Upcoming in Ravenloft - Previews!

[Bad_Bud]

Since people have been asking, this is the list of new spell names as it currently stands.

I'm not going to describe everything or who gets what, these are just names.

Spoiler: show

Abyssal_Might
Acid_Storm
Amanuensis
Anger_of_the_Noonday_Sun
Augment_Undead
Baleful_Polymorph
Bane_Bow
Benediction
Big_Sky
Blade_Weave
Blast_of_Sand
Boreal_Wind
Call_Lightning_Storm
Cast_in_Stone
Circle_of_Doom_II
Circle_of_Doom_III
Circle_of_Doom_IV
Claws_of_the_Savage
Coma
Cone_of_Dimness
Corrupt_Weapon
Creeping_Cold
Crushing_Despair
Curse_of_Impending_Blades
Daze_Animal
Deadly_Lahar
Deep_Slumber
Delusions_of_Grandeur
Demonflesh
Detect_Poison
Detonate
Diminish_Undead
Disintegrate
Disrupt_Undead
Energy_Vortex
Erupt
Faerie_Fire
Feign_Undeath
Fine-tuning
Fire_Seeds
Freeze
Frost_Breath
Frost_Weapon
Glibness
Good_Hope
Greater_Creeping_Cold
Greater_Heroism
Greater_Mage_Armor
Gutwrench
Halt_Undead
Hawks_Flight
Healing_Circle_II
Healing_Circle_III
Healing_Circle_IV
Heart_Ripper
Heroism
Ice_Flowers
Improved_Invisibility_Sphere
Insight
Iron_Bones
Languor
Light_Step
Lionheart
Lions_Roar
Longstrider
Lucent_Lance
Mass_Aid
Mass_Barkskin
Mass_Bears_Endurance
Mass_Bulls_Strength
Mass_Cats_Grace
Mass_Contagion
Mass_Curse_of_Impending_Blades
Mass_Death_Ward
Mass_Drown
Mass_Eagles_Splendor
Mass_Foxs_Cunning
Mass_Hold_Monster
Mass_Hold_Person
Mass_Longstrider
Mass_Mage_Armor
Mass_Negative_Energy_Protection
Mass_Owls_Wisdom
Mass_Protection_from_Elements
Mass_Resist_Elements
Mass_Restoration
Mass_See_Invisibility
Mass_Shield_of_Faith
Mass_Spell_Resistance
Memory_Rot
Natures_Avatar
Open/Close
Polar_Ray
Power_Word_Blind
Power_Word_Daze
Predators_Cry
Prismatic_Ray
Radiant_Assault
Rainbow_Beam
Rams_Might
Ray_of_Clumsiness
Ray_of_Hope
Rheumatism
Righteous_Fury
Sacred_Haven
Seed_of_Life
Seed_of_Life_Cure
Seed_of_Life_Regenerate
Shackle
Shadow_Binding
Shillelagh
Shocking_Grasp
Shockwave
Slashing_Darkness
Solipsism
Sonic_Weapon
Sound_Lance
Spider_Poison
Sticks_to_Snakes
Stop_Heart
Thalassemia
Thunderstroke
Torrent_of_Tears
Touch_of_Idiocy
Unyielding_Roots
Vision_of_the_Omniscient_Eye
Wall_of_Dispel_Magic
Wall_of_Greater_Dispelling
Water_Breathing
Weapon_of_Impact
Withering_Palm
Word_of_Balance

[MAB77]

Soon in a critter's lair near you...

Amulet of the Ravenous Wolf
Amulet of the Red Apprentice
Bachelor's Leather
Belt of the Vengeful Akiri Trap-Master
Blade of the Northern Winds
Boots of Striding
Bottled Spores of Debilitation
Cavalry Saber
Chains of Resilience
Darkest Night
Gnomish Commando Gauntlets
Goblyn Spear
Greataxe of Demise
Harkon's String
Lamellar Cuirass
Powerful Sedative
Rajian Bagh-Nakh
Redwood Longbow
Ring of the Obstinate Diviner
Robes of the Guardian
Shackles of the Inquisitor
Staff of Scientific Wizardry
Stylish Breastplate
The Dark Emissary
The Dramaturge's Quill
The Mutin's Cutlass
The Scrolls of the Gods
Thunderous Trident
Twirling Mace of the Caliban Tireuse
Vorostokite's Helm of Winter
Whip of the Iron Inquisitor
Witches Cauldron

Collect them All!

