Non-D&D Ravenloft

[Le Noir Faineant]

Excuse my ignorance, Desdichado, but what's CoC?

As Moe said, Call of Cthulu.

CoC keeps the players very weak and helpless while confronting supernatural terrors of all kind. Nearly no adventure ends well. Most characters are eaten, go mad or die in another way.



Too scary and to weird for me, but if you want to give it a look:

http://www.chaosium.com/index.php

Here some not so representative pictures of the elder gods...

http://cthulhu.alfedenzia.com/Chibi-Cthulhu.png

http://www.pathguy.com/cthulhu_babies.jpg

[Pamela]

Ah thank you, but reading Lovecraft was more than enough.

[Bloody Morgan]

Thanks for the feedback everyone - I don't have time to reply properly now, but I will

On the subject of Cthulhu, I'd recomend anyone with a fondness for the lower CL domains to take a look at Cthulhu Dark Ages. Now that's a nasty horror setting. No tnt to blow up the shoggoth, no guns to take out the byakhee, no cars to escape into the night on. Just you, the demons, and a deeply suspicious populace.

Bloody Morgan

[Le Noir Faineant]

The Dark Ages line is really... creepy. I wondered for some time, if I should incorporate/convert some of those adventures to my medieval D&D settings, but ultimately found that they were too weird for me. I need at least a glimpse of light in my dark and misty gaming worlds. Besides, I don't like that concpet that the party is supposed to die in almost any case.

I just like Happy Ends everywhere! ...Wonder why I play Ravenloft?

[Vorpal Dragon]

I haven't read the first Ravenloft adventure (I6), but I have read the second, The House on Gryphon Hill and that was designed for 8th to 10th level characters (admittedly AD&D). I can easily see Ravenloft working for mid to high level adventures.. it's just a matter of perspective.

I think Desdichado makes a good point about that glimpse of light. The heroes should stand a reasonable chance or a survival in Gothic horror (without being crippled mentally or physically, though badly hurt should be okay ). Of course there's nothing to say you can't switch to the dark horror of the Cthulhu Mythos.

On a side note, I have been looking at the CODA system in LotR, which downplays the importance of combat and has a nice selection of 'low magic setting' spells.

[Le Noir Faineant]

I think Desdichado makes a good point ...

You see? YOU SEE?

KNEE OR YOU SHALL BE KNELT!!!

I AM THE MASTER OF PAST AND PRESENT, AND I'VE COME TO EAT YOUR BRAINS AND EARLAPS!


...




*Daisy take your pills and go to bed...*


Really, nothing more to add, besides that one shouldn't work until too late at night... *Good Night*

[Manofevil]

I think Desdichado makes a good point ...

You see? YOU SEE?

KNEE OR YOU SHALL BE KNELT!!!

I AM THE MASTER OF PAST AND PRESENT, AND I'VE COME TO EAT YOUR BRAINS AND EARLAPS!


...




*Daisy take your pills and go to bed...*


Really, nothing more to add, besides that one shouldn't work until too late at night... *Good Night*

He... is The Knight who says...KNEE

You really need a Yoko for your group. Someone to step between you, you, you, and you.

Don't let them know you have a split personality
I don't! You Do!
liar!

[Le Noir Faineant]

He... is The Knight who says...KNEE

[Gemathustra]

He... is The Knight who says...KNEE

Knight 1: We are now no longer the Knights who say Ni.
Knight 2: NI.
Other Knights: Shh...
Knight 1: We are now the Knights who say..."Ekki-Ekki-Ekki-Ekki-PTANG. Zoom-Boing. Z'nourrwringmm."

[Le Noir Faineant]

And to my sig it goes!

[Manofevil]

Well said, O Knights who say..... Knights who once said 'KNEE'

[Le Noir Faineant]

Well said, O Knights who say..... Knights who once said 'KNEE'

Ekki.



Ekki.



Ekki.



Ekki.



PTANG.

[The Giamarga]

Well I'm always supsicious of lvl 1 NPCs. IMO level 1 means apprentice level or children. Normal people should probably be level 3-5. Check out ENWorld's great "NPCs over a lifetime" threads or Sean K Reynolds "Theory about Peasants". ...so I would advance most lowlevel standard NPCs a few levels.

As for the D&D combat system you could alwas use d20 Modern combat rules or the fanmade "Grim'n Gritty"Rules.

[alhoon]

To Bloody Morgan: While I agree with Matthias, I may have some help for you:

And the most important: Don't stick to the suggested rules too much. Those guards in the Gaz are something of a joke in our group. I never used such unequipped low-powered soldiers. str 11? Who would hire this one for a guard? And a studded leather armor and a wooden shield aren't that expensive!

1.Stop handing out so much XP as the book suggests. Use the optional rules for XP that come out every once a while.
These are:
Completing short adventure (12 - 20 hours of play) = 1000 XP x character level / number of PCs
Completing medium adventure (20 - 35 hours of game) = 2000 XP x char level/ number of PCs
Completing long adventure (36 - 60 hours of game) = 4000 XP x char level / number of PCs.
That way the character progress becomes totally non combat oriented.

2. Use the injury rules from ScS "The Great War Project" they are more realistic IMO than the d20 modern rules.

3. Chill out about the level thing. IMC things are like:

1st level: complete newbie.
- a green guard 6 months in duty (war1)
- an apprentice blacksmith (com1)
- an apprentice sage (exp1)
- the 22 years old, pampered son of the mayor (aristocrat 1)

2nd -3rd level: usual level of a veteran or someone with years of expertise in his job
- A guard that has served for 4 - 8 years (war2)
- The blacksmith (com3)
- The 40 years old doctor (exp 2)
- The representative of the City's mayor (arist 3)

4th - 5th level: High standing official
- The sheriff of a sizeable, 600 people large, village (fig2/war2)
- The reknowned blacksmith of the local area (com5)
- The 50 years old sage that studied in the universities or Il Aluk and Richemulot and then got a job as a sage, spending much time reading books to do the research his liege asks him to do (exp5).
- The Town's mayor (arist 4)

6th - 8th level: Really Exceptional
- The sheriff of a large town or a sizeable city (fig4/war4)
- The best blacksmith of Valachan or Mordent (com7)
- The general (exp5/fig2)
- The City's mayor, the baron, the count all of which have served and worked (not just slept at days and went at parties at nights) for 25 - 30 years. (Arist 6)