From Tab Wiki

This campaign ran from November 2007 through January 2008.

Ravenloft is a game about a group of people who wind up in a remote village named Barovia, a place modeled strongly after an archaic Eastern Europe. There the townspeople are glum. And have problems. And are ruled over by the dreaded Count Strahd. The place is creepy and the module borrows heavily from gothic horror tropes, particularly from the Dracula story.

The game is also one of escape. No one is Barovia has left the lands surrounding the villages in centuries. It's truly an insular little village. And with good reason: The mists that perpetually surround the village won't let them escape. Or you...

I expect the campaign to last roughly six sessions, give or take a couple.

Links

• Castle Ravenloft Campaign Journal
• Ravenloft Character Sheet
• AE-D&D Rules Differences
• Arcana Evolved Partial SRD (Classes and Races)

About Ravenloft

So here's what you need to know about the setting. Your character won't know most of it at the beginning of the campaign, but much of the basics of the history and culture stuff we can assume they pick up pretty quickly once in the village. The stuff about the Mists and the Dark Powers they may never learn, but it gives you the player some insight into what's going on so that things make sense.

Real-Life History

The original Ravenloft module was written sometime in the late 70's and early 80's by Tracy Hickman, who submitted it to TSR as an example of his design while attempting to get a job there. It was eventually published in 1983 and was extremely successful. It inspired a sequel module in 1986 (Tracy Hickman's last module before he left TSR), a choose-your-own-adventure style book in the 80's and a boxed-set campaign setting in 1990. TSR published three editions of the setting for AD&D 2nd Edition, and after TSR's acquisition by Wizards of the Coast, Ravenloft was licensed out to White Wolf, who published two editions for D&D 3rd Edition. Then Wizard's ended the license, publishing another revision of the original module and are now once again publishing Ravenloft novels.

Demiplane of Dread

Ravenloft isn't really an entire world so much as it is a finite demiplane, adrift somewhere in the astral. Occasionally, it will touch upon other worlds in a process known as a masque, drawing in others from those worlds within its confines.

The Dark Powers

Unknown to most, Ravenloft is reigned over by some entity or collection of entities referred to only as the Dark Powers. The Powers are terrible and dark and beyond the ken of mere mortals. Their motive, or purpose, or even why Ravenloft exists is unknown. They reign distantly and serve in some way as jail wardens, keeping eternally trapped the domain lords.

Domains

Ravenloft is sliced up into a number of domains--regions of land, some as big a country and other as small as a single structure. In some ways, each domain acts almost like its own plane. Each domain is perpetually surrounded by gray mists, impeding travel and communication between the domains unreliable at best... often downright impossible. Somewhere in each domain exists a domain lord--perhaps an actual ruling figure, perhaps not. Each domain lord is eternally trapped in their own domain, unable to leave. Each perpetually seeking something they are never going to attain. The Dark Powers see to it that they never achieve what they seek and that they never give up hope. The domain lords are without exception terrible people. And in some ways, every domain is something like their own personal hell.

The Mists

Each domain floats somewhere, surrounded by the mists. These supernatural fogs make travel through them difficult. Sometimes journeys through the mists seem to last for others, other times they seem to last for weeks. And it is never the same feeling twice. Navigation is impossible; even normally reliable beasts soon become lost and disoriented. Sometimes travelers walk for days only to wrap back around to where they began, or another part of the same domain. Other times they someplace else terrible and totally unexpected.

Effects on Magic

Some magic works different in Ravenloft, particularly magic that makes use of the planes. Ravenloft is not on the Prime Material, and it is hard to escape from. Summoned beings are may remain when a summoning spell ends and spells that make use of the ethereal or astral may have strange effects. Also of particular note is divine magic. Where as before the divine caster might have felt the presence of their deity, once in Ravenloft they feel only an emptiness. Spells cast to speak to their deity are answered by a strange presence. But the spells still come. Perhaps they're just granted by... something else... Maybe even the Dark Powers themselves.