[Bluebomber4evr]

Seven years ago, Count Strahd von Zarovich struck down the Von Zeklos family, eradicating their bloodline from Barovia entirely. With the fall of the Von Zeklos family, the keep came under the control of Ivan Wachter, who, in his political overreach, ceded day-to-day control of the keep to a sect of Darkonian Ezrites to deal with the evil within the keep and cleanse it in his name. The Ezrites renamed the keep "Raduta" ("redoubtable" in Balok). Despite their best efforts (and, according to some, because of their efforts), the keep remained sealed.

For although the Von Zeklos were a wicked family, the keep had been under a curse long before their degenerate bloodline claimed it as their own, and it would take more than the slaughter of that family to cleanse the keep of its evil. For seven years, the damaged keep lay empty. Dormant. Waiting.

But now, the spirit of the keep has reawakened. The doors have unsealed, and no amount of heretical acts by Darkonese zealots can reseal the evil within.

Raduta Keep beckons you...

[Arawn]

On the banks of the Gundar River, where that ancient, slow waterway winds through the subjugated lands of Gundarak-that-Was, there lies the city of Zeidenburg.

4 Oct: Moored in Zeidenburg. Offloaded the wine. Took on four crates of muslin and two passengers, M. and R. from the
factory.
9 Oct: Reached Teufeldorf before nightfall. Off loaded the muslin; M. and R. paid handsomely for the speedy passage. Took
on all the brandy she would carry.
16 Oct: Zeidenburg again. Took on three passengers, D. and her sons. They are desperate to reach Karina for the festival!
20 Oct: Reached Karina. Unfortunate we had no passengers on this trip.

[The Prophet of Misinformation]

The Tower of Har-Thelen

"Archmagistress, we do not seek to question your wisdom.. but this thing we have summoned.. It is an affront to our very existence."


"While its words have proven true and all has progressed as it has said.."


"..What becomes of our work, our very existence if it so decides our order of no further use?"

[EO]

Upcoming Prestige Classes....

Monster Hunter

Spoiler: show

Known to the folk of Ravenloft as monster hunters, these men and women are scholarly adventurers who research dangerous creatures seeking their weaknesses in order to eliminate them more easily. Monster hunters generally prefer to defeat their foes using knowledge, guile and superior tactics rather than brute force. Monster hunters learn to cast a few spells to assist in their hunt. A few have been mistaken as witches due to this ability. Monster hunters are generally of good alignment, but some become too zealous or fall into the trap of taking on their foes' tactics or worldview, usually without realizing they have done so. Evil monster hunters usually still believe themselves to be good, but may overlook a few mistakes or a too-forceful questioning of innocents in their pursuit of their foes.

Grimetrekker

Spoiler: show

Though a sewer system enhances the quality of life for city residents, it also provides ample shelter for the most loathsome creatures of the night. Those hunters who are willing to venture below to root out these evils earn praise for their courage. Hunters who spend too much time in the lightless tunnels, however, tend to acquire an unsavory reputation. Pale skin, ragged garments, and a revolting odor easily distinguish these haunted souls, colloquially termed grimetrekkers. Ultimately, grimetrekkers are more comfortable below than above, and few folk notice when they vanish for weeks at a time into the wilderness beneath the city.

Nearly all grimetrekkers begin their careers as rangers with an atypical knack for urban or subterranean tracking. Fighters and rogues have also been known to turn to the path of the grimetrekker when provoked by vengeance against sewer denizens. Though they are rare, caliban barbarian/grimetrekkers are not unprecedented. City folk often tell tales of malformed people living beneath their streets, surviving on the refuse of civilization. Many grimetrekkers cut their teeth in the sewers of Richemulot, though others hail from Dementlieu, Darkon, or the fabled twilight city of Nosos.

