First time doing Grand Conjunction

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steamwolf
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First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by steamwolf »

My experience with Ravenloft is sadly, lacking. I recently did the new 5e adventures Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts, and have transitioned that group into Curse of Strahd. From browsing the forums, reading the FAQ, and reading over Mistpedia, I am under the impression that the community here as a whole sees Ravenloft 5e as sort of it's own thing separate from the rest of the Ravenloft adventures of the past. From my understanding, there's continuity errors combined with the fact that it's on the Shadowfell now. I recently read the I, Strahd books, and have been doing a lot of research on the setting, and have decided I wish to run some of the classic adventures for my group (once we finish CoS), and experience more of the "true" Ravenloft if you will. From reading over the FAQ and some reviews, it seems like the Grand Conjuction is a good way to do this. The order of adventures presented in the FAQ to scale for levels seems like a good way to do this, but I have a few questions...

1. The order presented for the GC in the FAQ is:

Night of the Walking Dead - Levels 1-3
Touch of Death - Levels 3-5
Feast of Goblyns - Levels 4-7
Ship of Horror - Levels 8-10
From the Shadows - Levels 9-12
Roots of Evil - Levels 9-12

I'd like to somehow work in Castle Ravenloft/House of Strahd/whatever Strahd adventure I can before getting to From the Shadows, but not sure where/how to do that. Any advice anyone could give in regards to working that in, or any other tips for someone like me just starting to really get into Ravenloft, would be greatly appreciated. Recommendations on side-treks or any other adventures anyone thinks I should run would be great too.
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by Nox »

steamwolf wrote:My experience with Ravenloft is sadly, lacking. I recently did the new 5e adventures Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts, and have transitioned that group into Curse of Strahd. From browsing the forums, reading the FAQ, and reading over Mistpedia, I am under the impression that the community here as a whole sees Ravenloft 5e as sort of it's own thing separate from the rest of the Ravenloft adventures of the past. From my understanding, there's continuity errors combined with the fact that it's on the Shadowfell now. I recently read the I, Strahd books, and have been doing a lot of research on the setting, and have decided I wish to run some of the classic adventures for my group (once we finish CoS), and experience more of the "true" Ravenloft if you will. From reading over the FAQ and some reviews, it seems like the Grand Conjuction is a good way to do this. The order of adventures presented in the FAQ to scale for levels seems like a good way to do this, but I have a few questions...

1. The order presented for the GC in the FAQ is:

Night of the Walking Dead - Levels 1-3
Touch of Death - Levels 3-5
Feast of Goblyns - Levels 4-7
Ship of Horror - Levels 8-10
From the Shadows - Levels 9-12
Roots of Evil - Levels 9-12

I'd like to somehow work in Castle Ravenloft/House of Strahd/whatever Strahd adventure I can before getting to From the Shadows, but not sure where/how to do that. Any advice anyone could give in regards to working that in, or any other tips for someone like me just starting to really get into Ravenloft, would be greatly appreciated. Recommendations on side-treks or any other adventures anyone thinks I should run would be great too.
Hi, I started my campaign some time ago and it looks similar to yours.
I will quote myself from a previous thread regarding my campaign, this is my adventure list, with timeline included:
Nox wrote:The Hexad - The Night of the Walking Dead (Level 1-3) - 736 BC
The Hexad - Touch of Death (Level 3-5) - 737 BC
The Hexad - Feast of Goblyns (Level 5-7) - 738 BC
Bleak House - Seas of Madness (Level 5-7) - 738 BC -
VIEW CONTENT:
I found no info on this adventure timeline. I put it there because levels fits, if you have any solution let me know.
The Hexad - Ship of Horrors (Level 8-10) - 739 BC
The Hexad - From the Shadows (Level 9-12) - 740 BC
The Hexad - Roots Of Evil (Level 9-12) - 740 BC
Chilling tales - The taskmaster's Leash (Level 7+) - 741 BC -
VIEW CONTENT:
I'm not sure if I should include this one. Van richten is still alive and i know he ask adventureres to help him in this adventure, let me know what you think.


