I currently run a Ravenloft campaign which started out originally in my own setting. The main PC at the time was transported there as a hole between dimensions was opened, BIG magic ritual. He was sent into Barovia and met some of the newer PC's, native to the Core. Soon they became "friends" of the Count, and played as his pawns. Learning the language was the first course of action and after a few in game months the party then headed off to Nova Vaasa to kill the noble families and take over (the count wanted mostly to test their abilities, not believing it was possible).
Next they end up doing it and taking over Nova Vaasa, with the Church of The Lawgiver fully supporting them (propaganda is awesome). They rule it politically, but the real power (AKA Darklord) is still Malken, who stays behind the scenes. After many things, the PC's eventually got thrown out of power, and had to leave or be killed. With the opening available, Hazlik, being the highest up on the religious chain of the Lawgiver, was giving political authority of Nova Vaasa as well as his own country.
That is about where we are right now, with a civil war going on in Hazlan that they are going to take a part of.
After neutralising the umberlee artefact that was in their ship and an other one on the island to please Meredoth. They were grant a free passage to Novaa Vaasa.
They came to Arbora, and with the paladin converting himself to the lawgiver, they were engage as special unit to hunt Chezna. Chezna was interrupting the tax collect and making Othmar angry.
After the collect, Othmar that was angry get more tax than usual (and the players learn since one of the group go along with Chezna that Othmar ask more to Chezna to).
Currently with this gold, Othmar give a lot of cash to the lawgiver church and the church put him king of Novaa Vaasa. Nova Vaasa is on the brink of a civil war and the PC are helping the duc Chekiv to recover Arbora that revolt under the impulsion of the duremkite.
The siege is now happening, and their efforts to retake Arbora are always mine by a mysterious headless riders that seem to be the ghost of the ancient duke Chekiv who died in a mysterious accident of hunt (what the church say) where only his son (the current duke) was with him.
With the end of school, i come back to home, and now am I running a game with my home friends in Invidia, the game start, but I really hope i ll have to play with gabriel and Malocchio Aderre. Explore the Vistani Curse. Perhap send them into Verbrek, Valachan and Sithicus. Dunno If i will use Magda or Soth, i really love the two character.
Sometimes I hint at it subtely with flashes of memory and sinkholes of evil.
I think 1 PC knows this, but he hasn't told the rest of the party yet, but true dread (hehe) is dawning in his eyes and actions. The others sense something is horribly wrong and I am really looking forward to the final session which is this week.
After something like 15 sessions with numerous side quests the PC's are level 19, but they are always eager to move on with the main story and learn more about the deeds of this rampaging band of madmen.
I don't know what will happen to their PC's this final session when they find out, but I suspect some of them will fail their madness check or commit suicide.
Some might embrace it (and become a darklord), others might want to walk the path of redemption.
I might even allow the campaign to continue (for those seeking redemption), but I fear that would be just stretching it, because I always choose to end my campaigns on a high note (or a low note maybe for this one :evillaugh ).
Anyway I'm sure this is a campaign that will be remembered for many years
.The last campaign I ran was mostly based out of the Richemulot and Dementlieu. The ultimate "spine" of the camapaign was Malken's attempts to have the Apparatus built in Nova Vassa so he could finally be free of his weaker half. Malken had learned of the apparatus and had knew it had been built in Mordent under strange circumstances possibly involving other Darklords. To achieve this end he allied his criminal organization loosely with the Brain in order to better gather intelligence in the Western Core. And continue making a few bucks as they went. On the other side members of Malken's criminal operation helped the Brain's plans to over throw the ruler of Dementlieu with aid and safehouses based in Dementlieu, and in the surounding domains (primarily Mordant and Richemulot). Enter the PCs.
The PCs were a mix of three native heroes and two "outlanders" - one from Greyhawk and one from the Realms. There were a great many side adventures dealing with what they affectionately called the "evil freak" of the month. Only slowly did it emerge that some (but hardly all) of these threats were revealed to the heroes as the result of the underworld battle between the Brain & Dominic. Jackie also became somewhat involved as her domain was sometimes used as a proxy "battleground". All the major players and their proxies ratted out "inconvienent" elements to the PCs.
