Firstly, it should be noted that there are already two Ravenloft CRPGs, done in the "Eye of the Beholder" style. These share one thing in common with most modern horror games: a limited field of view. Combined with lighting effects, these tend to really on threats jumping out at players in order to scare them. With it's 360 field of view, this tactic wouldn't work well in an IE game. The other modern horror tactic is making the monsters much more powerful than the protagonists. I don't think this works too well in a D&D game either. I would play down the "horror" aspect and focus on the "gothic". Hand drawn maps should be particularly effective for invoking the castles, forests, and peasant villages. Music would also be of critical importance in creating the right atmosphere.
There are a couple of story elements that I think should be avoided or played down, simply because they have been horribly overused and abused.
1) Vampires. Twilight broke these, but they had already become a predictable cliché. Werewolves aren't much better. I think it would be more interesting if the Big Bad is all too human.
2) Escaping from the mists. It's kind of the default motive for the protagonist to want to escape the demiplane, but that doesn't play well with the gothic themes of ancient family curses that should personally involve the protagonist. I would make the protagonist a native, and play down talk of demiplanes.
The party: Clearly, if the protagonists are going to have an ancient family curse (or similar), then an IWD create you own party approach won't work. I would go for something more like PST, with highly developed party members all personally involved in the story.
The Protagonist: The easiest way to tie the main character into the plot is to make them a member of the cursed family. The drawback is it ties down racial choices. However, only one parent needs to come from the family, so you could include part-human racial choices, including non-core options: Human, Half Orc, Half Elf, Tiefling, Aasimar, Genesai, Yuan-Ti Pureblood. Dwarves, gnomes, elves and halflings could still appear as companions. Alternative: The protagonist has just married into the cursed family. A gnome marrying a human is a bit odd, but not impossible. Alternative 2: The protagonist is a revenant (a background option in 5e Ravenloft). The adventure begins with the protagonist climbing out of their grave with little memory of their life, but a burning desire for revenge.
Inspiration: Gomenghast, The Castle of Otranto, The Pit and the Pendulum, Rebecca.
Firstly, it should be noted that there are already two Ravenloft CRPGs, done in the "Eye of the Beholder" style. These share one thing in common with most modern horror games: a limited field of view. Combined with lighting effects, these tend to really on threats jumping out at players in order to scare them. With it's 360 field of view, this tactic wouldn't work well in an IE game. The other modern horror tactic is making the monsters much more powerful than the protagonists. I don't think this works too well in a D&D game either. I would play down the "horror" aspect and focus on the "gothic". Hand drawn maps should be particularly effective for invoking the castles, forests, and peasant villages. Music would also be of critical importance in creating the right atmosphere.
There are a couple of story elements that I think should be avoided or played down, simply because they have been horribly overused and abused.
1) Vampires. Twilight broke these, but they had already become a predictable cliché. Werewolves aren't much better. I think it would be more interesting if the Big Bad is all too human.
2) Escaping from the mists. It's kind of the default motive for the protagonist to want to escape the demiplane, but that doesn't play well with the gothic themes of ancient family curses that should personally involve the protagonist. I would make the protagonist a native, and play down talk of demiplanes.
The party: Clearly, if the protagonists are going to have an ancient family curse (or similar), then an IWD create you own party approach won't work. I would go for something more like PST, with highly developed party members all personally involved in the story.
The Protagonist: The easiest way to tie the main character into the plot is to make them a member of the cursed family. The drawback is it ties down racial choices. However, only one parent needs to come from the family, so you could include part-human racial choices, including non-core options: Human, Half Orc, Half Elf, Tiefling, Aasimar, Genesai, Yuan-Ti Pureblood. Dwarves, gnomes, elves and halflings could still appear as companions. Alternative: The protagonist has just married into the cursed family. A gnome marrying a human is a bit odd, but not impossible. Alternative 2: The protagonist is a revenant (a background option in 5e Ravenloft). The adventure begins with the protagonist climbing out of their grave with little memory of their life, but a burning desire for revenge.
Inspiration: Gomenghast, The Castle of Otranto, The Pit and the Pendulum, Rebecca.
