The old A,D&D Ravenloft modules were some cheesy shite. Even the most sullen and macabre Goth in Gotham couldnât extract a nugget of honest fear from the campy Hammer Horror rip-offs. But we loved them. Why?
Ravenloft began with Dracula-but-with-hitpoints, then added wagons of gypsies carrying plot, Frankensteinâs monster off the Sea of Sorrows by Lamordia. Adventure modules featured encounters in a crypt with spooky skeletons and D4 HP bats, followed up by werewolves which were invulnerable to everything except magic. How did anyone enjoy themselves?
As always, the content does less work than the hook. The hook was taking on Dracula, or outsmarting him, or at least surviving him. But why Dracula, and not a lich? Why Frankensteinâs monster when we have perfectly good monsters at home?
I think the whole thing comes down to mnemonics; easy memory hooks to attach the game somewhere. And from this point of view, itâs actually excellent design. It gives you a bridge over the memory-pitfall at the start of so many modules.
When I was twelve, I prodded and harangued my semi-employed dad into buying umpteen A,D&D books without knowing anything about the content. I just had to know how to run an A,D&D module. But when I actually tried to read some 30 pages about a plot to kill a king, where the prince hid, what happened at the abbey, and what that pixie knew about the affair, I really struggled. The âgameâ not only had more moving pieces than any detective novel, it had statblocks for each character, architecture for each building, and lists of items in every wardrobe.
Every module assumed you could identify the key pieces, and remember them all. You might quickly reference some details in a room, but if a GM stopped the game to read about the next area, this would be considered a failure of duty.
Coming back to Ravenloft, Strand doesnât look much like Dracula. He has the main features:
- vampire
- castle
- dead wife
- gypsies
Those features give us hooks to remember his castle, the false crypt, the gargoyles and the ghosts. Itâs a lot to remember, but you have the primary memories to hang the little ones on. You know the castle, and now you get to see the details. You know the gypsies, now this is what they say to the PCs. You know him, but do you know how many hitpoints he has?
Count Strahd von not-Dracula isnât a pastiche, parody, or homage. Heâs a subtle mnemonic[i]. He serves the GM with his unassuming introduction. He says, âyou know this, just let me help with turning the book into something for a party of 4 to 7 characters of level 5 to 9â.
Novelty Limits
I recently read a module for Cairn. I had to pick it up and put it down in failure, because I struggle to read when Iâm tired. It was a dozen pages long, A5, with massive text and should not have felt like a challenging read. Despite its short plot, the opening paragraph threw out a stream of variables to be memorised - names of nobodies.
Baron X, in the land of Y, finds himself beset by the spies of Count ZzzzzâŚ
âŚthatâs about my limit for new names when Iâm tired.
Digestibility
Putting aside my limp brain for a moment, the OSR scene produces extremely digestible material in general. Large, shocking images (the dungeon is a turtle! And the turtle votes Conservative! And his legs are all cannons!). The rules all show a ruleset we already know - the wizards, fighters, and thieves. Anyone whoâs played a little D&D already knows half of whatâs in any OSR module before they begin. And the under-described one-page dungeons fill in any blank with a beautiful map, describing a full scene one eye-bite at a time.
Grand Larceny
So Iâve started to wonder about other ways to abuse and recycle the memory of the assumed European reader to speed up how fast I can shove +1 swords and goblins down their throat.
One module requires some Night Guard, but memorizing statblocks for five âfighting menâ is no more fun than writing them. So Iâm making them âthe South Park boysâ, because (whether you love or hate them), everyone knows them.
- Thereâs the fat one, whoâs loud, annoying, manipulative, and bigoted.
- The muffled one dies later.
- Two normal ones has green and blue hats.
Maybe in the future Iâll make a module where a storm-hag raids a series of three gnomish warrens to steal their Ingredients.
Our Little Secret?
Should the players be aware of the mnemonic? Obviously, everyone playing in a Ravenloft module knows that âDr Mordenheimâ means âDr Frankensteinâ, but my plan doesnât have to be so on-the-nose. The GM may decide to keep the sources secret, and just tell players âyou find a gnomish warren, door ripped off its hinges, with no sign of life insideâ. I doubt the players will notice.
Or perhaps the GM will happily portray all the South Park boys with their usual voices, and make not-Cartman an elf-hater, then have the storm-hag sing âlittle gnome, little gnome, let me in!â, as the gnome responds with ânot by the hair on my chiny-chin-chin!â.
Answers on a E-Post Card
So now Iâm wondering what would make good mnemonic fodder, either for characters, scenes, or full plots.
- Sheriff Columbo arrives to ask about a crime the PCs did.
- He begins by giving them the âquestâ of uncovering who did the crime.
- Thereafter, he meets them in every.single.tavern. No exceptions.
- Every meeting comes with an easy question, and then âoh just one more thingâ.
- I think about 95% of PCs will end up giving themselves up in a panic.
- The cast of Friends as six elves.
- Two males in one tower, two female in another, with a tall bridge connecting the two rooms.
- We know the elves, and the voices.
- We know their bitter relationships.
- We had quit our oaths!
- The Minotaur in a labyrinth
- but the monster has grown tired of hunting for people, and leaves trails of thread to his lair in the centre.
- And if the PCs know the king values the Minotaur, they can use it as a hostage.
If youâve got a notion for some mnemonic larceny, send me a message.