Thrilling Tales Pulp meets Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Horror
Karl Green
First Post
GMSkarka said:
Excellent... not a big PDF fan but I will probably get these
Last year I ran a 3.5 conversion of the original I6 that I had found here on enworld using D20 Past and D20 Modern. Mechanics wise the biggest problem was certain spots just needed magic and I had to respond with certain ad hoc solutions. Fortunately I had given the PCs some items and charms via the Gypsies/Vistani that would simply do what ever I needed them to - sort of Schrodingers magic items as it were.
I also did away with the lethal choking effects of the mists, replacing them with more mundane but fatal accidents such as hypothermia and falling off of cliffs.
For background the PC's were all anti Nazi agents sent to a remote valley on the Chzekslovakian/Austrian border. The valley's status had been left up in the air at the end of WWI and it would become apart of whichever country the local ruler chose. Unfortunately he had never chosen and with Nazi Germany's anexation of Austria imminent there was a collective push by outside interests to tip the rulers opinion away from Hitler.
Skeletons and Zombies were played up too as the moldy remains of soldiers of the Great War began showing up. It was amazing at how well the module bridged the genre switch.
I also did away with the lethal choking effects of the mists, replacing them with more mundane but fatal accidents such as hypothermia and falling off of cliffs.
For background the PC's were all anti Nazi agents sent to a remote valley on the Chzekslovakian/Austrian border. The valley's status had been left up in the air at the end of WWI and it would become apart of whichever country the local ruler chose. Unfortunately he had never chosen and with Nazi Germany's anexation of Austria imminent there was a collective push by outside interests to tip the rulers opinion away from Hitler.
Skeletons and Zombies were played up too as the moldy remains of soldiers of the Great War began showing up. It was amazing at how well the module bridged the genre switch.
Jaerdaph, you took the words right out of my mouth. Ever since I heard of the new Ravenloft adventure my players knew I would be runningit but I knew that there must be a twist...at first i thought about using the adv in L5R...CoC was too obvious, Iron Heroes wouldn't fit, Conan either...Grim and Gritty? no....and my players dislike modern games (that is games set inthe current decade or immediate past/future). So that leave the Pulp genre, in particular the horror pulp genre using the D20 Modern rulesset set in the nineteen-teens.
What advanced classes are you looking to use? How are you getting your PCs to Barovia ( a Fictional Balkan feifdom if I ever heard of one). What FX changes? What levels of PCs? What resources should I look at at PRGnow?
My current ideas are to leave the adventure largely unchanged and merely require that atleast one character have a level in Charismatic and another in Smart. I am debating whether the characters will know one another, will be there on assignment together or merely all coincidentally be in Barovia at the same time.
What advanced classes are you looking to use? How are you getting your PCs to Barovia ( a Fictional Balkan feifdom if I ever heard of one). What FX changes? What levels of PCs? What resources should I look at at PRGnow?
My current ideas are to leave the adventure largely unchanged and merely require that atleast one character have a level in Charismatic and another in Smart. I am debating whether the characters will know one another, will be there on assignment together or merely all coincidentally be in Barovia at the same time.
WmRAllen67
First Post
jaerdaph said:
I just had a flashback to the 1979 movie "Love at First Bite", when the Soviets nationalized Dracula's Castle...
"In three days the Woman's Gymnastic Team will be arriving with vaulting horse, balance beam and Nadia Comaneche. Either you spend the rest of your life in an efficiency apartment with seven dissidents and one toilet, or you gather your aristocratic
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
together and split!"Alrighty, The Zombie infestation does not sit right with my expectations of D20 modern game ( Maybe arcana but not a lower magic game such as my own) so they will be replaced by a Creeping madness much as we saw in the film "28 Days" that will turn its victims into zombies. Baba Zellana ( the Hags ) will exist and be the rumoured witch cult that attracts one of the PCs (a doctoral student heading to the clergy) to the area. The Lycanthropes are still around and have attracted the interest of a PC Cossack big game hunter.
The Vampire's ability to drain levels by touch will be eliminated and will probably be replaced with a touch attack that induces nausea that eventually results in prolonged weakness...basically Influenza.
The town will be made larger and a Mad Scientist will be developed; though whether he is Strahd's ally or not remains to be determined.
To prevent this from becoming a "monster hunt" the party is limited to one Military/law enforcement background.
I am thinking that the level of participating PCs must be bumped up for them to stand a chance. And what should be done with the Sun Sword? Should it be kept as a throwback to an earlier time period or be replaced with a more modern source of Anti-Strahd power?
The Vampire's ability to drain levels by touch will be eliminated and will probably be replaced with a touch attack that induces nausea that eventually results in prolonged weakness...basically Influenza.
The town will be made larger and a Mad Scientist will be developed; though whether he is Strahd's ally or not remains to be determined.
To prevent this from becoming a "monster hunt" the party is limited to one Military/law enforcement background.
I am thinking that the level of participating PCs must be bumped up for them to stand a chance. And what should be done with the Sun Sword? Should it be kept as a throwback to an earlier time period or be replaced with a more modern source of Anti-Strahd power?
jaerdaph
#UkraineStrong
Sorry I disapeared from this thread, guys.
I really like adwyn's idea of the zombies being WWI German soldiers. The motivation for having the Nazis in Barovia is a good one that makes historical sense. I'm also thinking of adding a Gestapo/Thule Society NPC that is looking to recover the Sunsword, the Tome of Strahd and the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind for the Third Reich's own nefarious purposes. (so yeah, keep 'em as a throwback to an ancient time).
As for getting the NPCs to Barovia, I'm thinking of having the meet on the Orient Express and becoming trapped for some reason for the night.
I think I'll allow any Thrilling Tales AdC that isn't "over the top" - no Rocket Rangers or Paragons, but everything else is fair game. The Idle Rich and Scoundrel AdCs from the d20 Modern conversion of Forbidden Kingdoms would fit nicely too. I also picked up Adamant's Imperial Age Monster Hunter AdC, and that would be perfect for a Van Helsing type of PC.
I think there is great potential for some sort of conflict between the Nazis and the gypsies, but I'm not sure what that would be yet.
I think the PCs (and major new NPCs, like the Nazi Gestapo agent) will have to be statted out to match up with Strahd. (maybe even pre-generated archetypes? - this will probably be a one-shot anyway, like a late night horror movie).
I really like adwyn's idea of the zombies being WWI German soldiers. The motivation for having the Nazis in Barovia is a good one that makes historical sense. I'm also thinking of adding a Gestapo/Thule Society NPC that is looking to recover the Sunsword, the Tome of Strahd and the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind for the Third Reich's own nefarious purposes. (so yeah, keep 'em as a throwback to an ancient time).
As for getting the NPCs to Barovia, I'm thinking of having the meet on the Orient Express and becoming trapped for some reason for the night.
I think I'll allow any Thrilling Tales AdC that isn't "over the top" - no Rocket Rangers or Paragons, but everything else is fair game. The Idle Rich and Scoundrel AdCs from the d20 Modern conversion of Forbidden Kingdoms would fit nicely too. I also picked up Adamant's Imperial Age Monster Hunter AdC, and that would be perfect for a Van Helsing type of PC.
I think there is great potential for some sort of conflict between the Nazis and the gypsies, but I'm not sure what that would be yet.
I think the PCs (and major new NPCs, like the Nazi Gestapo agent) will have to be statted out to match up with Strahd. (maybe even pre-generated archetypes? - this will probably be a one-shot anyway, like a late night horror movie).
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