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The Raven Queen finally gets a decent amount of coverage in the new Mordenkainen book (published after this video was posted), within the section about elves.
The big thing I've emphasized in my campaigns based on my understanding of the mirror planes of the Shadowfell and Feywild is that of them trying to capture the psychological atmosphere involved in "horror" or "faerie" stories in particular. I usually explain it related to the "primordials separated the aspects that were too colorful or too dark for the prime" by explaining that while in the Feywild EVERYTHING is alive and emphasizes wild imagination and the power of creative thought and wordplay and dreams, in the Shadowfell everything is dead or dying and emphasizes your darkest fears and the power of depression and anxiety and nightmares. Of course you can have good things in the Shadowfell and you can have terrifying things in the Feywild, but even the Fey terrors are touched by the whimsical atmosphere into something that is still imaginative, and the Shadow joys are tinged by the despairing atmosphere to be bittersweet (though joy can often be the sweetest for contrast to sorrow). I think the Shadowfell in particular could be good for exploring the effects of depression or trauma on a person's life and the bittersweet tinge it can give everything. Personally, I also compare it to the difference in tone between some of my favorite cult/geek stories: Doctor Who is the Feywild to Supernatural's Shadowfell Gravity Falls is the Shadowfell to My Little Pony's Feywild Chronicles of Narnia is the Feywild to His Dark Materials' Shadowfell The first three Harry Potter books are the Feywild, the last three are the Shadowfell
So, there's a lot more than just Barova in Ravenloft. Barovia is part of a "continent" of sorts, called the Core. Ravenloft itself is divided into four general geographic categories of realms. Pockets, Islands, Clusters, and the Core. All geographic structures in Ravenloft are effectively flat land masses floating in The Mists. Imagine infinite thick, opaque, pea-soup fog with float islands adrift within it. That's Ravenloft. Pockets are simply domains within other domains. Islands are single realms completely surrounded by Mists (Barovia did indeed originate this way, merely as and Island, and is believed to have been the first domain in Ravenloft). Clusters are when two or more domains are stitched together into a single land mass. The Core is a continent of over twenty domains and two seas. It is by far the largest landmass in Ravenloft. Some scholars, in light of the recent formation of the Clusters, insist that the Core itself is little more than a giant Cluster. However, the fact that this region is dominated by the Darklords, who are the most powerful of Domain Lords, indicates that the Core is more sinister than the Clusters or Islands. Further evidence that the Core is unique can be found in the fact that it appears to center around the domain of Barovia, home of Strahd von Zarovich, and the first realm to rise from the Mists. All Darklords are Domain Lords, but not all Domain Lords are Darklords. To be a Darklord, one must be a Domain Lord over a domain attached to the Core. The Domain Lords are, in order of power and punishment, Demilords (Pockets), Lords (Islands), Overlords (Clusters), Darklords (Core). All Domain Lords can "close their borders" in a means that is unique and somehow descriptive of their particular curse and damned nature. Also, no Domain Lord can leave their Domain. Strahd does not rule over all of Ravenloft; he is unable to leave Barovia, and enter, for example, neighboring Forlorn, Sithicus, Nova Vaasa, or Invidia, etc. A Domain Lord attempting to leave their domain prison encounters an impenetrable force that defies all attempts to pass, assault, or study it. I've been playing in Ravenloft for over 20 years.
Back in 1e we had a DM that ran a campaign that used the plane of shadow to visit other prime material planes. We visited Dragonlance, Middle Earth, Sanctuary, and a couple others. We were working for a Shade lord that had the group searching for artifacts. It was a cool game.
Started playing Neverwinter about seven months ago and had forgotten much of my youthful experiences playing table top games. Thankfully this is a great tutorial of that world/s history and events. After watching several of your videos I've grown a new appreciation for the games, both console and table top.
The only thing I caught that was incorrect is Shadow Magic, and Shadow Weave are two separate things. In fact Shadow Magic comes from Mystra's weave, and the Shadow Weave is Shar's.
