Carrion Crown

[brass]

The players guide for Paizo's gothic horror adventure path is now up. It's a free download.

http://paizo.com/store/games/roleplayin ... 48btpy8j0q

[Cole Deschain]

Worth a look- Paizo proved their horror credentials to me with The Skinsaw Murders. Be interested in seeing how this shakes out...

[The Giamarga]

There's also Rule of Fear, Classic Horrors revisited and the excellent Pathfinder novel: Prince of Wolves.

[DasSoviet]

The folks over at Paizo tend to favour Lovecraftian horror over Gothic, I've tended to notice, but that doesn't mean they don't do horror well - quite the reverse, actually. From the same adventure path as Skinsaw Murders, Hook Mountain Massacre is pretty disturbing - hillbilly ogres and all. Additionally, pretty much all of the Curse of the Crimson Throne reads Ravenloft-y, though in particular Skeletons of Scarwall specifically cites Ravenloft as inspiration. Also, in Council of Thieves - despite being very devil/infernal themed overall - What Lies in Dust does have some great ideas for hauntings. Kingmaker, Legacy of Fire, and Second Darkness all seem a bit too high fantasy for general use in Ravenloft, in my opinion (though I personally love some of the ideas they put in to Kingmaker and am aching to run that adventure path some time) - and I haven't yet really read through Serpent's Throne, but it looks to be in the same boat.

In terms of standalone adventures, Carnival of Tears is pretty interesting for a fey-themed horror trip, while both Carrion Hill and From Shore to Sea are good, though very very Lovecraftian in tone. Other ones folks might to check out are Crypt of the Everflame, Gallery of Evil (mad painter creating monsters) and Hangman's Noose. There are a few that seem horror-themed at first glance which are little more than hack-and-slash fests (Hungry are the Dead, Entombed with the Pharaohs and Into the Haunted Forest), but one might be able to re-purpose them for Ravenloft with judicious use of the horror hammer.

Anyhow, just some recommendations here from this Paizo fanatic who is eagerly awaiting this batch of Gothic goodness!

Also, is it just me, or does it seem that the folks over at Paizo basically took a recoloured Ravenloft logo as use for their Carion Crown one?



I don't know, but for me the entire layout and design of the player's guide just brings back those good ol' Ravenloft vibes!

[Le Noir Faineant]

Took a look - nice.

However, I got to say, for the same price,
I'll probably get the Thieves World d20 box on ebay,
or the very excellent Witchfire trilogy for Iron Kingdoms.

Which both are very close to what I personally see as my Ravenloft feel.

[The Giamarga]

Witchfire Trilogy? Interesting. I thought it'd be too Iron Kingdoms specific to be of use in Ravenloft. (Steamjacks, Meachanika etc.) Although i hear it is quite good. (Havn't had time to read much of my IK stuff yet)

Care to elaborate a bit about how it has the Ravenloft feel, Rafe?

All you lucky US residents, get your Witchfire Trilogy Collected Edition for only $ 15 plus postage here. (The slight imperfection is negligible according to this thread on the acaeum Others are out of luck as the international postage costs are horrendous.

Rafael, I got my Witchfire Trilogy from ebay.de for quite cheap. Though it's been some time since one appear there.. Morgenwelt in Berlin has one for 34 Euros. That should be a bit cheaper than a whole Adventure Path.

[brass]

I'm subscribing to this adventure path, I may never run it because well there is a lot of existing adventures for ravenloft if I want a prewritten. I will report back on quality or interesting ideas.

[Joël of the FoS]

And the name of the village in this adventure is Ravengro

Official info for subscriber, this arrived yesterday in my email box :

Paizo is pleased to announce that, in about a week, we'll begin shipping subscriber copies of the first volume of Carrion Crown, our latest Pathfinder Adventure Path!

From the whispering shadows of haunted Ustalav, an ancient evil rises to grip the world in a new age of horror! Amid the mists of this land of dark superstition and dread secrets stand both those who would defy the return of evil and those who would seek its terrible favor. Can your heroes discern their allies from their enemies in time to save a tortured realm from a tyrant's return? The most frightening Pathfinder Adventure Path yet sets your characters against the agents of Golarion's most notorious villain, the Whispering Tyrant, in a terrifying trek across a land of lurking horror and ancient mysteries.

But you don't have to wait until your subscription ships to get your first look at Carrion Crown—we've just released the FREE Carrion Crown Player's Guide PDF, which gives your PCs interesting backgrounds and unique character options to prepare them for the campaign!

