Helldritch
Hero
Here is my take on VRGtR.
Through your read, keep in mind the following: “I consider every gamers’ points of view. Young and Old. Traditionalists and Modernists alike.”
Part 1 Lineages
Although I much prefer “races” I don’t mind the new lineage as I still consider it “optional”, the floating +2/+1 will be fixed (arbitrarily) for each lineage.
Dhampir: What is that? Don’t care and this should have been an NPC option. Ravenloft is about mortals and mainly human characters facing monsters, not being a monster yourself. And again, we have another lineage with dark vision. In a Ravenloft game, the dark should be scary and avoided at all costs. I do understand the fun in playing a Blade like character but still… In other settings, this lineage is as good as any, depending on the setting and the table.
Hexblood: Again, just like the Dhampir. A no go for me in Ravenloft, but in other setting it would do the trick. The main problem is that their powers come from the Hags. I know of no one that will freely gives that kind of powers for free without a heavy costs at some further point in time. The transformation into a Hag should not be something that the character has a say. Just like the warlock is beholden to a patron, the Hexblood is beholden to the Hag that gave the powers. At some point, the hags will ask for a payback and the character will become a hag. Consequences matter in many games. This lineage is best left for one shot campaigns but not for long ones. Ho and again, dark vision…
The Reborn: Now this is the gem of the lineage. This one is great in Ravenloft and even better in any other settings/campaigns. In fact, a whole group of this can spring a lot of surprises and plot twists. You awake in an abandoned laboratory, you remember dying at the hands of… other like you are also waking up on a stone slab like yours…
Part Two: The Dark Gifts
The Dark Gifts are the second best thing in the book. Of limited use in general campaign but still with a bit of twisting these could even be incorporated into other settings. Instead of mist walking why not say “planes’ walking”? These can open up so many possibilities, good and bad (the last in a fun sense). I especially like Symbiote and Watchers but they are all great! If anything, I would have liked to have had a bit more of them.
Part Three: The classes. (Or should I say subclasses?)
The College of Spirit
The college of spirit is meh… I could have had done without that one. A bard is an entertainer, if anything, I would have prefer to have seen a rogue with some of these powers. A half caster with these little powers would have liven up the rogue class (at la :Midnight Texas if you get what I mean). Again, bards are entertainers, not spiritualists… Don’t get me wrong, I love bards but this subclass do not fit them.
Warlock: The Undead
We had the undying in the SCaG, it seems that Liches and other immoral… Immortals are competing against each other for the attention of the warlock class. Although the subclass in itself is ok. I feel that something else could have been done. Warlock of the Dark Power?
Part 4 The Backgrounds
Again the third best thing in the book. These are really nice. Especially the Horror ones. The Haunted one is simply a reprint but the investigator is actually something good and versatile enough to be incorporated into any campaign. Everything in that section is usable, generic enough that it can be used in any campaign and specific enough that it can enhance the Ravenloft experience. The trinket section is ok, I guess…
Part 5, Creating Domains of Dread
This is the best of the best. This will help a lot of DM (even myself) to make domains but even create better villains. Everything in that section is useful. This section is the real gem of the book. And yet, it only goes from page 39 to 60. A bit more of this would have been welcome as Disaster, Occult, Psychological and Slasher horror could have benefited from the same treatment the other genres received. But again, this is really a great read, source and inspiration part. Just this would be worth the entire book along with its contender…
Part 5 The Domains of Ravenloft
This part is ok. Some of the treatment and gender swapping of some Dark Lords get on my nerves but still… This part is ok but barely for the following reasons.
Maps are too small. Not everyone have access to internet or printers and the maps could have been bigger for ease of play. Or a folded detachable folded map could have been made. With a 113 pages, this section is way too short for my tastes. It makes a scant overview of some of the domains and an extremely short descriptions of a few others. Still, this will be useful but a DM will have a lot of work ahead of him/her as not everything is covered and a lot is to guess (unless you have the old books…) and here I don’t talk about NPC stats but more about better descriptions and political intrigues, motivations etc…
The important NPC section is strangely too developed for my tastes, some page count could have been removed from these to better describe the domains… This section could easily have had double the current page count.
