# Any good adventures in Ravenloft?



## Riley (May 15, 2009)

I'm working my way through TSR's back catalog, trying to find any great/'classic' adventures that I may have missed the first time around.

In general, 2e and the 1990's seemed (to me) to be a pretty poor time for modules, with far too many "Scene 1," "Scene 2,"... railroads.

One series that I never really checked out was Ravenloft.  Are there any "must read," or even "pretty darned good," Ravenloft adventures - apart from the original one?

If so, which are the best, and what makes them great?  And do any of them have particularly good maps or handouts?


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## vagabundo (May 15, 2009)

The only adventure I've got for Ravenloft is the Hour of the Knife. It is a Jack the Ripper adventure set in a Victorian londonesque city.

I really liked it; it has loads of interesting NPCs and a non-linear investigating plot.

Not sure how it stacks up against other Ravenloft adventures. I tried running it once, but it fell flat, more due to bad DMing and my players not being too experienced with that playstyle.

I found it an interesting read anyway.



> "A madman stalks the fog-shrouded streets of Paridon, killing with gruesome precision - and always at midnight.
> A party of brave adventurers witnesses the most recent of these brutal murders. Now that they've seen the killer's face, they're sure to be his next targets.
> Who can be trusted in this city where the residents are not what they appear to be?
> Those who dare to track the killer will find strange allies - and even stranger enemies. The adventurers must investigate the ancient mystery behind the murders that take place when the clock strikes the "Hour of the Knife."
> This 64-page adventure includes a full-color poster-sized map of Paridon. The adventure is based on the popular RPGA Network tournament by Bruce Nesmith."


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## Stoat (May 15, 2009)

I liked Feast of Goblyns.  The opening hook is a classic 2E railroad, and should be nuked from orbit, but it contains two pretty good set-piece dungeons.


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## Crothian (May 15, 2009)

A Light in the Belfry which comes with a really good audio CD.  We had a lot of fun with this adventure.


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## FunkBGR (May 15, 2009)

I really liked Feast of Goblyns, Castles Forlorn (Boxed Set), Night of the Walking Dead, The Shadow Rift and Neither Man Nor Beast. I've run all of those very successfully in one form or another. 

Also, a nice touch was in their Children of the Night series, there were short vignettes detailing various stories - some of those were astoundingly good. 

And of course, you absolutely cannot beat the original I6: Ravenloft.


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## Rhun (May 16, 2009)

FunkBGR said:


> And of course, you absolutely cannot beat the original I6: Ravenloft.





Absolutely!


And I'm going to go a step further and say I10 Ravenloft II - The House on Gryphon Hill. I love that adventure, though it is a real bear to DM.


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## Kwalish Kid (May 16, 2009)

FunkBGR said:


> I really liked Feast of Goblyns, Castles Forlorn (Boxed Set), Night of the Walking Dead, The Shadow Rift and Neither Man Nor Beast. I've run all of those very successfully in one form or another.



I loved Night of the Walking Dead and Feast of Goblyns. Feast is a great railroad, but if your PCs are "good", they will happily follow the plot. We had a great time, all of our players really distrusted the main characters and our characters didn't really trust them either. However, we didn't have any proof that these people weren't who they said they were. It was great following the course of the adventure.

I actually liked the last adventures in the Scrolls of Hyskosa saga. If you run through a Ravenloft campaign, it's really neat to have the PCs go back in time and take part in some of the seminal moments in the history of Ravenloft.


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## Dimitri Mazieres (May 16, 2009)

The Evil Eye is a great adventure. It's set in the Domain of Invidia, and it includes quite a lot of information on the setting, an interesting plot with compelling villains, and multiple possible endings.
The boxed set Bleak House is also a really good adventure. It revolves around the famed Dr. Rudolph Van Richten (as those who are aware of the boxed set's subtitle will know) and, though because of this it may be possible that the players feel like second row characters, it's something any DM can work around and the adventure is really worth it.
I also enjoyed running Servants of Darkness, which depicts how good guys with good intentions can do all sort of wrong deeds.
The Shadow Rift, which can be set up as a sequel to Servants, is another adventure that I really like, throwing the PCs into the realms of the fey, whith all manner of weird, fantastic sights, and an epic quest.


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## ProfessorPain (May 16, 2009)

Feast of Goblyns and Ship of Horror are classic. Night of the Walking Dead plays pretty well. Castles Forlorn was a beefy boxed set with lots to do. I liked Adam's Wrath as well. A little odd in some places, but fun overall.


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## Riley (May 16, 2009)

Thanks for all the suggestions!  (of course, also feel free to keep them coming)

I think a couple of those were released by TSR/Wizards online for free back in the day, so I'll start by taking a look at those over the weekend.

Does anyone have any thoughts about Masque of the Red Death?


