The Land of Mists is home to dozens of distinct cultures, forming a patchwork of widely varying levels of technological advancement. Just as Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker's Dracula journeys from a modern Victorian London to a Transylvania still chained by medieval fears, those who travel through the Realm of Dread can wander between lands of enlightenment and domains that progress doesn't touch.

As reflections of their darklord, the cultures found in each domain often resemble those of the darklord's homeland. Domains created for native evildoers expand the range of Ravenloft's native cultures and languages. Domains created for outlanders are often grim reflections of cultures found in distant worlds and may thus be unusually primitive or may draw new forms of knowledge into the Land of Mists.

In Ravenloft, these disparate degrees of technological and cultural progress are expressed as Culture Levels (CL). Culture Levels determine the availability of given types of equipment or learning, and the DM can use them as a guideline when adding detail to Ravenloft's societies.

Culture Levels are intended to be a starting point for creating atmosphere, not a rigorously accurate depiction of Earth's past. The Dark Powers sculpt their domains from the romantic dreams and chilling nightmares of countless worlds and often warp the cultures they draw from to suit their own tastes.

Note, the abbreviation B.C. to follow indicated the real world, Before Christ equivalent date, not the Barovian Caldendar, and is included for reference.

CL 0: Savage

Savage domains remain untamed wilderness completely untouched by civilization. No technology can be found in these lands, and the only law in effect is survival of the fittest. Savage domains imply a lack of sentient creatures and are extremely rare in Ravenloft.

CL 1: Stone Age (10,000 BC to 5,000 BC)

Stone Age domains represent the most primitive lands that can still claim to possess true societies. Stone Age peoples have not yet learned to work metal: weapons and tools are crafted from wood, bone, or stone, such as flint and obsidian. Daggers, clubs, slings, and spears are the most common weapons, with the shortbow representing the most advanced weaponry to be found. Stone Age peoples tan hides to create clothing and can create leather armor.

Life in such a primitive society is dictated by the daily demands of survival. Societies usually exist as small, seminomadic tribes, usually able to support no more than a score of people. These tribes hunt game or gather edible plants for food, though some may possess domesticated animals or limited agricultural skills. The ability to make fire is considered invaluable.

Settlements usually take the form of natural caves or collections of hide tents. Lush lands may boast small villages built from adobe bricks. Stone Age communities trade exclusively through barter; an adventurer's coins or gems would be valued only for their decorative worth.

The Stone Age Mind is ruled by superstition; every natural event is given a mystical explanation. These primitive peoples have not yet developed any concept of science or written language, nor have they mastered the arts of magic. Divine spellcasters are typically nature clerics or druids, while arcane magic is found only in the natural talents of sorcerers.

The goblins that roam the wilds of Ravenloft can be considered a Stone Age society. Although these creatures often wield metal weapons, very few understand metallurgy. Goblins typically steal their metal weapons and tools from the isolated farmsteads they prey on.

CL 2: Bronze Age (5,000 BC to 2,500 BC)

With advances in agriculture, the land can now support large, permanent communities, in turn allowing true civilization to take root. Bronze Age societies are defined by the discovery of metalworking. Bronze weapons and tools begin to replace their crude stone or wood equivalents. Studded leather becomes the most advanced armor available. As people learn to weave cloth, including cotton and silk, padded armor also appears.

Bronze Age societies possess pictographic written languages and often keep important records on clay tablets or scrolls made of crude forms of paper or they inscribe them in stone. Growing seasons are recorded each year, leading to the creation of early calendars. Other new discoveries include fixed measurements and an often-sophisticated knowledge of mathematics, architecture, astronomy, and herbal medicine. New inventions include the potter's wheel, pulleys, levers, the plow, and may include the wheel. Gems and works of art crafted from precious metals become prized symbols of wealth and power, but most trade still relies on barter.

Organized religion appears and quickly dominates society. Bronze Age rulers are often clerics, viewed as the direct emissaries of the deities. Sages unlock sorcerers' arcane powers to become the first wizards, and spellcasters learn to enchant magic items.

Bronze Age people can build stone structures for their cities and temples. The size of these structures often seems to be limited only by the available workforce, and large communities may construct massive monuments capable of outlasting their builders by millennia. These architects may also protect their glorious temples and tombs with secret doors and cunning traps, including hidden pits, swinging blades, and deadfalls. Ironically, Bronze Age societies have yet to invent the lock and key.

CL 3: Iron Age (2,500 BC - 1 BC)

As society continues to advance, metalworkers eventually learn to forge iron, a metal more durable than bronze and capable of holding a finer edge. Armed with more reliable materials, Iron Age domains create new armaments, including the breastplate, the tower shield, and siege engines such as the catapult. Their armies now employ advanced military tactics.

With the Iron Age, early civilization comes into full bloom. Government has started to distinguish itself from the mandates of the deities. Laws are codified, and societies may even experiment with new forms of rule. Ships can now weather limited oceanic travel, and trade becomes more common. Metal coins make their first appearance, as do simple locks.

Written language has been refined from complex hieroglyphics to a simple alphabet, spreading literacy and prompting revolutionary advances in the realms of knowledge. Libraries are built, and writers spread epic tales of adventure or debate philosophical truths. Artisans develop glassmaking. Medicine becomes standardized, often based on the theory of four "humours" regulating health. The sundial and the hourglass allow for more accurate measurement of time.

Iron Age communities are noteworthy for their ability to reshape the surrounding terrain to meet their needs. Iron Age science can create water screws, canals, sewers, and aqueducts to irrigate fields or supply running water to the palaces of the elite, and windmills are built to draw power from the sky itself.

CL 4: Classical (1 AD - 500 AD)

Classical societies represent the apex of early civilization; some have even begun to slide into decadence. Classical domains continue advances in scientific knowledge, philosophy, and theology. Mathematicians refine algebra and geometry, and spellcasters lay the foundations of alchemy. With the invention of paper, durable, bound books start to replace scrolls, though these books must still be scribed by hand. High-quality roads promote increased travel, and the invention of the stirrup and trousers aids horsemen, creating the first true cavalry.

CL 5: Dark Age (500 AD - 800 AD)

Dark Age societies often reform in the wake of the slow collapse of a classical culture. The era even takes its name from the widespread belief that the light of civilization has been extinguished. Despite their backward reputation, Dark Age domains still produce many scientific advances. Monastic orders form, dedicated tot he preservation of knowledge or contemplation of the soul. The invention of the astrolabe and advances in shipbuilding produce the first reliable ocean travel.

Large farms, kept fertile through crop rotation, can now supply grain to mechanical mills, sustaining large populations. In these communities, artisans jealously guard the secrets of creating porcelain, and tea is often drunk for is medicinal qualities.

Warfare also advances, most notably with the invention of the crossbow and sturdy new forms of armor, including banded mail, scale mail, and splint mail. Magic also advances as arcane spellcasters refine their theories of the elemental planes.

CL 6: Early Medieval (800 AD - 1,200 AD)

Early Medieval architecture heralds the appearance of the pointed Gothic arch, an improvement over the curved arches in use since the late Iron Age. Early Medieval domains are marked by the construction of motte-and-bailey castles, fortified towers, and large cathedrals decorated with masterful stained glass windows.

The first merchant guilds appear in larger communities; a few may even go so far as to offer insurance plans against losses caused by fire or plague. Healers begin to explore surgical techniques of treatment, and bards form colleges to organize their traditions. Travelers discover the magnetic compass, and ships gain the stern rudder. Water clocks keep accurate track of time, and warriors use chain mail and the lance.

CL: 7: Medieval (1,200 AD - 1,400 AD)

The Medieval era can be considered the default Culture Level presented in D&D. The era is also notable for the appearance of ornate Gothic cathedrals and castles, the structures that would one day lend the Gothic genre its name. The longbow now dominates warfare, matched by mounted knights protected by half-plate armor and heavy barding.

Doctors establish the first medical schools, and surgeons dissect bodies to further their knowledge. Block printing can free scribes from the chore of copying every book by hand, but engraving the wooden blocks for printing remains a laborious process. Advances in glassblowing and the study of optics create eyeglasses and mirrors and put glass panes in the windows of every manor. The first huge mechanical clocks appear in cities, and the invention of the spinning wheel sparks new textile industries.

CL 8: Chivalric (1,400 AD - 1,550 AD)

Chivalric domains host the first appearance of gunpowder, though weapons using powder are usually restricted to large, crude bombards. Warriors can now wield bastard swords and fit themselves out in full-plate armor, but the tradition of the armored knight is coming to an end, overshadowed by the spreading use of muskets and lighter weapons such as the saber.

Engineers refine mechanical clocks, making them small enough to appear in the homes of the wealthy. doctors now understand medicine well enough to order quarantines to control plagues, while governments start to keep careful records of births, marriages, and deaths within their domains.

CL 9: Renaissance (1,550 AD - 1,700 AD)

Renaissance domains represent the most advanced cultures to be found within the Land of Mists, though it seems likely that future centuries will bring further eras of discovery. Firearms and fencing now dominate warfare, and heavy weapons and armor are considered antiquated. The inhabitants of these domains typically view anyone seen wearing heavy armor as a backward brute obviously looking for a fight. Castles have also fallen out of favor, and those built in earlier eras are often renovated into more comfortable palaces.

The invention of the moveable type printing press creates an immediate revolution in the realms of art and knowledge. Jaded intellectuals meet in salons, and theater witnesses the first ballets and operas. Early newspapers may even appear in a few wealthy communities - typically in the form of double-sided handbills. Caravels now ply the seas, spreading trade and hunting whales for their oil and blubber. Travelers now ride on coach lines that make regular trips between large towns.

Renaissance domains often feature such dizzying scientific advancements that their inhabitants believe that science is slowly and inexorably replacing magic in the world. Clockworks are sophisticated enough to fit in a noble's pocket, and metal ore can be purified in blast furnaces. Cumbersome machines can knit wool or add figures, while further discoveries in optics produce the microscope and the principles of the camera obscura. The current century has also seen the appearance of the first crude steam engines. Even the most jaded denizens of Renaissance domains marvel at the handful of paddleboats that now chug along Ravenloft's rivers.