Search Results
All Results
Characters
Compendium
Spells
Items
Monsters
Vehicles
Forums
Returning 29 results for 'dark settings'.
Other Suggestions:
dark setting
dark settling
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Dark Fantasy Settings Sinister individuals leave their marks upon dark fantasy domains, whether as oppressive architecture, unavoidable propaganda, or scars upon an exploited environment
. Alternatively, the setting might exhibit the effects of a disaster—perhaps an event that gave rise to brutal powers. Such scars appear both upon the setting and upon its inhabitants. Dark Fantasy Settings d8
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
, Greyhawk, Dragonlance, and Mystara don’t stray very far from those assumptions. Settings such as Dark Sun, Eberron, Ravenloft, Spelljammer, and Planescape venture further away from that baseline. As you create your own world, it’s up to you to decide where on the spectrum you want your world to fall.
The Big Picture This book, the Player’s Handbook, and the Monster Manual present the default assumptions for how the worlds of D&D work. Among the established settings of D&D, the Forgotten Realms
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
desperate or reluctant heroes resisting evil. Even in the grimmest settings, desperation and hope fan the flames of resistance. Adventure Hooks Plots in dark fantasy adventures range from street-level
distills souls into a powerful wish-granting elixir. 10 An expanding labyrinth has just swallowed another neighborhood. Adventure Settings Evil is entrenched in dark fantasy domains, reflected by
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
have been published as official settings for the D&D game. The legends of the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Dark Sun, Mystara, and Eberron settings are woven together in the fabric of the
villains. Some races have unusual traits in different worlds. The halflings of the Dark Sun setting, for example, are jungle-dwelling cannibals, and the elves are desert nomads. Some worlds feature races
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
have been published as official settings for the D&D game. The legends of the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Dark Sun, Mystara, and Eberron settings are woven together in the fabric of the
villains. Some races have unusual traits in different worlds. The halflings of the Dark Sun setting, for example, are jungle-dwelling cannibals, and the elves are desert nomads. Some worlds feature races
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Dark Fantasy Torments For Darklords in dark fantasy settings, power is at the root of their suffering. Perhaps their rise to dominance led them to sacrifice what mattered to them most, or they
secretly seek to be rid of their might but fear being without it. Dark Fantasy Torments d8 Torment
1 The Darklord’s regime is fraught with spies and saboteurs, increasing the Darklord’s paranoia
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
similar to settings that appear in your Darklord’s past, or take inspiration from the Settings tables in the “Genres of Horror” section later in this chapter. Combine Locations and Visceral Details
creations of the Dark Powers and the domain is the only reality they know, but what logical and psychological leaps might an outsider need to make to sleep at night?
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Body Horror Adventure Sites Body horror is exceptionally unnerving in juxtaposition with mundane settings, particularly in places where the characters are isolated from help, treatment, or
cavernous gut of a dead, multi-eyed behemoth
4 An inn in the valley, its insides dark and smoke-drowned
5 An asylum, abandoned save for vermin
6 A cave system, slick and comprised
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
roots of the game. Here you’ll find a dark, gritty world of evil sorcerers and decadent cities, where the protagonists are motivated more by greed and self-interest than by altruistic virtue. Fighter
civilization, and wizards are the classic villains of these settings. Magic items are therefore rare and often dangerous. Certain Dungeons & Dragons novels follow in the footsteps of classic sword-and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
abandoned. The best-known worlds in the multiverse are the ones that have been published as official campaign settings for the D&D game over the years — Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Dragonlance, the Forgotten
Realms, Mystara, Birthright, Dark Sun, and Eberron, among others. Each of these worlds boasts its own cast of heroic adventurers and scheming villains, its own ancient ruins and forgotten artifacts, its
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
your needs, which has the added benefit of challenging your players’ expectations. The D&D Settings table describes several established campaign settings. D&D Settings Setting Description Dark Sun
material about the campaign setting, other than what you create for yourself. Whether you create a setting from scratch or borrow elements from established settings, the result needs to resonate with
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
or endeavoring to mount a rescue themselves. Alternatively, adventures might have an investigative feel, requiring the heroes to uncover the dark secret that lies beneath the mundane. Adventure Hooks
infestation uses the townsfolk as incubators for giant insects. 10 Something is stealing the tongues of the city guards. Adventure Settings Body horror can occur anywhere, from mundane settings to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Dark Powers Control All. Sinister entities known as the Dark Powers manipulate the Domains of Dread and all who dwell within. Immortal, unknowable, and omnipotent, the Dark Powers revel in sowing
serve as the prisons of Darklords, villainous beings trapped and tormented by the Dark Powers. The specifics of each domain exist to ironically twist its Darklord’s desires, capturing them and their
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
reserved or unassuming until they reveal their true nature. Any intriguing figure with a dark secret can serve as a gothic horror villain. Villain Identities Gothic villains are most effective when
dilapidated mansion; those who visit are never seen again. 10 As the result of abhorrent experiments, blood-drained creatures roam the streets. Adventure Settings Gothic horror settings have an