I say make Adam the Dread Flesh Golem based on Frankenstein's creature and Azalin the lich the Villains. Vampires and Werewolves are not the only Monsters in Ravenloft you know.
Vampires and Werewolves are not the only Monsters in Ravenloft you know.
Indeed, but you wouldn't think it.
But the real monster should be the monster within. In Frankenstein (the novel) Adam is portrayed sympathetically. Who is the real monster - Adam, or the scientist who made him against his will, and the society that rejected him because he was different and ugly?
I guess I'm saying Adam would be more interesting as a protagonist than a villain. Or the protagonist could be villainous. The antagonist need not be a villain.
Vampires and Werewolves are not the only Monsters in Ravenloft you know.
Indeed, but you wouldn't think it.
But the real monster should be the monster within. In Frankenstein (the novel) Adam is portrayed sympathetically. Who is the real monster - Adam, or the scientist who made him against his will, and the society that rejected him because he was different and ugly?
Azalin is generic, boring, and obvious.
Then make both Adam and Dr. Mordenhein, his Creator, the Villains and make the player reflect in Who's the real monster by giving both characters relatable motivations.
Vampires and Werewolves are not the only Monsters in Ravenloft you know.
Indeed, but you wouldn't think it.
But the real monster should be the monster within. In Frankenstein (the novel) Adam is portrayed sympathetically. Who is the real monster - Adam, or the scientist who made him against his will, and the society that rejected him because he was different and ugly?
Azalin is generic, boring, and obvious.
Then make both Adam and Dr. Mordenhein, his Creator, the Villains and make the player reflect in Who's the real monster by giving both characters relatable motivations.
Better still, give the player the option to side with Adam or the Doctor, or play one off against the other.
Personally I would prefer something that harkened back to earlier gothic novels, with less Hammer/Universal.
The protagonist arrives at the castle for an arranged marriage. At the wedding there is a bloody murder, and it appears the bride/groom is responsible*. The protagonist must investigate, uncover the truth about the curse, and lay the ghosts to rest. A newly married protagonist would allow for a more interesting take on romances with companions!
Vampires and Werewolves are not the only Monsters in Ravenloft you know.
Indeed, but you wouldn't think it.
But the real monster should be the monster within. In Frankenstein (the novel) Adam is portrayed sympathetically. Who is the real monster - Adam, or the scientist who made him against his will, and the society that rejected him because he was different and ugly?
Azalin is generic, boring, and obvious.
Then make both Adam and Dr. Mordenhein, his Creator, the Villains and make the player reflect in Who's the real monster by giving both characters relatable motivations.
Better still, give the player the option to side with Adam or the Doctor, or play one off against the other.
Like in New Vegas where Caesar has an insightful point of view despite bè an Arrogant Tyrant.
Prologue The story begins with the protagonist being hanged for the murder of his/her betrothed. A couple of nights later they burst out of their grave as a revenant, intent on vengeance on the true murderer.
Act 1 Investigation reveals that the protagonist's body did commit the murder, whist under the influence of Doctor Mordenhein's soul transference device. The protagonist seeks an alliance with Adam, the vengeance-crazed product of one of Mordenhien's earlier experiments, in an attempt to bring justice to Mordenhien and whoever was in the protagonist's body at the time.
Act 2 Confronting Mordenhien in his castle, the protagonist learns that his betrothed is not dead, as his/her soul was transferred into a monster when her body was killed. If the protagonist helps against Adam, and finds the soul and a suitable body, the Doctor will restore them.
Twist: As the betrothed's body was inhabited by a monster, the person who killed them in the protagonist's body acted out of self defence. If the protagonist spares them they can become an NPC companion. If they kill them they gain revenant power.
If the player does attempt to restore the betrothed there are several possible outcomes, depending on the choice of body, and a random roll: They successfully restored and join the party as a powerful companion (metagame reason for pursuing this option), they go immediately insane and attack, or they join the party but go insane gradually.
Act 3 Why did Mordenhien suddenly become interested in Soul Transference? What secret enemy has been manipulating events? Could some strange power be sharing a body with one of the protagonist's companions?
Prologue The story begins with the protagonist being hanged for the murder of his/her betrothed. A couple of nights later they burst out of their grave as a revenant, intent on vengeance on the true murderer.
