The Foot of Blue Mountain

On Ravenloft and  Converting Modules

Introduction

What happens when I come across a work that I want to use in my own games that isn't written with OSR principles in mind? This blogpost will explain my thought process behind modifying these sorts of modules and then use a few examples from the original Ravenloft to showcase that thought process1.

Principles of Modification

Really, all that we're trying to do as OSR Referees is create "interesting choices". Things like the systems you use, the modules you use, and even the moment-to-moment flow of your game are all instrumental to creating these interesting decision-points. Dungeons or "adventure locations" more broadly are great places for these decision-points to be created and found, hence their prevalence in OSR play.

When someone with OSR sensibilities talks about a module or dungeon being "linear" what they essentially mean is that there is a lack of interesting choices, or that the choices lead to roughly the same outcome. So let's spice it up by adding some interesting choices!

When we're looking at modules that weren't written with this in mind, we ought to look at them with an eye for places where interesting choices could be, but aren't for whatever reason. Even if they are written with creating interesting choices in mind, your opinion of what an "interesting choice" entails might be very different from the author's! In addition, long-term play with a given group may lead to a better understanding of their interests. If your group loves wilderness exploration, for example, you may want to add in or modify any wilderness exploration in a module to tailor the module to the group's preferences.

At the same time, there are certain limitations or restrictions on choices that are necessary such that interesting choices can be made later during the course of play. When it comes to game mechanics, encumbrance is a good example of this. Not being able to carry everything brings along with it the question "What exactly do we carry?". This question is generally regarded as more interesting than those raised by neglecting to track encumbrance and I am inclined to agree.

In the context of a module, this limitation might present itself as a magical barrier (perhaps a dense mist), a physical barrier (a bridge breaking over a huge chasm, barring retreat), or above-the-game talk with your players ("Hey guys, let's only run this dungeon tonight; I didn't prep much else for the session."). We can evaluate some of these barriers just like we'd evaluate mechanics, by asking "Does this limitation allow for more interesting choices?", and making a judgement call from there.

Modification in Practice: "Fixing" Ravenloft

If you're not familiar with the concept of Ravenloft, essentially the party arrives at the behest of a letter in Barovia, the demesne of the powerful vampire Lord Strahd. Once you pass through the gates that lead into Barovia, this magical fog prevents you from traveling further. From the Ravenloft module:

No one has left Barovia for centuries. This is because of the trapping fog that exists everywher~in Barovia. Once it is breathed, it infuses itself around a character's vital organs as a neutralized poison. The fog does not taste or smell any different than normal fog. It does not harm characters as long as they continue to breathe the air in Barovia. However, when they leave Barovia, the poison becomes active. Characters must save vs. poison or start to choke. Unless choking characters reenter Barovia within 24 hours, they die. The choking stops as soon as they breathe the fog again.

The [Roma] were given a potion by Strahd that cancels the effects of the fog. This potion is jealously guarded by Madam Eva, who buried it in a secret place. It is impossible for the PCs to discover the potion.

On its own, I don't think the fog is a bad barrier. There are some interesting things to explore in Barovia, and being stuck there poses some unique decisions! However, circumventing or escaping this barrier is impossible; there is no way to escape Barovia without killing Strahd. That's a pretty bold choice, and one that I'm loathe to leave unchanged. The module text above mentions a potion that Strahd can make that cancels the effects of the fog, but it is by design unable to be found. What if we put it in a better location, or perhaps make it a bit easier to find?

This potion is jealously guarded by Madam Eva, who carries a single dose of it around her neck in a glass vial. If threatened with violence, she will give the vial away but does not know the formula for creating more.

This way, a party might chance upon an escape for one of their members, which is a very interesting choice. Who goes and who stays? What does the person leaving Barovia do with their freedom? Do they try to bring others into the region to help slay Strahd, or are they researching a spell that allows them to neutralize the effects of the fog? What do the ones staying behind do while they wait? Ravenloft is intended to be run for level 5-7 characters in AD&D, so they're potentially sitting on a big stache of funds to play around with outside Barovia. There are lots of interesting questions that can be asked because of this change, so it might be a good addition to someone's table!

The village of Barovia is another point in the module where there is lots of potential for interesting choices. Really, there isn't much in the village that doesn't point to Strahd. A crazy woman cries about her missing child (abducted by Strahd), the single shopkeeper is essentially extorting anyone who dares browse his wares, the barkeep and any average people ignore questions and refuse to give much information at all. To compound this, anyone spending the night in Barovia is liable to being harassed by Count Strahd and his host of wolves and bats. Although there is a quite pretty hexmap given in the module, there is literally nothing beyond the roads worth exploring. Everything in the village is pushing the party to go to Castle Ravenloft and fight Strahd.

If I were running this for my table, I might add some wilderness exploration here, since my groups tend to enjoy that kind of gameplay. Let's say that there's an old crypt or something that might provide clues or house a special sword or item that Strahd is vulnerable to somewhere in the woods. We'll give the barkeep this information, which actually creates quite a nice little challenge to overcome. Several of Strahd's minions are in the tavern already, and the barkeep would reasonably want to share this information with the party. The challenge then becomes how does the party handle getting Strahd's minions out of the tavern and hearing what the barkeep has to say? A violent confrontation would almost certainly mean the death of the barkeep, so there's absolutely an interesting choice here!

We could imagine doing this in a couple different instances to create more to do in Barovia than go straight for Strahd. One impulse while doing this sort of thing might be to slash the rules regarding Strahd's nighttime ambushes of the party. From the module:

Each night the PCs stay anywhere other than in the castle (Area K), Strahd attacks with his wolves and bats. His attacks are intended more to frighten the PCs than to damage them. Strahd just toys with them. After 5 melee rounds, Strahd and his creatures withdraw.

If the PCs are indoors, every turn Strahd attacks, wolves try to break through a window or a door. A roll of 1 or 2 on 1d6 means that a wolf breaks through. Once a wolf gets in, the remainder of the wolves and bats come in. The wolves and Strahd never attack Ireena Kolyana. After 5 melee rounds, all of the creatures flee into the night, leaving only Strahd's hollow laughter in the distance.

Strahd may knock at the door, but he cannot enter the building until someone invites him in. Strahd tries to charm characters into inviting him in.

In the absence of anything else to do in the wider area of Barovia, these rules exist solely to push the party into the castle. However, if we add more to actually discover and find in the region, the rules exist to create interesting choices! "Do we risk spending another night in the woods looking for that old hunting lodge? Bob the fighter barely survived the last time Strahd attacked, and Susie is still shaken up from the spell she was put under. I'm not even sure if there's anything worthwhile in there to begin with!"

Conclusion

We'll stop here (this post is already getting a bit too long for my liking) since I'm sure you get the idea. Ultimately, how you convert or change modules is up to you and what's fun for your table, but looking at them through this lens has helped me bring more stuff to my table and have more fun with less prep! Get out there, play some games, and then make a blogpost about what you changed!

  1. Ravenloft features racist representations of the Roma people. In addition to making changes to a module to create better decision-points, it is best practice to make changes to a module to Not Be Bigoted. Their correct name shall be used in all instances when they are mentioned, and their ontological evil nature will be discarded entirely.