Expedition to Castle Ravenloft

[KoiPwned]

The master of Ravenloft is having guests for dinner...and you're invited.

 

A dark shape emerges from the shadow of Castle Ravenloft. A flash of lightning reveals the sneering countenance of Count Strahd von Zarovich. His eyes burn with eternal hunger and contempt for life. From a narrow balcony, he peers out into the drizzling twilight at the few sad lights of the village below and mutters a single name:

 

"Ireena..."

________________________________________________________________________________

 

Expedition to Castle Ravenloft is a D&D deluxe adventure that updates the original 1st edition Ravenloft module, retaining the gothic flavor and familiar elements while expanding and reimagining some of the locations to create a deeper, richer adventure experience.

________________________________________________________________________________

 

Greetings, adventurers!

 

I've noticed a number of the games in this thread have interest, but possibly have some overflow of players. I've been wanting to get in on a game, but I don't have any experience with any of the systems that are currently being played, so rather than bog down the queues to get in on a game I'm not familiar with, I figured I'd see if there was enough interest for me to DM one.

 

I will be using D&D 3.5 rules, but I'll do all the dice rolling and mechanics behind the scenes in order to attempt a more streamlined story. If you have books they may help you, but none are required. New players are certainly welcome; I've DM'd before and am confident I can help anyone through anything they may get hung up on.

 

EDIT: All races and classes are acceptable with an exception clause if I've overlooked something that won't work for some reason. Evil alignment is the only prohibition.

 

So. Any interest?

Edited July 22, 2015 by KoiPwned

[Arkady]

Half-dragon tiefling paladin/thief!

 

Okay, scratch that. I would be interested, but I'd really have to think about a character. The thing I really want to try in 3.5 is a Swashbuckler/Bard/maybe some fancy prestige classes slightly comic reliefish build, which doesn't sound like the very best of ideas for Castle Ravenloft. Then again, maybe Not Taking Things Too Seriously could be the ultimate weapon against the dark powers?

 

Which reminds me, what rules for character creation, exactly?

 

Regardless, not available until first week of August, which presumably isn't going to be that big a problem. Unless there's a mad rush of potential players, in which case I guess I'll just bow out in favor of them.

[KoiPwned]

Option A: You can just PM me a character concept, and I will roll it up. I'll ask some questions along the way about things like skill point allocation and your priorities for ability scores, but I'll handle most of it, optimizing for usefulness/your concept.

 

Option B: If you have books/know what you're doing, you can roll yourself and send me a character sheet if you would like.

 

My house rules usually go: 4d6 and drop the lowest one seven times, and drop the lowest one. (That way you end up with 6 rolls of 3d6 with slightly higher odds of having a slightly more powerful character).

 

I'll have to look up starting gold.

 

I will also not be able to start before August. I'm on vacation right now, about half way across the country. I thought I would see if there was interest now, though, so if there is I can start when I get back.

[Arkady]

Well, I guess I'll spend part of next week somewhat literally cloistered, yet in need of doing Something Completely Different to balance what should be a challenging daytime. As such, I figure it'll be a good time to toss around ideas. A couple of questions popped up.

 

1. Do you prefer keeping things mostly on a SRD level (say, d20srd.org), or more of an anything goes in terms of source material?

2. Irrespective of that, yay or nay on psionics?

3. Also, will you be using any specific background setting that could/should affect choices like deities, or even classes and races?

 

[KoiPwned]

1. I like to give my players a lot of freedom. If you have a concept you're excited about, let me know and I'll try to help make it work. I have no problem over-riding books with house rules if it will make a better story or a more enjoyable game. No promises, but I'll do my best to work with you.

 

2. Funny you should mention that. I've never actually encountered psionics in game either as a player or DM. I do have the Complete Psionics book, though, and I was just thinking yesterday that if there was not quite enough interest, maybe I'd toss in a psionics NPC just to check it out. It'll require a little more work from me just to learn the mechanics, but I'll say sure to Psionics.

 

3. As far as background, standard pantheon is standard; any of these gods will likely be recognized in the world. Other religions are recognized, though, so if you want to worship Deathstench the Stinkiest of Unholy Cheeses, this is acceptable. It may garner you some strange looks, however, and potential rivalries from the cult of Lactaid.

 

Religion aside, it will be a fairly standard fantasy world. Feel free to ask any specific questions.

[dsmiles]

I'm interested. Any alignment restrictions? That will greatly influence my character concept.

 

EDIT: Nevermind. Read the whole post, Dave.

 

EDIT v2.0: Not nevermind as in "I'm no longer interested." Nevermind as in "my question was already answered."

 

EDIT v3.0: How do you feel about the ToB? I kinda want to play a ninja, and Swordsage/Rogue is one of the better ways to go about it. Also, IIRC, EtCR starts at level 4 or 5, or something like that.

[KoiPwned]

@dsmiles, You'll have to clarify some of your acronyms. I know the rules pretty well, but I don't get to game very often, so I'm probably a little out of touch with the lingo.

