#and they probably have designers- alot of them

[wonderfulwitchwillow]

So like, when anyone thinks Ravenloft you probably think of Curse of Strahd. Or hell Curse of Strahd as a standalone thing. Like its one of the most popular modules of all time. But Curse of Strahd is an adaptation. One of many adaptations of 1st edition's I6: Ravenloft.

It got me wondering, how many people have actually taken time to look at this module who weren't playing in the 80s. I wasn't even alive in the 80s, and when this module came out my father was in high school playing D&D. So I doubt alot of people go back and really look at some of these older modules. And I happen to be a collector/lore nerd for all things Ravenloft. So what exactly is different? I have somewhat compiled my thoughts into a semi-cohesive analysis of I6 and Curse of Strahd.

Alot, and I do mean alot, of the module is similar to the opening and the castle in Curse of Strahd so this is your warning for spoilers for the module. I intend to talk about every major (and some minor) changes between 1st editions Ravenloft and 5th editions Curse of Strahd and give some of my commentary on what I have found, and some notes about random related facts. I am not going to discuss the overall narrative of I6 or Curse of Strahd since the only major narrative differences is in the Castle, which I do discuss in detail in that section of the post. I also know there are other adapations of I6 Ravenloft, 2nd edition has House of Ravenloft and 3rd edition has Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, but I am analyzing 1st edition and 5th edition's design choices; if I focused on all the editions, I would need more than just 1 super long post; plus Expedition to Castle Ravenloft really deserves its own post since its canon is separate from the greater ravenloft canon of second and third edition. Forgive me if my photos suck, I am using my phone and my shadows keep showing up. I have several things I want to say before I get started proper; I6 uses some derogatory words for the Vistani people, a ethnic group in Ravenloft not subtly based on the Romani people. These words may appear in some of my images but I am going to do my best to avoid showing them and the slurs will not appear in my text. I make mention of this because the Vistani are not refereed to as the Vistani in I6 but in all other versions of the module and the setting as a whole, they are called the Vistani. This is something that is an issue in second and third edition when it comes to the Ravenloft setting. It is at times, very racist. And I would not be doing justice to those who are harmed without mentioning the use of slurs or racial caricatures for a real ethnic group in this module. I am not going to talk more about them in the module since their presence outside of Madam Eva is small and racist; serving as minions of Strahd with a neutral evil alignment; which this alone is incredibly disgusting by making a real group of people evil. The harm started with this module and it is something that everyone who interacts with Ravenloft, regardless of canon, take caution and care with handling. I added IDs to each photo to help as well. I shall be discussing the module under the cut.

Part 0 - extra bits and forward

This post is incredibly long, I have tried to add mini-headers for each major subsection of this post because as I was working on it, it somewhat ballooned in scope and I want it to be fairly readable for those who are interested.

Onto the module discussion

Part 1 - Cover and maps

Forgive me for having a section just dedicated to the maps but as you would soon find out, its quite extensive in detail.

[ID]

A cardboard outer sleeve with the words Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Official Game Adventure Ravenloft. Below the title is a landscape image in a gothic horror art style.

The image is of the vampire count Strahd von Zarovich standing on his castle's walled balcony overlooking a misty cliff side. On the railing of the balcony sits two gargoyle statues. The castle itself is behind Strahd with a gateway being directly behind him. There are two castle spires, one in the foreground cut off by the artwork, one in the background with the spire's peak nearly visible. The castle's battlements are behind the right spire and go from the upper center of the artwork to the edge on the right. There is a lightning strike in the upper right corner along with bats flying out of the right spire into the night. Mist fills the lower right corner, obscuring the spire.

Below the artwork is a line of marketing text- "The master of Ravenloft is having guests for dinner - and you are invited. Ravenloft is an adventure for 6 to 8 players of levels 5 to 7." Below this is the TSR logo, which is an outline of the letters "T" "S" and "R". Below the logo is the copyright information "TSR, Inc. Products of your imagination. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Products of your imagination are trademarks of TSR. Inc."

[End ID]

I think I am not alone in saying but the first edition module covers are iconic. It is this generic fantasy style now but like that style is timeless to me. Its Strahd looking menacing over the chapel outlook's balcony. Its incredibly imposing. Its a different vibe and I don't think the other modules ever nail the vibe that Strahd is menacing on the cover art. He is waiting to strike or overlooking his lands. Though Curse of Strahd cover is probably my second favorite because he is less of a monster and more of a noble playing a game which is far closer to how he is played as a villian. Strahd always changing his appearance to fit in with what we consider "fantasy" for the era. I am fascinated with older editions of D&D so it makes sense why I would love this art so much. It is absolutely my taste and I am biased.

[ID]

The image contains two documents on a wooden table. The document on the left is the same document as the first image, cardboard outer sleeve On the top of the sleeve above this title is an orange header with "I6" on the left corner and "9075" on the right corner which wasn't visible in the first image.

The second document is a map folded in half showing only the right potion of the map. The map has a white margin surrounding the entire map as a a border. The top of the map has a repeating pattern lining the edge of the map invoking a gothic crown molding. The right edge of the map has a marble pillar going from the top to the bottom of the map, serving as a border. The map's legend is in the right corner. The contents of the legend are in a white box. The words Ravenloft stylized in bold font are above the rest of the legend. The Letters R and T in Ravenloft have gargoyle heads extending outwards to face the edges of the the legend. The legend is organized into 4 rows with 3 columns. The legend shows off several colors with associated elevations: Light green is associated with Elevation 0-49 feet", Dark Green is Elevation 50-99 feet. Blue Green is Elevation 100-999 feet. Purple is Elevation 1000-1499 FT. and is the end of the first column. At the start of the second column is the last color, a Reddish Purple is Elevation 1500+ feet. Continuing down the second column there are shapes to indicate map elements. Lines repeating next to each other vertically indicate a cliff wall, two parallel lines that complete indicate a road, and two parallel lines that are dashed indicate a trail. The third column shows more colors to represent buildings that are occupied: A brown rectangle indicates an occupied house. A light brown rectangle indicates an unoccupied house. A small light brown square indicates an unoccupied store. The last icon on the legend is a red rectangle indicating an Encounter Building. Bellow the columns and the width of the rows is text "Scale: 1 hex = 200 feet". Bellow the legend is a title. "Map 1. Lands of Barovia"

The map starts at the right and flows left following a white road. The maps elevation up to the city remains light green with the northern portion of the city, near a point labeled E7, becoming dark green. North and south of the road is a woods. The road starts near the letter A passing through what appears to be a gate labeled B Continuing we see two hexes with the letters C on the map on the left and right adjacent hexes. Following the road is the village of barovia, with houses indicating occupancy. There are several red houses each labeled with corresponding letters. The center has E1 and E2. South is E3, E5, and E4. North is E6 and E7. The road heads south west from the village, passing E and ending at a gate before the fold cuts off the map. Below the village is a river labeled D.

[End ID]

Moving to the actual contents for a moment - how many folks know that these sleeves/covers are not attached at all? I store my older books in comic book sleeves with backs. I don't know if this was a cost cutting measure or if comic book storage was the original intention since I could see the same communities overlapping in the 80s but like, if someone knows why, please let me know. I am so curious. I know they made comics that were released around the same time, made by DC in the 80s and 90s, so its not a stretch to say that it was expected to store modules like comic books.

[ID]

A folded out display of several maps for Castle Ravenloft as isometric cross sections. The sleeve contains Map 2. Walls of Ravenloft, Map 5. Rooms of weeping. Map 6, Map 7, Map 8, Map 9 and Map 10 all of which are associated with the Spires of Ravenloft. In the bottom left corner is a front facing image of the entire castle with size guide displaying the full height of the castle including the spire. The total height of the castle is 360 ft. The break points shown along the way up to the total height are associated with floor sizes for each of the associated maps. The maps 5 through 10 are stacked on top of each other such that 10 is at the top and 5 is at the bottom of the sleeve.

Map 5 contains a hallway with a stairwell leading down labeled K46, a bedroom labeled K42, additional rooms labeled K41, K43, K44, K45, K36, and K37 along with several corridors labeled K39, K38, and K40. There are additional stairways labeled K21, K18, and K20. Map 5 is 40 feet from floor to ceiling.

Map 6 contains roof tops labeled K53, a chimney labeled K52, 4 interconnected rooms labeled K51, K50, K49 and K47, the same stairways from Map 5 labeled K18, K20 and the top of K21 which ends in room K47, and a new stairway labeled K48 which is connected to room K47. Map 6 is 40 feet from floor to ceiling.

Map 7 contains the Straiways K20, K18, and K48. Three rooms are attached to each other. K55 is attached to both K54 and K56. K54 is attached to the stairwell K48. Map 7 is 40 feet from floor to ceiling.

Map 8 has the stairway K48 end as it reaches a spire's battlements, labeled K57. There is a stone bridge linking to the stairway K20 labeled K58. K20 continues to ascend to map 9 but depected on Map 8 is a heart. K18 continues to climb and will reach its peak in map 10. Map 8 is 20 feet higher than map 7.

Map 9 starts 50 feet from map 8 with a spire's battlements as the ending for the stairs. This room is labeled K60.

Map 10 is the peak for the stairs K18. It is spire with a pointed roof. The room is labeled 59 while the enter of the stairs is now accessible, a fall of 380 feet, labeled K18a.

Returning to the left side of the sleeve, above the front facing image is Map 2. This map is the courtyard of the castle along with some ground floor elements. The front yard entrance is labeled K1, the side gates to the back of courtyard are labeled K2, the carriage house is labeled K4, the chapel is k5 and the outlook is K6. The gate leading into the courtyard is labeled J

Above map 2 is a full 3d side view of the castle. It has the spires indicated in Map 8, 9, and 10 along with the rooftops from map 7. The walls are also clearly visible along with the chapel. The stable house is also visible but the outlook is just a flat floor.

[End ID]

Back to the sleeve, if we open it, its a map of Castle Ravenloft! Its isometric and how in the hell do you keep this hidden from your players if you ever need to refer to it while in session? You probably have to grab it out and review it as you draw on some kind of graphing paper and attach it with tape together or something or just draw it out before the game starts and come to your weekly game night with it all prepared, like how we do it now. Its also wild that this sleeve isn't attached in anyway. If you lose either this outer sleeve or inner sleeve with even more maps, you just lose all the maps. I did not grow up in the 80s or 90s when this was the way you would play, 5th edition was my first edition, so again, was this ever a problem? I could see it being a problem since cardboard is not sturdy at all and I am terrified in tearing it accidently. The pricing was also around $7 to $9 in the 80s which would be about $22 to $28, which is cheaper than modules are now but no where near cheap enough to justify the cardboard and the paper quality.

Anyway, the castle itself is 360 feet tall which is massive for an actual castle. Though most of the height is the main spire with the Heart of Sorrow like we all know all love, referred to as the Guardian of Sorrow in I6. If you did the math with all the heights for maps shown, it wouldn't be 360 ft. That is because the rest of the maps are on the inner sleeve, which is two sided. The other side has the map of Barovia, which you have gotten a sneak peak at. Lets finish up on the outer sleeve before moving to the inner sleeve with more maps.

[ID]

An outer cardboard sleeve with the following words: "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" "Official Game Adventure" "Ravenloft" "by Tracey and Laura Hickman"

"Under raging stormclouds, a lone figure stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of castle Ravenloft. Count Strahd von Zarovich stares down a sheer cliff at the village below. A cold, bitter wind spins dead leave about him, billowing his cape in the darkness."

"Lightning splits the clouds overhead, casting stark white light across him. Strahd turns to the sky, revealing the angular muscles of his face and hands. He has a look of power - and of madness. His once-handsome face is contorted by a tragedy darker than the night itself."

"Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind's howling increases as Strahd turns his gaze back to the village. Far below, yet not beyond his keen eyesight, a part of adventurers has just entered his domain. Strahd's face forms a twisted smile as his dark plan unfolds. He knew they were coming, and he knows why they came. All according to his plan. He, the master of Ravenloft, will attend to them."

"Another lightning flash rips through the darkness, its thunder echoing through the castle's towers. But Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind - or perhaps a lone wolf - fills the midnight air. The master of Ravenloft is having guests for dinner. And you are invited. "

"1983 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in U.S.A"

"ISBN 0-88038-942-X" "394-53465-4TSR0600" Below this text is a logo for TSR. Beneith the logo is additional text: "TSR, Inc. Products of your Imagination" On the left margin of the sleeve is a barcode within a white box with the number 0 at the start of the barcode and the number 3 at the end. Beneath the barcode but within the white box is the following string of numbers "46363 09075"

[End ID]

On the reverse of the outer sleeve, its a bunch of information on the module itself. I'll use this time to talk a bit about the creators - though I'll admit I don't know as much as I should. Tracey and Laura Hickman are iconic authors and module designers for the early years of D&D and especially Dragonlance. They also created the second edition version of I6, House of Strahd, Ravenloft 2 House on Griffin Hill (A story for another day) and so many more works. If you see their names on something, its going to be good from my experience. Its also why Dragonlance is so interconnect to Ravenloft to an extent or that's what I think atleast. Though Ravenloft is interconnected to every major setting TSR had at the time (Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, and Dark Sun all have characters and dread domains from their universes). Anyway back to the Hickmans. Their works are considered what made D&D jump from just dungeon crawling to more narrative experiences and Ravenloft absolutely shows this. This culminated when Tracy pushed forward on his work in creating Dragonlance, which is one of the biggest settings for D&D. I am sadly not super knowledgably about Dragonlance but we can really feel this shift in module design moving from I6 onward. I6 has a lot of notable steps in module design, the biggest being the maps!

[ID] An image of a map. The map has a white margin surrounding the entire map as a a border. The top of the map has a repeating pattern lining the edge of the map invoking a gothic crown molding. The right and left edge of the map has a marble pillar going from the top to the bottom of the map, serving as the maps' border.

The map's legend is in the right corner. The contents of the legend are in a white box. The words Ravenloft stylized in bold font are above the rest of the legend. The Letters R and T in Ravenloft have gargoyle heads extending outwards to face the edges of the the legend. The legend is organized into 4 rows with 3 columns. The legend shows off several colors with associated elevations: Light green is associated with "Elevation 0-49 feet", Dark Green is Elevation 50-99 feet. Blue Green is Elevation 100-999 feet. Purple is Elevation 1000-1499 FT. and is the end of the first column. At the start of the second column is the last color, a Reddish Purple is Elevation 1500+ feet. Continuing down the second column there are shapes to indicate map elements. Lines repeating next to each other vertically indicate a cliff wall, two parallel lines that complete indicate a road, and two parallel lines that are dashed indicate a trail. The third column shows more colors to represent buildings that are occupied: A brown rectangle indicates an occupied house. A light brown rectangle indicates an unoccupied house. A small light brown square indicates an unoccupied store. The last icon on the legend is a red rectangle indicating an Encounter Building. Bellow the columns and the width of the rows is text "Scale: 1 hex = 200 feet". Bellow the legend is a title. "Map 1. Lands of Barovia"

The map starts at the right and flows left following a white road. The maps elevation up to the city remains light green with the northern portion of the city, near a point labeled E7, becoming dark green. North west of the village the color shifts to being blue green before shifting to purple and sections of redish purple representing mountain peaks. Continuing west, the map remains purple with reddish purple mount peaks scattered throughout.

North and south of the road is a woods. The road starts near the letter A passing through what appears to be a gate labeled B . Continuing we see two hexes we see the letters C on the map on the left and right adjacent hexes. Following the road is the village of barovia, with houses indicating occupancy. There are several red houses each labeled with a corresponding letters. The center has E1 and E2. South is E3, E5, and E4. North is E6 and E7. The road heads south west from the village, passing E continuing to a branching path marked by the letter F.

The northern branch flows north before becoming a trail passing landmarks G1 and G before meeting back up with the main road at a bridge. The southern branch flows around woods and turns north before bending south east around a mountain. The road continues to follow this mountain until the road bends north to meet a bridge, labeled H. The road flows around another mountain before going north and reaching a fork in the road, indicated by the letter I. The fork heading north is blocked by a gate, indicated by the letter B. The road continuing north and west off of the map. The fork flowing east winds through the mountains until it reaches a drawbridge gate indicated by the letter J. The road ends at a castle indicated by the letter K. Following the entire road is a river that flows through the first bridge, meeting up with the trail with G and G1, passing under bridge H, then continuing west before the river is off the map

[End ID]

There is an inner sleeve with more maps and the map of Barovia itself which is very familiar to those who know the map from 5th edition. It looks like you could just place it out and play right on it using a token to represent the players because its gorgeous and heavily colorized. Each color meaning different elevations since Barovia is so mountainous and hilly. The map only goes up to Castle Ravenloft, that is because Barovia would be expanded when Ravenloft itself gets expaded in second edition with its AD&D box set, modules, and lorebooks. The whole story we know with "I, Strahd" would be years later. The village of Barovia looks much larger than we would assume but the general town's make up and people don't change much on the way to 5th edition. WotC did a good job on preserving the setup for Curse of Strahd.

On the Reverse of this inner sleeve we see more maps of Castle Ravenloft and again, its very similar to what we know in 5e.

[ID]

A folded out display of several maps for Castle Ravenloft as isometric cross sections. The display contains the following maps: Map 4. Court of the Count, Map 3. Main Floor, Map 11. Larders of Ill Omen, and Map 12. Dungeon and Catacombs. Above Map 12 is a compass. In the bottom left of the display is the following text "1983 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 119-I-9075". Along the left of the maps is the height from floor to ceiling for each map. To the left of the maps is a key for the maps. This key is two columns and 21 rows. The first column uses flat 2d images; the second column represents the image from the first row in an isometric view, mirroring the maps.

The first row represents doors with a square and a thick line extending from the center of the left and right sides. The second row represents double doors with rectangle divided in half by a vertical line with a thick line extending from the center of the left and right sides. The third row represents secret and standard doors with a square missing one side, the letter S being placed inside this incomplete square, with a thick line extending from center of the left and right sides. The fourth row represents secret doors with the letter S with a thick line in the left and right side of the letter. The fifth row represents one way secret doors with the letter S with an arrow passing through the letter with a thick line on the top and bottom of the letter. The sixth row represents teleport traps using several small staggered inverted Vs. The seventh row represents trap doors in the floor using the letter T in a solid circle. The eight row represents trap doors in the ceiling with the letter T surrounded with a dashed circle. The ninth row represents windows with a white rectangle surrounded with a black rectangle while the isometric view shows a white trapezoid instead in the rectangle. The tenth row represents arrow slits using a black rectangle with a white triangle in the middle. The eleventh row represents bars and portcullises with sequential circles. The twelfth row represents brazier with a circle with an inner ring while the isometric view shows a brazier. The thirteenth row represents ladders with a ladder. The fourteenth row represents stairs with lines reducing in size making a shape of a triangle from left to right while the isometric depiction is a set of stairs. The fifteenth row represents spiral stairs with lines that reduce in size and curve inward while the isometric view is a spiral staircase. The sixteenth row represents a bed with a bed. The seventeenth row represents a chair and thrown with a top down cube with the isometric view is a chair. The eighteenth row represents railing with 4 black dots connected with a line, while the isometric view displays a railing. The nineteenth row represents a statue with a circle containing a black star. The twentieth row represents a curtain using a thick black squiggly line with 4 humps. Lastly, the twenty-first row represents water with repeating waves as rows while isometric view is a wavy layer on top of a white square with scattered dots. Below the key is the text: Scale: 1 Square = 10 feet.

