History TabletopGame / Ravenloft

* AncientTomb

* AnimateDead: Where else did all those [[DemBones skeletons]] and [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies zombies]] come from?

The first version of the setting, ''Ravenloft: Realm of Terror'', was released as a boxed set (the Black Box) for AD&D in 1990. The ''Ravenloft Campaign Setting'' boxed set (the Red Box), released in 1994, revised and updated the setting to include developments in the metaplot. In 1997, the hardcover ''Domains of Dread'' updated both setting and rules, and was the first version to include rules for the demiplane's natives. The setting was licensed for Third Edition D&D by WhiteWolf, who released supplements through their Arthaus imprint, starting with 2001's ''Ravenloft'' hardcover. They updated it for 3.5 with 2003's ''Ravenloft Player's Handbook''. Plans to publish a fourth edition version of the setting were cancelled, but a number of Domains of Dread were introduced to 4e's [[TabletopGame/PointsOfLight default setting]]. In this way, Ravenloft was integrated into fourth edition's core.

For a long while, getting hold of any ''Ravenloft'' books was basically a matter of KeepCirculatingTheTapes, but with {{Wizards of the Coast}}'s return to the PDF market, the AD&D ''Ravenloft'' books are being made available as official [=PDFs=]. Given the size of the D&D back catalog, it may be a while before everything's released.

* ArmedWithCanon: James Lowder wrote ''Knight of the Black Rose'', which brought Lord Soth from {{Dragonlance}} to Ravenloft. Tracy Hickman complained incessantly until TSR had ''When Black Roses Bloom'' made, removing Soth from Ravenloft. Despite that, Hickman still insists that Soth never went to Ravenloft, even plugging a non-action, non-dialogue cameo into ''Dragons of Summer Flame'' for the sole purpose of conflicting with the Ravenloft timeline, necessitating a fair amount of FanWank to deconflict the two.
** The most common theory was that Soth really did get sucked into Ravenloft, where he spent several decades forming one of the worst [[HeroicBSOD Villanous BSOD]]s on record. After about a decade continually locked in his "happy place" caused his realm to literally begin falling apart around him, the White Rose appeared in Sithicus to snap Soth out of his reverie. Once he recovered, the Dark Powers let the White Rose take Soth back with her to Krynn, realizing that there was nothing they could do to Lord Soth that his own memories and haunting spirits couldn't do worse. When he came back, he returned to Krynn only an hour/a day/five minutes after he left, leaving him available for any {{Dragonlance}} events that came along in the meantime.
* AudioAdaptation: ''I, Strahd'' got an audiobook release-- read by [[FrightNight Peter Vincent]] himself, Roddy [=McDowall=]!

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The "wish" spell is dicey even on more benign worlds. Here it will ''always'' be perverted while fulfilling the ExactWords, no matter how carefully you phrase your request. (Unless you're evil, in which case the Powers may decide you've already taken care of that part for them.)

* BestServedCold: Revenge was the original motive for Dr. Rudolph Van Richten's career as a vampire hunter, which he later expanded to monster hunter in general. After his son was turned into an undead slave by a cruel vampire named Baron Metus, he was forced to kill his son via MercyKilling, but the Baron retaliated by murdering Van Richten's whole family. The doctor swore revenge against vampires in general, and his first victim was Baron Metus. (Sadly, this had unfortunate consequences that lasted his whole life; see DoomMagnet below.)

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Felix from ''Neither Man Nor Beast''
* CircusOfFear: subverted with the eponymous boxset "The Carnival", played straight by the original Domain of The Carnival l'Morai.

* ConstructedWorld: The world is a construct of the Dark Powers, and they can rearrange it however they please.

** At the start of the video game ''Ravenloft'' a man manages to travel from Ravenloft to [[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms Faerun]] to steal an artefact which can kill Strahd. After his pursuers kill him, Mists envelop them all and bring them to Ravenloft. [[spoiler:At the end of the second game they manage to find a portal back to Faerun.]]

* DeathWorld: Ravenloft has this reputation from what little bits people not living there have learned. The 2nd Edition products played up how dangerous Ravenloft is, but the 3rd Edition products eased off of this and even stated that a person can live their whole life without encountering any horrific monsters. There are some locations, like Necropolis, that still play this trope straight (any living creature that tries to enter Necropolis is immediately killed), and Necromantic magic is much stronger in Ravenloft than it is elsewhere in the [[{{Planescape}} multiverse.]]

* DetectEvil: Averted, as such spells don't work in the Land of Mists. Subverted in the case of ex-paladin darklord Elena Faith-hold, who only ''thinks'' she can still Detect Evil, but actually senses any strong emotion (fear, outrage, or even love) directed at her.

The webcomic [[StarcrossedRavenloft Starcrossed]] is set in Ravenloft (Souragne and Dementlieu specifically).

The webcomic {{Starcrossed}} is set in Ravenloft (Souragne and Dementlieu specifically).

The webcomic ''Starcrossed'' is set in Ravenloft (Souragne and Dementlieu specifically).