People’s Champion

Spoiler: show

In every land, there are nobles who misuse their positions of privilege. The people’s champion rises to the defense of commoners who suffer under the excesses of abusive nobles and their hirelings. The champion has no desire to overthrow the existing social order, but is instead motivated by a desire to see that justice is done within its confines.

Characters belonging to this class are invariably former clergy or church warriors who turned their backs on the organized churches of Ezra or the Lawgiver. This was due to what they perceived as corruption, abuse of authority for personal gain of the clergy and exploitation of the masses of faithful in favor of the rich and powerful.

Some members of this class remain within the church hierarchy, where they work to root out corrupt church leaders and their toadies, but others take to the streets to defend commoners against nobles who lack nobility. Interestingly, although these champions have invariably turned away from the structure of their faith to a greater or lesser degree, they remain strongly devoted to the belief in their deity. In turn, the god or goddess clearly favors the character’s efforts, as they continue to answer his prayers for spells and to grant him other supernatural abilities.

Crypt Raider

Spoiler: show

Many cultures have no title that carries greater shame, or summons up deeper revilement than the grave robber. The crypt raider, however, brushes aside such concerns with the nonchalance gained from years of experience. Whether for the sake of knowledge, righteousness, or old-fashioned avarice, the crypt raider has dedicated his life to breaching the resting places of the dead. Many crypt raiders are indeed motivated by greed; the riches of the past can be a tempting hoard no matter what lethal traps and horrors may guard them. But many crypt raiders hunger just as deeply to destroy the living dead that inevitably guard such caches, and their plunder is merely a fringe benefit. Still other crypt raiders are genuine idealists and academics, devoting themselves to bringing the past into the light of day, so that others might benefit from the lessons and the mistakes of those that have gone before.

[EO]

Hallowed Witch...

Spoiler: show

Devotees of Hala often speak of the Weave, a hidden web of magical power which flows through the natural world. The magic of the Weave is not arcane or divine, but something wholly different, the mystical pulse of the land and all its living creatures. Hags have learned to tap into the Weave and corrupt it to their whims, tangling it like a cat's cradle on their wicked talons. For those who are pure of heart and wise in the ways of magic, however, the Weave can open up new realms of magical power, brimming with all the fury of nature Herself. These are the hallowed witches, spellcasters who have seen the pattern of the Weave and made it their ally, tool, and weapon. Their art is known as witchcraft, and in its pursuit they gather together in covens to fortify their power.

The hallowed witches (or warlocks, if male) are always drawn from Hala's worshippers, though they need not be members of the priesthood. A hallowed witch's divine spellcasting class is often cleric, but druids and rangers are also accepted into covens.

[EO]

Dirgist...

Spoiler: show

Bards follow many paths in these lands. Some fill the traditional role of the wandering troubadour, singing of their own harrowing adventures in the Land of Mists. Others are tortured artists, madly attempting to realize the perfect song that echoes in their minds. A haunted few pursue a darker path still, one that draws them inexorably towards places of the dead. Such bards are obsessed with death, and often feel most at home (if not entirely at ease) in crumbling graveyards and dusty vaults. These dirgists are not necessarily evil. Indeed, they have been profoundly touched by death, and feel the pain of mortal loss more deeply that others. Their songs speak of the sorrow of youth cut short, old age wasted, and the numbing finality of the fate that all men share. Such is the dirgist's closeness to the grave, that it is rumored that the dead whisper their secrets to him while he sleeps.

Since the ability to weave song into magical power is necessary for the dirgist's path, all dirgists are bards. Although multiclassed dirgists are unusual, it is not unheard of for bard/clerics, bard/rogues, and bard/wizards to pursue this prestige class. Some tales even speak of barbarian/bards who lament their fallen ancestors with gruesome war ballads.

[EO]

Upcoming Monstrous Templates...

- Red Widow
- Death Knight
- Werecrocodile
- Vassalich

[Strigoi]

Something evil this way comes...

[The Prophet of Misinformation]

'Seven years, Jodoh? Seven years meandering a forest? You exceed my others in but -one- way: uttermost worthlessness.. An hourglass in the sky? The Meridian? Gather yourself and utter sense, imbecile.'