The Grim Harvest – Death Unchained (Lv. 5-7) - 749 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Ascend (Lv. 6-8) - 749 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Triumphant (Lv. 6-10) - 750 BC
Bleak House – Homecoming (Lv. 7-12) - 750 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Triumphant (Lv. 6-10) - 750 BC(Dec)

Bleak House - Level 5-12 is composed by many adventure, each one linked to the other, I suppose I could split them up as I did it above, but i still have to read them.
Now, things changed a bit (probably I added some adventure to the list), and I will add some kind of time travel to let my player know things about the past history of the lands (not literaly time travel, more like visions, dreams, magic interventions, things like those).

This is how changed in my last post:
Nox wrote:The Night of the Walking Dead (Lv. 1-3) 736 BC(Dec)
Touch of Death (Lv. 3-5) & VR – Ancient Dead (Lv. 7-9) 737 BC
Feast of Goblyns (Lv. 4-7) 738 BC
VR – The Surgeon Blade (Lv. 6-8) 738 BC
Ship of Horrors (Lv. 8-10) 739 BC
From Shadows (Lv. 9-12) 740 BC
Roots of Evil (Lv. 9-12) 740 BC
VR – Chilling Tales – The Taskmaster’s Leash (Lv. 7+) 741 BC
VR – A Truly Twisted Tale (Lv. 5-7) 742 BC
The Evil Eye (Lv. 4-7) 747 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Unchained (Lv. 5-7) 749 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Ascend (Lv. 6-8) 749 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Triumphant (Lv. 6-10) 750 BC
Bleak House – Seas of Madness (Lv. 5-7) 750 BC
Bleak House – Homecoming (Lv. 7-12) 750 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Triumphant (Lv. 6-10) 750 BC(Dec)
You can add castle ravenloft pretty much whenever you want. The adventure (AFAIK) has not a timeline(it should be some kind of standalone weekend in hell adventure afaik), and (always AFAIK) events about strahd are cyclical(they change a bit but the plot is always - almost - the same), due to Strahd's curse. I could be wrong since strahd is not my main favorite villain though :).
To add Strahd adventure to your campaign you should think a little about some things in my opinion:
  • Do you want to introduce Strahd beforehand? In my campaign my player are unknowingly working for Azalin Rex. They think they are working to prevent the Hyskosa's prediction (=the GC), but they are actually helping Azalin to speed the process up. Azalin hates Strahd, so if you follow my plot you could easily make them meet and "fight" (to say so..) Strahd. In my case azalin could easily use them to disturb strahd's plans, for example.
    Do you want them to fight Strahd or work for him?
    Do you want to follow a premade adventure, or make one of your own?
About the general hints: Make sure you let your player feel the atmosphere, i asked the same questions not so long ago (last week if i remember correctly). Describe things in a sinister manner. When you have to set a creepy mood try to describe things by putting attention to detail you usually do not care of (you are describing a room? put attention to how the nails on the floor are banded and sharp, as if someone put them like this to hurt others, how dark is that corner in the wardrobe, how overwhelming is the ferrous smell in the stagnant air of this abandoned room. Make them feel uncomfortable about "stupid" things. Do not use this technique to often or will become ridicoulus and/or useless).
Put attention on developing credible NPCs and backstories, objectives and goals for them.
For myself the first rule is the Rule of Cool.

Since you are playing the revised Hexad (or the revised GC if you prefer) I advise you to adjust the Hyskosa's Scroll phropecy to meet your adventure order. It's not a must, but i find it a good improvement if you follow the advised order instead of the canon order.

