History Characters / RavenloftDarklords

* SuperWeight: Even a minor darklord of a small domain is going to be at least a 3. Major ones are the high end of 4, and would be 5 except the Powers regularly remind them exactly who's in charge here. As for the [=PCs=], they'll be whichever tier the Powers decide for that adventure and like it.

* MoralEventHorizon: Every one of the darklords has committed at least one act so utterly evil that it all but guaranteed the attention of the Dark Powers. InUniverse, the term for this in Ravenloft is an [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Act of Ultimate Darkness,"]] and it's a requirement for becoming a Darklord; a near-perfect blend of {{hypocrisy}}, [[ThisIsUnforgivable depravity]], [[KickTheDog cruelty]], and [[ItsAllAboutMe selfishness]]. The clincher, though, [[NeverMyFault is absolute refusal to acknowledge that what they did was wrong]]. Indeed, that's part of ThePunishment for darklords -- that if they worked up the moral strength to admit that what they have done is inexcusable and that they reaped what they sowed, their curse would be [[CursedWithAwesome moot]] (as eventually occurred with Lord Soth). Then again, the books pretty much say that if they were the sorts of people who'd be able to do that, they would never have become darklords in the first place.

''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClasses Character Classes by Edition]]:'' 1st to 3rd ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesFirstToThirdEditionCoreClasses Core]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesOtherPreThirdEditionClasses Pre-3rd]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesOtherThirdEditionClasses 3rd Other]]) | 3rd & 3.5 ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesThirdEditionPrestigeClasses Prestige Classes]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesThreePointFiveEditionNPCClasses NPC Classes]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesFourthEditionClasses 4th]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesFifthEditionClasses 5th]]\\
''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreatures Creatures]]'': General ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesA A]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesB B]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesC C]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesD D]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesE E]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesF F]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesG G]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesH H]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesIToL I to L]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesM M]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesNtoQ N to Q]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesR R]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesS S]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesT T]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesUToZ U to Z]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends Fiends]] ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsDemons Demons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsDevils Devils]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsYugoloths Yugoloths]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUndead Undead]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsSettingSpecificCreatures Setting-Specific Creatures]]\\
''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDeities Deities]]'': Real-World Deities ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRealWorldDeitiesAtoF A to F]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRealWorldDeitiesGtoZ G to Z ]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsLiteraryDeities Literary Deities]] | Non-human Pantheons ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDemihumanDeities Demihuman Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsGiantDeities Giant Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsGoblinoidDeities Goblinoid Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsScalykindDeities Scalykind Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUnderdarkDeities Underdark Deities]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsElderEvils Elder Evils]]\\
''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces Playable Races]]''\\

''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDeities Deities]]'': Non-human Pantheons ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDemihumanDeities Demihuman Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsGiantDeities Giant Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsGoblinoidDeities Goblinoid Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsScalykindDeities Scalykind Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUnderdarkDeities Underdark Deities]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsElderEvils Elder Evils]]\\

''Campaign Settings:'' Characters/{{Dragonlance}} | Characters/{{Eberron}} ([[Characters/EberronDragonmarkedHouses Dragonmarked Houses]] | [[Characters/EberronFaiths Religions]] | [[Characters/EberronNations Nations]]) | Characters/ForgottenRealms ([[Characters/ForgottenRealmsGods Gods]] | [[Characters/ForgottenRealmsFactions Factions]] | ''Characters/TheLegendOfDrizzt'') | Characters/{{Greyhawk}} ([[Characters/GreyhawkDeities Deities]]) | Characters/{{Planescape}} ([[Characters/PlanescapeFactions Factions]] | [[Characters/PlanescapeRaces Races]]) | [[Characters/{{Ravenloft}} Ravenloft]] ('''Darklords''' | [[Characters/RavenloftTheCarnival The Carnival]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheKargataneOfVallaki The Kargatane of Vallaki]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheFraternityOfShadows Fraternity of Shadows]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheGreatFamilies Great Families of the Core]] | [[Characters/RavenloftGods Faiths]]) ]] -]]]

