Best system for Ravenloft?

[Speedwagon]

I really enjoy Ravenloft using the Savage Worlds rules. There are several pdfs on this site of Ravenloft Ressurrected which is SW version of the setting.

As the author of Ravenloft Reincarnated, I'm pretty biased toward Savage Worlds myself. XD

Are you, by chance, still working on that? I really enjoyed the conversion and was wondering if you were gonna cover other domains like the Frozen Reaches?

[hidajiremi]

I really enjoy Ravenloft using the Savage Worlds rules. There are several pdfs on this site of Ravenloft Ressurrected which is SW version of the setting.

As the author of Ravenloft Reincarnated, I'm pretty biased toward Savage Worlds myself. XD

Are you, by chance, still working on that? I really enjoyed the conversion and was wondering if you were gonna cover other domains like the Frozen Reaches?

I am! It's just slow going between my day job and my writing gig. I'm also working to bring Ravenloft Reincarnated into line with the newly released Fantasy Companion and Horror Companion material. =)

[Speedwagon]

As the author of Ravenloft Reincarnated, I'm pretty biased toward Savage Worlds myself. XD

Are you, by chance, still working on that? I really enjoyed the conversion and was wondering if you were gonna cover other domains like the Frozen Reaches?

I am! It's just slow going between my day job and my writing gig. I'm also working to bring Ravenloft Reincarnated into line with the newly released Fantasy Companion and Horror Companion material. =)

Hey, that's great to hear! It's always nice to see something that one might've thought abandoned or not touched in a long time get some word from the creator that there'll be (in the far future, not necessarily in the near future) more coming down the pipeline. I'd be happy to see some other Clusters get touched upon with the Ravenloft Reincarnated treatment (Frozen Reaches, Shadowlands, Steaming Lands, Scattered Lotus, etc.)

[hidajiremi]

Are you, by chance, still working on that? I really enjoyed the conversion and was wondering if you were gonna cover other domains like the Frozen Reaches?

I am! It's just slow going between my day job and my writing gig. I'm also working to bring Ravenloft Reincarnated into line with the newly released Fantasy Companion and Horror Companion material. =)

Hey, that's great to hear! It's always nice to see something that one might've thought abandoned or not touched in a long time get some word from the creator that there'll be (in the far future, not necessarily in the near future) more coming down the pipeline. I'd be happy to see some other Clusters get touched upon with the Ravenloft Reincarnated treatment (Frozen Reaches, Shadowlands, Steaming Lands, Scattered Lotus, etc.)

All of that stuff is in the offering, as well as a supplement about the 5E version of the setting and its denizens!

[Speedwagon]

I am! It's just slow going between my day job and my writing gig. I'm also working to bring Ravenloft Reincarnated into line with the newly released Fantasy Companion and Horror Companion material. =)

Hey, that's great to hear! It's always nice to see something that one might've thought abandoned or not touched in a long time get some word from the creator that there'll be (in the far future, not necessarily in the near future) more coming down the pipeline. I'd be happy to see some other Clusters get touched upon with the Ravenloft Reincarnated treatment (Frozen Reaches, Shadowlands, Steaming Lands, Scattered Lotus, etc.)

All of that stuff is in the offering, as well as a supplement about the 5E version of the setting and its denizens!

Awesome to hear! I look forward to it when it's ready!

[hidajiremi]

Hey, that's great to hear! It's always nice to see something that one might've thought abandoned or not touched in a long time get some word from the creator that there'll be (in the far future, not necessarily in the near future) more coming down the pipeline. I'd be happy to see some other Clusters get touched upon with the Ravenloft Reincarnated treatment (Frozen Reaches, Shadowlands, Steaming Lands, Scattered Lotus, etc.)

All of that stuff is in the offering, as well as a supplement about the 5E version of the setting and its denizens!

Awesome to hear! I look forward to it when it's ready!

In case you haven't seen it yet, I've started posting the initial writeups for the Frozen Reaches Cluster. =)

[jinat]

I prefer any system from indie rpg side of things. Dread is a good one, Dungein World, Alas of the Awful Seas, Blue Beards Wife (specially for Blausstein) etc,

Its been years i cant even remember when i last used any iteration of D&D for Ravenloft.

[Icecubez]

I like to think some domains or clusters are better suited towards specific systems.

Like most of 2e/3e Ravenloft, with the exception of Darkon/Sithicus, is mostly human-centric. You could totally play another race but you'd stand out. Though in 4e, those domains started having more fantastical races, so that works well in that system.

There's also domains that come from low-fantasy settings like Odiare, Malosia and Mithras' Court. Those domains would be better suited for low-magic systems.

[Guardian of Twilight]

I apologize for bringing this back, but I've not been on the site in ages, honestly. I just wanted to add my thoughts on the best system for Ravenloft, if I may.

Personally, I prefer 3.5/Pathfinder 1E over any other, then 2E AD&D. Every year I try to run a Ravenloft Campaign around Halloween and the fall, and I always use 3.5/Pathfinder as my system of choice for it.

I prefer the books from Sword and Sorcery, the way they made the world feel lived in. Living and breathing, much like Forgotten Realms used to be. I really enjoy the addition of firearms, and it all goes seamlessly for me as I run it.

