I had the same trouble with my players, they wanted to play ravenloft, but on the others side it seem that for them Ravenloft was a super-heroic world.
While I made my players clear, that RL is not FR or a "Candy-RPG" (nice, sugarcoated, pink, (I think you get the meaning)), this seems to bother my players a bit, too.
Are you being 'too good' a Ravenloft DM? I can say for certain that frustrating players is never a sign of success for a DM, no matter what game setting you play.
Yes, bad choice of words on my part. It's clear that this is not a sign of a "too good" DM. And yes, I know that I should work with the players towards a enjoyable and rememberable game/hobby.
It was a bad turn of phrase, patially due to my having just finished an answer to the mail (which took me several hours and filled 6 pages of word-document), being tired,being frustrated myself and not being natural english speaking.
In my opinion, players who tell their DM that they are frustrated with his campaign should be taken seriously.
I take them seriously.
If the players are complaining about the current outcomes, then you might need to provide them a more obvious victory now and again. A villian that is obviously thwarted by their actions could give them the morale boost to keep them believing that they're making a difference.
Not knowing much details of your game, I can only offer limited advice,
Oh, I think (or thought) that they had their triumphs.
Let me expand...
If you need more info, post and I shall give them.
Night of the Walking Dead (contains Spoilers)
They stopped Jean murdering any more villagers (unfortunately, not before he killed several) and confronted and destroyed Marcel. They did not suceed in saving Luc, however, and I think that's why they feel it was no success. After the undead body of Marcel was destroyed, they received a mysterious message, delivered by a heap of bones that animated themselves into a big humanoid shape, thanking them for taking care of "that little upstart Zombielord". That shape as you might guess, was sent by Misroi.
They continued to Port d'Elhour where they had the opportunity to spend some time on board of a casino-ship (think Mademoiselle de la Musarde from the third Ravenloft novel), loosing and gaining coins, sampling good food & drink or watching the opera.
After they had spent an evening on the ship, they returend and stumbled upon a man chasing a young woman through the nightly cityscape. The went to help and killed the man. The woman thanked them and the PC insisted on accompanying (sic?) her to her house. While walking, they learned that the man had been her guard since childhood but had suddenly turned against her.
The PC offer to stay the night with her and she accepts.
During the next day, two different PCs are approached by servants/messengers of two different merchant families and asked to come to speak about a deal.
The group sends some PCs to either meeting.
Both merchants offer a reward on Fila's (the young woman) life - but only, if they keep them alive and out of harm. Oh, and the two dislike each other...
Some intrigues and guessing later, Fila is attacked in her bedroom by a phase spider, that the PC's fight off. Some further attacks, including the cook poisoning the whole household, the PC get the first glimpse of their enemy; they dream a confrontation, in which they have the upper hand at first, but loose terribly, when their enemy starts taking control of the dream - her dream. They are killed off one by one - and wake up in Fila's house.
Some investigation later, they find their enemy's hiding place and fight her, killing her and rescuing a dreamweaver-spider.
They also find several very old letters.
From the letters, they can put together their attacks motive; she was a half-vistani and Fila's halfsister. When her mother became pregnant with her, and wanted to keep the child, she was cast out of the tribe. So she had to raise her daughter alone and separated from her tribe.
Finally, she could no longer endure being away from her tribe and ended her own life, writing letters to her daughter, explaining everything and to Fila's father, forgiving him. Fila's halfsister finds the letters but she can't forgive her father. She wanted him to suffer as she did. But when she finally found him, he had already died. So she takes her revenge to Fila.
On her way, she got trapped in one of the Nightmare's Court Dreamspheres, but survived it without sliding completely into madness. She explored the lands a bit and met an Abber Shaman. She learned much from him, even the beginning of dreamwalking and killed him, as he refused to teach her further when he saw her misusing his teachings.
She sought a representative of the court and struck a deal with Morpheus.
She used her dreamwalking and her connections to the court to trap Fila's guard and the cook in nightmares to force them to cooperate and fulfill her wishes.
When the PC look through her hiding place they found not one but to dreamweavers; a black and a white. The black one had been sent to her by M. as a helper, while she imprisioned the white after a fight with an Abber Shaman that felt her breaking through the veil of sleep and came to inquiere.
As it turned out, Fila had a natural aptitude for dreamwalking and while in captivity, the white dreamweaver bonded himself to her.
The enemy defeated, driven off, Fila saved, they went back to her house. During the evening and an enormous victory feast, they learned a lot about a "Realm Overthere", a mysterious "Court", "Walkers in Dream", from the dreamweaver that has bonded to Fila.
The PC learned lots of things, but they did not understand them, as the way a dreamweaver looks at things is very different from their own point of view.
After some long talk, Fila wished them well the next morning, explaining that she want's to explore the "Realm Overthere" with her bonded, seeking out the Abbers and learn dreamwalking. They said their good-bye and Fila left this realm.
The next andventure followed, loosely the story of the third ravenloft novel; the ship, the undead walking on board, Larissa's flight into the swamp, her arrival at the island of the virgin of the swamp (?), the planning of the attack on the ship, the visit by Misroi for getting the permission to attack his guest, the attack on the ship, and the victory and the freeing of the captive loahs.
As thank, Larissa offered them some gold and took them to the core.
There went to the border of Kartakass as the paladin PC had got information that her brother, the only relative of hers - and the only of her race besides her living in this realm - had been there (preparing Feast of Goblyns). On the way, they came upon The Standing Stone. They helped the villagers with food, investigated the area, tried negotiating a truce with the wild-elves (what failed), investigated the Warlord's tomb & met him and, when being led to his grave by the paladin's ghost finally realized that something is wrong. They started figuring who must be involved / behind it and confronted Dyson, destroying his house and all his notes on the spell and driving him off. Unfortunately, the whole village had been unter his control, so there's no one to save. At the paladin'r grave however, they find gifts clearly elven origin, left there for them (ring of elemental resistance, amulett of nat. Armor)
Next they had an encounter with vistani. They were invited to eat & spend the evening with them by the future raunie (and her decision backed by her grandmother, the current raunie) although the captain did not agree.