We're very proud of Carrion Crown, as it marks a new kind of Adventure Path for us. Carrion Crown draws its inspiration from the storied pages of gothic horror literature and film. From the tradition of Dracula and Frankenstein's monster, werewolves and zombies, undead wizards and cosmic horror, we've devised a campaign fraught with lurking dread and nefarious villains, crafted to test characters' bravery, wits, and skill. Your characters will want to stand fast against the terrors they encounter rather than flee at the sight of the first ghoul or ghost. The PCs aren't being set up as dupes strung along in a series of unsettling events, but rather as heroes thrown against terrors their resolve alone might best. And this campaign can be as dark as you want it to be: if you like a bit of extra moodiness in your game, there are plenty of opportunities to make extra props, turn down the lights, and do all you can to unnerve your players.

Whether you're eager to see how your PCs fare against foes like Doctor Frankenstein, the Headless Horseman, Carmilla, or mad beings from beyond the stars, or you're preparing a campaign of horror to unsettle players and characters alike, the Carrion Crown Adventure Path has enough chills to keep you on the edge of your seat for months.

As always, each 96-page full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains about 50 pages of adventure designed for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, plus a variety of support articles to immerse players in their new campaign. The first volume of Carrion Crown, for example, includes the first adventure, "The Haunting of Harrowstone," written by Michael Kortes, who also gives you a tour of Ravengro, a village full of mystery and suspicion. Brandon Hodge provides expanded rules for creating and running horrific haunts. The monthly bestiary details six new monsters designed by Pathfinder favorites Adam Daigle and Patrick Renie, and short fiction by F. Wesley Schneider shows how an ancient revenge is born. Support articles in future Carrion Crown volumes include revelations on the faith of Pharasma (goddess of birth, death, and fate) and details on the decr epit village of Illmarsh, a town haunted by tales of ghastly midnight rites and sacrifices to shadows from the sea. The entire six-volume Adventure Path culminates at one of the most feared locations in all of Golarion: the tower of Gallowspire, resting place of the immortal evil wizard known as the Whispering Tyrant!

[Le Noir Faineant]

Well, first off, IK is pretty much vintage Warhammer - if you like the Warhammer FRP, you will be happy with IK as well. (Warhammer RPG is already pretty much a horror rpg.)

What I personally like about the Witchfire trilogy is that it pretty much clicked for me - I found all plotlines, virtually all NPCs, and also the overall storyarc very appealling, and timed in a fashion that allowed sensible play.

(Most adventures are notoriously too long. Just one of the Paizo adventure paths, for example, would take me years to complete with my groups.)

The third part was a little bit boring though, but given that a normal group usually already brings a lot of baggage in from earlier sessions (like, the usual commitments and subplots of every NPC), it should be easy to balance that out.

All in all, even as sketchy as this review is (I don't have the book on me, and it's been years since I ran it), I usually recommend people that look for d20 dark fantasy to get either "The Speaker in Dreams" from the 3.0 Wizards AP, or the Witchfire Trilogy, because those worked best for me.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Also of note, I spotted Sean K Reynolds's name in the PDF. Apparently, he's done a lot of PF stuff, but also wrote the Wilhelm Pellman adventure in Children of the Night: Ghosts.

[steveflam]

Took a look - nice.

However, I got to say, for the same price,
I'll probably get the Thieves World d20 box on ebay,
or the very excellent Witchfire trilogy for Iron Kingdoms.

Which both are very close to what I personally see as my Ravenloft feel.

Now I Know why you and ewan get along so well! Both have the same tastes!

[Le Noir Faineant]

I got to say, I'm more of a Thieves World guy than I am of Iron Kingdoms.

- The book series Green Ronin released was collected in a bundle that I had the luck to pick up for 20 bucks. Standard d20 quality, but the adventures are very good, and the setting charmed me.

[brass]

Something interesting from James Jacobs.

Part four of Carrion Crown will have an optional sanity mechanic similar to Call of Cthulhu... but for the most part, the game rules getting in play to MAKE your characters scared will be limited to effects that cause fear effects

[ewancummins]

I got to say, I'm more of a Thieves World guy than I am of Iron Kingdoms.

- The book series Green Ronin released was collected in a bundle that I had the luck to pick up for 20 bucks. Standard d20 quality, but the adventures are very good, and the setting charmed me.

I've got 'em all, and have been reading the anthologies.

I might run TW D20 at some point. We'll see,

[Le Noir Faineant]

I'm pondering to get the old 80s box, and do a game based on that,
but it's so darn expensive.

The new TW books have a kind of forwarded timeline, which in my opinion is somewhat of a mistake,
because it makes the cross-referencing very complicated.

I've found the low-paced d20 classes very useful, though,
as well as the gaz on the world. - TW looks like a good place to run the DCC line.