GM Haladir's I6: Castle Ravenloft (Inactive)

Game Master Haladir

Campaign site on Obsidian Portal

Player maps:

Castle Ravenloft (main floor)
Castle Ravenloft (third floor)
Castle Ravenloft (fourth floor)
Castle Ravenloft (fifth & sixth floors) <---Party Location

Castle Ravenloft Exteriors

Map: Village of Barovia

PC Status
Countessa hp 33/38; 2 Hero Points
Damion hp 37/58; 2 Hero Points
Petracleus hp 32/45; 2 Hero Points
Theodora hp 58/58; 2 hero Points
Verran hp 22/36; 2 Hero Points

Party NPC Status
Celowyn hp 36/47
Ireena hp 20/49

Active Buffs: none


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M Human Cleric 6 | hp 36/36

Same, though I'd also be ok with a "private recruitment" if we do decide to get folks. I know a few people that might be interested.


Your humble narrator

i totally agree with private recruitment. I have a few people in mind to ask as well.

As for roles, Merick had been the "fighter," and Aymehn had been a "wildcard."

If we do want to proceed with just the four players, I have something in mind as a replacement for the "fighter" role...


Your humble narrator

So, if we do want to recruit some new blood... one player or two?


Fighter 3 / Bard 3, AC20 / T15 / FF15, F+5, R+8, W+4 (+5 vs Fear), HP17/45, Bardic Performance 11/11 Human Received the Forge Card.

Aim for two... But one's fine?

Grand Lodge

Human Expert 6

Fine by me


Female Human Wizard 6 || HP 25/38 || AC 12 (16 w/mage armor)/11 Tch/11 FF (15 w/mage armor) || F+2 R+3 W+6 || CMB +3 CMD 15 (14 FF) || Perception +5

Works for me.


Fighter 3 / Bard 3, AC20 / T15 / FF15, F+5, R+8, W+4 (+5 vs Fear), HP17/45, Bardic Performance 11/11 Human Received the Forge Card.

So GM, were you inspird by Wizards announcing the 5E version of Ravenloft?

Here.

How's the recruitment going? Anything we need to do in advance of restarting? (beyond a quick re-read of the Gameplay thread)


Male Human Techie 2 / Bureaucrat 6

I haven't yet sent out any PMs to potential players.

I did review the applicants from the original Recruitment thread, and it doesn't look like any of the runners-up are still posting on the boards.

I am planning to send out the following PM to a handful of people...

* * *

Hi!

Last year, I started running a Pathfinder conversion of the classic AD&D module I6: Ravenloft by Tracy and Laura Hickman. I had to put the campaign on hiatus last fall, but my schedlule has opened up enough to re-start it.

Four of six players are still around, but two of my players have disappeared from the boards.

I'm looking to replace the two players. I was wondering if you would be interested in joining the game?

The party currently consists of:

Petracleus, male human bard 5
Countessa, female human wizard (universalist) 5
Daimon, male half-orc rogue 4/fighter 1
Verran, male human cleric of Pharasma 5

The missing players were running a fighter and a druid; we could use another front-line fighter, and another secondary healer type.

Character creation guidelines.

(TL; DR: Core only; 20-point buy; 5th level; two Traits from the Character Traits Web Supplement, plus one bonus feat selected from a short list.)

I would be introducing your character (and getting rid of the two old ones) in the very next scene, so you would get to pretty much jump right in. I would also approve you deciding to make your own version of one of the existing characters.

Please let me know if you're interested!

* * *

Any last-minutes thoughts before I send this out? Does anyone have anyone they'd like to send out an invite to?


Fighter 3 / Bard 3, AC20 / T15 / FF15, F+5, R+8, W+4 (+5 vs Fear), HP17/45, Bardic Performance 11/11 Human Received the Forge Card.

Shame no-one is still around from the original recruitment... Anyway, it looks good to me.... rather than make a recommendation, I'll simply pop a link into my games when you post it...


Male Human Techie 2 / Bureaucrat 6

I sent out four invites, and received two declines and two acceptances.

The two players who accepted are Ladie Ladlie (with whom I play in Zed's Shattered Star game), and Justin Warren, in whose Carrion Crown game I am playing.

Lady Ladlie said she tends to prefer casters, and Justin was interested in bringing in a paladin.

If you all are okay with these new players, I'll let them both know they're in!


