Hi Jorphdan! Great video! I also hava a youtube channel about Ravenloft. Nice to see more channels covering Ravenloft as well! A small correction. The adventure Ship of Horrors does not happen in the Sea of Sorrows. It takes place on the Nocturnal Sea, the eastern sea of the core of Ravenloft. Meredoth is the Darklord of the Nocturnal Sea in the Domains of Dread.
It is also interesting that in Domains of Dread, Meredoth was retconed to be a noble of the magocratic Alphatian Empire from the setting of Mystara. This is a pretty rare _official_ crossover between the settings of BD&D and AD&D. Meredoth was among a number of barons set by the Alphatian crown to govern Norwold, a frozen frontier province better known as the setting of the Companion and Master module lines; seeing what happened with him, it is no wonder that by time one would play the modules Norwold was thought of more exile than promotion, fit for rowdy upstarts like your players.
It might actually be more true to say that the module takes place on a sea that would eventually become known as the Nocturnal Sea. At the time of the module Todstein and Grabben were just floating in the mists as the Nocturnal Sea hadn't formed yet being one of the Grand Conjunction modules. A bit semantic, but I just thought I'd point it out. Btw anybody interested in Ravenloft should check out the Hour of the Raven channel. Gabriel has one of the best channels out there for setting lore and it should definitely get more traffic.
That's really interesting! The Fraternity of Shadows did a netbook for the Nocturnal Sea in 3.5 and they make that link between Mystara and the necromancer of Todstein isle. I wonder if they influenced the retcon?
I really like the idea of the Core. Even though 5e scrapped it, I'm still gonna use it at my table. I love the idea that the different domains have commerce with each other. It just makes sense to my mind better that way.
True, but one can argue that the Core makes it TOO easy to understand. I personally prefer traverse to be seemingly random due to the mists/fog being everywhere and constanrly shifting and changing, making each domain seem even more like their own pocket dimension within the Shadowfell. Although, The Core definitely is a great tool for someone seeking something easier to understand, slightly less difficult to traverse, and give players more choice over where to go next. :)
Can't wait on Van Richtens guide. Im currently running an Eberron campaign and long story short the Lord of Blades is becoming a new Dark Lord and the mourning is Ravenloft slowly pulling Cyre into the domain. Its causing fluxes and changing monsters in Eberron as a whole and other domains are bleeding in and out randomly
I love the idea of a sea or lake being filled by the tears of the doomed. Perhaps the howling winds sound like distorted wails of a legion of the damned.
So Markov is Dr. Morreau (see "The Island of Doctor Moreau" if you are too young to have read/seen that hehe ). I wouldn't call it original, but it's certainly an interesting addition.
In a way Ravenloft seems kind of like the Faewild, in that Fae Lords in their realms are the ones that are the core of the story. In Ravenloft all the Dark Lords are eternally invested in their "Tragic Backstory (TM.)"
Markovia has been my favorite domain of dread for a long time, the sea of sorrow it self is a close second as there is so much horror material connected to sea settings, so the sea can be used for a lot of different type of stories and adventures. i cant wait to see how they use the sea in the new book, hope they show Markovia some love to.
Great video, I just ran my group of players through a Ravenloft campion using The Grand Conjunction as the backbone and we played both of those adventures.
Glad to see you back Jorphdan. This sounds like an interesting place might have my player's visit sometime. Just so I may be the first for it that "The Vecna The" shirt is great.
Nocturnal Sea didn't exist at the time Ship of Horrors took place. The module was one of six that led up to the Grand Conjunction. After the series concludes and the conjunction goes off incorrectly due to Azalin's interference, the Nocturnal Sea emerges with Meredoth as its Darklord. Formerly Todstein was just an island floating in the mists.
@@asahinainu Ah, after rereading Ship of Horrors I see that. It does say that his domain was in the Sea of Sorrows ("Graben Island is located approximately 75 miles off the coast of Lamordia, in the Sea of Sorrows.") He became DL of the Nocturnal Sea after the Grand Conjunction.
