Gryphon Hill on Gothic Earth

YokoburiKinura · Post by **YokoburiKinura** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 4:46 pm

Today I started thinking about Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill again. I had originally wanted to run it in parallel with the first Ravenloft module in a regular D&D game, but when I read it, I got a strong 18th-century feel from it. It occurred to me today that, thematically, this adventure ought to fit Masque pretty well.

So, if I did run it in an 1890's Masque game, what would I need to change in the module? The Alchemist and The Creature would of course not carry Strahd's name. I've heard lots of complaints about the Creature's main force being inside Weathermay House, but where would you suggest I put them if I move them elsewhere?

Any other input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

YokoburiKinura · Post by **YokoburiKinura** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 9:41 pm

Um...

Was this a dumb question?

ScS of the Fraternity · Wed Oct 06, 2004 8:38 am

No, I think its a pretty good idea. Its just that I've never owned the Gryphon Hill adventure, so I don't have the foggiest idea how to help.

YokoburiKinura · Post by **YokoburiKinura** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 3:07 pm

Fair enough.

I got it in PDF from the Wizards site. The links are still good:
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp? ... 20020121x9

Granted, reading portrait-layout PDFs on computer screens can be a real pain.

Reginald de Curry · Post by **Reginald de Curry** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 3:35 pm

Where are you setting the game? England, US, other? If you place the module in Dunwich, you can come up with all kinds of ideas.

YokoburiKinura · Post by **YokoburiKinura** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 9:31 pm

Oh? Is Yog-Shothoh pushing forward the Alchemist's experiments from within his dreams?

I think I'm going to put this one square in old England, though. My investigators will be based out of London, and while there will be some globetrotting later on, I think Britain's misty moors will serve best

As long as I change the names I might be able to sneak Cthulhu-ish stuff past my players (beyond the rules - CoC is serving for our base character creation and magic) but they don't like the Cthulhu worldview very much. That is... unless you meant something else about old Dunwuch...

Reginald de Curry · Post by **Reginald de Curry** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 11:33 am

I wouldn't make it a CoC campaign, but a few elements couldn't hurt. Something similar to the Dunwich Horror could replace the orcs, for example.

Actually, hollowing out an old mansion for the bulk of the Creature's forces ala Dunwich could solve the Weathermay problem nicely.

"Hey, let's go exploring!"
"Hey, an old house!"
"Hey, let's see what's inside!"
"Hey, AAAAAAAAAAA--*slurp*"

daffy72 · Post by **daffy72** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 1:05 am

ScS!
shame on you!

you should be whipped with your own entrails
heh

i demand you go read the adventure right now. especially since its available for free download.

the section on running both the original mod and this one in parallel still stands out as one of the most intriguing ideas D&d ever came up with imho.
i think the first two mods were far superior to the later ones, but im an old school pnp'er so anything that promotes home brewed campaigns will always be more interesting to me.

Meeting others and discussing how their groups completely changed an adventure was always fun. Both having the same mod gave the common frame of reference but the completely different experiences always helped to create new fresh ideas.
anyway... the first two rl mods were D&d at its best for sure.

Drusilla · Post by **Drusilla** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 7:21 pm

daffy72 wrote:ScS!
shame on you!

you should be whipped with your own entrails

Thank you for the idea...

Wanders off looking for something sharp to cut ScS open with...

YokoburiKinura · Post by **YokoburiKinura** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 6:47 pm

Having another mansion that's completely occupied by the Creature's minions could work, though I'd probably have to provide some clear reason for the PCs to check it out, ie a logical way to tell them 'a major piece of this puzzle is inside there'. Would just using Gryphon Hill itself work? Probably not, because the whole point is for the Apparatus to have been spirited away elsewhere for the climax.

The orc tribe bit kinda bugs me. In the Mists, I could see a handful of calibans hiding out there, sure. Another bit I've considered just dismissing out of hand. Do I need a major encounter waiting out there? Anyway, your suggestion for putting one major creature on the cliffs instead of 80 minor ones is a good one.

I've thought of just dramatically slashing the number of monsters and turning the scenario completely dialogue-driven/cerebral, but then I might lose a major part of the Transpossession plot. And I don't want that to happen. Getting a good balance of not just hitting the party over the head with dozens of monsters but still having that 'growing isolation' is important.

Perhaps if I were to run this adventure, though, my original thought would be best. I've relished the thought of the party reaching the Apparatus, looking up, seeing their Barovian counterparts looking back at them, switch the perspective once or twice, and have them really wonder which is 'real'.

Green Monkey · Post by **Green Monkey** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 5:05 pm

If it had an 18th century feel, why are you wanting to set it in the 1890's?

At any rate, I think you're talking blaspemy. The House on Gryphon Hill is intended to be played in Raveloft in Mordent, and it should be played from there because it is such an integral part of the history of Raveloft. Besides, if you are playing Gothic Earth the way it is intended to be played, the story doesn't really fit the setting very well at all, which I think you are starting to realize since you mention some of the difficulties with creatures in the module. I suppose you could use the setting and change the plot, but why bother when there are so many spookier locations like Borley Rectory that already exist in Gothic Earth?

Besides, who will your villains be? If you are running a Gothic Earth campaign, you would do better to have your people temporarily transported to Ravenloft to run this module.

Le Noir Faineant · Post by **Le Noir Faineant** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:42 am

*Having read only the last post*

I think it would fit without a problem. (No blasphemy

)

Just place Mordent somewhere in Eastern Europe, at best in Transylvania, as there is a great Guide by Nicky Rea out there, and make Strahd an ally of Dracula.

*Kaboom!* Potential for a great campaign, IMO.

maraudar · Post by **maraudar** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 12:59 pm

Thank you for the idea...

Wanders off looking for something sharp to cut ScS open with...

HAHAHAHAHAHA... Run ScS run..

Maraudar

Rotipher of the FoS · Post by **Rotipher of the FoS** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 3:59 pm

Actually, since it's never been formally established which Material Plane world Mordentshire used to be a part of, you could always rule that Mordent actually came from Gothic Earth, IYC, and that's where Strahd and Azalin created a link to during their escape attempt. It even makes a certain amount of sense: they try to break out of one world that the Dark Powers control, only to link to a world in which an analogous malign force [the Red Death] exerts its own influence. The Alchemist might be a qabalist whose experiments got out of hand, perhaps one who regularly corresponded with Dr. Jekyll about how to separate humans' good from their evil.

The orcs would have to go, or perhaps be replaced with human ruffians (who might even have been turned into goblyns by the Red Death, if that fits your plans). Other monsters whom Strahd recruits into service would be indigenous Gothic Earth menaces, all drawn to the site by the grim energies unleashed when Azalin's meddling brought Ravenloft and Gothic Earth into contact.

Dr Bloodworth · Post by **Dr Bloodworth** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 6:26 pm

Was Mordent's Material Plane the same one Barovia came from?

Café de Nuit

Welcome, friends, to our establishment.

Gryphon Hill on Gothic Earth

Gryphon Hill on Gothic Earth

Gryphon Hill