Barovia

Barovia (Village): Nonstandard NG 200 gp limit; Assets 5000 gp; Population 782; Human 100%.

Barovia is a remote village surrounded by the mists located in a valley overlooked by the fearsome Castle Ravenloft. It has remained isolated for generations, the last townsfolk having left the village and traveled elsewhere some three generations ago. Most people in the town make their living working on small farms in the surrounding land, but the village also possesses a number of bakers, butchers, cobblers and other folk.

The Surrounding Lands

Barovia is surrounded by a variety of fields mostly growing rye, cabbage, turnips, barley and cucumbers. Surrounding the fields are the Svalich Woods--a dark and forbidding forest visited only by a few woodsmen, trappers and, of course, the Vistani. Finally, making a complete ring around the lands of Barovia are the ever-present mists, cutting the region off from the outside world and disorienting would-be travelers.

The Vistani

The Vistani are people like gypsies are in stereotypes. They are not part of the Barovia community and maintain their own camp somewhere out there in the Svalich Woods. They're also the only people to have gone through the mists and entered or left the lands of Barovia within the last three generations--the means of which is a secret they guard greedily. Otherwise, the Vistani are known for occasional trade and their ability to tell fortunates. They are also feared for their ability to curse people who cross them.

Castle Ravenloft

Standing on a fortified peak overlooking Barovia is Castle Ravenloft, home to Barovia's current ruler Count Strahd von Zarovich. The castle is solid stone, tall and foreboding. No one who enters exists its grounds alive, safe for Strahn himself and his trusted allies. All manner of rumors persist about what goes on there. The von Zarovich lineage has ruled Barovia for generations upon generations, going back perhaps half a millennium. Once the whole von Zarovich family resided in the castle, but one by one they died out. Today it is just Strahd, called "the Devil Strahd" by the fearful inhabitants of Barovia.

Culture

The local culture in Barovia in many ways resembles traditional Eastern European culture. People live clustered away in villages, each of which has a burgomaster. People dress in drab colors, eat boiled foods and tend small gardens of cabbage and herbs.

Religion

The people of Barovia follow the cult of the Morninglord--a luminous sylvan entity whose face is smeared with blood. The cult of the Morninglord was founded some 200 years ago in Barovia; the founder claimed that the Morninglord appeared to him as a boy and protected him from the dark menaces of the Barovian night. Since that time the religion has become the sole one in the village. It teaches that better times will come as long as people have hope. It also teaches that the enemies of the Morninglord have the ability to offer mortals pacts for magic power, which results in the spread of sickness and corruption among humanity. Any magic not of origin with the Morninglord is suspect.

Views on Magic

The people of Barovia are superstitious and distrustful regarding magic. Not only does their religion speak poorly of most magics, but pretty much every instance of magic any of them have ever experienced in their lives--with the exception of a few church-related charms and blessings--has ultimately been harmful. This has resulted in a strong distrust of magic-users, particularly of those whose magics are recognizably non-divine. Known arcane casters and psionicists (which in the eyes of the people of Barovia is just another type of devil-magic) are looked at fearfully and not welcomed into many establishments. Those who would flaunt their power or threaten with it, risk a good old-fashioned mob of villages with torches and pitchforks, looking to burn the warlock into ashes. Divine casters aren't quite as suspect as their other magic-using counterparts, but may still be snubbed if their faith appears significantly different from that of the Morninglord.

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, despite most magic being taboo, there is a significant trade in the village of magic items. Most of these are of the good-luck charm or fertility charm variety. And most aren't really magical. Nevertheless, superstition runs strong and these are sought-after items. There is even a small potion shop in town that does a decent business selling potions--some of which work as intended. This is the one and only shop in town that deals in magic (not counting the village church, which offer a few low-level blessings and so on to members).

Non-Human Races

Non-human races are extremely rare around Barovia. In fact, it's been several generations since anyone in Barovia has ever seen a member of a non-human race and some might mistake them for being a fairy tale. Either way, the sudden presence of a non-human may make certain townsfolk uneasy, as no one knows what to expect from them.

