Back in Ravenloft!

[pointyman2000]

Ravenloft being the only d20 game I've devoted time and effort to run with any sort of internal consistency (though I'm starting up an Forgotten Realms campaign as well), I have to admit that I'm having a lot of fun despite my relative inexperience with d20.

Anyway, I find that compared to other d20 games I've played, GMing Ravenloft is rewarding in the sense that it gives players a reason to fear the creepy, the strange and the downright unnatural. Ghosts and zombies and other things might get laughed at in other settings, but Ravenloft keeps players on their toes.

Not that I want my players all insane and/or dead, mind you. I'm a cinematic kind of guy and I like my players pulling through incredible odds. Considering I'm running a game for a bunch of freshmen college students with the comparative maturity of a fruitfly, Ravenloft is doing wonders for their roleplaying and their planning skills.

 

[Chingerspy]

Well done! My mate is a recent D20 convert too. His main setting in 2nd ed was Ravenloft and so it was natural that he start DMing 3rd ed with Ravenoft. He is currently running us through an adventure or two in his homebrew world before we enter the mists. He is now loving D20 and getting pretty good at knowing the rules - Even bought 3.5 the other week!

 

[pointyman2000]

Well done! My mate is a recent D20 convert too. His main setting in 2nd ed was Ravenloft and so it was natural that he start DMing 3rd ed with Ravenoft. He is currently running us through an adventure or two in his homebrew world before we enter the mists. He is now loving D20 and getting pretty good at knowing the rules - Even bought 3.5 the other week!

Cool!

I'm finally getting some mileage off the 3.0 corebooks I've had lying around the house (a friend dropped them off and said, "Go, run something.") I think I'm going to be spending quite a lot of time planning... which is a good thing considering that almost all the campaigns I've held before are all run "on the fly".

I guess it's good to stretch boundaries once in a while.

 

[Shonuff]

Not having picked it up, is Ravenloft for 3.0 or 3.5? Or does it have books for both? If so - does one of these books update the old rules for 3.5?

I just wondered how much of an issue the 3.5 update might cause in running the Ravenloft line.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Alzrius]

Ravenloft d20 kicked off soon after the initial d20 launch, and so the earlier books were 3E.

Along with everyone else, Ravenloft began to move over to 3.5E shortly after that came out. AFAIK, the Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide, Ravenloft Player's Handbook, and Denizens of Dread (not to be confused with its 3E incarnation, Denizens of Darkness) are 3.5E products. Of course, the Ravenloft Tarokka Deck is, from what I understand, beyond questions of 3E/3.5E since it's just cards. I'm not sure if Van Richten's Guide to the Shadow Fey is 3E or 3.5E.

Everything else is 3E: the Ravenloft Campaign Setting, Secrets of the Dread Realms, Denizens of Darkness, Ravenloft Gazetteer I, II, III, and IV (all separate products), Van Richten's Arsenal, Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead, Heroes of Light, Champions of Darkness.

A few caveats. The Witch-Hunter PrC in Secrets of the Dread Realms has the table cut off. The full one is listed here: http://www.swordsorcery.com/swordsorcery/RavenloftFiles/ravenloftwitchhuntererrata.html

The Ravenloft Campaign Setting had an errata file, but with the Kargatane website shut down, it's now very hard to find. Ditto the web enhancement for Ravenloft Gazetteer I.

In terms of personal advice, you most likely want to avoid buying Secrets of the Dread Realms. It has one PrC, the Witch-Hunter, and a Ravenloft DM's screen...the rest of it is darklord and NPC information, all of which is (and will be) updated in the Ravenloft Gazetteers.

Likewise, Heroes of Light and Champions of Darkness are both rife with errors, both in terms of mechanics, and in terms of internal consistency with Ravenloft as a world. Most Ravenloft players and DM's feel that the good in those two books is outweighed by the bad.

 

[Toben the Many]

Check this out, fans.

You'll probably want to check out this site if you're getting back into Ravenloft:

www.fraternityofshadows.com

They have alot of fan-based stuff, messageboards, etc.