Give the PC's a purpose.

[seanadams]

Hi all,

Can I just say fantastic forum, I am slowly reading through the threads getting loads of ideas and tips - amazing.

I am looking into running my first ever campaign in Ravenloft (I've never DM'd before, but I love horror.), my initial idea was to run the Grand Conjunction modules, but now I am 2 minds.

When I first set out to do a campaign in Ravenloft, I had 4 must haves:
1. I wanted the campaign to have a purpose not just going from place to place getting into fights and helping random people etc. I wanted a proper purpose e.g. trying to prevent the Grand Conjunction etc.
2. I wanted as much detail from my players as possible so that I could introduce a personal level for the players and add side-missions that have something to do with each character personally. So that there is more on the line for the players.
3. I wanted a grand scale battle at some point, ala Lord of the Rings.
4. I wanted my players to develop their characters and keep for a while (I hate it when I have had a character for ages and he dies thanks to a non-related action, stray arrow etc.), but I didn't want to fudge any dice rolls, I wanted the players to think about what they are doing, not just - I'm going to attack that group of vampires and hope I survive. I wanted them to think about the costs of their actions, work together, think about strategies etc. But I know I'm unlikely to get both player development and not have to fudge a few dice rolls.

If anybody can give me any advice, i'd be really grateful, mainly about what sort of purpose I can give the players for the adventure. But also on my must-have list I know i'm probably asking a lot on some of them but if anyone can give help that'd be great.

Sean

[BedrockBrendan]

Hi all,

Can I just say fantastic forum, I am slowly reading through the threads getting loads of ideas and tips - amazing.

I am looking into running my first ever campaign in Ravenloft (I've never DM'd before, but I love horror.), my initial idea was to run the Grand Conjunction modules, but now I am 2 minds.

When I first set out to do a campaign in Ravenloft, I had 4 must haves:
1. I wanted the campaign to have a purpose not just going from place to place getting into fights and helping random people etc. I wanted a proper purpose e.g. trying to prevent the Grand Conjunction etc.

The Grand Conjunction Modules are perfectly useable and fun. I think the only problem with them is they kind of make the PCs spectators to the meta-plot of the setting. Since you say below you want to make it more personal, perhaps you should tailor the arch of the campaign to the PCs. Much of this will be dependant on their background (are they Ravenloft natives, outsites, what domain are they from if native, what classes and personal histories, etc).

I suggest you come up with a simple first adventure, drawing from their details. It could be something really simple like hunting a ghoul for example. This can then become the spring board for the "purpose" of the campaign. Maybe they stumble on something in the Ghoul's lair. Or maybe the ghoul is a minion of a lich you want them to fight in a grand finale later on. I would make a point of hinting at the Lich's existence in this first adventure if I went that direction (but this is just an example).

2. I wanted as much detail from my players as possible so that I could introduce a personal level for the players and add side-missions that have something to do with each character personally. So that there is more on the line for the players.

Much of this depends on what your players want to put into character creation. Rather than push people into doing something they might not want to do, consider asking each player a set of five questions about their past and personality. Take notes and use that. If the PCs come up with stellar backgrounds on their own, use that.

3. I wanted a grand scale battle at some point, ala Lord of the Rings.

This is certainly doable in Ravenloft, though battles on the scale of Lord of the Rings are rare. I think you might get some fuel from either Falkovnia or Invidia (since Drakov is always trying to invade domains, and Indivia has Malocchio. Also the lich example I provided offers numerous possibilies (a battle between villagers or local townspeople and the lich's undead army, a battle between the church of Ezra and the Lich, etc).

4. I wanted my players to develop their characters and keep for a while (I hate it when I have had a character for ages and he dies thanks to a non-related action, stray arrow etc.), but I didn't want to fudge any dice rolls, I wanted the players to think about what they are doing, not just - I'm going to attack that group of vampires and hope I survive. I wanted them to think about the costs of their actions, work together, think about strategies etc. But I know I'm unlikely to get both player development and not have to fudge a few dice rolls.

I never advise fudging rolls or keeping characters artificially alive. I think it really detracts from the horror. However, if you want to increase their odds of survival you can do a few things: emphasize the utility of running away (they don't have to go toe to toe with every monster, nor should they), go light on the encounters (ravenloft is much more about the mood and build up than throwing encounter after encounter at them), and design encounters that are survivable.

[ewancummins]

Hi all,

Can I just say fantastic forum, I am slowly reading through the threads getting loads of ideas and tips - amazing.

I am looking into running my first ever campaign in Ravenloft (I've never DM'd before, but I love horror.), my initial idea was to run the Grand Conjunction modules, but now I am 2 minds.