Map 12, labeled Dungeon and Catacombs, is the largest of the maps in the image. K84 is the largest room in the map with several small one square rooms labeled 2 through 40. 1 represents a door connected to room K81. North and south of K84 are the rooms K85 and K86. Both of these rooms are mirrors of each other. East of K84 is a hallway labeled K87 with a room at the end labeled K88. Opposite of this hallway attached to K84 on the west is a stairwell labeled K18a and a stairway labeled K18. Continuing from K81 there is a trap on the floor that leads into K82, a slide that leads into K74. Across the trap is the hallway labeled K80. A staircase is attached K80 leading to the room K78. K78 has a brazier along with two statues. There are three staircases leading out of K78: the left most stairwell is K72 with the associated text "Up 70 feet to Map 11, K72", the center is K80, and the right stairwell is K83. The door out of K78 leads to room K77 which is divided by a Curtain with two chairs overlooking another room, labeled K76. K76 is flooded with water and to east is a hallway Labeled K73. K73 is also flooded which has two rooms branching north labeled K74 and south labeled K75. Both K74 and K75 are prisons with cells labeled A through H and are flooded. Attached at the end of the K73 is a staircase labeled K21. The height from floor to ceiling of map 12 is 50 ft

Map 11, labeled Larders of Ill Omen, has two stairwells that are not attached to the main map, both K18 and K831. K18A is a empty cylinder that the stairs of K18 wrap around. K18 has the following associated text "Up 30 feet to rubble blockage then 10 feet past rubble to map 3, K18". Starting in the top left corner of the map, the stairway K79 leads up to a secret door attached to K72. K72 leads into a the K70. K70 has two attached rooms, K71 to the east and K67 to the south. K71 features a stairway K20a with the following associated text: "Up 40 Feet to Map 3". K67 is a room with a double door leading to K62 to the east and K68 to the south. K68 is a hallway with the room K69 attached to the west and the stairway K64 to the south with the following associated text " Up 40 feet to map 3". K69 has 10 sections divided by walls, 5 on the north and south walls of the rooms. Room K62 has 4 rooms attached to the hallway, K66 to the north, K65 to the north but east of K66, a unnumbered room with the staircase K21, and K63 to the east behind bars. K62 has a stairway to the north, east of K65 with the following associated text "up 40 feet to map 3". In the room containing K21 there is a trapdoor between the staircase and the door to K62. The staircase K21 has the following associated text "Up 40 feet to Map 3". The height from floor to ceiling of map 11 is 40 ft.

Map 3, labeled Main Floor, contains a entry hall out to the courtyard of the castle, labeled K7. Next to K7, unattached to any of the rooms in Map 3, is the staircase K83. K7 is attached to one room, K8. K8 is attached three rooms, K14 to the east, K9 to the south, and K19 by a staircase to the north with the following text "Up 30 feet". K19 leads to another staircase with the text "Up 20 feet to map 4". K9 is connected to the staircase K21 to the east and the room K10 to the west. K21 leads up to Map 4. In the wall north of K21 is a hole labeled K31a. K10 is a large room with a secret door the the east, leading to K11. K11 leads to the a hallway, K13. K13 is attached to K11 with a northern hall and attached to the room K12 to the west. At the end of hall k13 is the staircase K64 with the following text "Up 50 feet Map 4, Down 40 feet to Map 11". K14 is a hall that leads into K15. K15 is a large room with two passages, K16 to the northwest and K17 to the southwest, which are attached to two separate stairways. K16 is attached to the stairwell K29. K17 is attached to the stairway K18 and the hollow cylinder K18a with the following text: "Down 10 feet to new wall down pas wall 80 feet to map 12". Unattached to the rest of the map and north of K14 is the room K20. K20 contains the stairway K20a and an unlabeled stairway with the associated text "Up 50 feet". A hallway labeled K13 leads into K20. At the west end of K13 is a round room labeled K12. The south end of K12 leads into a small room labeled K22. Connected to the outside and unconnected to the rest of map, east of K20, is the room K23. K23 has a staircase leading down with the associated text "Down 40 feet to map 11". The room to the north of K23 is K24. K24 has a stairway that leads up with the associated words "Up 30 feet to map 4". The height from floor to ceiling of map 3 is 50 ft.

Map 4, labeled Court of the Count, contains a throne room. This throne room, labeled K25, is located in the western half of the map and is connected to two stairwells which lead back to K19. There is a secret door in front of the throne on the south wall of K25 which leads into K13. The eastern end of K13 is a stairwell labeled K64 with the following associated text "Up 40 feet down 50 feet". To the north of K13 is the room K12. To east of K13 is the room K22. K25 has two additional rooms attached, K26 attached with a set of double doors, and K30, attached with a single door. K30 has a set of stairs labeled K21 with the following associated text "Up 40 feet down 50 feet". K26 is a small hallway with a secret door to the north that connects to the room K33 and a double door to the east that connects to K27. K33 connects to room K32 to the west and hallway K13 to the north with a secret door. Similar to the other hallway labeled as K13, to leads to two rooms and a stairwell. The room K12 is in the same location as the previous K12. K22 is to the south of K13. To the west of K13 is a large stairwell labeled K20. The stairwell K20 leads up and down and has a secret door that leads to a ladder with the following text: "Ladder up 20 feet from K34 to K20". The ladder leads to an additional secret door that that leads into the room K34. K34 has a staircase leading down off the map. K27 is a long hallway that leads to another set of double doors connected to K28. A secret door is in the middle of the southern wall connecting K27 to K31. K31 has a hole next to the small room labeled K31a. K28 has two chairs and a outcropping that overlooks the main floor over K15 that is 50 feet in the air. K28 has a stairwell that leads down to Map 3 labeled K29. To the south of K27, to the west of K28 and to the east of K31 is the stairwell K18 and the cylinder K18a. The height from floor to ceiling of map 4 is 40 ft.

[End ID]

I want to say before moving on to the module, that these maps are immaculate. Like now we are spoiled with battlemaps in modules and how they are designed but back in the 80s, they had black and white paper that feels like its a elementary workbook. Its fairly cheap feeling. Where I could describe modern books as more textbook in quality. So imagine then you had these black and white books to use for making maps. These sleeves are so much higher quality and the color is beautiful if you ask me. I can see how a dm could run this dungeon flawlessly. Even know the castle is massive and yet it always goes off without any issues. Its a testament to good dungeon design and displaying information to the dm and players. Its one of those tales that these maps are what made I6 Ravenloft popular; again I don't know any old school ttrpg fans who played this when it was new but I could absolutely see it. During my researching, this is one of the biggest factors in what made Ravenloft popular. That and of course our beloved Strahd von Zarovich.

Now onto the actual module. I am not going to have a photo of each section of the module since there is alot but I will be showing off all the images in the module plus anything of note. The layout of the module itself makes sense from a ease of access but compaired to modern module layouts, it a bit jumpy. First is Strahd's stat block and his personality. It makes sense to put this first since he is the villain and you will need to have ready access to it. Second is the fortune reading, called "Fortunes of Ravenloft". Then onto the actual setup for the module following the similar steps to what we have come to expect from Curse of Strahd: The lands of Barovia, Barovia Village, Tser pool encampment, and Castle Ravenloft. Then statblocks for the rest of the monsters. I am not going to go over the narrative of I6 since there isn't any major differences to Curse of Strahd! I6 is almost beat for beat the same as Curse of Strahd as long as we include only the portions in I6. This makes sense since Curse of Strahd is a remake after all. Now, onto Strahd's statblock!

Part 2: Strahd von Zarovich

[ID]

The image is a black and white page full of text with an image of Strahd von Zarovich in the bottom right corner. The documents text is positioned into two columns. The top of the document has a repeating border that is a shape that is a hollow rounded triangle with two curved arches on the left and right of the shape that meet in the middle under the bottom of the triangle. On the left and right of the triangle is abstract black shapes that meet up at a black thick line the top near of the page. Around these triangles are broken lines that outline the shape. A thin black line creates an outline from the bottom of the triangles around the document.

The image of Strahd von Zarovich in the bottom right corner is of a cloaked figure with a cowl. His hair is pulled back with a strong widow's peak. His eyes are white and luminous. His knows and ears are barely visible, with the rest of his face hidden in the darkness. His right arm appears to be extended but is hidden by his cloak. Behind Strahd is a full moon with three bats casting a shadow on the moon. In the bottom right of the image is the artist mark of Clyde Caldwel, A c like shape that flow into an n like shape with a dot beneath. At the center of the page is the page number, 3

The text of the document starting with the left column is as follows: "Count Strahd Von Zarovich, Vampire.

The entire adventure centers around the vampire. Always keep in mind the motives of the vampire, how he moves about, and what his cunning plot is. You must play Strahd in the same way players play their characters. Study this NPC as carefully as the players study their characters.

Count Strahd Von Zarovich (The First Vampyr) Frequency: Unique Number Appearing: 1 Armor Class: -1 Move: 12"/18" Hit Dice: 10 (55 hit points) % In Lair: 90% Treasure Type F Damage/Attack: 5-10 (1d6+4) Special Attacks: Energy Drain Special Defenses: +1 or better weapon to hit Magical Resistance: See below Intelligence: Genius Alighnment: CE Size: M Psionic Ability: Nil Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Although Strahd can be encountered in many places, he is always encountered in the plaace indicated by your Fortunes of Ravenloft results (see p.4) unless he has been forced to his tomb. Strahd is slightly above-average vampire. He has the normal 18/76 strength and his blows drain 2 life levels from his opponents. Strahd has the usual vampire abilities. He can only be hit by magical weapons and can regenerate 3 hit points per round He can assume gaseous from at will or shape change into a large bat. He can charm person at will by gazing into a character's eyes, causing the character to make a saving throw vs. spells with a penalty of -2. Strahd is also a 10th level magic user. He learned his magic from studies during his life from subsequent studies over the centuries. His available spells are:

First level: comprehend languages, hold portal, protection from good, sleep. Second level: invisibility, locate objects, mirror image, ESP. Third level: fireball, gust of wind, suggestion Forth level: polymorph other, polymorph self Fifth level: animate dead, distance distortion"

The following text is the right column of the document: "Strahd has a variety of spies and servants. They report to him four times each day (at dawn, noon, dusk, and midnight). There is a 60% chance that Strahd knows the PC's location at these times. If Strahd knows their location, he attacks the OCs -wherever they are -within two hours. Strahd chooses the time and method of his attacks carefully.

Strahd can attack in each of the following ways once.

Strahd attacks a single PC for 5 melee rounds then leaves.

Strahd calls 10-15 Strahd zombies to attack the party. All of the zombies must attack at the same time in the same place.

Strahd calls 3-12 worg wolves to attack the party. All of the wolves must attack at the same time in the same place.

When playing Strahd, above all, keep these three things in mind.

Strahd chooses when he attacks. Strahd is supposed to be a genius, play him as one. Whenever he is aware of the PCs poisitions, he is allowed to make an attack how and where he wants. His attacks must be timed to be most advantageous to him. To do that, Strahd must move around during the adventure. However, he can always be found in the place determined in Fortunes of Ravenloft. It is your responsibility to see that the vampire uses his abilities to his greatest advantage.

Strahd knows when to withdraw. He knows when he is over his head. If he is losing a battle he becomes gaseous, polymorphs into a wolf or bat, and/or summons other creatures to guard his retreat.

Strahd's attacks depend upon his goals. There is a reason why Strahd lured the PCs into his little kingdom. This reason is determined in Fortunes of Ravenloft. Strahd's plans for achieving his goals are listed with his goals."

[End ID]

I don't know 1st edition but if I'm not mistaken (and I could be since my knowledge is based on the 1st/2nd edition dos games), is a roll under system unlike 5e's DC system. Its cool seeing spells remain at spell levels I know like invisibility being second level and fireball being obviously third level; though I feel its common knowledge that fireball was third level in 1st edition. If someone who is far more versed in 1st edition could tell me what his stat block actually means, I would appreciate it immensely.

Something awesome is that Strahd has different goals determined by the module's Fortunes of Ravenloft, something similar to the fortune reading in 5th edition. Strahd is also cunning and plays keepaway with the players, running away when he is losing and ambushing the players at any time. He even has a randomized set encounter location where the Fortunes of Ravenloft says, again just like 5e. The whole intent behind his creation and play style is that he is supposed to be this menacing calculating monster of a man, not a generic monster. This design has lasted to this day which is impressive. I may be spreading more internet nonsense from saying but the idea of the whole module to my knowledge cam from a playtest of a game with players fighting a vampire in a cave and it didn't make narrative sense.

What is also fascinating is his title, The First Vampyr. Was the intent was to set up the villain as well the first vampire in universe? I don't know when TSR started focusing on building out their universes, like Forgotten Realms, but this feels like this is something that would be kept in mind for the future. At the same time, this could just be throwaway flavor text as Strahd is referred to as a "slightly above average vampire". Which feels like they are downplaying his strength as a monster. But he also is a fairly formidable caster though I don't have the context of how formidable, I am just extrapolating using my experience with 5th edition; just 5th level spells feels like alot for any party. He is also immune to any damage not dealt by magical weapons, which would be an issue if the module didn't give the players magical weapons. But it does. We know it has the sunsword but as we will see, the module has other magical weapons as well, making this trait something the players could handle once they are in the castle.

Lastly, Strahd feels like he teleports around quite a bit given what the module is suggesting, that he should be reappearing and fighting the players before the castle. Curse of Strahd does solve this by giving him a teleportation room, a difference I highlight later, here he just has to run around using his powers. I think its fine to handwave this as Strahd can just move quickly due to his ability to polymorph since its so core to this module that he can just show up and scare the players.

Next, the Fortunes of Ravenloft

Part 3: The Fortunes of Ravenloft

[ID] The image is a black and white page full of text with three images of Cards on the top of the page, above the text "Fortunes of Ravenloft", with the first card partially behind the "R" in Ravenloft. The page itself is grey and splits text into two columns that flow similar to the previous document image. At the center of the bottom of the page is the number 4, indicating the page number. The three cards are similar with white playing card like border and an embroidery pattern filling an inner border with text in the center. At the top left of the page is the head of a gargoyle, with a line drawn down from the neck to the bottom of the page, passing behind the left playing card. Under the left most card's left side grouped together is the letter J and a heart written into the book in pen. Further down in pen are the words "Jack spades" crossed out. In text between the two handwritten texts is the text "Deal the top five cards face down". Below the right side of the left most card in pencil are the words "king of spades". Under the center card is the letter K and a diamond in pen. Under the right most card is the letter K and a heart in pen. The text outside of the cards is the following, starting from the left column and omitting slurs: "Fortunes of Ravenloft is an imitation ancient [slur] card reading. It does not resemble any real or mystical fortune telling process. Fortunes of Ravenloft determines Strahd's goals and the placement of important treasures. This card reading can add a great deal of flavor to your game and makes Ravenloft different when you play it again. You must run this card reading before playing the module. If, during the course of the adventure, the PCs have their fortunes read at the [slur] camp, run this card reading again, out loud. Substitute the new results for the old ones. Be sure to write down the results of your card reading, so you can have them when you need them. Find a regular 52-card deck of playing cards. Remove all 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, and joker cards from the deck. Now you have a set of four suits with eight cards in each suit. Shuffle the deck. If you don't have a regular deck of cards, you can get the same results by rolling 1d8 to determine the type of card and 1d4 to determine its suit. Roll again if you get the same card in any suit twice." The following text is a table that starts in the left column and continues on to the right. Around the bottom portion of the text in each row is an enclosed box. "Table 1. Fortunes of Ravenloft Places Card Place 3 Study (K37) It is in a place of tranquility, a harbor for the mighty and powerful. It is in a place of wisdom, warmth, and despair. Great secrets are there. The object is on the mantlepiece just under the portait of the women. If Strahd is there, he is sitting back in the overstuffed chair, staring into the blazing fire. 5 Treasure Room (K41) You should seek for a carefully hidden place of great worldly wealth. I see a blazing fire protecting the place. The object is set prominently atop the other treasures in the room. If Strahd is there, he is counting his ill-gotten gains. 7 Chapel of Ravenloft (K15) You may find this amid the ruins of a place of supplication. The object is on the altar, brightly illuminated by a shaft of light from the ceiling. If Strahd is there, he is standing in the center of the room-a dark shape in the vast hall. 10 High Tower Room (K60) This is a place of dizzying heights that all loathe to travel. The road winds ever upward and the rocks themselves live here! The object is in a locked iron chest. If Strahd is there he is at the window, looking over his lands. Jack Crypt of Sergei von Zarovich (K85) This lies with a fallen prince of old. The brother of dark is light and he rests in this place. The object is lying across Sergei's chest. If Strahd is there, he is lying across the marble slab, weeping. Queen Crypt of Ravenovia (K88) This is in the mother's place The object is lying on top of Ravenovia's coffin. If Strahd is there, he is in a frenzy of rage and despair"

The text in the left most card has a section in a box similar to the table. The box surrounds the middle portion of the card's text. The following is the text of the left most card: "First, determine where the Holy Symbol is (see Treasures and Tomes on Page 30 for a description of the holy symbol). Pick up the first card and read the following boxed text. This card is a symbol of great power. It tells of a powerful force for good and protection against the forces of darkness. To determine where the holy symbol is, find this card in Table 1. to determine the 'to hit' and armor class modifiers to use in that place, find this card's suit in Table 2.

The center card and right most cards' text is similarly laid out as the left most card. The center card's text follows: "Second, determine where the Tome of Strahd is (see Treasures and Tomes on p.31 for a description of the Tome of Strahd). Pick up the second card and read the following boxed text. This card tells of history. Knowledge of the ancient may help you understand a foe. To determine where the Tome is, find this card in Table 1. to determine the 'to hit' and armor class modifiers to use in that place, find this card's suit in Table 2."

The text of right most card follows: "Third, determine where Strahd von Zarovich himself can always be found. Pick up the third card and read the following boxed text This is the object of your search! Ah! I see darkness and evil behind this card! It is a powerful man whose enemy is light and whose powers are beyond mortality! To determine where Strahd can always be found, find this card in Table 1. to find the 'to hit' and armmor class modifiers to use in that place, find this card in Table 2." [End ID]

[ID] The image is a black and white document similar to the previous image. The background is the same color along with the layout of text. The page number is 5. Two cards are above the left column of text. On the right edge of the document is a face of a gargoyle mirroring the previous document. Under the left most card is two sets of text: "Jack" and a diamond are written in pencil and the number 5 and a club written in pen. Under the right most card is two sets of text similar to the left card. The text is the same, just written in pencil and pen: the number 3 and a heart. Under the The left column continues Table 1. The following is the remaining text:

"King Kings Audience Hall (K25) A king's throne is the place to find this The object is lying across the dais behind the throne. If Strahd is there, he is sitting on the throne. Ace Crypt of Strahd (K86) This is a very bad sign. This is in the very heart of darkness: his home, his source. It is his center and his life. It is the one place to which he must return. The object is in a corner of the room. If Strahd is here, he is within his coffin, ready to attack at the first sign of someone opening the lid" Continuing after Table 1 is Table 2. Table 2 is similar to Table 1; the only difference is the location of the box containing text. The box is below a section of text and is the second half of each row. Table 2 contains images of each card suit vertically aligned in the left column of the table. The suites descend in the following order: Heart, Diamond, Clubs, Spades. The suits are solid and are black. The following is the text of the table, including a text replacement of the suit to indicate its location: "Table 2. Fortunes of Ravenloft: Modifiers Suit 'To Hit and Armor Class Modifiers'

Heart The PCs gain a +1 bonus to hit and a -1 bonus to their AC.

There is a very good influence there. If you are there, the power of good will aid you.

Diamond The PCs gain a +1 bonus to hit, but suffer a +1 penalty to their AC.

The diamond blesses your skill there, but bodes poorly for your protection.

Clubs The PCs suffer a -1 penalty to hit, but gain a -1 bonus to their AC

The club sustains your strength here, but holds you from your victory, taking more time than it otherwise would.

Spades The PCs suffer a -1 penalty and a +1 penalty to their AC.

The spade is a dark shadows of evil cast over that place. You fight under its influence here." Table 3 is similar to Table 1, sharing the location of the box containing text in the table. Table 3 is the entirety of the right column. The following is the text of Table 3, ommiting slurs: "Table 3. Fortunes of Ravenloft: Strahd's Goals Card Strahd's Goal

3 or 5 Strahd seeks a new identity.

Not yet, but soon, one who appears to be your friend will become your enemy.

