Café de Nuit

Tha Strahd looks a lot like Alfred, form Batman... (looks like he's doing some after hours work lately)

BTW to expensive for a 2/2 creature, the again maybe not. I'm an old Magic player and cannot get used to the new creature-packed decks they have these days..

Don Fernando wrote:Tha Strahd looks a lot like Alfred, form Batman... (looks like he's doing some after hours work lately)

That sounds like fun, maybe. Ravenloft meets Batman. Great for a Con.

I won't tell you which edition is better (since you didn't ask, and that would be a subjective opinion question anyways), but I will say that although I haven't run a Ravenloft game in a long time, I would run it in 4th edition.

I would suggest to help you make your choice, to look at the game mechanics of the system. That is the only thing that will really change. Whether you have a warlord in your party, a marshall, or a fighter (4th/3rd/2nd), you will still be telling a Ravenloft story. The only place where the game will change is combat, and as long as everyone at the table is playing the same edition, and you as DM have done your homework, it will be balanced.

I can speak from experience; I'm currently running a 3rd edition Eberron campaign in 4th edition rules, and everyone at my table is loving it. But we all love the 4E rules set, so it works for us. Figure out what rules your group wants to play under, and make your game according to that. Everyone will be happy that way, rather than if you try to shove a new (or old) rules system down everyone's throat.

There should be one system that beats the rest. Currently I have read a lot about the Pathfinder system which seems to be quite good, but I havn't find someone that has made the comparison between systems.

I personally prefer 2nd. because I have every book I need and don't have to spend time in conversion stuff (my DM time is split between family, work and other hobbies so you can imagine). I've tried 3rd and 3.5 but I was greatly disappointed (just personal oppinion, I don't mean to hurt feelings here ) so I decided to stick with 2nd. My players don't mind and we still have a great time (specially when we have to roll 6 different types of dice for everything. ) So as you can see it's a matter of personal taste in the end, and of course, which system suits your needs in the end.

OD&D!

Kidding, although I'd be curious to see a 3.5 or even 4E to OD&D conversion system...

Personally I stick with 3.x, with elements of 2e. 4e just feels too much like an MMORPG for a tabletop RPG, all rules and mechanics with the story a secondary (if even that) consideration; if I want that, I'll play WoW and EQ2. 3.x was simple enough to learn but allowed enough wiggle room for my players to personalize their characters beyond their classes and races. Rules fiddling wasn't much of an issue for me since my group quickly learned that they'd be facing monsters either unaffected by the rule, or that had it in their favor as well. That and we weren't focused so much on combat or mechanics as living out a story. Roll-play always took a backseat to role-play.

Dion of the Fraternity wrote:For what it's worth, I also play Ravenloft this way:

Please tell me that is not real.

I actually started using the Storyteller System, specifically from Vampire: the Dark Ages, but adapting the various character types in the old WoD to the era-[/i]Mage:the Sorceror's Crusade has been most helpful, and it is sad that no Changeling rules from the era when Faerie walked free ever made print-to my admittedly uncertain knowledge.

It's been rather enjoyable, and the Storyteller system has the advantage of being so simple newbies can understand it well enough to tweak their characters after the first session.

Sareau wrote:I actually started using the Storyteller System, specifically from Vampire: the Dark Ages, but adapting the various character types in the old WoD to the era-[/i]Mage:the Sorceror's Crusade has been most helpful, and it is sad that no Changeling rules from the era when Faerie walked free ever made print-to my admittedly uncertain knowledge.

It's been rather enjoyable, and the Storyteller system has the advantage of being so simple newbies can understand it well enough to tweak their characters after the first session.

Vampire The Dark Ages gave me hope when I heard White Wolf was doing Ravenloft 3ed.

Storyteller is a excellent system and would be an excellent fit for Ravenloft.

Currently, I'm running Ravenloft using Pathfinder, and my party is around 13th level. In the past, I've used D&D 3.0, D&D 3.5, and an Arcana Evolved homebrew. I've also written an extremely detailed Savage Worlds conversion that I intend to use for my next Ravenloft game. ^_^


Jeremy Puckett

I'll throw in with the 2E love. My group is playing, predominantly with 2E, though it's an amalgam we've created over the last twenty-five years or so. The old 1E Initiative and Hovering on Death's Door system, some 3E in the form of feats, and a few "class abilities" that are drawn directly from 4E.

So, a purist would say that it's not 2E, but it's the classes, the non-weapon proficiencies, the THAC0 and saves, the spell system (including Casting Times) that clicked best for us!

Chaderick wrote:I'll throw in with the 2E love. My group is playing, predominantly with 2E, though it's an amalgam we've created over the last twenty-five years or so. The old 1E Initiative and Hovering on Death's Door system, some 3E in the form of feats, and a few "class abilities" that are drawn directly from 4E.

So, a purist would say that it's not 2E, but it's the classes, the non-weapon proficiencies, the THAC0 and saves, the spell system (including Casting Times) that clicked best for us!

I like it.

I will applaud 2E myself-the only thing about it I don't like is that the illusionist got short shift-but the whole generating spell lists for all the specialists was probably too much hassle.

I would like to ask all the 2E players how they resolve the prestige classes in their games, though...

There are no prestige classes in 2E, there's only "kits" which are basically alternative class features based on archetypes for a specific class, this kits are taken either at character creation or at a certain point after roleplaying training in the kit's abilities by the character.

Kits! My favorite aspect of 2E! So You simply replace the prestige class with the right kit! Thanks...