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[Teravala]

How are you going to run the Hexad modules? I mean since the level difference from one to another go back and forth.

More specifically, the order will likely be :
1:Night of the Walking Dead (1-3)
2: Feast of Goblyns (4-6)
3: Touch of Death (7-9)
4: Ship of Horror (10-12)
5: From the Shadows (13-15)
6: Roots of Evil (16-18)

I'd keep the significance of the last 2 being done out of order, resulting in the GC being compromised, but treat the 4 previous lines as if this had always been the ordering of the prohecy. level gaps between adventure modules will be closed through mini adventures of my own creation, or that I've scalped from the archives here.

I would suggest to play Web of Illusion (lvl 7-9) between Ship of Horror (8-10) and From the Shadows (9-12) as it has a close level range and makes a good Hexad adventure for the following reason. You can enhance levels for the adventure though as you have already planned.

VIEW CONTENT:

Maharaja Arijani's name is an anadrome of Inajira as such it could be used to make the PCs believe they have witnessed the 5th verse of Hyskosa's Hexad Prophesy. I would go as far as to have them wash out in Martira Bay, possibly meeting Tavelia (leader of the Kargat there) and even meeting Azalin Rex disguised with his illusions as his late-life king persona (an elderly man with aquiline features and a piercing gaze, with unkempt dark hair topped by a heavy iron crown). Azalin sends them to Sri Raji for some "erand" (maybe a search for Ravana's Bane or a cursed item for his Black Vault collection). Since the PC's have witnessed or even caused the rest of the Hexad signs, Azalin believes that they are crucial into triggering the Grand Conjunction.

Azalin mistakenly believes that the 5th verse "esrever senutrof sih ekam lliw Arijani" involves Maharaja Arijani since he has no knowledge of Inajira's existence (Strahd probably had the events involving Inajira written within a volume of Tome of Strahd that escaped Azalin's research while he was "living" in Castle Ravenloft centuries ago). Alternatively Azalin may have knowledge of the Terg legend of General Strahd Von Zarovich making a pact with a fiend to win the war against them, but the fiend's name is recorded as Ijrail or Inraji so he never made the connection or believed that Arijani with the term "reverse" in the verse, was a better candidate for the 5th verse.

My captors think they could hide this from me in plain sight, but I managed to see through their childish wordplay and deciphered the fifth verse...
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________V
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In these legends post-Grand Conjunction, the Tergs called a fiend to send after then General Strahd but Strahd banished the fiend. This may be a reference to the event that fulfilled completed Hyskosa's Hexad and defeated the Grand Conjunction. In brief, adventurers went back in time to when Inajira was about to complete the pact with Strahd and banished the fiend before he got the chance, thus changing history.

Also Rudolph Van Richten's false theory in his Guide to Fiends of Arijani and Inajira having a connection has some basis in that it was that similarity in names that made Azalin missinterpret the 5th verse and thus made the Grand Conjunction to collapse.

When Azalin used the PC's to create the 6th verse in From the Shadows he places the roots for the Grand Conjunction to collapse by unknowingly creating the 6th verse before the 5th verse. I believe using Web of Illusion this way explains why this mistake in the order of the signs was made and it can also create two shocks to the PCs. The first one is meeting Azalin Rex as a human and then realising they were working for a lich all along when they are bodyless heads in his laboratory. The other shock is the existence of Inajira himself and the name mistake makes a good reason for "Azalin's impatience" to cause his minions to fulfill the last two couplets out of order. Normaly Azalin, a centuries old lich would have lots of patience to make the Grand Conjunction come to pass, it was his missenterpretation of the 5th Hexad that made his plan of destroying the Demiplane of Dread to escape fail.

From the Ravenloft Gazetteer II
Often dedicating years of planning to his plots, Azalin's long term goals usually strain mortal comprehansion. His thirst for power is both his driving force and his greatest failing. Once he sets his sights on achieving a goal, nothing can dissuade him from his path. As Azalin pursues a given scheme over the years, he tends to become so obsessed with its completion that he may ignore minor flaws that might appear.

Web of Illusion adventure description
Rakshasa . . . For centuries, these diabolical creatures have hunted humanity and preyed upon its flesh. Now the Mists have opened upon the land of Sri Raji—home of dread Arijani, the rakshasa lord. He is the mastermind behind a deadly game of illusion where plots lie within plots that lie within plots. Wise player characters will trust neither their eyes nor their wits, for nothing is as it seems in Sri Raji. The rakshasa have laid their traps of intrigue for the unwary. This time, the unwary are your characters.

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Actually there is no plot within plot within plot in this adventure, Azalin's plan to send adventurer's for an erand as I described, makes it a better candidate for the above description.

Also for anyone owning the Endless Quest Night of the Tiger gamebook this could be incorporated to Web of Illusion.

From the Read Box
His (Azalin's) plots contain circles within circles, always pitting rivals against each other. Almost as soon as it appears he has made a mistake, his enemies learn painfully that they are doing exactly what he wanted them to do. Though in this case he actually made a mistake...

