Café de Nuit

Just thought I would start a random question thread.

Here's a few of mine-

Who is Sheriff Strand?

Does Barovia have any other major towns?

What happened to Strands other relatives?

What happened to the drow settlements from 2ed?

Does Ravenloft have a underdark?

Do worshippers of devils and demons maintain any power in Ravenloft?

Some answers off the top of my head that are sure to be corrected by the others...

Lovecraftforever wrote:Who is Sheriff Strand?

You probably mean Sheriff von Zarovich. he's a rather unpopular creation from the rather unpopular book Champions of Darkness. his background is a mystery, but he's loyal to Strahd and wears an executioner's hood, and is a very over the top blood and gore brute of a villain compared to the more refined Strahd most people are used to, and quite frankly that's all I remember about him other than the near unanimous hatred of him online.

Does Barovia have any other major towns?

Plenty!

see the list here:
http://fraternityofshadows.com/wiki/Barovia
(though it's missing Berez at least, so it needs updating)

What happened to Strands other relatives?

His brother Sturm wasn't at the wedding, but at least some of Sturm's descendents ended up in Ravenloft's Barovia anyway, so there are other Von Zarovich's in Barovia. Notably, Lyssa (from Children of the Night:Vampires, Thoughts of Darkness, and Gaz I) and Talena (from Legacy of the Blood) and a paladin whose name escapes me, also from LotB. (You too can be a von Zarovich with the rules in LotB, BTW!)

What happened to the drow settlements from 2ed?

incorporated into the backstory of the Shadow Rift. Basically, there were only a few drow, the rest of the creatures mistaken for Drow by the general populace were actually shadow fey/Arak. the few Drow outsiders however spread their Lolth worship among some of the shadow fey.

Does Ravenloft have a underdark?

not officially, but there was a spellfire card (or was it a TSR trading card?) called "The Underdread".

Do worshippers of devils and demons maintain any power in Ravenloft?

There are probably some in Children of the Night:Demons, though that's only semi-canon. I can't think of any canon ones offhand, but the "bust up the demon-worshipping cult " is a pretty standard homebrew Ravenloft adventure, it seems.

(There's also Malistroi, a demon (devil? I forget) who impersonated the false god Zhakata, if that counts...)

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote: (There's also Malistroi, a demon (devil? I forget) who impersonated the false god Zhakata, if that counts...)

Aren't they the same entity? Malistroi and Zhakata? Or that was my campaign only?

I gathered from reading Heroes of Light that the entire Nevuchar Springs sect of the Church of Ezra has been taken over by a demon. So with that much of a following unknowingly under demonic control there is a huge power base growing for one demon.

Lovecraftforever wrote:Just thought I would start a random question thread.

Here's a few of mine-

Who is Sheriff Strand?

No one- IMC. I don't use him.

Does Barovia have any other major towns?

Yes, although you might want to define 'major.' The whole country is rather a backwater region, IMC.

What happened to Strands other relatives?

Some relatives got away from the wedding massacre/weren't there at Castle Ravenloft when the big kill went down. The bloodline continues.

What happened to the drow settlements from 2ed?

IMC? They probably never existed.

Does Ravenloft have a underdark?

No, certainly not a worldspanning 'underdark' like you see in FR. There exist large local cave systems in some lands, IMC. Some of these may be very large and very deep, with their own ecosystems and possibly intelligent inhabitants.

The Shadow Rift is sort of like an 'Underdark.' I have never been a big fan of the Rift, as written. I dislike the Drow connection and the darklord does not appeal to me. Doesn't seem like a good fit for my personal take on Ravenloft.
Ah, and 'fey' bothers me. Why not just call them fairies?

Do worshippers of devils and demons maintain any power in Ravenloft?

Not any more than the clerics of the various gods- and probably less than that.
I tend to assume demon princes and arch-devils play a very small role in the Demi-plane. Lesser fiends may, on rare occasions, enter Ravenloft and make trouble. I don't use fiends much for this setting.

BTW Count von Zaroviches forename is spelled Strahd with an h, not Strand.

alhoon wrote:Aren't they the same entity? Malistroi and Zhakata? Or that was my campaign only?

Must be only your campaign. The Circle of Darkness module makes it pretty clear that Malistroi doesn't believe that Zhakata exists.

sPtJanly wrote:I gathered from reading Heroes of Light that the entire Nevuchar Springs sect of the Church of Ezra has been taken over by a demon. So with that much of a following unknowingly under demonic control there is a huge power base growing for one demon.

