The main drawback is that it's not particularly Gothic in the sense of mists, fog, and European climes. It's distinctly more like the "menace in the jungle" type of adventure, maybe a la Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", or possibly the faintly hostile Caribbean from Jean Rhys' "Wide Sargasso Sea".
For other low level adventures, check out:
- Book of Crypts (this has a series of adventure outlines, several of which are suitable for levels 2 or so - none offhand are level 1 but you can probably tweak that)
- The Created (L2-4)
- Chilling Tales (this is another series of adventure outlines, set after the Grand Conjunction, several of which are level 3 and above. However, I found that most of the adventures involve problem solving rather than combat, so you may be able to scale down the level requirements)
My suggestion is that you still consider running "Night of the Walking Dead". It's very Ravenloftish, with zombies and horror checks and a half-decent investigation element to it. Don't worry about the Grand Conjunction. This is only one verse out of about six or seven, and you can chop, change, and alter the verse order as you see fit. (In fact one suggestion is to run the GC adventures in a different order, going strictly by the level progression. This can lead to interesting results.)
Also, don't feel you have to run the GC adventures sequentially. Years or even decades could pass between the fulfillment of each verse, giving your party time to progress in levels between them. Remember, the main instigator of the Grand Conjunction has plenty of practice in patiently hatching longterm plans! ;)
Remember, the main instigator of the Grand Conjunction has plenty of practice in patiently hatching longterm plans! ;)
Are we talking Azalin (didn't he just take advantage of a natural thing and mess it up?) or Hyskosa and whatever he was up to?
Are we talking Azalin ... or Hyskosa?
Good catch, HPM! I was talking about Azalin, though I suppose he didn't mastermind it so much as exploit it. Hyskosa seems to be more of a mouthpiece for the Dark Powers.
And this is going off on my own tangent for my adventure plan, which is a bit more longterm:
The Third edition retcons Hyskosa as a Dukkar (the Vistani's equivalent of the Antichrist or doombringer). I like that a lot, and I developed that characterization to change him more into a warning soothsayer. He knows he's holding onto a terrible secret and he's trying to get brave souls to avert the Grand Conjunction. I also changed Azalin's involvement to be much greater than the 2nd ed. sources gave him (where he was more of an opportunist observer, as HPM correctly points out). Azalin in my campaign was one of the prime movers in the GC, and I even secreted away little magical items in each GC adventure that has something to do with planar travel or the Demiplane's mist mechanic. Azalin's trying to get the PCs to do his collection work, and the little magical items are helping him bring together the GC.
One of the main problems with the original 6 adventures is that there's very little continuity between them. 5 and 6 are pretty good but 1 through 4 are largely irrelevant. Why do these things lead to the Grand Conjunction? My answer was that each of them allows Azalin to further his research into the nature of the Demiplane by providing him with a magical trinket. So the actual events are not so important... rather, it's these unnoticed tangential acquisitions that will lead the GC to occur. Ironically, by telling the PCs to go out and stop the events, Hyskosa is unwittingly allowing them to gather these powerful magical items all into one place, so Azalin only has to hunt the party down and kill them in 5 to gain access to them.
So on the one hand, you have a hapless Vistani seer who knows something terrible is going to happen, and takes a gamble that by broadcasting news of it, he can find powerful PCs to help forestall or avoid it. On the other hand, you have a ruthlessly efficient and manipulative researcher who realizes he can harness the PCs themselves as gathering devices and gain the stuff he needs to split the Demiplane open.
This also builds into the "incomplete prophecy" motif that I think makes for excellent Greek tragedy (and arguably well for Gothic tragedy too). Telling the PCs that something terrible will happen after Tarascon does something in Souragne (Night of the Walking Dead) is going to make them try to stop it, but the truth is that their own involvement is the catalyst, because they bring back the extra magical item that brings Azalin one step closer to victory.
The items I inserted into the adventures were:
1. Necklace of Ethereality (similar to "The Glass Man" in "Tales of Ravenloft": this magical item shows Azalin some of Hazlik's research and failures, speeding his own research)
2. Crown of Souls (which witnesses the birth - and destruction - of a new domain in "Feast of Goblyns", allowing Azalin to see what creates and dissolves matter in Ravenloft)
3. Scroll of Return (I placed this as a heiroglyph scroll in Ankhtepot's crypt in "Touch of Death")
4. Vistani Mistwalking Potion (obviously important in showing Azalin how the Demiplane's mists work - this can literally be inserted anywhere, although Azalin has difficulty getting Strahd to cooperate in supplying him with some
)5. Styrix's Rift Spanner (this is intended to pierce the Demiplane, but is largely immobile so inserting it into an adventure is very hard. I recast "Ship of Horror" slightly so it launches from Martira Bay, where Styrix the Night Hag lives. You could easily relocate Styrix to Nevuchar Springs however.)
6. Holy Symbol of Ravenkind and Icon of Ravenloft (these already make an appearance in "From the Shadows" and "Roots of Evil" and they are clearly central to Barovia and thus to the Demiplane's formation).
Hope that helps!
Also in DT&DL there is the Curse of Ashington Manor that I used and adapted to 3rd lvl quite easily as a starting adventure. But the CofAM may be a little too long in span if this is just a start up game.
Uh quite possibly if you plan to continue with the party there are other's I can advise on or if you want I can mail you with an adapted adventure that I will work on with you. I have a lot of free time and am willing to help. Just get back to me on the board's and I will check at least once a day on most day's.
Anyway just let me know and good luck with introducing the group all the same... Cap-G
Uh quite possibly if you plan to continue with the party there are other's I can advise on or if you want I can mail you with an adapted adventure that I will work on with you. I have a lot of free time and am willing to help. Just get back to me on the board's and I will check at least once a day on most day's.
We need more people of your caliber, Cap-G!
Welcome to the boards! Are you also signed on at Fraternity of Shadows? They always have great need of creative and generous souls as yourself.
One of the main problems with the original 6 adventures is that there's very little continuity between them.
That's bugged me, too. They had such potential for low-level players, yet I always felt like they were unrelated adventures with some extra fluff so they'd fit the GC. If Wizards is going to remake EtCR (:yuck
then why not go back and rewrite the six events of the GC? Hopefully after launching the real Ravenloft setting?We need more people of your caliber, Cap-G!
Welcome to the boards! Are you also signed on at Fraternity of Shadows? They always have great need of creative and generous souls as yourself.
Thanks HuManBing I really am happy to hear that!
:D 
;) As for the Fraternity of Shadows board I can definitely check it out since the site has proved to be wonderful in the past, and even with my horrid connection and computer easy to view.
Okay signed in and ready at the FofS board's but I am still waiting for the moderator to approve me! Hope it doesn't take too long.