Quote from: Piestrio;592551What is the best introduction to Ravenloft?

What's cool about it?

The Van Richten's Guides for 2e. They had so many cool ways to make classic villainous creatures cool and interesting.

QuoteWhat's lame?

Setting tie-ins.

Caesar Slaad's reply made me realise I didn't answer the OP's specific questions.

Quote from: Piestrio;592551What is the best introduction to Ravenloft?

The Red Box, otherwise known as Ravenloft Campaign Setting

Quote from: Piestrio;592551What's cool about it?

Aside from everything? See my previous post for cool products, but as to the setting itself, the atmosphere. It has a very different vibe from regular D&D, and it lends itself well to creating real fear and horror (in the "watching a scary movie" sense) in your players. Engendering those emotions in a bunch of hardened, jaded roleplayers is one of the most satisfying DMing experiences I've ever had.

Quote from: Piestrio;592551What's lame?

A bunch of the published material. No, really. As good as some of it was, some of it was off-the-charts abysmal. There are also lots of things to watch for, lest your Ravenloft games become lame. Like every adventure being about "kill the local Darklord" or similar. Like incessant horror without interlude, inoculating players to its effect. Like "weekend in hell" syndrome. It can actually be tricky to keep a Ravenloft campaign from breaking down for various reasons, and I think this is why I've seen so many people claim that it always breaks down (which is rubbish).

Quote from: Piestrio;592551What's the one must have Ravenloft product?

Aside from the Red Box? Van Richten's Guide to either Vampires or Ghosts.

Quote from: Piestrio;592551What's the one must have Ravenloft product?

Why, I6 Ravenloft of course.

Other than that, I have to second Feast of Goblyns. I never used Ravenloft as a "domain of dread", its own campaign setting, but I transplanted Feast... to a regular setting (Greyhawk).

What I really liked about the whole RL line was Stephen Fabian. His illustrations are absolutely stunning.

Quote from: Caesar Slaad;592681The Van Richten's Guides for 2e. They had so many cool ways to make classic villainous creatures cool and interesting..

Seconded

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;592761Why, I6 Ravenloft of course.

Other than that, I have to second Feast of Goblyns. I never used Ravenloft as a "domain of dread", its own campaign setting, but I transplanted Feast... to a regular setting (Greyhawk).

What I really liked about the whole RL line was Stephen Fabian. His illustrations are absolutely stunning.

Yep. I6 remains the original and the best.

Quote from: Bobloblah;592675The Created was also excellent, but I will warn you right now that it has a serious railroad in the middle that the adventure hangs on. This is the adventure that originally convinced me that not all railroading was bad. The players I've run through it loved it, and many had that truly rare reaction during an RPG: fear! They could not have cared less that they were briefly railroaded. Obviously, if such a thing is absolutely antithetical to your players, steer clear (although my players would have said it was to them, too).
.

I had a similar reaction to the created. Ran it twice in the 90s andit went well. Ran it recently again, and therailroading was surprisingly eavy handed (and there are a couple of instances in the book where it really creates problems).

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;592780I had a similar reaction to the created. Ran it twice in the 90s andit went well. Ran it recently again, and therailroading was surprisingly eavy handed (and there are a couple of instances in the book where it really creates problems).

Interesting. I haven't run that module for nearly a decade now, but it wasn't as if I was new when I originally ran it; nor were my players. Having said that, I agree that it railroads, hence the reason for the cautionary notes in my recommendation of it. It has still been exceedingly well received every time I've run it.

I'll also chime in on the awesomeness of Fabian's art. It's a key part of the aesthetic of the setting for me. Good for mood setting, too, when it can be used in game.

What is the best introduction to Ravenloft?

The origional module called 'Ravenloft' and or 'Feast of Goblyns"


What's cool about it?

A setting that uses Horror as a theme is cool to me.


What's lame?

Players that know too much about the setting



What's the one must have Ravenloft product?

I really loved Van Richten's Guide to the Ancient Dead

Quote from: Piestrio;592551What is the best introduction to Ravenloft?

What's cool about it?

What's lame?

What's the one must have Ravenloft product?

Best introduction: a low-level adventure in either Darkon, Barovia or Falkovnia (IMO)

Cool: rules on fear, terror, etc.; the atmosphere of the setting

Lame: too many different eras are represented within the setting (à la Forgotten Realms, but even worse) and some of the lords of the domains are hardly original

Must have product: just the basic set

Quote from: Piestrio;592551What is the best introduction to Ravenloft?

What's cool about it?

What's lame?

What's the one must have Ravenloft product?

I like either the 2e Domains of Dread or the White Wolf core books, because I prefer it as its own setting over "a weekend in Hell".

I like the Gothic horror aspects. The villains lurking in the shadows, the ever-present monsters...Paladins standing out like a sore thumb...gypsies that give you fortune readings that may just be them sending you to your doom...the constant threat of corruption if you don't stay on the side of the angels...

The rough fit of the D&D system with the Ravenloft setting, IMO.

Nightmare Lands. That boxed set is the only time the Nightmare Lands are ever explained in any kind of detail.

Quote from: mcbobbo;592612I like the 3e book, and would recommend it for a one-stop.

What did you guys dislike about it?

The fact that it doesn't provide complete information; it doesn't actually explain the settings, or tell you who the dark lords are of each place.  Its crippleware.

RPGPundit

Quote from: Lynn;592657As each edition came out, it seemed like you were passing from one hell into the next. I never ran it that way. Darklords shouldn't be a part of day to day life, but they should cast a terrible shadow, so to speak.

I think that's an important clarification; Ravenloft isn't supposed to be "What If...Sauron won the War of the Ring?", so much as each of the Darklords is each land's "dirty little secret". It's supposed to be dark and romantic, filled with beautiful imagery, but something terrible lies below the waters...

I think it can and should be a bit of both; the thing is each domain of dread is meant to represent a particular type of horror story; and some of them are very openly horrific places to be in because they emulate that kind of horror story, while others are places that look nice but have an undercurrent of darkness or corruption, because they emulate a different kind of horror.

RPGPundit

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;592772Seconded

Thirded.

Quote from: RPGPundit;594705I think it can and should be a bit of both; the thing is each domain of dread is meant to represent a particular type of horror story; and some of them are very openly horrific places to be in because they emulate that kind of horror story, while others are places that look nice but have an undercurrent of darkness or corruption, because they emulate a different kind of horror.

RPGPundit

Definitely.

Some of the Domains should SCREAM "Do not step foot here!" while others should seem perfectly nice and harmless...at first...