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## Kwalish Kid (May 16, 2009)

ProfessorPain said:


> I liked Adam's Wrath as well. A little odd in some places, but fun overall.



That reminds me: _Adam's Wrath_ and _The Created_ both have explore the theme of PCs trapped in other bodies. I find it fascinating. I ran both and I found The Created to be a little stronger, though probably because the PCs in Adam's Wrath split up and got themselves a TPK.


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## Klaus (May 16, 2009)

I love Feast of Goblyns, Night of the Walking Dead, Children of the Night: Ghosts, Children of the Night: Werebeasts, Howls in the Night (Hound of the Baskerville-esque, but you can choose who is guilty, so it has four different endings) and all 3 adventures from the Masque of the Red Death boxed set (Red Jack, Red Tide and Red Death).


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## fireinthedust (May 16, 2009)

Van Richten's Guide to Liches:  the first D&D book I ever read.  I was thinking up a comic book, someone handed it to me, and here I am today.  Suffice it to say, I have higher expectations of liches than monsters in a dungeon crawl.
    The other Guides are good, though I recommend Vampires for sure.  Ghosts and the Created are also sweet.  Fiends was just scary, and I hadn't played D&D demons before, so all that flavour didn't go to waste on "yeah, but that's just a ...".  Ravenloft can do that, I guess.
  Werecreatures didn't inspire me too much.

Feast of Goblyns:  The second adventure I ever played, after Temple of Elemental Evil.   Went through it on two occasions and had a load of fun.  I guess the plot is a railroad, but only because there are obvious "hey, can you get this to here?/Find this item for me?" NPCs.  If you wanted side treks, or the PCs do something else, you're fine to do those.  Historically I believe it was pegged as the first scene-based rather than dungeon-based D&D adventure.  
      I remember it fondly as amazing except two specific points:  1)  the dungeon where skeletons swing down on chains by their feet (not manacles, I believe they were hanging by their toes) and stab at the PCs with spears.  My group was inebriated for the one and only time, and hilarity ensued.      2)  The final scene BBEG; there are loads of scary NPCs, but most of them teleport away the first round, leaving a disappointingly statted BBEG solo.  Amazing buildup, but I think my fighter nailed her in one or two rounds (granted, he was munched, but still; my DM should have fixed her, but I doubt he expected her to be that lightweight).


2)  Hyskosa scrolls: read through them.  Good stuff, but railroady.


Ravenloft sites were often more fun than the adventures.  Finding them and using them, I can recommend Feast of Goblyns (the Inn); Castle Ravenloft (a whole castle); various other castles and sites.  My then-DM had us appear in various mist-shrouded places, and see things appear out of the mist.  Really helpful if you don't have an adventure prep'd and you need to think of something fast.


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## vazanar (May 16, 2009)

Kwalish Kid said:


> That reminds me: _Adam's Wrath_ and _The Created_ both have explore the theme of PCs trapped in other bodies. I find it fascinating. I ran both and I found The Created to be a little stronger, though probably because the PCs in Adam's Wrath split up and got themselves a TPK.




Gotta second the fun of Adam's Wrath and body switching combined with fleas of madness. I ran three different groups through the adventure. A roleplaying heavy group is needed for full effect.


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## Piratecat (May 16, 2009)

Another vote for Feast of Goblyns. And under no circumstances, ever, should you buy Thoughts of Darkness. It was the first module I ever bought that was wholly unredeemable.


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## ProfessorPain (May 16, 2009)

Piratecat said:


> Another vote for Feast of Goblyns. And under no circumstances, ever, should you buy Thoughts of Darkness. It was the first module I ever bought that was wholly unredeemable.




Totally agree. Thoughts of Darkness had some great Fabian art inside, but the adventure itself was terrible. And Goblyns ruled.


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## ProfessorPain (May 16, 2009)

Riley said:


> Thanks for all the suggestions! (of course, also feel free to keep them coming)
> 
> I think a couple of those were released by TSR/Wizards online for free back in the day, so I'll start by taking a look at those over the weekend.
> 
> Does anyone have any thoughts about Masque of the Red Death?





First, full disclosure, I was a really Ravenloft Nerd in the 90s. So take what I say with a grain of salt. 

Masque of the Red Death was an interesting concept. They basically imported the idea of Ravenloft to the real world during the Victorian Era, minus the dark lords. I can't remember all the specifics, I do know they introduced some new ideas. The system was kind of unusual, because they had to rework second edition to function in the victorian era with guns. The gun mechanics were decent for the time. If you and your players like Victorian Horror, its a good enough game. If anyone isn't feeling it, it probably won't work.


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## Frostmarrow (May 16, 2009)

Can't remember the name but the characters wake up in a toymakers workshop in the form of toys! It was a real blast to play. Suspenseful and entertaining.

