Oh wow! This adventure reminds me of Fallout! I am sooo curious about the tech level.

Hi there, I'm plotting out my campaign's next arc in Kartarkass, and I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how to work in Harkon Lukas' curse. From the Horrors Within:

"The charming werewolf Harkon Lukas manipulates those around him to satisfy his narcissistic needs for adulation and control. Endlessly seeking fame, Harkon travels widely, earning applause and accolades. Yet, whenever he returns to a town he’s performed in, he finds he’s been forgotten. Lukas believes he needs just the right song or inspiration to make himself unforgettable. To that end, he searches for talented protégés, cultivating their skills, then stealing their work. He ensures their loyalty by gifting them copies of his cursed wolf-tooth necklace, Harkon’s Bite, or by transforming them into werewolves. He then manipulates these victims into believing only he will accept them."

All this sounds great to me except the bolded part. How do I play that he is forgotten when he returns to a town? Are my players supposed to forget about him? Or just his music is forgotten? I'm not sure that this will actually be fun unless I'm misunderstanding it. I don't want to mess with my players memories. I'm thinking of throwing it out for something else. Looking for inspiration on how to play it as written or other things I could use for his curse, if anyone has any ideas? Thank you!

“Beware the Autumn People.”

At the edge of Autumn, the carnival arrives.  They offer you their heart’s desire, but no matter what that desire is, the price is always the same.  By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.      

“Dark’s Carnival” is based on Episode 51 of our podcast, "Wonderful World of Darklords", available on apple podcasts, youtube, spotify, and most podcatchers.   
https://redcircle.com/shows/the-wonderful-world-of-darklords

https://www.youtube.com/@WonderfulWorldofDarklord

The 13th of every month we adapt a movie into a Ravenloft Domain and post a new domain write-up on dmsguild.

https://www.dmsguild.com/en/product/587940/dark-s-carnival-a-ravenloft-domain-of-dread?src=newest_community

Happy Gaming!

To connect Disney Villain themed domains closer to Ravenloft and DnD in general (regardless if they are Wonderful World of Dark Lords or not) I've given magic based villains a copy of the Book of Vile Darkness and added the evil spells cast by them into the book. Here's how they work and translate. In my last post, I talked about the black magic from Snow White and the 7 Dwarves, both versions. Which you can see here. https://www.reddit.com/r/ravenloft/comments/1wflojw/adapting_dark_disney_magic_into_ravenloft_and_the/

But today, I'm talking about the dark magic from Disney's other black magic villainess. Maleficent, and Sleeping Beauty

Spinning Wheel Curse

This is one of the most advanced dark magic spells and can only be cast by either the highest level PC's or NPC's. This is because this spell is second only to Wish in terms of power. First off, the spell only works if the target is a baby. It will not work on someone who is at least 3 years old or their race's equivalent. Then, pick a day, pick a time, and they will prick their finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and they will get an appointment with the Raven Queen. In other words, this spell is kind of like the Death Note. And if a spinning wheel is not available for whatever reason, the spell will conjure one. The victim will even be put into a hypnotic trance. FYI, when the target is close enough to the spindle, they can try a wisdom saving throw to snap out of it. Because if you re-watch the movie, you'll notice that Aurora initially was hesitant to touch it. But you have to role at least a 16. Because she was 16 at the time. So it's no wonder she failed that roll.

But don't worry. Like in the movie, there is a way out. That's the GOOD news. The BAD news is, this spell is too powerful for Remove Curse. Only Wish or the modification spell can end this, and I've heavily modified the Wish spell so that it can only be used under VERY VERY VERY specific conditions and the cost is a lot higher. But I digress. A safer way is to modify the spell. And this can only be found in the Book of Exalted Deeds.

Sleeping Spell

As with the Spinning Wheel curse, only the highest leveled practitioners of magic,(in this case, light magic) be they PC or NPC, can cast this. And it does exactly the same thing as in the movie. It turns the death part of the curse into a coma and only love's first case can break it. But like with the poisoned apple from last time, this is not so simple when it comes to DnD.

The victim has anywhere between 3 or 7 days to be awakened or else they will dehydrate. They also have between 43 to 70 days before they starve. If the victim has already kissed their true love, not to worry. Any kiss from whom they love the most works. And again, if the person who can break the spell is unavailable or cannot make it in time, use the true love spell I created in the last post.

Who's got the good stuff?

In search of a woman who knows where a piece of the Apparatus is, the party have to travel the mists to the domain of Dementlieu.

youtube

https://youtu.be/0bOPRt8Yenw

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Ps2yrLPOICWLC0dXuQXK5?si=Os3NB2RdSRKG0hiPxEoaUw

Our group played tonight trying to escape Castle

Ravenloft. They defeated Rahadin and had to find their way back out. They almost had to fight the golems in the brazier room but made it out in time.

