Once the cruel breath of winter warmed up, I braved the rain and elements barely making my way south to a warmer, more humane climate. This journey was hellish at best, I had contracted some kind of bizarre illness from living in the filth of the giants which gave me itchy inflamed spots which burned in the rain, but I knew that if I were to survive, I would have to endure it. I some how managed to make it to the city of Rookroost thanks to a band of kindly mercenaries who aided me and tended to my terrible wounds. I was in sad shape, and stayed in a fine room in the city until I felt better, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Though scared from my ordeal, I finally set out once again into the dark neither-regions of unwanted and uncivilized lands of the humanoids.

I didn’t have to go far, following a road East, I took up camp near a roadside cemetery, which was reported by several travelers, to be haunted, however the evidence that they reported did not necessarily fit what I knew of ghosts, thus I thought that it would be worth my time to investigate it personally.

This cemetery was used during the great migration when the plague of burning fevers wiped out more then half of the pilgrims. Since that time it has just been used by travelers who have lost friends and loved ones. The cemetery is very basic, all of the buildings have crumbled and returned to the earth long ago, many of the graves are no longer marked, however recent additions can easily be identified. Entering the cemetery it is easy to know why the place is reputed to be haunted, the place has become infested by thorny bushes, poisonous nettles, and other horrid weeds, which chock the life from a place.

Bits of bone, burned wreckage, and charred metal fittings are not evidence of ghosts, but of raiders, and despite its forlorn appearance, all was not dead in this place, for keeping base in this roadside field of corpses and failure resided a small tribe of Bugbears.

It appears that my illness has made my duty all the more easy. The bugbears assume that I am a racial turn-coat, which will give them a higher status by keeping me on. I must admit that I do look the part. I had suspected that the humanoids would be more generous with me if they believed that I was as dark and as twisted as them. It also doesn’t hurt that I pay them in fool’s gold, a nice little spell I had learned from my master. I shall keep the spell active as long as I am here.

CHAPTER VI:

The Bugbear

These creatures share characteristics of many different creatures, but for identification purposes, they resemble a cross between a giant goblin and a bear. On average, they stand over 7 feet tall, Males have yellowish brown skin, while females are much yellower; all bugbears are hairy, in fact they are born with it. Their hair is brown, a stone red, or a mixture of both. Their heads are unique to this race, they have a bear-like snout with a keen nose, and sharp teeth typical of carnivorous races. Their eyes are wild and deeply unsettling to gaze into, as they are green with red pupils, which are much more sensitive to light then our own eyes.

Bugbears carry weapons, however nature has given them curious hands; which are both human in shape however armed with the thick brutal claws of the bear. Their bodies are always in exquisite shape, which is typical for a society that dictates that only the strong survive. Bugbears are definitely predators, both physically and mentally!

They have their own language which is beyond a human's capacity to speak, as it is formed in a part of the throat which humans do not physically possess, thus the common tongue is beyond them, however they believe that our language is weak and that we are of lesser intelligence then they themselves are.

NATURAL FUNCTION OF THE BUGBEAR

I do not believe that these creatures are of nature, they are too out of place to be anything but an experiment gone terribly wrong. They serve only to kill, they are excellent hunters. Their subterranean fort made in the old catacombs below the cemetery is host to a grizzly sight, even by humanoid standards. While the bugbear hunts for food, he is incapable of not hunting, thus their lairs are full of corpses which have been gutted and hung to age. Besides humans, all manner of creature is on the menu: animals, goblins, demihumans, kobolds—it appears that the bugbear will eat anything which is smaller then it is, including their own children.

While all bugbears wear clothing, I have not seen any evidence that they themselves manufacture any of it, and it is a mystery to me as to where they get it, as all of them are too large for human clothing, and it is all of a style which I cannot recognize.

Bugbear’s do tend to weapons, keeping them sharp and clean, though this is rather mysterious since their natural weapons are formidable all in themselves, perhaps this is another example of mockery, such as is the case with Hobgoblins? At some point the Bugbear seen human society and simply chooses to copy it the best that they can, regardless of how much sense it makes.

The weapons of the bugbear are typically stolen, however they do possess the technology to construct their own, as well as to repair what they already own. Many of these weapons have been painted black, as has all of their armor. The only areas which aren’t painted are blades, nightly bugbear men sit around a roaring fire sharpening and repainting their arms while they chat.