Edit: Of course you can choose to ignore the canon Timeline and put events and adventures as you see fit. I like to stick to canon as much as I can for what concerns events and timeline, so i set up my campaign like this. you can Just ignore it and potentially play bleak house before the events of GC, or anything else. Is up to you.
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by steamwolf »

Nox wrote:Hi, I started my campaign some time ago and it looks similar to yours.
I will quote myself from a previous thread regarding my campaign, this is my adventure list, with timeline included:
Nox wrote:The Hexad - The Night of the Walking Dead (Level 1-3) - 736 BC
The Hexad - Touch of Death (Level 3-5) - 737 BC
The Hexad - Feast of Goblyns (Level 5-7) - 738 BC
Bleak House - Seas of Madness (Level 5-7) - 738 BC -
VIEW CONTENT:
I found no info on this adventure timeline. I put it there because levels fits, if you have any solution let me know.
The Hexad - Ship of Horrors (Level 8-10) - 739 BC
The Hexad - From the Shadows (Level 9-12) - 740 BC
The Hexad - Roots Of Evil (Level 9-12) - 740 BC
Chilling tales - The taskmaster's Leash (Level 7+) - 741 BC -
VIEW CONTENT:
I'm not sure if I should include this one. Van richten is still alive and i know he ask adventureres to help him in this adventure, let me know what you think.


The Grim Harvest – Death Unchained (Lv. 5-7) - 749 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Ascend (Lv. 6-8) - 749 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Triumphant (Lv. 6-10) - 750 BC
Bleak House – Homecoming (Lv. 7-12) - 750 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Triumphant (Lv. 6-10) - 750 BC(Dec)

Bleak House - Level 5-12 is composed by many adventure, each one linked to the other, I suppose I could split them up as I did it above, but i still have to read them.
Now, things changed a bit (probably I added some adventure to the list), and I will add some kind of time travel to let my player know things about the past history of the lands (not literaly time travel, more like visions, dreams, magic interventions, things like those).

This is how changed in my last post:
Nox wrote:The Night of the Walking Dead (Lv. 1-3) 736 BC(Dec)
Touch of Death (Lv. 3-5) & VR – Ancient Dead (Lv. 7-9) 737 BC
Feast of Goblyns (Lv. 4-7) 738 BC
VR – The Surgeon Blade (Lv. 6-8) 738 BC
Ship of Horrors (Lv. 8-10) 739 BC
From Shadows (Lv. 9-12) 740 BC
Roots of Evil (Lv. 9-12) 740 BC
VR – Chilling Tales – The Taskmaster’s Leash (Lv. 7+) 741 BC
VR – A Truly Twisted Tale (Lv. 5-7) 742 BC
The Evil Eye (Lv. 4-7) 747 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Unchained (Lv. 5-7) 749 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Ascend (Lv. 6-8) 749 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Triumphant (Lv. 6-10) 750 BC
Bleak House – Seas of Madness (Lv. 5-7) 750 BC
Bleak House – Homecoming (Lv. 7-12) 750 BC
The Grim Harvest – Death Triumphant (Lv. 6-10) 750 BC(Dec)
You can add castle ravenloft pretty much whenever you want. The adventure (AFAIK) has not a timeline(it should be some kind of standalone weekend in hell adventure afaik), and (always AFAIK) events about strahd are cyclical(they change a bit but the plot is always - almost - the same), due to Strahd's curse. I could be wrong since strahd is not my main favorite villain though :).
To add Strahd adventure to your campaign you should think a little about some things in my opinion:
  • Do you want to introduce Strahd beforehand? In my campaign my player are unknowingly working for Azalin Rex. They think they are working to prevent the Hyskosa's prediction (=the GC), but they are actually helping Azalin to speed the process up. Azalin hates Strahd, so if you follow my plot you could easily make them meet and "fight" (to say so..) Strahd. In my case azalin could easily use them to disturb strahd's plans, for example.
    Do you want them to fight Strahd or work for him?
    Do you want to follow a premade adventure, or make one of your own?
About the general hints: Make sure you let your player feel the atmosphere, i asked the same questions not so long ago (last week if i remember correctly). Describe things in a sinister manner. When you have to set a creepy mood try to describe things by putting attention to detail you usually do not care of (you are describing a room? put attention to how the nails on the floor are banded and sharp, as if someone put them like this to hurt others, how dark is that corner in the wardrobe, how overwhelming is the ferrous smell in the stagnant air of this abandoned room. Make them feel uncomfortable about "stupid" things. Do not use this technique to often or will become ridiculous and/or useless).
Put attention on developing credible NPCs and backstories, objectives and goals for them.
For myself the first rule is the Rule of Cool.

