Café de Nuit

I'm researching some material on the Alchemist for my campaign and I can't seem to find out much on this item. I know it was introduced in RL II: THOGH, and I remember it was in Thoughts of Darkness (a module I am sorely lacking), but I can't seem to find anything else on it.

Anyone know the backstory and/or powers of this item? And did it ever get updated for 3rd ed?

BBG

I think it is ... on some book Perhaps Gaz I.

There are rumors to be several rods, each with a different power (Toughts of Darkness). They seem to have been built by the Alchemist, but I'm not really sure.

As for their powers. If you put the Rod of Rastion into the Alchemist's Device you can access it's ability to split one person into their good and evil sides, orjoin to subjects into one.

Alone, the rod has the amazing power of... bupkiss. It does nothing at all.

Interestingly, the Rods -- yes, there are supposed to be others, though none were ever described; the original would let the Apparatus split people along Good/Evil lines, but different types of separation allegedly are possible with the other versions -- were never given a history at all. It's unclear whether they pre-dated the Alchemist (who, himself, is pretty darn mysterious too) and he designed the Apparatus to make use of their power, or if he invented the Rods as well as the device they plug into ... or, indeed, who, where, and/or what this "Rastinon" actually was!

Naturally, the real source of this item's ambiguity is the difficulty the TSR Kargat had, trying to fit I10 -- a module which, although even more ambitious than I6, didn't really share much with the original "Ravenloft" except for one signature NPC (the vampire version of Strahd); as I6 had been HUGELY popular among gamers, it was the sequal that got short-changed when the setting was designed -- into the bigger picture of Ravenloft as a coherent, historically-consistent world. The randomizing effects of that module's "mesmerism session" also made it awkward to integrate, because choosing one "canon" version of I10's events would directly contradict a lot of game campaigns, where the adventure's path went in a different direction. Just as was done more recently for "Bleak House" and its various possible endings, the designers opted to dodge the whole issue, by proclaiming that none of the major characters from I10 remembered anything of their experiences -- hence, Strahd's and Azalin's (and Godefrey's too, perhaps?) amnesia, upon returning to the Land of Mists -- and playing dumb whenever later products touched upon events from the original "Gryphon Hill" adventure.

Basically, TSR threw up its hands and said: "It's the DMs who know how things went when they ran I10, so it's up to them to decide what to do with this stuff; we're not gonna tell them!" So in that sense, determining the significance, powers, and origins of the Apparatus, Rods of Rastinon, and the Alchemist himself is even more in the individual DM's hands than even "Rule Zero" suggests.

What do you, as DM, need the Rod to do? That -- IYC -- is exactly what it does.

In the I10 defence I have to add that the creators of this adventure didn't know that Ravenloft would become a world.

...and I agree about the Rod. Remember that the apparatus has been destroyed 99%. The rods remain but they are useless unless you want to study them in order to create a new apparatus, something that needs far more than just the rods.

IMO knowledgable people in Ravenloft talk about the Apparatus because it is legendary and cool in a way, the way people go out and look for Incas gold.

If I remember correctly, the Apparatus is mentioned in the Mordent section of the Gazetteer featuring said domain (Gaz 4 I think, don't have them around to check). Not a whole lot of info there though, basically just a short synopsis of its history and powers.

IMO, there are a few ingredients that should be included in a campaign featuring the Apparatus. The blueprints, the alchemist's journal detailing the specifics of operating the infernal machine, one of the Rods of Rastinon, and the actual Apparatus itself.

BTW, the adventure in the Chilling Tales supplement that features Mordenheim can be easily tied into a search for the Alchemist's notes.

Modent is in Gaz 3, just so you know (I've been reading it over and over again for the last few days, so I should know).

IMO, there are a few ingredients that should be included in a campaign featuring the Apparatus. The blueprints, the alchemist's journal detailing the specifics of operating the infernal machine, one of the Rods of Rastinon, and the actual Apparatus itself.

BTW, the adventure in the Chilling Tales supplement that features Mordenheim can be easily tied into a search for the Alchemist's notes.

Actually, since the Rods of Rastinon are effectively tabula rasa, I've decided to do something else with it besides the Apparatus. In my campaign, it is actually going to be an unfinished piece of a major artifact that a rather ruthless NPC is questing for. The characters, during the course of the campaign will discover the NPC's goals and either try to beat him to the punch, or stop him altogether.

And if I was more certian that my players weren't possibly on these boards, I'd post more, but since at least one of them is an avid internet browser with an insatiable curiosity, I'll have to keep the details to myself.

BBG