's situation any better, and the Dark Powers will ensure she's back again before too long. Or, if the DM is feeling particularly dramatic, Dr. Mordenheim's death takes the whole of Lamordia with her, ending the PCs as well as the story.
Instead, the focus for many campaigns set in these Domains will be on resolving or subverting the Darklord's personal torments such that the realm is destabilized enough to afford a chance to flee. If flight is even possible - it's entirely within keeping for the tone of this book for even the party's best efforts to prove ultimately futile - Ravenloft does not relent, it does not let go, and even Herculean effort is ultimately pointless. Perhaps you escape the terrors of Lamordia, leaving behind misbegotten science and madness of the flesh. You emerge into freedom! ...except the skies are as grey and dreary as they were in Lamordia, the air feels hollow and heavy, and a whisper carries on the wind blowing down the long, lonely road you're walking down, heralding the final words of the campaign: "Welcome to Barovia. I am so glad you decided to visit."
Currently running a Ravenloft campaign where the party started in Lamordia (this was back in February). I modded the setting a bit so that it was Victorian era with primitive automobiles and lots of factories, so not too far off from the industrial aspects of the VRG version of Lamordia.
Other than Lamordia, really liking Kalakeri. The endless war, the family intrigue, the monstrous transformation of the siblings, the Indian-inspired culture, it's an amazing setting for adventures.
As for homebrew settings, I've fleshed out the Endless Road from an old Dungeon Magazine article for 4e, and that's currently where my PCs are at.
Dementlieu. It feels a lot like a less dark version of White Wolf’s RPG Changeling: the Lost, and I love the “dark fairy tale” style it leans towards. Perfect for psychological horror.
Not sure how a ghost that murders people for being fake is a less darker version of Changeling when Lost is about roleplaying as half human half fairy PTSD sufferers.
Well between the fae aesthetic and psychological horror it’s the closest D&D gets. My players aren’t big fans of the trauma/surviving themes of Changeling, which is why I’ll probably never run it, but there’s more to it than that.
As pointed out, there may lie spoilers ahead, so be wary traveller!
I've just skimmed my copy and I'm loving the Domains of Dread. I'm super torn on my favourite, I love The Carnival and Bluetspur, but I think my favourite is Cyre 1313. Something about a haunted train does it for me, especially one tied to Eberron!
So what's everyone else's favourite and why?
Oh, and if you've made your own Domain of Dread, what is it? Might be cool to expand each others Ravenloft settings with Domains shared here.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
I'm going to assume by the title that spoilers are allowed in this topic.
Honestly, I wish Cyre 1313 was really expanded on. The concept of haunted trains is neat to me and Eberron doesn't get enough love.
While I agree, I think it'd be really hard to expand on Cyre 1313 without also taking away some of the mystery of the Mourning. One of the defining features of the Mourning is that no one knows what happened, so it empowers the DM to make their own version of events (if they want to). This is something that Keith Baker has been very emphatic about
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
There is a lot to digest here. I am still looking for the zombie horror domain. Tovag kind of has it.
EDIT: There it is. Falkovnia
"Not all those who wander are lost"
So that's kind of what I would expanded on. We learn that the Mists kind of mutate creatures and provide potential hallucinations or other such external conditions, how about a table for those. Here is the current lore in Eberron, here are some ideas for who "The Last Passenger" could be, but ultimately its your choice.
It kind of remind me of what the Seven Sisters used to be. In AD&D 2nd, the Seven Sisters were these talked about beings, but the 7th wasn't named until like 3 or 3.5. The 7th I always thought was this lovely idea to be used by DMs to be creative within that same vein. I would have loved to see Cyre 1313 expanded in such a way.
Either Falkovnia or Tepest. Zombie apocalypses are cool, but I love hags.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
I think Dementlieu is the one that really inspired the most thought from me. I'm really fascinated by that as an adventure setting. I think I would almost prefer these places if they were not "demiplanes of dread" but "real" places. Of course I can make Dementlieu into a broader campaign setting, but unlike a lot of these places, Dementlieu feels more like a functioning society. There are a few of these demiplanes where I can't really wrap my head around them yet. I really appreciate when places "make sense" as cohesive, self-regulating system (even when you have to resort to magic as a part of that machine.)
Darkon is another fascinating place. I have had the idea to have a Dark Souls inspired run of Curse of Strahd, but I think Darkon is a much better world to make that work. Give the players the goal of slaying the dark lord to stop the calamity of the plane collapsing. Maybe give them some quests to build them up for the finalé, having a brutal dark fantasy adventure, only to discover that the dark lord is dead/absent and his throne lies empty, which gives the players a final choice: do they take the throne, become the new dark lord knowing that it means being corrupted and turned into an evil tyrant or turn away from power, dooming themselves and everyone else in Darkon, but saving their souls.
Dementlieu. It feels a lot like a less dark version of White Wolf’s RPG Changeling: the Lost, and I love the “dark fairy tale” style it leans towards. Perfect for psychological horror.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Of the major settings, I like Bluetspur. Of the small writeups, I think Klorr.
I’m having a hard time picking favorites, but it’s either got to be Lamordia or Richemulot. Cyre 1313 is probably my absolute favorite, (DOOMTRAIN!!!) I just wish there was a bit more.
"Oh, and if you've made your own Domain of Dread, what is it? Might be cool to expand each others Ravenloft settings with Domains shared here."
For my pie-in-the-sky planned campaign, I'm making a country at risk of becoming a Domain. King Danys' dream of making Jubilate a utopia has lead him subtly toward decisions that showed he values that dream more than the people who are meant to benefit from it, the Dark Powers have taken notice and are watching for opportunities where he'll go to terrible extremes for this. If Danys becomes a darklord, Jubilate will be the "false utopia" idea, with the added "benefit" of it eventually collapsing forcing Danys to rebuild it all over again.