Since you are playing the revised Hexad (or the revised GC if you prefer) I advise you to adjust the Hyskosa's Scroll prophecy to meet your adventure order. It's not a must, but i find it a good improvement if you follow the advised order instead of the canon order.

Edit: Of course you can choose to ignore the canon Timeline and put events and adventures as you see fit. I like to stick to canon as much as I can for what concerns events and timeline, so i set up my campaign like this. you can Just ignore it and potentially play bleak house before the events of GC, or anything else. Is up to you.
Thank you very much for providing this insight! Honestly I don't know if I'll include Strahd since after my group completes Curse of Strahd, they may be sick of him (and a weekend in hell after recently doing CoS may not be that exciting for them). I guess for Strahd, I'll play it by ear and see if anything comes up to throw them into Barovia. I noticed that you have some adventures after Roots of Evil that doesn't seem to really allow going past level 7. I like to use the milestone experience rule (just hand out level ups at appropriate times). Should I generally keep them below level 8 until the very end? Or how would you recommend handling that? And when it comes to "side-treks" to GC, is it pretty much up to me to throw in whatever adventures I wanna do? I guess level progression is really my only concern as I don't want them under or over-leveled really.

I have another question for you (or anyone else who cares to answer) about Curse of Strahd's connection to the original Ravenloft. Is it really a mini-reboot that completely contradicts everything from the past? It seems like the I, Strahd novels are still canon to it, and lots of little references pop up (The Boritsi Trading Company for example is mentioned in Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts). Even if it isn't to be taken as canon, how hard would it really be to "fix" any continuity errors and make it so it fits into the canon Ravenloft timeline? I've been contemplating just keeping my current group's characters and continuing them on after CoS into another adventure in Ravenloft, but still mulling over if that's what I should do (we all would like to experience more of Ravenloft than just Barovia). Any inputs/opinions/etc would be most appreciated on this!
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by Dark Angel »

I am also in the process of doing the Grand Conjunction for my players who are Ravenloft veterans, but never did the adventure series before. My HUGE recommendation to you is to search these forums for advice and details on how to better integrate the modules for your use as they are terribly cobbled together from the get go (obvious by the fact that most swap the adventures around in the first place). Additionally, feel free to ask for advice and address issues with the adventures.

I will say this, I am not familiar with the specifics of Curse of Strahd and I only play 2nd edition Ravenloft (though use upper edition materials, the Gazetteers will be your best friends by the way), but am very familiar with the GC adventures as they were originally published in that edition. House of Strahd is difficult as it occurs many, many years before the GC and the players will likely not fall into being alive when it occurs and then popped into the future to 740 BC for the GC Hexad to become a reality. One suggestion is to play out the module with the players taking on the alternative roles of adventurers who went into Castle Ravenloft initially and have a survivor (whose story has passed down from one to another and now to the PCs). Another common one is to set up a 'stage production' in Sceana (it's hard to explain, but check it out on Mistipedia) with the PCs being pulled into the action and reliving the adventure that way (another fun one to do that way is House on Gryphon Hill). I am not sure how the Curse of Strahd plays into the PCs interacting with Strahd, but it isn't mandatory to play the adventure out as written. Use it as a backdrop for their adventure, give them a reason to deal with Barovia, certain Barovians, and then Strahd himself. It is unlikely the Count seeks out free lance adventurer types without some agenda and intermediaries (Lord von Holtz is a fantastic intermediary, by the way [wink, wink]) to deal with the party at first.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask questions. It's like a hobby we enjoy to most of us!
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by Nox »

steamwolf wrote: Thank you very much for providing this insight! Honestly I don't know if I'll include Strahd since after my group completes Curse of Strahd, they may be sick of him (and a weekend in hell after recently doing CoS may not be that exciting for them). I guess for Strahd, I'll play it by ear and see if anything comes up to throw them into Barovia. I noticed that you have some adventures after Roots of Evil that doesn't seem to really allow going past level 7. I like to use the milestone experience rule (just hand out level ups at appropriate times). Should I generally keep them below level 8 until the very end? Or how would you recommend handling that? And when it comes to "side-treks" to GC, is it pretty much up to me to throw in whatever adventures I wanna do? I guess level progression is really my only concern as I don't want them under or over-leveled really.

