Expedition to Castle Ravenloft

[Pants]

But I think it's probably a safe bet to hope that most campaigns end on a less depressive note.

Depends upon the campaign

 

[Agamon]

Best advice on running scary games comes from the first Ravenloft boxed set, the Black Box.

I had players scared of going to the bathroom alone when I DMed 2e Masque of the Red Death.

My RL games were scary, too. Sorta.

Newbie player: We should play Ravenloft!

Vet1: NO!

Vet2: Are you freakin' kidding?

Vet3 just gives me a don't-even-think-about-it look, while Vet4 runs screaming from the room.

Luckily, I have mostly new players these days. In fact, one of them is actually buying EtCR for me to run. *joy*

 

[Cthulhudrew]

You can go a long way with what amount to zero-level templates. Let something talk when it's not supposed to. Put a human face on an animal. Change a creature from nocturnal to diurnal, etc.

I had a Wild Hunt of magically enthralled humanoids attack a town in one low-level adventure once, where I had determined that the artifact compelling their rage also bolstered their strength. Scared the crap out of the party when their monk scored a critical on a lowly goblin, only to have the thing leer viciously back at him. It died the next round (I figured even with a boost in strength, well, it was a lot of damage), but still freaked the heck out of them, and made them a lot more wary of what was going on.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Gotta agree, a non-save situation is NOT a situation. If there is no recourse for the player, why is there even a situation? You might as well narrate the character's death in the scene where there was a resolution mechanic that lead to the demise.

Robbing a player character of choice or recourse sucks.

Anybody read Perdido Street Station? ... :\

There is always a recourse for the player. Run away - which, to be honest, is a staple of horror, more so than slaying every undead you run across, range attacks, spells, maybe not opening every coffin in the basement of castle Ravenloft just for kicks?

This thread is resembling the lever thread, so I'll bow out now, and maybe it'll get back on track.

 

[TerraDave]

On the whole level draining thing: in the original, the party could just get hammered,(the wights below the castle stand out in my mind for some reason) but it also had mulitple ways to restore the damage. Including at least one (ring of?) wish(es).

It also had a deck of many things, but that is another story...good times...good times...

 

[Felon]

No saves are not a gimmick. A non save situation is not screwing the players, any save at all is a gift from the gods, and is in no way required, or at least it didn't use to be. I suppose I should whine if my character dives head first into an active volcano b=ecause I don't get a save? I don't believe Gollum got one.

Your replies go a long way towards indicating the self-indulgent DM'ing style you advocate, particularly that you bandy about the word "whine" to describe any criticisim. The DM can take his players for granted and make consequences outweigh any rewards by a huge margin. Any objection on the players' part that this isn't fun for them is dismissed as "whining", and when they ultimately vote with their feet the DM tells himself they lacked the right stuff--they weren't "heroic" enough to endure the abuse.

There is always a recourse for the player. Run away - which, to be honest, is a staple of horror, more so than slaying every undead you run across, range attacks, spells, maybe not opening every coffin in the basement of castle Ravenloft just for kicks?

Yeah, a whole lot gets accomplished by players running away from encounters...the adventure either ends, or the DM has to railroad them back into it. Man, it seems you place way too much value on players feeling powerless.

Helsing pursues Dracula, not the other way around, and does his damnedest to slay every undead he ran across and opened every coffin. Running away is a staple of horror for victims, not the heroes.

Of course, it's also worth adding that level-draining is a pretty artificial mechanic anyway. There's not a lot of literary basis for vampires draining away life energy with a "slam" attack.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Your replies go a long way towards indicating the self-indulgent DM'ing style you advocate, particularly that you bandy about the word "whine" to describe any criticisim. The DM can take his players for granted and make consequences outweigh any rewards by a huge margin. Any objection on the players' part that this isn't fun for them is dismissed as "whining", and when they ultimately vote with their feet the DM tells himself they lacked the right stuff--they weren't "heroic" enough to endure the abuse.


Yeah, a whole lot gets accomplished by players running away from encounters...the adventure either ends, or the DM has to railroad them back into it. Man, it seems you place way too much value on players feeling powerless.

Helsing pursues Dracula, not the other way around, and does his damnedest to slay every undead he ran across and opened every coffin. Running away is a staple of horror for victims, not the heroes.

Of course, it's also worth adding that level-draining is a pretty artificial mechanic anyway. There's not a lot of literary basis for vampires draining away life energy with a "slam" attack.

When I think of D&D, Van Helsing doesn't come to mind. I think of Aragorn, Fafrid, Sir Galahad, Conan, all of which ran away from an encounter or two. Helsing is better represented by the superhero genre.

Also, I've rarely had anyone "vote with their feet" in my game. And for what it's worth, I prefer the old level drain mechanic as a player as well as as a dm.

Regardless, I'll agree to disagree, as it seems we have way different ideas on what D&D should be. Otherwise this is just going to lead to hard feelings and bad tempers. At least on my part.

 

[Klaus]

Helsing as in Abraham Van Helsing, as in Bram Stoker. The vampire slayers respect Dracula's power, but the vampire knows they might be able to kill him.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

If this version doesn't force at least one death by wolves before even getting to the village of Barovia, it isn't really Ravenloft.

I've lost more characters -- and killed more PCs as DM -- in the original I6 than in any other adventure. Usually one to two PCs (including my own on at least one occasion) have been killed by worgs enroute to Barovia, every time I run it.

 

[Treebore]

It's not defensiveness, it's aggrivation that there are folks out there who think this way.

You want the threat of some virtually irrevocable consequence to send a ripple of fear through characters? No harm no foul there. Many folks think restorative magic is a little too easy to come by in 3e. That you think it should be induced by minor rank-and-file monsters with a straight attack roll and allow no save, that's rather bizarre, but not exactly infuriating.

That you'll go so far as to claim that such a BS gimmick must be at a DM's disposal in order to make for a scary encounter, that it's "very, very hard" to make for players to be creeped out without them--well, that's pretty outrageous.

Yeah, I hate games that screw you over no matter what. Realism sucks! I sure wish real life allowed you a save for everything. Realism has no place in making a fantasy game scary.