Your Ravenloft conspiracy theories

[The Dark]

Spinning off from the headcanon thread, what are the things in your Ravenloft campaign that people believe but are utterly, completely wrong about? Whether it's PCs deluded into thinking Strahd's a nice guy or a village convinced there are underwear gnomes stealing from them, who's been misled, bamboozled, or befuddled?

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

That Chateaufaux doesn't exist.
Why?
1) Have you ever been to Chateaufaux?
2) Do you know anyone from Chateaufaux?
3) Do you know anyone who had been to Chateaufaux?
No, right?
Yes? You must be part of the conspiracy!
It's not a serious belief for the most part. More like a joke about the town's cultural irrelevance in the public view.


It's a nod to the Bielefeld conspiracy
(A satirical conspiracy theory that a peripherial or stereotypically boring city simply doesn't exist. The original is the city of Bielefeld in Germany, but the joke has different versions in almost every country - for example, Petah Tikva in Isreal, or the state of Wyoming in the US.), as well as to the 5e version of Dementlieu, where Chateaufaux really is merely an illusion.

[brothersale]

Azalin doesn't exist, i tell you. Every time you see him, its really a sophisticated robot piloted by a imp called Skeever. An IMP i tell you.

What no keep away with those jackets, i'll tell you its true he's an imp, you have to believe me, doctor Heinfroth.

[Mistmaster]

That Chateaufaux doesn't exist.
Why?
1) Have you ever been to Chateaufaux?
2) Do you know anyone from Chateaufaux?
3) Do you know anyone who had been to Chateaufaux?
No, right?
Yes? You must be part of the conspiracy!
It's not a serious belief for the most part. More like a joke about the town's cultural irrelevance in the public view.


It's a nod to the Bielefeld conspiracy
(A satirical conspiracy theory that a peripherial or stereotypically boring city simply doesn't exist. The original is the city of Bielefeld in Germany, but the joke has different versions in almost every country - for example, Petah Tikva in Isreal, or the state of Wyoming in the US.), as well as to the 5e version of Dementlieu, where Chateaufaux really is merely an illusion.

In Italy the joke is about the Molise region.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

That Chateaufaux doesn't exist.
Why?
1) Have you ever been to Chateaufaux?
2) Do you know anyone from Chateaufaux?
3) Do you know anyone who had been to Chateaufaux?
No, right?
Yes? You must be part of the conspiracy!
It's not a serious belief for the most part. More like a joke about the town's cultural irrelevance in the public view.


It's a nod to the Bielefeld conspiracy
(A satirical conspiracy theory that a peripherial or stereotypically boring city simply doesn't exist. The original is the city of Bielefeld in Germany, but the joke has different versions in almost every country - for example, Petah Tikva in Isreal, or the state of Wyoming in the US.), as well as to the 5e version of Dementlieu, where Chateaufaux really is merely an illusion.

In Italy the joke is about the Molise region.

See? Every country has one of those.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

It's just like Jimmy Kimmel claiming Gonzaga University doesn't exist.

[hidajiremi]

In one of my games, an NPC mentioned the "Mordenheim Authorship Theory" to the PCs. Basically, the idea is that there is no "Dr. Mordenheim"--it's just a pen name that various scientists have used over a period of many decades in order to put forward their own crackpot theories that would get them laughed out of serious academia or to publish the results of experiments that would get them arrested if they put them out under their own names. After all, there's no way that one scientist would be able to publish so many ethically bankrupt papers across so many diverse fields of study for a period of well over a century.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

In one of my games, an NPC mentioned the "Mordenheim Authorship Theory" to the PCs. Basically, the idea is that there is no "Dr. Mordenheim"--it's just a pen name that various scientists have used over a period of many decades in order to put forward their own crackpot theories that would get them laughed out of serious academia or to publish the results of experiments that would get them arrested if they put them out under their own names. After all, there's no way that one scientist would be able to publish so many ethically bankrupt papers across so many diverse fields of study for a period of well over a century.

This one's brilliant. It makes so much sense.

[IanFordam]

In one of my games, an NPC mentioned the "Mordenheim Authorship Theory" to the PCs. Basically, the idea is that there is no "Dr. Mordenheim"--it's just a pen name that various scientists have used over a period of many decades in order to put forward their own crackpot theories that would get them laughed out of serious academia or to publish the results of experiments that would get them arrested if they put them out under their own names. After all, there's no way that one scientist would be able to publish so many ethically bankrupt papers across so many diverse fields of study for a period of well over a century.

That's fantastic.