I have another question for you (or anyone else who cares to answer) about Curse of Strahd's connection to the original Ravenloft. Is it really a mini-reboot that completely contradicts everything from the past? It seems like the I, Strahd novels are still canon to it, and lots of little references pop up (The Boritsi Trading Company for example is mentioned in Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts). Even if it isn't to be taken as canon, how hard would it really be to "fix" any continuity errors and make it so it fits into the canon Ravenloft timeline? I've been contemplating just keeping my current group's characters and continuing them on after CoS into another adventure in Ravenloft, but still mulling over if that's what I should do (we all would like to experience more of Ravenloft than just Barovia). Any inputs/opinions/etc would be most appreciated on this!
I just forgot to mention it!
I follow the same way for leveling up characters. I just say "you leveled up" whenever it comes the time.
Said that I still make my player level up every 3 to 4 session (at most). Said that consider that I plan on letting them advance over level 7. I will just adjust adventures as I see fit, as I already did in the past (they are now level 4, and I adjusted NotWD to be challenging enough for them). It is up to you. Adapting modules to other level is more work for yourself but could be worth your time (your player will be more satisfied if they keep leveling up. If you stop them at a certain level they can get bored of it.
For what concerns other adventures I tried to put in adventures that fits my main story and main character (NPC). I want them to get closer to Van richten, so I put in surgeon blade and other adventures so that when they reach bleak house they will be more involved in the events. Keep in mind that many adventures can be placed wherever you want them, despite the module states a fixed location.
I tried to stick to Canon as much as I can, so I already figured out why will my player get to a certain region at a certain time, but you can do however you like. For example if I know my player will be in darkon for the requiem I check for adventures in darkon, but that is not a must.
If you don't bother to have (seemingly) unconnected adventures you can potentially throw in anything you like.
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by Igor the Henchman »

I'm presuming that you're planning to set these adventures inside the Ravenloft campaign setting, and have access to the Black Box and other early RL setting materials, is that correct? Or do you intend to run these adventures in a generic D&D world a la Curse of Strahd?
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by Hamiclar »

I just started mine again and will run expedition castle Ravenloft after feast of goblyns which I am using as a part of the Hykoska prophecy as them to stand out as time travelers. I am running Ravenloft house on Gryphon Hill after that adventure which questions expedition to Castle Ravenloft was real or dream? I will run Thought of Darkness before From the Shadows which has the same machine from the Gryphon Hill adventure. I am rewriting ship of horror dropping the ship and having the bodies in coffins in the Gorge of passing sorrows in Gundarak which the sun barely penetrates hence vampires mutants Vrykolaka vampire strain which is just scary. The group will time travel back to when the campaign started and pick up from there. I plan on the group running into the lich which is related to story of wizard.


I am running

Pre adventure on Zedenberg
Night of the walking dead
Touch Of Death
Feasst of Goblyns
Expedition to castle Ravenloft
Ravenloft II House on Griffin Hill
Vecna Reborn
Thoughts of Darkness

When I get that far I will post more but it involves the groups return to Gundarak and Stahds invasion after Duke Gundar is slain. The groups being temporary Nobles.

