5E-Ravenloft - Hour of the Knife (Inactive)

Game Master Dennis Harry

Hi All,
I'm a relative newcomer to the boards, but long time lurker and I've been RPG'ing for over 20 years.

I stumbled across some of my Ravenloft stuff not long ago, and would love to run some stuff again.

Contemplating working up a campaign starting with Hour of the Knife, converted and fudged over to 5E.

If anyone fancies building a character the creation rules are as follows:

3rd Level
No outright restrictions on races/classes (though if it's not from one of the standard sources, point my in the direction) but I don't feel monster races fit the setting, so you'd have to convince me. Also HotK is exclusively city based, so you may want to build accordingly.

Gear: You start with normal gear (as a 1st level character), plus a single "common" magic item (which amounts to Potion of Healing, Potion of Climbing, or a Cantrip or 1st level spell scroll) or single piece or normal gear costing 250gp or less.

Religion: You can be of any religion you want (real-world or DnD world) and assume you've either a non-native of Paridon, or your family where from elsewhere at some point and have passed it down.

The only Paridon specific religion is "the divinity of mankind" which is an ascetic religion mostly practiced by monks, Priests can pick whichever domain they like and skew it as their own personal focus. Primary domains will be Knowledge & Life.

DMG Rules I'm using:
Fear & Horror:
Fear is a Wisdom save, frightened for 1 minute on fail, ending the effect on save at the end of of your turns.
Horror: Horror is a Charisma save, on a fail you suffer some kind of Madness (temporarily).

Firearms:
Renaissance Firearms & explosives are available, but rare, and are treated as Martial Ranged Weapons, stats in the DMG p268. Pistols cost 250gp so you can take one as your bonus item if you wish.

Ooooh, I've always heard of Ravenloft, but never had a chance to experience it. I'll probably be making a character. :D

EDIT: Two questions, though:
1) Will combat rely on maps?
2) What's the expected rate of posting?

I have never played in this setting, would you describe it more?

Dotting...will build a 3rd level rogue assassin for submittal.

3) What's the preferred method of stat generation?

Interested, Ravenloft is a fun setting. I agree non-humans are gonna have a hard way to go tiflings, Dragonborn and even half orcs are likely to be burned by angry mobs. I am unsure how the GM is handling it, but guys I would avoid dark magic, necromancy blood, anything that messes with folks minds and the warlock. Those of us who know ravenloft know why :)

Questions:
I prefer using Maps, personally, keeps things clearer in my mind (plus we've always used maps IRL, going back to 2nd ed AD&D.

Expected rate of Posting: Probably 1/day, though I'm fairly easy going. Combat I'd like to keep the rate up a bit, but if you want to put a tactics post in your profile it'll help me keep you running if someone's holding things up.

Setting: Paridon will be the starting area, it's basically a semi-Victorian London/Paris setting engulfed in ever-present mist. There's an awesome netbook on the Fraternity of Shadows here, it's for 3/.5E but the only rules are at the back.
Ravenloft in general is a collection of "domains" loosely linked across a demiplane, each focusing on one particular aspect of horror or archetypical darklord.

Stat Generation: 4d6 drop lowest 6 times, if you roll appallingly you can do 27 point buy as per the PHB.

Feats and Variant Humans are both allowed.

SeekerofShadowlight is referring to rule(?) about dark magics and powerful evil acts drawing the attention of the Darklords, which I may use to a point, but I'm not putting any explicitly defined rules for it.

Toying with using Lingering Injuries, but I'll probably ask for a group consensus on that once a group is assembled.

4d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 5, 1) = 15
4d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 2, 2) = 10
4d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 1, 2) = 10
4d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 3, 5) = 14
4d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 4, 2) = 11
4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 5, 6) = 20

I will definitely be using the 27 point buy with those rolls.

Questions:

I prefer using Maps, personally, keeps things clearer in my mind (plus we've always used maps IRL, going back to 2nd ed AD&D.

I'm likely to do half or more of my posting from work, where every mapping solution I've ever seen anyone try has been filtered. Would you anticipate that being a problem? Or do you think it could be workable if I'm only able to see the map once in a while and just describe my actions?

I'll go ahead and roll some stats, just in case this still works out:
4d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 6, 2) = 14 13
4d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 1, 1) = 10 9
4d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 1, 5) = 17 16
4d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 6, 5) = 20 16
4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 2, 4) = 13 11
4d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 5, 6) = 15 13
Wow, that's just begging for a human...

4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 2, 1) = 10 9
4d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 3, 1) = 11 10
4d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 2, 5) = 16 14
4d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 5, 3) = 16 13
4d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 2, 2) = 6 5
4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 6, 6) = 21 18

Yeah I'll take the point buy if allowed.

This is Filios, and I am presenting Marco Andrezi, Male Human Rogue (Criminal) Assassin. I just wanted to identify the avatar and create the alias. I will finish the profile tomorrow.

