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View Full Version : Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Houserules/rules to improve a sense of horror



Gerion
2010-03-23, 07:48 PM
Hi,
we are going to run Expedition to Castle Ravenloft this weekend (we're starting the long Campaign)

I'm going to be the gm.
I thought about some Houserules and wanted to ask if you think they are okay and if you know some others that would improve the sense of horror

-> Taking away the to hit rolls, damage rolls and the Hitpoints in "Boss encounters", every time they fight Strahd or something that isn't a Zombie i will make all the dice rolls and just describe the Combat, and they describe what they want to to. The idea is that they couldn't do the math and say ok he has to have an Ac of 30 so i hit him on a roll of 8, so i can make a +5 power attack.

-> Using the taint rules from herros of horror

-> detect alingment only works for law and chaos, the rest has to be an educated guess by the players.

-> spells with the evil descriptor or something inherently evil will have bad consequences for the players (increased taint or something still working on this.)

thats all that comes to my mind right now, commentaris or some advices?

Myou
2010-03-23, 08:00 PM
I'd suggest making your own taint rules, the existing ones are pretty lame. But that's just me. :smallyuk:
Never mind the broken stuff you could do with them.


Don't take away their die rolls, that's boring and frustrating for players - they just sit and watch you play the game.


The detect change seems ufair, may a well just remove detect abilities altogether. No-one cares about law vs chaos, this is just a soft ban.


Best thing to do is give good description, try reading some horror writing/watching horror films. :smallsmile:

Maerok
2010-03-23, 08:32 PM
For hiding a boss's AC, you could use 1d20 + mod rather than 10 + mod. This will keep them guessing. My group does this for all AC and I think it really minimizes the whole baddy-AC-tracking that players may tend to do.

DeltaEmil
2010-03-23, 08:36 PM
Rolling AC is just going to make rolling more tedious and wasting more time than necessary. And what's wrong with players knowing that they can and should hit at a fixed AC?

deuxhero
2010-03-23, 08:54 PM
Be sure to look over what spells actually deserve [evil] on them.

Is seeing a targets HP (deathwatch) evil?
Is bending raw energy to create a lifeform (animate dead) evil? Is enslaving a sapient being to create a lifeform evil? (Golems, and oddly, no it is not)

CapnVan
2010-03-24, 07:26 AM
Hi,
we are going to run Expedition to Castle Ravenloft this weekend (we're starting the long Campaign)

I'm going to be the gm.
I thought about some Houserules and wanted to ask if you think they are okay and if you know some others that would improve the sense of horror

If you can get hold of any of the Ravenloft core books before then, most of them include techniques specifically for this.


-> Taking away the to hit rolls, damage rolls and the Hitpoints in "Boss encounters", every time they fight Strahd or something that isn't a Zombie i will make all the dice rolls and just describe the Combat, and they describe what they want to to. The idea is that they couldn't do the math and say ok he has to have an Ac of 30 so i hit him on a roll of 8, so i can make a +5 power attack.

I'd recommend against taking their dice away - it feels cheesy, and it takes the players at least partly out of the action. They're going to feel it's unfair, I think. It also lets them know when they're fighting a Boss. And why would they need to know that? Mrrrrhahaha!

Instead, don't use mechanics as descriptors. Allow them to roll, but don't tell them anything beyond whether they've hit or missed. Don't mention DC, or AC, etc. The same when describing damage, both to them and their opponents. Keep track of the player's HP for them, and only indicate in a general way "how horrifically the gravedirt-encrusted claws of the mindless unliving have torn into the seemingly worthless leather of your armor," etc.




-> Using the taint rules from herros of horror

-> detect alingment only works for law and chaos, the rest has to be an educated guess by the players.

-> spells with the evil descriptor or something inherently evil will have bad consequences for the players (increased taint or something still working on this.)

thats all that comes to my mind right now, commentaris or some advices?

Again, anything from Ravenloft will have ideas for you, specifically on dealing with the use of evil spells, detection of evil, etc.

Other ideas - seemingly random rolls - "Make a Spot check... Hmm, OK, you notice nothing unusual."

Don't identify opponents as, say, werewolves. "In the darkness, you can barely make out the huge forms of what might be slavering wolves" Let them decide what they are.

You don't need to kill them to scare them - a character that disappears, even if he comes back, can be far more frightening, if handled properly.

Just some thoughts. Have fun!

DeltaEmil
2010-03-24, 07:53 AM
How would the players even know if the effect takes place or they have to roll damage if they hit or not? Don't make rolling tedious and a waste of time, people.
Just because the players might know that encounter-monster x has an AC of 30 and a will-save of +12 doesn't make it less dangerous for them if they're still not that high-level.
Also, I frankly hope that the GM doesn't cheat too much in favor of the monsters.

Gerion
2010-03-24, 11:48 AM
Also, I frankly hope that the GM doesn't cheat too much in favor of the monsters.

Well since i'm the Gm, i wouldn't cheat more than the standart fudged roll.

@capnVan: expect the taint rules it is all from the Ravenloft dmg, my question was more like if i use the rules from there would you join the campaign?

thanks for the input so far, but if someone has more to add feel free to do so.

Fitz10019
2010-03-24, 11:54 AM
After they're healed (to full HPs), tell someone his wound is still "runny." Every once in a while, tell him it's dripping more or less than usual.

CapnVan
2010-03-25, 02:27 PM
@capnVan: expect the taint rules it is all from the Ravenloft dmg, my question was more like if i use the rules from there would you join the campaign?

Apologies for any miscommunication. I'm not sure what you mean. The taint rules in Heroes of Horror are similar, although not exactly the same, as those you can find in the various Ravenloft supplements.

If you're asking, would as, I as one of your potential players, feel comfortable playing in this campaign? I think if you explain that the group may be playing in a somewhat different manner, in an effort to enhance the experience, then sure! You said that you're starting the campaign - it's the perfect opportunity to sit everyone down and go over the basics, most specifically, in the way that you'll be DMing in a different way than your group is used to.

I'm a big believer that everyone ought to buy in to a change at the beginning. I think, as long as you explain that you feel this is for the best for this particular campaign, and everyone specifically agrees to go along, you shouldn't have any problems.

Please correct me if I've missed the point of your question.

Aik
2010-03-26, 01:44 AM
D&D strikes me as a poor fit for a horror game, seeing the general idea is to become powerful heroes and such. It's empowering, and tactical combat mechanics aren't very mood-inspiring.

That said ... I would remove levelling. Unless this is from-the-villain's perspective horror, the characters are probably victims. Getting more and more powerful until you can beat the bad guys seems against that.

I would probably tweak the rules for dying, so that you can throw horrendous stuff at them without them just karking it the first time. Zero HP could represent ... I don't know - perhaps an escape where something important is lost. If the characters have established relationships, perhaps one of these characters dies because of the PC's failure here? Or some kind of plot-specific thing happens.

At any rate, death wouldn't be what happens the first time you hit 0 HP, because that would suck. Perhaps the third time and you're dead for real, and each time the consequence gets worse? Combat should be a last resort for the desperate.

This probably isn't the sort of game you're looking for at all, so just ignore me, I guess :p Horror where you fight monsters instead of flee from them seems unlikely to be very horrific though ... unless you're turning into a monster yourself in the process, but D&D is even less suited to that.