Creating a Domain of Dread - Homebrew
Last week we began the unholy month of Halloween (October for you normies out there) - and now it is time to continue our most spooky of months. We went over expanded creation rules for Darklords, so now is the time to look at creating a Domain of Dread for our evil and super dark edgelords to hang out in. While the charts below tell you to roll, that is only an option. If you have a Darklord in mind, with a specific theme, pick the options that best match the theme. It doesn’t make sense to roll on every chart and have an aboleth in an abandoned, haunted circus (unless it does!).
Domains of Dread
At the center of every domain is the Darklord who controls it. This is a prison, but one that the Dark Powers made for the Darklord. It gives the illusion of ultimate control to the Darklord, but it is also a mockery. Strahd may rule over the domain of Ravenloft, but it still mocks him. He conquered the lands, he conquered the people, but it is a lifeless land that brings him no joy. The people are soulless mockeries of the living.
Those who do venture into a Domain of Dread rarely do so of their own volition. There are a few travelers, with reasons beyond comprehension, who may visit these forlorn locations, but on the whole - it is the mists and domains themselves that drag victims into them. Perhaps a lonely road with a creeping mist drives creatures into the domain, the Darklord’s desire for new playthings traps travelers, or the travelers commit a horrific evil act that mirrors the acts of the Darklord–giving the travelers a taste of their own evil.
Escaping a domain has even fewer options to leave than it does to arrive. Some say escape is even impossible, for once the domain has imprinted on you, it will always claw you back, either in life or death.
Entering and Leaving the Domain
Not all who enter a domain can freely leave it. A domain’s borders can open and close at the whim of the Darklord, meaning that if your bard attracts their attention, the Darklord can ensure that the bard can never leave while everyone else in the party can (and should). These borders often take on aspects of the Darklord, but could also be natural terrain that suddenly cuts off any escape from the domain. The ultimate thing is that they can not be passed through except by dealing with the Darklord, either by completing a quest for them or defeating them (maybe causing the domain to dissipate either briefly or permanently).
These borders should be thematic, providing clues to the players of what they can expect in the domain.
1d12 | Domain Borders
1 | Thick, billowing mists of a metallic sheen (roll 1d4: 1. copper, 2. silver, 3. gold, 4. platinum)
2 | A wall of skulls that clatter like an avalanche when a creature passes through them.
3 | An illusory wall of screaming faces, tormented souls, twisted ghosts, and the onlooker’s deepest fears.
4 | Ephemeral music that evokes the theme of the domain (roll 1d4: 1. maddening whispers that drive creatures away, 2. charming music causes creatures to return, 3. haunting music frightens creatures away, 4. howling winds that strip all thoughts from a creature’s mind).
5 | A massive, impenetrable forest of blackened trees that allow no light to touch the forest floor.
6 | A swiftly flowing river of black waters (roll 1d4: 1. any liquids that cross the river turn to poison, 2. the waters cause creatures to forget and is branching path of the River Stix, 3. unholy water that strengthens undead, 4. the water is actually a viscous slime)
7 | An army of skeletons appear along the border that attack in an endless waves any who try to enter or leave against the Darklord’s wishes (travelers are allowed to pass by the skeletons unless they have been banished before).
8 | A wall of elemental magic blocks all travel and is impenetrable except by powerful magic (roll 1d4: 1. earth, 2. fire, 3. ice, 4. water).
9 | Any who attempt to pass the borders become magically frightened (no save allowed) and must flee to the center of the domain. Creatures who are immune to the frightened condition can pass freely, but if they are immune due to a spell, the spell immediately ends and they become frightened.
10 | A barrier of complete and total blackness that drains all life and emotion from any creature that touches it.
11 | An endless expanse of ocean cuts off all who wish attempt to flee.
12 | The Darklord has no control over the borders and, instead, relies on its servants to patrol the borders closely.
The Land
Every domain within the Domain of Dreads is an abysmal place to live. Dark forests line rough-trodden roads that lead to villages slowly collapsing in on themselves. If there is any spot of light in the land, it is hiding a very dark and dangerous secret indeed. When designing your domain, think of what features you want your players to interact with and roll on the chart below.
If you want an expansive domain, roll on the chart 1d4+1 times. Duplicate results mean that the locations are incredibly wide-ranging, there are multiples, or that the terrain feature is an extreme of its kind, like the highest mountain or it is made up of an endless forest with no end.
1d12 | Terrain Features
1 | Dark and twisted forests line rough roads that hold dire beasts and cruel creatures.
2 | Sweeping mountains with a bitter cold that cuts through the warmest of clothes and spells. Blue-black ice is on every ledge and road, and falling from the mountains is a constant fear that every traveler must contend with.
3 | A single, massive castle that holds secret floors that can only be accessed at night, during a full moon, or some other event.
4 | A bubbling swamp that rots anything exposed to the much for an increased time, like metal armor, leather, boots, and others. All residents of the domain utilize ramshackle boats to ferry across the waters and live in bargetowns that are constantly decaying into the muck-waters.
5 | Ancient battlefields lay scattered across the land, with the dead routinely rising up and reliving the final battles that took their lives.
6 | A coastal domain that lays against a black sea filled with grotesque aberrant monsters that routinely attack residents of the port cities, dragging them into the ocean waters, never to be seen again.
7 | Large farmlands filled with sentient plants that hunt down the residents.
8 | Rifts filled with an inner fire dot the land, like an immense monster tore through the rock to reveal a molten layer far below.
