Ian Demagi
Explorer
Review: Expedition to Castle Ravenloft-Ian De’Magi
SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!
As I have said before, I was excited, no thrilled, to see this adventure updated to third (.5)
edition. It is the only product I have ever pre-ordered, and I have been playing since D & D 1978. This is a supreme compliment. This is my review, and I have a few biases as a DM & module designer. I don’t like designs that consistently put the PC party in over their challenge level. This module does. One hold over I have from 2nd edition is the module being based around a party of 4 rather than 6. A party of 4 is going to be hard pressed to finish this module, and there are a good number of scenarios that can turn into TPK’s. That being said, I love it. It’s a great adventure. If you are going to play in this adventure do not read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It will spoil your fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Cover
I really wanted a more classic picture of Strahd-not that the art work was bad, just different than what I expected. I did like the feel of the cover though.
Book Design
I liked the format. For me, it made good sense to break the chapters up this way. I like the encounters done this way too. Since Strahd is the vocal point of the entire adventure, I want to see his stats and goals right off the top. Since his servitors are also important in the game, the main servants are there too, so much the better. I like that WotC told DM where they could conveniently drop this into the published worlds like Forgotten Realms and the like. When I pay this much for an adventure, I want things like this. The mini campaign seems OK to me, but I would not use it.
The Village of Barovia
The village of Barovia lives. I liked it. The heroes are not the only heroes here, nor is Strahd the only villain (although he is the premier villain). The Zombie incursion has a lot of “party feel good encounters.” It not until the PC go to the church that things get very dicey. This will be a tuff battle, and you might loose a PC or two right off the bat (so to speak).
There are some good role playing encounters here. DM’s that do not like or do well at extemporaneous role playing may struggle with this module (and frankly this may not be the module for you). For those of us that like this type of game, we are in our element. There are plenty of things to be sleuthed, so players that like mysteries are going to be happy. In fact, not getting to the bottom of things, like Strahd’s bond to the land, may set the party up for a TPK at the end. After the party deals with the Zombie Incursion things settle in for real. Adventuring outside the town, may be pretty dangerous for parties of lower level.
The Lands of Barovia
This chapter holds one of the great role playing moments in D & D, madam Eva’s Reading. I have never done a Tarot reading so the mechanics of this were a little confusing for me. This is a place to really role play and set the scene, so I do not want to worry about the mechanics I will have to look this over in detail.
The Blighted Relic is a very tough challenge for a party of 4 sixth level PC’s with all of its immunities, resistances, and spell resistance (18). This is the first of numerous scenarios where a TPK may occur. Also, if the party has the sub-goal of broke no rival, the aspect of Chernovog is also a very tough encounter. I liked the legacy items. Again more role playing and sleuthing. I like that skill checks become very important.
The Castle
If the party is hard charging to get to the castle and kick vampire booty right of the bat (LOL) they are going to die! The module tells you how to handle this (discourage it), but if bad play results in a TPK, I would let this one stand. Without giving everything away the Castle is tough! The party must have some escape plan over and above “feet don’t fail me now.” Suffice it to say there are many opportunities for a TPK (Devils Garden, The Necromancer (no Azalin but Thredra Aranax (True Necromancer) is a nice consultation prize), Shapeless Spawn (If the party gets the Decent into madness sub-goal) not to mention the catacombs and the Crypt of Strahd.
The Man, The Myth, The Legend-Strahd VonZarovich
Strahd VonZarocich is a D & D legend, a hall of fame monster, and for me a top five all time villain. He should be the stuff of nightmare for the PC party, and at challenge level 15, he is an awesome foe for a party of 4 10th level characters. If the party has not investigated the mysteries of the land, he may be too difficult. Linking him a to the land with the signs is a very cool feature. Strahd has awesome offensive fire power, great escape ability, tremendous defenses, many powerful servitors, and nasty tricks and traps, in other words he is just right for the being Strahd. The designers got this totally right in my opinion.
Who to send against Strahd?
