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2016/03/29 19:27:48
Subject: Dungeons and Dragons: The Curse of Strahd campaign review.
Hey so I picked this up today. I'm a huge fan of Ravenloft, started my GMing in the old Swords and Sorcery Ravenloft and it is still my favourite, but I ran the 3.5 Return to Castle Ravenloft too.
I'm a big fan of 5th edition and I very much enjoyed the Out of the Abyss campaign they released. So I was very excited with this release!
The book is essentially a remake of the original Ravenloft adventure with a few twists and add ons. If you've played the original, many of the parts of the adventure are the same. In fact, it's even pretty similar to the 3.5 remake.
That's not a bad thing really, as the adventure is a classic for a reason and the castle is lots of fun for players to explore. The 3.5 remake showcased a lot of things that were typical of 3.5 (lots of monsters, very "encounter" focused, very crunchy over all) and this version showcases a lot about 5th. There are not so many encounters, many are avoidable, and the "Encounter Level" is highly variable. Villains motivations are more clear and each villanous NPC is given an Ideal, Bond and Flaw, which is a nice fast way to grok the character for roleplaying. This is much more fun in my view. Sprinkled in with this is a lot of whimsy and the odd joke, which I am also beginning to see as a trait of 5th edition published adventures. It's not a bad thing either. So if you wanted to play Ravenloft converted to 5th edition, this book will fill that need, but I'd argue just picking up the original would do the same thing for a fraction of the price given how easy the conversion is.
If you've never played Ravenloft before, well, it's a classic story. Big bad vampire Strahd wants to turn the local Burgermeister's daughter because he believes she's the reincarnation of his lost love. Cheesy? Yes!
Evil bats and wolves as well as a sprinkling of Undead are his servants, and a band of Totally Not Gypsies We Swear do his bidding in return for protection. He is fascinated by any heroes that enter his realm and invites them to his castle. Said castle is a classic adventure location with lots of gothic horror elements and general spookiness. There's also the realm of barovia to adventure in, which is surrounded by mysterious, life draining mists. It's got everything you'd expect from an adventure focused on vampires and gothic castles, in spades, and it's not a bit embarassed by it. If that sounds good to you, pick it up. If you think that sounds cheesy and overdone, Ravenloft might not be for you. A unique feature of the original was that events in the adventure are randomly deterimined by a Tarot reading at the start, allowing the adventure to have a lot of replayability because it is different every time. This is a cool element and can be a lot of fun to play out. Be nice to have the card deck used in the game though - they tell you how to substitute playing cards, but the cards in the book are cooler. WOTC will probably release it as an overpriced add on.
What's changed? Well, several adventure sites have been added, which the players can explore and use to recruit allies or weaken Strahd. I found these to be a bit lacking compared to the castle which is the main event, but they're there. Some of them also take the goofiness factor up another level to be honest, something that I would probably choose to write differently given the option. Strahd's motivations are explored a little more than in the 3.5 version, and the history is tidied up a bit too.
Cosmologically, they've gone back to Barovia being a Domain of Dread within the Shadowfell, and I think that's cool. I love the Domain of Dread setting that had been built up which was scrapped by WOTC in 3.5, so I'm happy to see it come back in a fairly sensible and portable form. The way it's been built into the cosmology, it will be easy to slot Ravenloft into a "Weekend in Hell" type one off or short mini-campaign for a "Hallowe'en Special", something I know is popular with a lot of GMs.
There are a lot of really cool creepy bits in the adventure - one random encounter is a swarm of undead crawling hands. While fighting them off, one attempts to hide in a player's backpack. Later, it will attempt to strangle them when they are asleep! That's dead creepy whether the player catches the hand (they'll be freaked out by the invasion of their space) or not.
There's also a gorgeous poster map of Barovia which includes every adventure local (including the entire castle!) on the back - very attractively presented and looks easy to use in game. I know the original maps were famous for their innovative 3D elements but also a bit notoriously hard to use, and the 3.5 version certainly stuck to that!
They've done some interesting things with the cosmology which I will put in a spoiler for fellow Ravenloft nerds to chew on. Some will certainly be controversial, including the inclusion of a famous NPC:
Spoiler:
So the first and for me most significant thing they've done is sort of clarify to an extent what the situation with the non-darklord denizens of the Domains of Dread is. It's always been a bit of a metaphysical condundrum - what is the deal with the people who are in each Darklord's prison? Are they real? Extensions of the Mists? Reflections of the villain's sins?
Well, in this version at least, kinda both? A large proportion of NPCs are souless. They're not real people, just an extension of the Dark Powers to create background players for the Darklord's torment. So many of the villagers of Barovia are souless shells. Some true souls do exist however, and these are people with literally more life and spirit to them, who struggle against the darkness in the Domain. These souls are reincarnated randomly over and over, and tend to look similar and follow similar patterns along their lives. Hence the Burgermeister's daughter thing.
