Ravenloft

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Tracy Hickman 02.jpg
Laura Hickman 01.JPG


Authors of the first Ravenloft adventure in 1983: Tracy and Laura Hickman

Ravenloft (in German: Rabenhorst) is a game world of the pen & paper role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons . It is designed in a dark fantasy , horror and gothic style. The game world first appeared in 1990, the rules corresponded to the 2nd edition of AD&D. In 2001 Ravenloft was reissued by Sword & Sorcery for D&D 3 and 3.5, later for d20 . However, Sword & Sorcery has since returned the license to Wizards of the Coast , and the world is unlikely to continue unless a new licensee can be found. However, further novels appeared from 2008 onwards.

The Ravenloft game world is also the basis for a number of novels , in particular PN Elrods I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire , and several computer role-playing games , the best known from 1994.

The game world

The special thing about Ravenloft is that the world of Ravenloft has a life of its own or has its own will, collectively referred to as the Mists of Ravenloft or The Dark Powers. Ravenloft selects the most interesting villains from all D&D worlds, provides them with a realm / domain, gives them almost god-like power and confronts them forever with their own nemesis; however, they can never leave this domain again. But being angry alone is usually not enough, because often great feelings, desires and dramas have to run in the background for Ravenloft to consider someone "worthy" to offer them a domain.

The game world consists of around 50 such domains as well as clusters and islands. A smoke screen separates the various countries from one another; stepping through it results in a character change for most people. The domains are at different cultural levels, from the Stone Age to the Renaissance. The domains float like islands in eternal fog, which is both a border and a tool for Ravenloft. A domain ruler can open and close this border at will to let other creatures in or out, or to keep them from doing so. Often, however, the dark forces also drag certain victims into Ravenloft from time to time and position them freely in any domain of their choice. Ravenloft is connected to other D&D worlds through individual, hidden entrances.

Most of the important characters in this game world have been inspired by horror stories and novels, but also real people, from the Victorian era . Some well-known characters are:

  • Count Strahd von Zarovich , a vampire and Darklord from Barovia, after Bram Stoker's Dracula ;
  • Azalin Rex , a Lich and Darklord from Darkon;
  • Doctor Victor Mordenheim , a mad physician, and his creature Adam , the master of the Lamordia domain, after Mary Shelley's Frankenstein ;
  • Vlad Drakov the Impaler, Warlord and Darklord of Falkovnia, inspired by Vlad Tepes ;
  • Rudolph Van Richten , a scholar who devotes his life to fighting the “forces of shadows” based on Doctor van Helsing, also a character from Bram Stoker's Dracula ;
  • a minor character called The Midnight Slasher (The Midnight Slasher) attached to the serial killer Jack the Ripper is based;
  • as well as the undead knight Lord Soth known from Dragon Lance (who, however, could not be included in the D&D 3 edition of Ravenloft for licensing reasons ).

Most of the residents of Ravenloft are of human origin; there are also occasional elves, gnomes, halflings, calibans and dwarves. Well-known monsters are z. B. goblins , various golems and elementals, but also rarer beings such as living walls and beholders . The focus is on bats, vampires, zombies, skeletons and various lycanthropes , such as werewolves, Werraben, Wertigern and Werra. But there are also a number of creatures that owe their nature to the dark forces and therefore only exist in Ravenloft, such as elementals made of blood, grave earth, pyrefires and the dark mists themselves; new types of undead like the Strahd skeletons and zombies; and peculiar golems such as zombie or skeleton golems, carrionettes, and wax and machine golems.

A people who can at least partially escape the horror of Ravenloft and take a strange "neutral" position are the Vistani. These are gypsy-like family groups who drive through the domains - and between them - in colorful wagons. Sometimes they stand up against a domain ruler, but often they also have a contract with him so they can get away unmolested.

Another characteristic of Ravenloft is that it tries to gradually seduce good characters into evil. They should be convinced of the other side through dreams, offers, blows of fate and further manipulations. Gradually they should receive skills, and in the end finally their own domain - provided that they have then performed a correspondingly terrible deed (or several). Many spells and magical objects have a different, usually weaker effect, others do not work at all, such as B. Discover evil.

Pen & paper role-playing games

Originally there were only two modules in the 14-part intermediate series (AD&D 1st Edition) in 1983/1986. After the great success of these modules, the whole game world was created. Numerous publications and adventures followed , whereby the older AD&D works from the 1980s (I6 and I10 / Ravenloft II, I stands for Intermediate) must be distinguished from the newer d20 works. An older adventure can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website.

The first set of rules, Realm of Terror (Black Box), appeared in 1990 and was expanded three times. In 1991 the game received the Origin Award for the best graphic presentation of an RPG. In 2004, the previous system (1983) came in second in The 30 Greatest D&D Adventures of All Time in Dungeon magazine .

There is even a campaign set under the title Masque of the Red Death and Other Tales , published in 1994, which takes place in the earth of the Victorian era, mainly in North America , according to the literary models for Ravenloft . In addition to the previously known rules, u. a. for magic, this set also includes new rules, especially for use with modern firearms.

Books

For the regular works and adventures, see web links.

German title

The following novels were published by Goldmann Verlag :

  • Castle of the Vampires, Volume 1 (1993)
  • Knight of the Black Rose, 2 (1993)
  • Dance of the Dead, 3 (1994)
  • Hour of the Wolves, 4 (1994)
  • Lair of Evil, 5 (1994)
  • The Devil's Mask, 6 (1994)

German Adventure (TSR):

  • Deadly Touch (RA3) (1991)
  • Crypt of Count Strahd (RM4) (1993)
  • Ship of Terror (RA2) (1995)
  • Feast of the Goblynns (RA1) (1996)

German source books (TSR):

  • Rabenhorst: The Realm of Terror (Box), Monster Compendium IV: The Children of the Night, Van Richten's Handbook on Vampires (RR3), Van Richten's Ghost Handbook (RR5)

Books by Feather & Sword:

  • Inhabitants of Darkness (Monster Compendium) (2003)
  • Ravenloft (basic rule book, d20) (2002)
  • Faces of Terror (for 3rd Edition / d20) (2003)

Computer games

There are also modules for the game development system Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures .

PC DOS game

The game The Curse of the Count was implemented by SSI for the PC (CD-ROM). The resolution changes to up to 320 × 400 pixels (not quite S-VGA) and is still pixelated and jerky even with fast PCs. The movement in the game world is stepless, for faster movement the player can also make a bigger jump (like with Myst ). The fight scenes are difficult due to the slow rotation, at least the player's group can attack together with a click of the mouse.

There are large outdoor and indoor areas, as well as caves. The main playground is Rabenhorst Castle. The rooms are mostly gray and narrow; they are often furnished with large chairs and a fireplace. Automapping is available. The sound output was quite good for the conditions at the time and adapted to the mood.

Despite the mystical story, Ravenloft was not very successful because of the poor controls and better competitive games.

Online games

With the release of Neverwinter Nights , many online versions of former D&D worlds were created, including Ravenloft. At the moment only the version "Ravenloft - Prisoners of the Mist" exists. In contrast to many other online worlds for Neverwinter Nights, a very strong role-play-focused action is required on the server, in contrast to action-focused play. A version for Neverwinter Nights 2 is in development.

Board game

At the end of August 2010 the board game Castle Ravenloft by Wizards of the Coast was released .

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The Acaeum
  2. ↑ AD&D download archive at Wizards of the Coast
  3. ↑ [1]
  4. ↑ UA File Archive

Web links