When I first set out to do a campaign in Ravenloft, I had 4 must haves:
1. I wanted the campaign to have a purpose not just going from place to place getting into fights and helping random people etc. I wanted a proper purpose e.g. trying to prevent the Grand Conjunction etc.
2. I wanted as much detail from my players as possible so that I could introduce a personal level for the players and add side-missions that have something to do with each character personally. So that there is more on the line for the players.
3. I wanted a grand scale battle at some point, ala Lord of the Rings.
4. I wanted my players to develop their characters and keep for a while (I hate it when I have had a character for ages and he dies thanks to a non-related action, stray arrow etc.), but I didn't want to fudge any dice rolls, I wanted the players to think about what they are doing, not just - I'm going to attack that group of vampires and hope I survive. I wanted them to think about the costs of their actions, work together, think about strategies etc. But I know I'm unlikely to get both player development and not have to fudge a few dice rolls.

If anybody can give me any advice, i'd be really grateful, mainly about what sort of purpose I can give the players for the adventure. But also on my must-have list I know i'm probably asking a lot on some of them but if anyone can give help that'd be great.

Sean

1 Start with a villain. Give him a goal that will inevitably bring him into a conflict with the PCs.
2 Ask for a short written background for each PC.
3 Is your villain a warlord?
4 Don't fudge. Let the players worry about keeping the PCs alive.
It's much more fun this way. You'll get better play and more development if there is an element of risk.

[seanadams]

Thank you both for your replies.

My PC's will be outsiders and brought into Ravenloft via the mists. I am writing a start to the campaign that they come together on a ship that suddenly gets surrounded by fog and attacked by undead pirates (ala The Fog - my fav horror film.) this will force them to work together.

They will be dropped off in Souragne, where the Night Of the Walking Dead module will be begin (I have now decided to ditch the Grand Conjunction idea - and use NOTWD as standalone) at the end of that I will have the PC's meeting a Shamen who will explain to them why they have been brought to Ravenloft (I will have the Shamen offer the PC's assistance if they have mission of their own (finding out who killed family etc) or rewards to the PC's) for their help.

I do want a large scale battle (not on the LOTR scale) so I do like the Warlord idea.

I was thinking that the Shamen could have been working for the evil Warlord all along and has convinced the PC's to do his dirty work for him and kill a rival lord. I will try to put some clues along the way pointing to this and hopefully they will pick them up. The PC's could then join forces with the Warlord they were supposed to kill and attack the Warlord, this is where the large scale battle could come into it.

I will try to put some side-missions (stand-alone missions) into the adventure along the way, some that have more to do with the PC's own backgrounds.

I also want to use a lot of music during the adventures, to help with atmosphere.

Again any advice on my ideas would be brilliant.

[BedrockBrendan]

I also want to use a lot of music during the adventures, to help with atmosphere.

Again any advice on my ideas would be brilliant.

I've always prefered the Francis Ford Copola Dracula Sound Track. It is heavy on atmospheric stuff so it works pretty well (and there are really only like 3 themes just done as variations throughout, so its easy to pick the tracks you need for the session and program them on a loop). I'd also recommend the Hellraiser soundtrack.

Classical music works great too. I like the Peer Gynt Suite by Crieg. The first movment (or act---can't remember how it is structured) is a little too familiar and not very moody for a horror game), but the second is perfect as are a number of others. Mozart's Requiem is also pretty good for a moody game.

I haven't bought much music since 2001, but I am sure there are plenty of good soundtracks that came out after the 90s worth picking up. A good way to find stuff that suits you is to go to Pandora and type in a soundtrack you know you like and see what else comes up. Or just go to amazon, and in the music section type Horror Movie Soundtracks (or just sountracks). Then just browse the samples.

If I were you, I'd use the computer rather than a CD player to build the game music. That way you can easily divide it into broad categories (like Combat, Exploration, Rest, etc), or you can even call up specific music for each scene (Battle With Villain, Intro, Encounter on East Timori Road, etc). I've even used this to give NPCs and places theme music.

[seanadams]

Yeah I have the Hellraiser, Halloween soundtracks and I am looking at getting the Midnight Syndicate and Nox Arcana Collection. Both do very gothic music and Midnight Syndicate did the Dungeons and Dragons score.

The Pirates of the Caribbean score is good too and I thought would be useful.

[riMkrad]

Try the original Dawn of the Dead (Goblin) soundtrack. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpAAQrJ93w8 for example

[G man]

The Interview With A Vampire soundtrack makes good background music for Souragne. I googled "scary swamp" images to help with the visualizations for this domain. Also, curses on characters or cursed items can give a sense of purpose or add to the theme of your campaign. Certain events must transpire to lift the curse or the cursed item must be destroyed in a certain place or time. Maybe if the cursed character is a PC they have to perform certain deeds to fulfill the "escape clause" of the curse.