Van Richten's Guide Companion adventures

Drinnik Shoehorn · Post by **Drinnik Shoehorn** » Sun May 22, 2005 11:42 pm

I've been wracking my brains trying to remember all the companion adventures for the different Van Richten's Guides. Please help!

VRGt Vampires: ???
VRGt Ghosts: Castles Forlorn
VRGt Werebeasts: ??? (Is it Dark of the Moon?)
VRGt Liches: ???
VRGt The Ancient Dead: The Awakening
VRGt the Created: Adam's Wrath
VRGt Demons: ??? (I would say Circle of Darkness, but that doesn't mention phalactries or Reality Wrinkles)
VRGt the Vistani: The Evil Eye

Catman Jim · Post by **Catman Jim** » Mon May 23, 2005 6:36 am

Well, going by release dates & TSR number:
Vampires (1991 - 9345) - no real match, Darklords, Ship of Horror, Book of Crypts, Touch of Death, MC10 Ravenloft in 1991, then Islands of Terror, Forbidden Lore, & Night of the Walking Dead in 1992. Closest is probably Forbidden Lore.
Werebeasts (1993 - 9416) - Dark of the Moon (1993 - 9419)
Liches (1993 - 9412) - Roots of Evil (1993 - 9413)
Fiends(=Demons) (1995 - 9477) - Circle of Darkness (1995 - 9493)

Steve Miller · Post by **Steve Miller** » Mon May 23, 2005 3:17 pm

"Circle of Darkness" was indeed supposed to be the companion adventure to "Guide of Fiends."

However, the process that led to what eventually saw print was FUBAR beyond words, so I'm not surprised that reality wrinkles and phylacteries didn't get mentioned. (Though I think I *intended* to have Malistroi's phylactary in the House of Bones, but I must have forgotten in the rush.

As for his reality wrinke, isn't there something in there about how Malistroi rehapes the domain as he moves across it? Or is that in the 'what if the demon wins' ending? I can't find my copy, so I can't check.

Brandi · Post by **Brandi** » Mon May 23, 2005 7:13 pm

Huh, and here I thought Chilling Tales was the companion adventure (or rather anthology of adventures).

Drinnik Shoehorn · Post by **Drinnik Shoehorn** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:40 pm

Steve Miller wrote:"Circle of Darkness" was indeed supposed to be the companion adventure to "Guide of Fiends."

However, the process that led to what eventually saw print was FUBAR beyond words, so I'm not surprised that reality wrinkles and phylacteries didn't get mentioned. (Though I think I *intended* to have Malistroi's phylactary in the House of Bones, but I must have forgotten in the rush.

As for his reality wrinke, isn't there something in there about how Malistroi rehapes the domain as he moves across it? Or is that in the 'what if the demon wins' ending? I can't find my copy, so I can't check.

So, do you not rank that adventure particularly high or was it the process of writing it that was not up to scratch?

Personally, I really like it. It's better than Death Trap of the Moon, sorry, DARK of the Moon.

Steve Miller · Post by **Steve Miller** » Tue May 24, 2005 2:01 am

Actually, I think that 'Circle of Darkness' turned out quite well given that it was essentially written over a single weekend.

Through a series of managerial mixups, a manuscript that everyone on the Ravenloft line felt couldn't be published ended up sitting on someone's desk instead of being revised. When it was WAAAY past press-time, this oversight was discovered and 'Circle' needed to be overhauled ina big hurry.

Harold Johnson, Ray Vallese, and I spent a very long weekend doing the work. (I did the House of Bones rework, the endings, and sections of the domain description/adventure seeds.)

Gonzoron of the FoS · Tue May 24, 2005 11:16 am

Out of curiosity, what was so wrong with the original version that it couldn't be published? epxosing the nature of the Dark Powers? Breaking the rules of magic in Ravenloft? NPC's out of character? Something like that?

Faust · Post by **Faust** » Tue May 24, 2005 11:36 am

Dark of the moon is a good adventure, simply hard to survive...

Steve Miller · Post by **Steve Miller** » Tue May 24, 2005 4:46 pm

gonzoron wrote:Out of curiosity, what was so wrong with the original version that it couldn't be published? epxosing the nature of the Dark Powers? Breaking the rules of magic in Ravenloft? NPC's out of character? Something like that?

None of the above. It was just plain bad.

Igor the Henchman · Post by **Igor the Henchman** » Tue May 24, 2005 8:53 pm

I don't clearly remember this "companion modules to the VRG" deal, as I wasn't yet into Ravenloft when they were releasing those, but...

Wasn't House of the Strahd the companion adventure to the VRGVampires? And Howls in the Night, that of Ghosts? And... wouldn't it be more logical if the companion adventure to the Lich was From the Shadows?

Catman Jim · Post by **Catman Jim** » Tue May 24, 2005 9:30 pm

Igor the Henchman wrote:Wasn't House of the Strahd the companion adventure to the VRGVampires? And Howls in the Night, that of Ghosts? And... wouldn't it be more logical if the companion adventure to the Lich was From the Shadows?

House of Strahd came out in 1993, two years after VRGtV
Howls in the Night was released in 1994, two years after VRGtG
From the Shadows (9375) actually came out in 1992, but before VRGtL (9412)

Yes, these would be more logical, maybe it was TSR's intent to match these up, but it didn't really work out that way.

Bluebomber4evr · Post by **Bluebomber4evr** » Wed May 25, 2005 12:12 am

I could swear there was a vassalich of Azalin's in either From the Shadows or Roots of Evil and a mention of VRG: the Lich for info on the monster type.

Drinnik Shoehorn · Post by **Drinnik Shoehorn** » Wed May 25, 2005 2:34 am

Igor the Henchman wrote:I don't clearly remember this "companion modules to the VRG" deal, as I wasn't yet into Ravenloft when they were releasing those, but...

Wasn't House of the Strahd the companion adventure to the VRGVampires? And Howls in the Night, that of Ghosts? And... wouldn't it be more logical if the companion adventure to the Lich was From the Shadows?

Ghosts is definately Castless Forlorn. It is the first product to use Magnitudes.

I still can't fugure out why Magnitudes was changed in 3rd Ed to Ranks.

Catman Jim · Post by **Catman Jim** » Wed May 25, 2005 6:56 am

Bluebomber4evr wrote:I could swear there was a vassalich of Azalin's in either From the Shadows or Roots of Evil and a mention of VRG: the Lich for info on the monster type.

Roots of Evil, page 67. Balipur, 10th level wizard vassalich. Good recall, BB4

Bluebomber4evr · Post by **Bluebomber4evr** » Wed May 25, 2005 2:44 pm

Thanks, Jim. I remembered buying VRG:Liches when that adventure came out so I could have more info.

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Van Richten's Guide Companion adventures

Van Richten's Guide Companion adventures