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Domains of Dread is the Ravenloft core book published in 1997, for AD&D2e. This review, however, will look at this book in terms of being a resource for other game systems, and break down chapter by chapter what kind of information is contained therein.
A Brief History of Ravenloft
Ravenloft was originally simply a module, I6. This module followed the characters on their investigation of the Count Strahd Von Zarovich, a completely obvious analogue to Dracula. The module was so successful that later I10: Ravenloft 2 was released, which was set in a Frankenstein-like setting. Eventually, a box set was produced, then another, and Domains of Dread was the third "core" product for Ravenloft. In the D&D3e world, White Wolf's Arthaus department released the Ravenloft core books for both 3e and 3.5. Wizards of the Coast also has updated I6 in a 3.5 style of mind as Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. Domains of Dread was chosen for this review, as it is a core Ravenloft book which spends much of the text detailing the Demiplane, rather than, as the 3.x books do, provide rules changes from D&D to fit Ravenloft.
The Demiplane of Dread
The book opens with a discussion of the Demiplane of Dread as a whole. This is an overview of the nature of the place, followed by a general geography. Ravenloft is a Demiplane, sitting between the Planes. It has one vast continent surrounded by two Seas. The Seas are in turn surrounded by the Mists, which borders the entirety of the Demiplane. This chapter includes quick notes on how Ravenloft functions differently from the standard D&D world - spells such as Know Alignment don't function. While they are specifically geared toward the changes from AD&D2e, the information can easily be applied to other games. For instance, any method of determining a character's "Alignment" (or morality) will fail - Ravenloft does not allow you to identify friend or foe so easily. This chapter closes on a discussion of the various cultural "ages" that the various Domains have reached.
Domains of the Core
This chapter details the Domains - countries, essentially - of the Core. The Core is the "continent" in the Demiplane of Dread. It is separated into two sections, the Northern and Southern Core, and details the Domains in alphabetical order. Each Domain includes the following information: The Land, giving a brief look at the geography of the Domain; Cultural Level, using the information from the end of the first chapter to quickly give a description of technology and culture level; The Folk, describing the peoples, their language, their diet, and other such information; Native Player Characters, describing the general views and mechanics appropriate to characters from this Domain - such as which Classes are appropriate or not; Personalities of Note, describing, briefly, some major NPCs in the area; The Law, describing the way the Domain is governed; Encounters, describing appropriate encounters and giving some random encounter guidelines; Further Reading, mentioning the various other Ravenloft products released up to that point in which the Domain or major NPCs are featured; and finally detailing the Darklord, the entity in charge of the Domain, including stats. Most of this chapter is description of the land, and so can be used without any modifications. If we view "class" as "archetype", then the PC section is appropriate information for a game. If there are no Wizards in a Domain, then whatever game is played, there should be no "book-type" spellcaster. The sections that require the most work are the sections describing the Darklord, and sometimes fully detailing other major NPCs as well. Stat blocks are provided here, which naturally cannot (necessarily) be used as they are for other games. It is useful to have the AD&D2e stats available, for conversion work, in case you wish to use those NPCs.
Islands of Terror
This chapter follows the same procedure as the Core chapter does, including all the notes about the fluff and crunch above. Islands of Terror differ from the Core Domains as they are, indeed, islands. They are generally small Domains, and all typified by being on their own, floating in the Mists.
Clusters and Pockets
Clusters and Pockets is another chapter describing Domains, so, again, all of the above applies. A Cluster is a small continent comprised of two or three Domains "glued" together, floating in the Mists. A Pocket is a small Domain contained within another.
Secret Societies
What horror game is complete without secret societies to harrass the PCs, and for the PCs to join? Ravenloft has a bunch, many described in this chapter. Importantly, this chapter contains no mechanics at all, but just descriptions of 9 societies - 3 each of Good, Neutral, and Evil - and brief notes on the use of secret societies in a game in general.
Mechanics
We have now reached the point in the book where the mechanics live. The review will at this point focus on ease of conversion of the various mechanical systems to other games.
Fear, Horror, and Madness
This chapter proves the most annoying of the mechanics chapters. The concept of a fear check is reasonably important for the Ravenloft feel, however the mechanics as presented are so closely tied to AD&D2e statistics as to create a barrier to conversion. Each character has a Fear, Horror, and Madness saving throw as indicated by their class and level. To make a roll, the character must roll equal to or above the score, including modifiers, on a d20. Failure involves rolling on a chart to see the reaction. The annoyance for conversion's sake is that the numbers given for base Fear, Horror, and Madness checks aren't based on anything other than class and level. In this case, there are two main options: determine how it would be done in the result system, or attempt to use this system as-is. The second case is more doable in systems that resemble AD&D2e in some way, such as Castles and Crusades, or D&D 3.x. The first case, however, is what I recommend. If the "result" system has any method for determining psychological reactions to stimuli, that system should be modified to take into account the result table in Domains of Dread, always keeping in mind that mechanical effects need to be converted. Horror and Madness checks function in the same way as Fear Checks. Of interesting mention in this chapter is the tables for Multiple Personalities. They are surprisingly well developed, and quite intriguing.