4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 4, 4) = 174d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 1, 3) = 64d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 6, 3) = 204d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 5, 4) = 144d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 1, 4) = 114d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 4, 3) = 17

14 5 17 13 10 14

I don't think anything there makes up for the 5. Although a 19 and three 14s after racials is close. I'll think about what I'd like to build before asking for point buy.

Dotting. I've been craving some Ravenloft for a while and I'd like to see how 5e handles it.

This would be interesting--I've been enjoying 5E so far and I'd love to get a chance at Ravenloft.

4d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 3, 6) = 19 16
4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 5, 6) = 18 16
4d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 4, 4) = 16 12
4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 3, 4) = 14 12
4d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 4, 6) = 14 13
4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 6, 2) = 19 17

Well alright. I'd been thinking about playing a dwarf, but those numbers almost want a human for the odds there... or a half-elf. I'll definitely cook something up and get back to you though.

4d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 6, 2) = 15 13
4d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 2, 5) = 15 13
4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 5, 1) = 13 12
4d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 4, 5) = 12 11
4d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 5, 2) = 17 15
4d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 3, 1) = 9 8

HMMMM...that's an interesting array...

Jiggy: I'll try not to rely too heavily on maps, but I like having something to reference positions. Don't let it put you off.

Someone has generated a 5th Ed Ravenloft conversion PDF document over on the WOTC forums. DEFINETELY worth you looking up and downloading.

May I suggest a different approach to horror? Something that was suggested also on the Wotc forums?

It is important to note that fear and horror are different things, the latter being a deeper sort of emotion that has a lasting impact on a person. Fear is something that passes after the event. Horror is something that sticks with you. Too much exposure can change a person and ultimately drive them insane.

When the DM calls for a horror check, make a saving throw. The DM will set the save and save DC based on the situation. If the scene of horror represents some corruption of your established ideal, you make the save with advantage. If it somehow plays into your established flaw, you make the save with disadvantage.

Horror checks are much the same as death saves, with a maximum of 3 horror points. 3 Check boxes can be added to your character sheet if you wish.

Accumulating Horror Points: If you accumulate 3 Horror Points, you must make another Saving Throw. If you succeed you can you fight off the horror for just a bit longer, remaining at 3 horror… If you fail, you reset Horror to 0 but replace a trait, ideal, or bond with a flaw based on a corruption of the given trait, ideal, or bond. Horror then resets to 0.

So let’s take the example of Red Creek Rufus - a druid.

Traits: I place no stock in wealthy or well-mannered folk. Money and manners won’t save you from a hungry owlbear.
Ideal: Nature. The natural world is more important than all the constructs of civilization. (Neutral)
Bond: An injury to the unspoiled wildnerness of my home is an injury to me.
Flaw: I am too enamored of ale, wine, and other intoxicants.

After accruing 3 Horror and based on the context of the game thus far, he decides that civilization is an actively corrupting influence on the world. He replaces his ideal with a flaw: “Civilization is the root of all evil and it is time for deliverance.” His Horror resets to zero. Next time he accrues 3 Horror, he replaces his trait with “I hate wealthy and well-mannered folk – they’re the ones responsible for civilization.” Horror resets to 0. Finally, he acquires another 3 Horror and replaces his bond with “All civilization is an injury to me.” At this point, he’s done and becomes a villain or the like, getting drunk all the time, killing wealthy or noble people in an effort to bring down civilization.

Alternatively the player can replace the trait, ideal or bond with a minor insanity or phobia. Aversion, Revulsion, Obsession, Senseless Rage, Mental Shock, and Fear-struck are the six choices to Role Play the effects of failed horror saves.

When you no longer have traits, ideals, or bonds and only flaws, you give into insanity and despair. This may lead to the character being retired or becoming suicidal.

The effect of this is a longer-term descent into madness

4d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 2, 6) = 15 13
4d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 6, 1) = 19 18
4d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 3, 2) = 9 7
4d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 5, 5) = 17 15
4d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 3, 4) = 15 12
4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 3, 1) = 14 13

And on that happy note, here is my rolls.

Are you allowing the new races in the expanded release - goliath Gensai etc? Tieflings?. I seem to remember non humans getting a lot of xenophobia in Barovia etc.

How are you on custom backgrounds? Or tweaking existing backgrounds, traits bonds etc?

Enworld has some great ideas on custom backgrounds

http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?1883-Fan-Content-Database

I am thinking a martial type of character.

Two choices I am going with is either a twit noble - a natural athlete who got through his education in spite of his natural stupidity. "I'm a duffer at Mordentish - no head for books at Hugglestone but show me a boxing ring and I'm your man what?"

I quite like the idea there.

Or a bodyguard/servant type - would need to build off another players background

Question. If its victorian london-ish then how is heavy armour like chainmail factored in?