Strahd will try to be alone with a charmed PC. When he is alone with a charmed PC, Strahd casts a polymorph other spell on the PC, turning the PC into a vampire. The spell operates as detailed in the AD&D Players Handbook with the following clarifications. The PC takes the form of a vampire and radiates a magical aura, regardless of whether the PC survives a system shock check or not. A PC that survives a system shock check has all of the abilities of a vampire as detailed in the AD&D Monster Manual, regardless if whether that PC passes a mental check or not. Undead cannot drain levels from undead. Thus, if a polymorphed PC vampire retains his own mind, he and Strahd can fight, but neither can drain levels from the other. They can both, however, drain levels from non-undead. After turning the PC into a vampire, Strahd casts a polymorph self and turns into the likeness of the PC. Strahd puts the new vampire PC into his own coffin and attempts to join the party, masquerading as the PC. Strahd will try to persuade the party that he found a away out of Barovia. Strahd can, after all, open the gates. Strahd wants to move to another country using his new identity. The [slur] will carry dirt from his crypt to his new home.

7 or 10 Strahd wants to make a magical sphere of darkness.

This card tells of a tool of evil. Darkness surrounds and protects this tool, giving comfort to the black hearts and protection from good.

Strahd is trying to assemble a magical item that casts a continuous sphere of darkness. Such an item would greatly extend the range of his travels. Over the centuries he gather the pieces of the sphere one by one, until he is missing only one piece, a black opal. Strahd mistakenly believes that one of the PCs has black opal. Strahd mistakenly believes that one of the PCs has black opal stone. Strahd will use his natural charm person abilities to charm lone PCs. Stahd will send those Charmed Pcs back to the party asking, 'Do you have the black opal?' When Strahd discovers that none of the PCs have a back opal, he will attempt to destroy them.

Jack or Queen Strahd wants to win the love of Ireena Kolyana

The darkness lovesa light and desires it Great subtle plans are in motion about you; plans that the dead may find warmth from the living.

Strahd will attempt to charm all of the PCs, and make them attack Ireena. When they attack, Strahd will swoop down and save her from the PCs. Strahd hopes that the rescue will turn Ireena's heart to him. He wants Ireena to love him willingly rather than by force.

King or Ace Strahd wants the Sunsword.

Here is a high and noble card. One of you carries a weapon that is stronger than any other against the evil in this land. Only one part is missing from this weapon. That part is found in the evil one's lair.

See Treasures and Tomes on p.31 for details about the sunsword. Strahd wants to destroy the sunsword. He believes (correctly) that one of the PCs (a random fighter) has has been unknowingly carrying the sunsword for some time. If the sunsword hilt is found and reunited with the blade, Strahd could be in real trouble."

The text of the left card is the following:

"Fourth, determine where the sunsword hilt is (see Treasures and Tomes on p.31 for a description of the sunsword). Pick up the forth card and read the following boxed text.

This card is good for you. It is a card of power and strength , the victor's card. It tells of a weapon of light, a weapon of vengeance.

To determine where the sunsword is, find this card in table 1. To determine the 'to hit' and armor class modifiers to use in that place, find this card's suit in Table 2."

The text of the right card is the following:

"Last, determine Strahd's goal. Pick up the fifth, and last, card, and read the following boxed text.

And here is the root card. Out of darkness and chaos, this card find the reason and foundation for darkness and chaos. This card shows the purpose of all things. It is the key to life and death and else beyond.

To determine Strahd's goal, find this card on Table 3." [End ID]

My copy is used so it has some writing on it from past fortunes but I think its cute, since the fortunes are still done with playing cards, with the only difference being the reading in Curse of Strahd is far more complex. The objects are the exact same, the Sunsword, the Holy Symbol, and the Tome of Strahd. Similarly, the locations you find these items can also instead be the locations you fight Strahd: the study , his treasure room, the chapel, the top of the high tower, Sergei's crypt, Strahd's crypt, the audience hall with his throne, and Ravenovia's crypt (Strahd's Mother). Taking a step back here to talk about this decision as a whole, I have always loved the randomness. The fact that everyone's experience is always different and unique feels great. It leads to a different narrative expierence each time and gives us a reason to replay the module. I have played Curse of Strahd as a player on three separate occasions with three separate DMs and each experience as a player was unique. Other than each character having that DM's twist or personality, the items were never in the same place so my groups always prioritized different areas. I have also ran my own game of Curse of Strahd and I have felt similar as a DM. I prioritized different characters or locations to add depth to the world. This randomization leads to unique situations that could never be replicated. I think it is one of the most novel ideas that I6 presents and I am so glad all the other adaptations have kept this idea while expanding upon the whole experience.

Jumping back to I6's fortunes, what I found really interesting is that the cards drawn add modifiers to your parties AC and to hit modifier. It feels very odd to me, but also that is because this is something that we do not have an equivalent to in Curse of Strahd. The closest is the ally we get but even then, that is more impactful from a narrative lens than the modifiers. The modifiers feel like a twist that deepens or add to the feeling of struggling against the darkness. It is very mechanical and calls back to more of the dungeon diving elements of early D&D. I don't think that modifiers change the game enough to feel sad that they have disappeared. Then again, we do get something similar with Argyvost's skull in Curse of Strahd so atleast we get some kind of spiritual successor to the modifiers in the reading.

Now I mentioned above Strahd has a goal. He does, its why he grabs the players. In 5th edition, its to toy with them and have amusement more or less and then later he wants them for Ireena. In here he has 4 reasons potentially and I want to talk about each of them. One, to grab Ireena. How he plans this is wild. He will charm the players and make them attack Ireena and he will swoop in and save her since he wants Ireena to love him willingly rather than by force. This is absolutely wild to me that Strahd could play the valiant knight for Ireena. This feels the most vanilla but this is his goal moving forward into Curse of Strahd. I think its smart to make this the "core" goal since he does attack Ireena in the opening of the module and Tatyana is core to Strahd's descent into darkness. Given all the additional material that has come out focused on Strahd, Curse of Strahd made the correct call to make this his focus. I do like that he has other goals as well in Curse of Strahd, but it is a bit of a shame that he doesn't have any of the other goals he has in I6.

The second goal is to steal a player character's identity. He will charm someone, use a spell to turn them into a vampire, shove them in his coffin and then masquerade as the player character using magic. Absolutely amazing. I love this and its also so evil. Like more than most DMs would go evil. "How do you do my fellow player characters". Sadly, this also feels like its retconned with newer Ravenloft lore since Strahd can't actually escape Ravenloft and this ending if he succeeds in stealing someone's identity and convincing the party that he found a way out everyone just leaves Ravenloft. The player who gets turned into a vampire can make checks to be able to fight back and you get this vampire duel which is so cool. Vampires in older versions of D&D can drain levels from players by the way, so the book specifies undead cant drain other undead's levels. Like the set up is amazing, the idea is wild, but there is no way for this to work if we are conforming to the rules of Ravenloft. We kind of get a successor to this goal in Curse of Strahd with Strahd's desire for a consort or successor since he wants to to be able to leave; but the book calls out that Strahd will never find any of the player characters worthy. Again a DM can change this and many have so I feel the spirit of this goal lives on; but we don't really see Strahd becoming a party member only to betray the group. That would be a fun twist however.

The third goal is the only goal where Strahd fails whether the players live or die - he wants to make a magical sphere of darkness. Strahd thinks the players have a black opal stone, which is the last piece he needs to make a big old sphere of darkness to make the world dark and stuff so he can travel more at night. Strahd will charm one player who is alone and have them ask the rest of the players if they have this black opal stone. He is certain they have the stone so when its revealed they don't, he will try to kill the players. Curse of Strahd places Barovia under the magical darkness that he is attempting to create here in this goal, which I think is a perfect way of honoring this goal

The last goal is Strahd wants to destroy the sunsword. So the module recommends the players have a cleric and a fighter as a requirement since the holy symbol is for a cleric and the sunsword is for a fighter. I mention this because Strahd just knows who has the sunsword and if this is rolled, the sword is just magically on this person and not where the fortune says. So Strahd wants to kill them and take the sword and destroy it. This is very boring to me. Like it should be a given rather than an explicit goal. If Strahd has gone out of his way to destory the sword, he should just want to do this regardless if this is a goal. This is the direction Curse of Strahd goes and I think it makes sense. 5th edition focuses more on narrative and less on dungeon crawling so this change is just natural. We even get more lore for the sunsword in 5th edition, it being a sword belonging to Sergei and being sentient. I am not sad to see this goal just disappear and become a background element. It feels like a cop-out to get Strahd to fight the party early. If he knows they have the sword and he knows where they are, why not just kill them? I mean he does like to toy with his prey but if this sword is the biggest threat to his existence, I would expect him to hunt the players down once they near the castle.

Overall, I think the goal's Strahd has in I6 are a mixed bag; some are really novel and some are fairly boring or straightforward. That is my own opinion and I am very curious on how everyone else feels.

Part 4: The lands of Barovia, Barovia Village, and Tser Pool Encampment

I am lumping all of the pre-castle encounters into one section since they are more or less similar to what we know and love from Curse of Strahd.

[ID]

The image is that of a black and white document, with a layout similar to the statblock of Strahd von Zarovich, including the borders of the page. The page number is 6. The following is the text of the left column omitting slurs:

"Lands of Barovia

A perpetual rolling blackness of thunderclouds casts a gray pall over the land. The darker silhouette of Castle Ravenloft looks over the valley from its 1,000 foot pillar of rock.

Castle Ravenloft dominates the small village of Barovia. The castle stads high atop a natural pillar of rock against the cliffs to the north of the village. The dark Svalich woods surround the village and cliffs. Use Map 1 to see the relative locations of the town and Castle Ravenloft.

The road to the village and lands of Barovia goes through ancient iron gates, controlled by the will of Count Strahd. There are only two gates, one east the of village and one west of the castle crossroads up the mountain. The gates open when the PCs arrive but close after they enter Barovia. The gates will not open for the PCs again until Strahd is destroyed.

There is a deathly stillness in the dark Barovian woods. Yet the woods are patrolled constantly by the wolves and serving beasts of Count Strahd.

No one has left Barovia for centuries. This is because of the trapping fog that exists everywhere in Barovia . Once it is breathed, it infuses itself around a character's vital organs as a neutralized poison. the fog does not taste or smell any different than normal fog. It does not harm characters as long as they continue to breathe the air in Barovia. However, when they lave Barovia, the poison becomes active. Characters must save vs. poison or start to choke. Unless choking characters reenter Barovia within 24 hours, they die. The choking stops as soon as they breathe the fog again.

The [slur] were given a potion by Strahd that cancels the effects of the fog. this potion is jealously guarded by Madam Eva, who buried it in a secret place. It is impossible for the PCs to discover the potion. The fog is magically produced by Strahd and disappears entirely upon his destruction.

The poor villagers of Barovia have been terroized for centuries by 'the devil' Strahd. Only the town and the few survivors of the second ruling house of Barovia have the will to offer more than just personal resistance to Strahd. No villager has left Barovia for centuries. Those who tried never returned, dying from the vile snapping teeth of the Barovian wolves and the choking deadly fog.

Every 3 turns, check for na random enoutner. When the PCs are not in castle Ravenloft, during daytime, use Table 4 at the right, during night time, use Table 5 at the right. When the PCs are in Castle Ravenloft, use Table 6 on p.12.

Each night the PCs stay anywhere other than the castle (Area K), Strahd attacks with his wolves and bats. His attacks are intended more to frighten the PCs than to damage them. Strahd mjust toys with them. After 5 melee rounds, Strahd and his creatures withdraw.

If the PCs are indoors, every turn strahd attacks, wolves try to break through a window or door. A roll of 1 or 2 on 1d6 means that a wolf breaks through. Once a wolf gets in, the remainder of the wolves and bats come in. The wolves and Strahd never attack Ireena Kolyana. After 5 melee wounds, all of the creatures flee into the night, leaving only Strahds hollow laughter in the distance.

4-16 (3d6) worg wolves: AC 6; MV 18"; HD 4+4; #AT 1; Dmg 2-8; AL NE.

10-100 (10d10) bats: AC 6; MV 4"/18"; HD 1d4; #AT 0; DMG 0: AL N.

The bats fly into the room, getting into the way of spell casting. Characters must make dexterity checks to cast spells with material components." Some of the text in the right column is cut off. The following is the visible text of the right column including table 4 and table 5 with slurs ommited:

"Strahd may knock at the door, but he cannot enter the building until someone invites him in. Strahd tries to charm characters into inviting him in.

Table 4. Barovia Daytime Random Encounters (Sunup to Sundown)

Roll 1d6. If the result is a 1, the PCs enounter something. Roll 1d6 and us the encounter below with the resulting number.

Roll Encounter

1 2-8 (2d4) worg wolves: AC 6; MV 18"; HD 4+4; #AT 1; Dmg 2-8; AL NE.

2 1-10 [Slur]: AC 6; MV 12"; HD 2; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8; AL NE.

3 1-4 villagers: AC 9; MV 12"; HD 2; #AT 1; Dmg 1-6; AL

4 1-4 worg wolves: AC 6; MV 18"; HD 4+4; #AT 1; Dmg 2-8; AL NE.

5 1-4 [Slur]: AC 6; MV 12"; HD 2; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8; AL NE.

6 1-4 villagers: AC 9; MV 12"; HD 2; #AT 1; Dmg 1-6; AL

Table 5. Barovia Nighttime Random Encounters (Sundown to Dawn)

Roll 1d6. If the result is a 1, the PCs enounter something. Roll 1d12 and us the encounter below with the resulting number.

1-2 1-10 worg wolves: AC 6; MV 18"; HD 4+4; #AT 1; Dmg 2-8; AL NE.

3 2-10 (2d10) worg wolves: AC 6; MV 18"; HD 4+4; #AT 1; Dmg 2-8; AL NE.

4-5 3-12 (3d4) zombies: AC 8; MV 6"; HD 2; #AT 1; Dmg 1-; AL N

6-7 10-100 (10d10) bats: AC 6; MV 4"/18"; HD 1d4; #AT 0; DMG 0: AL N.

8 1 ghost: AC 0/8 if corporeal: MV 9"; HD 10; #AT 1; Dmg 10-40 years; AL LE.

9 3-12 (3d4) ghouls: AC 6; MV 9"; HD 2; #AT 3; Dmg 1-3/1-6; AL CE.

10 1-4 wights: AC 5; MV 12"; HD 4+3; #AT 1; Dmg 1-; AL LE; SA hit drains 1 energy level.

11 1-4 wraiths: AC 4; MV 12"/24"; HD 4+3; #AT 1; Dmg 1-; AL LE; SA hit drains 1 energy level.

12 1 maiden vampire: AC 1; MV 12"/18"; HD 8+3; #AT 1; Dmg 5-10; AL CE; SA hit drains 2 energy level, gaze can charm, become gaseous in same way as Strahd."

[End ID]

The first page of the lands of Barovia is setup for random encounters along with more info on The Mist. It talks about how to handle nighttime, daytime, and indoor encounters.

The encounters will only last 5 melee rounds (again 1st edition stuff, no idea sadly) so the monsters attack the players and then they flee as they serve to scare the players. Similarly for indoors encounters, just that wolves attack with the random encounter and they try to break down the doors and windows (roll a d6, on a 1 or 2 they succeed) and again after 5 rounds, the attack ends.

What is interesting is that you can get attacked by good aligned villagers or atleast encounter them? It is not fully clear but all the other encounters on the table are evil aligned so I imagine its all combats. I say that I am unsure because later on in the castle encounters, the module specifies one encounter as a non-combat. I find it interesting you can just encounter Barovians who will just be silent and treat the players as outsiders. Maybe some will be willing to talk to you? I doubt it but it could serve as a indication to the players that something is not quite right in the land of Barovia.

The night encounters look like they are all combat. My favorite is either the 2-20 wolves (roll 2d10) or the 10 to 100 bats (10d10) bats. Just the sheer number would actually terrify someone. Imagine fighting 50+ bats. That is unforgettable.

Moving on to The Mists, or as the module refers to as the fog, we get some interesting lore elements I want to talk about. The fog here is in fact the mists we think of and the poisoning fog is consistant across second edition; I skimmed through my third edition source book and didn't find a comment, other than Strahd can close the borders and third edition source books tend to play very close to second edition canon. So the poison element is Strahd closing his borders to Barovia and preventing those within Barovia from leaving. You can obtain an antidote to this poison as the Vistani do sell this but second edition calls out that you also need Strahd's permission where in I6 the cure exists but is unobtainable; its just away to explain why the Vistani can come and go. I6's poison is different the Curse of Strahd since players don't start choking in the fog and the fog itself is not poisonous, but rather magical. The fog in Curse of Strahd also gives players exhaustion which is closer to second edition which lowers the players constitution; though unlike I6 or second edition, a player can't leave Barovia even if they succeed on the saving throws.

I want to also talk about the whole decison to add the fog and the consequences to the whole lore of Ravenloft. The fog from a gameplay perspective gives Strahd more power and makes sense as to why the villagers of Barovia have never left, they cant. This whole land is Strahd's lair. In the tome, Strahd calls himself "the land" and being able to control who can enter and leave makes it far more literal. He is quite literally the land, the fog moves when he asks and it bends to his whims. I won't lie and say the early iteration of the fog in I6 is a bit cheesy, like its just a poisonous cloud of fog and the vistani just happen to have the cure so they can come and go but they way it evolves is so interesting. It starts as this trapping force just for the players to becoming the prison that keeps Strahd contained, just that he is literally Barovia itself. He can trap those as part of his curse being the Darklord of Barovia. Its a wonderful role-reversal.

Returning to the module, the next couple pages are the set up for the module and its surprisingly one of the set ups in Curse of Strahd, "Plea for Help"; down to the exact same letter the players receive. It is word for word, only with some minor changes like inserting commas

[ID] The image is a black and white document on a wooden table. It is similar to the previous image. There is text on the page laid out such that there is two boxes containing text with text in the middle separating the boxes. The first box is cutoff in the image; the following is the text starting with a cutoff sentence:

"subdued. The letter is lying before you. Dated yesterday, the ink is still not dry and the parchment is crips. The seal is a crest you don't recognize."

The following is the text between the two boxes:

"If the PCs open the letter, read its content from the following boxed text."

The following is the text in the second box:

"Hail to thee of might and valor:

I, a lowly servant of the township of Barovia, send honor to thee. We plead for thy so desperately needed assistance within our community.

The love of my life, Ireena Kolyana, has been afflicted by an evil so deadly that even the good people of our town cannot protect her. She languishes from her wound and I would have her saved from this menace.

There is much wealth in this community. I offer all that might be had to thee and thy fellows if thou shalt but answer my desperate plea.

Come quickly for her time is at hand! All that I have shall be thine!

Kolyan Indrirovich

Burgomaster

[End ID]

I shouldn't be surprised by this; the "Plea for Help" adventure hook from Curse of Strahd is one of two adventures hooks that don't really need set up or has hard requirements. It also is very organic. Someone comes in and offers your party job, shows off that they are clearly rich by buying the whole tavern drinks for the night, and leaves. The letter is also very forward and offers the party riches for help. Its very simple but effective. I am a bit shocked how the words have not been changed in the 30+ years between the modules; but as I have mentioned earlier Curse of Strahd doesn't take a lot of liberties for the content in I6. The hook also assumes the least about the players which helps with its effectiveness. The hook relies on the party desiring wealth, which in first edition was a guarantee since leveling was associated with gold, and offers some additional motivation for good aligned characters.

Continuing on, as the players enter the Svalich Woods, they also encounter the real letter being sent by the Burgomaster of Barovia village. Again this is the same letter, though some of the words are slightly different, like dropping the words "creature calling its race".

[ID]

The image is a black and white document similar to the previous image. The image has two boxes with text. Between the two boxes is a set of text. The only word legible in the first box is the word: "scream". The following is the text between the two boxed texts:

"Three turns after all the PCs enter the woods, they find a dead villager in the underbrush. He holds an envelope crumpled in his hand. The remains of his clothes are torn and raked with claw marks. Paw prints of many large wolves are pressed into the clay around the body. The man has obviously been dead for several days.

The letter is dated one week ago. It is sealed with a large 'B'. The parchment is worn and flimsy. It reads as follows:"

The following text is contained in the bottom box:

"Hail thee of might and valor:

I, the Burgomaster of Barovia send you honor - with despair.

My adopted daughter, the fair Ireena, has been these past nights bitten by a creature calling its race 'vampyr.' For over 400 years, he has drained this land of the life-blood of its people. Now, my dear Ireena languishes and dies from an unholy wound caused by this vile beast. Yet I fear, too, that the creature has some more cunning plan in mind. He has become too powerful to be fought any longer."

