Author Topic: What could a Ravenloft Campaign's Endgame be?  (Read 2289 times)

jimmyspenser

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What could a Ravenloft Campaign's Endgame be?
« on: July 24, 2014, 12:40:22 PM »
Hi guys,

it has been a while since I've been on RPG forums. I've never stopped playing and DM'ing, but the time to discuss the finer points of rules and setting just for the heck of it wasn't there anymore, now however I feel I have something to discuss that needs such a wide arena.

I'm thinking about starting a campaign set in Ravenloft (I'm assuming most of you are familiar with it, if not you can read up on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenloft). Since I first heard of the setting it has always appealed to me, it's aesthetics, gothic heroes and villains, darker tone, but at the same time there is one point I never could figure out to my satisfaction:

What's a fitting endgame for a Ravenloft Campaign?

The Mists drag you to this dreadful place, you fiight without giving up for several levels, trough several dungeons and adventures but what keeps you going, what you at the end?.... you probabily get home somehow. Seems the most fitting choice, but also a very obvious one. And if so, how? The dread powers aren't really known to be predictable, so it's hard to imagine there is a foolproof way to leave their domain...

I think of myself as an experienced game master, I don't need help figuring out how to run ad adventure or what a good villain could look like, but I feel a little overwhelmed in designing a narrative arc for such a campaign... I haven't found the right idea yet and so I thought maybe somebody out there has part of the solution :D Every input is very welcome, from pertinent suggestions to re-tellings of your greatest hits in the setting, everything helps.

Thank you.

Benjamin

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Re: What could a Ravenloft Campaign's Endgame be?
« Reply #1 on: July 27, 2014, 02:44:04 AM »
There is a 3.5 hardcover campaign module, Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. If you haven't seen that, it'd definitely be worth checking out.

uruz

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Re: What could a Ravenloft Campaign's Endgame be?
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2014, 11:17:22 AM »
Quote
What's a fitting endgame for a Ravenloft Campaign?

To die, and stay dead, with your death making life better for others -- even only for a little while.

In most D&D games, the point is to be heroic and tell a heroic story of good (or good-ish) triumphing over evil. In Ravenloft, everyone is undead and dreary and gloomy and ennui. The ultimate end for a group of heroic characters in Ravenloft is to go out with a bang and bring a little light and warmth and color to a perpetually gray, life-lacking world.