@@MrZPal2099 There can't be NO god of magic. The multiverse can't permit that, beside the fact that her followers would have made her anew anyway. Belief shapes realities in D&D, and some are more subject to this than others. That's why some deities absorbs another.
Not your fault for the continuity thing, Wizards has been trying to "erase" the work Sword& Sorcery did for RAvenloft in order to relocate the setting within the Realms' boundaries so that they may produce more books in the future or at least make it known it's "theirs only". The depth and continuity of RAvenloft itself is just a victim of the property disputes so to speak, otherwise Ravenloft would have been even a richer and more visited setting than it is now. Shame Wizards is only producing casual adventures and almost wholeheartedly focused on the Realms and nothing else, although I must admit Curse of Strahd was a great sourcebook which is likely to remain standalone in the Ravenloft continuity for 5th edition.
yeah wizards is messing with the realms lore too vs previous editions. I had to a lot of research for my campaign (with a vampire and true Lycan PC.... we're old(er) farts wanted to try something different LOL)
its been a while since this comment was made, but i will point out the more recent books elaborate on much of the other planes and the upcoming book dungeon of the mad mage opens up to future possibilities of interplanar travel via skullport. Wizards is trying to make the game more fun and friendly to new players and its as popular now as a result than its ever been. perhaps this doesnt appeal to hardcore players who view it as "theirs only" but the masses have spoken with their wallets.
Hey Jorphdan! I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the incredible D&D lore videos you create. Your explanations are always so clear and engaging, making the rich history of D&D come alive. I especially love listening to your videos while I'm making VTT maps-it’s like having a friend sharing epic stories and deep lore while I work. Keep up the fantastic work! :) Best, Neil
I'm glad someone caught this. The Raven Queen was an elf queen who ascended to deity-hood in order to stop the Seldarine from being torn apart by the whole Lolth-fiasco, and the Shadar-Kai were her loyal followers. The ritual that got corrupted and turned the Raven Queen evil did the same to the Shadar-kai.
Jarrett Benning The kids in Stranger Things compare the Upside Down to the Plane of Shadow by name, and call it a dark echo of our reality. So yeah, basically the same. lol
I'm still confused about the shadowfell to an extent but this video was 1000% more helpful than anything else I've come across including the words of the wizards D&D team
You might of heard this description before but it helps me to think of it as the feywild being chaos being turned up to eleven and the shadowfell turned to -2. The shadowfell has absolute despair and endless cycles while the feywild has chaos.
I like to think that every plane in D&D, Pathfinder, Forgotten Realms, etc., is actually a composite multiverse consisting of universes with similar properties yet different origins, that merged together like a conglomeration of soap bubbles. It explains how all the pantheons can coexist yet have different cosmogonies.
what I got from it. The primordial made the "shadowfell" which was in various different sections and pieces. Shar then took these pieces and put them together making the Shadowfell Whole.
Its important to note that Barovia isn't Ravenloft, Barovia is a *part* of Ravenloft, the first part mind you, but still only a part. Ravenloft consists of a large continent covered in mists with several continents of whitch Barovia is one. Other examples include Darkon, rules by the Lich Azalin or Lamordia ruled by the Flesh Golem Adam. A "Domain of Dread" basically refers to one of these states of ravenloft, of which there are quite a few, letalone the several places that create "Islands of Terror", whitch are like tiny domains. The Dark Powers are the mysterious beings that control this domain, whispers in the mists that harbor evil only to punish it in an ironic twist and trapping them when they finally do a knowingly unreasonably evil act. No one may escape the mists truly, but a darklord doubly so, as it is their curse. Theirs a bunch of other super interesting details, but this is the gist of it.
Technically Ravenloft is Strahd's castle in Barovia, but it is also the name of the setting in 3.5 that takes place in the Domains of Dread. I don't believe this setting is supported in 5e. As Jorphdan said, Barovia is now a location in the Shadowfell, that may have other Domains of Dread as well.