@@blenderbabysrevenge Yeah its just a little confusing since it was the first appearance of Meredoth, and then the grand conjunction happened and we didn't hear from him again until Domains of Dread iirc. So the only time where he's mentioned where he's NOT in the Nocturnal Sea is in that module. Its easy to overlook. Kind of the same thing with the "retcon" of making him from Mystara. They originally kind of just didn't give him a homeworld or extensive background initially, until they brought him back in DoD, when they decided to flesh him out. I don't think they initially intended for him to be used further, kind of like Daglan Daegon.
I could see you forced into the crew of Captain Van Rhy's as enslaved crew, exploring the various islands he sets course for while trying to betray him.
Jorphdan, truly a great video and worth the wait. I might suggest Sri Raji and the adventure Web of Illusion. A great example of using a non-traditional horror monster for a horror adventure.
Perfect perhaps for a few and far between table group who are more there for the social aspect at the table but hardly engaged at the table yet enjoy the proceedings somehow... sea of sorrows reflecting that of the invested DM. I've got my sailor/pirate battle master/ or EK duelist ready to swashbuckle! Or perhaps take some tips on tone from Pirates of the Caribbean for a lively table!
I played in Ravenloft more than any other setting. There was a 3rd edition set for Ravenloft but I think it may have been done under the swords and sorcery publisher. Don't know if it would be considered Canon, but I did use it. I DMed and the group I played with went through more than a dozen of the domains.
There's tons of out of context references to the setting proper in Curse of Strahd. The original I6 module it was based on pretty much only had the village of Barovia, the Tser Camp, and Castle Ravenloft. It was more of a one shot than a campaign. When they redesigned it as a campaign they needed to expand. The base map structure they took from the expanded Barovia of the campaign setting, but from there they just started filling it in with random repurposed parts from the rest of the setting while only keeping rough relations to their original iterations. The Temple of Markovia is one of those. There's probably more repainted references than there are original ideas in the book. What's funny is they changed the city of Krezk completely to accommodate this new lore, yet left an Easter Egg for the main feature of the original iteration of Krezk in the toy shop in Vallaki. Krezk was created specifically for the story of Jacqueline Montarri (iirc), one of the most important figures in Barovia, and they just kind of erased her from the lore. She's literally been in Barovia longer than Madam Eva.
@Jorphdan - What does Markov do to aarakocra, dragonborn, tabaxi etc? Edit: What is Markov's punishment here? Is he getting what he wants, no strings attached?
Loving these overviews of the Domains of Dread and all the lore if D&D. Hopefully there are more. Are you going to cover new ones if any are introduced in the new book?
Honestly I think the best way to cater for both Ethereal Ravenloft and Shadowfell Ravenloft lore is to make Ravenloft be the borderealm between Shadowfell and the Ethereal plane...
Pls excuse my ignorance but..what is this ravenloft sea? Isn’t this also the name of Count Strahds castle? Gd I know I sound like an idiot but I gotta ask. Are there just a bunch of different places that tie into ravenloft as part of its many domains? I’m lost. Haven’t played in years but I’ve been world building and reading the 5e source books like mad.
Theres no Core in the new Ravenloft? Ugh! Once again, the people in charge of something that I love, took it, and f$%ked it up! 😂 Thankfully, the 2nd edition modules and such, that I don't already have, are all still available some where, as I'll be sticking with the original material. Love your videos though Jorphdan!
Keep what you like, discard the rest. 15 years ago when I use to game, my shop stuck with 3.5 rules and from time to time played with AD&D2e mix in. We also played with firearm pistol & musket rules. " Your hands are damage and you have to make a number of Dex roll in 1d6 rounds to load a silver bullet to stop the werewolf." What can go wrong ? It is Ravenloft.
Manimals! You should fight to find your humanity again! If you stay as creatures all you will be able to do is eat, and sleep, and mate, and sleep, and eat, and----where do I sign up?
Ship of horrors? That's a terrible name for a ship. Ship aren't named ship of adjective. If the name of the ship got to change then have it be the horror. Or maybe Horror of the seas, a play on the famous line of cruise liners named adjective of the seas.
