So I've been working on making Castle Drachenfels into a working adventure for 3rd ed. You know, going through the original, reworking the encounters, making them gel…

It occurs to me that this is awfully easy since it seems to me as if I'm just writing out the old stuff and writing in the new. Am I doing it wrong, should I be thinking of my own particular horrors?

Also, might see about testing this on the online community, if you're interested. (No promises.)

Great idea. It should be as simple as going page by page and converting 1e to 3e (skill checks and monsters is all there is to it). It would be wise to research Hero's Call first though and then convert, as I would shoot for this being a Rank4+scenario (3rd career at least).

Thoughts?

jh

Here are the maps by Roysten Crow: www.geocities.ws/part_4_drachenfels_2/

SPOILERS!!!!! (FIRST 20 PAGES)

Monsters & skill checks from Castle Drachenfels
6 rain, animal handle

7. ghosts, trap
8. harpies, bandits, ogres,
9. flock of carrion (swarm), int for fall,
10. int inspct doors,
12. strength to open door, climb, zombie bowmen, climb (maybe harpies)
13. ongoing fatigue/exhaustion, starvation (halfling may make intuition check),
14.skeletons (special attack), starvation checks, despair skeletons, fear 9ghost)
15 despair (willpower), weakness, swarm of warithwisps (new monster), spell
16. weakness, fear/terror (illusion), poltergeist,
17.terror, spectre (illusion), rage, mutant corpses, chaos warrior, observation,
18. rage, disease water, horse skeletons, animated carriage, skeletons, skaven heads, headless horseman
19. wall gargoyles, spot check,
20. fear, ghosts, hunchback,

jh

I have the book and so forth, and am currently in the process of writing the scenarios up. I'm going to try it with a group of 15 advance adventurers and see where that gets me. Among the mechanics I've dropped in myself is the "aimless f*ckery" tracker, which I'm using to stop them attempting to preempt ambushes and other horrors. But yeah, so far, with a group of four to five, I can see a 15 advance group being challenged hard, but not unfairly by the adventure.

Crazy Aido said:

I believe you're the first to coin the phrase "aimless f*ckery tracker." I'd like to hear more about that. This entire scenario is a huge, "if you touch it, you'll set off the poltergeists" set of rooms. People are bound to get a bit hack-happy.

What character careers are going through it? (Hopefully all combat)

jh

The pre-mades are as typical a group as you can possibly get.

Ironbreaker

Sigmarite Priest

Waywatcher

Halfling Thief

Fire wizard(This one is slightly odd in that someone has asked for this slot and I made a smashy wizard for him. Looking forward to seeing what happens…)

The Aimless F*ckery tracker is the premade six piece event track you get with a few boxes. It works as follows. You move the track along each time:

- The group spends too much time aimlessly searching a room.

-Anally retentive preparation before entering a room.

-Piss poor roleplaying

-Attempting to preclude ambushes or other attacks without basis.

When the tracker reaches the first event space, give each other player a chance to act again, then allow the gobshite that caused the intial move to the event a chance to act. Now, move the tracker accordingly.

Now:

-Draw one miscast and apply the results as if the amount the tracker has moved passed the event space was the number of CS's rolled.

-If the miscast has only one CS result, or there are not enough CS results to trigger the next result on it, move party tension up by one.

- If there would still be CS's to apply, everyone gets corruption to make up the difference.

Obviously this only really works in a place like castle Drachenfels. but still, it should serve to keep players on their toes. I also hope to make a list of a hundred-odd, "random occurances". Basically the castle going bump in the night. A PC reaches for a door handle and hears a drumroll. Someone gets constantly poked in the side. The kind of stuff that makes people that little bit more paranoid about what's out to get them and what's just harmless dressing.

I think it's a fantastic idea in this case. Normally the Party Punishment-Tension Meter is enough for foot dragging, but I like your ideas.

jh

Whelp, I don't kill enough of my PC's, so this should help!!!

