Expidition to Castle Ravenloft - Spoilers and Answers

[frankthedm]

They were the hint to "Find another way in".

 

[Mangrum]

Regardless, my personal take on the whole argument over whether Soth ever went to Ravenloft is rather close to Christopher Lee's opinion on who would win in a fight between Dracula and Saruman.

 

[Endur]

Well, they were 1e dragons, which means they weren't qiote as horrendous as they would be now. But yeah, kind of overwhelming.

Not quite overwhelming.

They were small statues, the equivalent of gargoyles with a breath weapon. 18 hit points each.

The four of them together were a nasty threat. But not quite overwhelming.

 

[Joël of the FoS]

Actually, Lord Soth never went to Ravenloft. At least not according to Dragonlance canon.

As Mangrum said, and anyway even the official Dragonlance FAQ (at www.dl3e.com) isn't as closed with regards to this question:

1.6) Did Lord Soth go to Ravenloft?
Lord Soth appeared in two Ravenloft novels, and in 2nd edition Ravenloft gaming materials put out by Wizards of the Coast. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, however, maintain that Soth didn't go to Ravenloft. Ultimately, it's up to each individual to make his or her own determination.

So it's not a "was not", or "what if"; but a question of which setting you play. DL hardcore may think for their campaigns he wasn't, Ravenloft fans say he was.

Debating this is indeed moot and fruitless.

Joël

 

[Joël of the FoS]

Cool drawing of Strahd, Klaus!

He's got the mature, noble warrior feel.

Joël

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Regardless, my personal take on the whole argument over whether Soth ever went to Ravenloft is rather close to Christopher Lee's opinion on who would win in a fight between Dracula and Saruman.

Please tell me he's actually offered an opinion on this!

 

[Pants]

Am I the only person who didn't realize that was Strahd on the cover? It looked so much unlike Strahd, I assumed it was someone else.

Yeah....

It's weird that O'Connor's new pic of Strahd seems to have taken its look from that pic of Strahd on Dragon Mag. Personally, I prefer the wrinkly, old looking Strahd to the blue-coated nancy

 

[Swedish Chef]

Not quite overwhelming.

They were small statues, the equivalent of gargoyles with a breath weapon. 18 hit points each.

The four of them together were a nasty threat. But not quite overwhelming.

They've been reduced to just 2 fire-breathing stone dragons now. But they appear to be a bit of a challenge, with claw and bite attacks in addition to their 4d8 fire breath. In the next room beyond are 4 gargoyles that join any battle in the entry, so it makes for a tough fight.

I've been reading through this adventure when I can. I've come to some conclusions:

1) Editing still needs to be done. I'm not able to proof the stat blocks properly, as I don't have all the reference materials used in creating the encounters, but even I noticed some errors.

2) Some of the encounters are KILLER! Far more than the original I6. If anyone plays with even just a wannabe RBDM, they'll never survive this module.

3) I, personally, find the separation of the encounter information from the adventure "fluff" text to be disconcerting at best. The "fluff" text will make a statement along the lines of "Encounter K7 can also include K8-K11, depending on the party's actions." Then you've got to flip to the section of the book that contains Encounter K7 to see how it's run, then read further to see how the other sections may interact with it. Then, after it's all done, you have to flip back to the "fluff" text to find the map for the overall area to see where the characters may go next. Although I like the additional information provided in each encounter, and the idea that all the information is right there on the two page spread, having it separate from the descriptive text takes some getting used to. Ultimately, until I can run this for my group, I can't say for certain if I like the layout.

4) Silly anime-style depiction aside, I still wouldn't want to meet Strahd in a dark alley. Hell, not even a brightly lit alley!

 

[Mangrum]

Please tell me he's actually offered an opinion on this!

Oh, indeed he did, while being interviewed to promote LotR.

"Someone asked me yesterday if Dracula met Saruman and there was a fight who would win. I just looked at this man. What an idiotic thing to say. I mean, really, it was half-witted."

 

[Ripzerai]

We write nothing to say that he did, and WOTC approves it, so that's where it stands. Consider those two Soth books published under the Ravenloft imprint to be well-written "what if?" novels starring a popuiar character.

By that reasoning, since Krynnish gods were given realms in the Great Wheel cosmology in Fiendish Codex I, and WotC approved of it, that's where that stands. You must therefore consider any Dragonlance books that had previously suggested that Krynn has a seperate cosmology to be nothing more than a well-written "what if?" scenario.

I think a more reasonable position, however, is that Dragonlance books determine Dragonlance canon, but don't affect Ravenloft canon, Spelljammer canon, Planescape canon, Core canon, etc. And, of course, the reverse applies in each case. Dragonlance designers weren't given a license to retcon Ravenloft, so from the perspective of the Ravenloft campaign it doesn't matter what Dragonlance designers have to say on the subject. And vice versa. In Dragonlance, Soth never left Krynn. In Ravenloft, he did. And that's where that stands.