The Campaign

The rest of the information here is on the campaign itself: The hook, what to expect and house rule changes.

Effective Character Level

Player characters will begin at Level 6. Characters are expected to gain two levels over the course of the campaign.

The Hook

The hook the gets the player characters involved is a letter purporting to be from the Burgomaster of Barovia, asking the characters to travel there and providing a map on how to get there. The exact reason we can discuss and work with. The map marks Barovia in some obscure remote location and no one's ever heard of it. The world that the PCs wander into Ravenloft from also isn't particularly consequential to the module. Presumably it's some D&D world of some sort. Traditionally this was Grayhawk, but if anyone has any strong preferences we can decide upon something. It could even be another domain in Ravenloft's plane, although ideally it's some place the PCs generally like and want to get back to, as escaping the mists surrounding Barovia is assumed to be a general motive in the campaign. There is also a time limit to escape.

It may be beneficial for the Player Characters to all be part of some organization--whether it's a traditional "adventuring party" or a guild or whatever. This gives them reason for the Burgomaster's letter to be collectively delivered. It may also be beneficial for the PCs and the reason for their involvement to be something that would translate after arrival into getting involved in the events transpiring in Ravenloft. Granted, the motive to escape may provide that as well, but it's often useful to have other motives for doing things. PCs might even have secondary motives for traveling to Barovia, like rumors than an enemy they want to thwart has fled to the region where Barovia is marked on the map. Or because it may be useful for them to lay low in some remote region until the authorities back home quit looking for them after their heist... of course, though, they'll have to go back after that to actually go retrieve all the money from where they've hid it (giving them a motive to escape Ravenloft). Etc.

The Rest of the Party

For this campaign the PCs are assumed to be part of a larger party of people who have taken the hook and come to Barovia. These extra people in the party will arrive a little behind schedule in Barovia either at the end of the first session or early in the second session. Players are encouraged during the character creation session to collectively come up with a reason for their late arrival. Thereafter, they will remain in town "to protect it" or some such reason, and are there primarily to serve as a pool of replacement characters should initial PCs die or be retired.

Character Retirement

One can always retire a character they no longer wish to play and create a new character of the current campaign level. This new character starts with the same amount of gear all original characters did. Characters retired in this manner are assumed to go back to town and help the rest of the party there until the campaign's end, unless there is reason to believe otherwise. (Such as the player wishing to un-retire her character, or terrible things happening to the town.)

Campaign Journals

Players may optionally keep a campaign journal for their character if they so wish. Once over the course of the campaign each player will have a chance to earn a Hero point by making a journal entry for a session.

Ability Score Generation

Ability scores are to be generated using the Point Buy system also presented in the DMG (page 169) using the standard 25 point method. It can also be found here.

Ability Score & Age

Your character may be of whatever age you wish. However, the aging ability score adjustments given in the PHB are not in use.

Available Races

The following is a comprehensive list of races available to player characters. Races not appearing on this list are not allowed for play in the campaign.

Dwarves

Hill Dwarf (PHB 14), Deep Dwarf (MM 92)

Elves

High Elf (PHB 15), Gray Elf (MM 104), Wild Elf (MM 104), Wood Elf (MM 104)

Half-Races

Half-Elf (PHB 18), Half-Orc (PHB 18)

Halflings

Lightfoot Halfling (PHB 19), Tallfellow Halfling (MM 149), Deep Halfling (MM 150)

Other Races

Humans (PHB 13), Rock Gnome (PHB 16), Caliban (R 37, PHB 18)

Arcana Evolved Races

Dracha (AE 16), Faen (AE 19), Giant (AE 23), Litorian (AE 26), Mojh (AE 28), Runechild (AE 30), Sibeccai (AE 31), Verrik (AE 33)

Available Deities

When trying to choose what deity to follow, this may be effected somewhat by the choice of what world the PCs wander in from. But otherwise, feel free to make up an appropriate-sounding deity and religion to follow. Then pick two fitting domains and a favored weapon befitting that deity.

