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

[James Gasik]

Isn't Knight of the Black Rose similar to a Conan meets Dracula story though? Or did I misunderstand, and it's not a crossover between powerful, well-developed characters and more "musclebound monster slayer vs. the ultimate monster"?

 

[Voadam]

Isn't Knight of the Black Rose similar to a Conan meets Dracula story though? Or did I misunderstand, and it's not a crossover between powerful, well-developed characters and more "musclebound monster slayer vs. the ultimate monster"?

More a Frankenstein versus Dracula story I would think. Two Darklords meet and end up clashing, not a PC adventurer type versus a Dark Lord.

Is Conan meets Dracula actually a thing? If so do you have a link, I would be interested in reading Howard's Dracula fan fiction.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Conan would likely find Dracula rises up and kills all his men in the middle of the night after he thought he had dispatched him already.

Conan already killed Cthulhu. I doubt he would consider Dracula much of a threat. Who needs men?

Yes, D&D characters have a lot of power, especially at higher levels

It's not the power, it's the concept. A 1st level barbarian isn't very powerful, but the archetype is Conan, and Conan isn't going to be intimidated by some posh boy who doesn't even drink wine. So he is going to punch him in the face, even if he gets himself killed. If D&D had a lawyer class it might be better able to do gothic protagonists.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Is Conan meets Dracula actually a thing?

It is when I've finished typing...

 

[Bedrockgames]

Conan already killed Cthulhu. I doubt he would consider Dracula much of a threat. Who needs men?

Fair enough lol

It's not the power, it's the concept. A 1st level barbarian isn't very powerful, but the archetype is Conan, and Conan isn't going to be intimidated by some posh boy who doesn't even drink wine. So he is going to punch him in the face, even if he gets himself killed. If D&D had a lawyer class it might be better able to do gothic protagonists.

In Ravenloft Conan learns his limitation though. And if he gets killed, then that is on Conan? I mean, yes, if you have lawyers and more modern classes to fit the 18th and 19th century literary tropes better, sure. But I think you are playing a very different game at that point (Cthulhu by Gaslight might be more fitting, or Masque of the Red Death, or even Orrorsh for TORG). But I think you can still blend these things and maintain the gothic atmosphere. It is just bringing it to D&D (which will work for some people not for others).

 

[Bedrockgames]

More a Frankenstein versus Dracula story I would think. Two Darklords meet and end up clashing, not a PC adventurer type versus a Dark Lord.

Is Conan meets Dracula actually a thing? If so do you have a link, I would be interested in reading Howard's Dracula fan fiction.

This is my favorite Ravenloft novel. James Lowder was in my opinion someone who understood how to make this concept and how to make Ravenloft work. It really could have fallen flat because you are taking D&D's darth vader and making him the protagonist of a novel where he is transported to Ravenloft. This book was also my introduction to Ravenloft and the reason I became curious about it. Prior to reading it, I knew nothing about Strahd. But I knew a lot about Soth, and I remember thinking he was powerful enough to dismiss a mere vampire. The key moment for me was when Soth realized the extent of Strand's power, that he wasn't just some vampire to be pushed aside, that he had a strange connection to the land. That is the kind of moment Ravenloft is built for. And if it can work on Soth, it can work on Conan, or a PC

 

[Echohawk]

Ok, so, looking at my copy of Feast of Goblyns, the back cover says this:

Aha! You must have a second printing of that module, to which the level range was added. It isn't there on mine, and I definitely bought a first print. Presumably the PDF scan was also of a first print. I wasn't aware that it had been reprinted, but since it was the first adventure for the setting that does make sense. Mystery solved!

 

[Echohawk]

Heh this all came up as I was adding my new Feast of Goblyns PDF to my list of modules I own by levels with level ranges and now I see I have it already entered from that 2000 file as levels 4-7. I guess the 2000 file cover image I can no longer access had the level range there.

You are correct. The version available for free download from the WotC archive (still available here) does indeed include the back cover of the second printing.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

But I think you can still blend these things and maintain the gothic atmosphere

Gothic atmosphere is easy, all you need is a fog machine, a few surly peasants and a sound stage in Berkshire. Avoiding parody and being scary, or at least slightly disturbing, is the difficult bit. My approach it to target the players’ fears, rather than the characters. Assume they will play genre-savvy heroes and use it against them.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Gothic atmosphere is easy, all you need is a fog machine, a few surly peasants and a sound stage in Berkshire. Avoiding parody and being scary, or at least slightly disturbing, is the difficult bit. My approach it to target the players’ fears, rather than the characters. Assume they will play genre-savvy heroes and use it against them.

That might be a dividing line. I don't mind things getting campy. I still want the horror but the camp is an important tone for me with it

I don't go for player's fears, though I think that is effective technique if you use it. I tend to focus more on horror as things that should not be, or violate the players sense of what has been going on the entire time. With Ravenloft, what I like, is it lends itself to the slow burn when it comes to that