The bugbear also seems to be artistic, they have their own music, and simple paintings which replace a need for a written language, however no bugbear seems to have any interest about things from the past, their art always talks about the present or their plans for the future.

RELATIONSHIPS

All creatures fear this race, for obvious reasons; however there are a few exceptions. I know from my time with the goblins, that these two creatures can form an alliance, however this alliance must be shakier then I originally assumed, as goblin flesh seems to be more prized than any other kind of meat.

I believe that the only alliance which is in any way stable is the mysterious relationship they have with the Dark Elf, perhaps it was the drow which created them? While left to its own devices, all bugbears are fiercely independent, however this strong sense of self instantly melts away into one of servitude in the presence of such evil.

They hate everything and everyone. The only thing that keeps me alive is the fact that I supply them with money which they know not where it comes from. It is their greed which forms their greatest weakness. When they think that I am asleep they ruffle through my things in some vein attempt to find my unknown catch, they are obsessed with money, and gems, but more to the point, shiny objects! They will do practically anything to obtain it, and this place is built upon this idea, close to the road which they ambush and slay all victims. They take all of their treasure and burn the evidence.

THE BUGBEAR GODS

As far as I can tell, there are three deities which they observe. The most praised god to this tribe is Grankhul, the bugbear god of thievery. They have regular sacrifices in his honor, killing the victim, giving the poor hapless creatures soul to Grankhul and they feast on the flesh to celebrate.

A higher god which is common to all bugbears is the cruel Hruggek, a god of war, but not one as warlike as the Hobgoblin’s, but of the pandemonium and chaos which war causes. It would take years to study this subtle religion to gleam some sort of sense from it, but that would be time that no creature but the bugbear could hope to gain. I believe that this god has actual priests, or at least at some point they did, but it is very hard to tell working with old drawings on the cave walls.

It is also noteworthy to bring up one of my own inner-feelings. I believe that this tribe is hiding from Hruggek, perhaps if this is a true religion then the priests hunt and kill those who do not worship the proper god? One of the cave paintings has depicted a strangely dressed hobgoblin saint holding a human head, the next section clearly shows the same bugbear slain and the tribesmen running away . . . but obviously this could mean many different things, yet according to the tribal king, this refers to a prophecy of things to come.

While Hruggek could be a devil, the third god most definitely is greatly feared by the bugbear, it’s name is Grankhul, the god of darkness of fear! Any bad luck, death, or ill omen is seen to be the work of Grankhul. The bugbear does not worship this god for pleasure, but out of shear terror for what would happen if they stopped! This I find to be curious, as in my travels I have encountered much fear and superstition among the humanoid races, but it is the bugbear which actually identified it and gave it a name and a persona.

In dealing with religion, it is always to the present or future in which the myths are in regards to, never the past. As a race, there is much doom to the myths, they have learned how they as a race will parish, however they know not where they have come from, nor how old their race is.

FAMILY STRUCTURE

Much mystery still haunts me in regards to these creatures. I have only my powers of observation to depend upon, but as far as I tell, all of the bugbears pay tribute to the tribal king, who in return gives them protection. This race is not as thriving as many of the others are, and they have themselves to blame. The only person who is allowed to procreate is the king, all of the other males serve him, and if they are caught with a bugbear woman, they are slain else forced to establish a bloody revolt.

Women who have a child tend to hide their newborns until they are old enough to present to the king, the king inspects them, making sure that they are his, if they are weak they are judged not of his blood and the child, as well as the mother is slain as well as the male whom the king suspects fathered it. Many times the mother presents only the strongest and healthiest of children, killing the weak ones themselves.

It is the women who raise acceptable children, there is no favoritism even from a child’s true mother, but all are brought up to understand themselves and what they are. By the time they reach maturity, they are already trained to except their rank in a complex social structure that I have to admit baffles me. How they chose who gets the choice cuts of meat, and divide up treasure amongst themselves eludes even my powers of observation and logic.

A revolt is truly terrible for everyone, but it does happen. A strong male can kill the king, and he doesn’t stop there, he kills all males who do not support him, and he always slays all of the king’s children who are not yet old enough to fight in the general ranks. This causes a chain reaction among the females of the tribe, those with child fight those without, and the social structure among the female bugbears change dramatically. Those who once used to be on top in the old harem are now on the bottom of the class and may never be allowed to breed again. This is the curse caused by marrying a weak husband who can’t maintain power for more then a couple of years.

