Books—
All players are recommended to have the 3.5 edition Player’s Handbook. If this is impossible, the 3.0 Player’s Handbook will do, as we can reference the updated version. Ravenloft books are not required on the part of the players, though some players may feel the desire to buy their own. This is certainly not discouraged by the DM.
Character Creation— all characters will be created by one of two methods, chosen before rolling begins. All dice rolls must be made in the presence of the DM.
Races—
the following races are allowed:
Classes—
all classes are subject to DM alteration. As of now, only changes found in RL3e are in effect.
Wizards gain two spells per level for their spellbooks—one chosen by the player and one chosen by the DM. The DM will base his choice on the player’s choice, so pick carefully.
All prestige classes are subject to DM approval.
Currently, all prestige classes in “Van Richten’s Arsenal” and “Heroes of Light” are considered to be pre-approved, except for the ‘True Innocent’. Changes will be made to these classes, however, to more smoothly integrate the Sanity rules.
Background—
All characters must have a full name (first and last names). Furthermore, all characters must have a sufficient background and personality to work with throughout the campaign. Any player that goes “above and beyond” in creating a background by incorporating usable plot points, including poignant NPCs and staying in a Gothic Ravenloft mindset, will be awarded 2 free feats that may be taken from any of the following books: RL3e, Van Richten’s Arsenal, Heroes of Light, Champions of Darkness, Ravenloft PH, Ravenloft DMG. Feats may be altered for implementation with the Sanity rules. Also, each character must also choose, upon creation, whether they will be a Ravenloft native or an outlander (from another world). There are advantages to each, but play will be different, based on which you choose. All Calibans and Half-Vistani must be Ravenloft natives.
Religion and Languages—
As part of the aforementioned difference between ‘natives’ and ‘outlanders’, there are some changes to the way religions and languages work in Ravenloft. If you are playing as an ‘outlander’, you may choose any god in the PH to worship without penalties. You may also only choose languages from the PH—none from Ravenloft. If you are playing as a Ravenloft native, you will choose languages from the RL3e only and you may only choose from the following religions:
Combat—
Combat strategies emphasizing in-character actions and thought process will be rewarded, while out-of-character thinking and metagaming will be frowned upon. Hack and slash combat, as a rule, will not be the best solution. Finding out a creature’s weaknesses and exploiting them through careful thought and investigation (provided that your character is intelligent enough to do so) will almost always be more successful than kicking in the door and beating them with an axe.In particular, there will be combats where the solution will not be to fight through it, but to run. In short, in-character investigation will be rewarded, while simple combat will not. Think before you act.Furthermore, (for my older groups) as per the DMG, drinking a potion is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity, not a free action.
Spells—
All spells are subject to alteration, as per the RL3e guide, and some are subject to “powers checks”….the DM will have more on that, if it arises. Furthermore, casters may also research their own spells and magic items. See the DM for more on this option.
Weaponry and Equipment—
with all characters starting at 1st level, all starting equipment must be purchased “a la carte” using each class’s starting funds. All weapons in the PH, as well as the various Ravenloft books will be generally available to players. However, one major change should be noted. Firearms—pistols, muskets and incendiary devices—will now have the following damage statistics; ranges and other statistics are unchanged:
| Pistol: | 2d10 x3 |
| Musket: | 2d12 x3 |
| Parthian Rapier: | 1d6/2d10 19-20 x2/x3 |
| Bomb: | 4d6 grenadelike |
| Petard: | 6d6/5d6 |
| Doorbreaker Petard: | 6d6/5d6/4d6 |
Levels—
All characters will begin at level 1. No exceptions. For those of you in my prior campaigns, expect to level more slowly than earlier. Focus will be more oriented on good role-playing and investigative skills, not combat. As such, experience rewards will be oriented in that fashion.
Version Info—
I’ll be using the 3.5 edition of Dungeons and Dragons, though many of my Ravenloft books are for 3.0. As such, I’m sure that there will be a few discrepancies between the two. These will be dealt with on a case by case basis.
General Roleplaying Info—
This game, I think, will be a great deal of fun to those who get “into it”. When I say that, I mean that those who are content to sit back and simply roll the dice may be bored easily. Meanwhile, those players who enjoy acting out their character’s deeds and dialogues, who enjoy the mental challenge of personifying someone else, will enjoy this quite thoroughly. I do hope that, should you join my game, you’ll put forth your contribution to the role-playing experience as a whole. When the story comes to life, it can be quite a thing to experience.
And, finally…when you e-mail me, please include the following about the character that you’d like to play: