Expedition to Castle Ravenloft

[Melhaic]

I'm thinking of running the 3.5 in my Pathfinder game. Any advice, opinions or random comments. It doesn't seem to deviate much from the original (other than adding stuff; I have both), but any input would be useful. The encounter format seems bizarre, but workable: I'm not really sure, as I don't run published adventures much. Thank for the help.

 

[Lancelot]

Some random comments, although it was a long time ago when I ran it (before 4e was released):

Mechanical Comments

• There is at least one creature that is named, but not described in any way, in the module (no flavor text, no picture). We'll call it the Aspect of "C". It's not found in any other source either, to my knowledge. It'd probably be worth coming up with your own home-grown description of what it looks like, before the PCs encounter it. Or better yet, replace it with something more appropriate to your own setting.
• Party balance is key. If there are a lot of clerics/paladins/etc, they're going to have a heck of an easier time of it than a party of rogues. Adjust encounters accordingly.
• Don't rush it (assuming you plan on running this as a mini-campaign). You can go quite a few sessions without even getting near the Castle itself, and you should provide some useful reasons for multiple visits back to the castle. Maybe the party liberates some prisoners on their first visit, who need to be escorted back to the village. Maybe the party needs to rest to regain spells (...resting in the castle should be treated as a bad mistake; at least some of the denizens should start hunting the PCs if they just try to bed down for the night in the catacombs).
• This helps break up the feel of a monstrous dungeon crawl in the castle itself. It can get a bit draining after a while, especially given 3e combats (yes, and 4e) are a lot longer than the classic 1e version.

Story Comments

• Play up the Strahd interactions as much as possible, from an early stage. We had a memorable event when one of the PCs (I intentionally picked the least trustworthy PC) received a personal invite by letter to talk to the Count as soon as they arrived in Barovia, with a sworn promise of safe passage. He went along and had a pleasant meal with Strahd, who played it entirely on the level. All manner of courtesies, and no attempt to mess with the party. However, I also asked the player to leave the gaming room and described the pleasant dinner in private. When he returned to the table, the other players were immediately paranoid - despite his protestations that nothing happened.
• I used a variation of the above several times more. Quick one-on-one briefings with players who examined items, or read from old books, or who made successful Spot/Listen checks. Nearly every time, it was simply to tell them something trivial and unrelated, but you could cut the fear and suspense with a knife every time they came back to the table. Everyone knows that vampires can use dominate and similar, so everyone suspects the worst.
• If your players are just going to attack Strahd on sight anyway, have him interact by proxy. Leave messages. Use projected images. Have the party come across evidence of his misdeeds, moments after seeing a huge bat fly away into the night.
• Don't roll randomly for goals and suchlike. I know it's traditional for Ravenloft, but it's better to pick and choose what works best for your group (...which is typically the outcomes they expect least). You can still create the illusion of random outcomes by doing draws from a card deck, but simply nod sagely when they draw a card... fake consulting some pages in the book... then go with whatever description/outcome you've alread pre-selected as the DM. Tell the story you think your party (and you) will enjoy most.

 

[Stormonu]

Empty out some of the rooms. Some of the dread in the original was based on never quite knowing what was beyond the next door. Unfortunately, Expedition has something. going. on. beyond. every. door. The suspense gets lost and the characters never let down their guard because they know the next room they go into is going to have some massive fight in it. Strahd's attacks really become more devastating when the characters think they've come into an "empty" room only to get ambushed when they drop their guard.

 

[amerigoV]

Get to know the maps of the castle itself. There is a logic to how you can get to certain levels of the castle. The towers (stairs) access the different levels in different ways. It actually makes some sense from a defensive perspective. The levels themselves make sense based on their original function (not necessarily what is going on now) and it is best to think of it in that capacity. But getting around is not clear-cut.

 

[Mark Hope]

Get to know the maps of the castle itself. There is a logic to how you can get to certain levels of the castle. The towers (stairs) access the different levels in different ways. It actually makes some sense from a defensive perspective. The levels themselves make sense based on their original function (not necessarily what is going on now) and it is best to think of it in that capacity. But getting around is not clear-cut.

This is very true and excellent advice. Back when I played the original, we knew that there was something of importance to us in one of the highest towers (the sunsword, iirc) but we couldn't figure out how to get there. made for some great focus in the game, scouting out routes through the castle solely to gain access to that tower. We were so pleased when we finally reached the place.

 

[M.L. Martin]

Some random comments, although it was a long time ago when I ran it (before 4e was released):

Mechanical Comments

• There is at least one creature that is named, but not described in any way, in the module (no flavor text, no picture). We'll call it the Aspect of "C". It's not found in any other source either, to my knowledge. It'd probably be worth coming up with your own home-grown description of what it looks like, before the PCs encounter it. Or better yet, replace it with something more appropriate to your own setting.

Although it has been beautifully animated. (You'd have to change some of the flavor text around a little to match that portrayal, but IMO, it's worth the effort. )

 

[Puggins]

This is opinion, obviously...

The Authors fell in love with the novelty of including every. single. horror. sub-genre. The original ravenloft was all about high gothic horror, Universal-studios style. In this one, you encounter:

(1) A zombie plague
(2) A Serial Killer right out of some unwritten Thomas Harris novel
(3) Some extra-planar relatives of might Cthulhu
(4) A Frankenstein-esque creation (which ties with #1)
(5) Witches trying to summon a Demon
(6) A Bunch of feral werewolves right out of WoD.

The last three weren't too bad, but the first three were jarring, quite frankly. What the hell is a far realms breach doing in the middle of Castle Ravenloft?

I'd ratchet down some of the non-Gothic elements by taking out some of these subplots (which ties in nicely with one of the above suggestions).

 

[amerigoV]

The statblock for Sasha is a major FUBAR. You will need to fix since she likely will pop up as a spy at some point.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

... and you should provide some useful reasons for multiple visits back to the castle.

If you have a hard time believing Strahd would allow the PCs to conduct hit and run tactics, just have Strahd be off on business elsewhere for the first 1-2 incursions. But when he gets back, he's ready to rumble!

 

[Melhaic]

I really appreciate all of the advice. I had already decided to choose the locations and outcomes from the fortune telling deal. Depopulating rooms is a great idea; it kind of stuck out to me that it wouldn't play out as horror in the castle. More of a drawn out slugfest. I plan on really giving them hell with Viet Cong style hit and run ambushes before they go near the castle. Adding some non-combat meetings w/ Strahd should work out nicely: I think I'll try to establish a disconnectin the players minds between the attacking beast and the count by using the alternate forms.