Dark Tales & Disturbing Legends

[MadStepDad]

What's darker and more disturbing? That this is the last item I need to complete my RAVENLOFT 3E collection? Or that I picked it up on ebay for $2.25?

I read some of the reviews at AMAZON and this got universally panned. Just wondering what some of the real heads thought about this book, and what can it add to campaigns? I'll admit I copped it because I'm a mad completist, but I'm curious to know who else owns a copy and what you think of it.

peace,

MSD

[Charney]

I only recently checked it and here's my opinion.

The first tale, I haven't read it yet because of bad reviews from others. I must admit that the number of characters (in the appendix) also scares me!

Ashington manor is really well done. It's the best one of the whole. It's really an adventure and I planned on trying it. Good story, good use of the Vistani and the Tarroka.

The Brood of Blutkake (sp??), I'm not done reading it but it seems well done. The backstory is good but I have yet to see if it will inspire me adventure hooks.

Honor and obey: meh. The backstory is really bland. It could be set in Darkon or Dementlieu and it wouldn't change anything. I didn't feel it was Souragne at all. And the info and variants they give only inspire me to make a better Souragne story than what I've read. But I must admit that the Voodan class (appendix) is really nice and it inspire me to have a sourangien NPC in my current game.

Noises in the Night: very very good. It introduces a monster that was long forgotten (AFAIK) in Ravenloft: Boggeymen. The backstory is really good and the creatures in the appendix just scream Adventure hooks! It made me want to read more into boggeymen.

[HuManBing]

I wasn't that impressed with it. For me, it was a slightly less-readable version of Book of Crypts. Worth getting for completeness' sake. The layout is really hard on the eyes - seas of unbroken text.

The first adventure is almost half the entire book, and it presents a load of backstory that looks like it'll be really hard to relay to the players. The other adventures are okay but not up to 2nd ed. standard, in my opinion.

[Le Noir Faineant]

Yeah. Bad book. Baaaaaad book. The stories were not the problem, but making playable adventures out of them was nearly impossible.

Nice fan fic, but not a supplement for gaming.

Embodies WW's lack of interest in the RL line at that moment,
at least from my POV.

[Charney]

I don't think they should be seen as adventures per se (except Ashington Manor which is a good adventure for the number of pages implied).

They were supposed to be big adventure hooks or big backgrounds for monsters or NPCs. Comparing them to full fledge adventures à la 2nd Ed is unfair just if you consider the number of pages. Though I admit that in Honor and Obey's case, they completely failed.

Just my opinion.

[Jester of the FoS]

Still, the Boogyman rules make it worth the price of admission.

[HuManBing]

^ True. The bogeymen are pretty fricken awesome.

The incest adventure was actually one of the stories I liked the most, but my sister doesn't agree with me.

[Joël of the FoS]

True, Bogeyman and Ashington Manor (which I ran with a lot of fun) are well worth the price to get it. The Souragne one is interesting too, IMHO.

But skip the first adventure, as HB said, it is so intricate and confused / confusing, it's a trick just to understand what it's about!

Joël

[Joël of the FoS]

Too bad it got bad reviews elsewhere, you have two detailed reviews here, made by RL fans.

Joël

[Paladyn]

What's darker and more disturbing? That this is the last item I need to complete my RAVENLOFT 3E collection?
MSD

It seems I'm not the only one, that completes colletion! I bought yeasterday RLPH and await shipment. I will have all 3/3,5E books and only missing piece is Tarokka Deck (but I have two from previous editions).

Anyways, I liked "DT&DL". I treated them like folk tales and hedge wisdom, intrpreting some of facts as it suitude NPC in question. I agree with other opinions I'd like to say, you not wasted money.

[HuManBing]

Comparing them to full fledge adventures à la 2nd Ed is unfair just if you consider the number of pages.

Right, and I wasn't comparing them to the 64-page and 96-page 2nd ed. adventures. I was comparing them to the "Book of Crypts" mini-adventure outlines for 2nd ed., to which they are quite similar.

