Any, but having a paladin or cleric along to turn undead would be mighty helpful!
Scope
Large
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player or Multiplayer
Max Character Level
15
Max # Players
06
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
12
Content Rating
Teen
Alignments
Any, although good or neutral characters may have a few more options available to them
Gameplay Hours
10
Description
"The master of Ravenloft is having guests for dinner... and you are invited..."
So ends the original description of one of the most famous AD&D modules: Ravenloft.
This adaptation of Ravenloft borrows from earlier versions by Raven Builder. People who have played those versions will recognize many areas in this newer module. However, the module has been upgraded to make it more challenging for higher level characters and is meant for a party of 4-5 at 12th to 15th level. with access to plenty of healing magic. In addition, many updates have been made to these excellent mods. They include...
1) The addition of materials from Shadows of Undrentide, Hordes of the Underdark, and the Community Expansion Pack.
2) Community scripts that allow vampires and werewolves to conform more closely with their 3rd edition statistics. This includes gaseous form vampires that seek out their coffins (including Strahd!), trolls that regenerate, and lycanthropy effects for those players unfortunate enough to be bitten by werewolves!
3) All areas have been extensively reviewed for sound, music, and item placement, including nasty effects when leaving the Mists of Barovia!
4) New NPCs with extensive dialogue have been added, along with new quests, and new areas. An additional level of the castle, "Strahd's Laboratory" has also been introduced.
I've worked on this module on and off for the last 1 1/2 years. I hope you enjoy this expanded edition of this classic PnP and NWN module!
Please look at the read me file for more info!
Version 1.2 offers significantly improved henchmen control, and the option to have up to 3-4 henchmen at a time. Major restructuring to the lower levels of Castle Ravenloft has been done to decrease lag, and the DMFI DM wands v 1.07 have also been added.
Version 1.21 fixes some waypoint orientations and a few spelling errors. Version 1.3 adds henchmen popup text and fixes some faction issues. Version 1.4 updates Spires to patch 1.68 and CEP1.52
I think this was a great effort. Obviously a lot of time was spent developing the module and the areas. Initially the module drew me into the environment and the story, and things moved along fairly well. The problems began when I arrived at Ravenloft castle. I had been bitten by a werewolf and spontaneously transformed, destroying my armor. It was absolutely no fun to sit for minutes and wait until I changed back at dawn. Sitting behind the machine watching my character stand around and be unable to do anything about it just didn't thrill me.There was also no indication in-game ,that I found,as to how to remove the curse.I had to read up online to figure that one out, or the dev notes. My beautiful journal seemed to go completely to waste. And then there was the castle itself. A more disjointed piece of architecture I've never come across. Rooms lead off from doors, and into other areas of the castle in such odd ways that one wonders what a floor plan could possibly look like with whole 'secret' sections seemingly hanging in space.Also, woe be unto you if your main character doesn't have a high spot and search skill, as missing some of the secret doors could mean missing ways into mission critical areas of the game.All this difficulty in getting around is compounded by the fact that there are no Map Waypoint Pins on the mini map. You need to make these yourself, which becomes a tedious task of entering an area, then exiting back placing a map marker, then going through the door again. And this is necessary, because all but those with photographic memory will forget which myriad door leads to what obscure area of the castle. All this turned what I felt should have been a thrilling adventure into an exercise of frustration where much of my time was spent figuring out where I was, and trying to divine where I had to go. Perhaps this would have been fun in a Pen and Paper environment sitting around a table with a group of friends, but as a Computer game it just didn't work for me. The final straw was in the Crypts where I approached a door with the red effect indicating it was important, and I was transported to a room, stripped of all my equipment, and surrounded by Wights while my companions were killed by a Bodak. Ooooh..fun fun! So I reloaded and tried a different path..same thing...then another path. Same thing. Now perhaps there is some clever lever or switch somewhere to turn all this off, but by this time I simply wasn't motivated to find it, or to search for my equipment. The module will probably appeal to some folks that enjoy this sort of thing, but it wasn't for me. That's not to say it wasn't very well done, because the production value is quite high. The conversations and companion text from Ireena is good and engaging. The story itself is also quite interesting, and the tension and heightened expectations when walking toward Ravenloft for the first time is excellent.I didn't complete the game, so I don't know if it is fair to rate it, but I'd probably give it a 7 out of 10.
