tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7370162161693557709.post3529883896509623418..comments2023-06-08T08:26:07.304-05:00Comments on Advanced Gaming & Theory: A Look Back at the History of RavenloftRipperXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03506064393275174920noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7370162161693557709.post-4701222457740527962009-10-27T14:03:30.440-05:002009-10-27T14:03:30.440-05:00Bleak House forces the player to Role-Play, I like...Bleak House forces the player to Role-Play, I like this. It also goes into a direction which I've never seen another product go to, INSANITY! And being forced to play through it. <br /><br />It has always been an inside joke, characters afraid of something silly, like water. They overreact and start yelling but somehow always manage to cross the river.<br /><br />A lot went into Bleak House, and though it is about an NPC, the story is still PC driven. Their goal is to save the NPC, which is very very hard to accomplish, thus much of the story involves what will happen if the PC's fail. <br /><br />My players are primarily horror geeks, and while nobody really cares about Van Richtan, folks will be intrigued by Van Helsing.RipperXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506064393275174920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7370162161693557709.post-63383947717073186902009-10-26T09:59:15.709-05:002009-10-26T09:59:15.709-05:00Never played walking dead, so I can't comment....Never played walking dead, so I can't comment. Even though I own Bleak House, I can't say too many good things about it since I do not like inserting vanRichten into adventures at all, especially when the adventures become about him. If anything, he was the worst symptom of "Elminster Syndrome" in Ravenloft. I just picked up a book with a series of short modules in it ("Chilling Tales" I think it was called) which is essentially over 100 pages devoted to van Richten and treating the players as an audience rather than active members. It seems to have ruined what otherwise would have been a couple of rather decent adventures.<br /><br />Castles Forlorn, for what it's worth, does have its share of big time NPC's, but from my perspective at least as a player, it seems that the central issue of the module is about the mystery of what the place is, why it is the way it is, what's happened there, and how to "repair" it. It is, essentially, a setup and then the question is thrown to the players "what do you do?" That's what makes it good from my point of view. Even though there's a lot of story going on, it seems to have all happened in the past and the key is not witnessing it unfold before your eyes, but in using it as a tool to deal with the place.Hamlethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05135081554790749914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7370162161693557709.post-88185914750763312492009-10-24T09:37:19.436-05:002009-10-24T09:37:19.436-05:00The boxed set was for 2E. There was never a 1E bo...The boxed set was for 2E. There was never a 1E boxed set.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7370162161693557709.post-56347296230906022202009-10-23T15:08:44.869-05:002009-10-23T15:08:44.869-05:00Castle Forlorn, now I never got that one. I did fi...Castle Forlorn, now I never got that one. I did find a copy of the Bleak House, which looks like hella fun to play through, and I do have plans to alter it to Gothic Earth for a game I'm running. We'll see how it goes.<br /><br />I have heard high praise for Forlorn, but I think that my favorite Ravenloft mod has to be Night of the Walking Dead. It is short enough for just a night or two, written with 1st level characters in mind, and really, REALLY became the templet which I judge my own work against.RipperXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506064393275174920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7370162161693557709.post-12141188201038202732009-10-23T13:04:05.134-05:002009-10-23T13:04:05.134-05:00Yes, most of the 2e Ravenloft modules were terrify...Yes, most of the 2e Ravenloft modules were terrifyingly bad and filled with garbage. Most of all, they seemed like an excuse for the writers to play with their favorite pet NPC's and the players were there to witness rather than engage.<br /><br />However, I will say that there was at least one module out of those days that is singularly awesome. Castles Forlorn. Yes, it focuses heavily on a core NPC personality, but it's open and wide enough that, from the point of view of a player, it feels completely free.<br /><br />We've been pushing through it for over a year of real time now and have cursed and praised it at every turn.Hamlethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05135081554790749914noreply@blogger.com