Anyone wishing to chip in and come up with a random oddity to occur while the PC's search the Dread Castle Drachenfels, feel free. The guidelines are:

-Oddity has no effect on the PC's at all, don't write in a rule suggestion.

-Oddity should last maximum of 2 seconds.

That's about it. Emphasis is on confusion. Here's what I have so far…

1 A drum roll instenifies as you reach for a door handle, when you turn it, there is a sudden, surprised scream.
2 A small black raincloud forms over your head, raining heavily on you and occasionally hiting you with bolts of harmless lightning.
3 A cavelcade of tiny dancing animal skeletons passes you before disappearing into a hole in a wall.
4 Something pokes you in the ear.
5 The air is momentarily filled with intense, nausueting stench that disipates almost instantly.
6 A solid stone wall nearby ripples gently as if disturbed pondwater.
7 You feel the irresistable urge to yawn.
8 An item appears upside down the next time you look at it.
9 The next step you take, your foot sinks several inches into otherwise solid floor. When you remove it, it's like it never happened.
10 A small, brightly coloured party hat lies on the ground.
11 Noone can remember anyone else's name for the next thirty seconds.
12 The whole room jerks violently upward with a sound quite like a hiccup.

13. A party member appears to bleed profusely from a (non-existent) wound on their torso

14. Someone's bag/pack/sack jumps and shakes as if a very large rodent was trying to get out.

I ran a bit of this for a few friends and have come to a few conclusions:

1: Keeping the characters in some kind of initiative order at all times would be best. Social initiative for non-combat type challanges and regular for otherwise. I should probably break the difference up with rally phases.

2: Rally phases can spoil the creeping sense of dread, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem when your under constant pressure to not DIE HORRIBLY.

3: The priest premade character needs discipline trained!!!!

I'm thinking of breaking the castle into "acts". Unless the area that the PC's have entered has been suitably explored, the passage into the next "Act area" just warps their silly asses back to another area of the castle. Possibly one they haven't explored yet. When they've garnered enough information or understanding of how the castle "works" then they find a warptorch or some suitable way of reaching the next area.

I like this because it allows me a chance to prevent the PC's simply trying to steamroller their way through the castle by only entering relevant rooms. etc. It also means I can husband my level of terror and let tension build as they explore steadily spookier parts of the castle. But is it too restrictive, am I forcing the players into an above necessary level of danger by making them piss around through every privy and broom cupboard?

I'd add events outside of encounters and base it upon time. Dawdling drags creatures out of rooms. The place should be like the living intestines of a monster. There's always something moving through.

jh

Well I'm not leaving the place empty that's for **** certain. I was going to stick random monsters in when the players find themselves getting warped around a lot but are have explored a lot of the areas they get warped to or have to move back towards. Basically, if they've "cleared" an area, stuff still starts showing up, especially when they're in a rush because I've warped them between two different places. Emphasis on amusing and confusing:

A troll that has been somehow forced into a butler's outfit.

Three blind skaven with their tails cut off.

Squigs.

You get the idea…

That sounds awesome to break up some of the doom and gloom of the scenario.

That's probably worth considering to anyone running this scenario..that and exactly how replacement characters are inserted into the sessions

jh

I'm designing the entire adventure around being scary by being confusing first, scary second, Is there a trap in the next room? I don't know because all this weird stuff keeps happening. What's going to happen in the next room? How the hell should I know it might not even lead a room inside the castle!

This way things stay funny and everyone keeps laughing. But the tension builds regardless as the castle begins to act in steadily more bizarre ways…

Hi,

Awesome thread.

Planning to run a "Return to Drachenfels" next year. very inspiring stuff….

Cool… Eh… Welcome to the forums?

Also, for new characters, one minute they're wandering about during the interlude of Deitlef Seirck's great masterpiece, next minute they're walking down a passage with warped stone gargoyles leering from one wall…

Aaaaand I'll be running this via maptools and skype in about three hours time. This should be interesting and fun and I will post notes and what does and does not work.

Great. Can't wait to hear about it.

jh