Good with me


Fighter 3 / Bard 3, AC20 / T15 / FF15, F+5, R+8, W+4 (+5 vs Fear), HP17/45, Bardic Performance 11/11 Human Received the Forge Card.

Great!!! Look forward to them joining the game...


M Human Cleric 6 | hp 36/36

Sounds good to me. Aaaah a Paladin in Ravenloft...this should be fun :).


Your humble narrator

Okay... I have confirmed with Lady L and Justin that they're in, and invited them to drop into the Discussion thread to introduce themselves.

Justin said that he's rather busy this week, and won't have a chance to build the character until later in the week.

I am actually going out of town this weekend, and my ability to post may well be impacted, but I'll try my best to post daily if I can.

One other thing... I am considering introducing either Plot Twist cards or a modified version of the "Cards of Fate" mechanic from the Carrion Crown Players Guide. I like it when the PCs have something akin to Hero Points to use if things start to go pear-shaped. I'd be handing them out more like Hero Points than "one per chapter" as the Carrion Crown Players Guide recommends.

Would folks be interested in that mechanic? It would give you all a bit of a boost to use when chips are down, or if you really need to do something heroic. Ravenloft is a scary place of horror, but this isn't Call of Cthulhu, and I am expecting you to win!


Fighter 3 / Bard 3, AC20 / T15 / FF15, F+5, R+8, W+4 (+5 vs Fear), HP17/45, Bardic Performance 11/11 Human Received the Forge Card.

Sounds fun :)


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

Hello everyone! Haladir gave me the go-ahead to post here and introduce myself and so here I am. As I understand it, the other new player (Justin) is planning to bring in a paladin and so my options for what to bring are a little more open. Hal did mention that you guys are light on ranged attackers, but I thought I'd check and see if there's anything in particular that the party feels they would need or like to see before I start building a character. Even though I do have a slight preference towards casters I'm more than happy to whip up an archer ranger or whatever else seems needed. Either way, just let me know and I'm looking forward to playing with you all :)

@GM Haladir - Do I need to worry much about character background? I did see that the original 6 PCs were assumed to already be familiar with each other.


Greetings, I have indeed accepted Haladir's invitation to join the game. My current thinking is to create a paladin to cover both the front line and secondary healer roles, although if my memory serves correctly it might be difficult to maintain a good alignment in the Ravenloft setting depending on how the GM runs it. In any event, I'll try to make a character still effective between Atonements.

I'll try to have something created for perusal by the end of the week, although there's a chance I might also need the weekend with a storm coming my way.

Also, hero points sound great to me.


Your humble narrator

Welcome, Lady L!

I think I'm going to assume that your character and Justin's characters had also been traveling through Ustalav together from the other direction, and likewise ended up in a dense fog on a road in the mountains. You found yourselves at an eerie iron gate that swung open as you approached, then swung shut behind you. Once you were through the gate, the fog began to lift, and you proceeded down the road into a secluded valley...

I'll pick up the story there once we have a little more to go on.

EDIT: And ninja'd by our new player!

And welcome Justin!

The original Ravenloft module was set in a cursed valley that was cut off from the rest of the campaign world. Like many AD&D modules, the module didn't actually specify what campaign world it was set in. The whole "Demiplane of Dread" campaign setting was a later addition from the early 1990s for AD&D 2nd Edition. I'm not using any of that material at this time.

This game is firmly set in Golarion, Ustalav specifically. So, please feel free to use Golarion campaign setting information (deities, geography, etc). You are actually in Ustalav-- but in a cursed area that, for some dark and mysterious reason, doesn't let anyone leave without the consent of Strahd.


Female Human Wizard 6 || HP 25/38 || AC 12 (16 w/mage armor)/11 Tch/11 FF (15 w/mage armor) || F+2 R+3 W+6 || CMB +3 CMD 15 (14 FF) || Perception +5

[Con Mode] I have a convention in less than two weeks (March 4-6) at which I am the Game Operations Director (presiding over the game room). I will try to keep a regular pace, but if I fall behind, that's why. These last two weeks are the most hectic. Just letting everyone know.


Fighter 3 / Bard 3, AC20 / T15 / FF15, F+5, R+8, W+4 (+5 vs Fear), HP17/45, Bardic Performance 11/11 Human Received the Forge Card.

Waves at Lady Ladile / Justin L Warren

Paladin sounds like a great choice for this adventure - time to overdo the righteous indignation! As for Lady Ladile, I think you've probably got a near free hand as to what to play... What do you want to play?


