Finally got the new Ravenloft.

[Odhanan]

Expedition to Castle Ravenloft is indeed very nicely done. A great job.

You can invest. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Ripzerai]

The only big thing that bugged me, was the constant reprinting of Strahds stats wherever he MIGHT be. It got tedious after a while, especially given the size of the stat block.

It's as if WotC doesn't believe most D&D players have access to photocopy machines.

 

[Dog Moon]

The only big thing that bugged me, was the constant reprinting of Strahds stats wherever he MIGHT be. It got tedious after a while, especially given the size of the stat block.

Hehe. I didn't think I was the only one. I think there's like 10 pages of the book devoted solely to his stats, though I admit I haven't read it through thoroughly yet.

 

[Treebore]

I think they only reprinted him three times, once as a straight vampire and then once for each of his animal hybrid forms.

I know he wasn't reprinted EVERYWHERE he could appear, but there are three versions of him in 3 different areas that I noticed. Plus somewhere in the first couple of pages they state they did this and why, because his hybrid forms changes things, so they did the differences for you in the relevent (most likely) locations where he would be faced in that form.

If he is statted out in more than three locations I hadn't noticed yet.

 

[Ripzerai]

Plus somewhere in the first couple of pages they state they did this and why, because his hybrid forms changes things, so they did the differences for you in the relevent (most likely) locations where he would be faced in that form.

That's a pretty good reason, actually. Criticism withdrawn.

 

[Endur]

I think they only reprinted him three times, once as a straight vampire and then once for each of his animal hybrid forms.

His stats appear in the book 7 times. The first time it appears, it includes the animal forms. So there are six extra entries besides the animal forms.

A little bit annoying and I woulld have preferred an extra half dozen pages of flavor.

That being said, that's one of the few defects of the book.

The other defect being that WOTC still doesn't know how to correctly calculate hit points ever since they moved to this new method of showing the hit dice in the stat block where they don't use the + modifier for hit dice (i.e. hit dice 6 instead of hit dice 6d12+3 if you have six hit dice plus toughness). I saw at least four places in the book where they messed up hit points, and the error would have been easy for the wotc staff to spot if they had bothered to put the hit dice modifiers in the stat block.

 

[Dog Moon]

That's a pretty good reason, actually. Criticism withdrawn.

Eh. Still bugs me.

 

[Felon]

I think they only reprinted him three times, once as a straight vampire and then once for each of his animal hybrid forms.

Yeah, it's not that big a deal. They essentially wanted to have the party fight Strahd a few times before beating him, while keeping him from turning into a predictable opponent. It was a very smart move, actually.

 

[Cor Azer]

Out of curiosity... how well does Expedition to Castle Ravenloft work with the Sword and Sorcery Studio/Arthaus 3.0/3.5 Ravenloft stuff?

 

[Tharen the Damned]

The other defect being that WOTC still doesn't know how to correctly calculate hit points ever since they moved to this new method of showing the hit dice in the stat block where they don't use the + modifier for hit dice (i.e. hit dice 6 instead of hit dice 6d12+3 if you have six hit dice plus toughness). I saw at least four places in the book where they messed up hit points, and the error would have been easy for the wotc staff to spot if they had bothered to put the hit dice modifiers in the stat block.

Hmm, I wonder if John Cooper will write a review and give the stats a look over.
One of the things that bother me to no end with WOTC products is the bad stat blocks.