I6 Ravenloft - Your Thoughts

[amerigoV]

The best castle dungeon ever published it does many things well. However it does two very bad things, which need to be fixed by anyone running it.

1. It imprisons the players in a virtually ally-absent demiplane with no hope of escape except by succeeding against its ruler.
2. That nemesis is completely overpowered compared to the rest of the adventure. Level 10 PCs for Strahd, not 5-7.

Rewriting Strahd and dropping the demiplane schtick are the keys to the easy solution. However, dropping the demiplane and increasing the difficulty of the castle and vastly enlarging the ruled county / vampire's territory would make the adventure more campaign defining and no then rewrite for Strahd would be needed.

I disagree with this - a classic trope of horror is isolation against something powerful. Strahd is supposed to be someone that is not easily dealt with - so you can and should run, but you cannot run far. Eventually, you will have to figure out how to beat him. Removing both of those pretty much makes it a run-of-the-mill module IMO.

 

[billd91]

I disagree with this - a classic trope of horror is isolation against something powerful. Strahd is supposed to be someone that is not easily dealt with - so you can and should run, but you cannot run far. Eventually, you will have to figure out how to beat him. Removing both of those pretty much makes it a run-of-the-mill module IMO.

I don't think it would be "run-of-the-mill". It would still be too well constructed for that. However, I think you're right about isolation and an extremely powerful enemy being elements that enhance the classic horror-ness of I6.

 

[Celebrim]

It's straight up the best published adventure of all time.

It features the best dungeon map ever published - uncontested even after all these years.

It has brilliant atmospherics.

It has a proactive reoccurring villain with the motivation to interact with the characters in more complex ways than simply kill them.

It offers opportunity to customize the plot to suit the nature of the PCs.

It has awesome encounter design. A large percentage of the dungeon is designed to separate, isolate and confuse the party. There are all sorts of encounters where you can insert Strahd for dramatic effect. There are lots of NPCs, traps, dangers, puzzles, and really great use of vertical space and the environment.

If I had one problem with the module is that it is INSANELY lethal. You've heard of a dungeon called 'Tomb of Horrors'. That's a cake walk compared to Ravenloft. If you play Strahd straight up against a party of the recommended level, they can't win. They end up in a death spiral where Strahd employs hit and run tactics to drain levels from the party until they are absolutely helpless. Even if you remove Strahd's energy drain attacks, the Castle itself will quickly murder a party of 5-6 6th level characters without remorse or mercy. Bump up the suggested levels from 5-7 to 6-8, and probably replace Strahd's energy drain attack with a blood drain attack unless the players are really experienced.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Fantastic module. Most of the reasons have been mentioned, but that won't stop me from reiterating:

- Beautiful, wonderful maps. The castle is a great 3D dungeon presented exceptionally well.

- A good story underlies the adventure, but does not get in the way. Aside from the opening hook (*ahem* a major weak spot) this adventure does not railroad. The PCs get lots of clues, but it is up to them how to tackle the adventure.

- The adventure is highly dynamic, both in the randomization events that can change motivations but also in the way Strahd is to be played.

- It is challenging, and frightening, and exciting ... all at the same time.

- I've killed or lost more characters to this module more times ... and still had fun.

The sequels, revisits, homages have all tried to do it credit, and have fallen short.