'How hadn't I unearthed this before? To think I mocked Jodoh for it. The architecture is distinctly.. human. I'll endure my revulsion for my wandering fool's sake.'



'Mortals and their silly love of myths. A work of men, rife with inexcusable vagary.'



'That -putrescent- Vistani usurper. Blithely possessed of the thought this isn't -all mine-.'



'A fortress long moldering in quiet? -Original-. Absolutely.. original. The design isn't Solamnic. Then what?'



'The heraldry eludes me.. but only for so long. Rot? An inkling of it evidenced by the war machines. Their unusual preservation offers insights.'



'Too long separated from their animus to endure revivification. Besides, I do so loathe dialogue with the races of men.'



'Yet -more- reliefs.. and the stripling. If there is meaning to -any- of these displays, they forget that stones too lie.'



'The retinue of one whom hasn't decided it prudent to reveal themselves. Unlike the fortress, these statues are inarguably Solamnic.. yet not. Like those below.'



'I shall reward Jodoh's uncharacteristic achievement with the gift of his continued existence. Until I tire of him anew. I believe that I shall borrow of his miserable ranting..'

'So it is named the Twilight Meridian.'

[The Prophet of Misinformation]

'For those who sought its truth, the Meridian blithely proffered its miserable revelations. Was all my work for not?'



'And so I returned to the sanctuary of my enemy - the fortress of Nedragaard. Deemed impossible for any man to penetrate.. (chuckle) Impossible for any man.'



'Deep within its walls, my answers surely awaited. I discovered his artifacts of war... all gathered in haste.'



'Reliefs of history lost and forgotten to all but -him-. Kept immaculate as the decaying walls of the keep crumbled about them.'



'The substance of the keep had abandoned its tenuous connection to reality; now a dream of impossible things. Lies wrought into the tapestry of matter.'



'Its path did beckon me hither into the precipice of its lunacy. Had others dare trespassed this nightmare before I, Jodoh? Might've I misinterpreted all the signs..?'



'The gift of vision afforded to me.. which swept away the most bitter of my carefully kept truths -- hope. I would -not- allow it, Jodoh!'



'We are -all- of us so pathetically myopic and only now am I allowed to -know- the future which awaits us. There is yet time.. There -must- be time... If not, I shall make it!'



'The brand is yet -mine-. This vision.. clarity. I've beheld one that devours our dreams - the cessation of our pitiful ambitions - I must not despair.''



'The future will be our own to author. No matter the price we must pay.'

[The Prophet of Misinformation]

'It was from the beginning a trap; the Meridian built a prison of our own hubris. It all too eagerly offered its secrets.'



'I was a fool to imagine myself above its scheming. Hardly a fool alone. It has surely invited others to trespass upon its truths.'

'What words may ever convey the gifts it imparts? It sights - endless fields of bone and putrescence. In which its undying slaves toil.'



'Visions of my wretched home pressed their way into my mind. At first I thought it mockery but the lecturing of the bastard magus in his library at last set in.'




'The river of time flows unchallenged, its paths divergent and many. Never was it -whence-. Not any of it a -lie-. Always -when-.'

'I -hid- as of the last of its torments took shape. Beneath the ocean of bones, where the lost and forgotten like I quietly languished.'



'The Meridian bid that I join the absent world it wished to author. To become one in its procession to the grave. All too eagerly did I ponder submission. By merest fortune did I find escape.'

'I regarded it as an anachronism.. Sithicus' nonsense history. The ramification of the death knight's neglect. Instead, -we- are the anachronism. Fettered by the illusion that the world we share is the origin of this pitiful realm.'



'The last of what I was made witness. An hourglass in the sky, hung above a barren world of eternal night. Where death is the beginning of one's eternal labors.'

[CosmicRay]

[CosmicRay]

“But there are times when the little cloud spreads, until it obscures the sky. And those times I look around at my fellow men and I am reminded of some likeness of the beast-people, and I feel as though the animal is surging up in them. And I know they are neither wholly animal nor holy man, but an unstable combination of both.”

