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Running I6 Ravenloft with Shadowdark RPG

by Mike on 23 September 2024

Each year I like to run Castle Ravenloft, either through the original I6 Ravenloft adventure from 1983 or the updated Castle Ravenloft from Curse of Strahd. While I've typically run Ravenloft using 5e, in 2023 I ran it with the excellent "old school feel, modern sensibilities" Shadowdark RPG.

It was a perfect fit.

Shadowdark captures the feeling of dread and horror in Castle Ravenloft better than I've ever seen it. Shadowdark's rules almost perfectly match the mechanics and feeling of 1st edition D&D with a focus on darkness and lighting, flat math, high randomness, and a system of grim horror lurking just inside the surrounding shadows.

Patrons of Sly Flourish get access to a Shadowdark Ravenloft Lazy GM kit including

a one-page handout for players.
ten pregen characters.
a GM reference sheet to keep track of your card draws, character info, and quick monster conversion stats.
printable i6 Ravenloft handouts.

Patrons can find the Shadowdark Ravenloft Lazy GM kit on your Sly Flourish Patreon rewards page under "Adventures".

Experiences from the Shadows of Ravenloft

Here are some primary observations from running Ravenloft with Shadowdark.

I used 5th level pregen characters from Shadowdarklings. They worked perfectly. The characters had enough resources to survive the night but just barely.
I generated 10 pregens for five players. We used every one of them. We had a lot of deaths. New characters would pop in as lost adventurers in the castle as needed. I'd recommend not bringing in new characters in the final battle with Strahd. It's fine to bring in new characters everywhere else when they die.
The characters definitely want to acquire magic items or use spells to make their weapons magical. Many creatures, including Strahd and other vampires, are immune to non-magical weapons. You might be kind and toss a couple of silvered weapons their way either in the beginning or during the game.
I used my abbreviated Ravenloft adventure built for a single session. More on this version later.
We used old-school mapping. I would draw a loose diagram of rooms and one of the players drew their own map to keep track of where they went and what options they chose. In more than 10 years of running Ravenloft, I'm still running into new rooms I haven't seen before.
We got through a lot of chambers in the three hours of exploring the characters did. Shadowdark makes it easy to move quickly.
The characters ran from a lot of encounters. That was a good idea given the adventure's lethality and the timing of the adventure.

Introducing Players to Shadowdark

Before our session, I sent out a one-page Shadows of Ravenloft guide to help players understand how this game was going to work. It includes the following list to help 5e players understand how Shadowdark RPG differs from 5e.

The core mechanics and abilities of Shadowdark match 5e. Roll a d20, add a modifier, match a DC.
Shadowdark embraces randomness. Die rolls carry a lot of weight. Ability scores are generated 3d6 down the line, and are thus much flatter than standard 5e ability scores. There are no skills – only ability checks.
Characters have far fewer hit points than in 5e but so do monsters. Damage is a flat die roll, no ability modifier, so damage is lower and more swingy.
There are no spell slots or cantrips. Casting spells requires a spellcasting ability check. On a failure, you lose the spell. Most of the time, if you succeed on the check, the spell succeeds – targets rarely get saving throws.
Torches matter, equipment slots matter, and rations matter – Shadowdark has a much greater emphasis on the logistics of dungeon delving.
Beware the dark! Torches burn in real time, for one hour. When they go out, the horrors lurking in the dark fall upon you.
You’re always in turn order. We go through turns and rounds regardless of what the characters are doing. Spend too much time dorking around and wandering monsters fall upon you.

The Rules of Halloween Ravenloft

Beyond using Shadowdark for the game, my single-session Castle Ravenloft game runs differently than a normal adventure. Here's a breakdown of how I run it.

The session is scheduled for five hours. This schedule gives us an hour to socialize and get acclimated before the adventure begins.
The game begins with the characters in a carriage heading towards Castle Ravenloft. Madame Eva is in the carriage and does the card reading as in i6 Ravenloft.
With the reading done, the characters arrive at the castle and in they go.
The characters might meet with Strahd. He offers them the chance to escape Ravenloft with their lives and leave Ireena to him. If they take this deal, he laughs at them and says they'll soon get what they deserve (whatever they choose, he's still going to spend the evening hunting them down in his castle).
With their meeting complete, Strahd tells them they may explore his castle with what remains of their lives and he will join them in X time. X being whatever time is left for the session minus 45 minutes.
I set a timer for that amount of time and the time counts down. When the time runs out, Strahd appears wherever the characters are and starts the killing. This timer is separate from torch timers.
The characters spend their time hunting down the relics of Ravenloft before Strahd shows up.

Modifying I6 Ravenloft for Shadowdark RPG

I6 Ravenloft needed very little conversion to run with Shadowdark. Shadowdark's flat math and I6 Ravenloft's 1st edition AD&D rules work well together. Many monsters in Ravenloft exist in Shadowdark or are easily reskinned. Strahd zombies, for example, can use the normal zombie stat block but with twice the hit points and twice the attacks. The witches can use the acolyte or cultist stat blocks.

For Strahd himself, I used the standard vampire stat block. He was plenty hard. I didn't bother giving him spells but you can give him some mage or drow priestess spells to fill him out. Snuff is a great ability for him to use.

If you're being generous, you may want to throw in a couple of silver weapons early in the session so characters have a chance of hitting Strahd if they don't find the sunsword or any other magic weapons.

Modifications to the Relics of Ravenloft

The items in Ravenloft work mostly fine as-is except for the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind which is simply too powerful. If the characters have that relic, they can stop Strahd dead in his tracks without any effort.

Instead, consider having it impose disadvantage on Strahd's attacks, stop or break his charm, and prevent the regeneration from his blood drain. The vampire's blood drain is already a really powerful ability. I limited his regen to 2d6 per round instead of per hit or else he would have completely overpowered the characters.

Maps for Online Play

If you're playing online you can find these excellent Ravenloft battle maps on the DM's Guild.

You can use a lasso-style copy and paste utility to grab the part of the map the characters have seen and avoid showing rooms they haven't yet gotten to. With some practice, this technique is a fast way to show off parts of this massive dungeon. Owlbear Rodeo is another great option for a fast and lightweight virtual tabletop. With Owlbear Rodeo and the Ravenloft battle maps, I was able to get all of Ravenloft loaded up and ready to go in less than ten minutes!

A Fantastic Combination

I really loved running the classic Ravenloft with Shadowdark RPG. It was a perfect match for the old-school feeling of the adventure. I highly recommend it.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on The Most Underappreciated Combat Style and Dragon Empire Campaign Building – Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Reiterate lines and veils if your game heads towards potentially sensitive areas like body horror or sexual intimacy. Peoples’ feelings may have changed since your session zero.
Stay in turn order, even outside of combat so you give everyone enough time in the spotlight.
Give players' roles including quartermaster, cartographer, scribe, and caller.
Two key pieces of dungeon-crawling structure: what is the marching order of the characters and who's maintaining light?
Build a faction list unique for your campaign including gods, factions, historical figures, and campaign icons. Roll on this list to flavor items, monuments, and NPCs.
Roll on behalf of characters when their character wouldn't know if they succeeded or not.
Offer multiple paths and decisions as often as you can.