Not sure how a ghost that murders people for being fake is a less darker version of Changeling when Lost is about roleplaying as half human half fairy PTSD sufferers.
My favorite is Dementilue frankly not read many domains. Also not sure what you can do with the Dorian Gray themed plane he murders like 50 people every month and becomes a hedonist that doesn't sound very fun to work with...
It's a realm ruled by a ghost who insists she's rich and alive which she is niether her curse is to never know anyone of equal social or financial status then her and she often kills 'fakers' in her realm thus she always has to reveal people as 'losers' which ticks her off. She also wanders aimlessly as The Red Death thus the plague kills people that might succeed her intentions and let's her self loathe herself for being what she is: An undead abomination
Your Jubilate notion bears a lot of resemblance to I'Cath, in the book. I'Cath's Darklord is chasing a futile, impossible dream and causing her subjects to waste away and rot in reality while she does so. It may be a bit more literal a 'dream world' than you're looking for, but I'd suggest reading that section of the book for ideas that may boost Jubilate.
I haven't cover-to-covered the book yet, and my reading initially focused on all the stuff other than the Domains of Dread, so I haven't read and absorbed them all yet. Of the ones I have gotten to, Cyre 1313 is a neat and evocative idea, even if it'd be difficult to run a campaign on. Simply not enough space, would have to be a short interlude in a larger game, but it's awesome to see Eberron get more love. I've got a fondness for the mobile/unfixed Domains, both Cyre 1313 and the Carnival, as well as the Sea of Sorrows as a useful stand-in for any sort of Flying Dutchman encounter. Domains that can intrude unexpectedly on your game, even if you're not in Ravenloft proper. Tools that allow a DM to give their players an "Oh shit, we're doing this now? ****, I was not prepared for this!" moment.
Hell, Cyre 1313 doesn't even need to be playable to do that to your players. Just have the train barrel through an entirely different domain in the player's eyesight, lavishly describe this rumbling, crackling lightning-wreathed titan rushing by on charged metal rails that appear just before it and disappear just after it, with gaunt, pallid faces pulled taut with fright and tension peering out shockingly uniform windows in the flanks of the great metal worm. Emphasize all the Eberron details and all the terror of this lightning ghost train, then have it zip out of sight and disappear from the game. Enjoy watching the players all exchange "What the **** was that?! What the **** was THAT?!" and pull their hair out trying to figure out what the appearance of an evil lightning phantom train means in their game.
Please do not contact or message me.
To answer the thread...Carnival. But I agree with these thoughts on Dementlieu. It seems like this is a much more interesting place if it is tied to the Prime Material plane because it seems to be a functioning society. Maybe as a threat that is increasingly encroaching on the Prime as it increases trading partners and as its culture penetrates other communities?
Agree also that Darkon is also an interesting place.
One thing I'd like to have seen is a section on hooking the Domains of Dread in with a campaign. With Curse of Strahd, for example, the whole hook is 'escape'. You went through the mists and now you are trapped and trying to find a way out. But to be versatile it would be good to give DMs some idea hooks for why players have to go into that domain (get some mcguffin) and then have to navigate their way back out. And it shouldn't always be having to kill the Dark Lord of the domain. Just some ideas on some sets of circumstances that will allow escape again.
But maybe I missed that section. I was just skimming the book and reading certain section.
The book's general gist is that the DM is empowered to set whatever escape condition they like. Often, violence is no escape at all - several of the book's Darklords are trivially simple to defeat in combat. Dr. Viktra Mordenheim of Lamordia, for example, could easily be killed by a Tier 1 party (provided they could physically get at her past whatever defenses her estate has set up) without any real effort on the Tier 1 party's behalf. But killing Dr. Mordenheim in no way makes the party's situation any better, and the Dark Powers will ensure she's back again before too long. Or, if the DM is feeling particularly dramatic, Dr. Mordenheim's death takes the whole of Lamordia with her, ending the PCs as well as the story.
Instead, the focus for many campaigns set in these Domains will be on resolving or subverting the Darklord's personal torments such that the realm is destabilized enough to afford a chance to flee. If flight is even possible - it's entirely within keeping for the tone of this book for even the party's best efforts to prove ultimately futile - Ravenloft does not relent, it does not let go, and even Herculean effort is ultimately pointless. Perhaps you escape the terrors of Lamordia, leaving behind misbegotten science and madness of the flesh. You emerge into freedom! ...except the skies are as grey and dreary as they were in Lamordia, the air feels hollow and heavy, and a whisper carries on the wind blowing down the long, lonely road you're walking down, heralding the final words of the campaign: "Welcome to Barovia. I am so glad you decided to visit."
Please do not contact or message me.
Currently running a Ravenloft campaign where the party started in Lamordia (this was back in February). I modded the setting a bit so that it was Victorian era with primitive automobiles and lots of factories, so not too far off from the industrial aspects of the VRG version of Lamordia.
Other than Lamordia, really liking Kalakeri. The endless war, the family intrigue, the monstrous transformation of the siblings, the Indian-inspired culture, it's an amazing setting for adventures.
As for homebrew settings, I've fleshed out the Endless Road from an old Dungeon Magazine article for 4e, and that's currently where my PCs are at.
Well between the fae aesthetic and psychological horror it’s the closest D&D gets. My players aren’t big fans of the trauma/surviving themes of Changeling, which is why I’ll probably never run it, but there’s more to it than that.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Just curious, what would a digital copy of VGTR cost and are there any physical copies in print?
Mystic v3 should be official, nuff said.