Through captured letters and a timely suggestion from a mysterious debutant (a member of the Kargat) the PCs learned that the book/blueprints were on their way east via the Slavich road. The players pursuit was the highlight of the campaugn for me as they battled through ambushes, nocturanal predators and hostile local "law enforcement". Sadly the PCs lost track of the blueprints but decided to push on and confront Malken in Nova Vassa. The PCs became powerful "freedom fighter" opposing the criminal network, corrupt nobles and eventually the Church of the Lawgiver (the FR PC was horrified to discover Bane was somehow active in this land).
In addition to the Apparatus Malken also needed the Rod Of Rastinon to complete his objectives. I had placed the Rod of Rastinon in Castle Ravenloft itself and was building toward a finale where the PCs would either have to negotiate with Stradh himslef (as Malken began doing), try to storm the Castle to get it (at a general party level of 9th that's real problematic), or somehow much up the "exchange" between Malken and Stradh. Here the campaign ultimately broke down as people drifted away due to real world changes of jobs and a mariage. I never got to finish it.
-Eric Gorman
My players don't realy get a chance to play other settings with me DMing as most of my time goes into running http://www.ravenloft.co.uk I am however tempted to allow some steampunks eliments into rl though
This approach has followed us into other games that we play, of course, but when it comes down to it, we like the faux-European gothic feel and the characters they inspire, I think. (I think that we're historical gamers more than fantasy gamers: give us a "real-life setting" inspired world and we go crazy, whatever the setting is: crusades, post-roman colapse Europe, ancient greece, Vicotiran England, etc.)
The game which I am runnign right now has four characters at present, and is somewhat anti-heroic: Marco Polonius (a psion character who is convinced he is from Outside ravenloft, but who is actually a psionic creation with a full set of false memories, the dispelling of which is slowly driving him mad); a Souragnien-Born, Dementlieu-raised stage magician named Auguste Merseille Pas-de-Deux; a musician/composer from Borca called Silvio Boritsi (Dirgist) and his uncle, a domineering and manipulative rogue named Arcangelo Boritisi.
As it stands right now, the main plot arc focuses on Arcangelo. A few years ago, he made the mistake of having an illicit affair with the Sentire of the Ezran Home Faith's wife. (Our campaign treats the home faith much like High Catholicism before clerical celebacy was enforced.) The Sentire, a corrupt clergyman and politician, has been out for his life ever since. Arcangelo has assumed disguises throughout, even going so far as to fake a conversion to the Lawful Good branch of the Ezran faith in the hope that his title as a cleric would grant him some immunity. Of course, he was eventually exposed and fled into hidng once again.
Tired of running, and finally surrounded by allies, he has successfully convinced them that the supposed suicide of the Sentire's wife was staged and that the Sentire used his considerable influence to hide the fact that he murdered her. Since then, the sentire has slowly been slipping further into darkness, his power growing as he succumbs further and further to the Dark POwers, fuled by his slighted pride: his wife's infidelity is largely public knowledge.
After MANY long session, Auguste has finally figured out a way to get them back into Borca, within striking distance of the Sentire: he will mount his grandest illusion yet, and stage the fake death of Arcangelo Boritsi. And so, right now, the PCs are just finishing up some business of Marco's past in Immol before they make the final preparations for their ruse.
After that, several more sessions of politiking and espionage, so they can find out more about Sentire Osolowycz' powers and gather some additional allies, culminating, I hope, in a dramatic confrontation in the cathedral where the Sentire's evil is laid bare and Arcangelo can call down the Borcan Death Debt and end it all, returning tio his life, slightly less petty and evil... maybe! lol!
There are some other agendas (like, the nephew is a little maddened himself and is hoping to betray his uncle at just the right moment in order to bring about the perfect "tragic ending" to the story - in game... at which he will likely fail, but... It's nice to have PCs which are willing to sacrifice their characters for the sake of story!)