Maybe a duellist bard even...

Allowing pretty much anything, favoring more standard races, if it's not on one of the wotc books/pdfs then at least point me towards it.

I'm open to custom/tweaked backgrounds.

This would appear to be the D&D5E Ravenloft conversion Helaman pointed out.

Heavy Armour may give disadvantage on social rolls, depending on the situation, though you could probably get away with chainmail outdoors with a heavy enough overcoat.

Anyone that takes a race such as Half-Orc, Goliath or similar will be called a Caliban by the common folk and get Disadvantage on many social rolls. Aaracokra and Dragonborn will probably be treated as outright monsters, unless they can prove otherwise.

Love Ravenloft! First time I've heard of Paridon, I'll check out the netbook. I'm hoping to play a spell caster, maybe Warlock or Sorcerer.

Let's see what my stats he to say on the matter.

4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 2, 5) = 17 15
4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 3, 1) = 11 10
4d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 1, 2) = 6 5
4d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 6, 6) = 22 18
4d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 5, 6) = 15 13
4d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 2, 3) = 10 9

Wow, all over the place! Thinking strength and wisdom would take the hits. Maybe a feeble, half sane warlock?

Certainly interested, huge fan of Ravenloft.

4d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 6, 2) = 1312
4d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 4, 3) = 1512
4d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 1, 4) = 1110
4d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 6, 4) = 1615
4d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 5, 1) = 1514
4d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 4, 2) = 98

I know that Hour of the Knife is set in a location which has a London feel to it. I think I will go with a Bard. Should have something up tonight for consideration. I have never played a Bard before in a game so that should be an interesting build for me.

Marco is complete and ready for consideration.

My Bard Submission:

(This is Auric Angelesblood's submission for consideration)

Meet Emil Ludovich, 3rd level Barbarian. Strong, a little simple, deeply misuderstood.

I'll have stats posted tomorrow, wife and I are in moving hell.

When are applications closing out? I want to see what gap is needed to be filled before I submit.

Completed
Marco Andrezi: Human Criminal Rogue (Assasin)
Wyatt Kyros (Storyteller Shadow): Human Sage Bard (Lore)

Concepted
Emil Ludovich: Human? Barbarian

Leaving open until Weds 27th, then spending a few days for people to firm up characters, establish any pre-existing relationships and let me see if I need to make any further adjustments to the adventure to fit the party, hoping to start on Monday 1st Jun.

If we're short on completed submissions by Weds I might extend a little, but I'd like to start Jun 1st, even if it ends up being just the 2/3 above.

Since we're in one of the more technologically advanced domains to start with, I'd like to open up firearms a little more.

Bard and Rogues may swap out hand crossbow proficiency for pistols, Folk Hero, Sailor and Soldier backgrounds can choose pistol or musket as a proficiency.

Finally (hopefully) I've touched on this in the past, but some spells will not work all the time, particularly looking at Divination, Necromancy, Summoning and 'teleport' type spells, I am not going to disallow them, or say they never work but sometimes their effects may be... unexpected.

Ravenloft is cut off from any other planes, so anything that delves with other planes will at best, contact a Ravenloftian dark reflection of that plane. I will look through sheets before we start and if any spells raise concerns I will let you know.

Ooooh - I think I have what I want - if we are going Victorian that is... incidently I don't have any online references to this particular dark realm so I am just going to base it off the Victorian era.

Back in a bit

Helaman here - Meet Cornet Dunstan Gossington-Gorth (of the HighGate Gorths on my Mothers side). An officer and a gentleman.

Background to be written up but it will be that of a minor noble soldier (I took one of the soldiers flaws instead of a noble one).

He'll have been recently moved to 'Reserve' listing (and half pay) after being involved in a semi-famous fight where a lot of soldiers were killed. He has become something of a public figure as a hero from the battle but there are darker aspects to that he'd prefer to keep secret. In spite of his noble background his family has fallen on hard times and is in debt (though not to the degree of being scandalously so), leaving Dunstan to make his own way in life and make his own money. He has inherited a suit of chainmail from his grandfather that he keeps. His military rank is minor as his family has not had money enough to purchase a promotion

His reputation, for the moment, remains spotless. Brave, a good horseman, stout blade and crack pistol shot he is a 'Man of Action' who thinks in simple direct terms. If a sword or bullet isn't called for then he'll fall back to the noble art of fisticuffs.

I will play him as a noble hero of the British empire type.

DM - you may need to PM on stuff I should know or use in my background. I was considering a military position similar to the the British royal family's ' Royal Horse Guards' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues_and_Royals) with rank as Cornet (lowest officer rank in Calvary)

I just hope we get enough players to run the game. I put in a fair whack of thought into this one.

