Ravenloft Darklord Reviews

Domain: House of Dark Strategy Domain Formation: Unknown Power Level:💀⚫⚫⚫⚫ Source: The House of Dark Strategy (2e)

Lord Malkant Hilfin is an accomplished strategist from an unknown realm who abhorred losing. Every eight years he would invite the most intellectual individuals in the realm to his home to partake in a contest of wits. Hilfin rarely lost. Perhaps this is because his opponents let him win, knowing how his frail ego could not tolerate failure. If he lost, he always flew into a violent temper tantrum.

During one of these events, Lord Hilfin invited six individuals to his estate to partake in his contests. Among them was Selmar Callista. Callista did not let Hilfin win. In fact, Callista was not only winning, but was able to thoroughly defeat Hilfin at every turn. Hilfin viewed Callista’s dominance as a direct attack upon his person and seethed with rage as he contemplated scenarios that would ensure his victory.

A mysterious entity spoke to him then. Offering Hilfin a bargain – kill Callista and he would never lose again. Intelligence does not equate to wisdom and Hilfin readily accepted this bargain. He trapped and killed Callista and then to cover the deed, killed the remaining five guests.

Domain: The Nightmare Lands Domain Formation: Unknown Power Level: 💀💀💀⚫⚫ Sources: Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, Nightmare Lands (2e), Domains of Dread (2e)

In van Richten's latest guide, the members of the Nightmare Court are listed as the Darklords of this Domain, though the Rainbow Serpent is noticeably absent. Also of note is that these beings are now said to be the living nightmares of Caroline Dinwiddy.

Other than these changes, the Nightmare Lands and the Darklords remain mostly the same. Now, let’s take a closer look at Caroline. Caroline is described as a “potent psychic” with repressed memories of her own heartless deeds who never wakes.

Caroline was the head nurse of Dr. Gregorian Illhousen’s Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, which specialized in care for patients that suffer from continual nightmares. This clinic once resided in Nova Vaasa, but was pulled into the Nightmare Lands after Dr. Harrod Tasker, driven by jealousy for his colleague’s success, assisted the Nightmare Court in their attempts to defeat Dr. Illhousen.

The entire clinic and all those that worked and lived there now reside in the Nightmare Lands. Historical records indicated that Gregorian and Caroline roamed the Domain, trying to find a way to safety.

Domain: Nightmare Lands Domain Formation: Unknown Power Level:💀⚫⚫⚫⚫ Sources: A Guide to Transylvania (2e)

Unlike the majority of us trapped within these god-forsaken, mist enshrouded realms, the Nightmare Court travel throughout the multiverse. Any realm in which entities dream, the Nightmare Court is lurking in the space between reality and dreams.

Notably, the member of the Nightmare Court I am about to discuss is never referred to as a ‘Darklord’, merely as an entity. However, I have treated each member as a Darklord in my research and will extend that curtsey to the Redheaded Child as well.

The Redheaded Child has only shown himself in the dreams of mortals from Transylvania, a location confined to a realm known as ‘Gothic Earth’. He appears as a severely emaciated child dressed in the rags of a street urchin and brings with him dreams of childhood regrets. He offers reminds dreamers of their lost childhoods and happier times and the sorrow one feels for that lost innocence. Those tormented by the Redheaded Child succumb to depression and exhaustion in their waking life, dragging on in their dull, adult lives pinning for what could have been.

Domain: The Nightmare Lands Domain Formation: Unknown Power Level:💀💀⚫⚫⚫ Sources: Domains of Dread (2e), Nightmare Lands (2e)

The Rainbow Serpent is a winged-snake similar to a couati, though quite opposite in its nature and the only member of the Nightmare Court to adapt a non-humanoid appearance. Its scales are a brilliant crimson with bands of indigo, yellow, and black. Its eyes hide a malignant intellect and its mouth is always set with a mocking smile.

At the very center of the City of Nod within the Nightmare Lands, the Serpent makes its lair in the Park Primeval. The park is a nearly impassable overgrown jungle and the number of venomous reptiles that live within would satiate even the most renown of Borcan toxicologists. Similar to Mullonga’s alleyway maze, Park Primeval is a shifting labyrinth trapping aspiring explorers in its layers of vegetation and toxic lifeforms. The only constant within is the Tree of Suspicion. This vast, black-leafed tree, who’s roots continually pulse as if drawing in a thick ichor, is located at the heart of the Park Primeval. Suitably, it is also the Seperent’s arcane relic, granting the paranoia inducing snake much of its power.

