D&D General The goal of your Ravenloft campaign

[Stormonu]

I also want to create a Slime Queen Kingdom where the entire Domain is the Darklord. Essentials the whole Domain is a gigantic mimic blob that can manifests buildings, landscapes and NPCs from its slime body. I’m just trying to imagine why a Slime Queen who can absorb PCs into her body would let them have an adventure too ....

It wants to become them, and it needs time to study them and how they react to certain stimulii. The Slime Queen’s curse is that she can’t hold a form for an extended period of time, and what she learned while in that form quickly slips away, so she has to keep repeating the observing and experimenting until the one day she hopes it “sticks” - or she gets frustrated enough to just absorb them and start over with someone/thing else.

 

[Savage Wombat]

I plan on asking my players - if they show interest in Ravenloft - what kind of campaign they'd like to do. The book has enough ideas for that. Maybe they all want to take Strahd as a patron.

 

[Sithlord]

I’ll be making a kind of catch all horror domain to run adventures in. With the new book being explicit about the nightmare logic of the setting I can actively ignore long-term continuity as part of the setting to unsettle the players. I play a lot of Call of Cthulhu so I will be porting a lot of things in from there. Scenarios, concepts, monsters, tomes, etc.

I do like the idea of a Carnival-based game. The PCs are all picked up and taken in by the Carnival and that’s the impetus for their movements through the Land of Mists. Mostly an episodic thing with a few leads and clues and missions in a town between performances and they’re off to the next town. Isolde’s rules against killing or bringing harm to the Carnival would be a nice...restraint to put on the PCs to see what kind of gameplay we could have without constant combat and killing.

I’m also really tempted to convert Horror on the Orient Express (an amazing if sprawling CoC adventure path) and use Cyre 1313 as the train. Using different Domains and locations from across various D&D settings as stops along the way. I think that would be fun. If anyone tries to leave the train or let the train leave without them, well, that’s what the Mists are for.

If u can convert horror on the orient express into a ravenloft module I would love to see it.

 

[GlassJaw]

The "goal" of my Ravenloft campaign is to plunge the players into the unknown (I didn't tell them beforehand) and then slowly reveal a) where they are, and b) what is happening. It's a massive psychological puzzle.

While Ravenloft is a prison created by the dark powers, I also run it like a simulation, a la Westworld, Truman Show, The Matrix, and the episode "The Royale" from Star Trek: TNG.

The dark powers don't really understand mortal existence, emotions, etc. so they take a "snapshot" of time when bringing a domain into Ravenloft. That timeline then repeats over and over, and the dark lords are cursed to relive their downfall over and over again. Their torment and anguish (as well as the innocent trapped souls) is what "fuels" the dark powers.

But in order to generate new "fuel", they need a catalyst (fresh blood so to speak). Enter the players. The timeline resets when the adventures arrive and sets the events in motion again. When they break the curse or die, the timeline restarts in perpetuity. The question is whether the dark lords or the domain inhabitants know what is happening. I assume that only a very, very select few do, and some may only have suspicions.

The catch is that there are "glitches in the Matrix." As I mentioned, the dark powers are flawed and when a domain is created, they take shortcuts. If they are perceptive, the players will start to notice things are amiss. For example, the dark powers don't understand the concept of food, so the food is basically the same wherever the players go. Some NPCs may repeat themselves verbatim if the players return and talk to them again. This is especially true for the "supporting cast", like shopkeepers, commoners, etc.

There are also some NPCs that are powerful enough to maintain autonomy within Ravenloft (like Van Richten) or some memory of their previous existence that may or may not help the PCs. I also have some NPCs that were technically created by the dark powers but operate outside of their control for whatever reason, kind of like and The Frenchman and The Twins from the The Matrix Reloaded.

 

[Stormonu]

If u can convert horror on the orient express into a ravenloft module I would love to see it.

