Newbie Ravenloft DM - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Newbie Ravenloft DM

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Jan 24, 2005 23:37:27 Hey all. I am planning to start DM'ing a Ravenloft campaign in the not too far future but I have never done a Ravenloft game before so I am a little confused on which books to buy.

First off, is the Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide and the Ravenloft core book one and the same? Second off, does the Player's Handbook provide anything interesting that I can't learn from the core book or the Ravenloft DMG?

Secondly, I am thinking of probably doing the Grand Conjunction adventures. My DM did the first two adventures in the series a while ago and it was great. I downloaded Night of the Walking Dead and was reading it recently, and I got shivers down my spine, it was so great to reacquaint (sp?) myself with this excellent adventure. Anyways, to the point. Is there any good books to buy for this, such as any of the Gazetteers since they provide more in depth info on the domains, or is the info useless and there's enough info in the main books?

Thirdly, since I will probably working with some second-edition material, where can I go to learn about translating 2-e stuff into 3rd edition?

And finally, any advice for this newb? :D

Thanks for your help
Storm
#2
MidwayHaven
Jan 25, 2005 0:02:19
First off, is the Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide and the Ravenloft core book one and the same? Second off, does the Player's Handbook provide anything interesting that I can't learn from the core book or the Ravenloft DMG?

No, actually, they're pretty different. The core book I guess would be the Ravenloft Player's Handbook (or the awesome 3.0 Ravenloft Campaign Setting, which I think is better), which gets you started on altered character classes, magic ratings, a brief description of each Ravenloft domain, creatures of the night, and how to play a Gothic character.

Is there any good books to buy for this, such as any of the Gazetteers since they provide more in depth info on the domains, or is the info useless and there's enough info in the main books?

The Gazetteers are great books that extensively describe the domains, and I highly recommend them. Although, certain domains mentioned in the GC series aren't in the Gaz's yet, such as Souragne and Har' Akir.

And finally, any advice for this newb?

(Shameless plug coming up!) It'd be highly recommended that you visit the Fraternity of Shadows website at http://www.fraternityofshadows.com This is I think the largest community of Ravenloft fans online. The people here are nice and fluffy and could offer you a cup of tea. With a crawling claw inside.
#3
zombiegleemax
Jan 25, 2005 0:48:23 Cool, I checked out the site and it is great. Definately the best Ravenloft site yet. Thanks for all your advice.

So, I should definately buy the Ravenloft PHB then, but what about the Ravenloft DMG? Is there any good reason to buy them both?
#4
The_Jester
Jan 25, 2005 4:33:44 The Ravenloft Player's Hanbook is essential. It has all the rules for horror, updates of the classic monster rules, techniques of terror and all the nitty-gritty basic stuff along with the setting information and the like. It is a must-buy.
(the Ravenloft Campaign Setting book is exactly the same book only it was reprinted as the RL: PHB with some new optional rules such as Magic Rating and class weaknesses that are widley regarded as poopy thus making what is essentially a 3.5 update a grossly unpopular book. Despite this the RL: PHB has everything the CS has with nothing excluded and just a tad more such as a Prestige Class).

The RL: DMG is pretty much a large book of optional rules, campaign flavouring and DMing advice along with other assorted odds and ends. It is non-essential and completely optional. That said it is a kick-buttox book with some top notch ideas. If you can get a second book this should make the short list.

The Gazetteer are simply brilliant and some of the best Ravenloft supplements money can buy. All the information on 3-5 lands is collected and compiled and updated into 3.X along with lords and monsters and more. The first Grand Conjunction module (Feast of Goblyns) takes place in Kartakass (Gaz1) and some of the later ones take place in Darkon and Barovia (Gaz 2 and 1 respectively). Handy sources of info.
#5
malus_black
Jan 25, 2005 13:33:14 There's a discussion of the new rules in the Ravenloft Player's Handbook here, which may be of some interest to you if you're still wondering which book to buy. Personally, I'd recommend getting the Ravenloft Campaign Setting, as you won't have to bother with needless rules. Other than that, Van Richten's Arsenal is a great resource for players and DMs alike, and if you're thinking of running Night of the Walking Dead, you should definitely get Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead. In fact, you should get it even if you're not, it's a great book.
#6
The_Jester
Jan 25, 2005 14:57:58 Ahhh talk of the RL: CS vs RL: PHB. Nothing else like it to make the fanboys froth and rant. I miss that old thread.
Really they're 98.4% the same with all of 3-4 pages total that are new that somehow make it burn to the touch. Only 2 of these new pages being bad...

