Streamlining I6 Ravenloft

[Rune]

I run games in a rotating schedule with two other DM/GMs. I've got a block of 6 sessions coming up and I want to run the party through the classic Ravenloft module. Thing is, we're lucky to get 3 hours of solid gaming in a session, and no one in the group is a hard-core hexcrawler, nor dungeoncrawler.

So, I'm looking for ways to condense the module into 6 short sessions, while keeping the dynamic feel of the adventure, as well as other crucial, or at least, iconic, elements. (One of which, by the way, is atmosphere!)

Keep the good, ditch the unnecessary, as it were.

Any thoughts on how to do that?

(Also, for what it's worth, this will be a loose conversion to Next, but that should be no problem--and probably not very relevant to this discussion.)

 

[TerraDave]

Answer: not much.

18 hours of play, at least with Next or AD&D is a lot (3E or 4E is another story).

Do the tarrot drawing, and let that guide you and use it to push the plot. Seed clues in if they need help moving along (I think there are NPCs that can do this, including some that in the module that are potentially hostile but don't have to be, or can still drop information even if they are). If they aren't inclined to search every last bit of the dungeons, then you should be fine. All else fails and they don't find Strahd or his coffin, set up some kind of final confrontation for the last session.

 

[D'karr]

I run games in a rotating schedule with two other DM/GMs. I've got a block of 6 sessions coming up and I want to run the party through the classic Ravenloft module. Thing is, we're lucky to get 3 hours of solid gaming in a session, and no one in the group is a hard-core hexcrawler, nor dungeoncrawler.

So, I'm looking for ways to condense the module into 6 short sessions, while keeping the dynamic feel of the adventure, as well as other crucial, or at least, iconic, elements. (One of which, by the way, is atmosphere!)

Keep the good, ditch the unnecessary, as it were.

Any thoughts on how to do that?

(Also, for what it's worth, this will be a loose conversion to Next, but that should be no problem--and probably not very relevant to this discussion.)

Ravenloft still remains one of my favorite adventures of all time. I was able to condense I6 for use with 4e into a single 4 hour game, which I ran at DDXP 2 years ago. The most important thing to keep is atmosphere. When I have a bit more time, I'll try to distill my notes and put them here.

 

[Bedrockgames]

If you run the classic module using either 1E or 2E you shouldnt have to cut anything out with six three hour sessions (especially if those three hours are solid gaming as you say). It may be they wont finish or get wiped out, but they stand a good chance of completing it in that time in my opinion. Remember AD&D combat tends to be way faster than 3E or 4E combat. With next, I dont know how that will go. My impression based on what people say so far is it plays more like ad&d in terms of combat speed, so I would think it wouldnt be an issue.

Question: are you sure you have the oriignal module? The reason I ask is the original is quite short (the caste is big, but the module has a pretty lean page count). There were several remakes of it: at least one for 2E and one for 3E. The 2E module beefs up the page count considerably. The 3E module is not even the same adventure quite frankly (and the overall quality is very poor). So make sure you are using the original module for Ad&d.

 

[Rune]

Question: are you sure you have the oriignal module? The reason I ask is the original is quite short (the caste is big, but the module has a pretty lean page count). There were several remakes of it: at least one for 2E and one for 3E. The 2E module beefs up the page count considerably. The 3E module is not even the same adventure quite frankly (and the overall quality is very poor). So make sure you are using the original module for Ad&d.

It's definitely the original I6. I'm not so much worried about the length of combat, but, rather, the length of exploration. None of my players (new or experienced) dig on mapping, and at least one of them (one of the experienced ones, sad to say) tends to get hung up on decision-analysis-paralysis.

Further, that 3 hours of play per session (if we're lucky) is guaranteed to be interrupted multiple times by the host's baby boy, the non-gamer wife of said host coming home, smoke breaks, bathroom breaks, and the like. These are parameters that I'll have to work within.

My challenge will be setting the atmosphere and keeping it with all of the interruptions. I'm afraid a lot of the empty-room exploration (and the hex-crawling) will have to go, much as I'd personally like to keep it.

 

[Bedrockgames]

My suggestion is make completing it within the time you have part of the fun. Normally I say take a knife to it and adjust as needed, but this is one adventure I wouldn't tweak too much because it's so classic. But that is just me. If you want to reduce eexpiration space your best bet might be to re-arrange things and shave off some floors.

 

[Celebrim]

Err... no. I6 needs padding to play right, not compression. Players need time in journey in order for the assault on the castle to play out. You need time in town and more interaction with NPCs and a reason to care about the setting.

The only place you can remove from the module is the Catacomb level. You could probably strip that down to a dozen crypts, the teleport traps and Strahd's tomb. Most of it is tournament play style filler.

However, seriously, you play this module as written with a party of the suggested level and I'll be surprised if they last 4 hours. This has got to be one of the most lethal modules every written. A party of the suggested level cannot possibly deal with Strahd's energy drain attack combined with his relative omniscience combined with the DM playing him smart combined with a dungeon that is designed to split the party. He can just whittle the party down. The only way this game goes long is DM's playing with kid gloves on.

 

[Bedrockgames]

However, seriously, you play this module as written with a party of the suggested level and I'll be surprised if they last 4 hours. This has got to be one of the most lethal modules every written. A party of the suggested level cannot possibly deal with Strahd's energy drain attack combined with his relative omniscience combined with the DM playing him smart combined with a dungeon that is designed to split the party. He can just whittle the party down. The only way this game goes long is DM's playing with kid gloves on.

This is why I really think the OP is better off challenging the players to beat it in the time he has. This is definitely the kind of module that is tough to beat anyways so simply not getting to the end because you run out of time isnt any worse than the fate of most parties (TPK). There is a reason afterall that in the official Ravenloft Timeline it says "A group of heroes go into Castle Ravenloft and perish" or something to that effect for the year the module occurs in.

 

[Henry]

My suggestion is to read the module, pick out the encounters that stick in your mind as essential to plot or atmosphere, and plan that. 3 hrs per session leaves enough time for 1 to 2 combats maximum per session, so no more than 6 to 10 combats max. Most encounters should be for atmosphere than battle, and the castle should probably be run more narratively if your players aren't big on room to room crawling - because there's a LOT of area to get lost in in that original castle.

DEFINITELY keep the tarot reading and work it in at start or as a mandatory encounter on the road to the castle.

 

[Rune]

Ravenloft still remains one of my favorite adventures of all time. I was able to condense I6 for use with 4e into a single 4 hour game, which I ran at DDXP 2 years ago. The most important thing to keep is atmosphere. When I have a bit more time, I'll try to distill my notes and put them here.

We'll be beginning the game in a couple of days. If you have those notes, I would very much like to see them!