D&D General The thread where I review a ton of Ravenloft modules

Voadam · May 10, 2024

I just glanced through RA1 Feast of Goblyns again recently, does it have a suggested level range? I thought it was something like 5th-7th but I couldn't find a suggested range in my PDF.

James Gasik · May 10, 2024

My experiences with Ravenloft adventures was that my players hated it when I ran them, lol. The monsters were usually juiced up, complete with "new powers" they weren't ready for, the setups were usually "so this blatantly evil guy wants you to do X", and the experience was generally miserable.

That having been said, I'm looking forward to reviews for Ship of Horror, Web of Illusion, and Adam's Wrath, personal favorites of mine (along with The Created, the first adventure I ever had my players refuse to play, lol).

For years after I played Web of Illusion, my players absolutely despised Rakshasas. "F*ck Rakshasas!" was the universal response every time they were mentioned. Thanks to his illusion magic, my players didn't even realize Arijani was a Rakshasa at all, and were completely unprepared to fight him.

I could have murdered them all but I felt dirty about the whole thing, so allowed them to escape with their lives.

Paul Farquhar · May 10, 2024

James Gasik said:
my players didn't even realize Arijani was a Rakshasa at all

The name is a bit of a clue…

My players have been with me so long that they automatically mistrust any NPC who seems remotely helpful (especially gnomes).

James Gasik · May 10, 2024

Paul Farquhar said:
The name is a bit of a clue…

My players have been with me so long that they automatically mistrust any NPC who seems remotely helpful (especially gnomes).

Yeah well, they didn't think "Rakshasa" for some reason. At the time, I thought that was the point, to catch them off guard, and it wasn't until I realize "oh, they're going to die here" that I realized maybe I should have been more heavy handed about the clues.

TiQuinn · May 11, 2024

Voadam said:
I just glanced through RA1 Feast of Goblyns again recently, does it have a suggested level range? I thought it was something like 5th-7th but I couldn't find a suggested range in my PDF.

IIRC, 3rd thru 5th level.

Helena Real · May 11, 2024

As a forever Ravenloft lover, I gotta say I'm loving this series, @der_kluge And I totally agree with your assessments of the modules I've ran that you've reviewed! I've ran "Night of the Walking Dead" at least 3 times, the last time under 5e a couple of years ago.

I sadly bought and tried to run "Feast of Goblyns" once, 20+ years ago. Unsurprisingly, it was a disaster. Although I really love the idea of the adventure, it's truly executed in the most mind-boggling way.

I hope you keep on going and cover other modules I haven't read yet! ☺

Echohawk · May 11, 2024

Voadam said:
I just glanced through RA1 Feast of Goblyns again recently, does it have a suggested level range? I thought it was something like 5th-7th but I couldn't find a suggested range in my PDF.

TiQuinn said:
IIRC, 3rd thru 5th level.

Fraternity of Shadows (a reliable Ravenloft fan site) has it listed as for level 4-7.

Paul Farquhar · May 11, 2024

Level 1. Ravenloft is supposed to be unfair and deadly.

Guest 85555 · May 11, 2024

Paul Farquhar said:
Level 1. Ravenloft is supposed to be unfair and deadly.

Lol. There is some truth in that. In fairness this was an era where GMs were encouraged to fudge and to not always kill PCs so I am not sure how many GMs were running these full throttle. But this adventure is definitely not suitable for 1st level. I could have sworn there was something like 3-7 as the recommended, but looking at the PDF I can't find it (I have the original physical version so will try to check that if I can dig it out).

It has been a while since I have run it, but I want to say 7th level of so is probably most appropriate. There is a wide variety of threats, but many of them are pretty beefy. The module does have a section for running it for lower or higher level parties, so you can adjust it.