The idea is that there is gonna be character from different world settings. Like one from FR, and one from Dragon Lance, and they all meet each other in ravenloft. I am not allowing any prestige classes except the core ones.
starting at lvl 1
Another possibility is to put them in Darkon, where their memories of home are about to vanish. Rather than have the change take hold at once, choose one player to be the first to have his memories altered. Coordinate with the player, and have him start reminiscing about his childhood in Darkon, such as a visit to Nevuchar Springs, or have him pledge allegence to Azalin out of fear of the Kargat. As the PCs atart to realize that they too will soon "discover their roots" in Darkon, there might be more of a sense of horror than just battling undead.
I hope these ideas help.
Just I don't know too much on the other Darklords save Strahd and Soth
Thanks, I was thinking of running it in a slightly higher tech Domain. But I have this idea for Ghost Trains in my mind, and I really wanna use it. So would it be wrong to create my own domain?
Just I don't know too much on the other Darklords save Strahd and Soth
I don't recommend creating a new domain first time out, but if you want trains, a good place for them might be in Nossos, a domain where there is heavy mining, the sky is polluted, full of refuse.
For low level PCs hold off on using the powerful DLs. Use weak ones like Dominic D'Honaire, lord of Dementlieu, who is a master of hypnosis, or Ivan Dilisnya a poisoner. Info on these DLs can be found in the various Gazzetteers for the different domains, published by White Wolf. I recomend keeping the DL in the shadows at first, or to not let the PCs know the DL is in charge. For example, D'Honaire is not the political ruler of Dementlieu, he is believed to be a member of the Council of Brilliance which advises the puppet ruler. He could even hire the PCs to do his dirty work, only to double cross them. In my campaigns, D'Hopnaire hired the PCs to spy on a crime lord known only as "The Brain", his main rival for control of Dementlieu. They messed it up, and got killed by the Brain's mind-controlled minions. However they never knew they were dealing with a DL.
Try to keep the identity of the DL a mystery, but drop clues here and there. For example they may know that the "Devil Strahd" rules Barovia, but not realize he's a vampire. Drop subtle clues, rather than have Strahd swoop down on them as soon as they enter Barovia.
I have:
A Lvl 1 Kendar Rogue (Female)
A Lvl 1 Human Psion: Seer (Female, but played by male)
A Lvl 1 Human Crane Samurai (Male)
A Lvl 1 Trollkin Fellcaller (From the Iron Kingdoms book, kinda like a bard, but does not cast spells)
and last but not least a Lvl 1 Cleric of St Cuthbert
I was allowing people to take Races and Classes(only main classes) from anywhere, but I was not allowing people to take Prestige Classes from that book, as I find that the prestige classes from supplements can get out of hand. Also only people from that setting can take feats from that setting.
I agree with the starting in a already done domain, I'll have to look them up a bit more though
Thanks. If you are wondering, this is the party that is "dropping" into Ravenloft. (I still like the idea that people are just picked up in the mists.)
I have:
A Lvl 1 Kendar Rogue (Female)
A Lvl 1 Human Psion: Seer (Female, but played by male)
A Lvl 1 Human Crane Samurai (Male)
A Lvl 1 Trollkin Fellcaller (From the Iron Kingdoms book, kinda like a bard, but does not cast spells)
and last but not least a Lvl 1 Cleric of St Cuthbert
I was allowing people to take Races and Classes(only main classes) from anywhere, but I was not allowing people to take Prestige Classes from that book, as I find that the prestige classes from supplements can get out of hand. Also only people from that setting can take feats from that setting.
I agree with the starting in a already done domain, I'll have to look them up a bit more though
Do these characters already know each other before getting taken by the Mists? It might help for party cohesion if these charcters are familiar with each other.
On the other hand, it might make a more interesting campaign if these are total strangers thrown together to face the horrors of this new world.
Thanks. If you are wondering, this is the party that is "dropping" into Ravenloft. (I still like the idea that people are just picked up in the mists.)
