Ravenloft -- Thoughts?

[Angelsboi]

Ravenloft ISNT so gothic. I ahve the 3e book and it says that about 85% of the commoners go on about their everyday lives without experiencing a bit of strangeness or horror.

The sun still rises and shines, kids still play in fields. The days are brighter and shorter, the nights are darker and longer. Its a fabulous setting IMHO

 

[purple knight]

I have played Ravenloft under three different DM's and can honestly say that I never enjoyed until the last DM. It is entirely based on the skill of the DM in balancing the horror/fear rules and not letting them ruin the game.

When handled appropriately, the Ravenloft setting has become one of my favorite realms to game in.

 

[Paka]

Fear is the hardest emotion to instill in players.

A little Fugue in B Minor and a little mood lighting and Ravenloft is ready to roll.

I can't imagine running a campaign, sustaining that kind of mood but for a one shot I had alot of fun with Ravenloft.

nail that mood and don't drill the dread in too hard, it will make the players numb after a while. When when to pour it on.

Later,

P-

 

[Altalazar]

One of the things that made my Ravenloft campaign memorable were some little quirks and things that I put into it that weren't strictly speaking, straight out of the rules.

For instance, one of the characters was killed or almost killed and then brought back and they ended up slowly turning into a zombie lord-esque type of being - with dead, decaying skin. This was very disturbing, but led to some interesting role-playing.

Another character went slightly insane - this was 2nd edition, and he actually was a "Jester" out of the theive's handbook. Which made for an interesting contrast in Ravenloft.

Then there was the wizard, who at first level, had one of the most unusual life-paths I've ever seen for a wizard. First, he ended up in single combat against a second or third level fighter somehow (this was years ago, so it is a bit fuzzy). He was alone, there was no one else there to help him. He was using an ordinary dagger. The fighter was using a longsword. And he kicked the fighter's ass! I did not fudge it at all - we both rolled out in the open, and the fighter kept missing and the wizard kept getting natural 20s to hit with his dagger. Later, this same wizard went outside of the (creepy) town and decided to ignore a rather ominous looking "No Fishing" sign. Something you do in Ravenloft at your own peril... he eventually started transforming into a swamp/fish creature, with gills. He was a wizard and ended up using one of his spell slots to research "air breathing" because he no longer could breath air on his own, but he could breathe in water... Eventually everyone started calling the wizard "Aquaman" and that name stuck. So it was still a curse, but they managed to have a rather dark sense of humor about it.

So eventually, most of the group ended up cursed, insane, or otherwise transformed, and the funny thing was, this was not by design when I started the Ravenloft campaign (they were "pulled" into the realms at first level). It made for some interesting role-playing. It made for some rather dark, comic moments - like in one adventure where there is an NPC who is transforming into something horrible, and is afraid to show it to anyone because he'll be called a freak - and in enters the three PCs with varying degrees of transformation - as the NPC is lamenting his fate, the PCs throw off their hoods, showing a crazed jester, a decaying corpse visage, and a fish face, saying "you think YOU have problems? We gotta talk..."

I must say running that Ravenloft campaign was one of the more enjoyable campaigns I've run. But it all depends on the group and how you handle it. Don't lay it on too thick. Even in the darkest of lands, tension can be broken with a bit of macabre humor.

 

[Wombat]

In many ways, I should be a Ravenloft fan, but ultimately I am not.

I love Old School gothic literature -- Goethe, Radcliffe, Lewis, and the like. I like the "decayed" setting material. I love Poe. I listen to old Romantic classical music. An old vampire or, better yet!, ghost story really tickles my fancy.

On the other hand, I have many basic problems with the setting of Ravenloft.

First up, I am not a fan of D&D planes; the notion of a demi-plane I find outside my general tastes just in general. Either it is "reality" or it is not. But more importantly, the concept behind the Demi-Plane of Dread I find ridiculous. If the Dark Lords are there to be punished, why are they given so much authority? They can close down borders, meddle in the affairs of the people of the realms, and generally terrorize others at will, albeit under the problem of never being able to leave their realm.