In small text below the box is the following: "Letter continues on next page."

[End ID]

[ID]

The image is a black and white document similar to the previous image. The border of the document is similar to the "Lands of Barovia" image. There are three potions of text in boxes, with third becoming cutoff and unreadable. Between the first and second box is more text. The first box contains the following text:

"So I say to you, give us up for dead and encircle this land with symbols of good. Let holy men call upon their power that the evil one may be contained within the walls of weeeping Barovia. Leave our sorrows to our graves, and save the world from this evil fate of ours.

There is much wealth entrapped in this community. Return for your reward after we are all departed for a better life.

Kolyan Indirovich,

Burgomaster"

The text between the first box and second box is as follows:

"Roll 1d6 every turn the PCs ar ein the woods. If the result is 4 or more, the PCs hear a lone wolf cry in the distance. One more wolf cries each round. If the PCs are still in the woods after 5 rounds of howling, the wolves attack. If the PCs are entering Barovia, only 5 wolves attack; if the PCs are attempting to leave Barovia, 25 wolves attack. The wolves stop their attack if the PCs leave the woods by entering the village.

5 or 25 worg wolves: AC 6; MV 18"; HD 4+4; #AT 1; Dmg 2-8; AL NE. "

The following is the text contained within the second box along with its header: "D. The River Ivlis

The river Ivlis flows as clear as a blue winter sky through the valley."

The following is the text contained within the last box along with its header; part of the text is cutoff and the last word visible is 'wet':

"E. The Village of Barovia

Tall shapes loom out of the dense fog that surrounds everything. The muddy ground underfoot gives way to slick, wet"

[End ID]

Continuing on, the village of Barovia is more or less the same. Ireena is also a 4th level fighter in this module. I find this interesting that she is a level lower than what the players start at (5th level) since Vampires drain levels in 1st edition and this is not so subtle acknowledgement that Ireena was attacked by Strahd and had her blood drank. It also prevents the main npc character from overshadowing the players in fights, though Strahd and the monsters he controls do not target Ireena. Ireena's characterization in I6 and Curse of Strahd is similar, a mild but strong willed fighter. I6 however says she wants to fight and kill Strahd for harming her homeland and killing her father where this only occurs if she is you ally in Curse of Strahd. Ireena is someone who's is fighting for a lost past and a future she can never have. Her life was completely upended several times by Strahd, as both Tatyana and as herself. I6 is a story about Strahd, Tatyana, and Sergei. Strahd's jealously and envy destroying his family and he is cursed to live in a nightmare for eternity as death, the thing Tatyana saw him as. Tatyana is forced to reincarnate endlessly by The Mists to remind Strahd that he can never have her. Sergei can not move on after losing the love of his life and seeing his brother in endless torment. Its a tragedy. Ireena needs to be part of the group who helps kill Strahd. It makes her and Tatyana not some damsel in distress but instead someone who is hurting and who triumphs over their pain to forge a better future; whether or not she ends up with Sergei is left to the DM depending on how the players have interacted with her. Curse of Strahd has some changes, that takes keeps the elements of this story but expands further with the introduction of the randomized ally.

The introduction of a randomized ally frees up that role to be anyone in the cast, with a few exceptions. It allows Curse of Strahd to break away from just a story about Tatyana and Sergei and to be about how Barovia, the country, is suffering at the hands of Strahd and how everyone in the cast has a dark or tragic tale because of this suffering. From Victor hating his homeland and trying to escape to Vasilka, a person who is being made as a wife for Strahd. I don't think you can have both. At the cost of Ireena being the sole focus, we get more depth and re-playability and Curse of Strahd is designed for that in mind. It also lets Ireena free herself as a character from just being Tatyana again. While both have the same ending for Ireena, Curse of Strahd's "Something Blue" special event in Krezk and the optional ending in I6, due to the length of Curse of Strahd, Ireena gets more of a chance to bond with player characters and come to understand the world she lives in and perhaps become more than Tatyana. Again this is up to the DM and the players in roleplay and narrative but I have seen this happen a handful of times. Ireena is allowed to become more unique.

Stepping off of my soapbox and coming back to discussing differences, we come to Donavich; he doesn't have a son in I6. The son is a vampire in the church's basement, that comes from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, kinda. In Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, Donavich called Danovich, he creates a zombie plague after his son gets killed by Bandits. He hopes to bring him back so he keeps his corpse in the church basement; which yeah that is one hell of a change that gets rolled right back. I am not going to talk about Expedition here, but his personality in Curse of Strahd is much closer to this version than I6's version. In I6, he is close to a generic clerical figure; warm and kind while knowledgeable about evil. Donavich in I6 knows Ireena's whole backstory of being adopted, which Curse of Strahd does stay consistent with. However in I6 he has information on Strahd he is suppose to give the players, mainly info about the tome of Strahd.

He is almost a different character in Curse of Strahd because how much he is hurting from his son being a vampire. The villagers do not trust him in Curse of Strahd and he is losing his grip on reality. He is doing everything he can to save his son and clearly wants to help the players when they meet him. He is also the one to give the players the idea to take Ireena to Krezk and the abbey. And if he is your ally, you have to help him kill his son and give him a proper burrial. Without Doru, Donavich is much more put together and reasonable. He wants to help the heroes just as much but he isn't an actual cleric, he doesn't have magic. And if he were to leave, then the only place of good in Barovia would fall to darkness which gives him a reason to stay behind. I do not have a strong opinion on which version I like more. I think both fit the energy of the Ravenloft as a whole and both serve their purposes well. Doru exists to give Curse of Strahd more darkness in the opening and highlight that the players were not the first to try to kill Strahd. I did go on about the changes for Ireena but making Donavich a potential ally really fits with his I6 counterpart even if he wasn't really a fighter in I6. The reasoning for him join is very clear. He has lost nearly everything, and the only thing he has left to give is himself. A father who wants the devil to pay for killing his son. He gains a conviction, which is something that is missing in I6.

Outside of Ireena and Donavich, there aren't any more major differences until the castle. Once you get to the gate that we know would lead to Villaki, the carriage to Castle Ravenloft appears and it waits for the players to enter to go to the castle. The module breaks if you don't enter the carriage which makes sense. Vallaki, Krezk, and the rest of Barovia don't exist in lore as this is the first module. When all the players arrive at the Castle, the drawbridge drops down and it has one of the funniest and also probably most infuriating ways you can die. Quoting the book "Each time anyone except Strahd crosses the bridge, there is a 5% chance of a cross board breaking. If the cross board breaks. the character on it must make a dexterity check or fall to the bottom of the cliffs, 1000 feet below". In other words, 5% chance you need to make a dex save, on a fail you die. I had to share; first edition is fairly infamous for traps that can just kill you and I6 is no exception. I am so glad we do not design dungeons this way anymore.

[ID]

A black and white document on a wooden table similar to the previous image. The border of document is the same as the previous image. The page number is at the center of the bottom of the page; the page number is 10. The document is a black and white image of a carriage drawn by two horses heading to a large castle. The carriage is in the left corner of the document. The style of the carriage invokes victorian style. The carriage has three accents that divide the carriage into sections horizontally. At the top of the cairrage is a holding area for luggage and other objects. In front of the carriage is a drivers set which is unmanned. On the right of the drivers set is a parking lever. The back of the carriage is additional luggage space, in the shape of an "L". Below this additional luggage space is a seal that is illegible. The carriage has 3 windows each spaced equally apart on the upper half of the right side. Above the the right window is a Victorian styled lantern. The door to the carriage is in the center of the right side of the carriage. The door's hinges are on the right of the door and the door's handle is on the left. On the lower half of the door is a symbol of what appears to be a bird or bat. Three of the carriages wheels are visible: The Front right and both rear wheels. The left rear wheel is cut off by the page. The right rear wheel is cutoff by dust and the page. The front right wheel is obscured by dust. All the wheels are attached to the bottom of the carriage and each other with a bar.

The carriage is being pulled by two large black horses. Their harnesses appear to be uniform in make are similar. The harness attaches near their neck and the middle of the back, and near the hip. The horses are controlled by reins that attach at the horses mouths and face and loop into the harness before becoming no longer visible.

The castle is in the background. The castle is made up of several spires and a drawbridge. The drawbridge has two towers at the end of the bridge. The drawbridge is attached to a large barbican by a chains. The barbican has three visible towers, one at the left corner of the wall, and two towers between the gate of the barbican. Above the gate of the barbican the same symbol that is on the carriage's door. Each tower and the walls between the towers have battlements. Behind the walls is the keep. The keep has 5 visible towers, two on the left and right of the keeps center barely visible, one tower that lacks a spire on the right taller than the keep and is attached to the left tower by a bridge, the left tower is taller than the right tower and has an attached spire, and the tallest tower on the right with a spire at the top. The keep has a chimney under the bridge attaching the two towers.

The foreground has a set of trees obscured by the carriage on the left with a patch of grass in the bottom right corner. The background behind the tower is a set of mountains only illuminated by a large lighting strike. The lightning starts in the top right corner and flows left towards a set of trees in the foreground. The carriage is traveling on a dirt path that leads into the castle.

[End ID]

Part 5 The Castle

Starting of the castle section similar to the previous one with Castle Ravenloft's encounters. You can encounter Strahd randomly but the most interesting encounter is the angry villagers which make you get more encounters because they are making a ton of sound but will help out in a fight. They don't attack the players but I think its a fun bit of story telling to have others who are fed up with Strahd's rule helping the players as they explore the castle.

Before I continue onto the rest of the castle bit by bit, I want to talk about the npcs in the castle. The biggest difference in the castle is Rahadin. Rahadin is actually introduced into 5th edition. The dusk elves don't exist until 4th edition and are introduced in one of the Dungeon Magazine issues, in specifically "Fair Barovia"; side tangent on the side tangent, look into Fair Barovia, it has some really cool similarities to 5th edition and it feels a bit like 5th editions proof of concept for Vallaki. Anyway, Rahadin and the Dusk Elves just don't exist. Nothing about them at all is in the older versions of Ravenloft. The closest thing are the Shadow Fey but the whole Drow/Shadow Fey retcon is a neat topic for its own day. Gosh sorry, Rahadin. He probably is my favorite change to the module full stop. He adds so much more depth to Strahd and his own darkness. Rahadin allows Strahd to be more human. He has someone who is his weakness and vice versa, Rahadin's weakness is his loyalty to Strahd. He can be just as meanacing as Strahd and just as cold while at the same point letting the players feel above him since whenever/if ever the players have dinner with Strahd, Rahadin is forced to be the servant. Yet it feels like there is something more. He takes care of the dirty work for the master of the castle, sometimes its cleaning, sometimes its killing. Overall, I wish the dusk elves were better integrated into the story of Curse of Strahd since other than Rahadin's backstory along with the whole Patrina and Kasamir story line, they don't get a ton of flavor and because they are so recent and it makes me sad, especially since the Dusk Elves are from wherever Barovia is from and some older modules touch on this exactly, mainly the hexad modules (again another time if people want).

Speaking of Patrina - She exists! Wait I just said the dusk elves don't exist. Correct! Both are true statements. She is made into an elf vistani, which is a bit weird. 2nd and 3rd edition make it clear that only humans can be Vistani while 4th and 5th say it doesn't matter (they invent Mother Luba for Tasha's Cauldron of Everything and add her in with Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft; she is a halfling). So uh, no idea what this means. 1st edition breaking all the rules! 5th edition dropping the Vistani part and making her a Dusk Elf does let Rahadin have more depth as I mentioned. I think this element is just messy lore because Ravenloft was just a module; it wasn't intended to be the start of a setting. Weird things like this happen. Otherwise for Partrina, her backstory is more or less the same. Just Kasamir doesn't exist in I6. Curse of Strahd does a much better job integrating her into the overall setting of Ravenloft, even if it meant inventing a type of elf native to Barovia. I was honestly a bit shocked reading that she existed in I6 since elves don't have a strong place in Barovia when it comes to the greater Ravenloft canon. Patrina's expansion and role in the story along with Rahadin and Kasamir add depth that I would never want to remove and feel almost as if this was something missing from second or third edition. Something that is a one line piece of text and encounter in the crypts became something far more interesting and it makes Curse of Strahd better for it.

The next changes are Strahd's vampire brides (and Escher). They do not exist in I6. I don't have any fun facts on like when they were added or what inspired them; just that they are added in 5th edition. I am curious as to why they were included. Strahd isn't just after Tatyana, given that Patrina is from 1st edition, so it make sense he could have some wives (and someone else) so is that why? I would love to talk to someone who made Curse of Strahd and ask so so many questions but I just don't have the info on why they exist. They give flavor and depth. That's probably it. I feel a bit sad that my extent of knowledge on these characters is what it is. Escher is a fan favorite since he is such a sad man who is now over his head. WotC did a good job in adding them since they feel fundamental to the experience of Castle Ravenloft as well as add some additional encounters that are not in I6.

Moving onto another character, Cyrus is Human in I6. He is the only Belview in the module but he is human. The mongrelfolk aren't from 1st edition Ravenloft. I specify this because one, they do exist in 1st edition and two, they do exist in Ravenloft, just later. The mongrelfolk are similar to another creature in Ravenloft, Broken Ones. Just Mongrelfolk tend to be nicer and more friendly (and also have a much sadder existance in G'henna) than the Broken Ones. It makes sense they would live with the Abbot since he is a kind being (good aligned atleast) and they are outcasts who need to constantly look for a home. Just, they are completely an addition to 5th editions version of the module (and Barovia as a whole). I am not going to go into the changes 5th edition does for Barovia as a setting but I do think it would make for an interesting topic. Making Cyrus a mongrelfolk makes him more friendly and overall adds more horror flavor to the world. Every major character is human, that is so bland. The point does work though, it makes non-human characters outsiders. It works well, but adding a bit of change here or there makes the world more interesting because you get characters your players can relate to. A drow character can relate to the dusk elves for example. The Belviews add that depth and strangeness that wouldn't be there if they weren't mongrelfolk. In 1st edition, Cyrus is just an old man who tells jokes at bad times and tries to lead the players to their rooms. I like 5th edition's change; he stays this old man but is far more likable personally.

News for Pidlwick II fans, he does not exist yet sadly. He was created for 5th edition. I generally like clockwork automatons and while Barovia really isn't clockwork-y compared to other Domains (looking at some of the more advanced domains like Paridon), living dolls are so cool. He has some interesting flavor if you expand him into the greater Ravenloft setting since he could be considered a Dread Construct. The lore around Pidlwick II however, is fairly interesting. I6 and Curse of Strahd disagree on who Pidlwick the first is; well I say I6 disagrees, its more the lore given to him in 3rd edition's source books is different than the lore Curse of Strahd uses. In Curse of Strahd, Pidlwick is a fool of Duchess Dorfniya Dislisyna and Fritz von Weerg made Pidlwick II and Pidlwick II killed Pidlwick. In the second and third edition canon, Pidlwick is the husband of Dorfiya Dilisnya and the "father" of one of the most important characters in all of Ravenloft canon, Leo Dilisnya. Leo deserves his own post as well but if you know "I, Strahd" you know Leo. Anyway Pidlwick's mother gets murdered and he starts an assassination war with the Petrovna families called the War of the Silver Knives. Strahd orders the assassinations to end and Pidlwick grows to despise Strahd since he didn't avenge his mother. Leo takes on this hatred for Strahd when Pidlwick dies. Now why is he called a Fool of Dorfniya? Its assumed its because Leo isn't his son by blood and he was cucked by another character. That is such a wild difference in lore for once character but without it, Pidlwick II wouldn't exist. Yet Leo's remains do exist in Curse of Strahd in Wachterhaus but I am getting off topic.

Lastly on the who's whos of the castle: Helga, Lief, and Gertruda exist and 5th edition leaves them unchanged. They exist, they fill their roles the exact same way. It is still very cool to me to see how much of this module can remain the same over 30+ years across several editions.

Now onto the Castle proper; I will be sprinkling in throughout this section the remaining art in the module as there is only a handful more and the rest is text. Something I think that was interesting when I was looking over the other editions of this module is that they all use the same numbering for the locations in the castle. Like K30 is the Office of the King's Accountant in I6. Curse of Strahd also makes K30 - King's Accountant. Overall. I think this is wonderful and its something most people wouldn't notice and only the dedicated fans like myself would. And I love this. And it makes my life easier since I can refer to each room in the castle by its location number. Now overall, the castle is the same in Curse of Strahd as it is in I6 so I will only mention any notable changes.

The first of which is K15 - Chapel of Ravenloft. We don't actually get the name of the figure who tries to steal the Icon of Ravenloft in I6 and in Curse of Strahd the icon is more powerful. In I6 it just lets you heal any creature 6 to 21 hit points and makes the ability to turn undead stronger while 5th edition adds the Protection from evil and good radius and the augury spell. Its also said to be 10 pounds in 5th edition while 1st edition just says its small; which 10 pounds is not small. Then again its a foot tall silver statuette that is half a food wide, so I think 5th edition is correct in making it fairly heavy. I am curious for the reasoning in making the Icon stronger, the protection from evil and good spell is so useful in this dungeon and the augury spell is just fun flavor.

Next is K20 - Tower Hall of Honor or as 5th edition calls it Heart of Sorrow. Yeah, the biggest change is the name. Its called the Guardian of Sorrow as mentioned earlier in this post. The animated halberds also aren't flying swords or anything but instead how the Guardian of Sorrow attacks. The heart actually makes the players take dexterity saving throws every round or they fall down the stairs since the whole castle is shaking which is cool but annoying. The module does mention explicitly the players can move at 1/4 movement to avoid the saving throws but still awful. Atleast 5th edition had the kindness to just knock you prone when you failed the dexterity save rather than fall down to a lower floor. The heart also doesn't have any kind of life/shield link with Strahd like it does in 5th edition; it just exists. Saying it "exists" underpins the whole thematic reason its here. Like the whole purpose of the heart is to say the castle is alive, and maybe the land is alive even? The whole "I am the land" in his journal seems far more literal now, like this could be his heart! Its so brutal. 5th edition makes the link even more clear; he is hurt when you hurt the heart and the heart takes damage for him. Its a masterful change in 5th edition, it adds flavor and gives the players more reason to explore. I also like "Guardian of Sorrow" far better than "Heart of Sorrow" but that's me.

[ID]

The image is a black and white document of Strahd von Zarovich playing an organ. The organ takes up the majority of the image, being cut off by the left edge of page curving around and ending at the right half of the page. The top left to the top center are the organs pipes in two rows, each topped with a dragon head open as if to breathe fire. Part of the back row of the pipes are cut off by the top of the image. The pipes are then hidden by the organs at their bottom. The organ appears to have 4 rows of keys that make the up center of the organ. Above the top row of keys as well as the left and right of they keys appear to be buttons or knobs to activate additional elements of the organ. Dividng the buttons from the keys appears to be inlays with circles. Bellow the organ is two rows of swell pedals that get hidden behind Strahd and the darkness of the image. In front of the swell pedals is the pedal board of the organ. The right end of the organ is a ornate carving of the dragon. Below the dragon is a post carved to look like the dragon's feet. Below the foot of the dragon is the signature of Clyde Caldwel.

Playing the organ is Strahd von Zarovich. His left hand is on the second row of keys while his right hand is in the air as if to strike the keys dramatically. Both his left and right arms show a visible undershirt sleeve. The left arm has a button near the sleeve. His right hand has nails like claws. Only the left profile of his face is visible. His hair is licked back but fades into the darkness of his clothes. The rest of his clothing is veiled in the darkness and are to obscure to make out.

The chair Strahd is sitting in is mostly obscured by his cloak. The left portion of the chair is visible; the upholstery of the chair along with its front left leg. Keeping the upholstery in place are round staples or buttons. The left leg is carved to look like the foot of a lion or beast.