 

I have the Oriental Adventures book, which has a ninja class in it, but I'm not sure what ToB is. Also IIRC/EtCR? I assume that has something to do with Challenge Rating? I believe it is officially lvl 5-6. Where I actually start will depend on interest. So far there are 3, which is doable if I run an NPC and start at level 6. If we get 5 or 6, we could probably start at level 5 and be ok.

[dsmiles]

Ah, sorry. I'm military, sometimes I forget that others aren't fluent in acronym.

 

ToB = Tome of Battle (a.k.a. Book of Nine Swords). I've found that none of the actual "ninja" classes (Oriental Adventures, Complete Adventurer) really give a "ninja" feel. The Swordsage class gives a real high-action, "wire-fu" ninja feeling.

I have the book in 1s and 0s, and can pop it onto my Google Drive for you to download and thumb through. I'm familiar with the mechanics of it, and how to balance a ToB character with a party of non-ToB characters. (Basically, the ToB redesigned the fighter, paladin, and rogue to balance them with clerics, druids, and wizards.)

 

IIRC = If I Remember Correctly

 

EtCR = Expedition to Castle Ravenloft

[KoiPwned]

Aha. Sure, get me a copy of the book, and I'll check it out.

[Kangaroorex]

I'm interested.  I won't steal a slot from someone else who isn't playing in another but I would like to join in the fun.  Its been a while away from 3.5 and I haven't had the experience of Ravenloft so I would like to give it a try.

 

I tend to play casters but I can and have had fun with just about any class.  I will give some thought to class and race.

 

Thanks for volunteering to run.  As I am normally the GM, its nice to be able to be a player.

 

Roo

[dsmiles]

I stand corrected. The Swordsage is closer to Monk than Rogue. I'd like to prestige into Shadow Sun Ninja, if that helps steer your thought process at all.

[KoiPwned]

dsmiles, having given it a once-over, I don't have any problem with what I'm seeing.  As long as you meet prereqs and such, you can use any of those classes/prestige classes, feats, etc.  Are you still wanting to use the Swordsage as a base class?

 

Roo, if you want to play, you're in.  You're #4 to express interest, which is the minimum I was hoping to get.  Ideally, we'll get about two more.  I totally get wanting to just play; I basically always DM when we get the chance to game, so I've been itching just to play one, too.  Unfortunately, I haven't had a good dedicated group in a long time, though, so I'm usually the one DMing to get new players acquainted with the game.  And 3.5 is the only system I have books for, so it's hard for me to get in on a lot of PBP games, because 3.5 has largely gone out of style.

 

So Far Summary

 

davor has most recently posed the idea of a barbarian.  He hasn't confirmed that's what he wants to run, but that's the last I've heard.

Arkady has expressed interest in an Elan from OotS Swashbuckling Bard type character.

dsmiles-something ninja-like.

Kangaroorex-potential spell caster.

 

I'm on vacation right now until about August 12, at which point I'll be able to roll your characters and we can get started.  (That having been said, if anyone has books and wants to roll themselves, that is fine with me.  Just send me a copy of the character sheet/word doc/whatever.)  In the mean time, you have a few weeks to develop characters and backstory as much as you want.  At this point, we have enough people to play, although I may throw an NPC into the fray if no one else decides to join.  Said NPC would probably be looking like a paladin at this point; I'd adjust to the needs of the group.  Don't let balance discourage you from playing a character you're excited about.

 

Extras

 

1) Just so everyone knows my style, I'm pretty loose with keeping track of XP.  At some point in the campaign characters may level, but I try to keep my games more focused on the RP and adventure and less about the math, so some players may feel like it's a bit arbitrary.  Hope nobody here is offended by irregular and spontaneous leveling.

 

That being said, Vanity XP will be given if you paint up your character.

 

2) I've been thinking if I run a game here, it would be cool to get minis of all my PCs (since I assume most of us paint here) and perhaps arrange a diorama.  The way I see it, I could legitimately do this in two ways: either I paint a mini that I think represents each of the characters, or each of you paints one for me.  I think it would be really cool to have each of you paint your character for me.  Would anyone be interested in a sort of game-specific mini-exchange?  It seems fair that if each of you paints one for me, I ought to paint one for you, too.  This obviously doesn't have any impact on the game, but I thought it would be cool.

 

3) As always, if anyone has questions, keep them coming.  I am a college student who spends lots of time on my computer, so I check in here almost every day*.  I'll do my best to get back to you as soon as I can.

 

*The first week of August I'll be camping in Yellowstone, so I'm not sure what my internet access will look like.

Edited July 27, 2015 by KoiPwned

[davor]

Shhhh don't tell them I'm interested until everything is written in blood... ere stone.... Uhhh paint?

 

I'm here to fill a slot if Koi can't find enough people. Ravenloft was always a setting I want to play. But there are a bunch of games im in.

[KoiPwned]

Oh um... PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!

 

*shifty eyes*

 

Also, no pressure if anyone doesn't want to paint. Just a thought.

[dsmiles]

Oooo...yeah, I don't need an EXCUSE for an exchange. I'm totally down for those.