D&D General The thread where I review a ton of Ravenloft modules

[Paul Farquhar]

Curiously, though, none of those modules gives you an actual reason to go to the castle

Inadvisable visits to a castle is a common (and often parodied) Gothic Horror trope.

Actually, an awful lot of horror depends on the protagonist doing something really stupid. Maybe in horror D&D Inspirations or XP should be awarded every time the players make a stupid decision?

I believe Castles Forlorn was inspired by The Castle of Otranto, one of the original Gothic novels (and the origin of the name).

 

[TiQuinn]

Inadvisable visits to a castle is a common (and often parodied) Gothic Horror trope.

Actually, an awful lot of horror depends on the protagonist doing something really stupid. Maybe in horror D&D Inspirations or XP should be awarded every time the players make a stupid decision?

That is actually not a bad idea! I mean, 2nd edition was rewarding XP for monster killing, and optionally treasure and both of those are less in keeping with Ravenloft than being the person who walks into a dark basement saying “Who goes there?”

 

[Paul Farquhar]

That is actually not a bad idea! I mean, 2nd edition was rewarding XP for monster killing, and optionally treasure and both of those are less in keeping with Ravenloft than being the person who walks into a dark basement saying “Who goes there?”

Bonus if you are down to your last torch.

 

[Tonguez]

I really like Castles Forlorn, though it is a bit of work and has no real goal (other than maybe rescue the Vistani boy) or explore the castle and try and find your party members across time . The relatively free roaming sandbox approach might be a good thing after the railroads of Gryphon Hill though.

Also to be fair Castles Forlorn was produced as a Box Set setting with adventure hooks rather than an adventure module so in that Lisa Smedman did a remarkable job with the shtick of the castles history being explored across 3 time periods (including colour coded maps!) and apBlancs revenge expanding out to blight the wider wilderness of the Domain.

@Paul Farquhar I didnt pick up The Castle of Otranto, inspiration (probably because of the Scots setting) but that does make sense, and now I wish they had included a giant suit if armour in Forlon, or made it less celtic - afterall Aggie doesnt do much and the druids …

 

[Paul Farquhar]

@Paul Farquhar I didnt pick up The Castle of Otranto, inspiration (probably because of the Scots setting) but that does make sense, and now I wish they had included a giant suit if armour in Forlon, or made it less celtic - afterall Aggie doesnt do much and the druids …

Horace Walpole was openly inspired by Shakespeare. By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I really like Castles Forlorn, though it is a bit of work and has no real goal (other than maybe rescue the Vistani boy) or explore the castle and try and find your party members across time . The relatively free roaming sandbox approach might be a good thing after the railroads of Gryphon Hill though.

Also to be fair Castles Forlorn was produced as a Box Set setting with adventure hooks rather than an adventure module so in that Lisa Smedman did a remarkable job with the shtick of the castles history being explored across 3 time periods (including colour coded maps!) and apBlancs revenge expanding out to the blight wider wilderness of the Domain.

@Paul Farquhar I didnt pick up The Castle of Otranto, inspiration (probably because of the Scots setting) but that does make sense, and now I wish they had included a giant suit if armour in Forlon, or made it less celtic - afterall Aggie doesnt do much and the druids …

I loved that boxed set. Prior to the release of Castles Forlorn, I found the domain a little hard to game. But that really opened it up for me. Lisa Smedman was great at making modules that had a lot of useable setting elements and content you could pull and repurpose

 

[Bedrockgames]

For those interested there is an interview with Lisa Smedman, the designer of Castles Forlorn HERE. She talks about that project and what the development was like

 

[der_kluge]

That is actually not a bad idea! I mean, 2nd edition was rewarding XP for monster killing, and optionally treasure and both of those are less in keeping with Ravenloft than being the person who walks into a dark basement saying “Who goes there?”

lol - well, I use milestone-based leveling, but certainly awarding inspiration for "bravery" wouldn't be out of the question.

Still, before I run Castles Forlorn, I'll need to figure out an actual plausible reason for the PCs to go journey into that place. I'm wondering if there are any good Dungeon modules that feature druids that I could use to segue from. I'll have to research that...

 

[Bedrockgames]

Actually, an awful lot of horror depends on the protagonist doing something really stupid. Maybe in horror D&D Inspirations or XP should be awarded every time the players make a stupid decision?

In my experience the best way to get players to take these kinds of risks, is make it worth their while: give them reasons to venture into the basement

 

[Remathilis]

I think the Other Domains section is pretty good actually. They have as much detail as many setting books give an nation state. And as you say, many of them are detailed in those adventures. WotC try to keep repetition to a minimum. Although maybe they could have dumped Barovia in this section and detailed a different one, since the Barovia chapter doesn't really add anything to CoS. Have you read the 2nd edition boxed set? The domain descriptions are so boring and repetitious!

I've used the Sea of Souls and Vhage Agency in my current campaign (locating the Isle of the Abbey (GoS) in the Sea of Souls). I was planning on using Cyre 1313, but I'm most likely writing that episode out now.

The Sea of Souls is a good example of a change that reflects contemporary culture. The original version was Moby Dick (+ the historical incident that inspired The Terror). The remake was Pirates of the Caribbean.

I'm sticking the Styes (GoS) in the Sea of Sorrows for that reason.