Check Out CURSE OF STRAHD'S Table of Contents!

THAT'S where the Mongrelfolk appear! That was a long time coming!

 

[MrHotter]

How does one run a Ravenloft module without campaign setting rules like Powers Checks, Horror and Madness rules, Modified spells, etc?

Sadly, this is yet another module that I won't buy. I was expecting to see a few pages about Ravenloft in general, but that appears to be absent. Of course, the same thing happened with the Realms. Everything is being released as a grand story without any regard for the essential and finer details of the setting.

IMO, if WotC would at least release a 5e primer on these campaign settings first, they'd at least appear to be a little more thoughtful.

People ran Ravenloft when it was just one module with about 30 pages. It it still considered one of the best adventures of all time.

If you look at the table of contents you can see that chapter two is all about the setting and each area that you explore has it's own details in the chapter dedicated to it.

 

[Kite474]

So from the looks of it.

No new mechanics to use as a DM unless those marks of power are that. Even then that seems really small for a setting with a COMPLETELY different feel than the standard.

No new player options.

No real look of Ravenloft in any real depth. Just possibly a brief intro to Strahd and Barovia.

Man. This is starting to look disappointing. I know I'm not the target audience, but still..

 

[MrHotter]

The math's a little off--Castle Ravenloft gets 45 pages, of which 15 cover the dungeons and catacombs.

One of the pages is a map, so maybe a lot of art and conclusion information?

 

[GX.Sigma]

So from the looks of it.

No new mechanics to use as a DM unless those marks of power are that. Even then that seems really small for a setting with a COMPLETELY different feel than the standard.

No new player options.

No real look of Ravenloft in any real depth. Just possibly a brief intro to Strahd and Barovia.

Man. This is starting to look disappointing. I know I'm not the target audience, but still..

It is a remake of a 1e module, not a remake of a 2e campaign setting.

 

[Lackhand]

Ravenloft means so many things to so many people!

I think it's important to remember what we are getting here. It's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenloft_(module) not https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenloft . I'm actually pretty happy about that myself, but I can see how others wouldn't be -- I just ran I6 for my players, and they barely crawled out alive, so I'm looking forward to seeing what some other bright minds added to the mix.

The DMG has some decent madness rules (IMO) and it's very reasonable to use them here. I think this particular adventure might not fit them, though -- Strahd is manipulative, but he only makes you crazy in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenloft_II:_The_House_on_Gryphon_Hill

I hope as the adventure gets into our grubby paws, We The Community will use it to talk about fun house rules to really ratchet up the fear and madness. You have to be careful about that stuff; it risks deprotagonizing the players, which is part of horror, but really has to be handled carefully -- better for long-form discussion than in-text IMO.
It also won't help the AL DMs, but I actually think that's a good move: AL is a terrible place to flirt with deprotagonization*.


* Which now sounds like something to save for Chem Lab.

 

[Kite474]

It is a remake of a 1e module, not a remake of a 2e campaign setting.

That's a fair point. I still feel their's a lot of lost opportunities in that though.

But at the end of the day the only thing that seems to sell is adventures... So I cant really blame Wizards for it.

 

[Corpsetaker]

That's a fair point. I still feel their's a lot of lost opportunities in that though. But at the end of the day the only thing that seems to sell is adventures... So I cant really blame Wizards for it.

I don't think it's sales to be honest. If the upcoming AP is successful and the followed it up with a Domains of Dread book covering all of Ravenloft then it would sell extremely well. They are trying to keep all the focus on Forgotten Realms while using Ravenloft as a little side trek.

 

[ZzarkLinux]

Pros: The "Epilogue" chapter makes me think they worked really hard to make this a good read. I just read Rise of the RuneLords, which has a similar chapter, and RotRL book was a good read too. Maybe WotC is learning a few lessons from Paizo in printing APs. Looks like it will be a high quality purchase for those who buy it

Cons: They included an "Alterations to Magic" section but not an "Alterations to Alignment" section? Baffling, because alignment has more impact on players. All players have alignment, but only a few have spells. Terrible decision.

 

[RotGrub]

People ran Ravenloft when it was just one module with about 30 pages. It it still considered one of the best adventures of all time.

If you look at the table of contents you can see that chapter two is all about the setting and each area that you explore has it's own details in the chapter dedicated to it.

I'd expect nothing less from a module, but I didn't say it couldn't be a great adventure or that it wasn't playable.

Ravenloft evolved into campaign setting since the original module was released decades ago. Releasing a single module in the same manner ignores all that. This module is just a single story. It doesn't represent Ravenloft as a campaign setting.

 

[GrumpyGamer]

I had already known they were missing, but it is still sad to see a lack of Dark Power checks. Not having Dark Power checks in Ravenloft is a bit like not having psionics in Darksun.