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

Well, given the party composition I was thinking maybe the aforementioned archer ranger or another cleric, probably Erastilian with a bow. A druid to replace the one that you lost is also a possibility, hehe.


Your humble narrator

Any one of those options sounds good to me!

I have a little re-tooling of the game I need to do given the change in party composition, plus I'm flying to Arizona this weekend. It will probably be early next week before we actually start playing.

Justin and Lady L: When you get a chance to put together your characters, please make new aliases for them, and put together a more-or-less standard Pathfinder statblock in the alias profile. Either PM me or note in here when your character is ready.


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

Okay, will do! It will probably take me a couple of days to get everything in order as well, so starting next week works for me too.


Your humble narrator

As a complete aside, have you all noticed the Paizo Humble Bundle? >$350 of PDFs for just $25, plus a physical copy of the Beginner's Box. I bought it even though I already had more than half of the items!


I'm still working on the character, but I'll let you know when I'm ready, Haladir.


Inactive

Okay, this is Lady Ladile checking in with Celowyn, half-elven ranger from Lastwall. Everything should be done; the background is a little vague at the moment but I'll try to flesh it out a little more (names of her friends, etc.) as inspiration strikes. At any rate, feel free to give her a look and make sure I've got everything done properly!

Mechanically she's an archer ranger that will hopefully be an asset to the group. Although I know most of the time rangers and druids are better served by taking an AC, I thought I'd try something different and went for the Companion Bond instead (not to mention with 6 PCs and several other active characters of mine already having eidolons/familiars/ACs, I figured we all could do without having an extra 'person' to keep track of).


Your humble narrator

I'm still on vacation in Arizona... the Grand Canyon was amazing!

I'm leaving for home tomorrow, and will (hopefully) be able to update during my long layover in Philadelphia.


Your humble narrator

Just got home, and I got really sick on the flight. It'll be tomorrow before the next update.


Inactive

Oof, glad you had a good trip but that sucks about the flight sickness. Hope you feel better!

Also I went ahead and did the 'dot-and-delete' dance for Gameplay just so the game will show up on my Campaigns list once it officially starts up again :)


Your humble narrator

Finally back and finally healthy again!

I'll review the two new characters today, and will hopefully return to the Gameplay thread either tonight or tomorrow.

Welcome aboard everyone!


Fighter 3 / Bard 3, AC20 / T15 / FF15, F+5, R+8, W+4 (+5 vs Fear), HP17/45, Bardic Performance 11/11 Human Received the Forge Card.

Sorry DM - spamming your discussion thread for a moment!!!

I may just have done a bad thing... I've opened a recruitment thread for another game!!!

All of the games I am GM'ing at the moment (Emerald Spire, Shattered Star and Legendary Planet) are long running campaigns but it's also fun to run the occasional 'one off' adventure... having run Godsmouth Heresy (a few times!!!), Feast of Ravenmoor (admittedly inserted into my Shattered Star campaign) and Wardens of the Reborn Forge - I have decided to see if people have any interest in From Shore to Sea...

If any of you folks are interested then take a mosey over to: Here is the Recruitment Thread.

Also... Looking forward to restarting here!!!


Your humble narrator

Zed/Petracleus: As tempted as I am, I really can't afford to join any new games at this time.

Celowyn: Looks good! The only thing I might suggest that you reconsider is your choice of favored enemy. Ravenloft has a gothic horror theme... and orcs just aren't part of that theme. Undead certainly are: If you want to switch your +4 to Undead, please be my guest. As for the other favored enemy, more appropriate choices would be lycanthropes, humanoids (humans), animals, magical beasts, or evil outsiders.

Justin: Theodora looks good! In fact, looking at her backstory has made me re-think how to apply Golarion flavor onto a particular artifact you'll (hopefully) be finding. I had been planning it to be an Arodenite artifact, but I think it being Sarenite would be more on-theme...

Let me look at both of your backstories a little more, and I'll float some possibilities of how the two of you met up and found yourselves in Barovia.


Inactive

Haha okay; I'd originally taken Undead as a FE and then thought that seemed a bit metagamey given there's not really much mention of fighting against undead in her background. I'm happy to swap that around though ;)

*edit* I admit I intentionally left her background a bit vague since I wasn't sure what sort of connections might need to be in there, such as direct designation of what attacked her and her friends. Could have been any sort of nasty critter but it sounds like a vampire or werewolf would be appropriate choices.

