Ravenloft, Where are the fans?

Revan79 · Sep 24, 2015

Ravenloft, my first foray into the realm of mists(DM). My group has just started FEAST OF GOBLYNS as they are working through the Hyskosa Hexad series of adventures. I was wondering if anyone else has attempted this. Also, should mention I am running it as a 5e conversion.

Morrus · Sep 24, 2015

I'm a fan! In fact Feast of Goblyns was the first Ravenloft adventure I ever ran.

psiconauta_retro · Sep 25, 2015

I'm a fan also! My first boxed set was Ravenloft´s red box, and the first adventure I had and ran was Night of the Walking Dead, which is part of Hyskosa´s Hexad. I have ran that adventure many times and I like it very much, not only because if the first one I had and I know it well but also because it is solid, elegant, and has spooky moments and many opportunities for drama, specially for novice players. All of the greatest heroes of my campaign world have gone through it.

I don't have the 6 modules of the hexad but I would love to DM or play them on 5e. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

I own Forlorn´s boxed set and it bothers me that I never had the chance to play it. Back in the day I spent days and days puzzling in the complexity of castle Tristenoira and it´s time shifts and I feel that, if the DM is ready, it can be a very cool experience.

Which is your favorite Ravenloft´s adventure?

How about other Raveloift´s accesories? The Torakka deck is a must, and "Champions of the Mists" had some awesome kits.

Revan79 · Sep 25, 2015

I know that nearly all the Ravenloft adventures are available on pdf.
The problem i'm having issues with is how the players discover more about the Realm itself, Darklord's, Domain lord's and the unique nature of the domains themselves. My plan so far is that after the Feast of Goblyns adventure finishes the players will be contacted by none other than Rudolph van Richten and "Brought into the Monster-Hunter fold" What do you guys think?

Ralif Redhammer · Sep 25, 2015

I’m a fan of both Ravenloft the module and the campaign setting. Loved the Stephen Fabian art in the original boxed set. As October is almost here, I should probably dig the boxed set out and have a look at it. It’s been a while.

Jan van Leyden · Sep 25, 2015

I've run the original Castle Ravenloft once for my group - with mixed success. The players found the experience so bad that they shied away from everything with the name Ravenloft on it.

Ten years later - and with only one player from the original group around - I ran Night of the Walking Dead. I don't have memories of the adventure itself, but the last scene was hilarious: the players were so anxious to reutrn to Greyhawk that they battled their way to a portal in a temple which was heavily defended. Finally the Pelor priest sacrified himself to let the others escape. One of the most memorable moments in my gaming history.

I once played in Feast of Goblyns. Again, I don't remember the adventure but the group's return. We found the Deck of Many Things and decided to draw a card to escape from Ravenloft. I don't know which guard did it but we returned to Waterdeep's Undermountain - on our horses.

gamerprinter · Sep 25, 2015

One of the last Ravenloft dedicated fan sites is the Fraternity of Shadows.

Revan79 · Sep 25, 2015

I use Fraternity of shadows a lot for research purposes, pity so few people have fond memories of Ravenloft, hopefully if it gets a revival in 5th they will sort out a lot of the original issues

Guest 85555 · Sep 25, 2015

Big fan. Feast of Goblyns is my favorite module. Started Ravenloft with the Black boxed set. I think FoG is the strongest in the Hyksosa series. Night of the Walking Dead is really good too though.

Guest 85555 · Sep 25, 2015

Revan79 said:
I know that nearly all the Ravenloft adventures are available on pdf.
The problem i'm having issues with is how the players discover more about the Realm itself, Darklord's, Domain lord's and the unique nature of the domains themselves. My plan so far is that after the Feast of Goblyns adventure finishes the players will be contacted by none other than Rudolph van Richten and "Brought into the Monster-Hunter fold" What do you guys think?

Eventually they know the drill and at that point it makes sense to shift to the players being natives. Some of the later books like Domains of Dread and the S&S version of Ravenloft for d20 give some tools for making this more manageable. Definitely having them become monster hunters, if they are game, is a good fit as players learn more. Monster Hunts and Investigations are really where the game shines in my view. Read the Van Richten books (the original ones) and use those to get ideas for adventures and you should be set.

One thing to keep in mind: players don't have to face the Darklords. I rarely introduced them in my own campaigns over two decades. Other than pocket lords, I think in total they met: Ivan Dilisnya, Harkon Lukas and Vlad Drakov. You can certainly have players face off with dark lords if you like, but i find making your own villains or minor lords works best.