# Dragon 368 - Domains of Dread:  Sunderheart, the Funeral City



## Shroomy (Oct 27, 2008)

Ah, Ravenloft by another name.  _Dragon_ presents a new domain of dread and delves into some of the horrible history of Bael Turath.  Its pretty good stuff, very creepy:

D&D Domains of Dread


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## GMforPowergamers (Oct 27, 2008)

am I alone in thinking this would have been a perfect fit for a 2e moduel/story of a pocket or island cluster... and I mean that in a good way.

It felt...Ravenloft to me, even without the dark powers or the name raven loft...

     I do find it funny that one way out is a good old fashion beat down on the domain lord though...I didn't see that comeing.

Now all I need to be happy is a sect of gypsys that can travel from one domain of dread to another , not through the shadow fell...but through the mist itself...


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## Fallen Seraph (Oct 27, 2008)

I like how it started off sounding very Romeo and Juliet, what with love-struck couple in rival families trying to break them up, etc. Then it just grew darker, creepier, more bloody and twisted.

It also gives me even more of a Werewolf spirit-world vibe then it did before with whole cities that once existed in the real-world existing in some form in the Shadowfell.


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## Klaus (Oct 27, 2008)

I like that they show maps for the real world and the shadowfell.


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## Kirnon_Bhale (Oct 27, 2008)

Very nice article once again. I find it very evocative - a real sense of menace. I find that I am feeling better and better about my yearly subscription. 

I love this article.


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## cwhs01 (Oct 27, 2008)

This is the first article after the free trial period, to make me consider a subscription.

Damn wotc and their cool products





Kirnon_Bhale said:


> Very nice article once again. I find it very evocative - a real sense of menace. I find that I am feeling better and better about my yearly subscription.
> 
> I love this article.


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## Klaus (Oct 27, 2008)

One thing I dislike strongly:

The picture on page 8 of the file (77 of the overall article) has a city vista by Rob Alenxander. You can clearly see in the background Neuschwanstein Castle and Cinderella's Castle photoshopped into the picture.


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## Kirnon_Bhale (Oct 27, 2008)

cwhs01 said:


> This is the first article after the free trial period, to make me consider a subscription.
> 
> Damn wotc and their cool products




It should - the depravity of the main protaganist is never actually specified but it is ever present and adds to the sense of menace. Characters who find themselves in Sunderheart will never feel safe - the monthly carnival with the dead is ....*shudder*.... unnerving to think about. 

I really liked the options that are presented for escape as well, either you choose a really hard way out with terrible consequences - or you choose a REALLY HARD way out which is likely to be impossible to achieve.

While a fully fledged Ravenloft is always going to be welcome - this approach of presenting the various dark lord realms as adventure locales will also work - I could picture adventurers forever acting as the playthings of the dark lords being shunted from realm to realm. Whenever they are victorious they get moved to another realm/adventure locale.


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## Jack99 (Oct 27, 2008)

That is definitely a great article, you really get a great picture of how things were in the old "glory days" of the Empire of Bael Turath. The twisted R&J story is seven shades of awesome as well.


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## Scribble (Oct 27, 2008)

Klaus said:


> One thing I dislike strongly:
> 
> The picture on page 8 of the file (77 of the overall article) has a city vista by Rob Alenxander. You can clearly see in the background Neuschwanstein Castle and Cinderella's Castle photoshopped into the picture.




Eh... Maybe... Neuschwanstein is just so "iconic fairytale castle" like though so anything with tall cone topped spires tends to resemble it.

It's a pretty sweet castle though.

Evertime I was there it always made me think of D&D.


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## Klaus (Oct 27, 2008)

Scribble said:


> Eh... Maybe... Neuschwanstein is just so "iconic fairytale castle" like though so anything with tall cone topped spires tends to resemble it.
> 
> It's a pretty sweet castle though.
> 
> Evertime I was there it always made me think of D&D.



Not "resemble". I mean literally photoshopped in. Both castles, btw (and Neuchswanstein was the basis for Cinderella's Castle in the first place). I'd post the picture, but the article is subscription-only, and I don't want to break copyright rules.

But aside from that, sweet article, and the map artist rocks!


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## Scribble (Oct 27, 2008)

Klaus said:


> Not "resemble". I mean literally photoshopped in. Both castles, btw (and Neuchswanstein was the basis for Cinderella's Castle in the first place). I'd post the picture, but the article is subscription-only, and I don't want to break copyright rules.
> 
> But aside from that, sweet article, and the map artist rocks!




Disney is kind of a thief. There's another one in Europe that is literally the exact same castle as the Disney World castle.  It's kind of weird when you're there. It's like- Hey I'm in Disney world? But I'm the only annoying american around...  

I have a subscription but I'm still not sure I agree with you. Maybe I'm not looking at the right place in the picture?


