CONFIRMED: Ravenloft for 5th Edition

[Joël of the FoS]

Or it could be a "VR asks you to join him getting inside the castle to read his memoirs" adventure?

[alhoon]

VR went into the castle to read his memoirs. Guess VR's appearance will be based on that.

Joël

Probably that, with a sketchy, short backstory without places mentioned.

Or it could be a "VR asks you to join him getting inside the castle to read his memoirs" adventure?

Perhaps he takes the Memoirs from the adventurers? And tells them stuff on how to defeat Strahd?

[Guardian of Twilight]

VR went into the castle to read his memoirs. Guess VR's appearance will be based on that.

Joël

I was wondering about that, actually. Also, isn't it possible that they mention Mordent since they wrote the sequel to I6? If so, I'll be incredibly excited, as Mordent is my favorite part of Ravenloft as a campaign setting.

Does I10 mention Mordent, or just Mordentshire? If the latter, it could be assumed that Mordentshire is just part of Barovia. Another interesting point is that I10 also introduced Azalin. Also, didn't I read once that Tracy and Laura left midway into I10's development and the completed module was made based on their outlines and could thus be drastically different from their intent?

Reading things like this just serves to make me wish it was close to the release date! Very good points, and very valid questions! Now I have even more to ask them when I see them this year at GenCon!

If only I could get my hands on a DeLorean...

[Joël of the FoS]

Full set of cards can be sen here : http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread ... ost6802621

Joël

[alhoon]

Absolutely beautiful...

So, the obvious question: Will they be included in the product? Or I'll have to download them and sent them for print and lamination?

[Ender]

Absolutely beautiful...

So, the obvious question: Will they be included in the product? Or I'll have to download them and sent them for print and lamination?

Neither. They'll be available separately for purchase, printed by Gale Force 9 and including rules for a poker-like game that can also be played with them.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Of note, the changes:

The Hooded Man (2e/3e) -> Hooded One (5e)
The Temptress (2e/3e) -> Tempter (5e)
The Esper (2e) -> The Hero (3e) -> Seer (5e)
The Hangman (2e/3e) -> Executioner (5e)
The Ghost (2e) -> The Spirit (3e) -> Ghost (5e)
The Warrior (2e) -> The Master of Swords (3e) -> Warrior (5e)
The Priest (2e) -> The Master of Glyphs (3e) -> Priest (5e)
The Traitor (2e) -> The Heretic (3e) -> Traitor (5e)
The Guildsman (2e/3e) -> Guild Member (5e)
The Darklord (2e) -> The Dark Master (3e) -> Darklord (5e)
The Donjon (2e) -> The Prison (3e) -> Donjon (5e)
The Invoker (2e) -> The Evoker (3e) -> Evoker (5e)
The Rogue (2e) -> The Mistress of Coins (3e) -> Rogue (5e)
The Wizard (2e) -> The Master of Stars (3e) -> Wizard (5e)

(And all "The"s have been removed from the other names)

It's a lovely deck, though it won't replace Talon's 3e deck as my favorite.

[Jester of the FoS]

It's arguably better than Paizo with it's six $20 AP volumes, the related campaign expansion book, the map folio, and pawn set. To say nothing of the dozen books or so expected to run a campaign.

Especially since you can play D&D with just the Basic rules (free) or SRD (also free) and the campaign book. Especially if they release another Basic rules expansion like they did for the first two adventures. You could play both Tyranny of Dragons and Princes of the Apocalypse for just the cost of the adventure.

I dunno if that's the most fair comparison. After all, you don't have to have the campaign expansion book, map folio, or pawn set to play the AP. Those are completely optional. Also, all the rules are online for free on d20PFSRD. I actually run an online pathfinder game where I'm the only one who actually has physical books; all my players use the online resource and it works great.

It's still $120 for the whole AP, but there's a lot more pages. Each one is approx. 90 pages of material. Some of it is story fluff, but not a lot.

Not trying to say one is better than the other, just that it's not really an equal comparison.

The post was in response to one lamenting the commercialization of the game and amount of support material.
I was pointing out that WotC is positively restrained to Paizo, not casting judgement one way or another.

[Mortavius]

So, do we think the part about Van Richten will reference his past in Darkon and Mordent? Or will he just show up in Barovia as a monster hunter? Or maybe his backstory will be mentioned, but not where it happened...

I think you were right before Ron; this module is not going to assume that the reader is familiar with any previous Ravenloft material.

