Is the Red Box worth a look?

[The Giamarga]

I have lots of 2E stuff including the Black Box, Domains of Dread, and almost all the 3E books (still hunting for a cheap RLPHB). Should i get the Red Box? Is it good? Different? Why?

[Joël of the FoS]

I have lots of 2E stuff including the Black Box, Domains of Dread, and almost all the 3E books (still hunting for a cheap RLPHB). Should i get the Red Box? Is it good? Different? Why?

In short, the only new new stuff the red box has is post GC maps, differrent from the Black Box, and a poster IIRC. It basically merged the Black Box and the Forbidden Lore box.

Not that much new stuff if you have the Black Box + Forbidden Lore box.

For completists, I guess

Joël

[The Giamarga]

Thanks Joel. I have Forbidden Lore, so i guess i have no need/use for the Red Box. I'm not really a completist, but even if I were there's still much other 2E RL stuff i don't have.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I think the Red Box also introduced a few domains, like Rokushima Taiyoo. My RL library is boxed up at the moment, so I can't check. I think there are a few little nuggets that appeared there first, but 95% of it is Black Box + Forbidden Lore.

[nothri]

The Red Box gets a bad rap from fans, for much the same reason the RLPHB does: Its largely the same. I cut my Ravenloft Teeth on the Red Box, and its what made me fall in love with the setting. It is accurate to say there's not a lot worth getting if you have Forbidden Lore and the Black Box, but its important to note that it serves the same purpose and accomplishes the same tasks as the Black Box- creating the atmoshphere that the demiplan has always strived for.

There is new material in the Black Box, just not enough to warrant the high price. We get to see Rokushima Taiyoo for the first time, along with an (albeit brief) look at the darklord, which makes it the only time so far we've had such stats. We also see Dominia in detail, which is of course trumped by Bleak House, but still a good description.

[HuManBing]

I have the Black Box, Forbidden Lore, the Red Box, the Domains of Dread (post-Requiem), and the 3.0 and 3.5 Ravenloft setting issues.

Of all of them, the one that was LEAST inspired was Domains of Dread, although it did introduce the first attempt to codify the Demiplane as a cohesive whole rather than as separate domains.

Azalin is nowhere to be seen in DoD, and they added Vecna and Kas, which in my opinion was an unequal tradeoff. Azalin is way cooler.

[The Giamarga]

Thanks nothri, for the additional info. I´ll keep that in mind when i come across it.

HMB, i liked DoD quite well. It was the first book to include native characters and gives a complete starting point for players and DMs alike.

[LordGodefroi]

HMB, i liked DoD quite well. It was the first book to include native characters and gives a complete starting point for players and DMs alike.

Domains of Dread was important in two ways:

1) It included the first published chronology / timeline of the

2) More important than including the creation of native characters, Domains of Dread was the first publication to treat Ravenloft as a campaign world of its own rather than a "mini-Planescape.'

In my opinion, it was at this point when TSR truly recognized that Ravenloft fans were playing full campaigns instead of "weekend in hell" scenarios. And the writers began considering this in their game materials.

[HuManBing]

I agree with both of you. The main problem that killed DoD for me was the lack of Azalin.

I still have that book somewhere at home in Beijing. It's quite possible I have a copy of every commercially available published product for Ravenloft 2nd ed. ever published.

(I definitely have all the commercially available published products for Ravenloft 1st ed )

[Rotipher of the FoS]

(I definitely have all the commercially available published products for Ravenloft 1st ed )

What, all both of them?


(Note that the Master of Ravenloft pick-a-path book used its own ultra-simplified rules, rather than 1E, so it doesn't count. )

[HuManBing]

Yes, all two of them.

It's funny, I had House on Gryphon Hill first. I wasn't even going to buy Ravenloft the 1st ed adventure until I got a duff 2E House of Strahd on ebay. The adventure itself was fine but it was missing the adventure map.

I bought the 1st ed. adventure if only so I could see what the 2E adventure was keyed to.

[Sylaire]

(I definitely have all the commercially available published products for Ravenloft 1st ed )

What, all both of them?


(Note that the Master of Ravenloft pick-a-path book used its own ultra-simplified rules, rather than 1E, so it doesn't count. )

Thou Shalt Not Dis The Book. Even though Curse of the Werewolf was actually a better Ravenloft product, if nothing else because of the tres cool Stephen Fabian artwork.

I still love the fact that the Decanter of Endless Water was the most reliable way to put Strahd down for the permanent dirt nap in that book. Plus the Rod of Lordly Might was one of my favorite 1st Ed. magic items, so seeing that take center stage as equipment was also neat.