QtR 26

[brilliantlight]

Like most the Grim Harvest is part of the background and that means Death should be DL as it replaces Necropolis. The domain works if you change the curse of Death. Yeah , I got the feeling that Sebastian is one who can easily lie to himself. Deep down he knows he is undead but doesn't want to admit it.

A further idea I have for Wilfred is that his wives and daughter show up exactly at midnight. What isn't well known is that it is actually fairly safe at night on Gryphen Hill. Between dusk and midnight Wilfred tries to have the party to get rid of "Three evil female ghosts" and give a good story about why and how they are evil.

He comes up with a number of doomed plans to get rid of them. He blames various attacks on the party on the "evil ghosts". The attacks themselves are of little threat, the attacks should be more psychological. A lot of things that cause fear, horror or insanity checks and maybe some damage to their characteristics such as Strength or Intelligence but nothing fatal. He wants to get the party to get rid of the women not kill the party.

When the ghosts show up they not only attack him but explain to the party why they are attacking him. In these circumstances his normal manipulative self is a quivering mess. Although he denies it it takes only a DC10 Sense Motive skill check to see he is lying, his normal bluff skill does not apply. The party probably figures he is getting what he deserves and he is no shape of mind to stop them from leaving at the moment. Come daytime he starts plotting his revenge on them for "failing him." Also he is reluctant to leave the manor because if he runs into any of the women they are free to attack him then and there. So he prefers manipulation to direct confrontation.

With Cold Hands I would change the ghost into a corpse creature (BOVD) indistinguishable from the living. I would have the party believe the Cold Hands are actually alive until a possible big reveal.

[Mistmaster]

A further idea I have for Wilfred is that his wives and daughter show up exactly at midnight. What isn't well known is that it is actually fairly safe at night on Gryphen Hill. Between dusk and midnight Wilfred tries to have the party to get rid of "Three evil female ghosts" and give a good story about why and how they are evil.

He comes up with a number of doomed plans to get rid of them. He blames various attacks on the party on the "evil ghosts". The attacks themselves are of little threat, the attacks should be more psychological. A lot of things that cause fear, horror or insanity checks and maybe some damage to their characteristics such as Strength or Intelligence but nothing fatal. He wants to get the party to get rid of the women not kill the party.

When the ghosts show up they not only attack him but explain to the party why they are attacking him. In these circumstances his normal manipulative self is a quivering mess. Although he denies it it takes only a DC10 Sense Motive skill check to see he is lying, his normal bluff skill does not apply. The party probably figures he is getting what he deserves and he is no shape of mind to stop them from leaving at the moment. Come daytime he starts plotting his revenge on them for "failing him." Also he is reluctant to leave the manor because if he runs into any of the women they are free to attack him then and there. So he prefers manipulation to direct confrontation.

That, while interesting would rob Wilfred of the ability of actively govern his huge fief in the Shadow Shire, and to plot to conquer the whole of Mordentshire; And the political intrigues are my favourite part; that's why I changed his curse. And I like better the idea of him punishing himself instead of getting punished by others.

With Cold Hands I would change the ghost into a corpse creature (BOVD) indistinguishable from the living. I would have the party believe the Cold Hands are actually alive until a possible big reveal.

I think I'll add the Corporeal weakness to her.

[brilliantlight]

A further idea I have for Wilfred is that his wives and daughter show up exactly at midnight. What isn't well known is that it is actually fairly safe at night on Gryphen Hill. Between dusk and midnight Wilfred tries to have the party to get rid of "Three evil female ghosts" and give a good story about why and how they are evil.

He comes up with a number of doomed plans to get rid of them. He blames various attacks on the party on the "evil ghosts". The attacks themselves are of little threat, the attacks should be more psychological. A lot of things that cause fear, horror or insanity checks and maybe some damage to their characteristics such as Strength or Intelligence but nothing fatal. He wants to get the party to get rid of the women not kill the party.

When the ghosts show up they not only attack him but explain to the party why they are attacking him. In these circumstances his normal manipulative self is a quivering mess. Although he denies it it takes only a DC10 Sense Motive skill check to see he is lying, his normal bluff skill does not apply. The party probably figures he is getting what he deserves and he is no shape of mind to stop them from leaving at the moment. Come daytime he starts plotting his revenge on them for "failing him." Also he is reluctant to leave the manor because if he runs into any of the women they are free to attack him then and there. So he prefers manipulation to direct confrontation.