To summarise this chapter, the major difference between AD&D2e and other systems is how the target number for Fear, Horror, and Madness checks are determined. There is a secondary consideration of the mechanical effects of the results. In general, the results are simple role playing effects, occasionally with minor mechanical effects. It should also be noted that most of the results also do not restrict player choice, but rather direct it in a certain way.
Powers Checks
Powers Checks are one of the distinctive things about Ravenloft. Do sufficient evil, selfish, or even just oblivious acts, and you can turn into a monster. It also turns out that this is one of the easiest mechanical subsystems to deal with in most other games, as well. The reason for this ease is that it is a self-contained subsystem, relying on a percentile check based on the actions taken. This check is to determine the chance of the Dark Powers taking notice. The result of a failed Check is that the character drops along the Steps of Corruption and becomes more like a monster. There are three random tables for mechanical effects of failure, however, it is recommended that each character gets their own unique path to darkness, which is another reason that this subsystem is so portable. These paths should be reasonably easy to design in most games - some, like BESM or HERO are especially easy. The suggested technique of examining the monster, and figuring out which powers (stat modifications and the like) are appropriate when. It is also important to keep in mind the fact that there should be appropriate drawbacks to counterbalance the newly gained powers. These drawbacks can be as simple as cat-slit eyes, or as inconvenient as being unable to pass directly over running water.
The Path of the Priest
This chapter describes the differences between the priest spells from the AD&D2e Player's Handbook, and the way they function in Ravenloft. The only bit of interest for non-AD&D players is the brief, one-page discussion of the origin of priest spells in the Demiplane, given the lack of contact with any deities at all.
The Way of the Wizard
As the previous chapter, this one is mostly useless for non-AD&D use. Again, there is a bit of a discussion on differences in general, followed by the altered spell effects.
The Maze of the Mind
As the previous two chapters, only this time for Psionics. It is possible that there is information to be gleaned that could be useful for running a non-AD&D game from the various altered spell effects from these three chapters, but it is likely to be too much effort for the benefit.
Forged of Darkness
This chapter discusses how Ravenloft magic items differ from their standard counterpart. There is a brief list of altered magic items, as well as discussion on how they are in general.
The Whispered Evil
The Whispered Evil concerns itself with curses. As in the horror literary genre, curses play a reasonably significant role in Ravenloft, and included in this chapter are some rules for them. As with the Powers Checks, curses are a self-contained rule subsystem that can be easily dropped in to any other game. Unlike the Powers Checks, however, there does not seem to be any modification necessary to these rules at all.
Tenets of Terror
The book proper closes with a discussion on what makes a horror story horror. This is of primary use for the GM, and is recommended reading no matter what system is to be used to attempt to provide some scares. This chapter also presents a guideline for designing a Ravenloft campaign and stories.
Appendicies
These appendicies are the character generation process for a character in Ravenloft. It has often been used as a criticism of the book that they included this information, as not much has changed at all from the AD&D Player's Handbook. However, it could be helpful to have all the information in one place. Given that they're AD&D 2e character creation chapters, however, they are not useful for non-AD&D games, other than perhaps Castles & Crusades (which could at least take advantage of the Fear, Horror, and Madness tables as presented, and thus be able to use that system without modification).
Summary
Ravenloft is a mix of various gothic horror and more modern horror archetypes all melded together, yet kept separate. This is what makes Ravenloft intriguing to horror fans.
Style
Ravenloft is stylish. There's no doubt about that. It almost can't help but be, being based on the works of Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, et al. The book's layout is functional, but nothing absolutely spectacular. The artwork is quite amazing, and the chapter opener pages have flavourful quotes, and artwork that just keeps giving. As such, a 4 is definitely a more than reasonable number, and the book borders on a 5, but isn't quite as pretty or evocative as, for instance, Don't Rest Your Head or Unknown Armies.
Substance
So, the ultimate question of this review: How well does this book do at presenting the setting of Ravenloft? It does a very good job. It doesn't, sadly, go into much detail about any one specific part of the Demiplane, but gives enough information about each Domain to use it in a campaign, with some creativity on the GM's part. As an AD&D2e product, it really shines, with some very neat mechanical differences that are well-designed to evoke the sense of horror and dread as HP Lovecraft's protagonists, or Stoker's protagonists, feel. How well does it do as a generic book, though? Here are the page and percentage breakdowns of the various categories:
- Setting 138/285 - 48%
- Modifiable Mechanics 36/285 - 13%
- Unusable Mechanics 43/285 - 15%
- GM Advice 4/285 - 1%
- Appendicies 64/285 - 22%
Totalling things up, we get 66% usable material, with only a third of the book (with 2/3 of that being content that many AD&D players only glanced at anyway) being unusable as a generic system. The 13% Modifiable Mechanics segment is also a little misleading, as it also includes mechanics that don't need modification at all. Given all of this, I'm going to give the book a 4 for Substance. It does the job it set out to do, and succeeded in being almost system-independent in the process. The only major criticism is the inclusion of the character creation rules.