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## WhatGravitas (Oct 27, 2008)

Kirnon_Bhale said:


> Whenever they are victorious they get moved to another realm/adventure locale.



Ravenloft sliders! 

Cheers, LT.


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## Shroomy (Oct 27, 2008)

So, I have a question for all the Ravenloft fans out there, how does this Domain of Dread measure up for you?


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## catsclaw227 (Oct 27, 2008)

Klaus said:


> One thing I dislike strongly:
> 
> The picture on page 8 of the file (77 of the overall article) has a city vista by Rob Alenxander. You can clearly see in the background Neuschwanstein Castle and Cinderella's Castle photoshopped into the picture.(



I don't know, Claudio, I can't see them wholesale photoshopped in.  Maybe some individual spires/towers/etc might have been used, but not sure.

You may have wanted to email and ask him first before you threw this out there, though.


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## Kirnon_Bhale (Oct 27, 2008)

Lord Tirian said:


> Ravenloft sliders!
> 
> Cheers, LT.




That would be sweet. Hard on the players though - always thinking they have made it only to find that once more they must battle against overwhelming evil all while just hoping that one day they will make it home. (Actually had a little "Quantum Leap" moment there [loved that show])


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## Mouseferatu (Oct 27, 2008)

I loved the article, and I'm absolutely looking forward to reading--and hopefully contributing to --the series.

That said, I do hope that not _every_ domain of dread is designed primarily around the notion of making the PCs find a way to escape. I always found that the most satisfying Ravenloft campaigns were the ones in which the PCs were playing natives. Take escape out of the equation--make it so that this is simply the way the world is--and you open up a lot of story potential.

I'm fine with the series not emphasizing that, since the domains are in the Shadowfell as opposed to the mortal world. But I hope they don't _completely_ eschew the possibility.


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## Klaus (Oct 27, 2008)

Scribble said:


> Disney is kind of a thief. There's another one in Europe that is literally the exact same castle as the Disney World castle.  It's kind of weird when you're there. It's like- Hey I'm in Disney world? But I'm the only annoying american around...
> 
> I have a subscription but I'm still not sure I agree with you. Maybe I'm not looking at the right place in the picture?



PM me and I'll show it to you.

And let me make it clear: I'm not faulting the artist's work because it's a photomanipulation. Aside from that detail of the castles (which were recognizable), the picture itself is very good (as were several other pictures by Rob Alexander in other products, like Menace of the Icy Spire or the 4e DMG). But any time you do photomanipulation, you run the risk of someone noticing the sources.


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## M.L. Martin (Oct 28, 2008)

Mouseferatu said:


> I loved the article, and I'm absolutely looking forward to reading--and hopefully contributing to --the series.
> 
> That said, I do hope that not _every_ domain of dread is designed primarily around the notion of making the PCs find a way to escape. I always found that the most satisfying Ravenloft campaigns were the ones in which the PCs were playing natives. Take escape out of the equation--make it so that this is simply the way the world is--and you open up a lot of story potential.
> 
> I'm fine with the series not emphasizing that, since the domains are in the Shadowfell as opposed to the mortal world. But I hope they don't _completely_ eschew the possibility.




  Personally, I think that the 'weekend in Hell' approach is just fine for them to take with Dragon articles, given that those are meant to be for general use. (Although I hope other domains are more friendly to native PCs than Sunderheart.) If/when they do Ravenloft 4E, then they can emphasize the native element.

  As it stands, I'd use the 'domains of dread' presented as the equivalent to Islands, with the Core being a world closely linked to the Shadowfell to the point that the Mists are pervasive.


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## Ethalias (Oct 28, 2008)

I like the article, evocative and with suitable info provided. Liking the maps for both versions of the city; the monthly night of revelry sounds more than worthy of inclusion.

And I LOVE the idea of a DnD/Sliders.. Perhaps with a little more control over the situation, but a pressing story line.. *YOINK*



Klaus said:


> But any time you do photomanipulation, you run the risk of someone noticing the sources.




There's a similar phenomenon in music with sampling. Most of the time, especially with  more obscure samples, no one notices.  Sometimes someone will notice, and that can be an "Oh WOW" moment, or a *sharp intake of breath* moment, depending on how it's handled. How it strikes you depends on your tastes and disposition. So I sympathise with you, but it doesn't bother me particularly.


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## Scribble (Oct 28, 2008)

Ethalias said:


> There's a similar phenomenon in music with sampling. Most of the time, especially with  more obscure samples, no one notices.  Sometimes someone will notice, and that can be an "Oh WOW" moment, or a *sharp intake of breath* moment, depending on how it's handled. How it strikes you depends on your tastes and disposition. So I sympathise with you, but it doesn't bother me particularly.




I listen to a lot of electronic music, and sampling quotes from movies and tv shows and such is pretty normal. It's kind of fun to be watching a movie and suddenly realize, "Hey!!! That's where that sample is from!"


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