Hi Jorphdan! Great video! I also hava a youtube channel about Ravenloft. Nice to see more channels covering Ravenloft as well! A small correction. The adventure Ship of Horrors does not happen in the Sea of Sorrows. It takes place on the Nocturnal Sea, the eastern sea of the core of Ravenloft. Meredoth is the Darklord of the Nocturnal Sea in the Domains of Dread.
doh! thank you for the correction! my bad
It is also interesting that in Domains of Dread, Meredoth was retconed to be a noble of the magocratic Alphatian Empire from the setting of Mystara. This is a pretty rare _official_ crossover between the settings of BD&D and AD&D. Meredoth was among a number of barons set by the Alphatian crown to govern Norwold, a frozen frontier province better known as the setting of the Companion and Master module lines; seeing what happened with him, it is no wonder that by time one would play the modules Norwold was thought of more exile than promotion, fit for rowdy upstarts like your players.
It might actually be more true to say that the module takes place on a sea that would eventually become known as the Nocturnal Sea. At the time of the module Todstein and Grabben were just floating in the mists as the Nocturnal Sea hadn't formed yet being one of the Grand Conjunction modules. A bit semantic, but I just thought I'd point it out.
Btw anybody interested in Ravenloft should check out the Hour of the Raven channel. Gabriel has one of the best channels out there for setting lore and it should definitely get more traffic.
Had to check to see if someone had gotten to it before me lol.
That's really interesting! The Fraternity of Shadows did a netbook for the Nocturnal Sea in 3.5 and they make that link between Mystara and the necromancer of Todstein isle. I wonder if they influenced the retcon?
Many of these islands are now domains with new twist in Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
I really like the idea of the Core. Even though 5e scrapped it, I'm still gonna use it at my table. I love the idea that the different domains have commerce with each other. It just makes sense to my mind better that way.
True, but one can argue that the Core makes it TOO easy to understand. I personally prefer traverse to be seemingly random due to the mists/fog being everywhere and constanrly shifting and changing, making each domain seem even more like their own pocket dimension within the Shadowfell. Although, The Core definitely is a great tool for someone seeking something easier to understand, slightly less difficult to traverse, and give players more choice over where to go next. :)
Can't wait on Van Richtens guide. Im currently running an Eberron campaign and long story short the Lord of Blades is becoming a new Dark Lord and the mourning is Ravenloft slowly pulling Cyre into the domain. Its causing fluxes and changing monsters in Eberron as a whole and other domains are bleeding in and out randomly
Perfect for a Pirate adventure and I know just the multiclass: Swashbuckler Rogue and Storm Sorcerer!
I love the idea of a sea or lake being filled by the tears of the doomed. Perhaps the howling winds sound like distorted wails of a legion of the damned.
Neither Man nor Beast was the first game I ever DM'd. Halloween one shot back in the day. Nostalgia.
So Markov is Dr. Morreau (see "The Island of Doctor Moreau" if you are too young to have read/seen that hehe ). I wouldn't call it original, but it's certainly an interesting addition.
In a way Ravenloft seems kind of like the Faewild, in that Fae Lords in their realms are the ones that are the core of the story. In Ravenloft all the Dark Lords are eternally invested in their "Tragic Backstory (TM.)"
A perfect domain for a Fathomless Warlock or even an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer...
Markovia has been my favorite domain of dread for a long time, the sea of sorrow it self is a close second as there is so much horror material connected to sea settings, so the sea can be used for a lot of different type of stories and adventures. i cant wait to see how they use the sea in the new book, hope they show Markovia some love to.
Great video, I just ran my group of players through a Ravenloft campion using The Grand Conjunction as the backbone and we played both of those adventures.
I've been looking for a ship mystery almost as an emissary for Curse of Strahd to get players leveled up outside of the Deathhouse. This sounds so fun
Glad to see you back Jorphdan. This sounds like an interesting place might have my player's visit sometime.
Just so I may be the first for it that "The Vecna The" shirt is great.
Thanks! "The Vecna, The" shirts are here if you're interested :)
teespring.com/die-vecna-die
Pretty sure Ship of Horrors takes place in the Nocturnal Sea, as Meredoth is that Sea's Dark Lord.
