Masque of the Red Death
Masque of the Red Death is a Gothic Horror Gaslamp Fantasy campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons, with official releases for both Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition.
A spin-off to Ravenloft, Masque of the Red Death (named after Edgar Allan Poe's short story of the same name) basically is what you get if somebody at TSR goes "Okay, Ravenloft is pretty Gothic Horror, but how can we turn it up to eleven? I know, let's put the PCs in a world that's our own Earth in 1890, but monsters and evil magic are real!"
The basic story is that, on "Gothic Earth", a malevolent and corruptive entity called the Red Death, hinted as being akin to the Dark Powers of Ravenloft, has been messing around and fouling up the world for centuries, trying to plunge it into eternal (spiritual) darkness. Your players are brave, bold Victorian souls who dare to seek out that which is going "bump" in the night.
It was never very popular, but it did get both three adventures in Dungeon Magazine, a few Dragon Magazine expansion articles, and an official Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition update.
Dragon/Dungeon Support
- Dragon #215 - Donning a New Masque - new kits
- Dragon #236 - Mystics, Miracles and Meditations - new kits
- Dragon #240 - Mysterious Cities - brief blurbs about eleven cities, with both mundane and mystical goings-on
- Dragon #245 - Seeds of Evil - more history about Gothic Earth and a new monster
- Dragon Annual #2 - Villains of Gothic Earth - eight unique villains, each based off a monster
- Dungeon #61 - Jigsaw - a flesh golem runs amok in Switzerland
- Dungeon #67 - Fall's Run - the players encounter the occult when their train is forced to stop for the night in Fall's Run
- Dungeon #71 - Dark Magic in New Orleans - a murder mystery with Marie Laveau
| Dungeons & Dragons Campaign Settings | |
|---|---|
| Basic D&D | Mystara (Blackmoor) • Pelinore • Red Sonja |
| AD&D | Birthright • Council of Wyrms • Dark Sun • Diablo • Dragonlance • Forgotten Realms (Al-Qadim • The Horde • Icewind Dale • Kara-Tur • Malatra • Maztica) • Greyhawk • Jakandor • Mystara (Hollow World • Red Steel • Savage Coast) • Planescape • Ravenloft (Masque of the Red Death) • Spelljammer |
| 3rd/3.5 Edition | Blackmoor • Diablo • Dragonlance • Dragon Fist • Eberron • Forgotten Realms • Ghostwalk • Greyhawk (Sundered Empire) • Ravenloft (Masque of the Red Death) • Rokugan |
| 4th Edition | Blackmoor • Dark Sun • Eberron • Forgotten Realms • Nentir Vale |
| 5th Edition | Dragonlance • Eberron • Exandria • Forgotten Realms • Greyhawk • Ravenloft • Ravnica • Theros • Spelljammer • Strixhaven • Radiant Citadel |