Ravenloft Powers & Horror Checks in D&D 4e

Yesterday I brought you Strahd’s Choking Fog for use in your Ravenloft 4e endeavors, (or perhaps any setting) but today I’m definitely bringing to you some very very Ravenlofty mechanics.

[dropcap4 variation=”primary_red”]D[/dropcap4]ark Powers exist as part of the very demi-plane that is Ravenloft, tempting those who dare to tread on the precipice of evil. An evil act, siding with evil, using dark magics (necromancy, nethermancy, etc.) or harnessing the power of evil artifacts or items are all things that may trigger a powers check, though not all evil deeds are worthy of Ravenloft’s gaze.

The Dark Powers check I have outlined here is only “Stage 1: The Enticement” of 6 stages outlined within the Realm of Terror book from the 2e Ravenloft boxed set, however I only use 5 stages per my 4e house rules. I will continue to convert them and publish them here as time goes on, starting next with Stage 2: “The Invitation”, consecutively followed by S3: “The Touch of Darkness”, S4: “The Embrace”, S5: “Creature of Ravenloft”.

[dropcap4 variation=”primary_red”]H[/dropcap4]orror Check mechanics are something I highly enjoy using in my game to punctuate ghastly, grim encounters with a bit of mechanical flavor. The mechanics add to the RP as well as make Ravenloft a very rough locale to be an adventurer in. Conversion from the 2e boxed set was easy, however I have not converted over the Fear checks as I’ve worked out something different for them, which will be a full length post at a later date. To top off the awesome factor on my converted horror checks -they take full advantage of the [tooltip width=”132″ trigger=”upcoming Despair Deck”]Send me a review copy WotC![/tooltip] mechanics as well.

Enjoy, I hope these are useful to someone out there other than myself! (tossed in Choking Fog again for aesthetics)

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