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View Full Version : Expedition to Castle Ravenloft... In Eastern Europe



SpikeFightwicky
2010-01-22, 10:28 AM
Has anyone tried running the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft adventure in the d20 Modern setting? The details all seem to flow well (even satellite imagery of Barovia can be blocked with constant mists), situating the game in eastern Europe (maybe around Romania -> the Carpathians should provide a good geographical area for the mountainous parts of Barovia).

That said, the main issue I see is that the players may get UTTERLY SLAUGHTERED by the Count's twisted... well everything, really. Should it be run at its default power level, or should things be tweaked? Many PCs will likely have guns, which will have a problem with a lot of the encounters.

I can see the PCs 'gearing up' for a fight after they've encountered it once (werewolves? we need to make some silver bullets!), but surviving could be an issue. Also, there's no one who can enchant weapons in the valley (by default), so 'Magic Weapon Oil' will have to be littered around everywhere to help those who can't use the stab-tastic loot. One solution would be to allow for a weapon to be 'blessed' or something (maybe at a shrine?) to count as a 'good' and 'magic' weapon for the purposes of getting through DR.

Also, would it be too big an endeavor to 'modernize' some of the NPCs? I can see the paladin (and her group) in the village being part a modern 'anti-undead' secret society, so would she use some modern gear to help? Also, some of the hostile human NPCs might come after the PCs with chainsaws and hunting rifles instead of swords and bows/crossbows. Is the regular setting still ok for d20 Modern, or should I write up some (appropriate) modernizing changes?

deuxhero
2010-01-22, 10:31 AM
Oh, good, for a second there I though you were going to put it in a generic medieval setting.

bosssmiley
2010-01-22, 11:11 AM
Ravenloft: Masque of the Red Death. It's Ravenloft in a quasi-historical (19th century Gothic) setting. You had the original - and still the best - Count Dracula as a villain, anti-vampire secret societies, proper gypsy curses and like...

@v: I'm thinking the 2E material, I've only a passing awareness of the 3E updates, so won't comment on those. 2E Masque supposedly had a particular date (some time in the 1880s IIRC), but the general feel was "Fog-bound London/Darkest Uberwald, last Tuesday".

SpikeFightwicky
2010-01-22, 11:15 AM
Would this be the 2nd ed. or 3rd ed. version? I've seen it 2nd ed. but was too young to invest in it (and I think it was a boxed set so I couldn't peruse it). I've also seen the 3rd ed. version (3.0, 3.5, 3.X?) at my LGS and was tempted to pick it up. Is it a specific period (decade?) of the 19th century? Sounds quite intriguing.