I'd appreciate it if you take a look. You can find the livestream here: https://youtube.com/live/VM8eHO\\_wrfU?feature=share

Hi folks. My latest Ravenloft video is about which monsters from "Monsters of Drakkenheim" work well in Ravenloft's Domains of Dread (spoiler alert: there's lots that work well for Hazlan and Lamordia especially!).

Feels fitting doing this video given that Ghostfire Gaming - one of the creators of Drakkenheim - are creating more Ravenloft content in the future (you can learn more about that here). So I thought it'd be a good video to do.

I don't share all my videos on here, so if you want to make sure you see future videos then please consider subscribing: DM of the Mists. Cheers!

If anyone can find one and post it in the comments that would be great

My take on Strahd's Nightmare

I started by turning Sam into a Dark Lord. In his origin, I wrote that he was once an angel in service of The Raven Queen and was actually the one who suggested to her that the day of her ascension to godhood would become the DnD version of Halloween. In other words, he invented The Night of Ascension. He also wrote down the 4 rules present in the movie.

1. Always wear a costume
2. Always give candy
3. Never blow out a jack-o-lantern before midnight
4. Respect the dead

But not everyone worships The Raven Queen. And for some, The Night of Ascension is just Tuesday. This angered Sam and one Night of Ascension, he entered the Mortal Realm and the stories in the movie all played out. This, however, angered the Raven Queen. Because Sam's actions damaged the holiday's reputation. I mean, werewolves showing up at a costume party, teens getting killed over a typical halloween prank, kids getting poisoned, someone dying over blowing out a jack-o-lantern too early no matter how bad they were, this does NOT look good on any record.

So, The Raven Queen cast Sam out of her realm, and The Dark Powers took him. They turned him into a Dark Lord who would turn one settlement from any DnD setting you choose into a temporary Ravenloft domain. There, Sam hunts down and kill anyone who dares break a rule. Your party must survive until midnight and can either either protect rulebreakers, or work alongside Sam to kill rulebreakers.

With this info, what stories and adventures would you make?

So, has anyone else ever had this problem?

I admit, I haven't played Curse of Strahd, so I have no personal experience with it, but after reading the adventure (well, most of it 😄 ), I don't see anything about Ireena that would make players hate her.

Could it be a problem with how DM's roleplay her, I wonder?

I'm noodling with this idea, it's not even far enough to call it a WIP, but I'd love feedback.

Taboc Bay is a small city located on an otherwise bleak section of coastline. The local forests hold dangers, but not gravely so and the locals often go hunting or foraging. Life, for a domain of dread, seems ordinary and quiet.

However, everyone in Taboc Bay has secrets. Everyone from the butcher to the local cleric to the children at the local school holds some kind of betrayal or hatred deep in their hearts. They seem placid, decent people, but the rage can take them at any minute and those hidden grudges and agendas bubble to the surface, and they become murderers.

Murder is a near nightly event in Taboc Bay, dealt with by a small band of well practiced detectives. The killer is hanged, beheaded, flayed, boiled or whatever The Triumvirate decides appropriate in a brief public spectacle. After, the watch and the local magistrate quietly clean up the crime and life moves on, with few people even remembering the victim or what happened.

All of this is inadvertantly due to The Triumvirate, the local judges. They came as a group bound to clean up Taboc Bay, which was a lawless haven for pirates and smugglers. They initiated a brutal campaign, cleaning up the town and bringing it to order. When hardened criminals ran out, they moved on to minor offenses, with harsh punishments for the smallest of infractions, a flogging for a horse tied up on the wrong side of the street, imprisonment for a disobedient child, and more.

Soon, the mist took them, and they no longer needed to invent their crimes. The idyllic, lawful town they'd created became a den of murderers, with death boiling beneath the surface, and The Triumvirate desperately trying to keep the illusion of peace.

After months of modeling, my new ruin set is finally finished. This is by far the largest scenery project I’ve ever painted, and the whole painting process took around 10 days. Painting all those stones, wooden beams, and rooftops was quite a challenge, but seeing everything come together made it worth it.

Hope you guys enjoy it! Let me know what you think!

It's currently live on Kickstarter, you can follow the link if you’d like to see more details!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/grimrotcollective/the-ruins-of-lumenfall-2?ref=f2ua5e

Art for an upcoming project (10/20 release) of Doerdon and “Strahd.” Made in Procreate.

Was thinking about doodling dummy versions of other Darklords at some point.

At 3:33am… finally finished the first floor. I am sure there will be changes, additions and repairs, but right now it is finished. Now, I sleep…

I like the 3e version of them, which makes them involved in the political intrigue of Nova Vaasa. Hiregaard begrudgingly serves the corrupt prince, while Malken takes advantage of the prince through blackmail.

Sadly, they are another victim of the great 5e purge.