Another note I plan on running house of Strahd after Strahd takes their lands sort of a vendetta between them and Strahd which is current level not 10 as the groups first encounter which I will run before from the Shadows.
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by steamwolf »

Dark Angel wrote:I am also in the process of doing the Grand Conjunction for my players who are Ravenloft veterans, but never did the adventure series before. My HUGE recommendation to you is to search these forums for advice and details on how to better integrate the modules for your use as they are terribly cobbled together from the get go (obvious by the fact that most swap the adventures around in the first place). Additionally, feel free to ask for advice and address issues with the adventures.

I will say this, I am not familiar with the specifics of Curse of Strahd and I only play 2nd edition Ravenloft (though use upper edition materials, the Gazetteers will be your best friends by the way), but am very familiar with the GC adventures as they were originally published in that edition. House of Strahd is difficult as it occurs many, many years before the GC and the players will likely not fall into being alive when it occurs and then popped into the future to 740 BC for the GC Hexad to become a reality. One suggestion is to play out the module with the players taking on the alternative roles of adventurers who went into Castle Ravenloft initially and have a survivor (whose story has passed down from one to another and now to the PCs). Another common one is to set up a 'stage production' in Sceana (it's hard to explain, but check it out on Mistipedia) with the PCs being pulled into the action and reliving the adventure that way (another fun one to do that way is House on Gryphon Hill). I am not sure how the Curse of Strahd plays into the PCs interacting with Strahd, but it isn't mandatory to play the adventure out as written. Use it as a backdrop for their adventure, give them a reason to deal with Barovia, certain Barovians, and then Strahd himself. It is unlikely the Count seeks out free lance adventurer types without some agenda and intermediaries (Lord von Holtz is a fantastic intermediary, by the way [wink, wink]) to deal with the party at first.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask questions. It's like a hobby we enjoy to most of us!
Thanks for the tips! I'll keep this in mind. I didn't realize Castle Ravenloft happened years prior, so I'll have to think about how to incorporate it.
Nox wrote: I just forgot to mention it!
I follow the same way for leveling up characters. I just say "you leveled up" whenever it comes the time.
Said that I still make my player level up every 3 to 4 session (at most). Said that consider that I plan on letting them advance over level 7. I will just adjust adventures as I see fit, as I already did in the past (they are now level 4, and I adjusted NotWD to be challenging enough for them). It is up to you. Adapting modules to other level is more work for yourself but could be worth your time (your player will be more satisfied if they keep leveling up. If you stop them at a certain level they can get bored of it.
For what concerns other adventures I tried to put in adventures that fits my main story and main character (NPC). I want them to get closer to Van richten, so I put in surgeon blade and other adventures so that when they reach bleak house they will be more involved in the events. Keep in mind that many adventures can be placed wherever you want them, despite the module states a fixed location.
I tried to stick to Canon as much as I can, so I already figured out why will my player get to a certain region at a certain time, but you can do however you like. For example if I know my player will be in darkon for the requiem I check for adventures in darkon, but that is not a must.
If you don't bother to have (seemingly) unconnected adventures you can potentially throw in anything you like.
All right, I think I have an idea of how to go about it then. Thank you for your insight!
Igor the Henchman wrote:I'm presuming that you're planning to set these adventures inside the Ravenloft campaign setting, and have access to the Black Box and other early RL setting materials, is that correct? Or do you intend to run these adventures in a generic D&D world a la Curse of Strahd?
I do have access to those materials, but have not read through them all yet. I plan to read over that before I run them through this, as I want to have a stronger grasp on how the world works (most of my current knowledge is from browsing Mistpedia, the I, Strahd books, and Curse of Strahd). If you have a recommended reading list, feel free to let me know and I'll get on that.
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by Igor the Henchman »

steamwolf wrote: I do have access to those materials, but have not read through them all yet. I plan to read over that before I run them through this, as I want to have a stronger grasp on how the world works (most of my current knowledge is from browsing Mistpedia, the I, Strahd books, and Curse of Strahd). If you have a recommended reading list, feel free to let me know and I'll get on that.
You seem well aware that the Ravenloft Campaign setting (in which the Grand Conjunction modules takes place) and Curse of Strahd are part of different continuities, and make very different assumptions about the world they're set in. I guess the best advice is to be as familiar as you can about the campaign setting before running the adventures, which are very tightly linked to its metaplot.