I expect that VR will be a Van Helsing type of character. Maybe he'll be going to read the book...but I doubt it. It doesn't make a lot of sense in a stand-alone module. Break into a haunted castle of evil to read a book? Makes a lot more sense for him to break in to fight said evil. PCs will help him with that. Or rescue him.

Reading Strahd's book made more sense in the older campaigns because, A) you didn't try and kill a Darklord lightly, and B) Van Richten always put more stock on the long game and gathering info. In an adventure arc like this, you don't have as much room to play with that sort of thing.

Strahd is obviously set up as the big bad villain of the module, whom the PCs will confront at the end. How big a part VR plays in that remains to be seen. I expect he will be able to provide some crucial info the PCs need at some point, or help them discover a weapon capable of hurting him (the Holy Symbol, etc.).

[Mortavius]

The post was in response to one lamenting the commercialization of the game and amount of support material.
I was pointing out that WotC is positively restrained to Paizo, not casting judgement one way or another.

Ahhh, I understand. It seemed like you were making a comparison of all the things you needed to run the two. I felt it was important to say (from experience) that you really don't need most of those things. Although they are really cool if you have the budget for them.

Thanks for clarifying!

[Mortavius]

Thinking about it more, this is my theory on how this module will play out.

PC's enter Barovia some way.

PC's run around Barovia, having adventures and get incentive to defeat Strahd. (This to me is a part of the module that can be the most interesting, involving new and unique areas to explore.)

PC's go into Castle Ravenloft part way, and get some vital piece of info.

PC's head back out to Barovia, exploring and finding something the need to kill Strahd, using some lore or item they needed to get from the Castle.

PC's head back into the Castle, hunt down Strahd, and defeat him.

I'm not trying to downplay the module, but I don't think it will really reference previous material. That's just too old, and they can't expect their audience to know that stuff. Also, this will be printed as the "weekend in hell" scenario. An opportunity for a traditional D&D game to take a veer off into Gothic/Fantasy horror. None of that is bad. But I don't think this will be the Ravenloft setting that some folks might be hoping for.

If this sells well, I can see Wizards releasing a "setting book" like the Sword Coast adventures one. But I haven't really heard good things about that book around here, so I don't have great hopes for that.

Don't mistake me; I'm looking forward to this book, and I've always felt that every Ravenloft book has at least some good bits in it (yes, even you, Champions of Darkness). But I expect this to be a lot like what Expedition to Castle Ravenloft was. A romp in the haunted/vampire castle style adventure using iconic characters and locations, but not really referencing the past of said characters and settings.

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

The only use I have for Champions of Darkness is to make the gaming table less wonky.

[Joël of the FoS]

But I expect this to be a lot like what Expedition to Castle Ravenloft was. A romp in the haunted/vampire castle style adventure using iconic characters and locations, but not really referencing the past of said characters and settings.

I also think it will be like you portray. However, it's a 1-10 level adenture / campaign, so it will begin softly with many adventures around the castle (so people can get to the 10 th level), mostly without Strahd's involvment (or with little). I expect many side treks in the countryside like EtCR (some could be Strahd manipulating the PCs into destroying an enemy of Strahd - will they meet Vasili Von Holtz?).

Given Van Richten is in, I expect it will take the I Strahd book content (VR made famous the lines "I am the land" when he copied the book). Then possibly one of these sidetreks could be entering the Castle with Van Richten to read Strahd's memoirs, as I suggested. Or to get another clue, in a similar daring entry during the day.

And then at 10th level, a grand finish inside the Castle, defeating Strahd, in a rehash of I-6 (that is what most D&D people buying it will expect).

Joël

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I think you were right before Ron; this module is not going to assume that the reader is familiar with any previous Ravenloft material.

Yes, but that doesn't mean they can't put in a quick reference to it that makes sense even if you don't "get" the reference. I mean, it doesn't hurt them much to say "Van Richten is a medical doctor and herbalist from a neighboring land called Darkon, who swore to fight monsters when his son was turned by the vampire Baron Metus." vs. "Van Richten is a medical doctor and herbalist, who swore to fight monsters when his son became a vampire."

Yes, they have word counts to meet, and yes, too much of this would overwhelm the new reader with irrelevant info. But a little bone here and there for the grognards would either go unnoticed by the new readers or perhaps intrigue them.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

The tarokka deck is already available for pre-order direct from Gale Force 9 for a surprisingly reasonable $10+shipping*:
http://www.flamesofwar.com/gf9online_st ... ryID=13327

*shipping, however, was kind of unreasonable. $8.95 for me. I think I'll wait and see if Amazon gets them.