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Everything We Know About The Ravenloft Book
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<blockquote data-quote="overgeeked" data-source="post: 8213627" data-attributes="member: 86653"><p>I wanted to give a bit more of a response to this bit. I think it all depends on what you mean by horror. If you mean constant fear, terror, and horror with every scene, you're absolutely right. I'd say it's not only hard, it's damned near impossible. But I don't think anyone's suggesting running a game like that. Maybe as a one-shot of pure horror scene after scene after bloody scene. But you can't do that for a campaign. As you say, it becomes oppressive. But you can still do a long-term horror campaign. You just can't run it like a spatter-fest marathon. Like anything else, long-form vs short-form genre pieces are fundamentally different beasts. They share traits, of course, but they're not the same. They can't be. </p><p></p><p>This announcement and this thread have me re-reading my old collection of Ravenloft stuff, like many others. One bit that I found especially wonderful was this bit from the Black Box. It talks about the normal D&D trope of kill small monsters, gain treasure and power, kill bigger monsters, gain treasure and power, kill even bigger monsters...lather, rinse, repeat. "In Ravenloft, you might be tempted to substitute a powerful vampire for the "beast supreme," and fill the string of lesser encounters with "Gothic" monsters such as bats, ghouls, and ghosts. Unfortunately, that formula leaves something to be desired: a story. Dungeon crawls make the worst kind of Ravenloft adventure, because they lack a real villain, a real problem, a real plot. In this realm, characters should do more than cast spells and bash monsters--they should unravel mysteries, too. Each encounter should be more than an isolated incident with a bounty attached. It should provide information that helps flesh out the story, and clues that help the characters succeed (or survive). If "spoils" are involved, those items usually should be a part of the story--something useful or telling--not just a trophy to add to the haul." </p><p></p><p>I'm hopeful the new book will give advice like this. Along with genre guidelines and actionable advice on how to use fear (anticipation), terror (revelation), and horror (realization) to great effect in game.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="overgeeked, post: 8213627, member: 86653"] I wanted to give a bit more of a response to this bit. I think it all depends on what you mean by horror. If you mean constant fear, terror, and horror with every scene, you're absolutely right. I'd say it's not only hard, it's damned near impossible. But I don't think anyone's suggesting running a game like that. Maybe as a one-shot of pure horror scene after scene after bloody scene. But you can't do that for a campaign. As you say, it becomes oppressive. But you can still do a long-term horror campaign. You just can't run it like a spatter-fest marathon. Like anything else, long-form vs short-form genre pieces are fundamentally different beasts. They share traits, of course, but they're not the same. They can't be. This announcement and this thread have me re-reading my old collection of Ravenloft stuff, like many others. One bit that I found especially wonderful was this bit from the Black Box. It talks about the normal D&D trope of kill small monsters, gain treasure and power, kill bigger monsters, gain treasure and power, kill even bigger monsters...lather, rinse, repeat. "In Ravenloft, you might be tempted to substitute a powerful vampire for the "beast supreme," and fill the string of lesser encounters with "Gothic" monsters such as bats, ghouls, and ghosts. Unfortunately, that formula leaves something to be desired: a story. Dungeon crawls make the worst kind of Ravenloft adventure, because they lack a real villain, a real problem, a real plot. In this realm, characters should do more than cast spells and bash monsters--they should unravel mysteries, too. Each encounter should be more than an isolated incident with a bounty attached. It should provide information that helps flesh out the story, and clues that help the characters succeed (or survive). If "spoils" are involved, those items usually should be a part of the story--something useful or telling--not just a trophy to add to the haul." I'm hopeful the new book will give advice like this. Along with genre guidelines and actionable advice on how to use fear (anticipation), terror (revelation), and horror (realization) to great effect in game. [/QUOTE]
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