*edit the second* Okay, changed her FEs to Undead +4 and Humanoids (Humans) +2 which is now reflected on her character profile!


Inactive

Cool beans. I'll dot the thread to make this easier to keep track of.

I've played From Shore to Sea before, it has a lot of good flavor if you like Lovecraftian themes.


Damion paces irritably, "Why are we just standing about? Let's do something!"


Your humble narrator

So, some background for the new characters...

Theodora is a former crusader who became disillusioned with the political infighting among her military unit's leadership. After refusing to participate in what she saw as a no-win situation in Shudderwood in the western reaches of the former Sarkoris, she was released from her vows as a crusader. Deciding to return to Taldor, she then journeyed southwest through Shudderwood, where she forded the Moutray River into Ustalav. Braving the horrors of Shudderwood on both sides of the river, she journeyed south through the haunted woods. On the Ustalav side of the river, the horrors of the forest became less demonic but no less evil, for the woods were rife with werewolves, undead, and Unseelie fae.

Celowyn is a ranger who had patrolled the roads of Lastwall along the Ustalav and Belkzen borders. While in the southern part of their territory, her party was attacked by...something that left her companions dead. Whatever it was fled east into Ustalav, and she tracked it through the village of Ravengro and across the moors of Canterwall into Shudderwood.

Celowyn and Theodora met while fighting the horrors of Shudderwood, and decided to team up against the darkness. The thing that Celowyn continued to track led them first to the Pharasmin holy city of Kavapesta, where the thing left a short trail of bodies. They then followed it east into the Hungry Mountains, into the branch called the Svalich Peaks.

[Continued in the Gameplay thread!]

Bottom line: Celowyn and Theodora have been traveling together in Ustalav for a few weeks now, following a trail of bodies left behind by the creature that slew Celowyn's fellow border guards.


Hello?


Your humble narrator

Sorry for disappearing. I've been flat on my back with the flu for severs days.


Inactive

Eek! No worries GM, just feel better soon!


Your humble narrator

It kind of sucked.

Actually, delete the "kind of."

I missed four days of work while my primary back-up was on vacation, so I'm now totally buried.


Inactive

Hey folks, as a heads-up I wanted to let you all know that pending a clean preemployment check (which I don't anticipate being an issue since I don't do drugs and I'm good at hiding bodies) I should be finally rejoining the workforce within the next couple of weeks. As of now I'm not sure what this will mean for my posting rate but I'll be sure to keep you updated as I learn more! :D


Your humble narrator
Celowyn wrote:
...I don't do drugs and I'm good at hiding bodies...

A friend will help you move.

A true friend will help you move a body.


Inactive

^Exactly!


Fighter 3 / Bard 3, AC20 / T15 / FF15, F+5, R+8, W+4 (+5 vs Fear), HP17/45, Bardic Performance 11/11 Human Received the Forge Card.

I don't know whether any of you have seen this?

Kickstarter for Legendary Games' "Trail of the Apprentice"

Something for Pathfinder parents - an age appropriate 'Adventure Path' with some simplified rules as well... I've got my eight year old who is an avid reader and loves playing games, but things like Carrion Hill and From Shore to Sea probably aren't so appropriate... I am hoping this is going to be a great entry point. I've backed and it's already funded so now it's really just a case of what else gets added to it...


Inactive

Hey all, I start my new job on Monday and I'm also working to readjust my sleep schedule (normally an 8a-4p shift is no big deal but when you've slipped into night owl mode...) so my own posts might be a little shorter/sparser than normal this week until I get adjusted to my new schedule. Maintaining 1/day or 'as needed' (since this seems to move at a more relaxed pace than some of my games) should still be no problem though :)


Your humble narrator

I went on a last-minute out-of-town trip over the weekend, and didn't bring my laptop. I'm playing in my IRL game tonight. I hope to move things forward tomorrow.


Your humble narrator

*sigh* I had to work through my lunch hour today, and I have tickets to see a live production of Welcome to Night Vale tonight. I probably won't get an update in today. Sorry!


Inactive

No worries GM, thanks for keeping us updated :)


Your humble narrator

Hey, folks.

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Washington DC for a few days. After tonight, I probably won't be any posts longer than a line or two until Tuesday of next week.


M Human Cleric 6 | hp 36/36

Have fun!

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