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
chapter 2. Not all domains need to be elaborately detailed settings. As the domains in this section demonstrate, creating a simple concept for a Darklord and the horrors surrounding them can be a
Ravenloft table to randomly determine where the Dark Powers have guided the party. Domains marked with an asterisk are described earlier in this chapter. Domains of Ravenloft d100 Domain
01–04
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
so the order’s members can profit from selling their services. Some D&D settings have more magic in them than others. On Athas, the harsh world of the Dark Sun setting, arcane magic is a hated
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Mine of Phandelver
D&D settings are somewhere between those two extremes: worlds of medieval high fantasy with knights and castles, as well as elven cities, dwarven mines, and fearsome monsters. The world of the
. Rogues prowl the dark alleyways of teeming cities such as Neverwinter and Baldur’s Gate. Clerics in the service of gods wield mace and spell, questing against the terrifying powers that threaten the land
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
dungeon, images of dark cells with iron bars and shackles spring to mind. In the D&D game, the word “dungeon” takes on a broader meaning to include any enclosed, monster-infested location. Most dungeons
vast, sunless sea that’s home to aboleths and kuo-toa The Wilderness Not all monsters lurk underground. Many of them inhabit deserts, mountains, swamps, canyons, forests, and other natural settings
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
they all call home—or do they have firsthand experience with multiple domains or other settings? Characters’ Significance. Why are the characters special? Why did the Dark Powers, a Darklord, or
broadly accepted reality? Stories and Secrets. Are tales of other domains or settings treated as facts, lore known only to a few, legends, or nonsense? Is that true for all places beyond a domain’s borders
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
are their own thriving ecosystem. As a ranger who spends part of your time in urban settings, you quickly learn to seek out the companionship of some of the many beasts that inhabit those settings
that follows a regular route across the land.
5 A temple built to honor a dark god, long abandoned.
6 The final resting place of the ranger who trained you.
7 The shady market known
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ghosts of Saltmarsh
, the characters learn about the dark fate of the hermitage and its people. More important, they come to understand that after the drowned ones have finished hunting the last residents of Firewatch
ADVENTURE
Here are suggestions for where you can place this adventure in particular campaign settings.
Eberron. Built by Aundair during the Last War, the fort on Firewatch Island once guarded the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
featuring familiar horror settings with a twist to make them more appropriate to D&D or to enhance their terror. For example, characters escaping an alien laboratory in Bluetspur might be stalked by an
. Each domain is a complete setting that the Mists might isolate from all other lands. Locations within a domain are often isolated by dark, monster-haunted wildernesses. Even settlements and sanctuaries
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
fit for an Acquisitions Incorporated campaign, with its frequent forays into urban settings and its focus on treasure procurement and business considerations. But the primal power wielded by druids
leaves your fellow adventurers queasy.
3 Your wild shape forms all wear an identical ceremonial bracelet on one limb, decorated with teeth.
4 A dark patch on your body is recognizable as
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
courts and other settings of power. Speak up! It’s really hard to hear you over the screaming. Nope. It’s no use. I’ll have to stop the screaming. Disintegrations all around, then.
College of
capture another one with it until you finish a short or long rest. Shadow Lore At 14th level, you gain the ability to weave dark magic into your words and tap into a creature’s deepest fears. As an
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
quash stereotypes. Don’t use cliché accents, especially to represent marginalized people. Matter-of-factly provide opportunities for everyone to be exceptional. Magical settings bear no resemblance to
investment into their characters. Don’t impose rules on characters that might make players not want to play them anymore. For example, characters might gain any of the lineages and Dark Gifts from
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Magical Phenomena Magic has the ability to make even the most serene natural settings unpredictable. Whether the result of magical calamities, otherworldly influences, or nexuses of inexplicable
dark clouds that manifest leering skulls and bone-white lightning. Any creature exposed to the storm that isn’t a construct or an undead must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw at the end of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Keys from the Golden Vault
area S7. S3: Dining Hall Large windows on the west wall of this opulent dining hall look toward the ashen city. Fourteen plush chairs surround a dark walnut table. Three seats at the head of the table
face ornate place settings: fine goblets, plates, silverware, and a half-empty bottle of wine.
The goblets still have trace amounts of wine in them, and a few breadcrumbs and greasy streaks dirty
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
character is proficient with gaming sets. On a successful check, the character wins 10 gp. On a failed check, the character loses the stake. Treasure. The gold table settings and candlesticks are worth
-poster bed draped in deep red curtains and tipped with gold spires stands before an ornate door carved from dark hardwood with a gold latch. (This door is locked and leads to area C22.) A search of the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
subterranean settings. Fear Incarnate. Meenlocks are spawned by fear. Whenever fear overwhelms a creature in the Feywild, or in any other location where the Feywild’s influence is strong, one or more meenlocks
serves as the meenlocks’ den, where they torment captives. Dark Dwellers. A meenlock shuns bright light. It can supernaturally sense areas of darkness and shadow in its vicinity and thus is able to