OF MAGIC AND SCIENCE

While there is no priest in this tribe, I do believe that they exist. The spiritual leader is a shaman, a very wicked and manipulative thing. He is immune to the social pressures dictated by class, and he serves as a personal adviser to the king, as well as to everyone else. Much of his work revolves around double dealing his followers, casting curses for a price, as well as selling objects which counter the curse to his own victims. This creature has a collection of heads, these are the heads of former kings which he claims to consult and gleam occult knowledge from. In the event of a revolt, the head of the former king is recovered by him and hidden away where the current king won’t find it.

The spells of the shaman are not clerical in nature, but witchcraft and folk magic. His duties are to insure that the gods are happy, to observe time accurately, and to keep the tribe strong and healthy, yet he makes all of our most violent and terrifying leaches seem gentle in comparison.

DEATH & LIFE-CYCLE

These creatures, if they are allowed to survive past infancy, are rather long-lived, yet old age is unheard of. In a society were only the strong survive, venerable age is impossible. Those too old to function for the tribe or perform their duties typically leave, walking out into the wilderness where they are overcome by the elements.

In all other cases, the bugbear eats their dead. This is not done out of anger, but in ceremony. Mothers eat the young that they kill, believing that they are absorbing them back into themselves to try again with the same soul in a stronger body. Kings are devoured by their treacherous sons, great heroes are transformed into great feasts as it is believed by these creatures that by eating the flesh of their dead, they gain the powers of them.

In events of death by poison, or illness, the bodies are burned alive on a pyre before whatever aliment has a chance to spread, infecting the rest of the tribe. Sickness and illness is terrifying to these people, yet those with scars from such illnesses are held in the highest of esteems as they had the power to defeat it . . . of course this requires that you leave the tribe and suffer alone and without medications or potions of any kind.

Regardless of how this sounds on the surface, the bugbear is not suicidal and will never knowingly run to their own deaths, death is not worshiped such as it is by other races, and each creature places a high value on their own. As far as people, they may actually be more advanced then we are as far as understanding their own self-worth, however this can never be offset by their natural brutality for everything around them.

LAWS OF THE BUGBEAR

As mentioned before, it is the tribal King who controls everything. While inbreeding is common, and they do seem to be able to successfully copulate this way, obtaining new females is always a cause for war.

Money and treasure is always divided between the tribe in a way that defies my logic, theft is a high crime and all crime is punishable by either death or worse, expulsion from the tribe. Expelled bugbears must find some new means to survive, which they are highly social creatures so this is not preferred over death. Often expelled bugbears find each other and create new tribes but I have no evidence to support this outside of my own observations.

The king is a very wealthy creature, even by human standards! He gets the best of everything, and he rules with an iron fist. If he doesn’t he will be replaced, commonly the king will have an aid who is almost an equal to him, however if the aid is allowed to gain to much strength, then he runs the risk of being slain by him. It is up to the king to make the decision of if the aid is strong enough to support the tribe or not, if he is then his tribe will continue to live even after he is gone. Typically this aid is always the kings most favored son, which means that when he kills his father, he will be slaying all of his young siblings as well, and perhaps this is the key to understanding the complex hierarchy of the female harems, if they were kind to him when he was a child they will be seen in a better light then if they were cruel?

WAR

War is most common among the different bugbear tribes, and never with any other race. The spoils of war are greater wealth, new women, and more power to the king. A successful war will see all of the concurred kings belongings being taken, his children slain, his strongest warriors absorbed into ones own army, and the typical sense of glory which comes from defeating ones enemies. It is the people of the fallen king which suffers the most. All of their property is taken and they must start over again, which is forgiven as again, this race does not care about the past, only the present and the future. The defeat did not come from anything that you did, but from having a weak leader.

High ranking bugbears are always executed, but the common bugbear gladly pays the steep tribute as they are more assured to get a greater amount of the cut under the stronger lord.

For this reason, the bugbear throne is jealously guarded, while there is never any formal contact between the tribal kingdoms, each king is completely aware of all of the other kings standings and business’. If there is any hint that now would be a good time to strike, they always will.