DT&DLs doesn't even compare favorably to Book of Crypts. DT&DLs is a load of anecdotes and creepy tales with a few adventure hooks thrown in. Book of Crypts is a collection of fairly complete adventure plots, leaving a few details for you to fill in yourself.

[alhoon]

I disagree with most people here. I liked Dark tales and Disturbing legends too much. Yes, you can't just play the adventures, but it really puts your brain gears to work and it gives you the push and inspiration needed to throw them in.

I loved the book. Why?

- It's like reading inspiring short stories and discussing how to adapt them to adventures with someone. Does this take away all the work to prepare an adventure? No, but it gives the inspiration and some very good ideas.

- The tales were nice. Also they were Ravenloft tales, clearly. I would buy the book even for the tales only as I like Ravenloft fiction. And you have the stats, spells etc given in the back. There have been many times while reading D&D novels and short stories that I wanted to see the stats of someone or the rules for said spells.

IMO for the DM that looks for inspiration, this book is as good as the Gazeteers or even better. Yes, it doesn't give the adventure on a plate. It does something more important: it puts you in the mood to play Ravenloft.

[BigBadQDaddy]

I tend to lean towards Alhoon's view of the book. Although, I admit the first story was confusing as heck, it did have a great feel. In what other setting could the PCs possibly attend a private auction as the adventure backdrop and not have the DM scolded?

[A G Thing]

I must admit that I agree with most everyone here in saying that the auction adventure is the most convoluted and un linkable of the adventures due to the many diseperate plot lines that run through it and muddle the event entirely. Beyond that however the Curse of Ashington Manor, The Brood of Blutakite, and Noises in the Night are the best adventures from the book and provide the best plot hooks and connections that can be used easily and they are not so inflexable to be unuseable elsewhere. From here to Eternity and To Honor and Obey suffer some problems.

From Here to Eternity is horrible in that it has such a huge cast but it's events seem ridged and even if the players manage to save the day, and thus ruin the suspense of a murder mystery as is thier right the adversary at the end is a mantle piece villian that is meant to showcase another dark entity and that the players have close to no chance to defeat and the PC's are completely in the background of some great conspiricy that in the end would just simply derail most campaigns.

To Honor and Obey is by no means horrible but it suffers some minor problems that make it less useful. The players unless connected to Sourange and the characters involved in some meaningful way are dumped into the situation with little or no motive to notice something is wrong with the wedding as it is. The crime of the bodyshape swap and then murder is great and the players once connected and watching the events should have multiple opertunities to spot become intangled and even get caught in the middle of the events. Then after the wedding no matter the events you have the possibility of the PC's discovering the side plot of stealing the will and making living Zombies from a source, (Quite possibly the Lord of the Dead himself as he may feel cheated or angered or even worried about a rival...) that contacts the players just before they cross into the mists. After the players make a connection that you provide to connect them to the wedding your problem is solved and while it does suggest some they need some fleshing out.

Noises in the Night is the second most useable and variable of the adventures with the most possible future plot hooks and greatest variety of potential villians and possible connections to past NPC's as well as the feel of Ravenloft is well captured.

Curse of Ashington Manor from my running experience is perhaps a great starting adventure, that provides a nemisis, a connection to the Vistani, a haunted / cursed house story, a damsel in distress, and a good connection point as well as a use for your Tarroka deck...

Brood of Blutekite is from what I have read a good serial killer with a supernatural twist murder mystery. I have run plenty of serial killer games but have yet to use this one yet. I do think it would be a good adventure.

Resources of the book include the Voodan class, The various Loa that tie in, The Veriteg, The Boogymen, and if not useable in thier main adventures then you have some ready made NPC's with fairly detailed portraits to be used elsewhere.

On a side note I have just purchased a copy of Book of Crypts and if I compare the two books, I must say that yes Book of Crypts is a better resource but I think that comparison is more in presentation and detail then it is in possibilities. Dark Tales and Disturbing Legends is by no means a waste at all as it is inspiring and 3 to 4 of the 5 adventures while not fully fleshed out with maps or such are quite simply well made and truly Ravenloft in thier presentation of facts.

7 out of 10 for 3.5 ravenloft products on my rating scale...