Now I've moved to Redmond, WA and am preparing a new no-mod Ravenloft campaign. I've read the Campaign Setting, Ravenloft DMG, and SotDR cover to cover, and I had an idea... here goes...
Falkovnia is a warmongering nation (well Vlad is), and Vlad has allied himself with Malloccio. Malloccio is using support from Vlad to fight his mother, and to oppress the Vistani in Invidia and is even sending soldiers as far as Barovia.
Now, Strahd has some kind of support agreement with the Vistani (though I don't know the background on that yet), and Borca, Richemulot, and Dementlieu have an agreement with each other to stand up to Falkovnia. Ivanna has already threatened war if she continues to catch Falkovnian soldiers in Borca.
So the way I see it is this: if everything continues as it is, Borca will go to war with Falkovnia, which will then involve Invidia (Malloccio on Falkovnia's side and Gabrielle on Borca's side most likely) as well as Richemulot and Dementlieu.
It might also be plausible for Barovia to get involved, which I'm sure would then involve Darkon.
Basically, there are the makings for a world war in Ravenloft and it could make for many interesting adventures and activities for the PCs.
So, I'd like some feedback from those of you who are more familiar with Ravenloft and it's politics. Do you think this would be a good idea? Too far-fetched? Too dangerous? Let me know. Thanks!
But you also have to think about how this would fit into your setting. A war isn't really gothic horror, it's a lot of people killing other people. So to make it gothic, you have to invest quite a lot of ideas. It can be done (descriptions of WWI can be more scary than any horror story, for example), but it's not easy.
How do you include your adventurer's? Press them into the army? They won't like that. But if they don't really participate in the war, the war won't really have an impact on them.
An option would be to have the characters try to solve a mystery, find a murderer etc while the war is going on in the background, threatening them all the time, complicating everything and making the PCs question what they can do at all (why solve one murder when tousands are dying at the same time?)
Or you could ahve them travel somewhere and get caught between the fronts. Both sides could use magical mercenaries to really make the war scary, and the players don't try to solve something this time, but just try to get out of there alive. Makes for an interesting change of pace when you're suddenly not the hunter chasing the beast anymore, but the hunted who can only try to get away. And it's always nice to remind the players that no matter what monsters exist, nothing is as horrible as what regular people are able to to to one another when cast into the wrong situation. Giving your adventure such an existentialistc view can really improve it's suspense.
I was planning on having Vlad lose the war, but possibly add a twist to it. He is victorious, but Malloccio annexes the new domain instead of him. Anyway...
I wasn't planning on forcing the PCs into the army. That would make for a (relatively) linear story and certain death for the PCs. I was thinking that it might give them the opportunity to be useful behind the scenes. They could do recon for a darklord, spy, help defend towns from straggling soldiers looking for plunder, who knows. I was thinking of adding a little bit of Vistani prophecy about the war to get them on edge, though I'm not sure of the details yet.
As far as keeping it gothic, there's nothing more gothic than coming back to a town to find it ravaged by war. Just the impalings that Vlad would leave behind would be enough to chill the PC's bones.
Finally, as an overall plot, I was hoping to have some behind the scenes manipulation going on (though I'm not sure exactly how to do this). If you've played Suikoden III you'll know what I'm talking about. I was considering having the unseen manipulator be a darklord from another homecooked domain that I'd like the PCs to end up in eventually.
When I ran FTS/Roots I really enjoyed watching the PCs debate with each other for literally hours after the game about who to support (Strahd, Azalin, or Inajira). Each side had its bonuses and downfalls. I'm hoping for the PCs to become powerful enough where they will need to give aid to one of the darklords and pick a side. But I'd like to make that decision as difficult as possible for them, and make them see the futility of their actions (supporting one darklord may be necessary, but it might destroy everything they've worked for, etc.).