Spoiler: show

Spoiler: show

Spoiler: show

Spoiler: show

Spoiler: show

[The Prophet of Misinformation]

"Soddin' elves said 'er rules be changin'. Was thinkin' maybe I start blastin'. Bastards said rot with the vagrants..'

"I ain't be likin' this rotten hovel.. Its smug aura's mockin' me."



"Where's the party 'em arses promised? Ain't they think to clean up 'er mess?"



"Why's it always gots to get slaggin' freaky with 'em knife eared sons of bastards?"



".. And ere's a leak. 'Course they left 'emselves a leak."



"Huh.. that's an enigma, ain't it? Took 'er tunnel and now I'm drownin' in mopey grey dimwits."

"Boss' note is sayin' there's -eighteen- blightin' places showed up? -Of course- it's me job to sort it out.. When it's done, ye?"

Coming soon to Sithicus (TM)! 18 NEW AREAS!

The Twilight Meridian (12 area end game dungeon)
The Black Omen (the abandoned mage's residence)
Alaric's Vault (the underbelly of Har-Thelen)
Handsome Jack's Emporium (a merchant of all things very handsome)
The Wailing Banshee (an inn complete with its own chain-smoking banshee)

-The "introductory area", The Standing Stones restored via the ferry! Talk to Merethyl. Suffer peerless condescension!
-The extinction of awfully translated Welsh! All areas in Har-Thelen renamed for GREATER edge!
-The Mourning Gates locked to filthy outsiders? Supervised visitation? A way for outcasts to get inside..?
-Salt Shadows reduced in CR!? Iron Golems everywhere DESPAIR!

[The Prophet of Misinformation]

"The clod insisted the 'hour is at hand'; that I 'look below' for the answers I seek. For 'truths written in stone', was it? I discovered an inkling of his 'truth' hidden amidst that imbecilic hyperbole. All of it's changed. My maps lead me astray.. my safeguards merely vanished. My venture outside the chasm has illustrated its costs. Though hardly without gain. It -waited- for my absence and now, at last, the hands of the prime mover are revealed. Folly to play one's hand too early."

[The Prophet of Misinformation]

Sithicus v 2.1

The Twilight Meridian (13 area dungeon for 18+) [see Hourglass & Sepulchre above for a teaser)
Explore the wretched history of Sithicus and it's macabre origins. Discover the truth of the Swordsman.
Multiple scripted sequences and gimmicks to encounter! Become your worst self. Live out the remembrance of another.

Har-Thelen
The Howling Banshee Inn & Handsome Jack's Emporium (3 new areas).
Waypoints have been added to every zone.
Area names have been restored to their properly grim English names.
Creatures have been restored to their properly cliché English names.
Quiet visual refresh applied where possible.
The gates of Har-Thelen are first locked to outsiders. They must pledge their obedience.
The ferry has been reduced to 50 gp. PCs, when travelling to Har-Thelen, are first dumped alongside the Musarde

The Tower of Midnight (Formerly the Tower of Har-Thelen)
A new floor has been added and the existing areas heavily redone (see the Tower of Midnight above)

A taste of OCR to come
The ill tempered elves have only so much patience for the barbarians invading their decomposing homeland.
An alternate route to Har-Thelen for high OCR characters and outsiders in general is discovered!
The Black Omen (2 areas) - Unearth a rebellion from within the tower's ranks.
Alaric's Vault (1 area) - Dig into the history of the Black Knight and easily overcome a simple puzzle.
The Dreaming Halls of Dargaard (1 area)  - Another Drain? No one asked for it but I built it anyway.
Nuitari's Well (1 area) - Trespass the scars of an ancient war. Learn the truth of Mason. Ask does he build anything that isn't red?

(OCR isn't being implemented in this update. This is the skeleton for its implementation.)

The Standing Stones
The Standing Stones is an introductory area (bypassing the treacherous mega dungeon that is Sithicus).
It allows direct access to Har-Thelen and allows for the user to communicate with a plot important NPC.
It's been around for 6 years but at some point it was broken. I've restored it.

There's more to it but those are the major points. When? I'm done at the end of September as I have other projects to move onto.

Several minutes of mind-bending tedious are hosted on the PotM if you're so inclined to melt your brain.

[CosmicRay]

The Drain.