Act 1 Investigation reveals that the protagonist's body did commit the murder, whist under the influence of Doctor Mordenhein's soul transference device. The protagonist seeks an alliance with Adam, the vengeance-crazed product of one of Mordenhien's earlier experiments, in an attempt to bring justice to Mordenhien and whoever was in the protagonist's body at the time.
Act 2 Confronting Mordenhien in his castle, the protagonist learns that his betrothed is not dead, as his/her soul was transferred into a monster when her body was killed. If the protagonist helps against Adam, and finds the soul and a suitable body, the Doctor will restore them.
Twist: As the betrothed's body was inhabited by a monster, the person who killed them in the protagonist's body acted out of self defence. If the protagonist spares them they can become an NPC companion. If they kill them they gain revenant power.
If the player does attempt to restore the betrothed there are several possible outcomes, depending on the choice of body, and a random roll: They successfully restored and join the party as a powerful companion (metagame reason for pursuing this option), they go immediately insane and attack, or they join the party but go insane gradually.
Act 3 Why did Mordenhien suddenly become interested in Soul Transference? What secret enemy has been manipulating events? Could some strange power be sharing a body with one of the protagonist's companions?
I really think that any Ravenloft story should start outside of Ravenloft with the player being captured by the Mists.
Why?
Both previous CRPGs do that - it's obvious an predictable. It limits protagonist motivation to the most basic level - survive and escape. It denies the protagonist a personal connection to what is going on - a key feature of a gothic story.
I really think that any Ravenloft story should start outside of Ravenloft with the player being captured by the Mists.
Why?
Both previous CRPGs do that - it's obvious an predictable. It limits protagonist motivation to the most basic level - survive and escape. It denies the protagonist a personal connection to what is going on - a key feature of a gothic story.
Because knowing the unknown and discovering the horrors of Ravenloft is the big plus for that scenario.
The first time a skeleton missed and arrow and another skeleton came from the ground where it landed my head almost exploded.
The first time I tried a summoning spell and things went very badly I jumped from my chair.
Hating the Dark Lords and then discovering their tragedies gave me lots of mixed feelings.
And this kind of things happens to someone who is not familiar with the world. The Domains of Dread itself encourages the DM to let the players run blindly through Ravenloft. And who will be blinder than an outlander?
The motivation starts as "survive and escape", but after the initial shock, it evolves in several ways. Trying to understand this world, to redeem it or to give some trace of happiness and hope to some of the little people. To embrace its darkness and join the Mists, trying to uncrown a Dark Lord to get his dominion to yourself only to discover that it was a stupid choice - or not!
There is a reason why the other CRPGs follows that formula: it works and works well.
On a bright side, no other campaign setting was as generic and uninteresting as Birthright. Games with that setting won't be touched by me even with an 10 meter pole.
I really think that any Ravenloft story should start outside of Ravenloft with the player being captured by the Mists.
Why?
Both previous CRPGs do that - it's obvious an predictable. It limits protagonist motivation to the most basic level - survive and escape. It denies the protagonist a personal connection to what is going on - a key feature of a gothic story.
Because knowing the unknown and discovering the horrors of Ravenloft is the big plus for that scenario.
But to the players, it isn't actually any more unknown than the Forgotten Realms.
And it's not what gothic horror is about anyway.
The first time a skeleton missed and arrow and another skeleton came from the ground where it landed my head almost exploded.
Meh, could happen anywhere, isn't specific to Ravenloft.
I really think that any Ravenloft story should start outside of Ravenloft with the player being captured by the Mists.
Why?
Both previous CRPGs do that - it's obvious an predictable. It limits protagonist motivation to the most basic level - survive and escape. It denies the protagonist a personal connection to what is going on - a key feature of a gothic story.
Because knowing the unknown and discovering the horrors of Ravenloft is the big plus for that scenario.
But to the players, it isn't actually any more unknown than the Forgotten Realms.
And it's not what gothic horror is about anyway.
The first time a skeleton missed and arrow and another skeleton came from the ground where it landed my head almost exploded.
Meh, could happen anywhere, isn't specific to Ravenloft.