[End ID]

K30 - Office of the King's Accountant. The biggest difference is 1st edition has less loot and the reason Lief is upset is slightly different. Lief wants access to the hidden treasury. Why he knows this is never explained but he also knows the whole layout of the castle and will give the players a map to the holy symbol like in 5th edition so I assume he knows it exists but Strahd won't let him use it. I don't know when "Manual of Bodily Health" is first created but it doesn't exist in 1st edition's version of the module so I assume it was added as more interesting loot than just money, since 1st edition has the same amount of money but the manual is replaced with 100 books worth 10 gp each. I like this minor but impactful change. If the player characters are just playing Curse of Strahd, the manual is just as impactful as if it was more money but if they go beyond Strahd into another game, this is far more impactful. Either way, its a cool and fun change.

K31 - Trapworks. The only difference here is the damage you take from being on the top of trap. In 1st edition its 3d10 with no save to avoid damage while in 5th edition is a dexterity save taking 8d10 on a failure, which is so much more. I imagine this is because players should be nearing the level cap for the module and that level cap is far higher for Curse of Strahd than Ravenloft but also I have no context for hitpoints in 1st edition, this could be much more damage. Everything else is the same, magical sleep hits the players and then they are trapped. Overall its a really cool trap, I never have seen it in action and I want to here stories about being imprisoned or the elf of the party saving everyone; seems like a really cool narrative moment.

K41 - Treasury. Similarly to Office of the King's Accountant, the 5th editions version just has far more stuff, but also its missing some things. Mainly all the magical weapons. 1st edition has a +2 sword and 3 +3 maces in addition to all the money. It makes sense to give the player a load of magical weapons since in 1st edition, vampires can only be damaged by +1 or more weapons. So this is a solution to a problem that they player will encounter when they go to fight Strahd. It also reinforces the need to explore dungeons and keeps up with 1st editions dungeon diving nature. I think this is kinda cool, I don't think I know of a module that hands players multiple +3 weapons at once. 5th edition swaps those out for the +2 shield, some potions, and the instant fortress along with the helm of brilliance, rod of the pact keeper and alchemy jug. I think both are fun treasure piles but I think 5th edition benefits from having a larger pool to draw magic items from. The shield is also unique to Curse of Strahd since Argynvostholt was added for 5th edition. I think both treasuries fit the version they are in. Like 5th edition does not focus to heavily on better gear as a requirement for fights, it just makes fights easier. So a diverse pool of gear is better than a large amount of magical weapons; especially since a magical weapon isn't needed to hurt Strahd. 1st edition does focus on that sort of progression so magical weapons make a ton of sense and as I mentioned, characters need magical weapons to hurt Strahd at all. The module is designed for six to eight characters in 1st edition; which is larger than most parties are in 5th edition. There is one sunsword but what if there are 3 fighters? This is how you get around the problem.

K46 - Courtyard outlook or Parapets in 5th edition. 5th edition added an encounter here. Neat. You have to linger here to fight Strahd's armor but you can. I don't have much more to say than it surely is an encounter that exists.

K49 - Lounge. I need to share that they changed the book titles here. One of the old ones is a gem in my opinion. "Identifying Blood Types: A Beginner's Handbook". I think it just neat. That's all.

K63 - Wine Cellar. This area is expanded quite a bit, flavor wise, in 5th edition. First off - potential encounter with a slime. Neat. Second, all the wine is explicitly from the Wizard of Wines. I like this, thats all.

[ID]

The document is a black and white image similar to the above image. The image is of Ireena Kolyana standing next to the portrait of Tatyana. Ireena's hair appears to be dark, messy, and long, going past her shoulders. Ireena appears to be wearing lipstick. Ireena's outfit is that of a traditional longsleeve vest and pants with a cloak. Around her neck is a cross with a gemstone in the center of the crucifix. The cloak around her neck is held in place by a clasp with a tassels and a gemstone in the middle of the clasp. Around Ireena's waist is a belt with three buckles, one in the center and one on each side of the middle buckle. The bottom of Ireena's shirt is a repeating pattern of a hollow white diamond with a black square in the center of each diamond and a white dot in the middle of each square. The diamond pattern is on a strip of black fabric. Ireena's pants appear to be dark in color with no discernable features. Ireena casts a shadow on the wall behind her on the left side of the image. In Ireena's left hand is her sword which she is pushing into the ground. The sword appears to be in its hilt and it cut off by the bottom of the image. The hilt has two circular inlays with gem stones. The bottom of the two inlays appears to be in the middle of a cross inlay. Near the top round inlay is a loop that has a strap passing through. Ireena's posture is tall and proud, with her right hand at her waist and her left arm leaning on her sword; clearly poising next to a portrait very similar to her appearance. She is facing the right

The portrait is of Tatyana. Tatyana is sitting in a chair, looking left of the viewer. Tatyana has the same face, hair, and lipstick as Ireena. On Tatyana's head is a crown and 3 strings of pearls from the crowns right end flowing behind her hair. Tatyana is wearing a dress with several sets of jewelry. The first is a large necklace with a round pendent with a inlaid gemstone At the end of the neck of the dress is another piece of jewelry, a diamond shaped button with a gemstone. Tatyana's hands are resting at her lap. Each wrist has a bracelet. At her waist is a cloth belt with circular buckle like piece. The chair she is sitting in has a curved back. The left portion of the chair is hidden and not visible. The right portion shows a carved accented arm that curves round into a spiral. Behind Tatyana is a curtain, that is drawn such that it curves behind her. The portrait's frame is heavily accented. The corners are three leaves facing outward, with the middle leaf being the largest, and a curved bow like accent attacked to the leaves, with the bow's guard or point facing the portait. At the middle of the frame section are additional smaller accents: A circle with a gemstone in the middle cut such that the circle looks to be two portions; from the gemstones are two curved limbs that mirror each other; where the limbs meet the circle are two small spikes pointing away from the portrait. Between all the accents are small circles in the middle of the frame's edges. Below the portait is the signature of Clyde Caldwel.

[End ID]

K67 - Guard's Hall or Hall of Bone in 5th edition. This area is very different. Like not the same area different almost. In 1st edition this is just a hallway. Thats it. Ok, Strahd does still kill is guards here, so there is stained blood still. But 5th edition adds in a whole skeleton/bone art sculpture made by Cyrus because why not honestly. That may come off as mean sounding, I think its actually just amazing. I have a soft spot for Cyrus. This can also be a spot for your treasure or Strahd's encounter which that isn't the case in 1st edition. Lastly, the ossuary has the skull of Argyvost which doesn't exist in 1st edition as I already have mentioned. Taking a step back, its interesting that 5th edition just invented a room. Like original Strahd did not have a bone room. You know, a room for bones of those he murdered. Granted he didn't make this, Cyrus made the bone zone. But is 5th edition Cyrus that much more wild compared to 1st edition then? Or better yet, Strahd just let him do this? That you can fight Strahd here or better find this tome here means he enjoys this room possibly? Like he is sitting at the end of a table in a chair of bone holding the dragon skull; what even? I don't know, there is more to say here than the bone room is cool but I love it. I need to know the reason behind the bone room minus "give the vampire a bone room". If its just that, kudos to the people fighting for this wonderful set piece. Such an amazing addition.

K75- South Dungeon. The real change is giving Emil a character. He does exist in 1st edition but he is unnamed and he just joins the party once freed to help kill Strahd but betrays the party once an opportunity arises. Emil is very similar in 5th edition unless the players know Zuleika (or she is your ally due to the reading) in which case he may join to help kill Strahd or just try to flee instead. I like that they made him a fully fleshed out character along with the werewolves without changing much of his actual role in the story unless you happen to get Zuleika as an ally which makes sense. I am not going into too much about Emil since his story is more related to the werewolves than the castle itself.

K78 - Brazier Room. This is very different/. The purpose of this room in I6 is to block the players from entering into the catacombs or other parts of the castle. Its a puzzle room with no hints other than an hourglass representing time in rounds, the golems each have unique stones their hands that can be thrown into the fire. Each stone has a different associated door and the golems won't attack unless the timer runs out. Other than this puzzle, there is a chest that 5th edition doesn't have for a good reason. First its trapped and if you open it from the front you fall asleep. If you can't be put magically asleep, the chest looks empty due to illusion magic after you open it from the front. So you need to open it from behind. Inside it has some spell scrolls, some potions, and of course a deck of many things. The deck of many things is a wonderful way to end a campaign; though I have no idea what the difference between 1st editions deck and 5th editions. I imagine not much has changed since 5th edition is quite brutal. There is probably a few 5th edition adventures that include the deck of many things somewhere but I don't personally like the item. In older editions where characters feel a bit more disposable, the deck is fine since it can just kill your character, but in 5th edition it can derail a campaign instantly. Anytime the deck has come out, the campaign almost instantly ends or becomes derailed since we now need to save a character because they pulled a card that does something awful to them.

5th edition completely changes this room to be a teleportation room to anywhere in Barovia basically using the same flame color puzzle but with a riddle which is nice and it removes the deck of many things for obvious reasons. I get the changes, it keeps the thematic purpose of the room the same and also removes the deck but also I miss the trap; one more final challenge if you need to get into the catacombs. The change also adds in flavor as to how Strahd can be everywhere in Barovia at any time, he can literally teleport. I think personally, the teleportation puzzle wasn't neccesary but the removal of the chest was. Curse of Strahd is a much longer campaign and to have it get derailed in the 9th hour would be unsatisfying for a lot of players. I6 is probably banking on the players using the deck once Strahd is dead as a treasure and hook for the next story. If you want a story with the Deck of Many Things, you could probably make it work as a way to keep your players in Ravenloft as a continuation but it might take some tweaking.

[ID]

The image is a black and white document of a knight with a sword and shield fighting zombies in water.. The image is similar to the previous image. The knight is on the left side of the image while the fully visible zombie is on the right. There are 3 zombified hands clawing up from the water; two near the knight and one in the background between the knight and zombie. The knight is positioned such that they are about to strike the zombie with their sword. The knight is wearing a helmet, scale mail, a shield, a curved sword, pants, greaves, and gauntlets. Their helmet is ornate with several curved inlays on the forehead of the helm. The top of the helm is spiked. The area of the helmet where the face would be located is open but there is no visible face. The helm curves down to guard the neck as it meets up with the scale mail. There is a strip of metal from the top of the helm to the base in the middle of the back of the helm. the scalemail flows from the neck to the upper thigh of the knight. On the knights shoulders is a set of pauldrons. The section of the scale mail around the neck is curved, suggesting that the helm scale mail section is on top of the body scale mail. The knight's overshirt is ripped apart at the chest, revealing the scale mail underneath. There is a strap from the knight's right shoulder flowing down to the left side of the knights waist with a buckle and gemstone inlay near the shoulder. At the end of the strap is a string of pearls or gemstones. Similarly, there is a mirroring strap that starts on the left should and meets the right side of the knights waist; this strap is thinner than the other strap. The shield is in the knight's left hand. The shield is round with a cross painted on the center of the shield. There is wear around the edges of the shield. In the knight's right hand is the curved sword. The sword appears to be a scimitar or a falchion. The swords guard curves up on both sides. Light creates a visible shine off the sword. The knight has a belt at their waist with six circular inlays each spaced equally. The knight's overshirt continues to the left of their body, covering part of their pants. The knight's pants are dark in color and have wrinkles near the right knee. The knight's right knee is protected by a their greaves. The top of the right boot is just visible above the water. One of the three zombie hands is grabbing at the knights right leg.

The zombie fighting the knight is crouched near the water with its left hand reaching to claw the knight and the right hand in the water. The zombies clothes are torn into rags. These rags barely cover the zombie, with big pieces of cloth dangling off the chest and left arm. The zombie's face is heavily decayed as it makes a gaunt snarl to the knight. The zombie's hair is ratty and short. Across the zombie's body are boils and scars. The zombie's chest is hidden and darkned.

The background of the image is misty on the left which flows down to the center of the image; with chains becoming visible in the right corner. The water of the image contains off colored pools around the knights legs, the middle zombified hand, and the zombies limbs in the water. In the bottom right corner of the image is signature of Clyde Caldwel.

[End ID]

The crypts are the next and generally, they either received more loot of flavor since most of they crypts in 1st edition are simple. Most are just text with flavor like "Beucephalus, The Wonder Horse. May the flowers grow ever greener where he trods" (yes they misspelled the name of Alexander the Great's horse in text, look at the last image in my post, Crypt 39). Anyway those that did have significant changes are listed below. Generally, assume Curse of Strahd gave each crypt either a description of the person interred or wealth inside the crypt if I did not mention anything in particular.

Crypt 6 - Marya Markovia. Her crypt is very different in Curse of Strahd. They added her thighbone as a weapon and changed her epithet from "Great was her beauty, undone by a jealous hand" to "Dead for all time". I think this was done to bring more flavor to the morninglord stuff since Barovia really didn't have any ties to the Morninglord other than some elements in "Vampire of the Mists", one of the Ravenloft novels.

Crypt 7 - Endrovich (Endrovich the Terrible) - In changing Marya Markvoia, Endrovich had to be changed. They explicitly call out Marya Markvoia as the one Endrovich loves but since Marya's crypt is Markvoia's crypt now, he just loves a generic Marya with no surname. He also doesn't haunt a gargoyle in 1st edition, he is just a specter you encounter. He also is guarding a stack of 3,400 gp in 1st edition.

Crypt 13 - King Intree Katsky- 1st edition this is just a named crypt with nothing. 5th edition gives him a gun! And a glider. Interestingly enough, firearms are not uncommon in flavor in Ravenloft. There is a lot of imagery and artwork of characters with firearms throughout Ravenloft in 2nd and 3rd edition source books so this is a fitting change.

Crypt 29 - Ivan Ivanovich, Beloved of Anna Betrovich- Yeah this is just not in 5th edition. This crypt is just straight up different. It belongs to Baron Eisglaze Drüf and has actual stuff in it, mainly a luck blade and brown mold for environmental cold damage. 1st edition just has nothing

Crypt 30 - Perfect Ciril Romulich - Since the morninglord doesn't exist yet, 1st edition does not have a holy symbol that blows up on evil creatures. Instead its 10 +1 arrorws, a scroll of raise dead and 3 potions, one is a potion of poison (yum), one is clairvoyance, and one is invulnerability.

Crypt 35 - This crypt is unused in 1st edition. The ghoul trap is new to 5th edition.

Crypt 37- Gralmore Nimblenobs. 5th edition does Nimblenobs dirty. He has so many more scrolls plus a +1 sword that can let you cast wish. Excuse me? I get the change but come on just the three scrolls for 5th edition and calling him "wizard ordinaire" is just bullying a dead guy who knew wish.

[ID]

The image of a black and white document of a vampire on the left side of the page and text on the right like previous images. The top of the pages has a similar border as previous images. The vampire is a women in a dress with a set of jewelery. The women's hair is long and dark, partially obscured by the darkness of the background. She is baring her fangs to the viewer. Her dress straps are thin. Her right hand is raised towards her face. Around her neck is a neclace with several gemstones. Around both arms are bracelets; her left arm has two bracelet while her right arm has a bracelet with 3 visible gemstones. Around her chest are several sets of bindings, one crossing under her breasts, one crossing at the waist, and two crossing around her chest forming an "x". The background of the image is darkness that fades to light from top to bottom. To the right of her waist is s signature of Clyde Caldwel.

Not all the text on the right is visible. The following is the visible text:

"A body in white clothing rots naturally, in small chest. Whithin the chest are 10+1 arrows and 3 bottles containing potions of poiso invulnerability

Crypt 31. '$$We knew him only by his wea

There is a large, bulging chest in the center is a trapper who attacks anyone that steps up

1 trapper: AC 3; MV 3"; HD 12; hp 62; #A AC; AL N.

Crypt 32. "St. Finderway, Saint of Lost Tr

The crypt is featureless except for two al Over the alcoves is written "Pass not the mortals!"

These alcoves are transmitting and r alcoves on the east sends thoses who enter alcove in K86. Stepping into the western receives persons teleporting from the west

Crypt 33.

The stone door is blank. This crypt has

Crypt 34. "King Dostron"

Crypt 35.

The stone door is blank. This crypt has

Crypt 36.

The stone door is clawed and marked so The tomb is empty

Crypt 37. "Gralmore Nimblenobs"

The stone door only gives the name abo within, rotting naturally. About the co one wish; a scrholl with hcarm monst polymoprh self spells; and a scroll w haste, lightning bolt, and slow spells.

Crypt 38. "Americo Standarski (Inve

When this crypt is opened, three pair out. Three hellhounds attack. These damage at up to 10 feet from their sco points if the character saves vs drago breath once per round for as many ro

3 hellhounds: AC 4; MV 12"; HD 5; hp + breath weapon; AL. LE.

Crypt 39. "Beucephalus, The Won grow ever greener where he trods."

This crypt has a larger door than all rears up when the door is opened breath obscures vision, blinds oppo"

[End ID]

For the rest of the crypt, there really isn't any changes. The trap that leads you to a pit full of enemies is from I6. Sergi's armor is +2 plate mail which is reflected in 5th edition, Stradh's teleport trap is the same, and you need to be lawful good to enter the tomb of Barov and Ravenovia; though 5th edition added the squeezing part for small sized player characters. Generally speaking, the crypt really didn't get changed. What was changed in Curse of Strahd was mainly done for balance purposes or to make the crypt more align with the canon that Curse of Strahd uses.

Now about those magic items. How different is the holy symbol or the sunsword. Surprisingly not much. The holy symbol basically has a daylight affect, though its different, weaker, and you can only use it once a week. However, your turn undead feature is stronger while using it. The sunsword is weird but also basically the same. The biggest difference in I6 is that you have to build it. One of the players who is a fighter with sword has the blade portion already, just they don't know it. The blade of the sunsword when not in the proper hilt acts like a normal blade. You have to take the blade out and put it in the sunswords hilt and then its a sunsword. Its a +2 sword except against undead which makes it a +3 and it does extra damage. The flavor of it being separated by a magician and then lost is is also from I6 but the flavor of the blade being Sergei's originally is not in I6.. Lastly, the Tome of Strahd; the passages are the same. I mean "I am The Ancient, I am The Land" is iconic so it would be a shame if 5th edition changed it. Given how much of the module is the same, the tome remaining unchanged is not surprising.

Lastly, talk about is the optional ending. I mentioned when I was talking about Ireena that the "Something Blue" special event in Krezk in Curse of Strahd occurs in I6. It is the optional ending that can play out once the players kill Strahd. I don't want to talk much more on Ireena but moving the ending to Krezk in Curse of Strahd makes sense. If we want other characters to be the ally against Strahd, having her story arc end once she arrives in Krezk feels appropriate.

Closing Thoughts

I know this was a fairly long post but I think it let me kind of go off on my random knowledge I have on Ravenloft as well as discuss some changes and liberties Curse of Strahd decided to take. Its a very iconic module and the fact that it has stood the test of time more or less unchanged is a testament to how impressive and popular this module was in the 1980s. It also gave me a bit of an insight as to the decisions the designers made in Curse of Strahd and their reasoning since despite staying faithful to I6, Curse of Strahd generally made changes for the better in my mind. I may have come across critical of Curse of Strahd but that is more than likely my own bias since WotC has somewhat shown disregard for second and third edition canon which has grown to upset me. If I were to expand upon my thoughts on Curse of Strahd, I would want to talk about it as a follow up since I ignored a majority of the module. I6 is fairly short compared to Curse of Strahd. That is to the benefit of Curse of Strahd, since it is able to flex its world building far more than I6. There were also some topics I never talked about, like the the monster stat blocks. Mainly because I don't have anything meaningful to say. I have never learned how to play older editions of D&D and I really only have passing knowledge. I can take photos and add them as an addendum is someone is able to explain what they actual mean.

Lastly, forgive me if I talk over topics several times in this post. It grew in scope and size several times and had a couple of re-writes. My brain is rot and its full of gothic horror.

[achillean-knight]

Deadass, designing robots and incredibly withered versions is so fuckin' relaxing for me. Maybe my ass should apply for Steelwool if they wanna take on any character designers ✋

[tornado1992]

A lot of Tails’ stuff being blue, most of Sonic’s belongings having a hint of yellow.

[peacockrulz]

Sorry for the lack of posts, have some more headcanons!!

[kryptonitejelly]

art donaldson x childhood friend reader who he hasn’t seen in a long time (whose had a crazy glow up) visits him at stanford at the same time as patrick and patrick starts hitting on her (him and tashi are in an open relationship) and art gets jealous.

