Ravenloft (D&D module)

Ravenloft is a Dungeons & Dragons module, coded I6, written for use with the First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ruleset, by TSR. It was written by husband-wife duo Tracy and Laura Hickman, with art by Clyde Caldwell and maps by David Sutherland III. Ravenloft is considered by many to be the finest Dungeons and Dragons modules ever published.

Original Edition
The format of the original Ravenloft is a 32 page book with a double unattachted cover. The outer cover was a display cover in keeping of the style of Dungeons & Dragons module covers of the time. The outer (glossy) side of inner cover gave a map of the lands of Barovia where castle Ravenloft and the village of Barovia are located. Maps of the the castle Ravenloft were found on the inside of both covers.

Ravenloft was exceedingly popular among players and Dungeon Masters for a number of reasons. The classic Gothic setting that in tightly woven plot showed for the first time how the horror genre could be used in D&D. The large isometric projection map of Castle Ravenloft fondly remembered by a generation from a time when most module maps were just two dimensional.

A very memorable villain, Count Strahd von Zarovich, who has become one of the most infamous in D&D history, and was at the time innovative at the time for his then innovative combination of monster and character. Another memorable feature was the introduction of replayability through an in-game gypsy fortune telling session which randomly determined certain plot elements. For example, the locations or existence of artifacts, as well as Strahd's very motivations, would be determined by real or simulated turn of the cards.

The plot is based on the section of the original Dracula set in Count Dracula's homeland. A party of adventurers suddenly find themselves trapped by a mysterious swirling mist in Barovia, a country composed of a small town and surrounding forest, overlooked by a massive cliffside castle named Ravenloft. The master of the castle, Strahd von Zarovich, rules the terrified townspeople with an iron fist, but he holds the key to the adventuresome party's escape from Barovia. Along the way, the party encounters Gypsies, zombies, wolves, and the far deadlier occupants of Ravenloft itself.

The plot owes a great debt to the old Universal horror films of the 1930s, the Hammer horror films of the '50s and '60s, and the Dan Curtis television series Dark Shadows.

Sequels
Ravenloft sucess eventually lead to a sequel module in 1986, Ravenloft II: House on Gryphon Hill, coded I10. This sequel was also credited to the Hickman's but in fact Tracey left TSR before work on it was complete. While following the Hickman's outline for the module, most of the writing was done by David "Zeb" Cook, Jeff Grubb, Harold Johnson and Douglas Niles, each working on their own section. While designed to run as a sequel for those who completed the original Ravenloft this module could also be run together with the original intertwining the two plots.

In the early '90's, TSR based an entire horror-themed AD&D campaign setting on the module, also called Ravenloft, which, in turn, produced a number of modules, supplements and novels based on the setting.

There was also a series of shared-world novels featuring the enigmatic Strahd as the central character.

The House of Strahd
In 1993 module RM4 The House of Strahd was a revision and expansion of the original Ravenloft to include rules from AD&D 2nd Edition and the Ravenloft, Realms of Terror campaign set. While still credited to the Hickmans based on their original work they had nothing to do with the revising which was done by Bruce Nesmith. This module is 64 page book with a fold out map. While the layout has been redone, much of the original text and artwork is reused with additional art by James Crabtree and a new cover by Dana M. Knutson. The module was recommended for levels 6-13, with the main revised version for characters level 11-13 but also the option to play like the original with the slightly revised level recommendation of 6-8.

Silver Anniversary editions
In 1999, the 25th Anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, two seperate versions of the Ravenloft module were released. The first was a simple reprinting available in the Dungeons & Dragons Silver Anniversary Collector's Edition boxed set, with the only difference from the original being a slightly different colouring on the maps and a silver anniversary logo on the bottom left of the cover.

The second version released in 1999 was the silver anniversary edition of Ravenloft released exclusively through RPGA. This version was updated for use with 2nd Edition AD&D and in the form of a 48 page book. It used part of the cover artwork of the original module but with a large distinctive silver border and prominant central placing of the silver anniversary logo.

Expedition to Castle Ravenloft
In October 2006, Wizards of the Coast released an updated and expanded version of the original module for the Dungeons & Dragons v.3.5 ruleset in a 226-page hardcover, entitled Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. This version allowed was designed to be able to run a mini campaign for about 20 seesions taking characters from level 6 to 10, with options for instead running long (8 session), short (4 session) or single session adventures. It includes suggestions for incoporating the advanture into an existing gerneric, Forgotten Realms, Eberron or d20 Modern campaign, but notably makes no mention of using in a Ravenloft campaing setting.