No, couldn't happen anywhere. This skeleton archer is from the Creatures of Darkness.
But the list goes on: the first time I saw a vampire in bright daylight. The time my party had to face a virus. Getting kicked in the behind from a brain inside a jar.
I really think that any Ravenloft story should start outside of Ravenloft with the player being captured by the Mists.
Why?
Both previous CRPGs do that - it's obvious an predictable. It limits protagonist motivation to the most basic level - survive and escape. It denies the protagonist a personal connection to what is going on - a key feature of a gothic story.
Because knowing the unknown and discovering the horrors of Ravenloft is the big plus for that scenario.
But to the players, it isn't actually any more unknown than the Forgotten Realms.
And it's not what gothic horror is about anyway.
The first time a skeleton missed and arrow and another skeleton came from the ground where it landed my head almost exploded.
Meh, could happen anywhere, isn't specific to Ravenloft.
No, couldn't happen anywhere. This skeleton archer is from the Creatures of Darkness.
But the list goes on: the first time I saw a vampire in bright daylight. The time my party had to face a virus. Getting kicked in the behind from a brain inside a jar.
I just love Ravenloft.
We got also the Carrionettes and the Doppelganger Plants(basically the pods from Invasion of the Body Snatchers) i made 5e ed versions of them on the D&D wiki.
On a bright side, no other campaign setting was as generic and uninteresting as Birthright. Games with that setting won't be touched by me even with an 10 meter pole.
Agree. D&D meets Highlander doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.
Do you think Beamdog can choose the setting they want or does the choice will be made by WotC?
A little of column A, a little of column B.
If a company approaches WotC and say, we have an amazing idea for this campaign setting, WotC may approve it if they like the idea.
If the campaign can work in an already established setting (or one they are attempting to promote further) WotC may ask them to use thier preffered setting.
WotC may also just throw a module at a company and say "do this."
In short, the company working on the game may have influence and a say on the setting, but WotC has the final say.
Comments
Firstly, it should be noted that there are already two Ravenloft CRPGs, done in the "Eye of the Beholder" style. These share one thing in common with most modern horror games: a limited field of view. Combined with lighting effects, these tend to really on threats jumping out at players in order to scare them. With it's 360 field of view, this tactic wouldn't work well in an IE game. The other modern horror tactic is making the monsters much more powerful than the protagonists. I don't think this works too well in a D&D game either. I would play down the "horror" aspect and focus on the "gothic". Hand drawn maps should be particularly effective for invoking the castles, forests, and peasant villages. Music would also be of critical importance in creating the right atmosphere.
There are a couple of story elements that I think should be avoided or played down, simply because they have been horribly overused and abused.
1) Vampires. Twilight broke these, but they had already become a predictable cliché. Werewolves aren't much better. I think it would be more interesting if the Big Bad is all too human.
2) Escaping from the mists. It's kind of the default motive for the protagonist to want to escape the demiplane, but that doesn't play well with the gothic themes of ancient family curses that should personally involve the protagonist. I would make the protagonist a native, and play down talk of demiplanes.
The party:
Clearly, if the protagonists are going to have an ancient family curse (or similar), then an IWD create you own party approach won't work. I would go for something more like PST, with highly developed party members all personally involved in the story.
The Protagonist:
The easiest way to tie the main character into the plot is to make them a member of the cursed family. The drawback is it ties down racial choices. However, only one parent needs to come from the family, so you could include part-human racial choices, including non-core options: Human, Half Orc, Half Elf, Tiefling, Aasimar, Genesai, Yuan-Ti Pureblood. Dwarves, gnomes, elves and halflings could still appear as companions.
Alternative: The protagonist has just married into the cursed family. A gnome marrying a human is a bit odd, but not impossible.
Alternative 2: The protagonist is a revenant (a background option in 5e Ravenloft). The adventure begins with the protagonist climbing out of their grave with little memory of their life, but a burning desire for revenge.
Inspiration:
Gomenghast, The Castle of Otranto, The Pit and the Pendulum, Rebecca.
But the real monster should be the monster within. In Frankenstein (the novel) Adam is portrayed sympathetically. Who is the real monster - Adam, or the scientist who made him against his will, and the society that rejected him because he was different and ugly?