The Rainbow Serpent feeds on the paranoia and insecurities of dreamers. It typically targets those suspicious of betrayal. Perhaps you were an Earl of a vast domain and your son worked against your cause and freed political prisoners…Theoretically, you may suffer from paranoia after such an event. The Rainbow Serpent targets such individuals, replaying the same betrayal in their dreams or creating new highly believable ones that have yet to transpire.

The Serpent’s dreamscapes are cunningly crafted dreams within dreams transforming the sleeper into a state in which they can no longer discern the dreaming from the waking world. One could wake in the middle of the night to discover their spouse in the embrace of another, tumble back to bed in disbelieve and wake up the next morning never realizing that what they witnessed had only been a dream.

In addition, this manipulative snake communicates telepathically to those that walk within the Park Primeval. It often hides amongst the jungle canopy sending thoughts of suspicion, doubt, and insecurities into his victim’s minds. This is done in such a way that the recipient often cannot differentiate the Serpent’s suggestions from their own thoughts and emotions.

Domain: Nightmare Lands Domain Formation: Unknown Power Level: 💀💀💀 ⚫⚫ Sources: Domains of Dread (2e), Nightmare Lands (2e)

One may reach the Nightmare Lands by traversing through the Mists or by being pulled into the dreamweb weaved by the Nightmare Court while sound asleep. At least six Darklords rule over this ever-changing land.

The ruler of the Nightmare Court is the Nightmare Man. Mullonga, though a Darklord herself, is one of his underlings as are all the members of this Court. Mullonga takes on the appearance of a hackneyed frail, older woman aided by a gnarled, wooden staff. Unsurprisingly, she is a witch.

As most witches and hags do, Mullonga uses illusions to hide her more haggard appearance and often pretends to be a lost wizard. In this guise, she befriends wanderers: a name commonly given to those who arrive in the demiplane through the Mists.

She thrives on sowing seeds of doubt, mistrust, and fear amongst groups of travelers. That fear is the key to Mullonga’s power. She feeds on dreamers’ fears, especially those tied to a particular phobia. She delights in creating dreamscapes that mirror her victim’s fears. A villager from Kartakass, for example, may have witnessed a loved-one being mauled by a wolfwere and developed a fear of such creatures. Mullonga will send them dreams of running from snapping jaws and howling wolves always on the verge of reaching them. She may even transform the dreamer’s shape into a timid rabbit to amplify the terror of being preyed-upon.

Mullonga resides within a decrepit neighborhood in the City of Nod located at the center of the dreaming. The alleyways and ramshackle buildings of her neighborhood are constantly shifting, creating a maze that is near impossible to solve. There she keeps a laboratory where she creates arcane heads from the severed heads of wanderers who die in her realm. She typically sews three of them together and the resulting nightmare roams the domain feasting upon warm flesh. Her arcane relic, a cauldron that always contains a foul, bubbling ichor, is located in one particularly debilitated building in this labyrinth. As with all the Nightmare Court, destroying her arcane relic will significantly weaken her.

This wretched grandmotherly figure is technically a wizard, though not by any traditional means. Instead of memorizing and studying spells, she steals them from her victim’s dreams by pulling them out of the dreamweb.

Domain: Nightmare Lands Domain Formation: Unknown Power Level:💀💀⚫⚫⚫ Sources: Domains of Dread (2e), Nightmare Lands (2e)

Morpheus, also known as the Master of Change (a self-proclaimed title, I’m sure), is one of the six Darklords that comprise the Nightmare Court that rule over the realm known as the Nightmare Lands. This Domain lies between the waking and dreaming. it is common belief that the Nightmare Court can pull in dreamers from any plane of existence into their web of nightmares.

Morpheus is the most chaotic member of this coterie. He appears as a classic devil dressed in finely tailored suits complete with blood-red skin, pointy ears, and a thin, dark mustache. At least, from the torso up…below the belt, so to speak, Morpheus’s body is nothing more than a conglomeration of dark, misty tendrils.

Morpheus feeds on feelings of confusion and fear, especially those derived from an individual unable to accept the change in their life after experiencing a traumatic event. Morpheus torments these individuals by forcing them to dream of constant, unpredictable changes such as transforming a bridge they’re running along into a sea of fish, then a flock of birds and so on.

Morpheus resides in the Forest of Everchange, which encircles the City of Nod within the Nightmare Lands. As the name implies, this forest is in a constant state of change. The few scholars who have studied it, one the famed Dr. Van Richten, believe there are no constant structures within Morpheus’s forest. If they had been more thorough, they would have realized how very wrong that assumption is.

