Ravenloft -- Thoughts?

[Azaar]

I posted this on the WotC forum boards, and it unfortunately immediately degenerated into a bunch of bickering over White Wolf distributing the Sword & Sorcery label. Hopefully here I'll have better luck.

I recently acquired the 3E Core Rulebook from S&S for the Ravenloft campaign setting. I'm wanting to know, however, what people think of the campaign setting as a whole (so everyone who's played 2nd edition AD&D Ravenloft is encouraged to give their input as well). I'm hoping to eventually try it out, albeit as a surprise twist to a campaign, but I want to know what your experiences have been with the setting.

 

[Quickbeam]

Let me qualify the following comments, by stating that I've never played Ravenloft with 3e rules, just 2nd edition.

That said, our group enjoyed Ravenloft...for about two months of gaming. Thereafter it seemd very droll, tedious, and uninteresting. The guy who DMed that campaign is one of the best DM's I've ever played with, and even he couldn't keep Ravenloft's world fresh and exciting for us.

*shrugs*

Maybe it was our group and our personal biases; perhaps I'm not fairly assessing the DM's skill with Ravenloft; maybe time has tainted my memory a bit. But IMO, Ravenloft was just too dark and repetitive to hold our interest for any length of time. I hope your experience with it is more rewarding than my own, and I'm sure you'll receive a number of responses praising its merits. Good luck!

 

[RogueJK]

Ravenloft is one of my personal favorites. It's interesting, deep, and, most of all, a change from the "happy-go-lucky" attitude of most D&D games. It presents many more chances for good roleplaying than most D&D campaigns.

That said, not many DMs that I know can pull this type of game off. The most important aspect of Ravenloft is the atmosphere, and it is up to the DM to portray this. When it's done right, Ravenloft is incredible. Done poorly, and it can be downright boring. The setting is very DM-intensive, and it requires a fairly experienced DM to do it justice. It's easy for it to degenerate into yet another monster-bashing opportunity, when it could have been so much more.

People also tend to dislike the overwhelmingly evil aspect of the setting. In Ravenloft, most of the time the good guys lose. This can cause some players to lose interest and feel frustrated. Again, if handled properly, this shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck if you decide to go with it. It can be one heck of a ride. The setting is extremely detailed, so you may want to pick up some of the 2nd edition Ravenloft books. I recommend Domains of Dread. It should have everything that you will need.

Secrets of the Kargatane, the official Ravenloft website, has lots of interesting information. It can be found at http://www.kargatane.com/

 

[7thlvlDM]

Ravenloft is one of my favorite settings. I've never found it repetative, since each domain is unique and there are quite a few. I generally run mystery adventures set in Ravenloft, and they're probably less dark than what most would expect. The current one centers around a character playing the long lost nephew of Rudolph Van Richten, the famous author and monster hunter. Van Richten is said to be dead by most sources, but that doesn't stop this character from searching for him. In a way, I modelled this campaign after the X-files (Mulder searching for his sister and encountering new weirdness each episode). A good resource for all things Ravenloft is kargatane.com. Some 2nd edition Ravenloft products I would recommend are Castles Forlorn, Carnival, and Children of the Night: The Created. Hope this helps, have fun!

-7th

 

[Fyrie]

I ran a 1 - 1.5 year Ravenloft campaign playing 1-2 nights a week. I was able to keep it interesting until the last 1 or 2 months. The setting itself is fairly onesided, but that one side offers a lot. The trick is you really need to make the setting a backdrop or constant, and then play the characters off each other for long periods of time, with a lot of little things having major consequences. Ravenloft, as a setting, really often mentally pits the player against him/herself and against the party.

 

[Altalazar]

I love Ravenloft, but it can be tricky to run, and even the best DM can't pull it off without the cooperation of the players.

I think one element that needs to be mixed in is somewhat Cthuluesque - like ward magic, as was mentioned in another post. Elder signs that keep out the nasties - but only in a very limited area. Things like that.

It is all about the mood. It is all about the characters. It is a very different sort of game than normal D&D. It is about a classic struggle between a weak good and an all encompasing darkness. It is about the life between the cracks of unspeakable evil.

I think the best way to start off would be to have a less combat oriented group. And lower points for stats. Like 22 or 24. Ravenloft is ultimately beyond the power of PCs anyway, so if you start it like that, then you don't need to have ridiculous monsters to make it so. Then even a commoner with a pitchfork can seem a threat, though that can be done even with more powerful characters.

I myself wonder how best to achieve the best Ravenloft mood. I'd love to run it again sometime.

 

[Quickbeam]

In checking back, I'm glad to see the difference in opinion that I expected would crop up. Perhaps Altalazar puts it best, in saying it's all about the mood. We don't need a "happy-go-lucky" world, and our campaigns are not high-powered at all, but the mood during our sessions is generally thoughtful, cooperative and light. Ravenloft seems overly dark and depressing to me...but I'm sure that many gamers find it to be extraordinary, different, and challenging.

Maybe somewhere down the line I'll find a chance to give this unique world another shot, but for now bring on the RttToEE!!

 

[Nightfall]

My thoughts

The Domains of Dread: Nice place to visit but I'm glad I don't live there!

 

[Azaar]

Anyone else have any thoughts about Ravenloft, or experiences they'd like to share?

 

[Crothian]

We found Ravenloft was best to dabble in. We would havea fantasy campaign set somewhere else and sometime, without the characters knowing ahead of time, the DM would take us to Ravenloft for an adventure or three. Or always causght us off gaurd. The dread and horror were fresh because the characters kept it fresh.