Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 jastra_of_the_clawed_hand May 15, 2005 15:42:38	Hi and misty greetings to all I got a small problem and maybe you can help me out a bit ;) In two weeks, a campaign set in Ravenloft starts with me as the DM. The characters start at level 0 ( as per the apprentice rules in the 3rd ed. DMG) and will advance to level 1 after the first adventure. They are all from the same town, a small settlement ( 46 persons distributed among seven families) in Verbrek named Garonne, situated south of Fylfot. The campaign idea and later adventures are already thought-out and planned through by me, but I can't find a good idea for the first adventure. Kinda like writer's block....so I am asking if any of you has a good starting adventure idea for me (it should also set the mood for Ravenloft because we usually play FR and that's a tad bit different ). Any help will be greatly appreciated.
#2 sabbattack May 15, 2005 17:11:14	Well, the fact that you decided to start at Verbrek is suicidal to say the least...0 level characters might ensure that also. One idea that pops in my mind is the threat of a pack of werewolves marching toward the village, which sends the town into a frenzy and out of nowhere a cleric/druid appears offering help and salvation, but requires total domination of the villagers. Guess who gets to investigate? One solution that pops into mind is that the druid is actually controling a pack of common wolves "disguised" to look more feral. 1-2 wolves at a time for a pack of 7-8 total isn't a great threat to the party. If they decide to deal with the fraud however, they probably will have to pact with the devil as (and you'll make sure they feel it) they'll need to contact the "real thing". A real cleric of the wolf god could be needed, but to what cost???? Was I of any help? ...Come to think of it, I'll send this to FoS also for the Domain of the Week!!!
#3 jastra_of_the_clawed_hand May 15, 2005 17:34:14	Thanks for the idea, I greatly apprecxiate it - btw. posted the same quuestion at the FoS boards also ;)
#4 sabbattack May 15, 2005 17:45:40	Btw, just answered it over there too!! Go take a look, my answer there is a bit more detailed.
#5 zombiegleemax May 22, 2005 14:37:27	This is a suggestion and a wicked one too... Since the start is set in a small hamlet and the PC's are bound to know everyone there, try a subtle approach with no combat (a level 0 only needs one hit to die and I make it a rule nobody dies in the opening session). I was thinking along the lines of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". You know... people who the PC's know well (mom and dad, bro and sis) start behaving differently and do things they would never even think about, e.g. exacting corporal punishment to a disobedient child, "forgetting" the daily chores, not praying before dinner, etc... Start small with not kissing someone goodnight and build to something monumentally evil like the murder of a family member over a minor dispute. The PC's see the other people in the village don't care what happens, they live different lives. Is the arrival of a small Vistani caravan somehow linked to the events? (it should be obvious it is) Cause: An ancient Vistani curse has finally come to pass after years of slumber. One of the village ancestors has wronged a Vistani in some way and the arrival of the Vistani has triggered the long forgotten curse. Lore: In 679 BC (or any year you find ok) while settling the area a distant ancestor stumbled upon a dying Vistani in the woods near the village. Fearing for his life and thinking the beast was still in the vicinity) the ancestor ran from the scene, but not after hearing the dying words of the mortally wounded Vistani: "As you leave us uncaring, so we shall return and you will care no more..." or something similary cryptic. Dreading the future outcome of the curse the ancestor returned home and told his family what had transpired in the woods. Months later the ancestor was found dead hanging from an old gnarled oak near the village, apparently suicide. A note was found in his workshed the following morning explaining his deed to his relatives: "My dearest wife and children... For months that faithfull night in the woods has haunted my mind and the burden weighs too heavily on my conscience. I can not spend my life waiting for the return of those wretched gypsies. I am a coward even now as I choose the easy way out and maybe by doing so I might lift the curse. May you be spared the gypsies wrath. Please find it in your hearts to forgive me. Undying love..." Possible outcome and solution: The PC's might discover the note, kept by a family member somewhere, but they must hurry to undo the curse and help the Vistani in some way before they succumb as well. Dread possibility: The ghost of the hanged ancestor may be seen in the forest searching in vain for some unfortunate traveller to help in the woods or he might be haunting the woods as a valpurleiche. This might be the reason why the villagers lock their doors and windows at night (and they haven't been doing that of late) and allow nobody to go out. I hope this gives you some ideas...
#6 Morrigan May 23, 2005 10:13:09	I'm doing something similar myself in the campaign I'm starting this week - lvl 0 characters, small village, etc. Only mine is in Gundarak, and the Barovians are about to move in and burn the place down while they're out in the fields. So they'll have a reason for hanging around together and being an adventuring party, and also have a nemesis. You could do something similar with werewolves slaughtering the town, but it does kinda change the direction the game will take. Though there can be followup adventures as family members, etc, all presumed dead resurface as lycanthropes or ghosts. Morrigan
#7 zombiegleemax May 23, 2005 13:57:29	I'm a big fan of campaign preludes or intros myself. I don't like to introduce PC's to each other in some general inn or tavern. Well at some point in the campaign if a character dies and the player needs to reroll I might use it but I'd rather put him in a jail or brigand encounter. It helps the RP. There's hardly any fighting in my campaigns even. I personally think Ravenloft is the setting with the least "physical" challenges (maybe Planescape is close too, if you play that way) and that's why my crew and myself like it so much. A good dungeon crawl can be a lot of fun too though but it should be only one session at most.
#8 zombiegleemax Jun 06, 2005 11:50:27	And if you're out of ideas visit www.crimelibrary.com . I'm actually building a story around H.H. Holmes http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/holmes/index_1.html This guy has everything a potential darklord needs.