In regards to all other races, they do not engage in any formal wars. They are predators who see others as just food, and while there is some jealousy in regards to human and demi-human social structures and desire for the land which they own, they lack the numbers to do anything about it, thus they rarely even try.

They will work as mercenaries if the king believes that a mission could be profitable, but this will be only for money, and money alone. The only employer who can safely depend upon Bugbear ranks are the Drow, and the drow alone.

THE BUGBEAR TRIBES OF THE REALM

It must be understood that the tribe in which I studied is one of the weakest, any attempt to study and learn of the more powerful Bugbear Kingdoms, such as those in the Bandit Kingdom or elsewhere in the world is simply to dangerous. The more powerful and successful a king is, the more aggressive that he must become. It is also my belief that there is a church of Hruggek, which is truly terrifying as to the implications that this means.

The bugbear is definitely intelligent, and possesses a social structure that may be even more complex then our own. If there is a true organized church that mirrors bugbear society then it would probably be in our best interests to discover it and do our best to raise it to the ground before it reaches a pentacle to rival that of the Temple of Elemental Evil, however I think that like the bugbear, deep down we humans ignore our past just as quickly as they do, which will, no doubt, serve to be our own undoing as well.

In the past, I've always used my laptop to type up posts while I was at work . . . where, um . . . I've got more freetime? Well, at least less kids bugging me for stuff like food, water, antidote for the poisons, you know, the usual whining stuff.

For the last two weeks, I've been working on improving the thing. It is rather old, and in the process I did more harm then good. It took forever to stabilize the damned thing, but finally it was in tip-top shape! For about 24 hours, and then the monitor fried out . . . sigh, I can't fix that.

Alas, I'm not sure how I am going to update this site until taxes come back and I can pick up a new laptop, YAY! Unfortunately that isn't until February. Expect it to be even slower around here, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience. BOO!!!!!!!

October has always been my favorite time of year. I simply love Autumn, the scent of Fall always reminds me of happy times, but it is Halloween which in my house, is like those crazy Christmas lovers. Around here in never really ever goes away. Our house is decorated for Halloween year round.

Nothing says Halloween more wonderfully, then a day excursion into the Domain of Dread, or the 2e fantasy setting better known as Ravenloft!

Ravenloft was first brought into being in a module which features a gothic Vampire Hunt! A mysterious dark and foreboding castle inhabited by a generic Dracula!

A sequel followed, however this Modules was one of the worst pieces of trash that TSR had ever put out. It lacked everything which the former had, but let’s not dwell on the failures of Ravenloft, but on its good side.

The first box set was released for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, and it was packed full of goodness! A huge map which greatly expanded the Domain of Dread, revealing that the lead character which we know as Straud was just a bit part in this land.

The Boxset contained pictures of some of the buildings in the realm, family portraits of major NPCs and their families, and other cards which were designed to help the DM play a game within its misty borders quicker and more effectively.

It also came with a great booklet which described each of the different domains of the Core, as well as giving a few ideas about how to build your own Isles of Dread! And, much like the original Module which inspired this world, there was a lot of experimentation going on on the part of the writers. THIS was a highly unique product, which not only showed you a brand new realm in which to have adventures, but presented its own, very unique set of rules!

As a teaching tool, this was very different! It taught us how to really modify a world and make it completely unique. Now, not all of these changes were “good”, or useful, this product was originally intended for short, one shot adventures, however it must had just kept growing and growing into a full fledged world by the time that it was all done.

It had it’s own unique effects on spells. Some spells no longer functioned as written, and a player never really knew what would happen if he cast something. This spell list was secret, the players were not supposed to know what changes had taken place, but some of the spells changed were required to keep a party alive! Most horribly effected were the priests spells. In the Domain of Dread, the clerics lost contact with their gods, and it was a mystery of who or what was granting their spells, or why they would change the effects. Healing spells no longer functioned and did terrible things to those who expected to benefit from them. Again, this rule is intended for short one-shots, however with all of the cool domains in Ravenloft, many DM’s wished to run campaigns full-time within the dark borders.