From Feast of Goblyns I remember with glee how singing the town of Harmonia's anthem to the guards in order to enter was mandatory.


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## vagabundo (May 16, 2009)

Frostmarrow said:


> Can't remember the name but the characters wake up in a toymakers workshop in the form of toys! It was a real blast to play. Suspenseful and entertaining.






> The Created (RM2)
> "Beware what you wish, for it might come true" is an old Vistani saying. In the small town of Odiare, a toymaker has wished a puppet to life - only this puppet is not a friendly, playful toy. It is a thing of evil, bent upon killing all the adults of Odiare. When the player characters are trapped within this town, Maligno the puppet and his animated toys begin to hunt them down. The PCs' only chance for escape is to defeat the mad marionette."




Ravenloft Modules - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) - Wayne's World of Books - Info & Sources


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## fireinthedust (May 16, 2009)

Toys:  I believe it was "the created", with the evil jack-in-the-box on the cover.   I ran it.  Ok module.  The puppets are called "Carrionettes".  Not a huge fan for re-play, but a one-night module might not be awful.


Goblyns:  I don't remember singing the anthem, but the DM had read the Novel set in Harmonia, and since his girlfriend was playing (elven fighter/rogue) he almost had her eaten while being seduced at the Crystal Club (I think it was called).  Also replayed a scene from the book, but we as PCs were spectators to it, so it was a bit boring (and he wouldn't let us read the book, so we'd be surprised!  I mean, looking bad, not great gameplay; needed better graphics, I guess  ).
     I remember being somewhat annoyed when I read the module that we wouldn't be focused on the werewolves, like in the brief rp script at the start of the module.
    In 4e I'm trying to capture that aspect of play, where I describe what's happening to create mood, atmosphere.  Otherwise, a great combat engine like 4e is wasted if my end of things (the storytelling) isn't up to par.

Mask of the Red Death:  has nothing to do with the film by Vincent Price (good movie), but I second that it looked fun.  Mages are Spiritualists or Cthulu-type mystics.  Ditto Clerics (but for the Elder gods, I think).  Fighters are solders, etc.
         I think the idea works well.  Saying "demiplane of dred" means people start looking in the Ethereal Plane for it.  Saying Shadowfell in 4e is the same problem.  Having a world where it's just scary?  More like a Hammer Horror film, or actual scary tale: there's a vampire castle, and it's scary!
     I'd read it for source material, and try to simplify combat; if the idea of fighting things with guns is too mechanized with numbers, it might seem real, reliable.  Use the rules, but play up every roll like it means something "special" or "magic" (in the Sarah Silverman sense).  But yeah, 2e wasn't a great system for combat rules... maybe that's why Ravenloft could work!


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## ehren37 (May 16, 2009)

FunkBGR said:


> And of course, you absolutely cannot beat the original I6: Ravenloft.




I personally find that module terrible. It's essentially everything later products warn against... a large collection of rooms featuring "scary" monsters and random encounters with d4+1 wolfwere golem liches.

Many of the published adventures were awful, and encouraged the "Sliders" feel of the way many bad Ravenloft games were run, where you ported into a domain, beat the big boss, and moved on to the next in a constant search for your golden ticket back home. 

As a whole, the 2nd edition Ravenloft modules suffered from the style of adventure writing at the time. Choo-choo! They're usable, but they take some elbow grease. There were some decent ones. Children of the Night: Created, Bleak House, Carnivale, Night of the Walking Dead and the Evil Eye were some of the better written ones. Circle of Darkness was also pretty good, as it offered a darklord a chance at redemption. I was a player in Servants of Darkness/The Shadow Rift, and Neither Man nor Beast, and enjoyed those, but dont know how much was changed from the source material. If you can dig up the old dungeon adventure, The Last Dance, I enjoyed it as well.

I prefer a more subtle version of the setting than many of the written modules implied, where it could be mistaken for our world, and where the supernatural wasnt glaringly obvious to everyone, with skeletons walking the streets during broad daylight and giant walls of gibbering skulls appearing constantly. 

The worst of the offenders was the god awful Death Ascendent trilogy. While the modules would frequently ignore the setting advice on the difference between gore and horror, these three were among the worst. Slapping blood fountains and giant skulls on everything doesnt make it scary. Not to mention it nuked one of the better domain lords and left the world with Halloween town out of the Nightmare before Christmas.


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## ehren37 (May 16, 2009)

Kwalish Kid said:


> That reminds me: _Adam's Wrath_ and _The Created_ both have explore the theme of PCs trapped in other bodies. I find it fascinating. I ran both and I found The Created to be a little stronger, though probably because the PCs in Adam's Wrath split up and got themselves a TPK.




