4E Ravenloft--Back into the Crypt for Now

[Matthew L. Martin]

From the official liveblog of the 2011 D&DXP Product Spotlight Seminar:

19. Q: Nothing about Ravenloft Campaign Setting?

1. A: We announced it at GenCon
2. A: We have decided to put it on the shelf, as we feel it isn’t ready yet.
3. A: Very experimental - want to try and decide a better focus for it.
4. A: Don’t expect it to show up soon.

Given the very little information we had about this, I'm finding it hard to get upset.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Very interesting. Do you have a link to this?

[Matthew L. Martin]

Very interesting. Do you have a link to this?

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id ... uQ3gEQ11ts Try this.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Hmm... other items of interest from there:
they aren't giving up on campaign settings overall, just the Ravenloft one...

Neverwinter Campaign Setting (August)
Similar format to Dark Sun
GM and Player in the same book

And also, the Shadowfell product is apparently still in the pipe...

Shadowfell
Greg Bilsland
One book is a player’s options book
The other book is an “encounters” book to help build adventures
Introduces a “Despair Deck”
Divided into 3 aspects
Madness
Fear
Apathy
DM Deck to add flavor and atmosphere
DM hands cards to players to give flavor
Adds roleplay and mechanical effects
Also includes a benefit for overcoming the negative aspects of the Shadowfell
Highlights how the Shadowfell affects emotions
Gloomwrought Shadar-Kai are especially prone to these mood swings
Full map of the city of Gloomwrought, and a tactical map for Gloomwrought or another city of your choosing.
Mid-Heroic to Upper Paragon

[Nathan of the FoS]

Hum. Well, better to do Ravenloft right than do it badly...and, possibly, better not to do it at all than to do it really badly?

I'll be interested in the Shadowfell product, though, so at least there's that.

[Jester of the FoS]

Wow, so that's now five cancelled products now. Yikes, WotC is really cutting back. I wonder what they plan to do for to keep D&D players interested.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Two words: collectable dice

[Lost Heretic]

Alright, I had to come out of hiding to comment on this.

The "too experimental" part probably comes from the fact that the Ravenloft boxed set was supposed to have its own rule set, as well as compatibility with Dungeons and Dragons. I'm guessing there were two design teams on this projects pulling it in different directions.

I don't think I'm alone in saying that 4e doesn't seem like a good fit for Ravenloft, but I was really excited to see what options the product would provide.

I wouldn't fret too much - Ravenloft never needed as many extra rules as other campaign settings. If you want to run it with 4e, you're probably already doing so!

[Strahdsbuddy]

Despite everything said in other threads, i'm pretty disappointed to hear this. I was looking forward to seeing something in print this year. I am in agreement that rushing a new ravenloft product would be tragic, though I wish we knew more of what was happening behind the scenes. Luckily, there will still be a QtR this year!

[cure]

I wonder what they plan to do for to keep D&D players interested.

Why version 5.0 of course.

[alhoon]

Is the Time of Unparalled Darkness here already? 4th Edition Ravenloft in 2011! Get out your healing surges and recharge your powers, everyone! Our favorite setting must have made its save to end the "out-of-print" condition.

... And the evil monster applied it again in the following round.



If the Shadowfell book is as good as the underdark one I'll buy it gladly... assuming it's not two books since that would be weird.

Not that the underdark book was perfect, but it gave very solid info on how Underdark is supposed to be in the "canon" 4E, the layers and denizens and how it is to adventure there.

For Shadowfell, I have no idea how it really is to have adventures there. I have included a couple of forays into what-seems-to-be-shadowfell for my campaign but I would like something more solid to work from than the hints and pieces that are floating about.

[Jadeite]

Well, at least we'll have Carrion Crown and Rule of Fear.
http://paizo.com/image/content/Pathfind ... -Cover.jpg

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

If the Shadowfell book is as good as the underdark one I'll buy it gladly... assuming it's not two books since that would be weird.

Last we heard, it was supposed to be a boxed set.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I think i can echo a lot of the feelings in this thread. I too was looking forward to new Ravenloft stuff, but I think it shows a lot of class on WotC's part to shelve it if they feel it wasn't working. One of the most common complaints I see on the net about them is that they crank out products without regard to quality, which I don't agree with. I think this shows they do care about doing their I.P. justice rather than releasing something that "isn't ready" and needs "a better focus".

[alhoon]

... Or they figured the book wouldn't sell well.