* FluffyTheTerrible:
** Wizards can summon a familiar and paladins can summon a war horse, like in other settings. However, these companions are AlwaysChaoticEvil (or lawful evil or neutral evil, depending on the law/chaos alignment of the summoner) in Ravenloft. They are loyal to their master, but lack a conscience, and aren't averse to carrying out evil deeds to "help" their master behind his back. This is bad enough for wizards, but potentially devastating for a paladin, who now has to deal with a pet that constantly puts him in danger of losing his paladinhood.
** Druid and Ranger animal companions aren't intrinsically evil, but if a domain's darklord commands animals, this includes their pets. They can resist a command to directly harm their master, though.

** Wizards can summon a familiar and paladins can summon a war horse, like in other settings. However, these companions are AlwaysChaoticEvil in Ravenloft. They are loyal to their master, but lack a conscience, and aren't averse to carrying out evil deeds to "help" their master behind his back. This is bad enough for wizards, but potentially devastating for a paladin, who now has to deal with a pet that constantly puts him in danger of losing his paladinhood.

** Practicing arcane magic in front of Tepestanis isn't a good idea, unless you'd like to play out the BurnTheWitch trope. Or rather, Burn The Fey, but that's hardly an improvement.

** Wizards can summon a familiar and paladins can summon a war horse, like in other settings. However, these companions are AlwaysChaoticEvil in Ravenloft. They are loyal to their master, but lack a conscience, and aren't averse to carrying out evil deeds to "help" their master behind his back. This is bad enough for wizards, but potentially devastating for a paladin, who now have to deal with a pet that constantly puts him in danger of losing his paladinhood.

** Also a lot of Dark Power curses result in changes to your appearance, and you get them only through evil acts.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The "wish" spell is dicey even on more benign worlds. Here it will ''always'' be perverted while fulfilling the ExactWords, no matter how carefully you phrase your request. (Unless you're evil, in which case the Powers may decided you've already taken care of that part for them.)

* IShouldWriteABookAboutThis: The various ''Van Richten Monster Hunter Guides'' are supposedly authored by Van Richten himself. (He is the {{Narrator}} in each of them.) However, he never claims he wrote them for profit, but to aid those who would, like him, fight the evils of Ravenloft.

* CryForTheDevil: It would be wrong to show any sympathy for any of the darklords (if they were capable of redemption, they would not be darklords), but some did, indeed, have tragic pasts. A few notable examples:
** Hazlik was once a member of a tyrannical society of wizards, but was really no worse than the typical member. But when he was framed for rape by his rival, he was stripped of his position and all his possessions, forcibly marked with tattoos that only women wear, and exiled with a warning that they not only had the right, but a legal obligation, to kill him on sight if he ever showed his face. In revenge, he killed his rival by ambush, cut his heart out, fed it to the woman he had been accused of raping, and then murdered her as well, thus [[MoralEventHorizon crossing the line]] and causing him to be drawn into Ravenloft.
** Esan the Mad of Vechor was a benign wizard who opposed evil, until he was taken prisoner by the cruel tyrant Iuz the Old. Esan told Iuz, to paraphrase, that EvilCannotComprehendGood; Iuz agreed, and in order to learn more, [[DemonicPossession bound a demonic spirit to Esan’s soul]]. How much Iuz learned from this is unknown, but Esan was slowly driven mad by the demon, and trying to find a cure by using technology and studying spirit magic only made it worse, driving him AxeCrazy and causing him to commit horrendous acts, eventually drawing him into Ravenloft.
** The best example may be Sir Tristen Hiregaard of Nova Vaasa. He never really did ''anything'' wrong his entire life. The curse that turns him into the murderous madman Malken was inherited from his cruel father. (Of course, technically, Malken is the ''true'' darklord of Nova Vaasa, not Hiregaard, and he is [[SplitPersonality a different entity entirely]]. [[spoiler:And killing Hiregaard would not kill Malken; if that happened, the curse would be passed to Hiregaard’s eldest son. Short of killing every male member of the family, WordOfGod mentions that Malken can be laid to rest if his current host was slain by a woman who truly loved him.]])

** Also, the novel ''The Enemy Within'', and the backstory of an NPC (Desmond [=LaRouche=]) were declared non-canon because they contradicted the origin story for Malken. He was given yet another origin story in Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix II: Children of the Night where he was even more of an expy of the scientist in ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde''.

See the [[{{DarthWiki/Ravenloft}} Darth Wiki entry]] for '''darker''' tropes.

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* AffablyEvil: Some of the Darklords can be like this, most likely so the [=PCs=] can sympathize with them, even if just a little.

** The domain Odiare is from [[MasqueOfTheRedDeath Gothic Earth.]]

** Although the above is actually justified InUniverse by the fact that Drakov's pride and arrogance outweighs his common sense, and always has; he hates guns because they're "cowards weapons" and so he refuses to use them. It's the same reason why he refuses to train spellcasters to fight alongside his troops, despite the fact that LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards applies as much in Ravenloft as it does in any other D&D setting, instead enslaving them to churn out enchanted armor and weapons for his elite soldiers.

* PromotedFanboy: The 3E Ravenloft products produced by Arthaus were written, in part, by fans who'd come to the attention of WhiteWolf with their high-quality netzines about the setting.