Bandit_CAB's page

The Van Richten guides are great for fluff material. They have very little in the way of actual game mechanics and are written in Van Richten's own voice, with footnotes provided by his nieces. The books are chock full of anecdotes that illustrate his trials and tribulations with each of the gothic monsters.

Most are collected into the Monster Hunters compendiums and remain to this day some of my favorite RP books. They are still on my game shelf long after the rest of my 2nd ed stuff got boxed away in the garage.

PS The Pathfinder Novel "Prince of Wolves" takes place in Ustalav, and is not a bad read.

A couple things I do are more tone related than rules related.

No magic shops: Magic is rare and valuable, no one sells it. If someone were interested in setting up a shop, the persons wealthy enough to purchase magic would be too rare to make it a viable business. To balance this out, a local alchemist or apothecary can sell healing droughts, as this is more subtle magic.

Obvious Magic is Scary: Normal people run away when someone can shoot flames from their hands, or transform into a bird. Some people might even form a posse complete with pitch forks and torches.