Nocturnal Sea didn't exist at the time Ship of Horrors took place. The module was one of six that led up to the Grand Conjunction. After the series concludes and the conjunction goes off incorrectly due to Azalin's interference, the Nocturnal Sea emerges with Meredoth as its Darklord. Formerly Todstein was just an island floating in the mists.
@@asahinainu Ah, after rereading Ship of Horrors I see that. It does say that his domain was in the Sea of Sorrows ("Graben Island is located approximately 75 miles off the coast of Lamordia, in the
Sea of Sorrows.")
He became DL of the Nocturnal Sea after the Grand Conjunction.
@@blenderbabysrevenge Yeah its just a little confusing since it was the first appearance of Meredoth, and then the grand conjunction happened and we didn't hear from him again until Domains of Dread iirc. So the only time where he's mentioned where he's NOT in the Nocturnal Sea is in that module. Its easy to overlook. Kind of the same thing with the "retcon" of making him from Mystara. They originally kind of just didn't give him a homeworld or extensive background initially, until they brought him back in DoD, when they decided to flesh him out. I don't think they initially intended for him to be used further, kind of like Daglan Daegon.
@@asahinainu Yeah, I remember Daglan, the domain was created exclusively to be destroyed.
Jorphdan, where did you get the map for the Sea of Sorrows/Core/Nocturnal Sea at the 2:22 mark?
It's a fan made map from someone on Reddit!
www.reddit.com/r/ravenloft/duplicates/l38ko6/ravenloft_campaign_maps/
@@Jorphdan thank you! I will check it out.
Please keep up your series on all things Ravenloft. Excellent info and excellent work!
Love your Ravenloft series
Thanks!
I could see you forced into the crew of Captain Van Rhy's as enslaved crew, exploring the various islands he sets course for while trying to betray him.
You sound so much like the voice of Clancy/Duncan from The Midnight Gospel. It's bending my mind
Jorphdan, truly a great video and worth the wait. I might suggest Sri Raji and the adventure Web of Illusion. A great example of using a non-traditional horror monster for a horror adventure.
I'll check it out!
Perfect perhaps for a few and far between table group who are more there for the social aspect at the table but hardly engaged at the table yet enjoy the proceedings somehow... sea of sorrows reflecting that of the invested DM. I've got my sailor/pirate battle master/ or EK duelist ready to swashbuckle! Or perhaps take some tips on tone from Pirates of the Caribbean for a lively table!
Amazing. I will run this or ask my DM friend to run it. It sounds amazing! Quickly this can turn island-exploration Black Flag-ish campaign.
Ooh that does sound like a fun adventure. You love to see a good twist that recontextualizes everything that came before.
Looking forward to two domains: Tepest and Richemulot. Keep up the good work!
I played in Ravenloft more than any other setting. There was a 3rd edition set for Ravenloft but I think it may have been done under the swords and sorcery publisher. Don't know if it would be considered Canon, but I did use it. I DMed and the group I played with went through more than a dozen of the domains.
I thought Markovia sounded familiar until I remembered curse of Strahd. That explains the beast people
There's tons of out of context references to the setting proper in Curse of Strahd. The original I6 module it was based on pretty much only had the village of Barovia, the Tser Camp, and Castle Ravenloft. It was more of a one shot than a campaign. When they redesigned it as a campaign they needed to expand. The base map structure they took from the expanded Barovia of the campaign setting, but from there they just started filling it in with random repurposed parts from the rest of the setting while only keeping rough relations to their original iterations. The Temple of Markovia is one of those. There's probably more repainted references than there are original ideas in the book.
What's funny is they changed the city of Krezk completely to accommodate this new lore, yet left an Easter Egg for the main feature of the original iteration of Krezk in the toy shop in Vallaki. Krezk was created specifically for the story of Jacqueline Montarri (iirc), one of the most important figures in Barovia, and they just kind of erased her from the lore. She's literally been in Barovia longer than Madam Eva.