Posted by Gel214th at 2008-02-0702:39:50
Yeeees....well....I'm in castle strahd. And...Rawwrrr. I become a werewolf.So...I was just wondering, what do I do now? How do I remove the curse, I have a save in the castle before I turn.
Posted by fire&ice at on12/02/07
?played through with my MP group, Paladin, Sorceror, Bard starting level 12-13. Didn?t take any henchmen (including the plot one). Had a lot of fun, generally. Particularly liked the balanced combat (we?re fans of fairly combat-heavy mods) ? the vampires were particularly tough, particularly a Vampire Rogue who kept using HiPS or similar. I particularly liked the complexity of the layout of the castle ? sticking down map pins made me feel like I was mapping it out ? just like RPGs in the old days. My MP partners were less keen on this aspect and left me to do it. Loot was generally good, although one particular monster dropped some armour and a scythe which I thought were overpowered for the level range and didn?t have any restrictions (like evil only). Anyway, only minor things ? thanks very much for your (and your co-authors) hard work. *SPOILERS* Lief went a bit psycho and started attacking us and we couldn?t kill him (due to his flags). Fortunately we were able to lose him in the winding passages of Castle Ravenloft. Our bard had a bit of a life-changing experience when he tried on a certain belt. He somehow got it off him (without a remove curse) and now appears to be stuck in his new form permanently, much to his chagrin and our amusement. I may be kind and fix this form him?or I may not :) Finally, although some of the earlier Straud encounters were harder, the last one seemed fairly straightforward. However, all of the Thralls had been killed earlier ? I teleported in to the final encounter without knowing I was going to and fled ? the Thralls followed me and were picked up. Cheers! fi _________________________ NWN2: Big Font/High Res GUI // Extra Spell Swapping // NWN1: Colourised Scrolls // Both: Reviews and more
Posted by Penknight at 2007-10-1121:15:40
Sure enough, that's what I was missing. Thanks!
Posted by evan.yeung at 2007-10-1007:00:49
just checking... have you installed 1.52 full, 1.53 patch, AND the 1.68 patch?
Posted by Penknight at 2007-10-0315:14:49
Followed the link and installed the HAK files that came with patch 1.68, but it still tells me that I'm missing the required HAK. Any thoughts?
Posted by evan.yeung at 2007-09-3017:59:31
Heya Uberhiker... No hakpaks are actually required to play this module, except for the CEP and the two expansion packs. I tried to make this easy for everyone to download and play. If you look at some of the previous comments on this thread, some players had some initial difficulty when the CEP autoinstaller put files in unusual folders. That may be one of the problems you're having... Dawnseeker... thanks for the nice words! It's good to see that even after this long people are still downloading the darn thing :) Evan
Posted by uberhiker at 2007-09-2816:39:55
Missing a hackpack to play it. It's not in the download and my buds and I were planning on playing it Monday. What hackpack and where is it at?
Posted by Dawnseeker at on09/24/07
What an incredibly fun module! Thanks to Evan Yeung, et al, for placing it here for the rest of us to download. The atmosphere was spot on for a gothic horror module. I should have waited to play it around All Hallow's Eve. Ravenloft Castle was a delightful maze, and I think the lack of map pins in this case might actually have helped with the ambiance of the module. I encountered zero bugs and was very pleased with the way everything ran so smoothly from start to finish. The henchmen were polished, even though the corresponding dialogue was not extensive. Henchmen (The *fighter* I played with) had their own "floaty text" interjections and actions at certain points as the plot advanced. The pros *far* outweigh the cons in this module. SPOILER ALERT As for the cons they were few and far between. I'll list just a couple: 1. As you first meet Ireena, the fighter henchperson, she alludes that her "song" is well-known, or some such. I take it that earlier in the games development, Ireena was a bard and not a fighter, yet this dialogue was never corrected. 2. In Castle Ravenloft, the guardian golems on the main floor keep saying that the master has forbidden you to leave. Yet they just stand there as you do so. I left and returned to the castle on many occasion, without repercussion. END SPOILERS With all that said, Spires of Ravenloft was pure enjoyment. I expect it will stay on my hard drive for a while. Again, many thanks to Evan Yeung and the other authors who have made this gem available to the community! Bravo. _________________________ Regards, DS _____________________ Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you. -- Winston Churchill
Posted by evan.yeung at 2007-03-0821:01:22
Hm... Received an interesting email from CDChrome. He no longer wishes to have anything to do with his 'House of Strahd' module due to religious reasons. I am removing his name from the credits listing for this module out of respect, but I am still grateful for his previous efforts!
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