However, DayStar had two other adventures underway when they decided to close up shop. They published just two adventures - which TSR later reprinted as I3: "Pharaoh" (1982) and RPGA1: "Rahasia" (1982) / B7: "Rahasia" (1984). The story of "Ravenloft" begins at DayStar West Media, the small-press company that the Hickmans ran before joining TSR. In the end, "Ravenloft" is probably best classified as a fantasy adventure with a few gothic trappings - just like Cook & Moldvay's modules were often fantasy adventures with bits of pulp.ĭayStar Origins. However, "Ravenloft" also includes a dungeon (crypt) and a few monsters like rust monsters and red dragons that aren't really gothic in flavor. There's certainly a lot of great atmosphere - beginning with the gorgeous cover painting by Clyde Caldwell and continuing on through the descriptions by the Hickmans.
Of course that raises the question of how gothic the adventure really was. Thus, the appearance of a gothic horror adventure for AD&D was something entirely new. Prior to the release of "Ravenloft," TSR's D&D adventures were almost all straight fantasies - with a bit of the pulp genre slipping into adventures produced by David "Zeb" Cook and Tom Moldvay. "Ravenloft" describes itself as "a classic gothic horror story." Tracy Hickman says that he and his wife took particular inspiration "from the original Brahm Stoker Dracula text and the old classic films."Ī Gothic Adventure.
I6: "Ravenloft," by Tracy and Laura Hickman, is the sixth module in the long-running Intermediate series of adventures for AD&D. The master of Ravenloft is having guests for dinner. Only the howling of the wind - or perhaps a lone wolf - fills the midnight air. He, the master of Ravenloft, will attend to them.Īnother lightning flash rips through the darkness, its thunder echoing through the castle's towers. He knew they were coming, and he knows why they came - all according to his plan. Strahd's face forms a twisted smile as his dark plan unfolds. Far below, yet not beyond his keen eyesight, a party of adventurers has just entered his domain. The wind's howling increases as Strahd turns his gaze back to the village. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires.
His once-handsome face is contorted by a tragedy darker than the night itself. Strahd turns to the sky, revealing the angular muscles of his face and hands. Lightning splits the clouds overhead, casting stark white light across him. A cold, bitter wind spins dead leaves around him, billowing his cape in the darkness. Count Strahd von Zarovich stares down a sheer cliff at the village below. Under raging stormclouds, a lone figure stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of castle Ravenloft.