Alright, on to other books.
VanRichten's Arsenal: This is essentially the big book of hunting with new spells, Prestige Classes, NPCs, feats and advice on hunting monsters along with some related new rules and such. Very handy book for players to read.

VanRichten's Guide to the Walking Dead: Another good one. Updates the zombies found in Night of the Living Dead and gives a wad of advice of making skeleton and zombie monsters.

Those are the only books even remotely needed for a new game but it can just as easily be run just with a copy of the setting and some adventures.
#7
malus_black
Jan 26, 2005 10:54:53
Ahhh talk of the RL: CS vs RL: PHB. Nothing else like it to make the fanboys froth and rant. I miss that old thread.
Really they're 98.4% the same with all of 3-4 pages total that are new that somehow make it burn to the touch. Only 2 of these new pages being bad...

Don't get me wrong, the RLPHB is still a good book - it takes more than a few ill-conceived rules to ruin the great RLCS - it's just that most of the new rules are completely pointless, and the good stuff is only a few spells and a PrC, so I'd suggest getting the RLCS if you can get it cheaper than the RLPHB, which is likely.
#8
zombiegleemax
Jan 26, 2005 16:26:29 I am also running a Ravenloft Campaign for the first time. The first adventure I am running is Night of the Walking Dead. These are the books I found to be the most helpful: Ravenloft Player's Handbook and Denizens of Dread. Denizens of Dread was very useful when converting the 2E monsters to 3.5E.

I have the Ravenloft DM Guide and Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead; however, I haven't used these two books as much. But both books are great to have for a Ravenloft Campaign.
#9
zombiegleemax
Jan 26, 2005 19:49:40 Starting off with the GC????? Personally I think the GC are better off after a party (and DM for that matter) has had a chance to get their feet wet in the Ravenloft world. I like to use the original I6 as a starting point/ intro.

