Lately, I’ve been playing through all of the old Castlevania video games and began seriously considering crafting a homebrew version of original NES game for my next Dungeons & Dragons campaign. As I began thinking about what I’d like to incorporate into a homebrew version of Castlevania, my mind wandered over to the horror-themed D&D campaign setting, Ravenloft.
Most of us are already familiar with the Ravenloft in some capacity. Whether it’s the original adventure module or its sequel (1st Edition), the official campaign setting (2E), the independent D20 system game (3E), the board game (4E) or the Curse of Strahd sourcebook (5E), it’s difficult be into Dungeons & Dragons without possessing at least a passing knowledge of Ravenloft. I like to run Ravenloft each October, as a fun D&D Halloween celebration.
Ravenloft, originally written by Tracy and Lauara Hickman, focused on the machinations of the tyrannical Count Strahd von Zarovich a vampire with an interesting back story and randomly determined motivations. The players end up in the land of Barovia, on a quest to defeat Strahd. There’s a twist here, as the DM draws cards that randomly determine the locations of Strahd, a tome of Strahd and two magical weapons for defeating the vampire.
It’s a scary, fun, stressful module and proved popular enough to spawn a sequel, a book series, a second edition campaign setting and at least three revised versions of the original. Some elements from the original module were incorporated into the 5th edition Curse of Strahd adventure/campaign release, such as the fantastic Tarokka Deck, Strahd’s personality and some of the adventure itself.
What got me thinking about it in the first place was the similarity in the artwork for both titles. Did You Know Gaming made a nice infographic illustrating the difference and admittedly, there’s an eerie resemblance to Ravenloft in the artwork for Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. The “Hmm…this could work” moment came sometimes last year, as I read my copy of Curse of Strahd.
So, how can I use Ravenloft as a basis for my Castlevania homebrew?
To begin with, I’ll need to determine a decent adventure hook. Taking a cue from Ravenloft, I’m planning to use the Tarokka deck and Strahd as a replacement for Dracula. The adventure starts out like the original Ravenloft module. PCs meet in the village of Wallachia and begin tehir quest. The looming specter of Castlevania itself in the distance.
Once the players take the hook, the story will branch off from I want to take the party through the six or so levels of the original game. This requires additional planning; more on that later. Right now, we need to focus on the players.
I considered taking a Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse approach and having the players RP as the primary characters from that game—Vampire Hunter Trevor Belmont (fighter), Sorceress Sypha Belnades (elemental soreceress), Alucard (wizard/fighter) and pirate Grant DaNasty (rogue), going through the locations of the first game. This is one option.
I could let PCs roll up their own characters and take them through the locations of the original Castlevania. Either way, I plan to incorporate original series hero Simon Belmont as a major NPC in the campaign. This part’s easy—EN World’s own D&D Homebrew Master and all around incredible guy, Mike Myler spent some time coming up with an excellent version of Simon Belmont for D&D 5th edition at his RPG Material of Many Genres website.
There’s still extensive prep work to be done, but a Castlevania D&D homebrew sure does sound like fun!
This article was contributed by David J. Buck (Nostalgia Ward) as part of ENWorld's User-Generated Content (UGC) program. We are always on the lookout for freelance columnists! If you have a pitch, please contact us!
Most of us are already familiar with the Ravenloft in some capacity. Whether it’s the original adventure module or its sequel (1st Edition), the official campaign setting (2E), the independent D20 system game (3E), the board game (4E) or the Curse of Strahd sourcebook (5E), it’s difficult be into Dungeons & Dragons without possessing at least a passing knowledge of Ravenloft. I like to run Ravenloft each October, as a fun D&D Halloween celebration.
Ravenloft, originally written by Tracy and Lauara Hickman, focused on the machinations of the tyrannical Count Strahd von Zarovich a vampire with an interesting back story and randomly determined motivations. The players end up in the land of Barovia, on a quest to defeat Strahd. There’s a twist here, as the DM draws cards that randomly determine the locations of Strahd, a tome of Strahd and two magical weapons for defeating the vampire.
It’s a scary, fun, stressful module and proved popular enough to spawn a sequel, a book series, a second edition campaign setting and at least three revised versions of the original. Some elements from the original module were incorporated into the 5th edition Curse of Strahd adventure/campaign release, such as the fantastic Tarokka Deck, Strahd’s personality and some of the adventure itself.
What got me thinking about it in the first place was the similarity in the artwork for both titles. Did You Know Gaming made a nice infographic illustrating the difference and admittedly, there’s an eerie resemblance to Ravenloft in the artwork for Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. The “Hmm…this could work” moment came sometimes last year, as I read my copy of Curse of Strahd.
So, how can I use Ravenloft as a basis for my Castlevania homebrew?
To begin with, I’ll need to determine a decent adventure hook. Taking a cue from Ravenloft, I’m planning to use the Tarokka deck and Strahd as a replacement for Dracula. The adventure starts out like the original Ravenloft module. PCs meet in the village of Wallachia and begin tehir quest. The looming specter of Castlevania itself in the distance.
Once the players take the hook, the story will branch off from I want to take the party through the six or so levels of the original game. This requires additional planning; more on that later. Right now, we need to focus on the players.
I considered taking a Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse approach and having the players RP as the primary characters from that game—Vampire Hunter Trevor Belmont (fighter), Sorceress Sypha Belnades (elemental soreceress), Alucard (wizard/fighter) and pirate Grant DaNasty (rogue), going through the locations of the first game. This is one option.
I could let PCs roll up their own characters and take them through the locations of the original Castlevania. Either way, I plan to incorporate original series hero Simon Belmont as a major NPC in the campaign. This part’s easy—EN World’s own D&D Homebrew Master and all around incredible guy, Mike Myler spent some time coming up with an excellent version of Simon Belmont for D&D 5th edition at his RPG Material of Many Genres website.
There’s still extensive prep work to be done, but a Castlevania D&D homebrew sure does sound like fun!
This article was contributed by David J. Buck (Nostalgia Ward) as part of ENWorld's User-Generated Content (UGC) program. We are always on the lookout for freelance columnists! If you have a pitch, please contact us!
