Expedition to Castle Ravenloft (cover)

[alhoon]

Guys

CR is not determined based on the campaign setting. Equipment in such levels is very important for the characters to be able to overcome a foe/problem with CR 20.

IMC where magic items are rare, at 9th level chars are actually hard pressed fighting a CR 9 monster due to lack of equipment and spell availability (and side-effects). A CR 8 monster is suitable encounter for a 9th level party.
A CR 11 monster is suitable for a 13th level party and a CR 17 monster is suitable for a 20th level party. I don't have a problem with that I scale my CRs accordingly.

BTW I don't do level 20 campaigns.

[Jester of the FoS]

But neither are they based around uber-monty haul characters with maxed stats. The game is balanced for the point-buy system and the exact gold given in the DMG per level.

[Igor the Henchman]

Looks like a series-of-adventures in one convenient package to me. My guess is, the PCs start by hearing rumors about Barovia and its master, then, after a treck across barovian wilds and secondary dungeons, they finally get to the Castle.

If its going to be anything like the Red Hand of Doom, I couldn't be happier.

[Lord_Pruitt]

It looks to me as if the shadowed side of his face is actually skeletal, which would account for the baldness and the twisted expression.

And I thought it was just a poor rendition of a plain skull on top of Strahd's body ....

And at $35 none-the-less. I remember the original only costing $6 ....

[Dion of the Fraternity]

Looks like a series-of-adventures in one convenient package to me. My guess is, the PCs start by hearing rumors about Barovia and its master, then, after a treck across barovian wilds and secondary dungeons, they finally get to the Castle.

Hmm, sounds a lot like "City of the Spider Queen" to me, but I hope they could get a nice horror plot if ever they take this route.

And let's not forget Tatyana/Illyana! How she fits into this may actually be the core of the story, not Strahd himself.

[The Giamarga]

It looks to me as if the shadowed side of his face is actually skeletal, which would account for the baldness and the twisted expression.

And I thought it was just a poor rendition of a plain skull on top of Strahd's body ....

And at $35 none-the-less. I remember the original only costing $6 ....

That's not the actual cover art. It's just a place holder for early advertising. They do that all the time...

[Nightbay]

Aren't CRs supposed to be a guideline anyway?

[Rotipher of the FoS]

They're more than a guideline, but they don't always apply accurately to parties with a different class-roster than the old-fashioned Cleric/Fighter/Rogue/Wizard combo-platter.


And, incidentally: WOW! Is that really a reference to the old "Role Aids" books from the 80s in your sig and screen-name, Nightbay? Man, I haven't met anyone online in ages, who remembers those things!

[Le Noir Faineant]

They're more than a guideline, but they don't always apply accurately to parties with a different class-roster than the old-fashioned Cleric/Fighter/Rogue/Wizard combo-platter.


And, incidentally: WOW! Is that really a reference to the old "Role Aids" books from the 80s in your sig and screen-name, Nightbay? Man, I haven't met anyone online in ages, who remembers those things!

You never asked...

[Guardian of Twilight]

I can't wait to pick this up! They have now remade almost every module from the Silver Box release, so I am thinking about running all of them as part of one large campaign, ending with Tomb of Horrors. I think my players will enjoy that. A small flashback to 1st Edition by way of the d20, though I never got to play in 1st Edition. Here's to you, veteran gamers!

[Rotipher of the FoS]

A small flashback to 1st Edition by way of the d20, though I never got to play in 1st Edition. Here's to you, veteran gamers!

Just don't make it too much of a 1E-era flashback: IIRC, the proper response to someone who told you "My group played that new module, Ravenloft, last weekend!" was generally: "Yeah? How did you die?"

[Guardian of Twilight]

A small flashback to 1st Edition by way of the d20, though I never got to play in 1st Edition. Here's to you, veteran gamers!

Just don't make it too much of a 1E-era flashback: IIRC, the proper response to someone who told you "My group played that new module, Ravenloft, last weekend!" was generally: "Yeah? How did you die?"

Ah, the memories!!

[ravenharm]

Personally i would have preferred Lockewood to be the artist for this, but eh, im just happy ravenloft is being published again.

now that WW is done with it i can clearly state that IMHO they messed up in every way possible and i was suprised it went on as long as it did.

no respect to arthaus.

i say give wizard the chance to go somewhere with this. and if this one sells, as well it should... we as a collective fanbase can go from there.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Eh. Some people favor the 2E products, some the 3E; it's all a matter of taste. People use Ravenloft in their games as best suits their own gaming groups, and choose which interpretations of the setting to go with, based on that need. It's not an argument that anyone will ever really "win", as to which version is "better".

That being said, I do hope that everyone -- 2E and 3E fans -- will opt to take Expedition with a grain of salt, should it grossly conflict with the Ravenloft setting as we've all come to understand and love it. I don't want to sound like a party-pooper, but the new book could turn out to be totally contrary to what makes Ravenloft so fascinating; if that's the case, I should think we can agree to collectively ignore any such digressions. (For instance, if it does include a chapter on the Core, but one that cuts all evidence of firearms out of the picture ... or if it up and tells us "The Dark Powers are actually XXXX." )

There are Planescape fans who loathe the 3E MotP because it leaves out factions, etc. There are die-hard traditionalist Greyhawk fans who pretend "Greyhawk Wars" was never published. There are Mystara fans who dismiss the Almanac products as an abhomination, merely because there's a copper dragon in one of them! Instead of yelling and whining and sticking our fingers in our ears while chanting "Not listening!", I should think that we Ravenloft-buffs ought to agree that: A) we'll give the new product a fair hearing, and: B) if it's not compatible with the context of the wider setting, we'll not rant at WotC -- or worse, each other -- over whether it's "the real Ravenloft" or not, but simply take what's useful and leave the rest.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

So long as it doesn't include Sherrif von Zarovich's spellforged ninja brigade, I'll be happy.

Truth be told, Ravenloft has existed too long as a seperate entity from D&D. Part of what made this setting so apealing is its openess to DM innovation. But Ravenloft is becoming terribly complicated - with so many details and the like. Its begining to remind me of why i hated Forgotten Realms.

Perhaps a step back might be in order.