I really am turning to the camp that thinks Ravenloft as a setting was and is a bad idea. It was originally just an adventure here or there. Why make it a setting? I think it works best in a one-shot adventure form.
To be fair, Planescape and Spelljammer, too, were "settings" that really could have fit into any other settings, albeit they were both much larger in scope than Ravenloft was. OTOH, FR was a setting that tried to make room within itself for every smaller setting, resulting in world made up pretty much entirely of thinly-veiled fantastic versions of real-world historical cultures, which seemed a bit cheesy.
Personally, I think there's room for Ravenloft in 4E.
And if you don't think it worked as a setting on it's own, you never saw the van richten guides or arthaus' gazeteers, which were hands down the best 3e 3rd party products made.
In addition, the rules for 2nd edition were not fun to play in my opinion, especially when it came to undead.
Another thing if note is that Ravenloft (my favorite setting) just wasn't written to be deadly enough. The detail and game mechanics for 4E could bring Ravenloft as a campaign back to D&D, but I want Wizards to find a few psychotic writers for the campaign background and adventures.
And if you don't think it worked as a setting on it's own, you never saw the van richten guides or arthaus' gazeteers, which were hands down the best 3e 3rd party products made.
Oh I saw them. I own many of them. And I've put them & alot of other Ravenloft CS stuff to excellent use over the years.
Doesn't change my opinion that the whole thing didn't make for a great setting. Or that it was completely mis-named.
No, IMO, the best way to use the Ravenloft stuff is just as individual, stand alone adventures placed/adapted for whereever you need them in your own games.
No being wisked away to some "Domain of Dread" with funky horror/insanity/exit rules, no taint rules, no politics..... And no RL logo to tip/scare off the players.
I still wouldn't count it out... Just may be a few years is all... We are trying out the original Ravenloft under the 4th ed this weekend, so I'll let everyone know how it goes...
I predict that it won't be anywhere near as thrilling/challenging due to the "players win" tone of 4e.....
One main aspect of G(othic) H(orror) is being removed from familiarity.
Like Jonathan Harker going to Eastern Europe, he did not know the language or customs of the area. That and the area was wild and untamed, especially compared to Victorian England.
The next would be suspense in the campaign.
Drawl over the details some would find mundane, just to give the players a little fear (or in the least apprehension) of the setting. They hear sounds, but when they enter the room its empty. The only thing remaining is a small puddle of warm blood, smeared somewhat on the ground. Let the players think what it is, let their imaginations wander.
The next would be an epic, yet human, enemy.
All enemies have the need to be epic, but we quickly throw them off for being demons. We often fail to neglect that with a small push, even the players can be a demon. Dracula was all ****** because he lost his love fighting for God, thus his curse was to be without her forever more.
These are all vague examples and I guess it doesnt really address the issue that much...but whatevs, haha. The Ravenloft "setting" can really be applied anywhere, but they offer a campaign world to show off some of these themes. I have the 2E Boxed Set and the 3E Campaign guide, and it really has some good stuff. I say read it and give it a shot, it's a lot better than you might realize.
Ravenloft embodies the primordial fear...the Fear of the Unknown.
i also agree with some of the things that ccs says that a ravenloft game should stay strict to the new forth edition point of view, as the unfriendly player tone was one of the many things that lead to the demise of the campaign.
people got much of it confused with call of cthuluthulutpu
i think a domians of dread supplement its most certainly the way to go.
Isn't Ravenloft a single insignificant demiplane in Greyhawk?
Errr, not quite. In previous planar arrangement (i.e., before the current cosmological map that's the default in 4E), it was a demiplane in the Ethereal Plane, whereas Greyhawk (on the world of Oerth) was on the Prime Material Plane. Those mists that the Ravenloft campaign setting is so famous for are literally the mists of the Ethereal Plane.
It's not all that hard in a 4E context to have Ravenloft continue to be a demiplane floating in the Astral Sea (it wouldn't really fit into the Primordial Chaos), but it seems just as likely that if Ravenloft is ever resurrected as an official campaign setting, it's likely to be tucked away in a dark(er) corner of the Shadowfell. This would require the least (well, none) retrofitting of the existing 4E cosmology.
Ravenloft was my second favorite campaign setting (the first being Planescape), and in the hands of a Dungeon Master with the patience to tell a story, players willing to participate in paced storytelling, and a little knack on the DM's part for putting legitimately creepy things in the story, you had a great Ravenloft campaign. It wasn't about leveling (though that was an enjoyable part of things), it wasn't about just going out and killing monsters (who were frequently crucial story elements, and thus often too powerful for a given party of players to kill), it was about surviving in this realm where horror was a daily part of the citizens' life. Backstory of a horrifying monster who looked so boringly human became the key to winning the encounters, not just the creature's hard stats and XP value.
I'd love to see it make a resurgence in 4E. Given the fast pace with which content is being released, I wouldn't be at all surprised if we didn't, in fact, see it again. It's likely to take a back seat to things like Eberron (which had a relatively short shelf life due to coming out so late in 3rd Edition's content cycle), Forgotten Realms, and this super-secret campaign setting that's being brought back from previous editions (see the latest Ampersand), but I have some faith that'll rear its horrifying head soon enough.
1. I loved the original adventure, and the campaign setting. There were many good products over the years for it, both 2nd edition under TSR and 3rd under Arthaus.
2. I see no reason why you couldn't run the original adventure in 4th edition with some tweaks to the encounters. I'd pick up Open Grave to get the 4E stats for Strahd (best D&D villain ever, IMHO).
3. I very much doubt that they will rerelease a 4E take on I6 given they did it already in 2E (House of Strahd) and 3E (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft). But to point #2, you could take any of these versions and run this adventure with some monster stat changes.
4. I hope they don't release Ravenloft as a distinct setting again. If anything, I'd like to see a Player's Guide to Gothic Horror gaming - something that a DM can adapt to any setting, or use with older Ravenloft materials to run a 4E Ravenloft game.
L