I have mused over this for a while, even posted a thread on the board, and I still do not have a definitive answer. Without going into prestige classes, I do have some ideas.
There will have to be a cleric preferably of with the Sun domain in the party. Do not misunderstand, you won’t be turning much, but every little bit will help. The party will need a tank: Fighter, Barbarian, Knight are all fine tanks, but I think I would opt for a Paladin in this case. Holy Smite might be very useful. You will want someone to use the Suns Sword! An arcane caster is a must as well, and maybe the most important reason is for party “dust off.” There will be times when the party must retreat, and teleport gets you away fast! Rope Trick might also become very important in order to get a nights rest. So who or what for the fourth?
A Druid is always a powerful character for all the reasons discussed on these boards. A Rogue is also a good idea for the traps, spot, and search. The Rogue will have some opportunities for sneak attack, but there are a lot of undead and constructs. Bards legend lore may come in handy, but they may lack punch when the melee throw down starts. Beguilers may struggle as well, but I won’t spoil some of that. The warlock maybe a useful scout but may lack enough punch. The Warmage is a possibility. Yes, all he has in his tool box are hammers, but he has hammers for every occasion! A sudden empowered and twined Hail of Stone just about kills Strahd. The Warmage can not be your only arcane caster. If I was taking five characters it would be Paladin, Cleric, Wizard, Druid, and Warmage. If I took six, I would add a Rogue. The max characters I would let play in this module is six (to keep the feel - no leadership except NPC’s found in the game).
Playing Strahd
If I am playing Strahd, one thing that will not be happening is giving the party time to craft items to use against me. If my spies tell me that this is happening, the party will be attacked! The party has to earn their rest as well. Just pulling up a house and barricading it for the night is not going to work.
Strahd is a genius and has hundreds of years of experience. He will know who to dominate, and who to drain. He can easily hit the party where it hurts without metagamming by the DM.
To wrap it up
I think this adventure is very cool. I look forward to running it. Using the taint rules may make it tougher; I will have to look this over to see how much. I hope you like the review, If I missed anything let me know.
Ian
SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!
As I have said before, I was excited, no thrilled, to see this adventure updated to third (.5)
edition. It is the only product I have ever pre-ordered, and I have been playing since D & D 1978. This is a supreme compliment. This is my review, and I have a few biases as a DM & module designer. I don’t like designs that consistently put the PC party in over their challenge level. This module does. One hold over I have from 2nd edition is the module being based around a party of 4 rather than 6. A party of 4 is going to be hard pressed to finish this module, and there are a good number of scenarios that can turn into TPK’s. That being said, I love it. It’s a great adventure. If you are going to play in this adventure do not read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It will spoil your fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Cover
I really wanted a more classic picture of Strahd-not that the art work was bad, just different than what I expected. I did like the feel of the cover though.
Book Design
I liked the format. For me, it made good sense to break the chapters up this way. I like the encounters done this way too. Since Strahd is the vocal point of the entire adventure, I want to see his stats and goals right off the top. Since his servitors are also important in the game, the main servants are there too, so much the better. I like that WotC told DM where they could conveniently drop this into the published worlds like Forgotten Realms and the like. When I pay this much for an adventure, I want things like this. The mini campaign seems OK to me, but I would not use it.
The Village of Barovia
The village of Barovia lives. I liked it. The heroes are not the only heroes here, nor is Strahd the only villain (although he is the premier villain). The Zombie incursion has a lot of “party feel good encounters.” It not until the PC go to the church that things get very dicey. This will be a tuff battle, and you might loose a PC or two right off the bat (so to speak).
There are some good role playing encounters here. DM’s that do not like or do well at extemporaneous role playing may struggle with this module (and frankly this may not be the module for you). For those of us that like this type of game, we are in our element. There are plenty of things to be sleuthed, so players that like mysteries are going to be happy. In fact, not getting to the bottom of things, like Strahd’s bond to the land, may set the party up for a TPK at the end. After the party deals with the Zombie Incursion things settle in for real. Adventuring outside the town, may be pretty dangerous for parties of lower level.
The Lands of Barovia
This chapter holds one of the great role playing moments in D & D, madam Eva’s Reading. I have never done a Tarot reading so the mechanics of this were a little confusing for me. This is a place to really role play and set the scene, so I do not want to worry about the mechanics I will have to look this over in detail.
The Blighted Relic is a very tough challenge for a party of 4 sixth level PC’s with all of its immunities, resistances, and spell resistance (18). This is the first of numerous scenarios where a TPK may occur. Also, if the party has the sub-goal of broke no rival, the aspect of Chernovog is also a very tough encounter. I liked the legacy items. Again more role playing and sleuthing. I like that skill checks become very important.
The Castle
If the party is hard charging to get to the castle and kick vampire booty right of the bat (LOL) they are going to die! The module tells you how to handle this (discourage it), but if bad play results in a TPK, I would let this one stand. Without giving everything away the Castle is tough! The party must have some escape plan over and above “feet don’t fail me now.” Suffice it to say there are many opportunities for a TPK (Devils Garden, The Necromancer (no Azalin but Thredra Aranax (True Necromancer) is a nice consultation prize), Shapeless Spawn (If the party gets the Decent into madness sub-goal) not to mention the catacombs and the Crypt of Strahd.
The Man, The Myth, The Legend-Strahd VonZarovich
Strahd VonZarocich is a D & D legend, a hall of fame monster, and for me a top five all time villain. He should be the stuff of nightmare for the PC party, and at challenge level 15, he is an awesome foe for a party of 4 10th level characters. If the party has not investigated the mysteries of the land, he may be too difficult. Linking him a to the land with the signs is a very cool feature. Strahd has awesome offensive fire power, great escape ability, tremendous defenses, many powerful servitors, and nasty tricks and traps, in other words he is just right for the being Strahd. The designers got this totally right in my opinion.
Who to send against Strahd?
I have mused over this for a while, even posted a thread on the board, and I still do not have a definitive answer. Without going into prestige classes, I do have some ideas.
There will have to be a cleric preferably of with the Sun domain in the party. Do not misunderstand, you won’t be turning much, but every little bit will help. The party will need a tank: Fighter, Barbarian, Knight are all fine tanks, but I think I would opt for a Paladin in this case. Holy Smite might be very useful. You will want someone to use the Suns Sword! An arcane caster is a must as well, and maybe the most important reason is for party “dust off.” There will be times when the party must retreat, and teleport gets you away fast! Rope Trick might also become very important in order to get a nights rest. So who or what for the fourth?
A Druid is always a powerful character for all the reasons discussed on these boards. A Rogue is also a good idea for the traps, spot, and search. The Rogue will have some opportunities for sneak attack, but there are a lot of undead and constructs. Bards legend lore may come in handy, but they may lack punch when the melee throw down starts. Beguilers may struggle as well, but I won’t spoil some of that. The warlock maybe a useful scout but may lack enough punch. The Warmage is a possibility. Yes, all he has in his tool box are hammers, but he has hammers for every occasion! A sudden empowered and twined Hail of Stone just about kills Strahd. The Warmage can not be your only arcane caster. If I was taking five characters it would be Paladin, Cleric, Wizard, Druid, and Warmage. If I took six, I would add a Rogue. The max characters I would let play in this module is six (to keep the feel - no leadership except NPC’s found in the game).
Playing Strahd
If I am playing Strahd, one thing that will not be happening is giving the party time to craft items to use against me. If my spies tell me that this is happening, the party will be attacked! The party has to earn their rest as well. Just pulling up a house and barricading it for the night is not going to work.
Strahd is a genius and has hundreds of years of experience. He will know who to dominate, and who to drain. He can easily hit the party where it hurts without metagamming by the DM.
To wrap it up
I think this adventure is very cool. I look forward to running it. Using the taint rules may make it tougher; I will have to look this over to see how much. I hope you like the review, If I missed anything let me know.
Ian