The Civil War is on! The PC's are plotting with a power hungry Archmage how to get rid of Hazlik without slaughtering the townpeople, as ruling a country without people is kind of hard to do. So after a while of planning, action, more planning, they eventually starting making a few attacks. Well suffice it to say, for the most part it isn't going to well. The PC's see every attack a little part of a success of the whole, however their main problem is that they are mostly killing the nobles, as that's who all the enemy mages are. What they fail to realize is that Hazlik is allowing them to do as such as he hates to Mulan himself, and once they are done playing his game, he will put an end to the "rebellion" without any problem.
The PC's themselves are having fun playing in this, but for the most part have no idea how hopeless it really is, and how much power he really possesses. I have dropped a few hints, and they fear his power, but continue in knowing they have a mage of their own. Regardless, they are eventually more than likely going to lose, but after that who knows what will happen to them. Some may fall in the battle, some may flee. Whatever happens is bound to be interesting though.
My head stayed in Ravenloft, after a hiatus, and I have webbed far too many stories for my own good. But without a crew that appreciates Ravenloft (a tough thing these days, for whatever reason)...
But before we were a crew, we were two. That was fun in its own way. We again switched DM/Player roles, but we concentrated our effort on one character, a dhampir who "ripped" vampires (because of a damnable birthright, coupled with a skull fetish), and who wore their skin for kicks.
The development was kind of strange at first, to be expected when two guys take on one role, but it just sort of flared into personality quirk. Really cool, must say. After the fact, I kept developing this dhampir in various RPG chat rooms/message boards when I first got on the 'net (many of these attempts resulting in complete and utter failure), but he now sits in limbo for reasons unknown. Maybe I should dust him off someday, let him out of the clock tower for another 'rip or two... 
I know the last time I left him I had him wearing the skin of his victims to replace his own, which was taken by Strahd himself, as punishment for killing his children (Barovian wolves).As for now? I don't role play, period. Don't got the time. Write what I can when I can, but my most recent group decided not too long ago that the game itself was too time-consuming. Wives/girlfriends/buddies, work, normal day off stuff, other physical hobbies, things like that.
Retirement? Could very well be.
Anyway, when the memories come back in full (so as to not further bore you people with mindless banter), I'll post what we did do.
We've been playing since Summer of 2002 and now it's Summer of 2005 and we're finally wrapping it up. Although I haven't posted any updates in an ill minute, we're still bangin it out every Wed night. But we did switch locations, so big up to that gaming store in Rehoboth we took over (but whose name I can't recall). Right now we're towards the end of Roots of Evil and the PCs are looking to bargain with Azalin using stolen information they gleamed from Count Strahd himself. What can I say? The PCs are pretty much epic level by now.
Ravenloft for life, suckers.
MSD
[Did that one guy ever go the "Quinn the Eskimo" route?]
Previously, we did games with PCs using core classes but they were in 'standard DnD mode', and there was no real suspense for them no matter how much I heaped it on.
Then I decided to do a 'Normals Campaign' instead. You can get a lot more fear out your players if they have no special class abilities whatsoever. Initially they hated it, because they were used to power gaming, but I started their monster encounters up from the bottom and allowed them to progress in levels as normal.
Eventually the game ended when they traveled to the Shadow Rift in the dead of night searching for a missing Vistani girl so she could lift a nasty curse that was placed on one of the characters. Then a colossal-sized beast made of shadowstuff from the Netherworld crawled out of the Rift, grabbed one of the PCs and pulled him down into the Rift with it. That character ended up trapped on the demiplane of shadow, while the other 3 were rescued by Abber Nomads. Those PCs ended up traveling with the Abber Nomads still trying to find the missing PC and the gypsy. And then the game ended.
I'd love to get together with the old group and finish that off. We had a real blast.
The PC's ended up loosing the civil war after their reinforcements didn't help out much at all. They all had to end up running away, and their mage is nowhere to be found. They ended up running to Barovia as they are "friends" of his, and there they found out his plan. He wants Hazlik for himself. If they would've won, the mage would've wanted it. As such the count purposefully ordered his army to do minimal damage until he gave further orders. Once the mage was out of the way and Hazlik was sure the war was over, the Count swoops in and takes over, which the PC's aid of course. So once again they figure out they are being manipulated for his purposes. Oddly enough though, not a one cares TOO much, and one PC even thinks it's great and he'd do whatever the Count wants willingly