While this is a very interesting take on the whole thing, I think they went a little far with it in the adventure. Souless people do not experience emotions in the same way as others, never crying or expriencing intense joy or anger, they experience only dull sorrow and fear. They also dress more drably and look more dull than those with souls. Strahd can tell who is who with a glance, and only the ensouled can be fed upon by him. I think this is a little much. The knowledge is also in the setting (the Vistani know about it) which means players will probably find out, and this could alter their behaviour in all sorts of weird ways which I think are not intended and detract from the tragedy and humanity of the setting. I think it would be more interesting to have the souless be full people, but who do not experience an afterlife. For them, finding out could be a devastating thing. And no one should know which is which until perhaps resurrection magic is used. On the other hand, some groups may enjoy the metaphysical implications more. I thought it was interesting as a Mist-Geek anyhow!
Oh, and souls that die in Barovia cannot escape to their afterlife, so when brought back they suffer a Madness effect! I think that's pretty cool.
Also, the designers included Mordenkainen (!) in the setting?!? He starts as an insane mage in the hills who can attack the party (which would probably wipe out most parties? For real. He's an Archmage.) and then can be recruited as an ally! I think that's pretty dumb. He'd overshadow the players big time, which to me is a big no-no. He also talks about Elminister to the players. I think that's a bit lame! So I'll be changing that if I run this. I expect this will generate a lot of hate and distract from the overall adventure, sadly.
So, verdict? Well, Ravenloft fans are probably gonna get this anyhow, but you will see little here you haven't seen already and sadly it is not a return to the glorious Swords and Sorcery setting (dose Gazetteers tho). It is however a pretty decent adaptation of the original adventure into 5th edition, substantially better than the 3.5 version and has a great tone.
For non-super-fans: If you want a creepy, vampire themed mini campaign with a great location, a bit of D'n'D history updated to the current edition, you could do worse than picking this up.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2016/03/29 20:04:00
Yeah, I ran it in Pathfinder. One thing I found was that the baddies did not stand up well to the power levels of Pathfinder PCs, so I'd recommend beefing them up or limiting the PCs to Core classes only. The PCs I had problems with were Summoner and Gunslinger/Alchemist. A lot of it can be solved by just using the pathfinder versions of monsters or their nearest equivalent, but they do use a lot of weird and wonderful 3.5 monsters that aren't all in PF.
Another simple fix would be to start the players a level or two lower than recommended. I've run a lot of 3.0 and 3.5 adventures in Pathfinder with minimal conversion and found that Pathfinder PCs tend to be level +1 or 2 compared to 3.5 or 3.0 respectively.
You might also want to beef up detection DCs for the secret doors and stuff, because Perception is easier to max out than Spot and Listen and Search used to be. Though equally, players finding hidden stuff is fun so it's not too bad to leave it as is.
All that said, the most important thing is for the players to feel threatened by Strahd. They stat him as a fairly high level necromancer vampire, but he ends up a bit flimsy HP wise compared to the damage output of the average Pathfinder party. I'd recommend at the very least bumping his HP significantly. I'd also re-stat his "combat form" into something a bit scarier. I found a monster that I basically took wholesale and reskinned it as his "combat form" (A sort of werebat hybrid). When I ran it, the Gunslinger just mowed Strahd down most of the time, so I started having him accompanied by minions every time and also casting protection against bullets to reduce the damage dealt.
Edit: Do you play online? Because I have all the maps and stuff done in Maptool.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/03/29 20:55:28
Mordenkainen (Gary Gyax's "avatar") is very familiar with Elminster (Ed Greenwood's "avatar"), the two and another - I believe Dalamar of Dragonlance (I suspect Tracy Hickman's "avatar" - one of the two original designers of Ravenloft); would meet at Ed Greenwood's house for articles of the "Wizard's Three" for Dragon Magazine).
I suspect Mordenkainen is trapped there after having been killed by "Vecna", from the old adventure Vecna Lives. Vecna was, for some time trapped in Ravenloft during the revised Ravenloft boxed set of 2E.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, I would note that if you play Strahd as cunningly as a PC, he is very, very dangerous as is. This isn't "RTFM, noob", but just advice on how I've always run him, and the players HATE me for it (but love the adventure overall, especially when they finally corner Strahd and get him back for all the misery he's dumped on them)
- If Strahd is initiating the attack (and he generally should, unless the PCs catch him in his "special area"), he should never be alone; if at all possible, he should never join the fight and attack from afar, disenganging once his minions are spent. He just isn't going to survive a 4+ vs. 1 fight by himself; hit and fade attacks suit him best instead of a straight-up fight (though usually he can take on a lone, unprepared PC).