Staring Taint

Characters may begin with however much Taint the player thinks fits her character concept, so long as it is not enough taint to cause the character to become a crazy NPC. Starting characters with 0 Taint is recommended both as it represents more "good" characters and is more mechanically beneficial.

Available Classes

For something different, we will be using the classes and prestige classes available in Arcana Evolved. These are all the classes available.

Multi-Class Saves & BAB

We are in essence using fractional save and Base Attack Bonuses with the initial first-level bonus from saves only being applied once. For simplicity's sake, you can think of saves and BAB as a formula. Find your save and BAB bonus for each class and add them together. Like everything in d20, round down at the end.

For your reference, use the following table. The "Initial" value is used for the initial level the first time you take a class with that progression in that BAB/Save. The "Per Level" value is used every other time you take a class with that progression in that BAB/Save. So, for example, Bob takes his first level in Magister, which has Bad BAB, Bad Fort, Bad Ref, Good Will. His bonuses are respectively, 1/2, 1/3, 1/3, 5/2 (all rounded down or 0, 0, 0, 2). When he takes his second level, he picks Mageblade, which has Mid BAB, Mid Fort, Mid Ref, Mid Will. Since this is his first level of having a mid progression in anything, he uses the initial value for each this level, giving him BAB 5/4, Fort 25/21, Ref 25/21, Will 47/14 (or rounded down: 1, 1, 1, 3, respectively). If he then takes another Mageblade level next, he already has gotten the intial value from each mid progression once and thus uses the "per level" value for everything that level.

BAB	Initial	Per Level
Good	+1	+1
Mid	+3/4	+3/4
Bad	+1/2	+1/2

Save	Initial	Per Level
Good	+5/2	+1/2
Mid	+6/7	+3/7
Bad	+1/3	+1/3

Average Hit Points

Instead of rolling for hit points at each level you instead get a number of hit points as per the chart below. Note that as a caveat, you still get maximum hit points at first level, and you still apply your Constitution modifier to the number of hit points you get each level.

Level	d4	d6	d8	d10	d12
Even	2	3	4	5	6
Odd	3	4	5	6	7

Allowed & Forbidden Spells

The only available spells are those listed in Arcana Evolved. The spell set in this book is supposed to be more balanced that the one presented in D&D proper.

NPCs and Class

NPCs I build myself will be built using the Arcana Evolved classes. I will be using many pre-stated ones from the module, however, that are built with other D&D classes. I am somewhat lazy and do not want to re-stat every single character.

Available Skills

Arcana Evolved uses a slight variant of the skill set from D&D 3.0. But we are going to use the 3.5 skill set. They are rather similar. Just read any reference to "Alchemy" as "Craft (Alchemy)" and any reference to "Innuendo" as "Bluff" (which it was wrapped into), etc. Arcana Evolved does not have a Profession skill. So just assume that Profession is a class skill for everyone.

Available Feats

The available feats are those listed in Arcana Evolved.

Equipment

Each character may start with up to 13000 gp worth of general equipment and up to 6000 gp worth of single-use items (potions, scrolls, ammo). Of this, no single piece of equipment can be worth more than 6500 gp. Money left unspent from the general pool does to the expendable item pool. Up to 400 gp left unspent from that goes into the character's pocket. The only items available are those listed in Arcana Evolved (page 150 & 215), the DMG sections on magic items (page 211, subject to Arcana Evolved restrictions, page 215), renaissance weapons (page 144). However, there is the caveat that magic items which list one of the campaign's forbidden spells as a component spell for that item are unavailable. Also keep in mind that the only settlement of significant size in the campaign is Barovia, which is a village (DMG page 137); it has a GP limit of 200.