I have:
A Lvl 1 Kendar Rogue (Female)
A Lvl 1 Human Psion: Seer (Female, but played by male)
A Lvl 1 Human Crane Samurai (Male)
A Lvl 1 Trollkin Fellcaller (From the Iron Kingdoms book, kinda like a bard, but does not cast spells)
and last but not least a Lvl 1 Cleric of St Cuthbert
For the love of everything do not let these people near a Darklord! They're first level!
Aside from the obvious fact that at this level, even foiling a DL's plans is nearly impossible, the fact that they're all outlanders (I don't personally recommend that, but it's your game) means that even the very nature of Ravenloft is going to elude them for quite some time. The concept of a Darklord is one of the hardest in-character things to learn about Ravenloft.
That being said, here're a few ideas: your bard-type person might hear about a local contest in some land called 'Kartakas'. The party heads down to check it out and you can feel free to start some trouble with a jealous wolfwere or even normal wolves.
Too simple? How about some woman 'helping them out in this land' takes a shine to one of the characters? Turns out...she's a Red Widow. Let the fun begin!
Try using Rokushima Taiyoo. Your samurai is ronin in Ravenloft, isn't he? Some pressure to go swear allegience to one of the 4 brothers who run the place, followed by assassination attempts when he refuses might be fun.
Heck, if you wanna stick to Barovia, a mystery involving Vampire Spawn might do the trick nicely. Have some fun with misdirecting the players as to who the culprit might be (heck, have a murder comitted by some NPC who rigged it to seem like a vampire killing). The spawn gets hunted, killed, but the murders don't stop. This one is good for the Psion and the Rogue especially. Don't forget how psionics changes in the setting.
The party hacks off an Evil Treant in one of the huge old forests. It has some druid-like abilities and says they have until sunup to reach the borders of the woods before it kills them. They have a head start and get to fight as many 'natural' animal-type foes as you want to throw their way, as well as some low CL Beasts if you like. Make sure they realize that if it catches them, there's no way they'll survive.
Finally, don't forget how people in Ravenloft view foreigners. If that samurai is an Asian-equivalent, a lot of people in the Core may act prejudicially towards him. The same applies to the Kender, and people in Ravenloft do not take kindly to their possessions being "handled". Is that 'Trollkin' thing human-looking? If not, there's gonna be a fairly big Outcast rating to consider, too.
Hope some of these help.
- Yulian
"Our envy of others devours us most of all." - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
While this module may need to be modified to work with third-edition, it is an excellent starting point for first-level characters. In my opinion, it's well written and interesting enough to keep people from getting too demoralized or overconfident.
Just an idea,
Izumneth
I assume you've read all the threads here and over at the Fraternity on setting the mood, making the players are, etc. as well as the stuff in the Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide. If not, do so.
I also suggest adding chickenbone instead of the vistana, and have him fulfill the basically same role, 'cept with bone-readings, of course. Just have them see a man on a dirt mound waiting for them while they're in the swamp, then he dissappears the next day. The opportunity for creepy old man voices are enormous (try Yoda crossed with that creepy lady muppet with the one eye from the Dark Crystal.)
And of course drop the short swords +1. But allow them to find something cool in the dude's mansion (I made the mansion a mini-dungeon).
I also suggest adding chickenbone instead of the vistana, and have him fulfill the basically same role, 'cept with bone-readings, of course. Just have them see a man on a dirt mound waiting for them while they're in the swamp, then he dissappears the next day. The opportunity for creepy old man voices are enormous (try Yoda crossed with that creepy lady muppet with the one eye from the Dark Crystal.)
You know, I just had to say something about this.
Both Yoda and Aughra are voiced by Frank Oz, a great director and one of Jim Henson's closest friends and collaborators for years. He was also Grover!
- Yulian
"Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together." - Petrarch
Chickenbone is much more appropriate than the Vistani, flavor-wise.