Also, be advised that while these adventures are generally pretty good (Night of the Walking Dead is considered a classic, with good reason), they're also somewhat... dated at places. Like, Roots of Evil I personally find a little... mm. :| So don't be afraid to change them to suit your tastes and needs.

That's all. Welcome to the Mists :)
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by Nox »

Igor the Henchman wrote:
steamwolf wrote: I do have access to those materials, but have not read through them all yet. I plan to read over that before I run them through this, as I want to have a stronger grasp on how the world works (most of my current knowledge is from browsing Mistpedia, the I, Strahd books, and Curse of Strahd). If you have a recommended reading list, feel free to let me know and I'll get on that.
You seem well aware that the Ravenloft Campaign setting (in which the Grand Conjunction modules takes place) and Curse of Strahd are part of different continuities, and make very different assumptions about the world they're set in. I guess the best advice is to be as familiar as you can about the campaign setting before running the adventures, which are very tightly linked to its metaplot.

Also, be advised that while these adventures are generally pretty good (Night of the Walking Dead is considered a classic, with good reason), they're also somewhat... dated at places. Like, Roots of Evil I personally find a little... mm. :| So don't be afraid to change them to suit your tastes and needs.

That's all. Welcome to the Mists :)
I just finished the NotWD, but i dont know why i did not like it that much. It's a good adventure, for sure, but not that good as i thought.
I'm sure i have some fault on that part though. Probably it's also about the age of those adventures.
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by steamwolf »

Igor the Henchman wrote: You seem well aware that the Ravenloft Campaign setting (in which the Grand Conjunction modules takes place) and Curse of Strahd are part of different continuities, and make very different assumptions about the world they're set in. I guess the best advice is to be as familiar as you can about the campaign setting before running the adventures, which are very tightly linked to its metaplot.

Also, be advised that while these adventures are generally pretty good (Night of the Walking Dead is considered a classic, with good reason), they're also somewhat... dated at places. Like, Roots of Evil I personally find a little... mm. :| So don't be afraid to change them to suit your tastes and needs.

That's all. Welcome to the Mists :)
Well I tried to read over as much on here as I could before asking any questions, so I figured out pretty quickly that Curse of Strahd is kind of it's own thing...but just from browsing Mistpedia, these forums, and Wikipedia, it seems like there are some pretty important things that happened in the original Ravenloft setting that would make retconning all of it and putting Barovia in the Shadowfell kind of...not make sense? It seems like it creates a situation that would retcon events that are still considered canonical in the D&D multiverse. I've been thinking of ways to explain this, but mostly just trying to do CoS and pretend its just an alternate universe while reading about all this great stuff in the actual Ravenloft setting (which is a bit depressing seeing what CoS could have been...).

As for the age of the adventures, I will bear that in mind before attempting to run anything. I can't really comment on any of them right now, but I can say that my group is pretty open to just about any kind of adventure so long as it doesn't become all about combat, or doesn't become extremely railroady (and by that I mean no ability to really do anything they're just watching events and rolling skills checks/attacks). I'll change what's necessary for sure, I probably will have to a bit anyway since we're using 5e.

Thank you for your advice, it's great to be in the mists! The sun is bright and hateful, the mists are pleasing on the eyes.
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

steamwolf wrote:I have another question for you (or anyone else who cares to answer) about Curse of Strahd's connection to the original Ravenloft. Is it really a mini-reboot that completely contradicts everything from the past? It seems like the I, Strahd novels are still canon to it, and lots of little references pop up (The Boritsi Trading Company for example is mentioned in Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts). Even if it isn't to be taken as canon, how hard would it really be to "fix" any continuity errors and make it so it fits into the canon Ravenloft timeline? I've been contemplating just keeping my current group's characters and continuing them on after CoS into another adventure in Ravenloft, but still mulling over if that's what I should do (we all would like to experience more of Ravenloft than just Barovia). Any inputs/opinions/etc would be most appreciated on this!
Hi steamwolf!