Ravenloft also had a unique look at evil. Evil forces were the norm here, not the exception. For the first time, the forces of good were the minority, while the forces of Evil had the final say in anything. The players were over-whelmed, and if they strayed to the dark alignment, then their bodies would suffer as the forces of Ravenloft consumed them. Evil acts caught the attention of the mysterious forces which ran this place, forever known as “The Dark Forces”. If somebody’s actions caught the attentions of the Dark Forces, then they would be rewarded, yet at the same time cursed terribly. This was strange and a really clunky mechanic at first. Again, this rule was established to add some mystery to one-shot adventures. To me, it also effected how I see evil in the game. Adding a Satanic Master of Evil to the world, as well as overlaying a sense of morality to the environment.

One of the strangest rule changes was the “Fear Check”, of course it became one of the most misunderstood concepts of the game, and all of these rules truly appealed to DM’s who had the nasty habit of being mean to players. Crappy DM’s loved it! It gave them even more power to hold over players who may not have had the option of finding a better Dungeon Master. However, for fair and smart DMs, it gave us a ton of tools which we could incorporate into our games to really get in and challenge ourselves, and our players.

Now, the original Boxset was a thing of beauty. On it’s own, it was full of ideas for adventures centered around ideas instead of hack and slash. The setting was the star, and it catered to role-players, vs. guys sitting around a table rolling dice. Combat was secondary, when it did take place, the encounters were with more powerful monsters, but fewer of them. Instead of fighting an entire horde of orcs, you were pitted against a mastermind, and you had to solve a mystery to uncover your true enemies identity if you hope to win.

Of course this simple concept was destroyed instantly once it got itself in the hands of too many cooks in the kitchen. The very first module presented for the new, expanded Ravenloft was one of the greatest Hack & Slash adventures ever put out by TSR, titled Feast of Goblyns. A two-edged sword right from the get-go.

Feast was definitely NOT a short, one-shot adventure, but so big that it could take months of full-time play to complete it. The setting was wonderful, and the adventure ran well, however it forced the DM to let many of the secret spell effects to slide, as a healer was definitely required company! Later modules also required a healer on call, however in the core book, it crippled them. Not very good planning, and if we overlook this spell mechanic, then why not overlook others?

Feast also started an idea which led into other modules. Those folks at TSR were always figuring out ways to make money with providing inferior products, which was stupid, because as far as Accessories go, Ravenloft had some of the best! The Van Richton Guides were superb, and could be used system neutrally to really flesh out monsters and make them do what you want them to do. Werewolves, Vampires, Ghosts, the series went on and on and featured some of the best writing to ever come out of the TSR sweatshops.

Also released for 1e was a second boxset which was both cool and full of crap. It came with some cool toys, a deck of Tarot Cards and a set of dice which a DM could either use to stack the deck or, if he had a huge set, could use them to dictate the adventures themselves.

The Tarot deck, I apologize, I am writing from memory alone, I can’t recall the exact name of the cards, featured some excellent art, each card having its own unique picture, something that not even most real Tarot Cards have! Even for Tarot Cards, this was a really unique product. I guess that they used them in an issue of Dragon Magazine to present a new cardgame that could be played with them (bah!)

Along with the toys for divination, it came with some little booklets, most of them junk, but a few were cool. Ideas on creating Curses, Straud’s Spellbook full of unique and never before seen spells which, honestly, were crap that only a vampire who wanted to impress people would use. Secret Societies of the realm, and some other book which included modified rules for running psionic characters, which worked excellently for lining birdcages as long as the cover was removed first.

RAVENLOFT 2E

Once the 2^nd Edition books were released, Ravenloft really didn’t need to be edited to suit it. All of the changes which it made to the 1^st edition rules were also easily compatable with the 2^nd Edition, however this didn’t stop TSR from wanting to repackage it to make more money. The Redbox combined the two 1^st edition boxes into one product. You didn’t get the divination dice, but you got the tarot cards. It also removed many of the cards, which made the original box set so cool, but hey, the product was usable!

It was during the Second Edition which much of the work that destroyed the setting took place. Now don’t get me wrong! This is where I personally walked into the hobby. I wouldn’t had started a 2e blog if I didn’t have a deep love and respect for the time period. I discovered the original box set just prior to the release of the red box. It was in the clearance isle and the owner of Dragonslair wanted to clear it out to make way and discounted it heavily. We gamers love our good deals don’t we!