''Campaign Settings:'' Characters/{{Dragonlance}} | Characters/{{Eberron}} ([[Characters/EberronDragonmarkedHouses Dragonmarked Houses]] | [[Characters/EberronFaiths Religions]] | [[Characters/EberronNations Nations]]) | Characters/ForgottenRealms ([[Characters/ForgottenRealmsGods Gods]] | ''Characters/TheLegendOfDrizzt'') | Characters/{{Greyhawk}} ([[Characters/GreyhawkDeities Deities]]) | Characters/{{Planescape}} ([[Characters/PlanescapeFactions Factions]] | [[Characters/PlanescapeRaces Races]]) | [[Characters/{{Ravenloft}} Ravenloft]] ('''Darklords''' | [[Characters/RavenloftTheCarnival The Carnival]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheKargataneOfVallaki The Kargatane of Vallaki]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheFraternityOfShadows Fraternity of Shadows]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheGreatFamilies Great Families of the Core]] | [[Characters/RavenloftGods Faiths]]) ]] -]]]

''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreatures Creatures]]'': General ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesA A]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesB B]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesC C]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesD D]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesE E]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesF F]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesG G]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesH H]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesIToL I to L]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesM M]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesNtoQ N to Q]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesR R]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesS S]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesT T]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesUToZ U to Z]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends Fiends]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUndead Undead]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsSettingSpecificCreatures Setting-Specific Creatures]]\\

''Campaign Settings:'' Characters/{{Dragonlance}} | Characters/{{Eberron}} | Characters/ForgottenRealms ([[Characters/ForgottenRealmsGods Gods]] | ''Characters/TheLegendOfDrizzt'') | Characters/{{Greyhawk}} ([[Characters/GreyhawkDeities Deities]]) | Characters/{{Planescape}} ([[Characters/PlanescapeFactions Factions]] | [[Characters/PlanescapeRaces Races]]) | [[Characters/{{Ravenloft}} Ravenloft]] ('''Darklords''' | [[Characters/RavenloftTheCarnival The Carnival]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheKargataneOfVallaki The Kargatane of Vallaki]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheFraternityOfShadows Fraternity of Shadows]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheGreatFamilies Great Families of the Core]] | [[Characters/RavenloftGods Faiths]]) ]] -]]]

''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreatures Creatures]]'': General ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesAToE A to E]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesFToI F to I]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesJToO J to O]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesPToZ P to Z]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends Fiends]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUndead Undead]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsSettingSpecificCreatures Setting-Specific Creatures]]\\

''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreatures Creatures]]'': General ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesAToE A to E]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesFToO F to O]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesPToZ P to Z]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends Fiends]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUndead Undead]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsSettingSpecificCreatures Setting-Specific Creatures]]\\

* [[Characters/RavenloftDarklordsOfTheAmberWastes Darklords of the Amber Wastes]]
* [[Characters/RavenloftDarklordsOfTheFrozenReaches Darklords of the Frozen Reaches]]
* [[Characters/RavenloftDarklordsOfTheShadowlands Darklords of the Shadowlands]]
* [[Characters/RavenloftDarklordsOfZherisia Darklords of Zherisia]]
* [[Characters/RavenloftDarklordsOfTheVerduousLands Darklords of the Verduous Lands]]

''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDeities Deities]]'': Historical Pantheons ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDeitiesMajorHistoricalPantheons Major]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDeitiesAncientHistoricalPantheons Ancient]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDeitiesReclusiveHistoricalPantheons Reclusive]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDeitiesOtherHistoricalPantheons Other]]) | Non-human Pantheons ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDemihumanDeities Demihuman Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsGiantDeities Giant Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsGoblinoidDeities Goblinoid Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsScalykindDeities Scalykind Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUnderdarkDeities Underdark Deities]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsElderEvils Elder Evils]]\\

* ImmortalRuler: Many Darklords are undead or otherwise ageless creatures, or stopped aging once they assumed their position. Many of them can also come BackFromTheDead, one way or another.
* InformedAbility: Especially notable with Darklords whose superpowers are social influence or cerebral.
* InformedFlaw: Each Darklord has a curse of sorts, but some of the curses are abstract or far-reaching to the point where they have little practical effect in the scope of a typical adventure. [[JustifiedTrope Of course, many of them are not intended as a flaw to exploit, just to make the darklord's life suck.]]
* IronicHell: Each is both the ruler and prisoner of his/her realm, continually tortured by a curse that reflects the horrid crime done to earn it.

[[center: [-[[Characters/{{Ravenloft}} Return to the main index]] | '''Darklords''' | [[Characters/RavenloftTheCarnival The Carnival]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheKargataneOfVallaki The Kargatane]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheFraternityOfShadows The Fraternity of Shadows]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheGreatFamilies The Great Families]] | [[Characters/RavenloftGods Faith]] ]]-]

* [[Characters/RavenloftNetbookDarklords Netbook Darklords]]