D&D General The best horror adventures for use in Ravenloft

[TheSword]

Really interested in what the best D&D and D&D-Adjacent adventures there are out there in the wilds. Any edition any D&D like system.

I’d like to put three adventures I have experience with either as a DM or player. All by Paizo. All pretty damn good.

Up first - Skinsaw Murders. Part two of the Runelords campaign. It has an asylum, a wheat field full of scarecrow ghouls, and one of the best haunted house scenes I’ve played. I can take or leave the finale but the start and central sections are brilliant set pieces. It was written by Nicholas Logue, famous for creepy and original adventures. Well worth a look.

Up next the Carrion Crown Adventure Path. Every adventure is interesting, unique and well fleshed out. A haunted prison, the trial of a flesh golem, a werewolf forest hunting lodge, a lakeside village worshipping deep ones, a spate of vampire murders (yes they’re killing the vampires) and the resurrection of a lich. Great fun. Its clearly designed as an homage to Ravenloft. It even starts with the funeral of a monster hunting academic that brings the party together!

Lastly Strange Aeons. Also by Paizo. The Cthulhu inspired adventure which involves possibly one of the best openings for a Ravenloft campaign. Lots of horror flavor. Including a sequence of dream encounters that would be perfect for exploring some of the islands of dread like Sri Raji and Har’akir. Definitely worth checking out.

Edit: One caveat is like many Paizo adventures some are dungeon crawls. As always for conversions consider reducing encounters to 30-50% and combine where appropriate. Ravenloft in particular benefits from a less is more approach to combat.

 

[Remathilis]

I'll always start with my personal favorite: DCC 34: Cage of Delirium.



The group explores the burnt out remains of the Haverhold Asylum, which was destroyed in a riot years ago. Yet the dead do not rest easy. The heroes must unravel the mystery of what happened at the asylum while doing what they can to put the spirits rest, either by helping them or destroying them. The adventure was also keyed to tracks from Midnight Syndicate's CD Gates of Delirium (originally included) for added atmosphere. I've run it twice and both times people really enjoyed the atmosphere and nonlinear plot. Plus it was written by Wes Schneider, who has authored the last two Ravenloft books.

Trigger Warnings: the module does touch on the topics of insanity, abuse, domestic violence, implied SA, child abuse, and mutilation.

 

[TheSword]

I'll always start with my personal favorite: DCC 34: Cage of Delirium.

View attachment 434705

The group explores the burnt out remains of the Haverhold Asylum, which was destroyed in a riot years ago. Yet the dead do not rest easy. The heroes must unravel the mystery of what happened at the asylum while doing what they can to put the spirits rest, either by helping them or destroying them. The adventure was also keyed to tracks from Midnight Syndicate's CD Gates of Delirium (originally included) for added atmosphere. I've run it twice and both times people really enjoyed the atmosphere and nonlinear plot. Plus it was written by Wes Schneider, who has authored the last two Ravenloft books.

Trigger Warnings: the module does touch on the topics of insanity, abuse, domestic violence, implied SA, child abuse, and mutilation.

Sounds great, and with a lot of similarities with the first part of Strange Aeons which also starts in an Asylum. Love the evil twin element though. Sounds a lot of fun!

 

[TheSword]

Curse of Strahd aside of course, which I do consider to be an excellent adventure - are there any published under the Ravenloft brand do folks think or are they pretty universally shazbat?

I’ve been reading through a lot of the 1e and 2e adventures and they seem to be a pretty disappointing with banal encounters surrounded by lots instructions around how a GM is supposed to frame the encounter. Walls of text for something that would given an eighth of a page in a modern product.

 

[VashVet]

Curse of Strahd aside of course, which I do consider to be an excellent adventure - are there any published under the Ravenloft brand do folks think or are they pretty universally shazbat?

I’ve been reading through a lot of the 1e and 2e adventures and they seem to be a pretty disappointing with banal encounters surrounded by lots instructions around how a GM is supposed to frame the encounter. Walls of text for something that would given an eighth of a page in a modern product.

I think Night of the Walking Dead, The Created, and The Evil Eye were my personal favorites. 2e being what it was, none are just hands down perfect. They all need updating for rule differences obviously but even then I think there’s some structure changes that can be made to each easily that make them more enjoyable. NotWD has a great update on DMsGuild, I believe. I turned The Created into much more of a murder mystery in the first half, and then a Pinocchio themed race against time in the second half, and it turned out wonderfully.

 

[TheSword]

I think Night of the Walking Dead, The Created, and The Evil Eye were my personal favorites. 2e being what it was, none are just hands down perfect. They all need updating for rule differences obviously but even then I think there’s some structure changes that can be made to each easily that make them more enjoyable. NotWD has a great update on DMsGuild, I believe. I turned The Created into much more of a murder mystery in the first half, and then a Pinocchio themed race against time in the second half, and it turned out wonderfully.

I read Night of the Walking Dead today. I enjoyed it. Enough going on to make it interesting with some great encounters. Loved the chained coffin being carried through the village as it rattles.

Will work through the other ones.