(maybe she tells patrick she knows he’s in a relationship and he tells her tashi wouldn’t mind and she would probably be down to join idk)

art donaldson x reader // challengers // fluff; happy ending

a/n: i did not hit the prompt on the head 100%, but i’m not mad at it. this ended up turning into a monster i had no control off and ended up being alot longer than i expected (i haven’t done a word count, and did not mean for it to spiral into this but i enjoyed writing this very much). i am an art donaldson defender and this is my way of giving him everything he deserves (i hope you guys can see what i subtly tried to do in places - please leave comments/reblog if you see them, it would mean the world). also i typed this entirely on my phone without proofreading - you’ve been warned.

edit - as a disclaimer, i do not purport to comment on the victim/villain/any dynamic in the challengers universe. this space is purely for delusional thoughts and fiction only (see also)

-

Good luck.

Art shoots the text off to you before taking a swig out of cup of diet coke he has in hand. He leans forward, his forearms on his knees, teeth crunching on ice cubes as lets his gaze sweep across the court in front of him. It is devoid of players but already has the umpire and linesmen ready and waiting.

You’ll buy dinner if I win?

Art doesn’t expect to get a text back, so he checks his phone absently, but his face breaks into a tiny grin as he sees your reply. Most other players would have been hyper focused in the moments before a match but you, in the breezy light hearted way you always were, still had it in you to joke around.

Yes, but if you lose…

Art sends his response, the tiny grin still on his face.

I’ll feed you.

Your reply is fast and it makes art shake his head lightly a quiet chuckle dropping from his lips. He is just about to type another reply but is interrupted by the loud cheers that erupt from around him. Art looks up from his phone to see Anna Davies walk out on court in the same colour red as he had on. He claps politely with the rest of the men’s team who he was sitting amongst in the stands, in a show of support.

Art catches sight of Tashi and Patrick, both perched a few rows down from him with the rest of the women’s team both clapping and hollering in support. He notices the turn of Patrick’s head, no doubt to check in on Art but he doesn’t tilt his head or smile back in acknowledgement as he usually would - he is far too distracted by you.

Art can feel his jaw slacken slightly as you walk on court. He knows what you look like, but you in the flesh - Art thinks you are breathtaking. Your top is in a shade of your college’s colour, paired with a white tennis skirt that shows off a pair of toned, long legs. He catches a glint of metal just above your ankle, and he finds himself squinting in a feeble attempt to make out the look of the ankle bracelet that you have on. Art moves his gaze your face, taking in what he can see from his perch on the stands as you walk out towards your designated bench on the court, bright neon green bottle in hand, your tennis bag slung on a shoulder.

You had been close back home for most of your childhood and more formative teen years, and the both had kept in touch since he left for Stanford and you to your own school of choice, but too infrequently - the occasional text, more frequent reaction or comment on each other’s social media and the small conversations that spiralled from those interactions - like two planets orbiting in the same solar system, but not close enough. Life had overtaken, the excitement of moving your separate ways to a new environment, of college - tennis, academics, people, parties, it had overwhelmed you both, individually and together - made you just about forget that you had each other.

Art is transfixed. You are, lithe, glowing and with a hop in your step - Art finds himself questioning why he had never made more effort to keep you closer since you had both gone on your separate paths. He watches as you settle your bag on the bench, turning your gaze to the stands, eyes narrowing from the glare of the sun as you search the stands, only for your gaze to fix on his. Art sees you smile, lips turning up as you wink directly at him. It makes a series of heads turn to look back at him - your fellow team mates, the small group of supporters from your college who had come along, and the Stanford women’s team plus Patrick, half curious, half puzzled. Art can only raise a hand beside his chest in greeting as he remembers to breathe, letting the air he had been holding in his chest out.

He sees turn away while reaching for your phone which you had wedged in between the band of your tennis skirt and skin. Your fingers flying over the keypad briefly before you toss the phone into your tennis bag, hand fishing out your racket. Art feels his phone buzz in his hand and he looks down at the text that had come through.

Stanford still hasn’t taught you the right way to wear a cap huh.

Your text, a reference to his penchant for securing his cap on backwards, makes Art laugh, out loud, the sudden sound causing his team mates to crane their necks in attempt to look at his phone. Art swats them away as he refocuses his attention back on you, watching as you do a few hops, shifting your body weight from side to side before walking to your position on court, racket in hand. You lose the coin toss, and Anna choose to serve and yet your demeanour is one of ease, something Art can’t help but think is so stark in contrast to Tashi before a match. You aren’t smiling anymore, and yet in an unexplainable fashion, Art can feel you smiling as you bend to ready position, your hands flipping the handle of the racket around, poised to receive. He sees Anna toss the ball, her back arching, hand shooting up, before she connects her serve, and he watches you receive it with ease, your body moving in a smooth motion as you hit it back. Your strokes have their own weight and intention behind them, they are careful, thought out - but what surprises Art is he sees little calculation behind each. Instead, he watches as you let yourself feel each shot, as you let your instinct take control with each step. Art sees himself moving pieces of chess across the court when he watches replays of his game, but with your game, - Art manages to see colour, life, ease. He sees something he hasn’t seen in his tennis since he had last played with you, Art sees fun.

-

The match isn’t long drawn out, you win - effortlessly, just as each of your strokes and movement are. It frustrates Anna, as is evident from the increasing number of unforced errors she makes on her art which leads to her swearing loudly as you easily hit the last heavy, driving it quick and to the opposite corner of the court from where she is positioned. Art finds himself clapping enthusiastically along with the crowd as the umpire calls the game.

-

“You never told me you had such good looking friends,” Art feels an arm sling itself around his neck, pulling him close as he stands outside the court, waiting for you to finish your match debrief with the rest of the team.

“Shouldn’t you be with Tashi?” Art questions as he tugs himself out and under, away from Patrick’s hold. His eyes remain focused on the door of the tennis court, waiting for you to emerge.

“Some strategy meeting,” Patrick offers as explanation, “refocusing or something like that.”

Art starts to say something in response only to be stopped by the view of you walking out from the courts. You both lock eyes, not too similar from how you had with you on the court and him on the stand. Art thinks that your smile is more brilliant up close.

Neither of you say a word, as you walk up to him, hands reaching up to tug his cap off his head only for you to pop it promptly on your own head, the right way around.

“The right way,” you say in greeting, pointing towards his cap which is now sitting on your head, the Stanford red a confusing contrast to your your top, now a loose fitting tshirt in your college colours, as Art chuckles while running a hand through his hair, attempting to shake out any flatness.

“The red looks good on you.”

“Perhaps I should transfer.”

“Didn’t peg you for a traitor,” Art teases which makes you laugh.

“Do I get a hug,” you ask, both of you oblivious to Patrick who is just watching.

“C’mere,” Art says, his words inviting, but just almost slightly shy as he opens his arms to you. You step into his embrace, arms slipping around his body as Art brings his arms around your shoulders, hands bumping into the tennis bag you have on your shoulders. His embrace is familiar, and you let yourself relax into his hold.

“Could I get a hug?” you hear a different male voice chime in and you pull away to look curiously at the brunette who is standing just beside you both.

“Fuck off Patrick,” you hear Art say with no bite, but notice as he steps just that one inch in front of you in an attempt to place himself as some sort of barrier between you and the brunette.

“Patrick Zweig,” the boy says, ignoring Art as he proffers a hand to you which you shake to be polite while introducing yourself.

“Do you go to Stanford as well?” You take in his attire of jeans and a white tee, the lack of red - you would guess not but it didn’t hurt to ask.

“I’m just visiting,” he says, “I’m actually playing on tour.”

“Losing on tour,��� Art corrects.

“Your tennis is insane,” Patrick comments, ignoring Art, “when will I see you on tour?”

“I don’t intend on turning pro,” you respond with the flash of a smile.

“Why?” Patrick continues the conversation, now slightly befuddled, “you’re a natural.”

You shrug with a laugh, not answering and simply brushing off his question.

“Why don’t I take you to dinner and you can tell me why.” Patrick’s statement makes Art roll his eyes.

“Aren’t you taking your girlfriend our for dinner?” Art chips to which Patrick simply shrugs not phased in the slightest and answers with a no.

“Thanks, but I already have a dinner to cash in on,” you offer Patrick a smile, before glancing at Art.

“I’m sure Art wo-”

“Nope, fuck off Patrick,” is what Art says again, not even giving the other man a chance to finish his sentence. It makes you laugh, but you follow as Art grabs your hand, tugging you off in a direction away from Patrick.

“It was nice meeting you Patrick,” you call out, turning your head towards him giving him a wave with your free hand, “good luck on the tour!”

You walk for a minute or two more until the tennis courts are out of range before Art stops. He lets go off your hand, but reaches instead to grasp the top of the tennis bag on your shoulder. You raise a brow questioningly only to have him tug again with a slight tilt of his head. You relinquish the bag to him and he hoists it on his shoulder instead.

“What a gentleman,” you joke, but with a smile on your face.

Art does a mock bow with a flourish of his hand which makes you laugh with a shake of your head.

“Your chariot awaits my lady,” he extends a hand to you, waist still tilted in a bow, but his head up and looking at you.

“Lead the way,” you place your hand on top of his again.

“My car is that way,” he says jerking a thumb towards his right as he intertwines his fingers with yours. Its the second time in the day where he’s holding onto your hand but you don’t think too much of it and neither does Art. It feels right, comforting, familiar and like it’s supposed to be - and you go with it.

-

“Sorry about Patrick,” Art says as he fiddles with the paper casing of the straw. You are both sitting in a booth, plates cleared, your drinks left in front of you. Art is leaning back but being across him you can feel his knees knocking into yours. Dinner had gone by way too fast for Art’s liking. There had been both plenty to catch up on, as well as new information to learn and yet - it had felt like no time had passed between you both.

“He’s a bit of an ass isn’t he,” you say as you lean back, a mirror of Art. Your comment elicits a bark of laughter from him.

“Girls don’t usually say that about him.”

“What do they say?”

“Well not say, but they usually fall at his feet or into his bed,”

“No,” it makes you crinkle your nose while you shake your head.

“His girlfriend Tashi,” Art says, fingers still fiddling with the wrapper, “we played tennis for her number, she chose him.” Art said referencing the tennis match between him and Patrick. His sentence is blunt, to the point, and yet manages to be vulnerable at the same time. Art surprises himself as the words slip out from his lips so easily but it feels easy to tell you, safe to let himself be vulnerable, fine to let you view him for who he truly is.

You both sit in silence for a beat or two, the only sound between you both being the rustle of paper in Art’s fingers.

“Well,” you begin, “if she made you play for her number, maybe its for the better you didn’t win.”

Art’s fingers give pause and he looks up at you. His expression is unreadable, but you don’t feel like you’ve said anything wrong - just the obvious.

“I guess you are right,” he says after a few seconds of silence, before raising his head to look at you. There is a small smile on his face that you can’t quite place.

“When have I been wrong Donaldson?” You challenge in jest as you lift a leg under the table to jostle one of his lightly. Art leans forward, managing to capture one of your legs, your calf in the warmth of his palm.

“You really want me to start?” Art questions as you wriggle your leg in attempt to get away but no no avail.

“No.”

“Let’s see, the time we were six and you thought that the way to get strawberry milk was to dump pink food colouring in normal milk.”

“Stop,” you protest, but with a laugh on your lips.

“Or the time we were ten and you were convinced that the park we passed by on the way home from school was haunted and we had to sprint past that stretch of sidewalk for 3 whole months.”

“It was creepy!”

“How could we forget the one time we were thirteen and you thought that the way babies were made wa-”

“Arthur Donaldson,” you protest, managing to wrestle your leg out of his grasp which has grown looser with each anecdote. It allows you to set your foot on the ground, body shooting up to lean across the table, your palm coming to cover Art’s mouth to prevent him from announcing any further recollections from your youth.

You can feel his breath hot against the palm of your hand as his muffled laugher fills the space of your booth.

“Art,” you huff, relinquishing his full name for his nickname again. You move to drop your hand from his face, but Art catches a hold of your wrist. You sit back down, butt hitting the seat again, but with your hand still stretched across the table, wrist still loosely wrapped in one Art Donaldson’s hand. His shoulders are still shaking, now with a silent laughter.

“Art,” you try again.

“I’m sorry, it’s just so funny,” Art exhales, trying to collect himself as best as he can. He doesn’t remember the last time he laughed like this, freely and with such reckless abandon over something so innocent.

“Your dedicated court jester, always here to serve,” you mock with a roll of your eyes.

“You’ve been derelict in your duties,” Art says, now calm, but his eyes still twinkling under a mop of strawberry blonde hair. He keeps his tone light but what he really means to say is that it has been too long. You chuckle, not really having an answer for him.

“It’s been a while,” you finally admit, both your hands now resting on the table between you, you wrist now lying upturned in Art’s open palm. You had always been close

“It has, hasn’t it,” it isn’t really a question. Art has missed you - something he hasn’t realised until today. He had let himself be distracted by the complex, focused toxicity that was tennis, Patrick and Tashi, letting himself get sucked into the whirlpool, that he had forgotten to hold on to the things that grounded him.

“Maybe we should change that.”

“We should change that,” Art corrects you and you can feel the tips of your ears burning, and the skin across your cheek bones tingling for some reason.

-

You aren’t quite sure how ended up here, but one thing had lead to another as you both made your way out of the restaurant and back to Art’s car, and the next thing you knew you were heading back to his dorm to watch reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for some reason.

“How do you not find her hot?” You ask again for the tenth time as you both focus on the screen of Art’s laptop which is perched half on his thigh and half on yours. You are both sitting on his bed, shoulder to shoulder, both of your heads damp from (separate) showers in Art’s ensuite, and you smelling quite like him from having used his toiletries and borrowing a short and shirt set, both of which which were a baggy fit for you.

“I don’t know, I just don’t.”

“You’re rubbish Donaldson,” you snort, nudging your elbow lightly into his ribs with a simultaneous yawn.

“Tired?” Art asks, as you stifle another yawn.

“Yeah,” you accept, seeing little point in trying to hide it. You had after all, played a match today.

“I should really get back to the hotel,” you mumble, the back of your head leaning against the wall beside Art’s bed, eyes closing.

“You could just stay here,” there is a hint of hesitation in his voice because he isn’t sure if you’ll stay.

“Here?”

“My bed’s a double,” Art shrugs, “it would also be quicker for you to get to the matches tomorrow.” You aren’t playing but Art knows you would be expected to show up as a supporter for the series of matches between your two schools that continued tomorrow.

“Are you sure?” You don’t mind, after all - it’s Art, the boy you had known growing up, shared milkshakes and apple slices with after school, but you wanted to be sure he was truly fine with it.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Art moves to shit his laptop, lifting himself to bend over the edge of the bed to place the laptop on the floor, “you can take the inside.”

He flops down on the outside of the bed that is further from the wall too easily, his right hand going behind his head. Him moving forces you to move in tandem as you flop down on Art’s left, legs scrambling under the covers which Art has somehow managed to worm his way under in the flurry of movement.

Art reaches a hand over, his arm extending over you in the process to hit the light switch that he has beside his bed. It plunges you both into darkness, the only light the faint glow from the street lamps creeping in from below his curtains, and the glow of his digital clock.

You flip onto your right side, eyes closed, missing the turn of Art’s head as he observes yours features, closed eyes, lashes, nose, lips, finding his gaze lingering a moment too long on your lips.

“Stop staring Art.”

“Am not.”

“I can feel it,” you respond, lips curving into a smirk. It was a habit he had developed from the sleepovers you both had either in his living room or yours when you were both younger. You would close your eyes, just about to doze off, only to hear the faint shifting of a head against a pillow while Art turned to stare at you, his blue-brown eyes boring into you.

“Am not.”

“Go to sleep Art.”

-

“So I guess I’ll see you around,” You are standing just a distance off the side of the bus which is supposed to take you back to campus. The matches for the day had ended, with your school having won by one match.

“Yeah,” Art replies, drawing out his words as he takes you in, he finds himself think that he had very much preferred you in his clothes despite them being oversized and not as well fitted as your own. You had managed to change into a fresh set of school colours before the matches started earlier that morning, having pleaded with your angel of a roommate to help you lug your overnight bag, which you hadn’t even had the chance to unpack the night before, over to the courts before the matches had begun. She had taken one look at you in Art’s tshirt, shorts with his hoodie thrown over, and had given you the widest smirk known to man despite your insistence that nothing had happened.

“I think you are scheduled to come play next month,” you refer to the Stanford men’s team, “I’ll see you then?”

“Or I could see you next week?” Art says almost shyly as he raises a hand to rub the back of his head. Art was a walking oxymoron, easily grabbing your hand, asking you to sleep in his bed, and yet somewhat bashful in the moments in between, “the drive over is an hour, max.”

“I would like that,” your response earns you a mega watt smile, his eyes twinkling at you. You both hear voices calling Art away from the bus, one male, one female - but Art ignores them both.

-

“Yeah and I told her-” your sentence is cut off by a nudge to your shoulder.

“Stanford” you friend explains with slightly too much glee in her voice. She had seen the smile on your face after returning from your away game last weekend, and the way you had been constantly glued to your phone, grin on your face, laughter peppering your days, the name Art Donaldson a constant fixture in your notifications.

Your head swivels up and to your left to spot Art leaning against his black jeep, hands crossed loosely across his chest. He smiles when he sees you, and your face mimics his expression.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t,” you friend calls out as she pushes you in Art’s direction. You pull a face at her while rolling your eyes, but letting your legs carry you towards Art.

“Are you stalking me Donaldson?” You ask in jest. Art had texted you half an hour earlier, asking which part of campus your last class of the Friday was in and where he should pick you up from.

“Hundred percent,” he says as he opens his arms; you step into his embrace for a brief hug, before he turns to open the car door for you. You unload your bag from your arm, dropping it onto the floor of the passenger’s seat before climbing in. You move to close the door, but Art is in between you and the door, reaching over to click your seatbelt into place.

“Ready?” He asks, and you nod, gazing into bright blue-brown eyes.

-

“Positivism,” Art says simply at your question of what theory of jurisprudence he found himself most inclined towards. You think for a moment, the side of your face propped up with a hand, elbow on the counter of the bar you both are seated at, your body turned towards Art who is likewise, facing you.

“Positivism,” you roll the words around your tongue, “I guess it tracks,” you shrug, before raising a brow slightly, “but how does an engineering undergraduate so much about jurisprudence?”

“I read.”

“On jurisprudence?” You frown nose wrinkling as you reach your hand out to place the back of it against Art’s forehead as if to check if he had a fever, “are you alright?”

“You mean you don’t read engineering daily in between sets?” Art questions you with mock horror as he reaches up to tug your hand down from his forehead. Your hand ends up, yet again, in Art’s, which is resting on his knee.

“Why engineering, and not something with a lighter course load?” The underlying question is clear - Art had every intent of going the pro track post-Stanford, and it wasn’t that he would be making full use of his degree anyway.

“I don’t want the only skill I have to be hitting a ball with a racket,” he shrugs, “it feels good to know I can do something else.”

You hum in bother understanding and agreement as you feel Art’s thumb begin to stroke the back of your hand. It distracts you, his calloused thumb sliding across your skin.

“In another life I’m sure you would have made a darn good engineer Art Donaldson.”

Your words make Art laugh, something he found himself doing a lot with you.

-

“So, this is me,” you point towards the dormitory buildings up in front and Art slows his car to a stop, pulling the gear into park. He kills the engine before hopping out of his seat. Your hand is on the handle of the door, ready to open it for yourself but Art is faster, his hand on the outside lever, pulling the door open for you.

Art offers you a hand as you hop out of the jeep before he shuts the door behind you.

“I had fun tonight,” you find yourself saying, suddenly feeling slightly shy for reasons you cannot fathom.

“Me too,” is what Art says in response, his hands stuck on the pockets of his jeans, heels rocking in a back and forth motion. You see his gaze on you, locking with yours before flickering to your lips. It makes you bite down one on side of your lip, an action which causes Art to gulp, making the Adam’s apple on his throat bob.

“We should do-”

“Can I kiss you?” Art blurts out his question in a burst and you can see his face flush slightly as he asks, a surprising and yet apt contrast to the Art who had no qualms about holding your hand in his. You feel your heart quickening, and with the silence between you both - you almost feel as if you can hear each beat.

