As Vlad mentioned, one thing you need to remember is the landscape of D&D when it was released (1983 I think) and that it was very different than today’s games.
Most of the official adventures released around that time were of the standard ‘Dungeon Crawl’ and while some had been pushing against the general rule and actually having a bit of story in them, sadly they were still rather limited in their scope – Village of Homlett and Secret of Saltmarsh come to mind.
The villains in such modules were generally little more than cardboard cut outs with ‘Big Bad Evil Guy, Plz Kill’ written on a sign around their neck, and did little more than sit around waiting for the hero to show up and stomp on them. One example I remember is “Tomb of the Lizard king” – where the Vampire lizard king has a two to three sentences of backstory (which will be quickly forgotten by most) and then promptly spends the rest of the adventure sitting on his throne waiting for the PC’s to turn up and stake him.
The exterior art on the modules was also somewhat iffy – usually it ranged from not very good to ‘okay’. Take for example the cover art of the original Giants-Drow-Queen modules. It usually had the PCs doing something – often in a fight or getting eaten by something - bleh. Now the cover art did get generally better as time marched on for the most part, but again this was the early days – and do note this is my opinion on it.
Now enough rambling and I’ll get to the point hopefully – but I needed to give a lay of the land as to how things were in the mists of time. Though this is Ravenloft so maybe mists are not the best term for me to use….
The first was the iconic cover art (Caldwell, I think?) Nice art, an interesting scene different from the ‘normal’ material. The title of ‘Ravenloft’ also piqued my interest. No ‘Tomb of the Super Ghoul’ or ‘Island of Dinosaurs’ which pretty much summed up the adventure - though admittedly the art pretty much said ‘vampire’.
But then you read the blurb on the back…
“Under raging stormclouds, a lone figure stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of castle Ravenloft. Count Strahd von Zarovich stares down a sheer cliff at the village below. A cold, bitter wind spins dead leaves around him, billowing his cape in the darkness.
Lightning splits the clouds overhead, casting stark white light across him. Strahd turns to the sky, revealing the angular muscles of his face and hands. He has a look of power - and of madness. His once-handsome face is contorted by a tragedy darker than the night itself.
Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind's howling increases as Strahd turns his gaze back to the village. Far below, yet not beyond his keen eyesight, a party of adventurers has just entered his domain. Strahd's face forms a twisted smile as his dark plan unfolds. He knew they were coming, and he knows why they came, all according to his plan. He, the master of Ravenloft, will attend to them.
Another lightning flash rips through the darkness, its thunder echoing through the castle's towers. But Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind - or perhaps a lone wolf - fills the midnight air.
The master of Ravenloft is having guests for dinner. And you are invited”
A classic image of the Dracula style of vampire - especially when combined with the cover. Nice - I have always preferred the mysterious and story rich adventures rather than “An evil Whatever has arisen so King/Duke/Count Whatshisface needs adventures to default a horde of ‘SomethingOrOthers’ and destroy the BBEG”.
This is also reflected in the flavour text in the module itself. While most modules had flavour text, it was generally along the classic line – ‘
You enter a 10 x 10 room. In it is an orc guarding a chest”.
Now however in I6 we got ‘
As you enter this room, an evil essence embraces you. Torn and broken couches lie in heaps, haphazardly strewn about the 20-foot-square room. The low ceiling seems to press down upon you. Deep claw marks cover the hardwood furniture. Claw marks have also sliced the once lush upholstery to shreds. From the dark shadows amid the rubble, three pairs of green eyes stare back at you”. A lot more interesting and thematic, and will make you sit up as opposed to yawning 'I attack orc #97482 and loot the chest".
The interior art is also very good (Caldwell again). I much prefer that depiction of Ireena/Tatyana more than any of the offerings in later material - yes, you can burn me in effigy later if you want. Combine that with the flavour text and the short story in the Tome of Strahd and you have a wonderful setting of a gothic style adventure in a swords and sorcery game - images, text and story. Combine that with a good DM and it is instantly memorable.
Another was that Strahd wasn’t passive. He had tangible goals to achieve rather than ‘Take over the world’. These were randomised by the cards – (though I was never keen on them). In his description on the first few pages it’s actually specified he doesn’t just sit around waiting - again this was a fairly novel concept and made him extremely dangerous. Combine this with an actual backstory which was interesting, and a reason why he is doing what he does and you have a villain who stands far above what came before (and in many case what has come since
).
Another big draw was also the maps – this was pretty much the first time you had isometric maps. Before they it was the classic flat square grid, and whereas now iso-maps are a penny a pound it was an extremely novel idea at the time for you to see the actual layout of the dungeon and how things related in the PC’s travels.
Of course, there are downsides, strip away the ‘story’ and you have a fairly ordinary dungeon crawl through a haunted castle which could be completed in a session or two. And I wont even get into the awful puns on the tomb level. Still, it had a lot of components which were absorbed into later modules - more 3D villians, iso-maps and superior artwork.
I have a few more idle thoughts on it, but for now I had better slow down the chattering and let the nice Dr Mordenheim to sew your ears back on. If only that someone else can talk them off later.
Note: Please excuse edits - the board was throwing a tantrum over my formatting