My problem isn’t with the setting, but with the modules. They were horrible! A few were good, it destroyed my game with a problem that I couldn’t put my finger on for years. It gave me big and bad NPCs to play with, and instead of centering the game around the players, I wrote them for NPC’s. BAD BAD BAD!!!!

The original boxset, and the red box are perfect, stand alone products. They are much in the spirit of Greyhawk, were they present nothing but ideas to a DM. This is the world, and it is now in your hands to do with as you will. It had mysteries for the DM to solve, and tons of hints to inspire brand new games and themes. GOOD STUFF!

Many of the Accessories covered topics which just didn’t fit in well with other settings, but could be used to put Vampires that drained blood instead of levels in Dragonlance, Infect players with lycanthropy in Dark Sun, or add a Demon mastermind to Forgotten Realms. The point was that the accessories were about themes and inspired the reader to rethink different aspects of the monsters which they used regularly, and add a sense of class to them which the Monstrous Manual didn’t have the space nor the resources to add.

It also inspired 3 new Monstrous Compendiums, the first being the best, the second being nothing but even more NPCs to drop into your world, and the 3^rd a bunch of high level and very dangerous monsters.

While the accessories were great, other forces were working against it. Modules revolved around either NPC’s or the greatest disaster to ever infect a setting. Again, all of the failures resulted from the original concept of Ravenloft, which was exploration and experimentation, however it didn’t go into directions which were all that entertaining. Again, only a few of them were One-Shot adventures. Most were outright abusive to players, the craziest ideas involved killing them fast and bringing them back. In The Children of Adam, the characters are slain and brought back as Flesh Golems. In the finally to the Grand Conjunction storyline which crushed the Domain of Dread forever, and took it away from the DM, the players were again killed quick and woke up as disembodied heads in the castle of the Demi-lich lord Azalin, where he sent you over and over into the past as you possessed people and witnessed the fall of Straud over and over again until you accomplished the goals set out by the lich in a scene that is a pure nightmare to DM.

Now the theory behind Ravenloft is brilliant. It is without borders, and it expands and grows and drifts in the Astral Plane. New lords are created, and those evil enough join the core, while minor Dark Lords drift in isles and clusters around the core. If a Dark Lord is destroyed, then either the land seeks a new Dark Lord within the domain, or ceases to exist.

This experiment is a success, in my oh so humble opinion. There are areas where you can have straight, balls out Dungeons and Dragons sessions, and there are areas where that are highly specialized to achieve a specific flavor of a game. I literally took different worlds and pieced them together in a way that was a Dungeon Masters dream to work with. A countries neighbors are not just a different language, or culture, but of a different time-period and level of advancement as well. BRILLIANT! How does this effect trade? How does this effect later races from interbreeding? How do higher societies treat neighbors who are so technically different from themselves? It invited wars, the Dark Lords bickered with one another, the people themselves were incredible, and it was fun to figure out how a society like this would function, but the beautiful thing was that the Ravenloft Setting Handbook let you answer these questions and more on your own!

Enter the Nightmare of published adventures purposely altering the map itself, giving the Dark Lords even more power and making them not just Super-NPCs which break games, but also making them indispensable. It also killed Super-NPC’s which maybe you liked, and wanted to explore more?

It gave you so much information that it made the Death of Straud sound like so much fun that it just screamed to be written, however at the same time, it forbid it from ever happening.

You’ve got the grand conjunction which resulted in the destruction of half of the core, a prophesy which started fulfilling itself right from the get-go with Feast of Goblyns, and is present in all of the great Ravenloft Modules, but it goes some place that takes all of the cards away from the DM, and places the winning hands firmly in the grip of TSR. What destroyed Dragonlance began having the same effect on Ravenloft, what with all of the Novels hitting the shelves, and Modules that did nothing but break campaigns.

To me, a module should be able to be laid over the top of what you are doing, to give the DM a break from writing his own material, and the Ravenloft modules made this impossible. They dictated and required too much from the DM. It shatters all plans, and requires so many specific things just to run properly. Many were written badly, or didn’t even bother to disguise the fact that it was a railroad job from hell. They also were hard to run, not only did you have a separate spell list from any other campaign setting, but you also had the weird ideas that might look good on paper, but in the end required much more paperwork on the DM’s part then if he had just written his own material, which in hindsight, I should have!