“Yes,” you breathe out, a small nod accompanying your response. You see Art’s gaze flicker to your lips again, but you would be lying if you said you hadn’t thought about this.

Art takes a step forward, pulling his hands out of his pockets. You feel him cupping your face gently, and you tilt your head towards him. Your eyes flutter close and your lips meet.

Art’s lips are softer than you imagined. You feel his hands move, slipping down the sides of your body, circling your waist and pulling you closer. You drop your bag off your shoulder onto the floor as your hands move up, one to cradle the side of his face, and the other reaching behind, fingers weaving into soft curls as you tug him closer towards you. First kisses with someone new had always been awkward for you - teeth, lips, noses, as you each try to figure out the grooves and crannies of each other, but with Art - there was no such thing. It felt as if you both had learnt each other long ago, each in and out, the curve of his neck, and the the planes of your body.

You break the kiss first, pulling away, eyes still closed, feeling as if the breath had been knocked out of you in the best way. Your forehead pressed against Art’s, body held firmly against his.

“I hope you aren’t going to send me packing after that.” Your eyes flutter open at his words.

“You packed an overnight bag didn’t you?”

“I might have,” Art pulls you even closer, his arms wound tight around you.

“Presumptuous much?” You run a hand through the front of his hair, pushing his fringe back.

“Just good at reading the room.”

-

12 years later

The skin across your knuckles are visibly tight, your hands clenched into fists, the only sign of the nerves that have taken over and riddled your body. Your eyes are shielded by dark oversized glasses, but your pupils are darting left and right as the final point of the match plays before you. The stadium is silent, save for the pop of the ball and the grunts from the two players on court. You hear an exceptionally loud grunt, the whizzing of a racket whipping through the air, and then you hear it before it hits you - the roar of the crowd, the thundering claps, and you feel your body freeze as even the announcer goes wild.

“Art Donaldson, ladies and gentleman, our new US Open champion.”

You remain glued to your seat despite the commotion around you - family, Art’s team, cheering, jumping, excited hugs being passed around. Your eyes watch as Art runs towards the center of the net, hand raised as he waves to the crowd around. He shakes his opponents hand, before waving to each section of the stadium in thanks of their support and there he is, jogging towards you. His hair is dripping with sweat, plastered to his head, shirt clinging to his body. He extends a hand to you even before he reaches the sideline and your body reacts from habit, standing, your hand extending back towards him. A warm hand, the back of it still slick from sweat grasps yours, tugging you forward lightly.

“Hi,” is all he says as Art’s lips meet yours. Art enjoys the tennis, but he doesn’t need it - doesn’t need the tennis, the fame, the money, or the trophies - all he needs is you.

You hear the crowd go wild at the display of affection, the announcer’s voice booming over the sound system with something about Art Donaldson and his wife, but it all fades - the commotion, the sound, the people, the tennis, because all you see is Art.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[seozii]

──── ❝ LETTERS ❞ 💌

After years of sending anonymous letters, Riki finally decided to be bold enough and end the letter with his actual name.

၇୧ ׄ ִ Fluff, not so slow burn, lil bit rushed at the ending. 1K WC,𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑

With shaky hands Riki placed the nice designed envelope into your locker. Slamming the metal material when he heard footsteps getting closer.

He’s sprinted away almost immediately practically crawling on the floor to get over to where his friends stood. Which was just a few centimeters from the Locker.

“So….who are you proms going to be?” You conversed with you friends about the upcoming prom in three days.

Riki watched wishing that he could one day be bold enough to strike up a conversation with you. Even if it was about the most random things.

One could say that Riki wasn’t a very shy person but when it comes to y/n he can deny that statement with his whole heart.

“Oh I’m already going with Cha sunghoon you know the one in class B” her friend Danielle responds with a beaming smile.

“Ooo I didn’t know you could pull” you teased turning to open your locker.

The moment you pulled the handle, a pink letter slipped out. The way the person wrapped it made it look so appealing to the eyes, you felt a sudden urge to unwrap the letter.

“How about you— hey what’s that ?” Minji asked staring at the paper lying on the floor.

Bending down to pick up the letter, you sighed. “It’s another letter”

“What do you mean ANOTHER so you’ve had a few?!” Hanni asked her face written with nothing but amazement.

“Not a few, yeah alot. But the thing is, I’m tired of these letters. It’s just the person I have in mind is…..” you paused taking a look around almost making eye contact with Riki until he diverted his gaze from your direction.

“Is who?” Danielle asked with anticipation.

Bending down to pick up the letter, you analyzed it before unwrapping it. “Dear y/n I know we’ve never actually talked. But if you’ve noticed the handwriting. Yes it’s me, secret admirer ;). I’m going to reveal my name at the end of the letter but all I want to ask you is if you’d go to the prom with me. It’s okay if you’ll say no. I completely understand since you probably don’t even know me but I would highly appreciate one chance. Your secret admirer, Nishimura Riki” Hanni and minji read out loud earning a side eye from you.

“Bro who even is Nishimura Riki? I’ve never heard of them”

“I don’t know either y/n but what I do know for sure is that this person is in this school” Hanni shrugged.

“That’s a very useful information” you sarcastically responded rolling your eyes after.

“Y/nnnn~ you didn’t complete your previous statement” Danielle sang in your ears.

“What previous statement?”

Minji scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “The one about you having someone in mind”

“Ohhhhh that!” You recollected. “Yeah what about it?”

“You dummy! Who’s the person you have in mind???” Danielle yelled in your ears causing you to push her away.

“I DON’T KNOW HIS NAME!! Ugh you’re gonna burst my eardrum. He’s just this one dude that sits at the back of my class. He just has this intimidating aura that’s pulling me even closer ugh” you bit your lower lips seductively.

“Ew”

“Shut up! It’s not my fault no one has asked you yet”

—

The bell rang indicating the end of the day.

You held onto a piece of paper rushing out of the class before the teacher even declared the assignment.

“Hey! So sorry to bother you. But do you know anyone named Nishimura Riki?” You asked stopping a fellow student.

“Nishimura Riki?” They repeated followed by a well detail description.

“Thanks!” You smiled now on a haunt to find the said boy.

“Riki?” You whispered softly in the empty corridors. Almost everyone were gone by this time. You doubt you’d even find the ‘riki’.

“Ah YN…” Riki answered turning to face you. His eyes darted everywhere but your eyes. His chest was feeling a sudden burst of emotions. While his cheeks were a light shade of pink.

“So you’re the Riki?” You spoke softly realizing it was the intimidating boy who sat at the back of your classroom.

“Y-yes” he answered trying to hold back a mere smile. He felt the sudden urge to look at her face. But his shy demeanor around her would never make him have the courage to.

“Could you look at me…” he choked on air. No way he was going to meets eyes with you. “Please?” You pleaded quietly. An imagination of you pouting crept into his mind making it harder to resist.

With a sigh he slowly turned his head to face you. “Yay!!” You beamed happily.

“Sooooo you’re actually secret admirer?” You asked just for confirmation.

Riki nodded shyly feeling a bit embarrassed. “I accept” you blurted out unexpectedly.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Accept what?”

“You asked to go to the prom with me right? Yeah I accept” you said slowly.

“REALLY?!” He yelled excitedly. Calming down after realizing how eager he sounded. “I mean. That’s really cool. It makes me so happy right now” he squealed.

You giggled at his reaction. “By the way, I’m heading home now. Wanna come with me?” You requested tilting your head to the side.

“why not? I’m also planning on going home anyways”

With clear hesitation, Riki stretched out his hand for you to take. Hoping you’ll get the hint.

You stared at his hand in confusion. “Ohhh” you joined hands with him after realization came in.

Your hands felt so soft and warm.

He often glanced back at you as the both of you walked through the empty dark streets. It was only the street lights and your smile that lighten up the environment.

the moment he would never forget when you bid goodbye to him in front of your house,placing a soft kiss on his lips. His body felt numb the moment your soft lips made contact with his.

The smell of your intoxicating perfume lingered in his Brian.

“See you tomorrow, boyfriend! Or wait! We’re together right?” You paused waiting for his response.

Riki didn’t even think twice, nodding his head to your question.

“That’s awesome!” You smiled widely running into your house, closing the door behind you.

Who knew you had eyes on him this whole time.

[hiraethminds]

hi hi hello! i really like your art :) what do you think of clover ii? i don't remember if you've drawn her before, but anyway i'd love to see her in your style!! thanks!!!

HI!! truth be told i have drawn alot of clovers! just haven't posted them cuz i still don't know how to draw her good, but here's a few of my musings.

as for what i think of her? I'm not exactly cloverpilled but I love her!

At first I kind of rolled my eyes, "head in the clouds" characters are extremely hard for me to get into because I'm personally not a fan (I like my guys to be a little nitty gritty/angsty if that makes any sense)

but the introduction of her luck inflicting misfortune on the other contestants was a really unique twist that was executed in a manner I enjoyed! I love how her personality twisted, and she became very guilty and fearful of what she found out about herself! (if u wanna stretch that we could make mephone comparisons but that's REALLY stretching lol)

so she's a solid high mid tier, will probably get higher on rewatch since I don't remember alot of the details, her therapizing nickel was really funny.

also, she was the 13th contestant eliminated 13, and 13 is commonly regarded as an unlucky number in western culture (neat detail idk)

once I get her design down i really want to make a baseball art piece w/her (unsurprising i am resident baseball head i will make him interact with everyone) with a whole good luck/bad luck theme I think the contrast is funny

[minnlahzz]

friede with an introverted s/o.

requested.

this guy is really interesting. i hope they stretch out his character more, because all he's known for is just being the hero when liko and roy are getting cooked. it's not enjoyable anymore the 1st time, but im glad we got to know more about his backstory and pikachu, i think that episode was more enjoyable than the recent ones, because it actually felt like i was watching pokemon the anime. anyway sorry for the yap, this was fun to do.

— NOTE : LOWERCASE INTENDED

since friede is definitely a social house, people wonder how you guys met. it's like opposites attract, or sun and moon.

he's dedicated into making sure you're comfortable around the environment of the ship. friede asks you to go but never forces you out during their bonding moments, (picnics)

and he'd talk for you when there's way too much people, or tell this people to go away for you. he's straight forward anyway.

you're introverted (of course,) so you've never really talked to the kids, but they've always wanted to talk to you, just too shy to do so. liko and roy would ask friede, and he'd all go all golden retriever (or pikachu) mode. he rambles about you, in the most inlove way possible

captain pikachu always had a liking to you, this electric rats love for you probably competes friede's love for you! like pokemon like trainer, what can i say? friede's also not bothered with it, he thinks of it as his two favorite people bonding.

speaking of bonding, when everyone else in the rising volt tacklers are asleep–he'd take you out to ride charizard, not anywhere special preferably just a stroll around places or star gazing if you're a fan of that.

he'll do anything you'd want when he has free time, journaling? he'll journal and make crappy stickers to design it with! reading? friede has alot of books from his time as a passionate professor (not that he's not passionate anymore.)

he encourages you to socialize with others, but remember that it's alright to take things slowly.

when you do socialize with others, friede is watching far away proud. he knows you have a social battery though, and can take you out of the conversation when you feel discomfort.

and he's pretty supportive in whatever you do! he'll support your boundaries and make sure other people support and respect them. friede isn't always there, but captain surely is, when you're missing friede there's always this gremlin rat as a replacement.

[millylotus]

Secret Son John Constantine

Inspired by @herbatahleb's funny little fanart

As the title says The Everlasting Trio have a child and his name is John “Hellblazer” Constantine

He’s making his parents proud

John was born of a kind of soul blood pact between the three, he got his blonde hair from Sam, his eyes from Tucker, and his overall appearance is a mix of the three of them

John grew up to follow in Tucker & Sam’s footsteps of magic, he’s a born sorcerer unlike them though

His relationship with his parents is generally good, but because of how he treats his soul his relationship with Danny has deteriorated

They argue about this alot, John’s soul is his own and what he does with it really isn’t any of Danny’s business, Danny has the concerned parent vibes of the parent of a sex worker, their fears are founded but they need to trust their kid to know how to take care of themselves

John hates visiting home because of it, Dani will sometimes drag him back home for holidays but he doesn’t stay long

Sam & Tucker try to get them to get along but it isn’t really working

Then one day Danny gets accidentally summoned by the Justice League

---

John doesn’t recognize the summoning circle as it buzzes to life, he doesn’t know what type of creature or being will pop out. If they’re good or bad, or even merciful but he knows they’re strong from the intricate design or the circle. So he recklessly jumps forward, pushing Hal out of the binding circle so the Lantern isn’t bound to the summoned being.

John takes the binding with a scream of pain, feeling electricity shoot up his spine.

He can hear the Leaguers shouting his name, he’s vaguely aware of Jordan supporting him. But what he hears clearest was the voice of a man he most despised in the world at the moment.

“Really John? You didn’t have to do that, he would have been fine.”

John closes his eyes tight and breaths deep, he looks up to the voice and looks into the toxic green eyes as they met his own brown ones.

“Good to see you too Father.”

The green eyed being rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, “Yes, hello Son. It’s great to see you again as well.”

The League had only heard a few things about John Constantine’s family. They knew he had three parents who’re polyamouros, that he has an older sister and an aunt. Besides that all they have are silent grumblings about “Father won’t like this” when he does something risky.

But to see a young filipino man probably no older than twenty, floating over John “Hellblazer” Constantine and looking down on him like a disappointed parent. It was jarring.

Wonder Woman was the first to say anything “John, could you perhaps explain what just happened?”

John and his father broke their intense eye contact to look at Diana, who barely flinched at the sudden attention, the others behind her weren’t so fearless.

Constantine sighed carefully stepping away from Hal, “This is my Father.”

Hal snorted, “Yeah we got that man.”

“Yes John, introduce me to your friends here.”

---

Danny is generally snarky when meeting the League, he makes some weird comments about John hanging out with superheroes, that could be construed as rude

The others are kinda pestering John about who his dad even is, while John is more focused on getting the fucking bind removed

He eventually has to ask Zatanna for help

Danny for the most part is hanging out with the League while John’s working

Someone calls him Mr.Constantine and Danny quickly corrects them saying that isn’t his last name

Which sparks a whole conversation of John’s last name, which Danny isn’t about to say cause real names have power and such

Danny sees John working closely with Zatanna and asks if he’s with her or not, John is beyond embarrassed and even worse is when Danny brings up King Shark, mentioning that Dani really liked him too

John snarks back that then King Shark should have just gone for her instead of him since Danny was so adamant about King Shark being such a great son-in-law

Things get awkward quick as the two snark back at each other while everyone else realizes where John gets it from

It almost becomes a screaming match before the League has to break it up before they go to far

John ends up just calling Sam & Tucker so they can just break the binding

It’s a tense few minutes before they get there, and the League just kinda has to sit there as father & son fume not looking at each other

When Tucker & Sam get there they see the two not wanting to talk to each other at all

Leaguers are not reeling at seeing John’s other parents who he also vaguely looks like but also not

As the two work on the binding John & Danny are being passive aggressive

The two decide that John & Danny need to spend some time together to get this shit figured out

---

Sam : Alright that’s it *Sam & Tucker stop working, Sam has her head in her hands and Tucker is leaning far back* Danny : What? John : I’m sorry? Tucker : You two have been fighting for far to long, you’ve probably forgotten why Danny : I know exactly why, it’s because John doesn’t know how to treat his soul right! John : By The Ancients! You’re still on about that Danny : Of course! Sam : Will you both just SHUT UP! *Silence* Sam : We’re not breaking the binding, you two are going to stay stuck together Danny : Sammy! John : Mama, Papa. Please don’t do this! Tucker : Nuh-uh, this happening, you two are getting a some father-son bonding time for the week! John *distressed*: Why! You can’t just– it’s not fair! *Sam & Tucker loosen up a bit, looking to John softly* Sam : Baby it’s alright, we’re not trying to punish you we just want you & your father to actually talk things through Danny : It feels like your punishing me Tucker : You are his father, you will be the civil one in this so don’t you fucking dare get any lip *Danny goes silent* Sam *sigh* : We’ll be leaving now Tucker : Good look you two The two leave, then silence Danny : Do you still have that demon house of yours? John *sigh* : Yeah I’ll show you a room for your stay

---

Most of the story is really just about John & Danny learning to get along again

Danny has to finally trust his kid to know what he’s doing with his own body

And John realising that his dad just wants to keep him safe & stuff

By the end of their basically grounding the two have begun to mend their relationship, Danny promises to come over and visit along with inviting John back home to the zone when he feels like

I've been meaning to post this for awhile now & it's just been sitting in my drafts until I finally remembered it.

Hope you liked is! :]

Main Story Index [It's kinda messy but it's got links to most everything]

[lyss-sketchbox]

Welcome back to lyssten to my rambles: Natlan Nagging. This isn't necessarily hate, I just wanna address and analyze a notion that I've seen around.

The argument of 'This natlan character design sucks and doesn't fit in Genshin' then the apparent answer to it is 'It's a fantasy game duhh'. I personally disagree, I think it's a shallow response that ignores alot of details.

Yes, genshin is a fantasy game. BUT there are rules that makes up a good fictional world, and that is consistency. Genshin has shit consistency obviously looking at the level of tech between each nation. But it IS consistent when isolated within nations alone.

Mondstadt's theme is traditional Germany. So the city has traditional buildings and no mechanical technology, the NPCs dress traditionally and use simple medieval tools, and the characters all use skills that fit the theme. Take Venti for an example, his design and kit communicates that he is a medieval bard which fits the theme of Mondstadt, seeing him move in Mondstadt amongst its people is not out of place.

So what I'm saying here is 'consistency' means the world, NPCs, and character must be within theme of the nation.

Another example. Sumeru's theme is middle eastern, but more fantasy and technologically advanced. The buildings have grand middle eastern architechture, robots already exists here and NPCs have access to the knowledge/skills/magic to make them, the akasha and related tech are accessible for everyone. Let's take Alhaitham for example, he dresses with Sumerian patterns, his skills looks similarly like the existing akasha technology. He is in theme with the nation and see him walking amongst Sumerian people is not out of place.

So what I mean when Natlan characters doesn't look like they came from Genshin is that they are not in theme with Natlan's established themes. Natlan itself is a jumbled mesh of 20 million cultures, but the general theme they were probably going for is tribal civilizations. (Bear with my generalization)

Take Mualani as a GOOD example of an in theme character:

She came from the People of the Springs. It's a Hawaiian (correct me if I'm wrong) themed location. It looks traditional, sail boat like buildings and huts, no visible mechanical technology, has simple magic mechanisms (spiritwave, koholasaurus). Massive tourism spot (Hawaii influence).

The NPCs are all dressed like how people who live by water would dress. They don't use mechanical tools. They are surfers, fishers, or tour guides. They are all relatively much more happy and kinder to guests since they are in a tourism spot. They all can use spiritwaves and koholasaurus.

Mualani herself dress similarly like her people. Very much extroverted since she is a tour guide. Her skills are pool floaties and a surf board. Her design communicates she is a peppy surfer girl. She can move within the People of the Springs and she does not look out of place. She is in theme.

I can complain about her all I want but when I look at her and watch her move. I see People of the Springs. That's it. I see her and she fits the world and people.

Now take Mavuika as an out of theme character

Since she is an Archon she doesn't have any specific tribe's symbols. So the 'world' she must belong in is Natlan in its entirety, aka tribal civilizations + extra fantasy magic tech. Still the architechture is very traditionally tribal with rough stone houses, huts, and tapestries. There IS mechanical technology but it is used sparringly (DJ booth, weapons the enemies wield, etc). Besides that it's all traditional. And much more emphasis on magic and rituals.

The NPCs while they came from different tribes has the same base of clothing styles with minor differences. They all wear clothes with 'tribal markings'. They all have access to their respective saurian and magic mechanisms. They all have access to the basic tech we've seen. They have access to the 'special magic' too (Like being an ancient name smith (or other important roles isn't JUST for playable characters)

Mavuika doesn't dress like any of them. She doesn't look like she'd fit in with her people, hell she barely fits in with the more exaggerated playable characters. When I look at her I see biker, I don't see Natlanese, I don't see important Natlanese. Her bike doesn't look like it came from any existing technology in Natlan. There's ROBOTS in Natlan and her bike doesn't look like it came from the same design origins.