#9 The_Jester Jun 06, 2005 13:25:24	I've always wanted to start with a couple red-herring adventures. When playing in Ravenloft everyone expects dark magic and creepy, gothic monsters. Magic is always involved. I've always wanted to start and not involve any magic whatsoever for at least 2-3 adventures. All mundane, explainable and entirely human. I might even request that the players not pick magic-using classes for first level and multi-class in if/when they find someone to train them. Try to think of your campaign like a good TV program. You always start with a Pilot. You introduce the characters, setting and the general feel of the 'show'. You need something that will introduce the major players in the town (if not in the flesh then at least by name, always good to hold a couple people in the background). As an idea, what if someone was mangled to death by wolves one night. Questions pop up: why was he outside the fencing at night? How come we didn't hear his screams? Where is his engagement ring/bracelet/thingy? As the investigation progresses, with the hint and rumours of werewolves and evil sorcery pumped out, it becomes a simple murder investigation. Or there may be an abandoned house at the edge of town rumoured to be haunted. There are always strange sounds coming from inside and folk who come in often do not wander out, and if they do come back it is weakened and dazed. But the house might really be the haven for a small band of thugs hiding out after hopping the border. They use noisemakers or drugged blowdarts to scare away curious locals.
#10 zombiegleemax Jun 07, 2005 4:12:22	I'm a big fan of campaign preludes or intros myself. I don't like to introduce PC's to each other in some general inn or tavern. Well at some point in the campaign if a character dies and the player needs to reroll I might use it but I'd rather put him in a jail or brigand encounter. It helps the RP. There's hardly any fighting in my campaigns even. I personally think Ravenloft is the setting with the least "physical" challenges (maybe Planescape is close too, if you play that way) and that's why my crew and myself like it so much. A good dungeon crawl can be a lot of fun too though but it should be only one session at most. Gota agree with you on that one - Ravenloft should have MUCh less comabt, and when combat encounters DO occur, they nood to have a reason, and should come at the end of 1 or 2 session of intense role-playing session and investigation. When I PLAY Ravenloft (we are fortunate to have 2 ravenloft DMs in our group), I am a big fan of the "attck it to know it's weaknesses, then escape, investigate seom more, make ready THEN attck." We laos have a penchant for Fighters in our games despite this, strangely enough! loL! Campaign preludes are a MUST: your characters should have reasons to hang out together even if they weren;t adevnturing. Like, you would be invited to their weddings, would attend their funeral, and their children would call you aunt/uncle. At least, that's how its always been in our games! As for the Planescape comment: Yeah, i was THE Planescape DM in my group, and I don't remember there being much combat. Or, rather, combat was a very minor part of the gaem... (I do remember this one battle with a Legendary hydra which was possibly the best we ran EVER!)
#11 zombiegleemax Jun 08, 2005 1:11:14	A "friendly" ghost is a good way to start the campaign more or less regardless of the initial location for the action. This can start with something as simple as bad dreams or as overt as "the Hamlet" option of meeting your dead father on the ramparts. However the "ghost" serves as a call to action and helps set the atmosphere right away...especially if it isn't clear that the manifestion is a "good thing". Verbrek supposedly has a couple of small human settlements. Suppose they are expecting a (river) merchant or caravan in the spring. He/she/they don't show. Its bad news for the village because they need the iron tools/herbal medicines/MacGuffins which they can't produce locally (as in the case with the villages of Norse Greenland). The people who were bringing supplies probably were wipped out by the "natives." The villages best tracker is sent out and doesn't return...people become more and more restless. No one knows what to do. The hauntings begin (the merchants ghost trying to complete the journy?). Tempers flare. The PCs ultimatly have to deal with the situation. If they set out to find out whats happened they need to bury the (horrific) remains of the merchant and retrieve the items the village needs. If they stay they need to deal with the fringe element in the town that starts demanding a human sacrifice & find a way to deal with their towns material shortages. Most of the combats are unarmed brawls in the village. In the wild the PCs have to deal with animals, deadfalls and other natural obstacles (perhaps presented and built as traps) while dodging the more dangerous in habitants. Perhaps they meet NPCs of dubious allegiance. Vistani or a rare human ranger/wolfhunter who is at home in the woods as his everything else. All told the above would help (1) give the PCs some roots, (2) turn them from no-bodies to pro-active people in the village other people will come to turn to to solve problems (3) expose them ever so slightly to the supernatural (4) send them out furhter into the world than they have ever gone before, and perhaps finding future hooks and/or allies. Perhaps they also create petty jealousies at home too giving them (5) future antagonists. Good luck with your launch. As written Verbrek is one of the hardest domains to "make it" in, your PCs have A DANGEROUS and UGLY road ahead of them. -Eric Gorman
#12 zombiegleemax Jun 13, 2005 1:29:01	Gota agree with you on that one - Ravenloft should have MUCh less comabt, and when combat encounters DO occur, they nood to have a reason, and should come at the end of 1 or 2 session of intense role-playing session and investigation. Mathematical Ravenloft? Why don't you just sit in on a session and watch other people role play your ideas and characters? Plot dictates such things as physical confrontation, and lack thereof, and should therefore be justified or unjustified only through that end. If there is any equation to be found in this, it is an equation of theory that is to be calculated by the DM/GM and his or her vision. Ravenloft doesn't have to be a totally separate entity from other game worlds, it can easily be blended with them. Forgotten Realms may appear (superficially) a tad different, but because the talent around the wood remains the same it is not. Jastra of the clawed hand>> Appeal to the strengths and weaknesses of your fellow roleplayers (through their current characters/roles), and you can't go wrong. That said, you'll have to forgive me for not thinking for you. :P