This is correct. In 5th Edition Ravenloft is just Castle Ravenloft now and Barovia is referred to as the Demiplane where the Ravenloft setting takes place.
as others have mentioned, that is not how it works in 5th edition. ravenloft is strahd's castle and barovia is the land itself which has been cordoned off into its own demi-plane that was originally part of the shadowfell but no longer exists within it.
since tome of foes was released, the shadar kai are now elves that have taken residence in the shadowfell and followed the raven queen (so shes in 5e now)
Thank you so much! I was sad that they weren't going to mention her in official d&d products but they did! Now I can continue on my plan for world domination.
the shadowfell is what you get when the company behind the game spent years caring less and less about the game and more about arbitrary changes hoping more people would buy new lore guides and phb's like the multiple different official phb's of 5th edition
So, I was wondering: Both Feywild and Shadowfell are "mirrors" of Prime material plane and they "overlap" with it at some places. But is there a mention of a place where the two overlap directly with each other? like a border between Shadowfell and Feywild without "earth" in between? I am just wondering, since I have such a place in my campaing, and I would like to know if it actually exist. :)
Thanks a lot. I needed a place for a god-like being that was "neutral", not entirely fey, and connected to shadow. My party is heading there now, so it might not exist much longer. ;)
In the Moorecock Eternal Champion stories there is a city called Tanelorn that exists in all continuities but not always at the same time. Because of that it us considered a city of refuge for wayward heroes and a respite for some from destiny. Though it rarely if ever becomes a permanent home for such individuals. Could create something similar for a party as a place of respite from a major quest to see how their characters react to having a peaceful place for a brief time only to gave it disappear one day. I could imagine a character having visited it once and then having their driving force to he finding it again, for better or worse. Could maybe even make a campaign out if it. Sorry, just throwing some ideas around.
There is a villain from the 3.5e book of vile darkness called the Dread Emperor. I know the Critical Role group fought him pre stream. I wish he would make a reappearance in 5e. He would make a great darklord.
I'm sure I'll be referencing this video a lot now that I've found it. I'm writing a half-orc shadow mage born in the Fell. He comes to be adopted by a master merchant and his deceased wife who have a home in Gloomwrought. If Evernight is the Fell-side of Neverwinter, what is the prime plane-side of Gloomwrought?
Dude , Barovia is one of the domains of the demi-plane of Ravenloft. Though the domains have Dark Lords who have a lot of power there, keep in mind that the Dark Lords are also PRISONERS of their domains. They have been placed there by the true rulers of Ravenlonft: the Dark Powers. They are unknowable and unknown and have ultimate power over this realm. Only greater powers can enter and leave Ravenloft against their will, but many spells are forbidden to function by the Dark Powers, and leaving Ravenloft is almost impossible.
What I don’t get is how the Shadowfell can be a dark reflection of Faerun yet still have Gloomwrought, which would’ve been a dark reflection of a city in the Points of Light setting, right? So I’m wondering, does each universe in the multiverse have its own Shadowfell, or does the same Shadowfell span across all universes. This would mean that the dark reflections of the Points of Light, Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, etc. settings would all be part of one giant Shadowfell.
Strahd was not the 1st vampire. I just finished the 1st and 2nd novel of "I, Strahd" and he mentions lore on his kind that predates his transformation. The information you got may be a continuity error on WotC's part. Still a good video.
That should be true, but it straight up says on page 51 of the dmg that Strahd is the first vampire. To be honest, Ravenloft shouldn't even be part of the shadowfell. The whole story line of the demiplane of dread was to try and make a stepping stone for the dark powers to enter other planes of existence, the books about Azalin explains that.
Definitely a continuity error, in the novel Vampire of the Mist, Jander Sunstar explains that he is stronger than Strahd because he is older. The book came out in 1991, plenty of time for them to change their minds I guess, lol.
yup, continuity errors is the bane of forgotten realm right now. The vampire age thing is great, I always had my vampires very much like those of the Anne Rice "mythology"... just less emo...