Part 6 The recommendations and how to run horror adventures…
Not a bad part, but it does not get far enough in the horror genre. The only needed advice is if your players are ready to play in a horror game, discuss the implications but at the same time, do not over do it. Know your players and do not cross their line. In these simple lines, I have resumed quite a big body of text. And at the same time, it still does not get far enough in the horror genre. The only real good things in here are the haunted traps and the Survivor character options.
Part 7 The House of Lament
This is a big contender for the Best of the best part of the book. This is one of the best adventure I have seen in a long time in the Ravenloft setting. It is on par with CoS (but will run way faster). A really good adventure with a lot to do and to miss.
And Finally, the Monsters of Ravenloft
The fourth best thing in the book. No complain save that monsters do not have alignment but that is a pet peeve of mine and it should not deter anyone from using the monsters.
Final words
VRGtR is a very good book but it does not go far enough. We had no need of additional subclasses and lineages at this point in time. The page count for these would have been better used in other areas of the book.
This is supposed to be a horror setting but it is really hard to get afraid of a werewolf when your character has 100 hp, a magical sword and cantrips to affect it. I would have liked to see optional rules for making monsters stronger such as a werewolf is immune to all damage save those coming from silvered weapon. Magic and magic weapons do only half damage etc… Imagine the horror on the face of your player when his magical two handed sword does almost nothing and the wizards’ fire bolt spell barely does anything to the werewolf. But we have magic! Would they scream. Or that on a successful hit, an undead doing necrotic damage heals itself of the same amount of damage. So many rules could have been incorporated instead of new lineages and subclasses.
Again, Ravenloft is about horror and horror is about fear. I do not 15 pages telling me that horror can be unsettling for some people. Put a warning on the cover. Mature Audience Only! I am old enough to judge by myself what is good or bad for my campaign and so are my players. Heck, even teenagers are able to judge by themselves. A rating of 13 is on most horror movies. Put that on the book and go on. This page count would help in putting even more good stuff in the book.
Do I like the book. Yes. But it could have gone much much farther that it did.
Through your read, keep in mind the following: “I consider every gamers’ points of view. Young and Old. Traditionalists and Modernists alike.”
Part 1 Lineages
Although I much prefer “races” I don’t mind the new lineage as I still consider it “optional”, the floating +2/+1 will be fixed (arbitrarily) for each lineage.
Dhampir: What is that? Don’t care and this should have been an NPC option. Ravenloft is about mortals and mainly human characters facing monsters, not being a monster yourself. And again, we have another lineage with dark vision. In a Ravenloft game, the dark should be scary and avoided at all costs. I do understand the fun in playing a Blade like character but still… In other settings, this lineage is as good as any, depending on the setting and the table.
Hexblood: Again, just like the Dhampir. A no go for me in Ravenloft, but in other setting it would do the trick. The main problem is that their powers come from the Hags. I know of no one that will freely gives that kind of powers for free without a heavy costs at some further point in time. The transformation into a Hag should not be something that the character has a say. Just like the warlock is beholden to a patron, the Hexblood is beholden to the Hag that gave the powers. At some point, the hags will ask for a payback and the character will become a hag. Consequences matter in many games. This lineage is best left for one shot campaigns but not for long ones. Ho and again, dark vision…
The Reborn: Now this is the gem of the lineage. This one is great in Ravenloft and even better in any other settings/campaigns. In fact, a whole group of this can spring a lot of surprises and plot twists. You awake in an abandoned laboratory, you remember dying at the hands of… other like you are also waking up on a stone slab like yours…
Part Two: The Dark Gifts
The Dark Gifts are the second best thing in the book. Of limited use in general campaign but still with a bit of twisting these could even be incorporated into other settings. Instead of mist walking why not say “planes’ walking”? These can open up so many possibilities, good and bad (the last in a fun sense). I especially like Symbiote and Watchers but they are all great! If anything, I would have liked to have had a bit more of them.
Part Three: The classes. (Or should I say subclasses?)