They played games with the children during the afternoon, the paladin traded recipes with cooking vistana, ...
They spent a nice dinner and had ample opportunity to learn a bit of the nature of ravenloft.
After dinner, the pastronata started and the PC were invited to join. The shared several glasses of Bourdad and the Doroq begann. The future and current raunie, daughter and grandmother together told the story of Manusa.
During the afternoon the paladin was invited to a telling by the raunie, during which the paladin learned a lot of things; she learned that her race was very special and could be abused by those powerful and unscrupulous enough. She also learned, that this mysterious "Court" she had heard of was very interested in members of her race as "Seed".
A little foreshadowing during the actual telling (The Vistani Hunter) and a hard decision; if she should enter Kartakass now, death would be following her. It might kill her, her friends or everyone around them, but dying would be her companion.
She also learned of a lake that is a mirror, hands strechting towards her from islands surrounding the mirror and being surrounded by poison.
--> Rokushima Taiyoo.
For a token fee and as thank for their participating in the Doroq, the PCs were brought to RT by the vistani.
There I run them trough Festival at Halbar; they lost all contests but had fun and the villagers of both villages were thankful that they participated. The drove off the attack by the lizards and followed them to their lair, cleaning it out. While doing this, they found strange cage markings on the floor and in the middle small golden scales. Puzzled, they asked around but none of the villagers knew what it was.
During the fight, one of the PCs was contaminated with a vicious drug by a strange shadow (actually an Oni). The drug has very sever consequences, so they say good-bye to the villagers that offer them lots of things as gifts (most of it useless, but a bag with semiprecious stone is also part of it) and travel to the monastery, after they received a warning sent by the Kamayari of the Monastery.
They hurry to the monastery and speak with the Kamayari. He tells them about the drug and tells them to say farewell to their friend, as he is bound to die.
The PCs react strongly. Finally the K. tells his tale (shortform here)...
It had been him, that had developed that particulary dangerous drug that can't be affected by magic. He's an half-oni born by a mother that loved the power she could wield as his mother more than the child but still did not hand over to the Oni. The boy, being his father's son, killed his mother and thought himself above the others. He killed all that used magic, as he saw himself the only worthy practitioner. He came upon someone far stronger than him but instead of being killed he was taken as a slave. He became his captor's lover and was thought the "highest Art" by her. He was ensnared in her web and started working for her. He developed the drug and perfected it.
The woman and her companions used the drug to gain control of a small country and decided, that since the K. had the knowledge to develope such a drug he might develope an antidote. Thus they decided to kill him. They gave him his own drug in such quantity that it would have killed him had he been human.
He survived, fled, hid himself and took 15 years to overcome his addicition. He returned, wiped out his one time lover and their friend, destroyed all stores of the drug and started working at an antidote.
He cured those still alive from their addiction and returned home. He was
celebrated as a heroe, but soon more and more petitioners came to him, begging this and that. Warlords wanted him to destroy their enemies. Finally, even the emperor ordered him to destroy his enemies. The K. refused and was thrown into prison (having enought power to free himself but only by killing all his guards). The emperor tried to convince him to help, but he refused. Finally, the emperor commanded giving the prisoner of the rare drug, the very one he had created and that's addiction he had overcome.
Something snapped in the K. and he lashed out, unleashing his powers as never before, destroying the whole metropole of the imperial city in one blow. As he came to his senses again and saw the devastation he had caused, his Oni-father was floating nearby, gloating about the destruction. He offered to take his son to his side, reign side by side over both the material as the immaterial.
The K. refused, having had enough evileness and drove his father off. He
vowed never to use his command of the highest Art again - and to never again make the drug.
Finally, the PCs bring the K. to the point were he agrees to take responsibility for his past and agrees to create some of the drug to keep the PC alive long enough to find the ingredients of the antidot.
The PCs agree and the K. creates the drug, using almost all of his power. In his weakened state, he's not strong enough to drive his father off, when that one appears. He whispers poisoned lies in his son's ears and mind, picturing a world where he can be truly free and mold it any way he sees fit, banning war and fight, ...
The K. subcumbes to the whispers and starts to turn against the PCs.
Those start talking to him to see sense, not to fall to those bad lies his father speaks.
They seem to be succesfull, but then the oni, not going to let his prey slip his net, talks at the same time as the PCs, poisoning and twisting their words (a very hard thing to play out, belive me).
The realize that the oni can't twist their words when several of them speak at the same time - they succeed in clearing the K.'s mind, and give him enough strenght to banish his father once again.
He tells them what he knows about the antidote; he needs a Midnight Rose for it, an extremely rare flower that only grows in the shadow of the accursed cathedral in the ruinded city of Nod. He tells them what he knows about the city (not much) and offers to open them a patht there. The PCs agree and they travel on a path through the plane of Shadow. Shortly before they are at their destination, a shadow quake occurs and tosses them out of the plane and back to the material world. They hear the far-away scream of the K. and are stranded on the border of the Nightmare Lands.
The enter the forest of everchange and get themselves caught in a dreamsphere. And this is were we currently are : The Dark Harvest...
Oh well, now it has moved from rant to a short campaign log.
I apologize for any spelling misstakes and shall correct them, when I've time.
Whisspersss in the Dark...
- it's the balance though that matters.