I love the Created, though probably for all the wrong reasons. I've run it three times now for various groups, and always played it for camp value. My friend still gets a chuckle out of the cat fight, where the poor beast had its whiskers pulled, its tail yanked, and its junk burned with a piece of tinder in one round. Morale check = failed.

I'm also fairly sure the hag battle TPK in Adam's Wrath was planned, though I'd have to dig out my copy to verify.


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## Treebore (May 16, 2009)

ehren37 said:


> I personally find that module terrible. It's essentially everything later products warn against... a large collection of rooms featuring "scary" monsters and random encounters with d4+1 wolfwere golem liches.




As someone who has ran this module 15 times now, I can say I whole heartedly disagree with your assessment.


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## ehren37 (May 17, 2009)

Treebore said:


> As someone who has ran this module 15 times now, I can say I whole heartedly disagree with your assessment.




Its a dungeon filled with a bunch of monsters. You open a room, and hey, there's gargoyes! You open another, and spectres and wraiths! You open another  and its a banshee! 

There's also a fair amount magical loot, for a 5-7th level adventure in addition to the sunblade and symbol/icon, including 3 +3 maces (in the same room!) and several +2 swords - one of which is intelligent, but isnt bothered to be given a name... I guess too much space was used statting out various 0th level humans in the town in case the DM couldnt improvse when the PC's went on a rampage. Its also got about 100,000 GP to destroy the local economy (including 20,000 electrum pieces to confuse the local economy), a 50,000 gp book, etc. I guess they needed to give people level bumps by rolling in gold to erase those level drains or something.

Kill things, take stuff.

Its a basic dungeon crawl, where you collect pieces of the triforce... err, sunblade, holy symbol and icon of ravenkind to help defeat the big boss. If it was published today, people would be complaining about it being video gamey. Its got some well written boxed text, but in my opinion, the biggest thing I6 has going for it is nostalgia. Otherwise its a fairly standard haunted house adventure. I do take back the terrible statement... its not actually terrible, just very over rated.


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## Treebore (May 17, 2009)

ehren37 said:


> Its a dungeon filled with a bunch of monsters. You open a room, and hey, there's gargoyes! You open another, and spectres and wraiths! You open another  and its a banshee!
> 
> There's also a fair amount magical loot, for a 5-7th level adventure in addition to the sunblade and symbol/icon, including 3 +3 maces (in the same room!) and several +2 swords - one of which is intelligent, but isnt bothered to be given a name... I guess too much space was used statting out various 0th level humans in the town in case the DM couldnt improvse when the PC's went on a rampage. Its also got about 100,000 GP to destroy the local economy (including 20,000 electrum pieces to confuse the local economy), a 50,000 gp book, etc. I guess they needed to give people level bumps by rolling in gold to erase those level drains or something.
> 
> ...




I still don't agree. Its the most requested "Can we run through it again?" module I have ever run, and I have ran the vast majority of old ones. Maybe you read it that way, or it was ran that way for you, but this module is one of the best ever.


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## ProfessorPain (May 17, 2009)

Treebore said:


> I still don't agree. Its the most requested "Can we run through it again?" module I have ever run, and I have ran the vast majority of old ones. Maybe you read it that way, or it was ran that way for you, but this module is one of the best ever.




I tend to agree. The module was written in the early 80s, so you have to take that into account when running it. But it is a solid module and it definitely isn't a straight dungeon crawl. For sure it has dungeon crawl elements, because it was written in a time when that was the norm, but it really did have a lot of role play and investigation stuff.


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## Kwalish Kid (May 17, 2009)

ehren37 said:


> II'm also fairly sure the hag battle TPK in Adam's Wrath was planned, though I'd have to dig out my copy to verify.



Oh, that was planned. The one the PCs made up on their own wasn't.

While the basic layout of the original Ravenloft is a disconnected series of rooms, there is enough else woven through the structure of that adventure that I believe it does surpass the standard problems of its day.


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## Plane Sailing (May 18, 2009)

Piratecat said:


> And under no circumstances, ever, should you buy Thoughts of Darkness. It was the first module I ever bought that was wholly unredeemable.




Was that the one in the mind-flayer zone?

If so, I concur. I bought it as it sounded interesting and it was awful beyond belief. Uninteresting, railroady and at the end the party gets saved by a third party NPC IIRC.

I don't recall even one good idea from the whole thing.


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## Plane Sailing (May 18, 2009)

ehren37 said:


> I personally find that module terrible. It's essentially everything later products warn against... a large collection of rooms featuring "scary" monsters and random encounters with d4+1 wolfwere golem liches.




Even so, how many adventure modules were considered so successful that they spawned an entire campaign setting?

Although I've not played or run I6, from what I understand from those that have it is not the 'dungeon' which made it memorable, but rather everything else.

Cheers


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