9 | Floating motes of earth fill the sky, some of the largest are taken over by villages for the surface of the domain is filled with grotesque monstrosities.
10 | Uninhabitable wilderness fill an edge of the domain, while the rest of the land is decaying plains that have little nutrition for farms.
11 | A hilly domain, with caverns and tunnels dotting the hills, creating a subterranean network where vile monsters reside in.
12 | Located along the Sea of Sorrows, this coastal land is filled with sheer cliffs that overlook the sea, providing almost no way to safely reach the sea. Villages cling to the cliffs, but sometimes collapse down into the dark waves.
Points of Interest
Every domain needs places of interest to travel to and investigate. Roll 2d4 to determine how many points of interest are in your domain. In addition to those points of interest, you also have the Darklord’s lair, typically found at the center of the domain.
1d20 | Points of Interest
1 | The domain borders a desert of black sand.
2 | An intricate sewer is below a large city.
3 | 1d4 Large towns in the domain.
4 | Untamed lands with no major settlements, only crude huts.
5 | An immense statue that has crumbled away, perhaps bares a passing resemblance to a member of the party, an ancient hero, or the Darklord of the domain.
6 | Large, ice-capped mountains with ancient mysteries under the ice.
7 | A river of black water that bisects the domain.
8 | Sweeping farmland.
9 | An old, abandoned castle filled with the souls of it’s righteous warriors.
10 | A forest of trees that are constantly moving.
11 | A single, large lake fills the center of the domain.
12 | The domain is located along the Sea of Sorrows (1d4-1 islands are within the domain).
13 | An immense bridge that spans the landscape, it doesn’t cross over rivers and the only way to get on it is to climb one of the massive columns that support it.
14 | An ancient temple to an unknown deity.
15 | A series of dark, interconnected caves.
16 | A bog where witches or hags reside within.
17 | A large, walled city heavily fortified against attack.
18 | Homes built into hills, forming a small village.
19 | Fortress in ruins at the bottom of a valley.
20 | A lone castle on a high cliff.
The People
A land and domain is nothing without the people. These people are more than just the inhabitants, but also the fodder for the Darklord. Some Darklords may enjoy tormenting them, while others may see them as an ever-present nuisance that is constantly thwarting their plans. You can either roll once, and these people are found everywhere in your domain, or roll once for each terrain that you have in the domain.
1d12 | People
1 | Humanoids (roll 1d4: 1. thousands, 2. hundreds, 3. dozens, 4. solitary); mostly human or whatever race the Darklord is
2 | Largely fey (roll 1d4: 1. hostile, 2. unfriendly, 3. indifferent, 4. friendly) including redcaps, twisted dryads, and others.
3 | Were-creatures (roll 1d6: 1. werebear, 2. wereboar, 3. wererat, 4. wereraven, 5. weretiger, 6. werewolf)
4 | Sentient undead creatures
5 | Minor demons that are forced to serve the Darklord
6 | Evil and malicious plants
7 | A celestial (roll 1d4: 1. twisted by the darkness, 2. on a holy crusade, 3. suffering from amnesia, 4. attempting to seek redemption)
8 | Intelligent beasts (roll 1d4: 1. hostile, 2. unfriendly, 3. indifferent, 4. friendly)
9 | Mindless hordes of undead creatures
10 | Created creatures made by someone attempting to craft life
11 | Lost travelers of the Domains of Dread slowly accumulating
12 | Soulless humanoids incapable of strong emotions
Servants of the Darklord
While a Darklord is a powerful entity, they are not all-seeing. To that end, they rely on their servants to help them keep track of the events happening in their domain. Most often, a Darklord has a way of communicating with the servants, even if that servant couldn’t ordinarily communicate.
1d12 | Servant
1 | Birds of prey
2 | Wolves
3 | Plant spirits
4 | Humanoid spies
5 | Griffons
6 | Minor fiends
7 | Bats
8 | Psionic connection to living creatures
9 | Any creature afflicted with a disease from the domain
10 | Charmed humanoids
11 | A single servant
12 | Gravemote spirits
Secret Societies
In every domain, a Darklord stands opposed by a group. While the Darklord has mostly destroyed all of its enemies, they can’t get everyone. Especially ones that have successfully hidden themselves in secret. Roll once on the chart below.
1d10 | Secret Society
1 | They are working to free the Darklord, but the Darklord despises the simpering fools and kills a ‘worshiper’ whenever they are seen. They are hoping that if they can help the Darklord escape, that they will be rewarded with eldritch power.
2 | A band of good-aligned were-creatures are seeking holy relics to destroy the Darklord.
3 | A single monster hunter has stumbled into the domain and is looking for the means to destroy the Darklord.
4 | A rival to the Darklord, runs the risk of becoming a new Darklord and forming a new Domain of Dread around themselves. Wnats to see themselves rule the domain instead.
5 | A cabal of wizards who are seeking ways of harnessing the power of the domain for their own ends.
6 | A group of regular humanoids trying to create change in their domain.
7 | The Dark Powers themselves who are worried that the Darklord may free themselves through remorse and good deeds.
8 | Servants of the Darklord who have created a false secret society in order to find people who oppose the Darklord so that they can be destroyed from within.
9 | The failed creations of the Darklord who have been discarded.
10 | A traveling group of paladins who believe it is their holy task to destroy all Domains of Dread.
Dragging it into the Domains of Dread
After rolling for each of these, you have the basics of your Domain of Dread. It is now up to you to fill in the blanks, add in details, and be sure to create your Darklord!
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