The Final session of our I6 Ravenloft adventure began with a much reduced party recuperating in the dilapidated Church of Barovia. Anthaar Zweck once a strong Danish warrior has been diminished; his skin has greyed and he has developed a limp and stoop that mar his once proud bearing. The Dastur whose Clerical powers thus far have proved to be essential in the fight against darkness is visibly aged, his life force sucked from him by the Count. The priest once magnificent beard is ragged and grey. Ulrich the dashing swashbuckler is no longer the handsome youth who entered the cursed fog, a streak of white has appeared in his hair, and wrinkles besmirch his once handsome face. Archbishop Andrei suffered the horrors of imprisonment and torture by Strahd’s vampire women. All but one of the company’s henchmen has been brutally slain, the only remaining follower is Abu the fearless Moor. As the snow fell on another grey morning in the mist filled land of Barovia the party faced a decision.
They knew they could not last much longer in this land of life draining and death. They had to make a choice, destroy the Count and release the land from the Vampires evil, or bring a willing Ireena to Strahd so that he may take her his eternal bride in darkness. Either decision would allow them to pass through the cursed fog that surrounds the land and be free of tainted Barovia once and for all.
While they pondered their decision, Ismark the Lesser berated them for returning to the village with the task of slaying the Vampire Lord unfinished. The son of the late Burgomaster accused them of misusing the relic, and demanded that if they did not intend to face Strahd they must return the relic to him. He warned Ireena against the party, and then stormed out of the church only to face a horde of Strahd zombies and immediately run back. The weary party once again took up rapier and matchlock to face the abominations of Barovia . After an opening salvo of fireballs, a fierce melee took place in the entryway of the church. The Strahd Zombies, on taking 5 points of damage break apart and independent pieces then act autonomously. Eventually a mass of dismembered arms, feet, heads , and other putrid bits all attack Mellin the Frenchman, dropping him to -5 HP. He makes a save versus death at -5 and passes, falling unconscious at 0 HP rather than dying. A renewed effort from the party finishes off the remaining abominations, and the battle is won.
After recuperating from this fight the party decided to use Ireena as a key to allow passage through Castle Ravenloft without being attacked by Strahd or his minions. With the goal of recovering the weapon which was foretold to be in the Counts Tomb, that they know lies in the lowest depths of the castle. Before they undertook this last desperate gamble however, they wanted to be certain they could rely on the holy light generated by the Relic of St. Ravenloft. Since it was used but the day before, they consulted with Father Donavitch. The Priest told them the tale of Prince Aripeti son of a local Gepid King, who defied the pagan witches of the Gepids and converted to Christianity in the 9th century. For his conversion Aripert was locked in the tower of Castle Ravenloft and tortured until death. Father Donavitch speculates that if prayers were made in the tower over the holy thigh bone its powers may be renewed. The party had their plan, and they set off for the castle once again.
They headed west across the dismal snowy lands and by mid afternoon they were on the road ascending the Balinok Mountains. Emerging from the trees, they came to a curve in the path along a cliff; standing before them was a Ghost. Everyone in the party except the Clerics (who are immune) and Nicolo the Sorcerer failed their save versus fear and aged ten years as they ran away screaming. This left the three facing a Ghost. Archbishop Andrei attempted to turn and failed, Nicolo threw a lightning bolt that passed through the apparition without harming it, and The Dastur bravely charged with his Holy Bull Mace. Nicolo was attacked by the Ghost Magic Jar spell, he felt his soul being ripped from his body, but his strength of will wrenched it back as he resisted the spell. Then the Ghost partially manifested in the material plane, forming vicious black talons on its arms as it moved forward to attack. The Priest and Wizard bravely stood and fought, Nicolo drew his magic dagger and the clerics their holy weapons. After a few rounds of missing the semi corporal ghost, the creature successfully struck Nicolo with its cold black claws. The Wizard aged thirty years, immediately becoming an old, old man of 90. At this point, the bravery appeared suicidal, and the three of them retreated to rejoin the rest of the party who had not stopped running the entire time.
Night began to fall as the company regrouped. They camped near the road in the woods at the foot of the mountains. With a Ghost blocking the path to the Castle, and the wizard now a doddering old codger, the situation seemed grim. Perhaps no longer resolved to be hero’s or perhaps just hedging their bets, Nicolo and Andrei attempted to convince Ireena that it was her duty to sacrifice herself to the Count in order to remove the curse from the land. Her spirit broke as she accepted her fate and she gave herself over to the party to be delivered to the vampire. A single wolf watched the drama from outside the campfire, and when Ireena accepted her doom, it transformed into a vampire woman and then a bat that flew off to deliver the news to the castle.
It wasn't long before the Count’s black carriage arrived with four vampire maidens to escort the bridal party to Strahd waiting in the chapel of Ravenloft.