For one, once in every six transformations, the forest always becomes a deciduous forest. For another, Morpheus’s arcane relic and key to his destruction is the only stable object within the forest. This relic takes the form of an obsidian stone archway covered in ancient runes.

Everything else does constantly change. A snow covered evergreen forest could grow out of an arid desert in a manner of minutes. This chaos creates a landscape that is incredibly easy to become lost, which aligns perfectly with Morpheus’s ultimate goal to cause his victim’s to question the stability of their own realities.

This Master of Change holds the same abilities as the rest of his brethren. He is also gifted with flight and the ability to transform himself and others into anything he can imagine. His greatest weakness is his inability to accept stability and order. Any constant in his life drives him into boredom and despair. Considering even the constants of the Forest of Everchange, he must despise our prison as much as the rest of us.

Domain: Nightmare Lands Domain Formation: Unknown Power Level: 💀💀 ⚫⚫⚫ Sources: Domains of Dread (2e), Nightmare Lands (2e)

Hypnos is one of six members of the Nightmare Court, the Darklords that rule over the Nightmare Lands. The Nightmare Lands exist in a place between the Waking and Dreaming worlds. The Nightmare Court pulls in dreamers into their web, trapping those that sate their thirst for particular emotions within their crafted dreamscapes.

Hypnos appears as an impeccably dressed gentleman in a perfectly tailored suit sporting a handlebar mustache and well-maintained cropped hair. He also wears a golden-trimmed monocle over his right eye. Why he bothers with such appearances is unknown since all he does is lie in stillness while entombed in a glass coffin. He appears to be asleep, yet his right eye is always open. Save for the ruler, The Nightmare Man, each member of the Nightmare Court feeds on a particular type of dream. Hypnos favors those associated with frustration and incompetence. Hmm, perhaps my late brother Ranald was one of his targets then? He certainly was incompetent enough to attract such attentions. These dreams are those that slowly reveal that the dreamer is utterly helpless. When faced with their fear they are surrounded by innumerable foes. If they attempt to run, they become paralyzed in their fear or their movement slows as the inevitable descends upon them. Hypnos, like the rest of the Nightmare Court, resides in the City of Nod within the Nightmare Lands. In one of the corners of the crumbling city stands the Spire of Sleep, a pale white tower standing on a small island surrounded by a moat that billows with wisps of mist. Those that breathe in this mist often find themselves lulled into sleep. The only way to enter the spire itself is through magical means. Hypnos may appear the type to just lay there and take it, but he has a fair amount of traps within his tower to protect him from invaders and is able to summon minions to his side with a mere wink of his monocle-concealed eye. The glass coffin, he seemingly forever sleeps in, is Hypnos’s arcane relic. The only hope one would have of defeating him is to destroy it first. There are many protective spells weaved around the glass tomb making this task difficult unless one employees a master of the arcane to assist in the endeavor.

Hypnos’s most potent ability is through mesmerism. With it he can plant suggestions in a dreamer’s subconscious and manipulate them to act upon violent impulses in the waking world. He can also control the minds of those who wander into the Nightmare Lands. Though those with a strong will, such as myself, will feel nothing more than a slight tickle at the back of their mind as he attempts to do so.

Domain: Nightmare Lands Domain Formation: Unknown Power Level:💀💀⚫⚫⚫ Sources: Domains of Dread (2e), The Nightmare Lands (2e)

The Ghost Dancer is one of six known Darklords of the Nightmare Lands, an ever shifting land that once existed along the border of Nova Vaasa, but transformed into a pocket realm. It is said to exists between the dreaming and the waking world where entities feed upon the nightmares of mortals.

The Ghost Dancer is a ballerina with translucent skin as white as porcelain and eyes as dark as pitch and as she performs her solemn dances, wisps of mist follows in her wake.. Her tattered garments are stained with bloody hand prints and her neck is covered in bruises.

Unlike the ruler of the Nightmare Court, the Nightmare Man, who can feed on any nightmare, the Ghost Dancer feeds on those associated with guilt, remorse, and shame. She shapes dreamscapes out of dreamer’s memories, giving them a touch of hope, such as a making them believe that a love one they failed to save is now alive, then slowly she unfolds their nightmare until it is revealed how the dreamer failed. How it was their fault and no one else's. Reminds me of our tormentors favorite game, actually…

The Ghost Dancer resides in the Theater of Macabre in the City of Nod at the center of the Nightmare Lands. Standing on top of the theater are three stone statues, one crying, one laughing, and one scowling. Though despite these features the most obvious emotion upon each statue is that of eternal torment.