Seeing Curse of Strahd and the DDAL adventures bring people into the classic Ravenloft products does warm this old lich's heart. :azalin:

Yes, Curse of Strahd is a reboot, sort of. It's a 5th edition "re-imagining" of the original adventure that the setting is based on. As such, they felt free to pluck a few easter eggs from the old setting (like Van Richten) and throw out/ignore whatever they didn't need. (Like Tara Kolyana) They very nicely however, didn't say that the rest of the setting is gone. (I'm not sure if they even used the term "shadowfell" anywhere. Memory sketchy and book is not nearby. ) They just focused on Barovia.

Many of the authors of the DDAL series Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts are long time fans of the setting, so they dropped in some more references where they could.

So "canon" is a bit murky at this point. Use what you like, discard what you don't. And enjoy! Welcome to the mists....
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by steamwolf »

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:
Hi steamwolf!

Seeing Curse of Strahd and the DDAL adventures bring people into the classic Ravenloft products does warm this old lich's heart. :azalin:

Yes, Curse of Strahd is a reboot, sort of. It's a 5th edition "re-imagining" of the original adventure that the setting is based on. As such, they felt free to pluck a few easter eggs from the old setting (like Van Richten) and throw out/ignore whatever they didn't need. (Like Tara Kolyana) They very nicely however, didn't say that the rest of the setting is gone. (I'm not sure if they even used the term "shadowfell" anywhere. Memory sketchy and book is not nearby. ) They just focused on Barovia.

Many of the authors of the DDAL series Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts are long time fans of the setting, so they dropped in some more references where they could.

So "canon" is a bit murky at this point. Use what you like, discard what you don't. And enjoy! Welcome to the mists....
It's great to be coming into classic Ravenloft. Perhaps the FoS should adopt something akin to White Wolf now? Old Ravenloft, New Ravenloft (World of Ravenloft, Chronicles of Ravenloft?)? I kid, I kid! I was doing I6's 5e conversion prior to Curse of Strahd, then went into this, only to discover how massive this campaign setting is...and how much I love it. I grew up on Gothic Horror, and I cannot believe I never got the chance to enter the mists before now.

Yes, I have surmised as about Curse of Strahd being a reboot from browsing these forums now. From what I recall, they mention very briefly in the 5e DMG that the Domains of Dread are within the Shadowfell. It's been almost three years since I read that though so...memory is a bit hazy. I did MFaAH first, and yeah it does seem like that one has a bit more of a classic Ravenloft feel as opposed to how CoS is. It's good to see they at least got some writers who don't hate the setting.

I think once I have some greater knowledge of Ravenloft under my belt and more experience, I may attempt to take what I like from CoS and MFaAH (the latter I think only needs to be tweaked slightly to fit into classic Ravenloft). For now, I'll just keep running CoS as-is, with my own interpretations of course. Right now I am reading Realms of Terror from the Black Box, and also reading a lot of the Ravenloft novels (made it through both I, Strahd books and I'm working on Vampire of the Mists now). Any recommended reading suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Re: First time doing Grand Conjunction

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

steamwolf wrote:[(made it through both I, Strahd books and I'm working on Vampire of the Mists now). Any recommended reading suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The three you mention here are some of the best of the bunch. (particularly if you're looking for Strahd-based stuff. He shows up in some of the others, but is only central in those three. There's also one story about him by Elrod in Tales of Ravenloft, which fits right in with the I, Strahds in style and characterization.) Most of the others are great as well, with only a few clunkers (Death of a Darklord gets a lot of flak, as does Tapestry of Dark Souls, and personally, I really didn't like Mithras Court. If you count Mark of Nerath as a Ravenloft novel, it's the worst of the lot, and in fact, one of the worst books I've ever read.) VotM is my personal favorite, but non-Strahd highlights for me are Dance of the Dead, Knight of the Black Rose, Spectre of the Black Rose, To Sleep with Evil, and the aformentioned Tales....
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