At this point, I thought the players were genuinely going to give Ireena up, accepting the deal Strahd offered to allow them to leave if they could convince her to marry him. I prepared a suitable dowry of the castles treasures for Ulrich, Zweck and Nicolo, would have stripped the Clerics of their powers, and made Mellin the new Lord of Ravenloft. As is usual, they ended up acting contrary to my expectations…
Once they arrived at Castle Ravenloft and headed for the chapel the players stopped in the grand entry, and demanded that Ireena be allowed to pray and purify herself before she be married. The Vampire maidens seemed unsure, and one left to consult her master. It was at this moment that the party put part one of their plan into action. Ulrich the Thief who had previously been made invisible, struck off alone to descend into the lowest level of Castle Ravenloft and retrieve the Sunsword from the tomb of Strahd. At the base of the stairs, I rolled a random encounter indicating a Groaning Spirit. Since the Thief was invisible, I ruled he could pass by undetected with a move silently roll. He failed. The Groaning Spirit keened, Ulrich failed a save versus death, and died alone in the darkness of Castle Ravenloft.
This module is FULL of saves versus death. We made at least three per session. This was the only one that a player failed. Ulrich’s player was understandably upset. On the other hand, he did go off by himself in one of the nastiest dungeons in all of D&D.
While the Thief sneaked off to his doom, Strahd himself arrived to decide if his future wife might pray before she is taken into darkness. He used the previously charmed Mellin to convince her otherwise, not wanting to personally countermand the object of his obsessions. Mellin failed to convince Ireena of the futility of prayer. Strahd then Charmed The Dastur , and instructed him to forsake his god Ahura Mazda in front of Ireena. The Dastur did so, and lost his spell casting and turning abilities. Still not convinced in the meaninglessness of her faith, (and also aware of the party’s plan,) Ireena insisted that she be allowed one last prayer and that she be able to do it where she wishes not in the despoiled chapel. Strahd, his judgment and power diminished at the thought of finally attaining the object of his long and tortured desires, consented and allowed the party to escort his future bride to the tower for prayer.
They climbed the tower towards the chamber where St. Ravenloft was martyred. I rolled a random encounter, and fortunately it indicated a Friendly Spirit. The Dastur asked the spirit if he could regain his faith, and the spirit told him he must have Atonement cast upon him by another Zorastrian. The party arrived at St Ravenlofts chamber, prayed over the Relic and restored power to the holy thigh bone. Now armed with the means to face the Count, they escorted Ireena to the chapel and her dark wedding.
The Count and his four vampire maidens awaited the bride in the chapel, two maidens flanking the party on either side at short range and Strahd himself standing before the altar at long range. The Count offered a gilded chest of treasures as dowry, pleased that the party had brought to him the reincarnation of the woman for which he suffered the long and terrible curse. Archbishop Andrei immediately produced the Relic of St. Ravenloft which burst into Holy Fire as bright as the sun for 1d10 rounds. The Priest rolled a 4 stunning all the vampires for four combat rounds. The players needed to hit 22 on an attack roll to stake a stunned vampire, and got a +4 to attack a stunned foe. Nicolo cast Feeblemind on the Count, but the Vampire made his save. The Dragon breathed fire at Strahd while The Dastur, Mellin, and Abu (now controlled by Ulrich’s player) advanced from long to short range.
On the next turn, Nicolo threw a lightning bolt and further damaged the Count. Now at short range, Abu the Moor charged, as he did so he raised his wooden stake high and screamed in Berber that God is Great. Ulrich’s player rolled the attack, and successfully staked Count Strahd von Zarovitch ending the Counts cursed existence with a flash of light as the first vampire crumbled to dust. The vampire maidens were released from their masters will, but still stunned. Mellin physically destroyed two with fireballs their gaseous forms slinking into the darkness, Andrei staked another and the fourth became gaseous and fled when the light of the Relic faded.
The Dastur regain his faith, the welcome rays of the sun filled the chapel, the fog lifted from the borders of Barovia , and the players were free.
Strahd died at the hands of the last henchmen via dice rolled by the only player who lost a character.
Perfect.
Ravenloft Epilogue
I have never really run D&D modules. I generally prefer a more free form associative style of play. I dangle a setting appropriate hook and allow the players actions and the consequences of those actions to create interesting story elements that I tie together in a quasi-random sort of way. Since I’ve become more interested in “Old School” D&D I have encountered a shared experience amongst players, a sort of common language of the classic modules that I do not have firsthand knowledge of. So I decided to run some modules. As a player with this same group, I just finished B2 The Keep On The Borderlands, and now we have I6 Ravenloft under our belts.
I don’t think I will be running more modules anytime soon.
Ravenloft was a doom filled, anxiety ridden, level draining slog with a silly vampire love story and a complicated dungeon.
I think we would have had more fun just letting these characters loose in the 16th century Mediterranean, rather than Barovia. The game had its moments, but the central mechanic became: Can you finish this module with enough XP to be able to do so.
Seriously, level drain is the worst thing that can ever happen to a character. I honestly believe my players would rather have a character die than be level drained.
This mechanic, a race against the XP drain clock to finish the game is intellectually interesting but in actual play it sucks.
I’m looking forward to getting back to sandbox-ish swords and sorcery.
Or maybe Gamma World.
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