There she preforms for hordes of undead every evening. These are former victims of her icy touch, now forever forced to watch her dance. Mortals are welcome to attend as well, but it is a rare soul that can survive without becoming part of the literally captive audience.

The Ghost Dancer, like all members of the Nightmare Court, can change the terrain of the dreamscape with a mere thought, influence the emotions of dreamers, enter the dream plane, and teleport to anywhere within Nightmare Lands. Unique to her is her icy touch and her Dance Macabre. Those of weak mind are paralyzed when they witness her elaborate dance.

Each member of the Nightmare Court has an arcane relic that ties them to the Web of Dreams and allows them to draw dreamers into their realm and consume their nightmares. The Ghost Dancers relic is in the form of an ornate chandelier that looms above the lobby of her theater. Destroy it and perhaps you have a chance at destroying her.

Domain: Nightmare Lands Domain Formation: Unknown Power Level:💀💀💀⚫⚫ Sources: Domains of Dread (2e), The Nightmare Lands (2e)

The Nightmare Lands is a realm that exists between the dreaming and the waking world where entities feed upon the nightmares of mortals from all planes of existence. This land is ruled by the Nightmare Court with the Nightmare Man at its head.

There are six known entities that make up the Nightmare Court. Dr. van Richten theorized that the five other members are merely facets of the Nightmare Man’s persona. This may be the case, but since other realms are ruled by multiple Darklords, I shall treat each separately for the purposes of my reviews.

The Nightmare Court cannot create dreams or nightmare themselves, but they feed upon them akin to a vampire supping upon the blood of the living. The Nightmare Court thrives on dreams associated with a traumatic experience of the dreamer, which generate the negative emotions - such as grief, guilt, despair, and fear - that they crave. They draw victims and their dreams into the Nightmare Lands through the Web of Dreams. This web is cast out into the dream plane, which is said to touch every plane of existence.

The Nightmare Man wears a tattered robe made of webs with dozens of bulbous spiders crawling upon its surface. He wears a hood pulled up at all times, hiding his face within the shadows of its folds. The only visible features of the Nightmare Man are silvery wisp of hair extending from the darkness beneath his hood and his skeletal-like hands.

Though the Nightmare Lands constantly shift, there are a few constants within. The edge of the Domain is a waste land that surrounds the Forest of Everchange, which given the name I don’t feel inclined to describe it. Above the Nightmare Lands is the Ring of Dreams, glistening spheres that contain the dreamscapes controlled by the Nightmare Court.

At the center of the Forest of Everchange is the City of Nod, a ruined metropolis where the Nightmare Court resides. The Nightmare Man lives within the Grieving Citadel, the tallest and most prominent structure in the city. The Citadel is, like most Darklord dwelling, decorated with maliciously sculpted gargoyles and surrounded by fountains of blood.

From the stained glass windows of the citadel, the Nightmare Man can watch any of the dreamscapes contained within the Ring of Dreams. At times he may find one inspiring enough to attempt to paint the scene himself. Having no genuine creativity or imagination, he must steal inspiration from others. With every attempt to create something of his own, the paint upon his brush transforms into blood and he is left with an incomplete work.

The Nightmare Man’s past is virtually unknown, but there are some hints in Dr. Gregorian Illhousen’s detailed, yet highly speculative notes on him and the Nightmare Lands. The most prevalent is the record of one of Illhousen’s patients recurring nightmares.

In this dream she sees the Nightmare Man in his Grieving Citadel working on a painting depicting a man viciously attacking a woman. As he draws, the paint on his brush becomes blood and the woman asks why he would create such a horrible thing when there is so much beauty and good in the world. The Nightmare man responds with a shutter, “Love and beauty no longer exist here. So I must look into the night to find other inspiration”.

The patient’s dream was built on the guilt she carried for killing her spouse. I theorize that the Nightmare Man was someone who dreamed of being an artist, but did not have the inclination to put in the effort to obtain the required skills. Lamenting on the ‘natural talent’ of artists who devoted countless hours to the craft and how he longed for the same. Eventually this lead to him taking credit for other's work. Perhaps even the work of his spouse, whom killed him for the effort and now the two are trapped in an eternal dreamscape of her own creation? Because it certainly is not his creation.

The Nightmare Man, like all members of his court, can change the terrain of the dreamscape with a mere thought, influence the emotions of dreamers, enter the dream plane, and teleport to anywhere within Nightmare Lands. Unique abilities to the Nightmare Man enable him to step from one shadow into another, create “Night Terrors”, and sense an intruder in his lands.