D&D 5E Ravenloft= Meh

[Zardnaar]

Of all the old D&D settings TSR made one stands out for me with a resounding meh. That setting is Ravenloft. The whole fear/horror thin never really got to me in the 1st place and if you like that sort of stuff well Vampire/World of Darkness exists.

The problem is the name of the game. Dungeons and Dragons. Ravenloft did not seem to have much of either and I never really got into the whole Bram Stoker/ Frankenstein thing. Strahd has struck me as one of the most boring cliched villains of all time in a D&D universe. Even his book I Strahd was not that good all those years ago as a teenager. If you think the mists of Ravenloft are scary how about the wastelands of Athas and The Dragon who ws guilty of attempted genocide.

I just associate RL with a emo Goth chick calling herself Raven or some crap "Its just a phase Mom". On the pluse side there are no Kender. Dragonlance and Ravenloft might be a toss up between the 2 worst D&D settings. Even Birthright was more interesting IMHO and almost no one played that it seems.

 

[Ganymede81]

I agree in a sense.

One of Ravenloft's weaknesses, at least in one aspect, was its focus on well treaded horror tropes. While that brings a lot to the table, it also means that Ravenloft is a distinctly human-centric campaign world. There isn't much for elves, dwarves, and halflings there, and orcs don't even exist there.

In order to be a more fully formed campaign world, Ravenloft really needs to explore more non-human aspects of horror.

 

[iserith]

I can do horror, but when it comes to Ravenloft, I prefer to treat it like an old B movie. D&D is kind of silly, so when you try and make it scary, it's even sillier in my view. So embrace the silly, I say. For example:

The Laboratory-Tomb of Doctor Viktor Vampenstein!

 

[Sunseeker]

In order to be a more fully formed campaign world, Ravenloft really needs to explore more non-human aspects of horror.

I disagree that D&D campaign worlds need to naturally include multiple races, but outside of Barovia in the larger demiplane of Ravenloft, there are actually quite a number of classic D&D races, various types of elves, gnomes, halflings.

I can do horror, but when it comes to Ravenloft, I prefer to treat it like an old B movie. D&D is kind of silly, so when you try and make it scary, it's even sillier in my view. So embrace the silly, I say. For example:

The Laboratory-Tomb of Doctor Viktor Vampenstein!

I tend to agree. I've got Call of Cthulhu players in my group, so I'm not even going to attempt true horror. I'm going to play it more as if one were reading or acting through classic Dracula. It's cheesy from a modern horror perspective, but that's what makes it fun. Heck, I'm tempted to go as far as to say Ravenloft should be run like an episode of Scooby Doo. It's a mystery first and foremost. Let the players be scared if they want to be, let the players be brave if they want to.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Wow. I couldn't disagree more. RL is, and remains, one of my favorite campaign settings of all time.

The Gothic tropes are a plus, for me. The human-centric nature is a plus. And I like combining fantasy and horror, so no, I can't/won't just turn to WoD instead. (Though I like that, too.)

And sure, you can run it as Castlevania or Scooby Doo. But the idea that it can't do genuine horror is flatly untrue; it's all in how you approach it.

 

[MechaPilot]

Wow. I couldn't disagree more. RL is, and remains, one of my favorite campaign settings of all time.

The Gothic tropes are a plus, for me. The human-centric nature is a plus. And I like combining fantasy and horror, so no, I can't/won't just turn to WoD instead. (Though I like that, too.)

And sure, you can run it as Castlevania or Scooby Doo. But the idea that it can't do genuine horror is flatly untrue; it's all in how you approach it.

While I agree, I will say that it's not terribly easy to do horror well (and I mean genuinely well). It takes considerable patience and commitment, and sometimes more than a little luck. It also requires players who are willing to invest.

 

[n00b f00]

Different strokes for different folks. I'm into a bit of Gothic Horror from time to time. Packs of werewolves rampaging over small towns.

Mundane protests over living conditions being tinged with just a little more hysteria than normal, turning into insane bloody riots when a mob of zombies emerge from the sewers. Confusion violence and murder and the protesters and city guard are confused when people start eating each other and respond by hitting each other.

Vampires pulling the strings and trying to amass political power, throwing big banquets for unwitting mortals. Serial killers who used to be normal people but we're then possessed or forced into a pact with a demon.

Witches who worship eldritch entities, dancing in the swamp under the moonlight, sacrificing and or enchanting any who happen upon them.

I think it's pretty dope for DnD. I don't necessarily love the baseline Raven loft setting though. I don't like how it seems explicitly magically static. The dark lords more or less entrenched, minor reality warping powers in their realms. Different realms fighting forever with neither side gaining ground or being changed by the experience.

Not bad ideas, just a bit grimmer than I typically run games, and I mostly play games set in 40k! My problem being more that in an effort to enforce the setting concept, they made the setting a little bit too restrictive. Like in 40k or World of Darkness. The setting as a whole is basically boned, but the sections of the world the player is likely to interact with are focused enough to be meaningfully changed or challenged. I think it's basically because the factors that make those settings crappy are on a level that PCS are not expected to interact with, your inquisitor can crush cults, uncover conspiracies, banish demons.

But they cannot and are not expected to resolve the cosmic source of the problem. Whereas in RL, there's to me no reason why a high level party shouldn't go around smoking dark lords. Except the worry that it would make the setting not a horror one anymore if you could permanently get rid of Fake Dracula without a catch. I personally would prefer if Fake Dracula was gone, bringing a temporary reprieve. And then another random evil jerk is elevated. The setting is basically the same and yet, the heroes can at least feel like they have prevailed for a little while.

Knowing you won't get over on the cthulhu monsters driving the setting is one thing, knowing I can't honestly deal with their champions is a bit annoying.

 

[Bawylie]

I like RL, and horror. Fantastic genre, really stretches your abilities to create tension, especially in ambiance.

If all you run is kick-in-the-door smash games, RL will probably leave you wanting. (Nothing wrong with that, of course).

But, a good RL game is going to tell an unnerving story through investigation. It's going to upend expectation, and revel in vulnerabilities. If that doesn't move you, man, idk. Did X-files?

 

[Mouseferatu]

While I agree, I will say that it's not terribly easy to do horror well (and I mean genuinely well). It takes considerable patience and commitment, and sometimes more than a little luck. It also requires players who are willing to invest.

Absolutely, but those are difficulties and requirements of any and every horror RPG/setting, not something specific to Ravenloft.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I disagree that D&D campaign worlds need to naturally include multiple races, but outside of Barovia in the larger demiplane of Ravenloft, there are actually quite a number of classic D&D races, various types of elves, gnomes, halflings.

The non-human vampires of Ravenloft are so good, I made them core for my non-RL games.