I guess I'm saying Adam would be more interesting as a protagonist than a villain. Or the protagonist could be villainous. The antagonist need not be a villain.
Azalin is generic, boring, and obvious.
The protagonist arrives at the castle for an arranged marriage. At the wedding there is a bloody murder, and it appears the bride/groom is responsible*. The protagonist must investigate, uncover the truth about the curse, and lay the ghosts to rest. A newly married protagonist would allow for a more interesting take on romances with companions!
*They might be, determined randomly.
Prologue
The story begins with the protagonist being hanged for the murder of his/her betrothed. A couple of nights later they burst out of their grave as a revenant, intent on vengeance on the true murderer.
Act 1
Investigation reveals that the protagonist's body did commit the murder, whist under the influence of Doctor Mordenhein's soul transference device. The protagonist seeks an alliance with Adam, the vengeance-crazed product of one of Mordenhien's earlier experiments, in an attempt to bring justice to Mordenhien and whoever was in the protagonist's body at the time.
Act 2
Confronting Mordenhien in his castle, the protagonist learns that his betrothed is not dead, as his/her soul was transferred into a monster when her body was killed. If the protagonist helps against Adam, and finds the soul and a suitable body, the Doctor will restore them.
Twist: As the betrothed's body was inhabited by a monster, the person who killed them in the protagonist's body acted out of self defence. If the protagonist spares them they can become an NPC companion. If they kill them they gain revenant power.
If the player does attempt to restore the betrothed there are several possible outcomes, depending on the choice of body, and a random roll: They successfully restored and join the party as a powerful companion (metagame reason for pursuing this option), they go immediately insane and attack, or they join the party but go insane gradually.
Act 3
Why did Mordenhien suddenly become interested in Soul Transference? What secret enemy has been manipulating events? Could some strange power be sharing a body with one of the protagonist's companions?
Both previous CRPGs do that - it's obvious an predictable.
It limits protagonist motivation to the most basic level - survive and escape.
It denies the protagonist a personal connection to what is going on - a key feature of a gothic story.
The first time a skeleton missed and arrow and another skeleton came from the ground where it landed my head almost exploded.
The first time I tried a summoning spell and things went very badly I jumped from my chair.
Hating the Dark Lords and then discovering their tragedies gave me lots of mixed feelings.
And this kind of things happens to someone who is not familiar with the world. The Domains of Dread itself encourages the DM to let the players run blindly through Ravenloft. And who will be blinder than an outlander?
The motivation starts as "survive and escape", but after the initial shock, it evolves in several ways. Trying to understand this world, to redeem it or to give some trace of happiness and hope to some of the little people. To embrace its darkness and join the Mists, trying to uncrown a Dark Lord to get his dominion to yourself only to discover that it was a stupid choice - or not!
There is a reason why the other CRPGs follows that formula: it works and works well.
Can we get some Greyhawk up in here?!
And about Greyhawk this can't be serious. Next you'll be asking for a Mystara game.
And it's not what gothic horror is about anyway.
Meh, could happen anywhere, isn't specific to Ravenloft.
http://www.lomion.de/cmm/skelarch.php
No, couldn't happen anywhere. This skeleton archer is from the Creatures of Darkness.
But the list goes on: the first time I saw a vampire in bright daylight. The time my party had to face a virus. Getting kicked in the behind from a brain inside a jar.
I just love Ravenloft.
No, couldn't happen anywhere. This skeleton archer is from the Creatures of Darkness.
But the list goes on: the first time I saw a vampire in bright daylight. The time my party had to face a virus. Getting kicked in the behind from a brain inside a jar.
I just love Ravenloft.
We got also the Carrionettes and the Doppelganger Plants(basically the pods from Invasion of the Body Snatchers) i made 5e ed versions of them on the D&D wiki.
If a company approaches WotC and say, we have an amazing idea for this campaign setting, WotC may approve it if they like the idea.
If the campaign can work in an already established setting (or one they are attempting to promote further) WotC may ask them to use thier preffered setting.
WotC may also just throw a module at a company and say "do this."
In short, the company working on the game may have influence and a say on the setting, but WotC has the final say.