Even Van Richten's Guide to Vampires is inconsistent on this point: claiming him to be the first vampire while putting him in roughly the middle age range for vampires. Of course, time shenanigans are involved in the Ravenloft setting, so that may explain some of it.
You've already mentioned it's possible for a campaign to be set in both Faywilde and the Shadowfell. It is also possible to set a campaign in one of the higher planes, or even one of the elemental planes?
Am I the only one who thinks that the Shadowfell borrows a bit from the Shadow Lands in the White Wolf RPG Wraith: The Oblivion? For those unfamiliar with the game the setting is Dark Modern Fantasy, AKA a real world where magic/supernatural creatures exist hidden from the eyes of most mortals. In Wraith: The Oblivion the default character is a wraith, as an incorporeal undead it takes special abilities to interact with the living world that they can see, & call the "Skinlands." The Shadowlands in that setting are the ghostly reflection of the world, & the better something is remembered by the living the more REAL & in better repair it seems, which can lead to some weird architecture if an important building was destroyed & rebuilt with a different layout both will appear in the Shadowlands, a great example is The White House which was burned to the ground during the war of 1812. The cities that don't exist in the physical world are islands in the layer of the underworld below the Shadowlands called "The Tempest," which as the name implies is a vast sea of soul stuff. Below the tempest lies the Dark Labyrinth populated by spirits given over to their darker sides called Specters, & beneath that the Well Of The Void AKA Oblivion itself.
Shadow elves have been natives too shadow fell since the primordials, hence why they have bonuses in shadow magic, and dont confuse shadow elves with dark elves, totally different Was sad u didn't even mention them
what is weird is that the shadowfell is a transitionary plane a soul goes through on the way to the fuge plane to the city of the damned but there isnt a mirror of that for new souls arriving before being born in the faewild, like some souls may travel through there before reaching the prime material plane where they are then birthed. kinda seems weird not to have a reflection of the opposite in the faewild. Makes for a good opportunity to have people who are "fae touched" as a plot point in the campaign. either that or at least have the city of the damned on the shadowfell rather than in a fugue plane.
I see it like this. The material plane is a dial at 5. The mountain is 5 tall, the view 5 pretty, the woods 5 dangerous. The feywild is the dial turned up to 10, and the shadowfell is it turned down to 1
Hi @Jorphdan, have you ever covered the topic of the necromantic planes called Dread Rings? I’m not even sure you could call them planes. Maybe they are magic soul prisons in the Shadowfell?
I know this is late, but I just had to say something. "A dimension full of death and *decay.* It's a dimensions of black and *grey,* where most other colors have been leeched *away."* Lol
I'm reading Silverymoon, finding 'interesting' content to do in the parts of town that aren't controlled by the Mythals. Basically Humans and Dwarves ruined it, while the Elven city is invulnerable. Mostly.
Love your videos Jorphdan, we just used it to end a heated discussion about Shadowfell with my d&d friends, unluckily I was the one wrong. Goddamit. P.s: Thanks a lot for adding subtitles in spanish, my english is decent but I missed things from time to time.
An interesting point is that the shadowfell actually corrupts those inside possibly due to the negative energy posdibly due to the shadowplane itself. Not even dragons can withstand it and based on the fact that the only canon dragon type to be seen corrupted is the young red dragon (it becomes the young red shadow dragon) and it states that they enter the plane due to arrogance implying that dragons actually fear the shadowfell
Thanks for your great work. I've always wanted to run a consistent FR campaign and thanks to you, my party and I are having a BLAST! Re-watching to prepare for tonight's play. :)
Personally I like it so that while the negative energy realm and the shadow lands overlap in an area known as the shadow fell but the entire thing doesn't cross over.
I am currently playing a Warforged Sorcerer that got his magic by accidentally ending up in the Shadowfell and learned shadow magic in Gloomrot. It is really fun and my character wishes to go back because he found a sense of purpose there and hates the humans and dwarves which used him and his brethren as pawns in a giant game of chess.