That, while interesting would rob Wilfred of the ability of actively govern his huge fief in the Shadow Shire, and to plot to conquer the whole of Mordentshire; And the political intrigues are my favourite part; that's why I changed his curse. And I like better the idea of him punishing himself instead of getting punished by others.

He can play politics in the daytime but he does so from the manor. The mayor of a city doesn't leave city hall to play politics he does so from city hall. A governor doesn't have to leave the governor's mansion and the president doesn't have to leave the White House. Ruling from a seat of power is the norm in real life.

[Mistmaster]

He can play politics in the daytime but he does so from the manor. The mayor of a city doesn't leave city hall to play politics he does so from city hall. A governor doesn't have to leave the governor's mansion and the president doesn't have to leave the White House. Ruling from a seat of power is the norm in real life.

Interesting. I still prefer his curse being his own temper, thought.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Gonzoron and Joel don't be shy, we are waiting your hopinions.

going to be a bit for me. This week is a little crazy...

[Jack the Reaper]

Well, Gonzoron and Joel, you had enough time to regenerate, rejuvante or whatever you do to recover your powers.
We are still waiting for your expanded reviews...

[brilliantlight]

He can play politics in the daytime but he does so from the manor. The mayor of a city doesn't leave city hall to play politics he does so from city hall. A governor doesn't have to leave the governor's mansion and the president doesn't have to leave the White House. Ruling from a seat of power is the norm in real life.

Interesting. I still prefer his curse being his own temper, thought.

Direct retribution from his victims seems more Gothic to me. A lot of ghost stories are stories of vengeance.

[Mistmaster]

He can play politics in the daytime but he does so from the manor. The mayor of a city doesn't leave city hall to play politics he does so from city hall. A governor doesn't have to leave the governor's mansion and the president doesn't have to leave the White House. Ruling from a seat of power is the norm in real life.

Interesting. I still prefer his curse being his own temper, thought.

Direct retribution from his victims seems more Gothic to me. A lot of ghost stories are stories of vengeance.

Yes, but self-inflicted punishment in front of the innocent victims of your wicknedess sound as a worse punishment to me; plus this cut him any alibi; he could have tried and overcame his curse as other of his family had, and channel it in productive ways, but he never did, and this isthe result.

[brilliantlight]

Direct retribution from his victims seems more Gothic to me. A lot of ghost stories are stories of vengeance.

Yes, but self-inflicted punishment in front of the innocent victims of your wicknedess sound as a worse punishment to me; plus this cut him any alibi; he could have tried and overcame his curse as other of his family had, and channel it in productive ways, but he never did, and this isthe result.

Nah, that is merely humiliation. The other way is pain and humiliation. Getting your butt kicked by a 12 year old girl is humiliating.

[Mistmaster]

Direct retribution from his victims seems more Gothic to me. A lot of ghost stories are stories of vengeance.

Yes, but self-inflicted punishment in front of the innocent victims of your wicknedess sound as a worse punishment to me; plus this cut him any alibi; he could have tried and overcame his curse as other of his family had, and channel it in productive ways, but he never did, and this isthe result.

Nah, that is merely humiliation. The other way is pain and humiliation. Getting your butt kicked by a 12 year old girl is humiliating.

That it is, but he does suffer when he hits himself with his own cane. But I suppose it is a matter of taste, you go for more straight counterpass, his victims becoming his tormentors, I go for it a bit more subtly,as he imposed his own temper on the others without never paying any consequences, now he suffers the price for it himself, in front of his last victims. Both ways are good, I think.

[The Lesser Evil]

I just got done with the Clavius Kreel article, and I've got to give the author accolades for the work they put into it. Taking that little blurb in MM IV and getting so much out of it is a pretty nifty thing- you've now got a solid way to introduce new undead and to explain why they weren't there before if you should need it- not to mention adventure hooks. The monster selections were mostly spot on for Ravenloft- it alerted me to a lot of creatures I'd previously passed over- particularly the defacer and vasuthant. The suggested salient abilities also seem to gel pretty well with the monsters' roles/flavor.

The above being said, I do have some minor questions/constructive criticisms/suggestions for future work (as I hope you continue to do similar adaptations of non-ravenloft source material.) The first suggestion that I have is to consider making mechanics changing to the spells to fit in with how Ravenloft affects magic (potentially weakening anti-undead magic, bolstering of necromancy but at increased risk, etc.)

