All things considering, I have been possibly thinking about maybe starting a Ravenloft game. Its full of darkness, not a lot of hope, despair and angst. Right now, if any of you have read my diary and my poems, angst I have in abundance.
Ok, so the books I have are ...
Ravenloft Core Book, Denizens of Darkness, Secrets of the Dread Realms, Champions of Light, Heroes of Darkness and Van Richtens Arsenal.
2nd edition, I have: The Nightmare Lands, Forbidden Lore, The Created (Adventure), Hour Of the Knife (Adventure), Book Of Crypts, Forged Of Darkness and Chilling Tales
I also have Foul Locales: Urban Blight and Dragon Magazine from the beginning of 3.0 to #302.
So ... my question is this ...
Help me make a Ravenloft campaign that wont fall through. I tried to run one before but it fell through and im not sure why.
Help, trick and tips would be greatly appreciated ...
Some Questions ...
Ok so if you are in a CL 7 domain and you move into a CL 4 domain, how do you explain it?
Also, how do the peasants explain the weird things that happen? Like the boarders closing and such?
What if the players get ballsy and decide to go after the Darklords anyway?
Does anyone know what a Darklord really is? Who they really are?
Why dont the peasants question about their leaders who never seem to age and die but yet the same Darklord has been ruling for AGES!?
If a PC starts doing bad things, draw up a 'path' they hare heading down and start using that for the Dark Power gifts?
What if they start in Ravenloft? How would I do that? I had a REALLY cool idea for starting them out.
I was going to have them be one of the NPC Classes when a group of adventurers comes into town and they are hired out to these adventurers and based on who they hung out with, is the class they would be able to chose.
I look forawrd to some articles and other ideas.
2nd Do your players want to play RL or do you want to run the campain?
If the PC don't like RL it will probably not be fun for them. If they want to play then I say go for it.
RL is all about the story and how it relates to PC. It will not be your normal dungeon crawl with the big bad uber monster at the end. The story has to deeper than what it appears on the surface, everything holds a secret. I am always 3 or 4 adventure ahead of the PC. I tend to have a continual story where every adventure is like acts in a play. Also have the players come up with complex backgrounds to there characters. This will make coming up with plot hooks easier. It will also give the players the feeling like there characters are real and not just numbers on a piece of paper. So when the big bad uber villian appears in there room while they where sleeping and one of the PC sees him briefly and he smiles with his trademark evil grin and then dissappears they will feel scaried for there life, because they care if there character lives or dies. Details are just as important as the story. It helps set the atmosphere. Tell the PC what things look, feel, taste, smell like in graphic detail.
On with the Questions
Ok so if you are in a CL 7 domain and you move into a CL 4 domain, how do you explain it?
Ok, some cultures are more advance that other. Think of it like crossing from the USA into Mexico. Ya they have alot of the same technolgy that we do, but not the latest and greatest. Also the average mexican has alot less then the average american. Since most of the population in RL do not cross from domain to domain, they would not know that they are not as advance as the other domains.
Also, how do the peasants explain the weird things that happen? Like the boarders closing and such?
Thats a tough one, but I think that the peasants would not think of it as being weird because they see it on a regular bases or have heard stories it. It is only weird to the PC. Other wise they would think it is the work of some supernatual force or magic but not really the work of one Darklord.
What if the players get ballsy and decide to go after the Darklords anyway?
I say let them go after them, but I would make sure they fail and fail big. I'm not saying kill off all the PC but make sure everthing they do go's wrong. Enless that is there purpose in life, to end the darkness that has plaqued the land and bring hope back to (insert domain here). If it the later is true, I would be ready with the heir of the land to take over, and he/she/they will be even more powerful then the last.
Does anyone know what a Darklord really is? Who they really are?
Probably not. The Darklord would just be another Ruler over a land like anywhere else. Most of the people don't know there trapped there, except for the darklord, and a few PC that discover that they can't return home, even with the most powerful magic (if they are not native to RL). The average peasant will work his land, marry off his kids, and die, non the wiser, like his father before him.