Equally, why are the people of the realms there? Are they mere constructs (in which case being an adventurer is equivalent to being Rimmer in Red Dwarf) or are they real? If they are real, what did they do to deserve such a punishment? They would all have to be guilty of something less than the horrors of the Dark Lords, but sufficiently heinous to deserve such an address, which ultimately means none of them can be Innocents.

I like the low magic aspect. I like the moral ambiguities. I like the tint of corruption. All of this could lead to good gaming, but ultimately I think Ravenloft works best, not as a whole demi-plane, but as a single country (choose one of the realms) placed in context of a larger campaign. Make it one kingdom (or duchy or whathaveyou) that creates its own rules regarding magic, gods, etc., and then you have something truly creepy.

 

[shadow]

I really like Ravenloft. The irony is that I HATE most gothic horror games. Somehow, Ravenloft is different. That difference is why I like it. The idea of a constantly mutating landscape, false histories (aka Dark City, 13th Floor, or The Matrix), and dark secrets really appeals to me. Plus the many of the domains are really imaginative. The chaotic Nightmare Lands are my favorite.

Unfortunately I hate what White Wolf did to Ravenloft. They essentially turned it into a setting where you have to buy a whole bunch of products to play. The 2e Domains of Dread book (1997) contained essentially everything you needed to play: information on domains, darklords, variant rules, and background. In Ravenloft 3e you have to buy a seperate book for information for every few domains. The darklords aren't even mentioned in the core book. Plus they axed many of my favorite domains.

 

[Davelozzi]

The one Ravenloft campaign that I played in was sub-par. The mood didn't really happen for us so it ended up being pretty much like a regular campaign, except that everyone got sick of undead.

...ultimately I think Ravenloft works best, not as a whole demi-plane, but as a single country (choose one of the realms) placed in context of a larger campaign. Make it one kingdom (or duchy or whathaveyou) that creates its own rules regarding magic, gods, etc., and then you have something truly creepy.

I agree with this. One or more adventures in such a land in an otherwise normal campaign would be great, again assuming the group (both DM & players) was able to get into the mood.

 

[Davelozzi]

Unfortunately I hate what White Wolf did to Ravenloft. They essentially turned it into a setting where you have to buy a whole bunch of products to play.... The darklords aren't even mentioned in the core book. Plus they axed many of my favorite domains.

That's too bad, but from what I know of Scarred Land and what I've heard about the new Gamma World Player's Handbook it sounds like that's WW's established modus operandi.

 

[Voadam]

I've done a lot in ravenloft since the campaign setting came out in 2e.

I like that alignments and the gods are hidden.

I dislike fear and horror mechanics and never make characters roll for them, I try to evoke horror and fear from the mood and pacing of the game. I want the players to feel it, I could care less about the characters.

Do you have the 3.0 campaign setting or the 3.5 palyer's book?

I ran it as sort of a mix of D&D rules with Call of Cthulhu atmosphere except the heros are strong enough to fight the deadly monsters instead of simply running away and dieing. I did use a lot of dark magics and unknown bad powers.

Ravenloft is made by how descriptive the DM is and how in the moment you can get the players.

A dark domain of despair calls out for heros.

Some good 2e things you might want to pick up from rpgnow are the book of crypts for adventure ideas, and Feast of Goblyns a good introductory full adventure for the setting.

Denizens of Dread is a good 3.0 horror themed monster book, better if you are new to Ravenloft because the majority is reprints from 2e.

The secrets of the Dark Realm 3.0 DM's book is fairly poor.

I understand that the gazetteers are pretty good, but I don't own them. I was a bit disappointed by both Heroes of light and their villain sourcebook.

 

[danzig138]

As a DM, I have always enjoyed running Ravenloft, but my players tended to find the setting a little bleak for their tastes. So fi your group doesn't mind a little bleakness, give it a shot. But if they prefer a more light-hearted or optimistic atmosphere, it might not work for you. I do like the idea someone above posted of making a realm in a larger continent. I may look into that for my next GH campaign.