About Ravenloft

[Yig]

Hello all,

The DM of our group recently bought the 3e edition of the Ravenloft book and he want to start a new campaign with it (current campaign kinda went nowhere...).

The thing is, I never played in Ravenloft and I would like to know what I should expect. I think i know the basic (place is full of evil, etc...) but what is different from standard D&D ?

Also, could you guys point me toward some online ressources ?

Thanks a lot !
Yig

 

[jaerdaph]

You definitely need to visit the Secrets of the Kargatane, the official Ravenloft website:

http://www.kargatane.com

And be sure and check out the message boards there as well. It's a very active community of Ravenloft players and DMs.

Just don't earn the wrath of Azalin the lich

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Want a very simple description?

Gothic horror.

That sums up the heart and soul of Ravenloft.

 

[Knightcrawler]

Differences in Ravenloft

Okay, first things first. It depends if you start out in Ravenloft as natives or enter it from another plane. If you enter it from another plane your going to have a lot more problems.

Lets see starting off. Think gothic horror; Dracula, Frankenstein, Mob of Villagers, etc. Everything is much darker and more depressing than most other settings. It also depends on which of the domains you start of in. Each has its own level of technology and culture along with unique environmental conditions.

Okay, Ravenloft is divided up into several different domains each with its own characteristics tied to its Lord. The Lords are extremely evil idividuals that control their domain completely. But they are not necessarily the political or cultural leader of that region.

Over all this are the Dark Powers. It is never really explain what the Dark Powers are. But they are the end all, be all in Ravenloft. They control everything.

One of the biggest things that you have to be careful of is spells. Any ones with the death or evil descriptor can cause you problems. These spells usually require you to make a Dark Powers check to see if they notice you. They notice any violent, evil acts. If they do they often grant you some sort of power or ability. The more Dark Powers checks that you have to make the more powerful you become, but also the more conected to Ravenloft and the Drak Powers you become. Eventually after 6-8 failed Powers checks you become a Lord with your own domain and are now an NPC.

Also any spells that summons a creature has a twist. The creature does not go back when the spell expires. You can enter Ravenloft but its almost impossible to leave.

Thats what I can think of off the top of my head. Any specific questions.

Knightcrawler

 

[Yig]

Thanks

Thanks jaerdaph, that's the site I was looking for

Thanks for the infos Knightcrawler. I'm gonna take your offer

What about alignment ? This seem to be different.

I should have acces to the book pretty soon.

Thanks again !

 

[Psychotic Jim]

Ravenloft is also somewhat preachy when compared to other fantasy settings. What may be common practice in a generic D&D world you should avoid in Ravenloft- like raising the dead, picking pockets or stealing, casting necromancy or summoning spells, building golems, etc. Power checks can and will corrupt you when you do these things. Good alignments work best in Ravenloft, and I don't think evil ones are allowed.

 

[Knightcrawler]

Re: Thanks

Thanks for the infos Knightcrawler. I'm gonna take your offer
What about alignment ? This seem to be different.

Alignment. Do you mean the alignment of the domains, the Dark Lords, or the characters.

Well for one thing paladins and clerics of LG gods tend to act as beacons. Things just start coming out of the woodwork to get at them. Now don't take me wrong not everyone/everything in Ravenloft is evil, but a lot of it is.

Alignments for characters operate the same way they do in regular D&D, no different.

Knightcrawler

 

[Voadam]

Core ravenloft

Evil actions corrupt characters cursing them, granting them powers, and eventually turning them into NPCs.

Divinations are weaker (can never sense evil/good) as are travel magics (can't planar travel teleport long distances etc.)

Necromancy and evil spells are more powerful. Casting necromancy and evil spells counts as evil actions that can corrupt a character.

Curses (not just the spell) have power and anybody can do them, counts as evil action.

Fear, horror and madness are aspects you have to worry about in your encounters, not just from special monster or spell effects.

The gods are unreachable but you can still get divine spells and powers (do they come from the gods or other things, unknown).

Turning is weaker.

The land itself is evil.

Monsters are generally more unique.

Many lands have a lot of prejudices (against demihumans, magic, people not from their land)

 

[barsoomcore]

This is kinda funny cause I just wrapped up a "one shot" game (that lasted three sessions) in a conversion of the original Ravenloft module from 1st Edition using d20 rules. I set it in 1820's Roumania and it was... kind of fun. Not super fun. The module was nowhere near as great as I remembered it being (and I screwed up royally a couple of times... sigh), but it was a fun little trip down memory lane.

Sorry, this has NOTHING to do with the Ravenloft campaign setting, I know. Pay no attention, just old guy reminiscing.

 

[Lady Dragon]

In Ravenloft alignment is very important. Commiting acts of evil can have serious consequences to the character beyond the simple "you are now evil" speech from the DM. Continued acts of evil will attract the intrest of the "Dark Powers" and they both curse and reward those who commit great acts of evil. All of the Dark Lords for example have suffered this fate. They are awarded the power they think they want but the thing they really want most of all is dangled like a carrot on a stick in front of them,visible but always out of reach.