Where did you get the Die Vecna Die Shirt? Could you give me a Link?
Yeah I designed it, you can get it on my Teespring store!
teespring.com/die-vecna-die?pid=46&cid=2743
@Jorphdan - What does Markov do to aarakocra, dragonborn, tabaxi etc?
Edit: What is Markov's punishment here? Is he getting what he wants, no strings attached?
So the Island of Doctor Moreau?
The Island of Doctor Moreau.
Loving these overviews of the Domains of Dread and all the lore if D&D. Hopefully there are more. Are you going to cover new ones if any are introduced in the new book?
Yeah I hope to! I'm very excited for van richten's guide to ravenloft!
Hey @jorphdan, do you use 3.x Ravenloft for these at all? It seems you only reference 2nd and 4th ed sources...
Mostly 2nd edition. Resources listed on the description 😀
The perfect place to scavenge ghost ships on a spooky pirate campaign, I'd say
If Markov found a Tabaxi, would he assume that a rival doctor had arrived)
And a bard named Stan Rogers sings about the Northwest Passage.
Another great video
WOOOOOOOO JORPHDAN!!!!!!!!!!!
Y’all know web dm is gonna use this part of the domain for a campaign
Hmmm, should I run a pirate campaign or a horror campaign?
Why not both?
Im literally looking for a reason to put a domain of dread into my high seas campaign XD
So, Markovia and the animal-human hybrids are unrelated to the Abbey of Saint Markovia and the animal-human hybrids in Ravenloft? Weird.
Tons of stuff in CoS are just rip offs of unrelated lore in the original setting. The Abbey was literally just Markovia repurposed for the module.
Great video tnx
Honestly I think the best way to cater for both Ethereal Ravenloft and Shadowfell Ravenloft lore is to make Ravenloft be the borderealm between Shadowfell and the Ethereal plane...
sounds like a domain perfect for simic hybrids and path of the beast barbarians
Can you do a video on how to do a cart chase scene. I'm currently in a d and d campaign with an expiernced dm but we have no idea how to work it in
You look fantastic!
Sounds 100% legit.
Thanks.
Pls excuse my ignorance but..what is this ravenloft sea? Isn’t this also the name of Count Strahds castle? Gd I know I sound like an idiot but I gotta ask. Are there just a bunch of different places that tie into ravenloft as part of its many domains? I’m lost. Haven’t played in years but I’ve been world building and reading the 5e source books like mad.
So the HMS Terror. 5:49
Its soft but you can hear " barnacles... and kelp" at 0:56 😂
I always thought the ph by where it was placed meant you had a doctorate degree. Jor phd an.
He looks nothing like what I imagined.
Theres no Core in the new Ravenloft? Ugh! Once again, the people in charge of something that I love, took it, and f$%ked it up! 😂 Thankfully, the 2nd edition modules and such, that I don't already have, are all still available some where, as I'll be sticking with the original material. Love your videos though Jorphdan!
Keep what you like, discard the rest.
15 years ago when I use to game, my shop stuck with 3.5 rules and from time to time played with AD&D2e mix in. We also played with firearm pistol & musket rules. " Your hands are damage and you have to make a number of Dex roll in 1d6 rounds to load a silver bullet to stop the werewolf."
What can go wrong ?
It is Ravenloft.
funny bit there so many tears
Markov? As in Sorin Markov?
Comment for the algorithm.
for AL!! AL Gogh Rythm!!
this domain really needed a better discription in the book
Waiting for the mordant video
I live tomorrow
You I'll not follow
As you wallow
In a sea of sorrow
Ravenloft sounds like the place of Dead by daylight.
Markov? More like Moreau!
Manimals! You should fight to find your humanity again! If you stay as creatures all you will be able to do is eat, and sleep, and mate, and sleep, and eat, and----where do I sign up?
first
first reply to the first comment
Van Richten's guide gender swaps a lotta dark lords.
Ship of horrors? That's a terrible name for a ship. Ship aren't named ship of adjective. If the name of the ship got to change then have it be the horror. Or maybe Horror of the seas, a play on the famous line of cruise liners named adjective of the seas.