Monster Summoning in the Demiplane of Dread
ccording to Domains of Dread, a monster summoning spell can summon “only monsters native to the region in which it is cast.” Ordinarily, a DM would simply roll on the appropriate random encounter table to determine what type of monsters appears. Most Ravenloft DM’s don’t keep such tables handy. Not only are random encounters frowned upon in the setting, but native monsters can differ sharply from domain to domain.
Nonetheless, DM’s have an unshakable infatuation with tables. In that spirit, the Lonesome Road offers monster summoning tables for use in Ravenloft. All the domains have listings on each spell page. When a PC casts a monster summoning spell, consult the appropriate spell and domain. Roll the listed die, and the result determines what monsters appear. The sources where the monsters can be found are listed. The bulk of the creatures used in these tables are derived from Monstrous Manual and the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices, although more exotic domains may include creatures from other sources.
Special Considerations
I’ve left some domains completely out of the tables. Some, such as the House of Lament, L'ile de la Tempete and Shadowborn Manor, are so small that monster summoning could reasonably summon creatures from surrounding domains. Since this technically violates the restrictions from Domains of Dread, another option is to simply have the spell fail in such tiny domains. Other domains, such as Davion, the Nightmare Lands and Scaena, have such mutable realities that it is questionable whether monster summoning would function properly at all. At any rate, the omission of these domains is regrettable, but including them would necessitate complex mechanics beyond the scope of these simple tables.
One final consideration is that summoned creatures that would normally be under the control of the domain’s lord remain under their control. These monsters are indicated by an asterik (*). I also included monsters in every domain which seem to be directly spawned by the Mists themselves, such as mist horrors and mist ferrymen. These are similarly marked, and the DM may wish to make such creatures beyond the players’ control as well.
Monster Summoning I
Monster Summoning II
Monster Summoning III
Monster Summoning IV
Monster Summoning V
Monster Summoning VI
Monster Summoning VII