Ravenloft: I6 or House of Strahd?

[DarrenGMiller]

Can't compare the two, but I do have a conversion of I6 already done. Help yourself.

Thanks for posting a link to your conversion! These things are like gold to me... they save me SO much work. I like running the classics, like I6, but don't always have time to do the conversions myself. There are so many great old adventures, including many Ravenloft adventures, that do not have conversions posted on ENworld. Now if I can only find a conversion of I8 Ravager of Time... I am planning on using that one in the next year.

DM

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

There's an I6 conversion on the EN World conversion board, too.

 

[Thanee]

Only know and have the original I6, which is pretty cool.

You know there is also a second one, The House on Gryphon Hill (IIRC), which can be used together with the first?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Joël of the FoS]

I prefer the original I6 to the House of Strahd version. The changes in the HoS version strip away some of the soul of the original.

Just curious, what are the changes that made it a different adventure, according to you?

Joël

 

[Shawn_Kehoe]

Gott sei Dank! I was (this week) going to start on this conversion!!!

Shawn, I've read multiple times that RPGNow's TSR scans are horrid. I'd recommend looking for it on e-bay. (I got a decent copy for less than RPGNow).

Really? Hmm. I got the Temple of Elemental Evil and Return to the Tomb of Horrors from SVGames, and they turned out quite nicely. I assumed RPGnow was using the same source. Thanks for the word of caution.

Shawn

 

[devilbat]

I'll add another voice for House of Strahd. The fold up maps are great, and they added more suggestions for tactics used by Strahd. Many of the first edition type encounters (i.e. the already mentioned, two red dragons in a single room) are cleaned up, and as I remember, many of the room descriptions are elaborated on.

Be sure to pick up a copy of Dragon #315 for a very clean copy of the map of Castle Ravenloft and a full page on "Running Strahd" as well as two different 3.5 versions of stat block for him. One keeping the original adventure in mind, and one with a modified and updated version.

 

[Shadowslayer]

Just curious, what are the changes that made it a different adventure, according to you? Joël

I've got both, and really, its the same adventure. They replaced some monsters with others and updated the mechanics, but the adventure itself is exactly the same...you're stuck in Barovia and you have to go to Castle Ravenloft to face Strahd.

Its just a really great dungeon crawl.

Someone asked about House on Gryphon Hill. It proposes a method of running both, but I never really liked it. The idea is to play through I6 as though it is a dream sequence.

 

[Kylearan]

Someone asked about House on Gryphon Hill. It proposes a method of running both, but I never really liked it. The idea is to play through I6 as though it is a dream sequence.

Not necessarily. I10 can also be the dream part. Anyway, I10, The House on Gryphon Hill is available as a classic download on the WotC website, so it's easy to see if you like it. I didn't like it too much, some great ideas, but not nearly as good as I6/HoS.
Uh, and I prefer I6 over HoS, but only because of pure nostalgia. HoS seemed an unnecessary update to me, but it matched the published Ravenloft Campaign Setting much better. And your average party of adventurers has a slight chance of survival, at last.

Whatever you do, play the first scene in a pub with low lighting and a, well, medieval atmosphere. Works every time.

Kylearan

 

[glass]

Just to add to the confusion, as part of the silver anivaersary celebrations, they also released an adventure called simply 'Ravenloft', which was the original I6 with the stats updated to 2e, but not (presumably) the other changes that House of Strahd had.


glass.

 

[Pinotage]

Definitely the original I6. I have both, have played both, and the second is just lousy compared to the first.

Pinotage