These are some wonderful, and in very in depth suggestions. I really appreciate the ideas! I’m definitely interested in the proposed reorder. My group doesn’t have a super in depth knowledge of the setting, so making adjustments won’t be as wrenching as it would be if they were more versed, so I have that to my advantage. When I started looking into running the hexad adventures a lot of people on Reddit seemed to suggest a reorder or releveling of them to make it more cohesive. I am a bit worried I won’t properly understand the power gaps between 2e and 3.X especially.

[BaronChow]

Hello all,

I am BaronChow. I hope you're all doing well.

I was directed to this website by Talon Dunning after a chance encounter on Etsy. I am a long-time RPG player, and always had a fascination with Ravenloft. I have recently begun to DM a campaign with some old friends after getting sick of campaigns detonating.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Regards,
Baron

[Iqarus]

Yo! Iqarus here!

I'm best known as a Forgotten Realms wiki volunteer (where I go by the less savory name of Italian Karsus. No, not Italian here); I'm looking into one specific Ravenloft connection to the Realms that got me to look here. I'm also probably actually best known as the spammer who asked over 1000 TCG artists from the 1993-2002 period if they'd worked on Spellfire to try and improve on the art credits - just one artist short now, so fingers crossed!

Pleased to meet you all!

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I'm looking into one specific Ravenloft connection to the Realms that got me to look here.

Benvenuto!!!

There are two connections from the Forgotten Realms to Ravenloft.

In 2e it was Castle Spulzeer - The Forgotten Terror crossover

In 5e it is the Chalet Brantifax from the Book of the Raven adventure from Candlekeep Mysteries

Another I can think of is Gondegal

The Usurper King Gondegal seized power in Arabel in 1352 DR with the aim of using the city as a central location for the formation of a new kingdom. In one battle, Gondegal's forces slaughtered much of a knightly order. One of the survivors, the paladin known as Knightengale, named herself his arch-nemesis and would pursue him. He was overthrown eight days later by the Cormyrean army, led by King Azoun IV. King Azoun retook the city without shedding any blood, because Gondegal had abandoned the city and apparently fled. After these events he is known in the Realms as the Lost King as he disappeared without any trace from the Realms as he was taken by the Mists of Ravenoft, Knightengale chased him through them as well ending up herself in the Demiplane of Dread.

[Iqarus]

Let's be upfront; I am actually after the Adventurer's Guild RPGA modules. Heard someone here had a few; the odds of us FR wiki crew being able to get our mitts on those in any way are, well... thin, and getting thinner by the day, much like their paper, even if we could pay for them. I had a few questions about those modules, and one of your members had access to them in 2015 at least - if still so, I thought I should see if they can spare the time to look up a few answers.

Also, is it me, or is your website facing unusual traffic? Both today and yesterday, I've encountered 429 errors while browsing it.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Also, is it me, or is your website facing unusual traffic? Both today and yesterday, I've encountered 429 errors while browsing it.

I guess all of us

[Iqarus]

Yeah. By the way, I accidentally sent a DM to everyone in the Fraternity of Shadows group. I clicked on it, got suspicious, then clicked on it again to disable it- beginning to guess that's not how it works. I have to git gud at this phpBB software again. My earnest apologies, it won't happen again.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Yeah. By the way, I accidentally sent a DM to everyone in the Fraternity of Shadows group. I clicked on it, got suspicious, then clicked on it again to disable it- beginning to guess that's not how it works. I have to git gud at this phpBB software again. My earnest apologies, it won't happen again.

No problem...

(We always find a way to punish the new novices that knock on our doors )

[Kazz]

Hey hey folks! Long term DND DM, and likely starting a Ravenloft Domains of Dread Vhage Agency Campaign soon. Found this place while looking for info and it seems pretty cool.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

Hi y'all!
I'm a newbie (is that how you spell it?) Ravenloft fan. You can call me Dash. Have been playing DND since 4th grade but only recently got into its... mistier sides. I've read Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and tried to dechipher more information from Mistipedia (Sorry guys but your website's a mess), and started writing a fanfic taking place in Mordent, but have yet to actually play.
Usually I prefer epic fantasy to horror, but VRGtR helped me realise that horror CAN be written with sensitivity and hopefullness, so it might be my gateway drug.
May you always be safe from vampiric mind flayers and the 3e version of Hazlan (that shit is gonna haunt my nightmares), --









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[Mephisto of the FoS]

Hi y'all!

Welcome... welcome...

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

thanks

[Neroferro]

Hello!
New to the forum, but long-time lurker. I really appreciate and love all the work that was done, and this in amazing repository of knowledge and ideas!
I'm running a native pc campaign (Next week we will mark 1st year of play), i've adapted the rules to the new edition, but still following the 2e-3e continuity.
It's nice to be here!

[Joël of the FoS]

New blood! I saw him first!



But be welcomed!

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Welcome aboard, Neroferro. ^_^