Any good adventures in Ravenloft?

[Kwalish Kid]

I liked Adam's Wrath as well. A little odd in some places, but fun overall.

That reminds me: Adam's Wrath and The Created both have explore the theme of PCs trapped in other bodies. I find it fascinating. I ran both and I found The Created to be a little stronger, though probably because the PCs in Adam's Wrath split up and got themselves a TPK.

 

[Klaus]

I love Feast of Goblyns, Night of the Walking Dead, Children of the Night: Ghosts, Children of the Night: Werebeasts, Howls in the Night (Hound of the Baskerville-esque, but you can choose who is guilty, so it has four different endings) and all 3 adventures from the Masque of the Red Death boxed set (Red Jack, Red Tide and Red Death).

 

[fireinthedust]

Van Richten's Guide to Liches: the first D&D book I ever read. I was thinking up a comic book, someone handed it to me, and here I am today. Suffice it to say, I have higher expectations of liches than monsters in a dungeon crawl.
The other Guides are good, though I recommend Vampires for sure. Ghosts and the Created are also sweet. Fiends was just scary, and I hadn't played D&D demons before, so all that flavour didn't go to waste on "yeah, but that's just a ...". Ravenloft can do that, I guess.
Werecreatures didn't inspire me too much.

Feast of Goblyns: The second adventure I ever played, after Temple of Elemental Evil. Went through it on two occasions and had a load of fun. I guess the plot is a railroad, but only because there are obvious "hey, can you get this to here?/Find this item for me?" NPCs. If you wanted side treks, or the PCs do something else, you're fine to do those. Historically I believe it was pegged as the first scene-based rather than dungeon-based D&D adventure.
I remember it fondly as amazing except two specific points: 1) the dungeon where skeletons swing down on chains by their feet (not manacles, I believe they were hanging by their toes) and stab at the PCs with spears. My group was inebriated for the one and only time, and hilarity ensued. 2) The final scene BBEG; there are loads of scary NPCs, but most of them teleport away the first round, leaving a disappointingly statted BBEG solo. Amazing buildup, but I think my fighter nailed her in one or two rounds (granted, he was munched, but still; my DM should have fixed her, but I doubt he expected her to be that lightweight).


2) Hyskosa scrolls: read through them. Good stuff, but railroady.


Ravenloft sites were often more fun than the adventures. Finding them and using them, I can recommend Feast of Goblyns (the Inn); Castle Ravenloft (a whole castle); various other castles and sites. My then-DM had us appear in various mist-shrouded places, and see things appear out of the mist. Really helpful if you don't have an adventure prep'd and you need to think of something fast.

 

[vazanar]

That reminds me: Adam's Wrath and The Created both have explore the theme of PCs trapped in other bodies. I find it fascinating. I ran both and I found The Created to be a little stronger, though probably because the PCs in Adam's Wrath split up and got themselves a TPK.

Gotta second the fun of Adam's Wrath and body switching combined with fleas of madness. I ran three different groups through the adventure. A roleplaying heavy group is needed for full effect.

 

[Piratecat]

Another vote for Feast of Goblyns. And under no circumstances, ever, should you buy Thoughts of Darkness. It was the first module I ever bought that was wholly unredeemable.

 

[ProfessorPain]

Another vote for Feast of Goblyns. And under no circumstances, ever, should you buy Thoughts of Darkness. It was the first module I ever bought that was wholly unredeemable.

Totally agree. Thoughts of Darkness had some great Fabian art inside, but the adventure itself was terrible. And Goblyns ruled.

 

[ProfessorPain]

Thanks for all the suggestions! (of course, also feel free to keep them coming)

I think a couple of those were released by TSR/Wizards online for free back in the day, so I'll start by taking a look at those over the weekend.

Does anyone have any thoughts about Masque of the Red Death?

First, full disclosure, I was a really Ravenloft Nerd in the 90s. So take what I say with a grain of salt.

Masque of the Red Death was an interesting concept. They basically imported the idea of Ravenloft to the real world during the Victorian Era, minus the dark lords. I can't remember all the specifics, I do know they introduced some new ideas. The system was kind of unusual, because they had to rework second edition to function in the victorian era with guns. The gun mechanics were decent for the time. If you and your players like Victorian Horror, its a good enough game. If anyone isn't feeling it, it probably won't work.

 

[Frostmarrow]

Can't remember the name but the characters wake up in a toymakers workshop in the form of toys! It was a real blast to play. Suspenseful and entertaining.

From Feast of Goblyns I remember with glee how singing the town of Harmonia's anthem to the guards in order to enter was mandatory.

 

[vagabundo]

Can't remember the name but the characters wake up in a toymakers workshop in the form of toys! It was a real blast to play. Suspenseful and entertaining.

The Created (RM2)
"Beware what you wish, for it might come true" is an old Vistani saying. In the small town of Odiare, a toymaker has wished a puppet to life - only this puppet is not a friendly, playful toy. It is a thing of evil, bent upon killing all the adults of Odiare. When the player characters are trapped within this town, Maligno the puppet and his animated toys begin to hunt them down. The PCs' only chance for escape is to defeat the mad marionette."

Ravenloft Modules - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) - Wayne's World of Books - Info & Sources

 

[fireinthedust]

Toys: I believe it was "the created", with the evil jack-in-the-box on the cover. I ran it. Ok module. The puppets are called "Carrionettes". Not a huge fan for re-play, but a one-night module might not be awful.


Goblyns: I don't remember singing the anthem, but the DM had read the Novel set in Harmonia, and since his girlfriend was playing (elven fighter/rogue) he almost had her eaten while being seduced at the Crystal Club (I think it was called). Also replayed a scene from the book, but we as PCs were spectators to it, so it was a bit boring (and he wouldn't let us read the book, so we'd be surprised! I mean, looking bad, not great gameplay; needed better graphics, I guess ).
I remember being somewhat annoyed when I read the module that we wouldn't be focused on the werewolves, like in the brief rp script at the start of the module.
In 4e I'm trying to capture that aspect of play, where I describe what's happening to create mood, atmosphere. Otherwise, a great combat engine like 4e is wasted if my end of things (the storytelling) isn't up to par.

Mask of the Red Death: has nothing to do with the film by Vincent Price (good movie), but I second that it looked fun. Mages are Spiritualists or Cthulu-type mystics. Ditto Clerics (but for the Elder gods, I think). Fighters are solders, etc.
I think the idea works well. Saying "demiplane of dred" means people start looking in the Ethereal Plane for it. Saying Shadowfell in 4e is the same problem. Having a world where it's just scary? More like a Hammer Horror film, or actual scary tale: there's a vampire castle, and it's scary!
I'd read it for source material, and try to simplify combat; if the idea of fighting things with guns is too mechanized with numbers, it might seem real, reliable. Use the rules, but play up every roll like it means something "special" or "magic" (in the Sarah Silverman sense). But yeah, 2e wasn't a great system for combat rules... maybe that's why Ravenloft could work!