Crucibles

I mentioned in my last post that the PCs would eventually be undergoing a 'crucible', but I didn't define what that was.

As I discussed some time ago, I have adopted a new campaign structure which is split into phases of three levels each, each with a beginning, middle, and end. Indeed, it's a bit more nebulous than that - each phase would start at a common point before spinning off into lots of little threads, before finally coming together for the end.

The way I ensure that the campaign has these common starting and end points is by putting them behind a crucible. These serve as both a gate to the next phase of the campaign and also as the big tentpole adventures of the campaign. And, to ensure that the PCs are ready (-ish) for the crucible, they must 'earn' the right to enter - by collecting literal keys, by completing missions for a patron who can open the door, or whatever. Or, of course, they can sneak in - it they're good enough to do that, they're good enough to take their chances.

The upcoming crucible for "The Mists of Lamordia" should take the PCs from 5th level up to 6th, and will effectively open the door to the wider world beyond Ludendorf - it's not that the PCs can't go beyond; it's just that right now they'd be wandering aimlessly. But we're a little away from that point just now...

Toppling Dominos

The campaign has suddenly, and quite definitely, moved into a second phase. The first phase saw a whole lot of stuff being introduced and the start of mysteries laid out. Now, in the second phase, a lot of that material starts to come good. Secrets are revealed, treasures are collected, and plots advance. It's all good stuff - I just wish we'd got here sooner.

The latest goings-on:

• One of the PCs has accepted the Enticement, beginning his orbit around the Dark Powers. Which is nice.
  
• The PCs have collected a journal belonging to one of the Big Bads, which has given them a huge insight into the nature of the realm they're stuck in, the nature of the challenges they'll face, and one of the core mysteries.
  
• The PCs have also gathered a magic item that will be of significant aid to them later.
  
• Meanwhile, there are a lot of plot threads bouncing around the campaign, some very important and some less so. These should give plenty of material for them to advance in levels - my hope is that they'll get from 3rd up to 5th level in the current phase, before undergoing a 'crucible' before moving to the next phase, and 6th level.

All in all, I'm really happy with how it has been going recently. Naturally, that means we'll be facing a TPK in the next couple of weeks!

Going Remote

It looks like we're going to switch to remote working, and as a consequence it looks like my campaign will be switching to a virtual gathering. Unfortunately, the campaign doesn't suit itself terribly well to a remote tabletop (no fancy maps for us), and there are IT issues there anyway.

But it will make for an interesting challenge. Either we'll adopt to a new gaming arrangement, or we may end up putting the game onto a long, and perhaps permanent, hiatus. I guess we'll see.

Filing the Serial Numbers

One of the weaknesses of my current campaign, and indeed Ravenloft as a whole, is that the setting is very much a set of gothic novels and other source materials with the serial numbers filed off - and not all that well. So there is a near-Dracula, a near-Frankenstein, a near-Wolfman, and so on and so forth. This week I came to a point where the PCs are due to get a major data dump, in the form of a journal by that near-Frankenstein.

I have done, I think, a reasonable job of clearing out some of the more obvious, er, homages in the source material, have re-jigged a few things, changed a few others, and arrived at something that is a bit less obviously just Frankenstein repackaged... but it's still pretty obviously Frankenstein repackaged.

Oh well. I try to remind myself that originality is over-rated - it's delivery that counts. And thus far the campaign has been going well, so really who cares if they end up going against Frankenstein and/or his monster at the end of the campaign. There's still plenty of other material between now and then.

All that said, part of me does wonder if Ravenloft wouldn't have been better had they just outright used Dracula, Frankenstein et al, without bothering to file the serial numbers at all?

The Dark Powers Check

The work game on Thursday was both quite exciting but also had a rather unexpected outcome - the PCs took an action I really didn't expect, and then didn't feel overly good about it. There's going to be some considerable fallout from that, which is nice.

One of the consequences of this was that I decided to go looking for the "Dark Powers Check" that was a fixture of the 2nd Edition iteration of Ravenloft. The result was, unfortunately, unspectacular: the base chance of an action coming to the notice of the Dark Powers is 1%, modified by the DM based on... not much, really.

The upshot of this is that it's actually unlikely that the PCs will ever fail one of these checks, never mind multiple checks over the course of a campaign.

So, I won't be doing that.

What I think is rather more interesting, and what I'll therefore be doing, is instead having the PCs come to the notice of the Dark Powers whenever I think they might - and at that point they are given a choice. Of course, they might not know that it's a choice...

So, in the particular instance in question, one of my PCs will be receiving a gift from "his guardian angel". That PC may then try out this gift or not, and in so doing will either accept or reject the enticement.

The initial stage of corruption will then see the PC gain some small power in return for a minor, cosmetic change to the character. But as with all good temptations, only the first taste is free.

Per the "Ravenloft" setting book, there are six stages in the fall to corruption:

1. The Enticement: The character is presented with an offer that is too good to be true, offered either as an outright gift or as a reward for some good service. The offer may, of course, be accepted or rejected. If accepted, the character gains a free skill proficiency (or upgrades a proficiency to expertise), in return for some minor cosmetic change to the character (with no mechanical effect). But then they move on to...
   
2. The Invitation: The PC is approached by a friendly NPC who starts to draw them into the darker mysteries of the realm. Initially, this just involves coming into the orbit of a cult dedicated to the Dark Powers, with no expectation from the PC. After a few meetings, though, the PC is invited to formally join the organisation. If they do so, the PC gains another minor power, equivalent to the feat, but suffers a more noticeable, although still minor, disfigurement.
   
3. The Embrace: This is the point where things get serious. At the behest of the cult, the PC is asked to perform some clearly evil act. In return, they will be initiated into some deeper mysteries of the cult. In doing so, they suffer another, more serious, disfigurement, but the reward is another free feat or a fairly powerful magic item.
   
4. The Touch of Darkness: This is as far as I expect it to go. The PC is offered control of the cult, deeper magic, or some other major boon, but must commit to the service of the Dark Powers...
   
5. Creature of Ravenloft: I don't expect the campaign to ever get this far, so I'll leave this blank for now. If need be, the 2nd Edition materials will provide guidance.
   
6. Lord of a Domain: As above.

Of course, it's entirely possible that the PC in question may reject the Enticement out of hand, and that no further opportunities for this to come into play will appear. But we'll see - this campaign is starting to get really quite interesting...