I've tried 5E for D&D, regardless of world, and it just feels lacking in many ways to me. Or possibly overpowered, even at low levels. 2E AD&D is my preferred system for standard Dungeons and Dragons, though I will use Troll Lord Games' Amazing Adventures 5E for running things in an Earth campaign. I don't know why, but it strikes differently to me. It just fits.

I glanced through all the changes in the 5E Ravenloft book, and how it seemed to toss a lot of things out from established lore, and felt wrong. Gennifer and Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove are almost completely different, and why kill Daniel and leave Alice alive? The Van Richten stuff I just didn't understand, either. It's just not for me.

If you run it and enjoy it, I'm happy for you. As for me and my group, we'll stick with 3.5/Pathfinder 1E for our Ravenloft. It just feels like home to me.

Happy gaming, everyone! I'll see you in the Mists!

[alhoon]

Welcome back! Haven't seen you in a long while.

I am surprised you found 5e overpowered (not talking about overpowered for Ravenloft) since it is, IMO, less OP than Pathfinder.

[Guardian of Twilight]

Thank you! It's nice to be back! A lot has changed in my life since last I was here. I'm even a father now! I'm really enjoying life, and having a family. I'm glad to see you're still here! I recall when I first found the site, you're the member whose post I read first. I forget the topic, but I never forgot the member name. How time gets away from us!

Mainly, it seems to, in my opinion, make everyone super good very early on. And no one is just a fighter anymore. All classes have access to magic it seems, in one form or another, and healing, by the book, is no big deal. Again, I do run it, I just don't really enjoy it. And that, too me, has made all the difference.

Pathfinder 1E I enjoy for variety, but not the "let's use every book and see what we can break!" sort of mentality, though I've definitely seen that, too. I tend to use the Core Rulebook, my Ravenloft books, and possibly one or two more, with an option to add something extra if a player makes a good case for it. Magic is very hard to come by in my Ravenloft campaign, and I always have surprises in store for the unwary, should they choose the kick-in-the-door method. The players I have usually find themselves corresponding, visiting a university for answers and meeting professors who occasionally moonlight as hunters or are members of a secret society.

There are the rush-in-because-it's-necessary sessions, but usually it's information gathering that wins the day. I've always favored that style for Ravenloft. I also love the investigations that occasionally end up being charlatans faking a scenario, either like the beginning of The Brothers Grimm film, or the charlatans have, in digging up a body, angered the dead resting there, or the guardian spirit that watches over the decreased. Now, you have a split, one where some evidence is fake, and some now is fact. I also enjoyed having my players end up having to save the charlatans. That's fun.

I believe I rambled without reason, and for that I do apologize. We were speaking of power levels, if I'm not mistaken. With the low magic that I have, combined with the research and bribes or purchasing through shady sources, money is seldom an issue, either. I know I could do the same with 5E, but the lack of enthusiasm I have for it now is what likely puts me off it. And what they did with the 5E version is just... No. I'm rather happy to have PDFs of all the 3E books released for Ravenloft, and my PDFs of Pathfinder 1E.

Alhoon, I'm very interested to hear your thoughts, if you would.

[doctornecrotic]

I have flip flopped on this one... 2E is the essential standard. But, I guess there are others that work too! Retro Clones and Retro-esques like DCC, SotDL, LL, and then some which work well enough. Grimdark enough games like Mork Borg, World of Darkness (with adjustments), and the like is fine. That or generic systems a la GURPS or Savage Worlds can work well.

[Teravala]

I run it in a blend of 3.0 and 3.5, though I did play a pathfinder variants that was pretty fun. The danger of 3.X is that the power creep can be really bad if the group isn't on the same page during character creation. My group never really seems to want to play any of the character classes specific to ravenloft products, so that's fun lol. This next adventure though they are all planning to prestige into some setting specific classes, so it'll be cool to see that finally manifest in one of my games. I played 5e curse of Strahd, and ran half of it before the campaign fell apart. Some parts were really awesome, some (looking at you mordenkainen by the lake) did not vibe well with me AT ALL.

[Teravala]

I have always wanted to get to learn how to play 2e though. If I had a willing group to learn the edition, I'd absolutely be running 2e games instead of converting existing 2e content into 3.X.

[Carrion Crow]

As I am currently in the process of moving house, I came across all my Ravenloft stuff whilst clearing my loft (which is remarkably free of ravens).

This was enough to draw me back into the Mists...

Whilst all my RL stuff is 2E, the advantage we have is that everything prior to 5E you can generally find online, so as I now have a lot more free time, I have finally gotten around to putting together my "definitive" Ravenloft, which will build on my "Thoughts on..." posts.

The reason this post is on this thread is that the system I will be using is an adaptation of Scott Malthouse's Romance of the Perilous Land RPG. My thoughts on this system are covered in the review I did on my blog: https://carrioncrowsbuffet.wordpress.co ... -a-review/

I like this system, as it's a kind of stripped down D&D, without the extensive modifiers, feats, etc, which I felt interrupted the flow of play, as you had players constantly checking their character sheets to see what they could actually do (an issue I see when watching actual play videos on YouTube for 5E).

Ravenloft, due to its setting and tone, should be as immersive as possible, IMO, so interrupting the mood as someone checks whether their character is immune to radiant/necrotic/delete as applicable* damage detracts from this. Whilst rules ARE needed, obviously, they should be in the background, not intrusive.