The other thing that struck me a little bit was that I felt some confusion with the walking dead classifications assigned to a few of the undead. The Plague Walker and the Spectral Rider were classified as Hungry Dead, but I'm not really sure what they're supposed to eat- no mention's made of consuming flesh, etc. I thought the plague walker more Obedient Dead whereas the Spectral Rider is a bit harder to point down. Similarly, the Salt Mummy and the Drowned were classified as Obedient Dead- when their entries seem to imply they usually arise by accident/spontaneously, therefore I'm left scratching my head on who they would obey. I'm curious to hear how these categorizations were reached.

One final bit of nitpicking is that the deathshrieker and the urdark are incorporeal creatures, and therefore can't be classified as Walking Dead. Nitpicking aside, I found this article pretty insightful and look forward to your future work, Starscream.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Life still kind of crazy... so just some quick thoughts...

First off, thank you to all contributors, another great year!

another great installment in the Conferences of Victor Gagne series. Super creepy characters and some nice additions to the lore. My only quibble is that this guy seems to get in and back out of an awful lot of trouble. Even moreso than the average PC. A least he doesn't come out of this one unscathed.

deadly denizens. I did enjoy this, though I suspect I'm "full" and don't find myself yearning for another batch. But then maybe Jack will surprise me again and find another batch of good ones. My favorite is probably Elisha, but I like the opportunities The Demiurge presents.

I don't know much about 5e still, but the elemental spells were well done. The little flavor text bits sell them well, and it all looks very professional. I can't really comment on balance or rules, but the ideas are cool.

Skullland had an interesting darklord, though the "domain of monsters" thing isn't my cup of tea.

Coldhands were fun, I could see using them. I wouldn't announce them as undead up front, though.

Always happy to see more adventures. I was pleased with how The Mummy's Curse turned out in the end. Different enough from the movie that I wouldn't have guessed the inspiration, which is always a danger when adapting existing stories.

100 shades of dark. Again, well done, and again, I'd be surprised (though pleasantly so!) if Jack pulled out another 100 next year. I do have to commend Marquis do Kakashon as the most truly vile thing I've seen in QtR. And Simulacra hits right at the heart of what gives me the creeps.

And that's all I've had time to read so far. (Nathan kindly helped out on proofreading the rest, so I didn't go through them myself.) When I get to them, I'll be sure to share my thoughts.

[Mischief]

I spy that JackTheReaper and dndspeak partnered up. Dndspeak has been trying to push for a little Ravenloft in 5e for a while with a few lists of community generated 5e Ravenloft encounters and whatnot, but unfortunately reddit is kind of blah about it outside the CoS subreddit. Congrats Jack.

I don't know much about 5e still, but the elemental spells were well done. The little flavor text bits sell them well, and it all looks very professional. I can't really comment on balance or rules, but the ideas are cool.

I wrote all those spells in thirteen days I think, so there are bound to be a few questionable choices.... Why not toss a few on your NPCs or random baddies for spice? The conditions (e.g. prone) are pretty straightforward (and explained online without needing a rulebook) and most likely have backward edition analogues, and advantage (or disadvantage) means roll two dice (specifically sets of dice, so magic missile with advantage rolls 3d4 and 3d4 pick highest not 6d4 pick highest 3) and take highest (or lowest). d20 advantage can be subbed for a flat +4 (-4) bonus.

What I really want to do is eventually make a murder mystery spellbook for investigations, thieving, and other urban skullduggery, etc (Who touched this last, disguise cause of death, trace dweomer for 5e, that sort of thing.) and set it to a gambit pileup theme of the Kargat, versus The Brain's criminal organization, versus Alanik, versus the local police, etc.

[Jack the Reaper]

I spy that JackTheReaper and dndspeak partnered up. Dndspeak has been trying to push for a little Ravenloft in 5e for a while with a few lists of community generated 5e Ravenloft encounters and whatnot, but unfortunately reddit is kind of blah about it outside the CoS subreddit. Congrats Jack.

Well, it's nothing official, but DNDSpeak really likes Ravenloft, so they were quite happy with my lists

Thanks for the review, Gonzoron. I don't believe I'll be able to pull another list like that for next year - even my reservoirs of inspiration have limits... But maybe I'll come up with something else.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

another great installment in the Conferences of Victor Gagne series. Super creepy characters and some nice additions to the lore. My only quibble is that this guy seems to get in and back out of an awful lot of trouble. Even moreso than the average PC. A least he doesn't come out of this one unscathed.

Thank you. I have to agree about the amount of trouble Victor gets into. I even used the first two lines to poke fun at myself about it:

What fiendish playwright holds sway over my fate? What mad author, hunched in the darkness, drove me into the clutches of evil personified four different ways within two days’ time?

If the Mists ever deposit Victor in this world, I am going to have a lot of explaining to do.