Greetings everyone.
I'm dying to get started in the world of Ravenloft, but am having a devil of a time figuring out where to start (yes double bad puns intented).
I have the I6 module and the campaign box set. Can I just assume that one should begin with the classic module?
I welcome any thoughts or suggestions.
Personally, I wouldn't start with I6. Maybe as a teaser of sorts, or a one-shot, but not to start a long-term campaign - I6 should, if anything, be the end of a campaign. I'd recommend getting Ravenloft Gazetteer I and start the PCs off in Barovia, becoming caught up in a sinister plot of Strahd's. Slowly, they see the pattern and know that the end of their journey lies at Castle Ravenloft, one way or another.
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream
The first thing you need to do is pick a domain and place to start. Then get your players to make characters and write adventures for them. Same as any game.
House of Strahd is a good aventure (especially for when it was written) and is a simple introduction to the feel of the setting. If you really want to start with basics do what I did. Have your players write up some throw-away characters of the appropriate level and send them in to face Strahd several hundred years in the past. Then have them killed off brutally by the lord of the land. If they manage to squeeze a win, kudos to them. If not... it happens.
Remember that it is all but impossible for them to actually kill Strahd, he's smart and powerful and has spells protecting his ass.
Then start up at a later time in the timeline, possibly even with the decendants of the original characters. Start at a low level and introduce them to the rest of the setting beyond scary castles and evil vampire lords.
I recomend introducing one element of the setting with every adventure. One that introduces the Mists, one for curses, perhaps one for teh Vistani, etc. Let them get a feel for the land and the setting.