Arcana Evolved & DMG Magic Items

The Arcana Evolved book lays out guidelines for using DMG magic items, which we will be abiding by. (There is also a list of a few AE magic items in the AE book.) Among these guidelines are:

• Items that replicate a spell effect for a spell not found in AE are not available, or instead replicate an AE spell that is very similar to the original spell. This may increase the price of the item if the AE spell is of a higher level than the core spell (and thus would require a higher caster level).
• Magic items that refer to class features not found in AE are not available (example: monk's belt).
• Some effects have blanket price multipliers that make items with them more expensive. These include any item that replicates an exotic spell or any item that grants an effect that normally lasts 1 round/level, etc.
• Items that replicate spells that require the subject's true name are keyed to a specific true name, unless one pays for a x1.5 price multiplier. For example, to use Raise the Dead on a character in AE, you need that character's true name. If you had a scroll of Raise the Dead, it would be keyed to a specific character's true name (and thus only works on that specific character when she dies) unless you buy that scroll at 1.5 times the price.

Where there are guidelines for taking DMG items, much of it is left to the GM's judgment. So during the character creation session I will be pushing people to think about what gear they want and run it by me. Most basic ability score bonus items, weapons and armor with a +N bonus and wands/scrolls of AE spells work exactly as written in the DMG, but if you want to take a more complicated item, run it by me first.

Advancement

Players should expect to raise about two levels throughout the course of the campaign. All Player Characters advance in level at certain plot points determined by the GM. When a character advances in level, they set their "current XP" to a sum determined by their new level. When using spells or abilities that require the character to spend XP, the XP comes out of this pool. Characters may not reduce their pool of XP below 0 in this way, nor does unused XP carry between levels. The amount of XP a character gets to use in this way at each level is detailed below:

Level	XP
1	250
2	500
3	750
4	1000
5	1250
6	1500
7	1750
8	2000
9	2250
10	2500
11	2750
12	3000
13	3250
14	3500
15	3750
16	4000
17	4250
18	4500
19	4750
20	5000

Level Loss

If a character loses a level over the course of play, they regain one level each session (or at the first instance of downtime in the next session) until they are once again at the campaign's level.

House Rules

The following general house rules are in effect.

Taint

Instead of alignment, characters possess a Taint score. Taint functions the way it does in Unearthed Arcana (page 189) and here, with the following exceptions:

• Taint does not apply as a penalty to Constitution and Wisdom.
• Determining one's level of Taint is based off of Wisdom rather than Constitution.
• Taint can be gained both from tainted places/objects and from bad deeds. There is no save against taint from deeds you willing enact.
• Other sources of taint allow either a Will or Fortitude save, depending on the source (reading a tainted tome may force a Will save, lingering too long in a tainted locale may force a Fort save).
• Characters that are not tainted, or who have only Mild taint are treated as Good for the purposes of spells and effects. Characters that are Moderately tainted are treated as Neutral for the purposes of spells and effects. Characters that are Severely tainted are treated as Evil for the purposes of spells and effects.
• When a character's Taint score equals or surpasses her Wisdom score she does not die. Instead she has become so evil and bestial she is no longer a player character. This cannot be escaped by "embracing taint."
• Spells--with the exception of Atonement, Miracle and Wish--cannot remove Taint. Taint must be removed through good deeds and sacred springs.
• Taint-absorbing objects do not exist.
• The Dark Powers try to tempt the tainted into falling further (see below).

Tainted Boons

The Dark Powers try to tempt those who have given in to taint, to fall even further, becoming even more tainted. Any character who has mild, moderate or severe taint automatically becomes aware when they acquire taint that they are being offered power that's there for them to seize--tempting and just within arm's reach. Mechanically, any character who gains the requisite level of taint can use any of the below as spell-like abilities at will. These are the boons the Dark Powers offer. The catch, however, is that using any of these tainted boons is considered a tainted action. Any time a character makes use of any of these abilities, her taint score automatically increases by one.

• Mild Taint: Veil of Darkness, Touch of Pain, Mind Stab

• Moderate Taint: Destructive Grip, Wicked Barb, Cloak of Darkness

• Severe Taint: Whisper of Madness, Carnivorous Plant, Clinging Shadows

Dream Influences

Domain Lords and the Dark Powers can reach out and touch people in their dreams, warping their dream experiences and exerting influence over them in this way. The effect becomes increasingly more common and potent the more one sleeps. Mechanically what this means is that every time the party sleeps the GM is going to make a percentile roll to see if one's dreams and interfered with. The chance that they will be diminishes as the number of hours since the party last slept increases. Should one's dreams be interfered with, there are a variety of strange and troubling things which may happen as a result. The GM will roll on or pick from a table. These things may cause complications or interrupt sleep.