I think that for ever good idea that Ravenloft had, the horde of cooks in the kitchen present three bad ones, and fans were no better really. Or at least that is what the bigwigs of TSR would have you believe. Folks debated about what is Gothic terror, and if you don’t run it this way then you are doing it wrong and might as well just be running a normal campaign! I suppose that all settings featured a few noisy, obnoxious, pig-headed, elitist fans, after all, tis the nature of the hobby, right? The domain of Darkon, the largest and coolest Domain was wiped out, an experiment which not only killed everybody in the domain, including the PCs, but allowed the PCs to create and come back as forms of Undead Monsters! PC Vampires? Really? Now on the serface, you might be saying COOL! But at the table, and in play, there is a reason why Monsters aren’t Player Characters, once you are identified as such, the amount of games which you can now play are severely limited. How do you challenge a Vampire? Maybe it would make for a fun 1 shot, but again, they put out an entire box set on the subject which destroyed a damned cool lord that many true fans of the setting really didn’t want to lose. It also took all of his history and personality and replaced it with an empty Grim Reaper character with no personality what so ever. Now that might confuse folks who have never played the game. They’re probably saying GOOD! But the Demi-Lich could really inspire more stories then even Straud could! He was an interesting character and an example of just how far you can go with something as basic as a Lich.

ENTER THE GOTHIC EARTH

Getting away from the problems of Core Ravenloft before I suffer total brain failure and fall off my stack of soap boxes, a new experimental project was released, one that was largely ignored at the time but in recent years has become almost a cult hit with players.

This Box Set was WAY before it’s time. It was originally hated because it was so different. What it essentially did was take the rulebook and totally threw it out the window. All of the D&D classes were reworked and redefined, even the list of supplies and mechanics for combat were rewritten to cater to factor in guns.

Ravenloft: Masque of the Red Death placed players in the world of Count Dracula, Dr. Jeckle & Mr. Hyde, and Sherlock Holmes, just to name a few. It was a brilliant mix of fiction and history and unlike the core rules of Ravenloft, this setting was kept untouched. A few magnificent Accessories were published to help flesh out the time period, but other then that the box set stands alone. It contained a world map, and a poster with calanders dating from 1890-1899. It contained the Rule book which is complete enough to get a game up and running in an hour or two, and 3 short modules that you can either run or easily modify to fit your personal needs. While it was taunted at the time as ANTI-D&D, today, this is a refreshing and unique kind of game which is honestly ripe with unique possibilities and fresh enough to keep even the most die-hard player guessing and having fun in a totally new way.

THE RETURN TO THE DOMAIN OF DREAD: Death Rattle

Just before the thing wrapped up, the last great Ravenloft book was released. It was a hard-bound titled “Domains of Dread”. This book was a godsend! While it updated the map, the map itself wasn’t published with the book. It was made to replace the boxsets but it failed at this job, the map was unreadable due to it being printed way to dark, and on such a small scale that you really couldn’t do much with it. What changes were made were improvements! The modified spell list was finally altered to one which was more expectable, and would actually function as is. It also added mechanics for Dark Powers checks, as well as improved the mechanics of Fear Checks and Madness Checks in a way which was much clearer then the original incarnation.

It updated all of the Dark Lords, and finally offered pictures and stats for ones that didn’t get much attention before. Besides the map, it made the setting better, and stronger then before, but it also allowed the DM to do something that he’s never been officially allowed to do before, CREATE PC’S WHICH WERE NATIVE TO THE SETTING! Awesome! Why, this almost makes the loss of Darkon forgivable . . . almost, but not quite.

3E, THE COFFIN NAILS

3^rd Edition of Dungeons & Dragons did not interest me. It was too different, and I never was willing to go there. The Setting of Ravenloft did make the jump to the 3^rd edition, however it was never as glorious or as rich as the original 1e box set. It was reduced to a few overpriced pamphlets which gutted the world to cater to the new mechanics.

Overall, Ravenloft as a setting had a good run. It had its ups and its downs. It had its triumphs and its faults, but after all of these years, most of the folks who had the fortune of playing with the system have fond memories of it, I know that I do! For better or for worse, it taught me how to DM, and it has given me a style which I and my players seem to really enjoy. I did have to find its faults to identify my own failings, and attempt to eliminate them . . . well, as I can identify them; but overall I feel that Ravenloft has left me stronger then what I normally would had been had I only played standard AD&D.