The impact of the GC just seems to come off better if the party know a little about the Ravenloft setting prior to getting into it.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Jan 24, 2005 23:37:27	Hey all. I am planning to start DM'ing a Ravenloft campaign in the not too far future but I have never done a Ravenloft game before so I am a little confused on which books to buy. First off, is the Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide and the Ravenloft core book one and the same? Second off, does the Player's Handbook provide anything interesting that I can't learn from the core book or the Ravenloft DMG? Secondly, I am thinking of probably doing the Grand Conjunction adventures. My DM did the first two adventures in the series a while ago and it was great. I downloaded Night of the Walking Dead and was reading it recently, and I got shivers down my spine, it was so great to reacquaint (sp?) myself with this excellent adventure. Anyways, to the point. Is there any good books to buy for this, such as any of the Gazetteers since they provide more in depth info on the domains, or is the info useless and there's enough info in the main books? Thirdly, since I will probably working with some second-edition material, where can I go to learn about translating 2-e stuff into 3rd edition? And finally, any advice for this newb? :D Thanks for your help Storm
#2 MidwayHaven Jan 25, 2005 0:02:19	First off, is the Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide and the Ravenloft core book one and the same? Second off, does the Player's Handbook provide anything interesting that I can't learn from the core book or the Ravenloft DMG? No, actually, they're pretty different. The core book I guess would be the Ravenloft Player's Handbook (or the awesome 3.0 Ravenloft Campaign Setting, which I think is better), which gets you started on altered character classes, magic ratings, a brief description of each Ravenloft domain, creatures of the night, and how to play a Gothic character. Is there any good books to buy for this, such as any of the Gazetteers since they provide more in depth info on the domains, or is the info useless and there's enough info in the main books? The Gazetteers are great books that extensively describe the domains, and I highly recommend them. Although, certain domains mentioned in the GC series aren't in the Gaz's yet, such as Souragne and Har' Akir. And finally, any advice for this newb? (Shameless plug coming up!) It'd be highly recommended that you visit the Fraternity of Shadows website at http://www.fraternityofshadows.com This is I think the largest community of Ravenloft fans online. The people here are nice and fluffy and could offer you a cup of tea. With a crawling claw inside.
#3 zombiegleemax Jan 25, 2005 0:48:23	Cool, I checked out the site and it is great. Definately the best Ravenloft site yet. Thanks for all your advice. So, I should definately buy the Ravenloft PHB then, but what about the Ravenloft DMG? Is there any good reason to buy them both?
#4 The_Jester Jan 25, 2005 4:33:44	The Ravenloft Player's Hanbook is essential. It has all the rules for horror, updates of the classic monster rules, techniques of terror and all the nitty-gritty basic stuff along with the setting information and the like. It is a must-buy. (the Ravenloft Campaign Setting book is exactly the same book only it was reprinted as the RL: PHB with some new optional rules such as Magic Rating and class weaknesses that are widley regarded as poopy thus making what is essentially a 3.5 update a grossly unpopular book. Despite this the RL: PHB has everything the CS has with nothing excluded and just a tad more such as a Prestige Class). The RL: DMG is pretty much a large book of optional rules, campaign flavouring and DMing advice along with other assorted odds and ends. It is non-essential and completely optional. That said it is a kick-buttox book with some top notch ideas. If you can get a second book this should make the short list. The Gazetteer are simply brilliant and some of the best Ravenloft supplements money can buy. All the information on 3-5 lands is collected and compiled and updated into 3.X along with lords and monsters and more. The first Grand Conjunction module (Feast of Goblyns) takes place in Kartakass (Gaz1) and some of the later ones take place in Darkon and Barovia (Gaz 2 and 1 respectively). Handy sources of info.
#5 malus_black Jan 25, 2005 13:33:14	There's a discussion of the new rules in the Ravenloft Player's Handbook here, which may be of some interest to you if you're still wondering which book to buy. Personally, I'd recommend getting the Ravenloft Campaign Setting, as you won't have to bother with needless rules. Other than that, Van Richten's Arsenal is a great resource for players and DMs alike, and if you're thinking of running Night of the Walking Dead, you should definitely get Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead. In fact, you should get it even if you're not, it's a great book.
#6 The_Jester Jan 25, 2005 14:57:58	Ahhh talk of the RL: CS vs RL: PHB. Nothing else like it to make the fanboys froth and rant. I miss that old thread. Really they're 98.4% the same with all of 3-4 pages total that are new that somehow make it burn to the touch. Only 2 of these new pages being bad... Alright, on to other books. VanRichten's Arsenal: This is essentially the big book of hunting with new spells, Prestige Classes, NPCs, feats and advice on hunting monsters along with some related new rules and such. Very handy book for players to read. VanRichten's Guide to the Walking Dead: Another good one. Updates the zombies found in Night of the Living Dead and gives a wad of advice of making skeleton and zombie monsters. Those are the only books even remotely needed for a new game but it can just as easily be run just with a copy of the setting and some adventures.
#7 malus_black Jan 26, 2005 10:54:53	Ahhh talk of the RL: CS vs RL: PHB. Nothing else like it to make the fanboys froth and rant. I miss that old thread. Really they're 98.4% the same with all of 3-4 pages total that are new that somehow make it burn to the touch. Only 2 of these new pages being bad... Don't get me wrong, the RLPHB is still a good book - it takes more than a few ill-conceived rules to ruin the great RLCS - it's just that most of the new rules are completely pointless, and the good stuff is only a few spells and a PrC, so I'd suggest getting the RLCS if you can get it cheaper than the RLPHB, which is likely.
#8 zombiegleemax Jan 26, 2005 16:26:29	I am also running a Ravenloft Campaign for the first time. The first adventure I am running is Night of the Walking Dead. These are the books I found to be the most helpful: Ravenloft Player's Handbook and Denizens of Dread. Denizens of Dread was very useful when converting the 2E monsters to 3.5E. I have the Ravenloft DM Guide and Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead; however, I haven't used these two books as much. But both books are great to have for a Ravenloft Campaign.
#9 zombiegleemax Jan 26, 2005 19:49:40	Starting off with the GC????? Personally I think the GC are better off after a party (and DM for that matter) has had a chance to get their feet wet in the Ravenloft world. I like to use the original I6 as a starting point/ intro. The impact of the GC just seems to come off better if the party know a little about the Ravenloft setting prior to getting into it.