Modified Magic

The following magical effects have been modified to fit the Ravenloft campaign setting, either because of the way the demiplane works, or for flavor purposes.

Banishing

Any spell that would normally return a creature to its home plane or force it from its current plane instead simply forces it to another part of Ravenloft.

Detecting Alignment

All spells that would detect alignment automatically fail. The Dark Powers prevent people from certainty about such things.

Divination

Any spell that peers into the future or interrogates deities or other remote beings for information may provide inaccurate results as per the Dark Powers' whim.

Domain Borders & Spells

Different domains--and some areas that act like domains--are treated mechanically as if they were different planes. That means certain effects like Find the Path do not work across them.

Resurrection

Any magic that brings back the dead has a 20% chance per time that character has been brought back of backfiring. The character does come back. With Reincarnation she even comes back in a new body. She just comes back as one of the living dead; possessed and hungering for the flesh of the living. For a PC this is "make a new character."

Summoning

It's difficult to escape Ravenloft. When summoning spells expire, the summoned creature does not automatically return to their home plane. Instead they remain trapped in Ravenloft and under their own control. Often this causes summoned creatures to panic; intelligent ones may also hold it against their summoner. Creatures summoned in this way truly die when killed. Furthermore, the Dark Powers will not allow any creature with the Good subtype to be summoned. Such attempts automatically fail.

Taint & Spells

Casting any spell with the Corrupted template or negative energy descriptor is considered a tainted action and gives the caster a point of taint. Furthermore, any spell that would enchant or command another being to perform a tainted action, is considered a tainted action for the commander as well.

Transient Planes

Ravenloft, as a demiplane, does not truly touch the ethereal, astral or shadow planes as the Prime Material does. Nevertheless, Ravenloft does have a singular planar space similar to the transient planes. All spells that make use of any of the transient planes instead make use of this space. This plane, however, is not the same as normal transient planes. Characters in this planar space may not not cross domain borders, may not pass through physical objects and must remain on the ground (unless they also possess the ability to fly). This means that teleportation can only bring you places you could otherwise access without passing through physical objects, and effects like blink do not allow one to pass through walls or move upwards away from the ground.

Additionally, the nondimensional spaces between the planes surrounding Ravenloft are inhabited by awful, incomprehensible gibbering things. And traveling between the planes attracts their undue attention. Any time a character travels between different planar spaces, they arrive on the other end covered by unexplainable claw marks, bite marks and lashes. In addition to being disturbing, this inflicts 3d6 damage and leaves the character with the unnatural touch of 1 taint. For spells with an instantaneous duration (like teleport), this happens once upon traveling. For spells like an extended duration (like blink), the damage occurs once a round and the taint occurs once at casting. When passing only part of one's body through the planar fabric (such as when reaching into a Bag of Holding or Portable Hole) only 1d6 is inflicted, and no taint.

Finally, extensive planar travel may attract the attention of the Dark Powers, who have the ability to interfere with its effects. Let the GM know when you use one of these effects. This boils down to a percentile roll.

Spells, that draw material in from other planes function normally. Creatures remain trapped after the spell's expiration. Inert material dissolves away into mist.

Weather

Magic that controls the weather cannot affect or get rid of the mists.

Critical Hit Deck

We will be using the Paizo Critical Hit Deck as a replacement for the normal critical hit rules. Whenever a character scores a critical hit, she draws a card from the top of the deck and looks at the section corresponding to the type of damage she is dealing (bludgeoning, cutting, piercing or magic). The effects indicated in that section are applied to the target.

To handle weapons and effects normally giving a x3 or x4 critical hit, the character making the critical hit draws two or three cards, respectively, and takes her choice of which effect to apply to the target. Not all effects are equal.