The College of Spirit
The college of spirit is meh… I could have had done without that one. A bard is an entertainer, if anything, I would have prefer to have seen a rogue with some of these powers. A half caster with these little powers would have liven up the rogue class (at la :Midnight Texas if you get what I mean). Again, bards are entertainers, not spiritualists… Don’t get me wrong, I love bards but this subclass do not fit them.
Warlock: The Undead
We had the undying in the SCaG, it seems that Liches and other immoral… Immortals are competing against each other for the attention of the warlock class. Although the subclass in itself is ok. I feel that something else could have been done. Warlock of the Dark Power?
Part 4 The Backgrounds
Again the third best thing in the book. These are really nice. Especially the Horror ones. The Haunted one is simply a reprint but the investigator is actually something good and versatile enough to be incorporated into any campaign. Everything in that section is usable, generic enough that it can be used in any campaign and specific enough that it can enhance the Ravenloft experience. The trinket section is ok, I guess…
Part 5, Creating Domains of Dread
This is the best of the best. This will help a lot of DM (even myself) to make domains but even create better villains. Everything in that section is useful. This section is the real gem of the book. And yet, it only goes from page 39 to 60. A bit more of this would have been welcome as Disaster, Occult, Psychological and Slasher horror could have benefited from the same treatment the other genres received. But again, this is really a great read, source and inspiration part. Just this would be worth the entire book along with its contender…
Part 5 The Domains of Ravenloft
This part is ok. Some of the treatment and gender swapping of some Dark Lords get on my nerves but still… This part is ok but barely for the following reasons.
Maps are too small. Not everyone have access to internet or printers and the maps could have been bigger for ease of play. Or a folded detachable folded map could have been made. With a 113 pages, this section is way too short for my tastes. It makes a scant overview of some of the domains and an extremely short descriptions of a few others. Still, this will be useful but a DM will have a lot of work ahead of him/her as not everything is covered and a lot is to guess (unless you have the old books…) and here I don’t talk about NPC stats but more about better descriptions and political intrigues, motivations etc…
The important NPC section is strangely too developed for my tastes, some page count could have been removed from these to better describe the domains… This section could easily have had double the current page count.
Part 6 The recommendations and how to run horror adventures…
Not a bad part, but it does not get far enough in the horror genre. The only needed advice is if your players are ready to play in a horror game, discuss the implications but at the same time, do not over do it. Know your players and do not cross their line. In these simple lines, I have resumed quite a big body of text. And at the same time, it still does not get far enough in the horror genre. The only real good things in here are the haunted traps and the Survivor character options.
Part 7 The House of Lament
This is a big contender for the Best of the best part of the book. This is one of the best adventure I have seen in a long time in the Ravenloft setting. It is on par with CoS (but will run way faster). A really good adventure with a lot to do and to miss.
And Finally, the Monsters of Ravenloft
The fourth best thing in the book. No complain save that monsters do not have alignment but that is a pet peeve of mine and it should not deter anyone from using the monsters.
Final words
VRGtR is a very good book but it does not go far enough. We had no need of additional subclasses and lineages at this point in time. The page count for these would have been better used in other areas of the book.
This is supposed to be a horror setting but it is really hard to get afraid of a werewolf when your character has 100 hp, a magical sword and cantrips to affect it. I would have liked to see optional rules for making monsters stronger such as a werewolf is immune to all damage save those coming from silvered weapon. Magic and magic weapons do only half damage etc… Imagine the horror on the face of your player when his magical two handed sword does almost nothing and the wizards’ fire bolt spell barely does anything to the werewolf. But we have magic! Would they scream. Or that on a successful hit, an undead doing necrotic damage heals itself of the same amount of damage. So many rules could have been incorporated instead of new lineages and subclasses.
Again, Ravenloft is about horror and horror is about fear. I do not 15 pages telling me that horror can be unsettling for some people. Put a warning on the cover. Mature Audience Only! I am old enough to judge by myself what is good or bad for my campaign and so are my players. Heck, even teenagers are able to judge by themselves. A rating of 13 is on most horror movies. Put that on the book and go on. This page count would help in putting even more good stuff in the book.
Do I like the book. Yes. But it could have gone much much farther that it did.