- He doesn't need to sleep or rest; when the party has too, that is the best time for him to strike. Likewise, he can use hit and fade attacks to disrupt the character's ability to recover hp, spells or abilities. As a vampire, he can attack, withdraw and regenerate and come back again in short order. Have no regrets for him fleeing the battle or have him appear in the party's line of sight and vanish before they can strike. He can do a lot of damage to morale this way, tricking PCs into making a mistake he can capitalize on later.
- Lone PCs are prime targets for his ability to charm them and then either betray, misguide, misinform even steal valuable items from other party members. Same goes for Strahd's allies/slaves in the castle or town.
- Use the environment to Strahd's advantage. He knows the castle and surrounding area intricately and can lure characters into deadends, pitfalls, traps, narrow gorges and the like that hurt or hamper the PCs even before he makes his first attack. (My favorite was the time the party decided to bolt themselves in the basement of the burgomaster's house by stacking furniture against the door. Strahd entered the room in mist form, dropped a cloudkill, then misted out. Half the party died trying to unblock the door to get out...)
- Best time for Strahd to attack is when the PCs are in the middle of another encounter. Hit the PC whose is the farthest from the rest of the party first (usually the squishy mage or rogue).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/03/31 20:47:11
It never ends well
2016/04/19 15:24:59
Subject: Dungeons and Dragons: The Curse of Strahd campaign review.
Mordenkainen (Gary Gyax's "avatar") is very familiar with Elminster (Ed Greenwood's "avatar"), the two and another - I believe Dalamar of Dragonlance (I suspect Tracy Hickman's "avatar" - one of the two original designers of Ravenloft); would meet at Ed Greenwood's house for articles of the "Wizard's Three" for Dragon Magazine).
I suspect Mordenkainen is trapped there after having been killed by "Vecna", from the old adventure Vecna Lives. Vecna was, for some time trapped in Ravenloft during the revised Ravenloft boxed set of 2E.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, I would note that if you play Strahd as cunningly as a PC, he is very, very dangerous as is. This isn't "RTFM, noob", but just advice on how I've always run him, and the players HATE me for it (but love the adventure overall, especially when they finally corner Strahd and get him back for all the misery he's dumped on them)
- If Strahd is initiating the attack (and he generally should, unless the PCs catch him in his "special area"), he should never be alone; if at all possible, he should never join the fight and attack from afar, disenganging once his minions are spent. He just isn't going to survive a 4+ vs. 1 fight by himself; hit and fade attacks suit him best instead of a straight-up fight (though usually he can take on a lone, unprepared PC).
- He doesn't need to sleep or rest; when the party has too, that is the best time for him to strike. Likewise, he can use hit and fade attacks to disrupt the character's ability to recover hp, spells or abilities. As a vampire, he can attack, withdraw and regenerate and come back again in short order. Have no regrets for him fleeing the battle or have him appear in the party's line of sight and vanish before they can strike. He can do a lot of damage to morale this way, tricking PCs into making a mistake he can capitalize on later.
- Lone PCs are prime targets for his ability to charm them and then either betray, misguide, misinform even steal valuable items from other party members. Same goes for Strahd's allies/slaves in the castle or town.
- Use the environment to Strahd's advantage. He knows the castle and surrounding area intricately and can lure characters into deadends, pitfalls, traps, narrow gorges and the like that hurt or hamper the PCs even before he makes his first attack. (My favorite was the time the party decided to bolt themselves in the basement of the burgomaster's house by stacking furniture against the door. Strahd entered the room in mist form, dropped a cloudkill, then misted out. Half the party died trying to unblock the door to get out...)
- Best time for Strahd to attack is when the PCs are in the middle of another encounter. Hit the PC whose is the farthest from the rest of the party first (usually the squishy mage or rogue).
This. If you play him as a dumb NPC, Strahd will die handily. However, if you play him as the Vampire Lord he is using all the tricks above, he becomes extremely deadly, attacking the party at their weakest moment and being nigh unkillable unless they catch him alone.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/04/19 15:26:14
I dunno, I think I played him pretty intelligently but a tricked out party with a good understanding of tactics and how their characters work will do pretty well against him regardless, especially if they spec for vampire hunting or mage disruption. YMMV of course! I found he needed to be beefed up a bit to be a threat, but I often find that with single villains in 3.5 as it's easy for players to dogpile them.
On the adventure though, I mean I enjoyed it. I think it was worth what I paid for it. It's got a lot of cool moments and stuff. I think it's worth getting the PDF version.
The above review was for the D&D RPG, but the board game is cool too.
Someone above asked about the 3.5 version of Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. I really liked the 3.5 version. It build up the village of Barovia beyond what was in the original module. It also made some outdoors encounters necessary to the overall plot (the three important encounters were pretty cool).
~1.5k