I'll get started on my Warlock tomorrow, I'll probably go human. Wish the warlock class was in the free pdf, I'd like to start on it now, but my PHB is at home.

Zherisia Gazetteer has some information on Paridon (Zherisia is two linked domains, Paridon is the city above while Timor is the depths below the city.

Note that realm does not extend beyond the city, there are just mists where the countryside should be, and eerie dark roads leading to other realms.

Horses will be limited as feeding them is an issue with no farm or grasslands of note. That said the noble cavalryman is enough of an archetype that I'm sure we can make it work.

Thanks, I may adjust Background in the profile slightly to reflect Gazetteer, but I think it was general enough to work.

Zherisia Gazetteer has some information on Paridon (Zherisia is two linked domains, Paridon is the city above while Timor is the depths below the city.

Note that realm does not extend beyond the city, there are just mists where the countryside should be, and eerie dark roads leading to other realms.

Horses will be limited as feeding them is an issue with no farm or grasslands of note. That said the noble cavalryman is enough of an archetype that I'm sure we can make it work.

Wow - that is amazingly depressing from a number of angles when I read the gazetteer - kudos to the writers. I thought barovia was bad... That said I'll go with noble soldier and skip the Calvary part. Will also change the flaw to something more fitting.

Sod it - I'll keep the Calvary part. I imagine that the realm still maintains SOME of them - just a very small, select number.

Still here, still thinking about what to roll up. I was first thinking a Rogue, but that's covered. Then I considered a Fighter, and that's taken as well. I've played a lot of Warlocks, and I thought I might do that, when what do I see in the thread!

I'm just kidding around here, all the characters presented so far look great. I'm just flustered and thinking of what to build. I might make a monk and spin him as being more of a rough-and-tumble fistfighter than a mystic martial artist. Ki is more like tricks up his sleeve, dirty fighting, that sort of thing. He'd go Open Hand. As long as that sounds fine, I think I'll get to building him.

That Gazzateer discusses a Monk order in Paris on :-)

Some divine focus wouldn't hurt.

I know there's been some variation, but there is some interaction between domains. It's probably more the case the officers are mounted for infantry units, as per a lot of medieval through Napoleonic era warfare, rather than Paridon having standing cavalry.

Monk sounds good, and as per Gazetteer, there is an order of monks/priests who believe in 'The Divinity of Mankind' which is a ascetic order dedicated to achieving divinity through mental and physical perfection.

Alternatively I'm sure there's several fighting rings, whether legitimate boxing or bare-knuckle pit-fights.

That Gazzateer discusses a Monk order in Paris on :-)

Meant Peridon stupid spell check....

i have updated Marco's background, placing him as a denizen of Blackchapel.

God idea Marco, I will do the same for my submission once I get a chance!

Just wanted to give some praise for doing your part to keep Ravenloft alive. May the mists be in your favor good sir.

Think I will have Wyatt grow up in Shadewell as his parents were Clerics and as they passed he had to move to the Southshore as his finance became tight.

I'll have Dunstan be boarding with one of the families of Shadewell. 'Reduced' circumstances and all that.

Jam412 here. This is Khalid de la Poer, purveyor of old books and curiosities. He runs a shop in the Southshore district.

I intended to finish up his sheet over the weekend, but the holiday ended up being busier than I anticipated. Working on it now.

Alex, would it be okay to say that he is half vistani and just use human stats? If not, no biggie.

Half-Vistani can use human stats or you can use the rules here, whichever you prefer. I've never been entirely convinced that half-vistani are different enough to need their own race, but I'll accept either.

Looks like we've got:

Completed (or close)
Marco Andrezi: Human Criminal Rogue (Assasin)
Wyatt Kyros (Storyteller Shadow): Human Sage Bard (Lore)
Dunstan Gossington-Gorth (Helaman): Human Solder Fighter (Champion)
Khalid de la Poer (Jam412): Human/half-vistani Warlock

Concepted
Emil Ludovich: Human? Barbarian
Loup-Blanc: monk?

Going to go over the submissions tomorrow, so there's about 10 hours to get at least interest posted, then I'm closing for new submissions.

Going to take no more than six.

Hey, gang. Moving hell continues apace, I need to bow out of this process. Can't wait to see the play by play online!

Still here, still thinking monk. Human. He'll be a member of the Apex of Experience order. I'm gonna try and get him statted up tonight and tomorrow morning, should get him posted. Please don't let it keep you from considering me! I'd be very interested in playing, I've just been busy at work lately and haven't had time to build the character up and hash out a good backstory.

Okay, officially closing for submissions.

Consider all five of you accepted, I'll begin going over your characters for any glaring errors and potential issues. Loup Blanc if you can get the basics up, I usually allow changes to characters in the first few "sessions" in real life, so if anyone realises they need to change something even during play just mention it and I'm sure it'll be fine.

Should be starting this up on Monday, all being well.