'Oh Lyss it's because it's her signature thing she created out of her element-' CHASCA'S GUN looks more in theme than Mavuika's bike, it looks like it's made from Natlanese tech.

IN A VACUUM WHERE MAVUIKA ISN'T IN NATLAN she looks sick as hell. In NATLAN she looks like a 5th descender. THE POINT OF THIS ARGUMENT IS NOT THAT SHE IS UGLY, THE POINT IS SHE DOES NOT LOOK LIKE SHE IS FROM NATLAN AND GENSHIN HAS NEVER BROKEN CHARACTER THEME THIS BADLY BEFORE.

'Well archons are supposed to be special cases so they stand out-'

Ei doesn't look like a twitch streamer does she? Zhongli doesn't look like a book store owner in 1990s britain does he? Furina doesn't look like a 2020s Hollywood actor does she? They don't need to break their own theme and culture to stand out.

'Are you saying we cant incorporate X in Y culture at all? That's racist-'

There is a certain deviation from theme that people are willing to tolerate before the immersion break. ESPECIALLY when you use an existing culture as a design reference, people can TELL when it goes overboard. You do NOT mix and match culture without consistensy. Incorporate whatever the hell you want and mesh 20 million cultures all you want. But make the deviation consistent for every aspect. World. NPC. Character.

Because what makes Genshin stands out is the cultural details of its nations and characters. Without it then it's a standard gacha game spewing out whatever random character with insert trendy detail here. And that really upsets me because the cultural design is one of the reasons I stayed in Genshin.

[psycho-static]

lmao the next two!! Me pickles n Nathan designs Nathan was hella hard to design cuz i just...didnt have any ideas for him, unlike pickles lmao what do u lot think? Design notes under cut: (warning very long lmao)

PICKLES .His neck is scrawny his frame is rather small but has like a weird potbelly less average more..skinny fat build (despite this hes still pretty strong when anegred, fuled by darkness and hatred 😍) .He wears a pretty thick bandana to hide his balding head .And he only has so many dread...alot of em probably fell out lmao .Said dreads are also....sentient??? idk man i think pickles having living hair would be cool asf lmao little tentacles that let him pick up 5 weed baggies at once! wahoo!!! (Inspired by the hamburger time dream sequence) .His vest is more distintcly ripped and has the exodia sign on it despite what its associated with, he still thought the shirt was cool, so he wore it anyway lmao .His trousers are hella baggy, thick comfy, and patchy, that man almost NEVER changes his trousers its like the only pair he has .So he has them custoimsed with skull kneecaps because thats BRUTAL!!!! .He has fishnets ontop of his cuffs because it looks neat, also weirdly both aquatic and metal??? it works lmao .This man would defo have a tattoo, in this case a massive drunk (or dead) octopus on his arm (his spiritual awakening told him it was a good idea ) (the only tattoo he has that isint complete shite) .The rest of the tats he got he was drunk asf when he got em (not pictured here but they defo exist lol) .His teeth and eyes are yellow cuz hes c r u s t y as f u c k . He has more peircings, pickles is a pretty big peircing enthusiast he some some on the back of his neck his nipples and probably his nuts too lmao .And obligatory arm hair lmao --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NATHAN. Ngl i had....no ideas for him lmao nathans design works as is tbh hes a pretty smiple guy he dosent need nothing fancy to be brutal HE IS THE BRUTALITY .Ik alot of ppl draw nathan pretty tan but ngl...i think hed be pale as fuck lmao nothing screams more brutal that permenant corpse paint .He has pretty dark black bags around his eyes aswell as some black drippy tears round them .His shirt n jeans are a bit ripped, but thats about it .His hair covers one of his eyes, topped with a menacing face shadow, the moment he flips his hair back though, he turns to a right sofite .And the obligatory body hair, he defo deserves some lol

[thecertifiedboykisser]

Ok, big post with all evidence pointing to ratio being from amphoreus and some pointing against it.

Some leaks are in here!!! Be warned!!!

1-design stuff

Some notes, the style of clothing is very similar, most if all chrysos heirs have the same eye stuff that ratio has some just aren't colored (you can see it on some of the models in the trailer or the art at the end of the first trailor)

Spirals are a big thing, as well as the belt with the fabric (idk what it's call im sorry) and it draping over their legs. The blue stones and gold stuff.

Might be a bit of a pull but in the 3.0 live stream, dr.orange kinda looked like him, but I might be going insane.

Mydei and him have very similar eyes as well (I'm using mydei as a ref point bcs he's the only male from amphoreus we have splash art for to work with) same shape, puplies similar shape

I'm sure there's other design stuff and I might add it later. But for now this is all I got.

2-story elements

Now, this is more the lack of story, ratio has nothing but crumbs for his lore, where he's from, anything about him. Even his character storys aren't told from his own perspectives. The only time he really talks about himself is when he's referring to his goals or his love of books and baths.

He also doesn't have any clarification on where he's from other than the Intelligencea guild, and that's just a faction. There's no mention of his home planet at all.

On the official wiki. There are some that are classified as cosmic but we know the home of (boothill, acheron, Sunday, rappa[iffy, we know some details, like it was under dr.primive, but we don't know it's name so idk]) and some that we don't because it doesn't matter to there lore bcs there wanderers. Like sparkle, blackswan, and argenti. But dr.ratio doesn't fall into any of those categories. His home planet is vaguely mentioned as they have a bunch of stuff on him, but that's it.

It seems to matter to his lore, as you'd want yo know all about this great doctor, yet he's a complete mystery. And the quests don't help either.

He's not made for penacony or the space station. He even calls himself a supporting character, his character story was about others and guiding the trailblazer through helping them. He was solely there to help aventurine in penacony. Barely anything for himself.

That lack of knowledge tells me what I need to know. Either he's purposely keeping it a mystery, or it's gonna be figured out later. I mean if he is from amphoreus, he probably keeps it a mystery bcs how the hell is he gonna prove it's real.

3- What proves it's not real.

So, there's all this evidence, but it's lacking or doesn't make sense in some areas. Most of these points were brought up on tiktok by @/veritasratioenjoyer they make some really good points in their post, and its what inspired me to make this:)

So. It's stated in the livestream that the people of amphoreus have no concept of the outside world, meaning it's very unlikely that he's from there, considering how well known he is and that he follows the path of the erudition.

Veritasratioenjoyer explains it alot better than me so go check there video out.

If you have any more to add, feel free to in the reblogs! I do read them all:)

[carlyraejepsans]

Ok im trying to make a character and really struggling to make them fit the vibe of undertale, do you have any thoughts on undertale's character design philosophy? or know anyone who does? tips? idk you know alot about undertale, im kinda at the design phase of "throw shit at the wall and see what sticks"

undertale character philosophy rule number 1) get silly with it. rule number 2) be fully, whole-pussedly earnest. do not half ass do NOT undermine your genuinity with useless irony it is the POISON of whimsy. actually no rule number 1) think of every possible wordplay you could make outta them. visual gags included, those are important. undertale is a comedy before being anything else. you know what these aren't in order of importance anymore, who care.

anyway, UT characters are all somehow stuck in their patterns and cycles. either through mistakes, through circumstances outside of their control, past trauma, regret, etc, but they're stuck in that. what breaks them out of that cycle is a crucial aspect of their personality and set of beliefs. keep that in mind while you brainstorm their backstory.

give them speaking quirks. you're gonna feel a little silly at first, but there's not one main character in the game whose identity you can't discern by their dialogue lines alone. no soundbit, no portrait, no context. the way they say it by itself is distinctive enough to make them recognizable. let that guide your writing process.

....ok just realized you probably meant character design as in visual character design. ok, new try: puns and double meanings and things that are not what they seemed at first sight. there's a lot of design repetition with alterations in undertale's NPCs; froggit and final froggit, the dogs in the guard, snowdrake and knight knight. see what aspects are kept and what is altered. remember: while the main characters skew towards more humanoid designs (bipedal, upright, 4 limbs, recognizable face), they all have extremely different body types, often simplifiable in a single geometric shape for the stockier ones (toriel, sans, box mtt being rectangular, toby saying how he wanted to make alphys look like a triangle), while the ones with more complex silhouettes get really fucking weird with it (papyrus is self explanatory, undyne's tall and gangly noodly shape). get creative and get diverse. consider buying the art book, even! i feel like that might be a good choice. have fun, hope this helped!! (very likely didn't lol)

[wanted-game-if]

Wanted Game is a cowboy fantasy with some lovecraftian horror interactive fiction game

You wake up in the middle of nowhere, the sun blistering hot

no food,

no water,

and probably the most concerning thing of all you don't remember anything not your name, not where you are and not what you look like

You are found by a gang of outlaws the leader (or who you assume the leader to be) takes you captive but then offers you a deal you can't possibly pass up but things smell fishy.. they are outlaws who are there for their selfish reasons how can you truly trust them;

especially when they all seem to know something about you even though you have a mask stuck to your face they aren’t willing to tell what they know about you

no matter how close you get or how many tricks you try

• A customizable Mc though physical customization is somwhat limited until later in the story.

• Paint/design the mask and thought out the story their will be some options that will affect your mask

• Romance 10 of the charaters 7 main ones and 3 youll just have to figure out, one of the secret romances is a poly route with Oscar, got commitment issues or just looking for fun theres a large aray of flings along the road so dont you worry

• Doom or help the jobs succeed with your choices

• Grow relationships with the rest of the gang {{and even the group of bounty hunters chasing after you and the gang}}

• When not doing jobs entertain your self with a hobby or work on your skills

Oscar || He/They || 24 || 5’3

{{ Attracted to Men & Non-binary people }}

Growing up in the gang most would probably assume Oscar is mean, greedy, selfish but if given the chance you would find a soft caring man with a love for literature almost always with a book when he is not scouting or helping his ma with sewing up clothes the gang tend to wreck

Emile || Xe/Xem || 27 || 5’10

{{ Attracted to Everyone & Anyone }}

Oscars older brother Emile is very protective of Xyrs little brother emile is known to sleep around and be a massive flirt but never actually letting anyone be anything to Xem then a pretty face Xe can fool around with. sometimes you catch Xem staring at you with a expression you don’t quite understand

Louis || He/Him || 30 || 6’2

{{ Questioning }}

A very quiet man always tending to the horses or making wood sculptures hes very quiet keeping to himself not because of anything distrustful or rude he seems to just like being alone he is always looking to help out with jobs as long as he can keep his distance with people

Boss || He/Him || 58.. || 6’0

{{ Attracted to anyone but must be close to them emotionally before he does anything sexual in nature }}

A very talkative older man with alot of elegance for a outlaw he always has plans brewing though his number one goal is keeping the gang safe. He tends to be overprotective of everyone and can be a very hotheaded man its very easy to press his buttons

Ares || he/they/she || 28 || 5’11

{{ Attracted to anyone }}

Growing up in high society Ares learnt to be a very charismatic and social fellow most people would call her a charming, gentle, kind person but if you peer close enough through their wall you will soon learn that she is not at all what she appears and she has a more nasty complex towards commoners, rich folk and especially outlaws

Clara || She/Her || 40 || 5’5

{{ Attracted to men }}

Clara a sweet older lady recently joined up with the gang temporarily to help get funds to get her home but something about her story doesn’t add up, she seems like she wouldn’t hurt a fly so many dismiss her but some ought remember she is still an outlaw no matter how sweet she seems

Adelaide || She/Her || 37 || 4’9

{{ Attracted to women and non-binary people }}

Adelaide is the best with all things traps, distractions and explosives she cant be a bit much always adding a flare to everything and talking so fast you only barely understand she isn’t very observant when it comes to body language and tone so don’t expect her you realize your emotions straight away. she is also Boss’s Niece

T} ??? || he/him || 30 || 6’0 || Poly route with Oscar

{{ Attracted anyone}}

“They are so utterly perfect for him I’m jealous of them but i also want them aswell how selfish my heart is”

S} ??? || They/Them || 29 || 5’8

{{ Attracted to women }}

“In darkness she is the one stray ray of light that kisses my face”

J} ??? || they prefer just to be called by their name || 33 || 6’5

{{Attracted to women & men}}

“Its against my job, my morals,my life so tell me why it feels so right”

||Demo:TBA || Pinterest || Art Acc || My boundaries and asks boundaries

Sorry for any misspellings or weird way i worded things

[s1llydr3amscape]

Maybe it was the friends we made along the way!

My security breach cast re-imagined when we first got the posters and merch leaks!!! I changed them into ocs because after seeing their in game designs I fell in love <33333

Another reason why Vanny is my fave is because I don't have to design her clothes /j

Extras and ramblings under the cut :

Zoomed in because I drew them on the same canvas like a goober :

Many reasons why I chose to make the way it is are cause hehehehe

-I didn't like Roxy at first because off that funko leak being a reused model of Foxy. So I made her a hyena recolor using his model because I think they're cool, yet I still kept the fact she's the shortest because of Foxy in fnaf 1 being the shortest!!! And it did sorta happen with her being his replacement 😭She has short hair because I think one of her main appeals would be she would change up her hair every other week.

-Freddy is a moon bear because I miss Lefty. Also cuz I thought Fazbear Ent developed enough technology so that they could change colors during the night/dark like in the posters making them blacklight/neon. Also once again I miss Lefty and Also Nightmare. He had blue eyes freaky like that because I think FazEnt was developing new technologies to recognize guests by having their main stars test them out. And it did happen in the game so yay!!!

-I genuinely didn't think Bonnie would show up because off the leaks but at the time everyone designed their own version off him and so did I!!! I made him white and brown as a homage to Vannys help wanted mask. The blue streaks in his hair also relates to my Vanessa design. Reasons for this is because with how advanced the AI it was to trick them into thinking they were eachother friends. Why because the heartbreak would've been catastrophic.

-Chica didn't change much but I added brown because I love the color brown it is my top 1 color with purple following behind. Also because I love gradients I fucking love gradients you bet your ass if I add gradients I could <333 She has feather hair like that because off Big Bird I saw in a short fnaf sesame street horror yt video and that scared and gave me nightmares because of this one scene of a lady giving birth to his kid??? Idk it scared me alot. She's my favorite tho <3333

-Monty didn't change except he had circular glasses because I wanted him to match with Roxy as the newest additions to the Fazbear brand!!! Also man I wish one of them was a drummer but I couldn't decide between if Roxy or Monty would get it. I also didn't know Roxanne would be racing and gave her rock climbing. Reasons cause imagining her chasing you being able to climb walls would be scary. My only wish Is that I made his snout longer I want you to be able to hold it like a weapon

-They all have eyelashes because I think that is epic!!!

-Freddy is the tallest. Bonnie and Chica are the same height and Roxanne is the shortest

Might redraw them in my oc world version (if anyone would be interested it's basically also a robot story with my old fnaf oc's now turned rivals to Fazbear Entertainment) and not simplified but my other wips need me they are calling for me they are telling me to finish them and I must!!! Probably

And here's my older art after we got to see the game and the designs are wack oughhh :

They would've fought with my pink yellow blue Vanny design!!! Which is the only one I redesigned because I love Vanny to much... You can see her pre-design here and oughh Pink Vanny <3333

-If you look closely Vanny has a Dino looking tail!!! And that's because I thought hey imagine each time we defeated an animatronic she'd sew a piece off their body onto her suit! So when we killed Monty she'd scavenged and get his tail!!! With Chica she got her chicken feet!! And with Roxanne she gets her teeth!!!

-Why because I associate her with Pinkamena cupcakes so much. Also to add onto my previous statement with Bonnie looking like her old mask. She changed her suit in the final act to solidify herself as the bad guy (final boss) who had been using the animatronics for his own gain.

-Man I never draw Chica with her head bow now that I think abt it same with Vanny's whiskers god what was I thinking!!!

Also sorry they're oddly cropped I watermark my stuff to remember what year I made them in and my old username is bad 💀

[urautismdiagnosis]

Captain Barnacles my beloved (click for higher quality)

<reblogs appreciated :>

My glorious man, my most wonderful guy ever

random thoughts about him under the cut

Sob I'm so many years behind in octonauts episodes I'm barely scratching the iceberg lmso but my general vibe of octonauts above and beyond so far is that "Holy Sht Global Warming" and also My tiny Friends Have Grown!! Like dude I'm so proud of them all lol

Honestly to me the captain is just in his 30s, somewhere in there, idk what his role is in the found family (father figure?? big brother???) but honestly I adore his relationships with each of the octonauts (esp with dashi ahahhagugugh!!!! and peso too augdhbf Theyre so precious he's so proud of them) I love how he and tweak just get eachother and kwazii is just like His Favorite Little Guy??? and shellington, my god-

Like this guy just adopts everything in sight istg- <3

Im starting to realize that either my autism is blinding me or maybe he's autistic too and like??? Theater kid ahhh playing the accordion and bursting into song?? Mr "I am so full of obsession and love for all of this and all of you", Mr " I got my gup struck by lightning, my arm crushed by a clam, stung by a jellyfish, nearly attacked by barracadas, thrown around violently on the back of a wall, crashed into a sunken ship, and then nearly drowned and Hahaha Yes Im Fine did you all need anything?" LIKE SIR???

Also you just know he went out and got his whole nautical fit, with the hat and everything, and just went "oh crap I cant be the only one uhhhh" and then gave EVERYONE THE CUTEST FREAKING MATCHING HATS!!!

this guy had dreams and they're coming true and all his dreams are BEAUTIFUL-

also my partner was helping me figure out his design and went "omg am I just helping u make him a dilf" and I went "nah we making him a papi" and like damn cuz- sobbing can you tell the conversation happened at A Late Hour At Night.

i gave him a single lower lash this sticks out stylishly and totally didn't give him natural polar bear eyeshadow, I also like to think that he's somewhere on the aro ace spectrum but that might just be me projecting lol

ignore the pic of a compass I stole btw that doesn't matter

i think the design might still have some room for improvement so if I've made it this far lmk if u think it could use any fun touches

(also this guys body type KILLED ME it took me sooo many tries)

ᵃˡˢᵒ ᶦᵏ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵇᵃʳⁿᵃᶜˡᵉˢ ⁿᵃᵐᵉ ᶦˢ ᵏᶦⁿᵈᵃ ʳᶦᵈᶦᶜᵘˡᵒᵘˢ ᵗᵒ ᵃˡᵒᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵖᵉᵒᵖˡᵉ, ᵇᵘᵗ ᶦᶠ ᵘ ᵗʰᶦⁿᵏ ᵃᵇᵒᵘᵗ ᶦᵗ, ᵇʸ ᵖᶦʳᵃᵗᵉ ˢᵗᵃⁿᵈᵃʳᵈˢ ᶦᵗ ʷᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵇᵉ ᵃ ᵛᵉʳʸ ˢᶦᶜᵏ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶦⁿᵗᶦᵐᶦᵈᵃᵗᶦⁿᵍ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵖᵒʷᵉʳᶠᵘˡ ⁿᵃᵐᵉ. ᶜᵘᶻ ʸᵏ, ᵏᵉᵉˡʰᵃᵘˡᶦⁿᵍ…

i bet he misses bianca alot poor guy,

also here's my most cursed head canon: he's a polar bear and is often in very warm environments, so y'all think he just like.... cuts and thins his fur?

Im so sorry y'all but I can just imagine him at 2 am just crying next to a pile of his own fur because oh God this is so hard, I imagine the whole process of doing that to ur whole body routinely with tools that break is probably similar to the process of undoing protecting braids for folks who have afro textured hair, but I wouldn know personally I've just heard how much the process can be time consuming and be kinda tiring 0-0

Also I cant believe I haven't mentioned this yet but I think he's like 8 feet tall, which compared to most of his crew being at smallest 4.7 to 5.8 he's just huge compared to them XD. I tried to make like conversions based on irl animals and etc, but the captain is like literally The Tallest A Person Can Be. Like y'all know polar bears are The Largest and Tallest pawed mammals to exist??? like 13 feet tall irl

im just so proud of him he is so compassionate and supportive and cares so much about everyone and everything-

fanny pouch ahh belt