Why dont the peasants question about their leaders who never seem to age and die but yet the same Darklord has been ruling for AGES!?
Because their smart not to. The Darklords are Darklords because their evil, and most with evil tempers. Probable also because the ruler is not excessable to the peasants. He is only a name to them for the most part.
If a PC starts doing bad things, draw up a 'path' they hare heading down and start using that for the Dark Power gifts?
The Dark powers are also a curse, so if a PC is starts down that path I would let them, but I would make sure that any side effects they have plays a big part of how people/animals enteract with them, so it would seem to be worse then the power they were granted. Also look at their alignment. If they are any of the good alignment, I would consider an Alignment change.
What if they start in Ravenloft? How would I do that? I had a REALLY cool idea for starting them out.
I would start it as any other campain. I would let the PC do most of this work for you. Try to get their backgrounds to tie in to one another. How do the PC know each other? Are they good friend that meet up one night after being away for long time. Or is it a chance encounter, like a stranger (PC1) rolls into town after being attack by some beast in the woods and low and behold there is a cleric (PC2) that can help with some healing spells. They talk over a few drinks. Roguish person (PC3) over hears the conversations....
I was going to have them be one of the NPC Classes when a group of adventurers comes into town and they are hired out to these adventurers and based on who they hung out with, is the class they would be able to chose.
You control the Story, do whatever it take to make the story most interesting and enjoyable for the players. Its all about the Story.
Good Luck with your campain.
I was curious if any of you could give me some pointers on how to run a ravenloft game. I like Buffy and i can get the angst but i just need some advice.
All things considering, I have been possibly thinking about maybe starting a Ravenloft game. Its full of darkness, not a lot of hope, despair and angst. Right now, if any of you have read my diary and my poems, angst I have in abundance.
Ok, so the books I have are ...
Ravenloft Core Book, Denizens of Darkness, Secrets of the Dread Realms, Champions of Light, Heroes of Darkness and Van Richtens Arsenal.
2nd edition, I have: The Nightmare Lands, Forbidden Lore, The Created (Adventure), Hour Of the Knife (Adventure), Book Of Crypts, Forged Of Darkness and Chilling Tales
I also have Foul Locales: Urban Blight and Dragon Magazine from the beginning of 3.0 to #302.
Wow, you have more books than I do. I have the core book and some supplemental downloads ><. You shouldn't be at a lack for resources. What's Buffy have to do with ravenloft though? and while angst is a good thing, there are OTHER kinds of psychological fun you can get into in Ravenloft. It's not VTM after all.
So ... my question is this ...
Help me make a Ravenloft campaign that wont fall through. I tried to run one before but it fell through and im not sure why.
Like Chaoslord said. Make sure it's what the PCs are looking for. Make sure you have character development. You can't run a hack n' slash dungeon crawl in Ravenloft. Things are different in the land of the mists. You have to rely a lot more on in depth roleplay, character development, and the psychological aspects of DnD. Adventures don't all have to be fighting and really a well woven mystery works just as well as a storm the castle, kill the vampire sort of thing. Let your PCs investigate and make their own choices before you send them off to fight BBEGs.
Help, trick and tips would be greatly appreciated ...
You need to know the characters probably about as well as the PCs themself do. I use little index card character sheets that have stuff like stats, saves, certain skills, languages, that sort of stuff written on them as well as OR and that sort of thing.
I started a RL campaign over the weekend and one thing I had my characters do was fill out a little sheet that had
prized possession:
someone to whom you're beholden:
secret:
fear/obsession/aversion:
brief summary of past:
brief summary of your code (for the pally and cleric):
It took them 5 minutes to fill out and it gives me stuff to work with. Also participate in the character creation process. Talk with the PCs about their character until you feel that you both have a good understanding of the character.
Some Questions ...
Ok so if you are in a CL 7 domain and you move into a CL 4 domain, how do you explain it?