As others have pointed out elsehwere: move the "Old Cemetery" out of town and not immediately accessible, either swallowed by the swamp or a sinkhole somewhere, otherwise the heroes will head straight toward it at dawn the first day. Just too obvious.
IMC, I made Brucian a fugitive con-artist who mistwalked into Souragne. He thanked Ezra for deliverance and earnestly devoted himself to serving the town, but didn't have more than lay priest's (er, rogue's) skills. This kept the heroes from using him as a walking medkit, made him an early suspect for the murders, and only added to his personal guilt over his part in the tragedy. In the end, he went mad and rushed out into the rain to turn the undead. Poor fella.
Right All the Party are outlanders, cause I always think that is cool, and it give the party something to work with. Second thing, the party are all from different campaign settings, I made sure of that. 1 from rokugan, 1 from Dragonlance, 1 from Greyhawk, and 1 from Iron Kingdoms and I allowed one guy to take his character from his Campain setting, but the party will bump into each other as soon as they come through the mists. I am gonna put them straight into a fight with something not too hard but scary so they have to work together to beat it, I am thinking perhaps a small pack of Wolves. The Samurai does not even speak Common btw, as there is no common in Rokugan...
Next
I need to work out the OR for the trollkin, as it is like a half troll, but it looks Humanish, but bigger and Uglier. but a bit like a Half-Orc/Caliban, so I was thinking about +5
I will look over that stuff that you mentioned Malus Black, but at the moment I am a bit busy, and I am making sure I get all of the players book, and the DM guide for Ravenloft read, afterwards I will start thinking of plot...
Then,introduce help,information about people,places(not about DLs and Dps of course! such should not be mentioned) and do whatever plans you have..
hope it helps
Dome right, this could work out as a sort of "Twilight Zone" scenario, with the flavor of that new "Lost" TV show and the initial Growling-Thing-On-The-Moors encounter from "An American Werewolf In London". By the time the whole party of PCs has found each other, and faced down a few (low-power) mist horrors, they'll be *grateful* when the Mists part to set them down in the RL domain of your choice! Just save the kender's arrival to join the group for a comic-relief moment, as a kender unaware of Ravenloft's dangers would probably want to go check out the mysterious noises.
He wont talk the language, everyone around him is Gaijin, he no longer has a Lord, he wont eat most of the food and not a single person will actually show him the respect he deserves. He will be utterly non functional unless you took the step to play in an Eastern oriented Realm.
A crab witch hunter or a samurai who is already a Ronin would be a lot better, though not speaking the language is a real problem.
And if a trollkin player looks anything vaguely like a non human creature or near human, expect any good samurai to execute him there and then.
To describe him the Trollkin, I will say it looks like a FreeOgre, as they are on talking terms with the Samurai.
I also think that the entire Party are all Good in some way, except maybe one or two, who are LN.
I need to work out the OR for the trollkin, as it is like a half troll, but it looks Humanish, but bigger and Uglier. but a bit like a Half-Orc/Caliban, so I was thinking about +5
If it's size large, an OR of +6 might be more appropriate. Good luck in the campaign.
+2 Str, +4 Con, -2 Cha, and possibly -2 Int (Not sure about that though)
+1LA
Although it is not big, I would still give it a +6 or a +5 for OR rating.
...it walks around in a kilt and Studded Leather Armour...
The class is like a Bard, but it is race specific, and gets no spells. But it gets all the Bardic Musics, and it gets it's own Fell Calls. It cannot use an instrument, it has to make the noise itself, and when I mean noise I mean noise,
I have been doing D&D for a while now, and I am planning on doing a Ravenloft Campaign. I was wondering if anyone had any tips for me?
Keep it simple, and play the world as an entity.
Humans rationalize what they see and experience, but they fear the unknown.
Horror has many names, and therefore has no name.
There is no worse feeling of isolation when one feels the world is against them, or, when one does not or cannot fully comprehend the world in which they exist.
The world has no name.
The world is horrific; the world is one name for Horror.