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Title: Ravenloft third edition by Andrew Cermak, John W. Mangrum, Andrew Wyatt ISBN: 1-58846-075-4 Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Inc. Pub. Date: 15 October, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.68 (25 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Nicely done...
Comment: To start with the faults in the book itself, this book is missing a decent map (like the one in the Faerun setting) and is not particularly well structured.
Otherwise, I have no experience with 2nd Ed Ravenloft, but I've read the novels and this book certainly captures the mood... not surprising, since it's written by the Kargatane, Ravenloft's lifeline and now, possibly, its saviors. The information is generally clear and useful, and the real meaning of a Gothic campaign is well described. So why only three stars?
It's the price that drives it up. You can make characters with this book, but the DM must have the "Secrets of the Dread Realm" expansion (which should have been bigger and more complete with more darkords, and should have carried most of the DM-only information in this book, like Dread Companions, Power checks, monster stats etc.) and should have "Denizens of Darkness" to run a good campaign, which works out to a lot of money when you add the D&D rulebooks.
All in all, this book is very good in itself, but it holds information it shouldn't (DM-only) and is brought down by its supplements. If "Secrets" had been more complete and this book had had maybe two or three prestige classes, I would have easily given it 5 stars regardless of the lack of a map.
Rating: 4
Summary: Bring an open mind...
Comment: The Kargatane did an excellent job, in my opinion, of releasing information in the first 3e Ravenloft book that should have been available to players. I'm not a HUGE canon freak, but I do like to control what information my players have... and this work does that very well. The "DM only" information derided by previous reviewers does belong in players' hands, because the Van Richten's Guides were published in Ravenloft for the common person to read. Fear/Horror/Madness checks are logical, and with the popularity of studies of psychology in the time period represented, people would have as much of a concept of how this works as a rudimentary glance-over would allow a player to recall.
I won't game without it, but having an autographed copy ain't hurting my enthusiasm.
Rating: 2
Summary: Very Little to Interest the Experienced Ravenlofter
Comment: First of all, I'm not a fan of the d20 system, but that's a debate for elsewhere. I *am* a major fan of Ravenloft - I've been with the campaign world since it was released in 1992, and began DMing adventures not long after - so I eventually caved in and took a look at the d20 version of it. Thankfully, the Kargatane have saved Ravenloft from becoming totally extinct, but this book will be of limited interest to those familiar with the campaign setting.
It uses the same timeframe outlined in the Domains of Dread hardcover released in 1997, post Grand Conjunction and post Grim Harvest. That means there is very little (read: nil) new information in this book as far as the Ravenloft "canon" goes. In fact, this book is intended to be a "player's guide" (even though it deals with powers checks and other DM-only phenomenon), so it has only sketchy information about domains and zilch about the Darklords. Want that information? Get ready to shell out for ANOTHER hardcover book (two of 'em, if you want all of them...) The rest of the book is devoted to making 3rd edition characters using some of the customized character rules and races (half-Vistani, for example) from the DoD book.
So its safe to say that there's very little to interest the longtime Ravenloft gamer here. Converting 2nd Edition to d20 isn't impossible - in fact, there are several freeware programs one could download to do all the hard work. For those of us who have all the old material, and can play 2nd Edition AD&D without a book because we know the rules so well (and yes, I DO have a life), there isn't much to interest us. Since it's actually cheaper to scrounge most of the 2nd Ed. materials, I say go with those, unless you are dead-set on running 3rd Ed. In that case, you better be rich...
Final Grade: D+ (it's Ravenloft, I can't flunk it outright!)
NOTE: I bought it anyway, because I'd like to see the Kargatane keep Ravenloft alive. Something to consider when making your decision...
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Title: Denizens of Darkness by Arthaus Staff ISBN: 1588460770 Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Inc. Pub. Date: 15 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Secrets of the Dread Realms and Dungeon Master's Screen by Andrew Cermak, John W. Mangrum, Andrew Wyatt ISBN: 1588460762 Publisher: White Wolf Games Studio Pub. Date: November, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide (D&d Ravenloft) by Jackie Cassada, Brian Campbell, Carla Hollar, Rucht Lilavivat ISBN: 1588460843 Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Inc. Pub. Date: July, 2003 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: Ravenloft Player's Handbook by Jackie Cassada, Andrew Cermak, John W. Mangrum, Nicky Rea, Andrew Wyatt ISBN: 1588460916 Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Inc. Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: Ravenloft Gazetteer IV by James Lowder, John W. Mangrum, Ryan Naylor, Anthony Pryor, Voronica Whitney-Robinson, Andrew Wyatt, Jackie Cassada ISBN: 1588460878 Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Inc. Pub. Date: January, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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