It's again like chaoslord said (he did a good job ^.^), it's like if you go to an underdeveloped country. Sure, they've benefitted a bit from the whole being near to a developed country, but they still aren't anywhere near close. This could be due to the human dislike of change. ( I mean, you can buy a book in a CL 4 domain, even though it's CL 5+, but it's not going to be common or cheap)
Also, how do the peasants explain the weird things that happen? Like the boarders closing and such?
Odds are the peasants probably won't encounter domain borders as they usually stay pretty close to where they're born and raised. Also, the folklore surrounding the misty domain borders would probably lead them to believe that the mists are the cause of it (and given any common sense, they've probably been warned about going anywhere near the Mists anyhow)
What if the players get ballsy and decide to go after the Darklords anyway?
and who's going to tell them about the darklords? peasants? If they know about the darklord, he probably wants them to know and WANTS them to come to him. Saves to avoid detection and your average NPC is going to know nothing about the darklord, if anything, it's just the name of a man who collects taxes from them. This could lead the PCs on a trail to every mayor or minor noble's office in the dread realms. I'd say you'd tire of talking to Smiths and Does long before you made it to a Boritsi or Von Zarovich.
Does anyone know what a Darklord really is? Who they really are?
Why dont the peasants question about their leaders who never seem to age and die but yet the same Darklord has been ruling for AGES!?
I'd say the darklord MIGHT know exactly what he is, but even then it's iffy. The entire reality is really up to the DPs. If you're asking, no they don't have a "Hi I'm Strahd, your friendly neighbourhood darklord" sticker or anything, but they do have that nice sinkhole thing. It'd be a safe guess if you knew what a darklord was, that the guy mentally controlling animals with the BIG evil presence might be one of them. Or generally not a nice guy.
As to the latter part, again, the peasants know of a darklord by little more than a name. Moreover, Strahd's probably "Count Von Zarovich" (etc) as who has the guts to call their feudal lord by his first name. For all they know, He could be Count Strahd Von Zarovich the 54th they never see him. Darklords are generally rather withdrawn. Also, not all of them are undead and thus not immortal. Some Darklord Lineages pass down family lines I believe (like the Boritsis or the Disilnyas, but I'm still new to this, so if I'm wrong, please correct me and don't hate me
)If a PC starts doing bad things, draw up a 'path' they hare heading down and start using that for the Dark Power gifts?
It's easy enough to draw up a path for the PCs, The DP's have a nice sense of poetic justice, so really it's "Let the Punishment fit the crime" all bonuses should HELP their fatal flaw, but weaknesses make it more and more evident, and also forcing them to continue their goal while making the ends unsatisfactory.
IMC, the BBEG is a 73 year old scribe who was pushed out of his business by a printer with a printing press. He's all reminiscent of the old days and his path is slowly leading him to vampirism (he'll prolly be stopped before he gets there. He started out by killing those who weren't human or male (merchants) and now, he's more or less being forced to kill because of a curse (first step, lost teeth, second step, needed to drink a vial of ink/day, third step, ink made of blood, haven't decided 4th, maybe lower con, but it's already an 8. *shrug*)
Anyway, poetic justice rules!
What if they start in Ravenloft? How would I do that? I had a REALLY cool idea for starting them out.
I was going to have them be one of the NPC Classes when a group of adventurers comes into town and they are hired out to these adventurers and based on who they hung out with, is the class they would be able to chose.
If they start in RL, your campaign focusses less on trying to get home, but that's good. I don't know if you can convince your people to be NPC classes. My campaign started with 4 outlander pcs and one who made a pc who was a clockmaker in Mordentshire. That was nice becaues they found him and weren't totally lost and he was a little reassured that he might get home. Maybe start them out as a pc class with some sort of concentration in some NPC/expert thing. Also, check with them first.
If they start out in RL, it's just like they start out in Greyhawk, they start adventuring for one reason or another, and fall together.
Good luck with your campaign! ^.^ check around the WotC site, the Kartagane site's nice, um, I dunno. Read a lot of stuff, watch Are you Afraid of the dark or tales from the crypt.