I am thinking of making my half- elf shadow sorcerer a noble from Gloomwrought in shadowfell. It makes sense as Shadar Kai elves and Shadowvar humans live there. He entered the material plane to find his twin sister who went missing after visiting there.
I think what you don't understand is the plane of shadow was created by the primordials, but then shar fused the negative energy plane and the plane of shadow to create the shadow fell. So the primordials did not create the shafowfell they created the plane of shadow. I hope this helps
Being honest, you should post the scripts you wrote for all the plane videos. I would love to be able to recite this information to my players, or even change a little of it to fit my campaign. It would just be amazing to have this information as a print out I could read when designing my campaigns.
I do write scripts. I'm not against this but hosting and adding all the scripts to PDF is not something I'm necessarily interested in doing, just to be honest. I also reference where I get my information for people who want to get the info straight from the source. It seems rather than using a PDF I wrote, which I mostly read verbatim in the video, you could research a bit on your own and come up with something for your players.
Mike Mearls had a better explanation, or at least hinted it strongly. Think of a bipolar disorder. Material plane is normal, Feywild is manic, Shadowfell is depression.
I tend to homebrew the Shadowfell a lot. I dunno, I feel like it's not a proper counterpart to the Feywilds most of the time. Where the Feywilds are energetic and surreal, I tend to make the Shadowfell peaceful and realistic. It's a pretty quiet plane and there isn't really an unbalance between the good and evil people and gods there.
Jorphdan no thank you :3 about to start introducing different planes to my players w/ my own homebrew so these videos are great as a base to build from 🥰🥰
the shadar-kai are actually not humans corrupted by the shadowfell, but are like the dark reflection of the Eladrin. they are a subrace of elves. the raven queen has also been expanded upon in the new tome of foes book. it doesnt matter if the raven queen is not part of the forgotten realms as i do believe the shadowfell is also not a part of the forgotten realms, being its own plane. she exists in the shadowfell in a similar position of power as an arch-fey would be in the feywild. if im wrong, id like to hear corrections, but that is how i understand it all currently.
There is more than one Shadowfell. The Shadowfell of the Raven Queen is a separate plane from the Shadowfell of Shar, since the two Shadowfells are reflections of their respective Crystal Sphere worlds.
great video (as always...), it was super intresting and both the shadowfell and the feywild seem like such intresting settings ands places for campaigns. What kind of books you said are taking part in the shadowfell?
The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond has tons of information on the Shadowfell. www.drivethrurpg.com/product/148010/The-Shadowfell-Gloomwrought-and-Beyond-4e?term=shadowfell&test_epoch=0 If you were asking about novels I'm not sure which Forgotten Realms novels take place there.
Shadar-kai are not humans changed by shadowfells energies, they are elves that fallowed their queen to it after she was reformed into a raven queen in shadow fell.
So I’m running a campaign in pathfinder and one of my players is a fetchling who has no memory of her past. Any interesting plot hooks that I can use to get them to go into the shadowfell to find out?
Hey Jorphan? Query? From what I remember, I thought the Shadar-Kai are Elves. They got banished or something to the Shadowfell along with their leader, who is now known as the Raven Queen. They're not humans. The Netherese who escaped the destruction of Nethril would be an example of Shades (look them up in the 3.5e Races of Fae'Run), or, humans reshaped by the Shadowfell are Shades, if I am not mistaken? Maybe I am? But from what I remember from lore videos from you, MrRhexx and AJ Pickett, I do believe the Shadar-Kai are Elves, not humans. I think.. Did I mix something up? I know the lore between 4e and 5e is screwy, but I thought this bit was clearer cut? Confusion. Gods damned shadow crap... one moment you think you get it, and just like a shadow person, its there, and then its gone. Understanding this place is as elusive as the light there...
4th edition lore they were humans! But yes with 5e and mordenkainen's tomb of does they changed them to elves. WOTC wanted eladrin and a dark version so they converted the shadar-kai. This video was made before that lore came out. Good catch 🙂