Alanik Ray pressed his steepled fingers to his lips as he slipped back into the velvet lining of his wheelchair. “Well,” he spoke after a moment, adjusting his glasses, “It’s clear Mr. Havismort’s death was no suicide.” The lights of the rattling train car flickered to life as the train passed into a length of dark tunnel, illuminating Alanik’s gaunt features. “He was murdered.”

”Well, alright,” sneered the silver-plate dressed warrior, Targar, from where he stood beside the chair-bound detective, “By whom?”

”That, I cannot tell you,” Alanik replied, leaning forward, “But I can tell you perhaps why.” He bent downward, running his slim fingers over the inverted pants pocket of the dead man crumpled in the jade passenger’s seat. “It appears someone has stolen something from our departed friend.”

”Any idea what?” The earnest ginger-haired halfling seated across the isle inquired. Targar’s eyebrow momentarily lifted incredulously, but he instead turned his gaze to follow the others as Alanik scratched his smooth chin.

”Based on these bluish stains to the pocket, I surmise it is something brass - and very old,” Alanik surmised.

”Perhaps a pocket watch?” Elon, the blue-dressed enchantress asked helpfully from behind Alanik’s chair.

Alanik did not respond directly as his eyes scrutinized the body once again. His concentration was interrupted as a hand loudly thumped against the glass-windowed door between rail cars. As it slid down the window, it left behind a greasy stain of bluish ichor.

”They’re getting restless again,” Johanne, the cleric of Ezra stated to the others as he arose from the scene. “We should get moving again.”

Alanik leaned back as the others gathered up and Targar drew his blade in readiness. “Perhaps we can ask about this when we reach the Final Car,” he mused.
As the first bodily rush against the outer door resounded through the rail car, the group tensed, and began their withdraw. “Perhaps,” Alanik scowled, taking a moment to ensure his pistol was within reach.

 

[overgeeked]

The "goal" of my Ravenloft campaign is to plunge the players into the unknown (I didn't tell them beforehand)

That's legit one of the worst things you can do, especially with a horror game. Surprise! We're playing horror. Good thing this is explicitly called out in the new book as a terrible idea.

 

[Zaukrie]

That's legit one of the worst things you can do, especially with a horror game. Surprise! We're playing horror. Good thing this is explicitly called out in the new book as a terrible idea.

I'm hoping we don't get into this too much in this thread.... While I agree, there are already threads discussing this....

 

[GlassJaw]

That's legit one of the worst things you can do, especially with a horror game. Surprise! We're playing horror. Good thing this is explicitly called out in the new book as a terrible idea.

Good thing I know my players. They can handle it. And I'd argue it's the absolute BEST thing you can do for horror; horror is fear of the unknown. Heck, the entire concept of The Mists is that it takes those who are unwitting about what is happening to them.

That said, I fully concede it's not something you should do if you are DM'ing for a bunch of randos at the local game store.

 

[Sithlord]

Good thing I know my players. They can handle it. And I'd argue it's the absolute BEST thing you can do for horror; horror is fear of the unknown. Heck, the entire concept of The Mists is that it takes those who are unwitting about what is happening to them.

That said, I fully concede it's not something you should do if you are DM'ing for a bunch of randos at the local game store.

Yes. You would need a consent form in a game store that details every monster and encounter in advance So u don’t accidentally detail a scene that may be traumatic to someone like a murder scene or spiders or mental illness. There are insane asylums in ravenloft. And I don’t think they meet fda standards.

 

[overgeeked]

Good thing I know my players. They can handle it.

It's almost like the writers know the player base.

"The advice here emphasizes structures that work for all players, including those with different tolerances for being scared or who have certain topics that are off-limits for them. Always consider what you can do to make players feel comfortable with your game, even if no one entirely knows how the horror might unfold. Never assume you know your players' deepest fears--no matter how long you've been roleplaying with them."

And I'd argue it's the absolute BEST thing you can do for horror

Then you'd be wrong.

Heck, the entire concept of The Mists is that it takes those who are unwitting about what is happening to them.

The players aren't their characters. The players should consent to playing a horror game even if the characters don't want to be trapped in Ravenloft.