Expedition to CR - TABLE OF CONTENTS RELEASED!

[Joël of the FoS]

WotC will soon make an interview with the designers, and Igor and me have already added a few questions. If you have more to ask to the designers, please do!

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=694070

Joël

[Jonathan Winters]

Some of the questions posted are scaring me a little...

I somehow get the feeling the people on this board are not the target audience for this product...

Patrick

[alhoon]

Why? I didn't see anything unsettling at all.

[Dion of the Fraternity]

Why? I didn't see anything unsettling at all.

I agree. I even think it's kinda fun.

[Jonathan Winters]

Sorry. Back after a few days, couldn't answer before.

I seem to have misread a lot of the stuff, just went back to re-read it.

You guys are right. (This sould teach me not to start reading and posting stuff at the end of a day when I got up at 4:30AM... Sigh...)

My bad.

I'm still not sure what to expect, mind you. But I like the writers on this.

Patrick

[Joël of the FoS]

Question posting period is now closed, and interview sceduled to be out early October.

---

Now the questions and comments were often unrelated to EtCR, but at least most showed a lot of interest to the setting.

We'll see what WotC does with all of this

Joël

[Catman Jim]

I received my October Dragon Magazine, there is an interview with the EtCR authors Bruce Cordell & James Wyatt on pages 77 & 78.

"First published by TSR in 1983, I6: Ravenloft, an AD&D gothic horror module by Tracy and Laura Hickman, remains one of the most feared and fondly remembered of all Dungeons & Dragons adventures. With it's noble and deadly protagonist, Count Strahd Von Zarovich, and a number of plot variations dictated by an in-game fortune-telling session, Ravenloft's innovative nature saw the creation of a sequel, 1986's I10: Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill; a long-lived campaign setting detailing what lurked beyond Barovia's haunted borders; and a commemorative reprinting in 1999's Silver Anniversary boxed set. This month, all of Ravenloft's dread and mystery returns with a new adventure, Expedition to Castle Ravenloft
Fortunately, designers Bruce Cordell and James Wyatt have been kind enough to offer their insight and warnings to any victims who might consider trespassing within Strahd's infamous keep. Suited to adventurers from 5th to 9th level, Bruce explains the Expedition to Castle Raveloft "is organized such that DMs can run players through the entire module, or through sections - so if players come into the adventure at higher than 5th level, there is a place they can begin play. The adventure spans the castle heights, depths, and exterior, including many surrounding areas, such as the village of Barovia and various other locations."
With a couple of decades' worth of history built up around Ravenloft, staying true to plots and details that made the original so popular was a great concern. "This adventure is completely inspired by the Hickman's original work," Bruce confides. "We're merely updating and expanding, throwing a few new wrinkles and plot points into the mix... The plot has a similar multifarious aspect - the Deck of Ravenloft determines Strahd's underlying motives, much as did the original. This one is larger, with more threats, more treasure, and more plot points. But Strahd remains, and all the players dance to his evil will." Speaking of Strahd, many eagerly await the return of Count Von Zarovich, last seen in Dragon #315 - returning with a new look from Artist Kev Walker - as well as many of Ravenloft's other denizens. "Psychologically, [Strahd's] pretty similar. An evil creature slowly losing his mind to an unholy lust to regain his lost love. His stats are updated, of course. If a character appeared in the original, he or she is most likely to appear in this version."
More than just characters and dark plots made the original Ravenloft a classic, though. The in-game fortune-telling aspect could change the plot significantly, allowing players to run through the adventure multiple times with wildly differing objectives. "I'd say we used the Fortunes of Ravenloft in a slightly more subtle way than the original adventure did," James reflects. "Quite a bit of adventuring can happen before the PCs ever meet Madan Eva [the gypsy fortune-teller from the original module], so we've encouraged the DM to make some decisions about why Strahd is doing the things he's doing before you get to the fortunes"
Besides just the main cast and general features, Expedition to Castle Ravenloft brings with it a host of familiar characters and treasures, all updated and some with significantly more detail. "Ireena, the gypsies, the witches... all these are present, though some have undergone more updating than others." Bruce explains. James goes on to note that some of the additions also rely on well-suited and popular new rules, "We've presented an option for the DM and players to treat some of the important magic items in the adventure as legacy items (from Weapons of Legacy), which adds an exciting new dimension to the adventure - not only do you need to find them, you need to make them work for you."
While Expedition to Castle Ravenloft offers a nostalgic look back, some might wonder if it bodes for greater things and further forays into the Land of Mists or other worlds. Playing things close to the vest, James hints, "we're just getting back into publishing adventures again after a long stretch where we did very few adventures. Ravenloft seemed like a great way to revisit the classics while showing off what the latest and greatest incarnation of the rules can accomplish. And it won't be the last stab we make at revisiting some of the classic locales of D&D..."
Finally, both designers offer a bit of advice for those daring to enter the cursed ruins of Castle Ravenloft: "Follow clues. Don't rush straight to the castle. The better prepared you are, the more likely you are to survive," James offeres hopefully. Bruce, though, proves a bit more grim: "Get out your garlic garlands and pray, though I doubt Strahd will much care."

Besides this article, the editorial page by F. Wesley Schneider is devoted to comparing the new version of Ravenloft with the original. The one phrase he used that most grabs me... "They made Madam Eva a what?!" "A remake written twenty-three years after the original has - gasp - changes!"

[Charney]

Is it me or does it sounds like Ravenloft 3rd Edition never happened for them?

I assume it's a copyright issue or something if it's the case.

[Jester of the FoS]

Why would they advertise a competitor’s product?

Besides, this is emphasising Ravenloft the adventure. The history of Ravenloft the adventure. The entire campaign setting, 2nd edition included, only received a one-line reference.

Wizards doesn’t care about the setting, 3E or otherwise. They’re updating classic adventures and giving them a luxury treatment. It’s just a coincidence that the first one they chose happens to have a campaign setting based on it.

[Dion of the Fraternity]

EtCR TABLE OF CONTENTS RELEASED!

What we would be seeing:

--Details of Barovia, Strahd and Castle Ravenloft (of course);
--Two prestige classes: Knight of the Raven and Lightbringer;
--A whole slew of magic items;
--Two legacy items (that I never though of before): the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind and the Sunsword.

Absolutely NO reference to RL 3e.

[Sorti]

Here we are, the dreaded "tactical encounters" are among us... As expected it's basically a dungeon crawling. I'm quite happy, I'm not sure I want WotC to begin writing fluff for Ravenloft, unless we want undead trains and regular undead races...

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Something tells me this module will, in the end, be given the same status among Ravenloft-setting fans as movies based on comic books tend to have, for long-standing fans of the superheroes in question: a cool way to promote the basic concepts for newbies, and perhaps an entertaining way to kill an evening (if they don't mess it up), but ultimately peripheral to "canon". :-/

[NeoTiamat]

Isn't that what we desperately need right now? There was a lot of talk about ret-conning the setting to get more newbies involved and expandthe fan-base, and voila, here is a ready made introduction to Ravenloft basic concepts, created and marketed by Wizards. With any luck, people will buy the module, get interested in Ravenloft, and end up here. Hopefully we should see at least a few new faces around.

[Joël of the FoS]

Here's the link tothis PDF: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060929a

---

Well no, indeed, I do not think we will see this as "canon" with what's been written so far in 3e*, but we'll see what's in the book when it is out

* especially when I see "the three hags" under "the lands of Barovia" in the EtCR table of content

I really wonder what the new spell is, Damning Darkness ...

Joël

[ScS of the Fraternity]

I like those fingerbone relics. That's a neat touch.