If it's true, yes. The only proof of that is in the prophetic vision of Bailey Lacrese, which could just as easily be a demonic (or even mortal) force magically manipulating him into starting a holy war. (Gaz II's description of the NS sect makes no mention of a demon.)

Ah, and 'fey' bothers me. Why not just call them fairies?

IMHO, because even if you ignore the negative connotations of "fairy" as a slur against homosexuals, the average American view of a mythological fairy is a friendly pixie like Tinkerbell, the fairies from Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella's fairy godmother, or the fairies on tie-die shirts at the mall. fey is a lesser used word, so it doesn't have as much baggage, and can apply to creepy powrie or dark-minded Sith as easily as to the Alven, who would be quite at home on a poster on a little girl's bedroom ceiling.

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:

Ah, and 'fey' bothers me. Why not just call them fairies?

IMHO, because even if you ignore the negative connotations of "fairy" as a slur against homosexuals, the average American view of a mythological fairy is a friendly pixie like Tinkerbell, the fairies from Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella's fairy godmother, or the fairies on tie-die shirts at the mall. fey is a lesser used word, so it doesn't have as much baggage, and can apply to creepy powrie or dark-minded Sith as easily as to the Alven, who would be quite at home on a poster on a little girl's bedroom ceiling.

Fey doesn't mean "fairy", though. It's an adjective, not a noun. It has several possible meanings- most of which do not relate to fairies in any particular way. Fated to die, for example.

We don't call werewolves 'furries.'


Fay is a noun, and means a fairy. Fay works, fey does not. I'm not sure why some game designers don't use dictionaries.

In any case, I think that calling them fairies is better. Let the players giggle when they hear rumors of 'fairies' in the woods or caves. They won't be giggling when the 'fairies' turn out to be far more like something from Pan's Labyrinth than from Peter Pan.

Huh.

you learn something new every day.

Well, one of the adjective definitions appears to be "magical or fairylike", so perhaps "Fey creature" is more correct. But language is a living thing, and with D&D and other games using it as a noun, I bet in a few years time it will work its way into the dictionary.

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Huh.

you learn something new every day.

Well, one of the adjective definitions appears to be "magical or fairylike", so perhaps "Fey creature" is more correct. But language is a living thing, and with D&D and other games using it as a noun, I bet in a few years time it will work its way into the dictionary.

Why 'fairylike creature' when you mean 'fairy'? Just plain fairy would be good, or 'fay' if one wants to sound archaic or high-falutin'.

I suspect this is how we ended up with 'arcane' spellcasters. The game designers just latched onto a cool-looking word, without worrying if it really made sense.

ewancummins wrote:Why 'fairylike creature' when you mean 'fairy'? Just plain fairy would be good, or 'fay' if one wants to sound archaic or high-falutin'.

Gamers love sounding archaic and high-falutin', it's part of the fun. Huzzah!

trouble with fay is that when I see it, I think of an old lady. (I haven't met anyone under 50 named Fay)

But yeah, I see your point.

I suspect this is how we ended up with 'arcane' spellcasters. The game designers just latched onto a cool-looking word, without worrying if it really made sense.

What's wrong with that? one definition is "requiring secret or mysterious knowledge," which seems to fit, at least for wizards and bards. (sorcerers, not so much, maybe.) But what would be better? Secular?

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:

ewancummins wrote:Why 'fairylike creature' when you mean 'fairy'? Just plain fairy would be good, or 'fay' if one wants to sound archaic or high-falutin'.

Gamers love sounding archaic and high-falutin', it's part of the fun. Huzzah!

trouble with fay is that when I see it, I think of an old lady. (I haven't met anyone under 50 named Fay)

But yeah, I see your point.

I suspect this is how we ended up with 'arcane' spellcasters. The game designers just latched onto a cool-looking word, without worrying if it really made sense.

What's wrong with that? one definition is "requiring secret or mysterious knowledge," which seems to fit, at least for wizards and bards. (sorcerers, not so much, maybe.) But what would be better? Secular?

Yeah, I was thinking of sorcerers. They don't learn their lore like a wizard does, so it seems like an odd fit for them.
You could say that their knowledge was inborn, of course.

I'm inclined to favor a word that clearly denotes a non-divine origin for the magic.


Secular magic sounds much better. I think you may a a winner, there. 'Profane' magic has a nice ring to it, but some meanings of profane might make it seem less appropriate.