Quote from: Haffrung;1047214This was over 30 years ago: I was 16 years old, and probably stoned. So no, not the masterful management of mechanics and theme, and fluid improvisation that I demonstrate today :rolleyes:

You were stoned?  That explains it then.  At the end of the day, did you all have fun?  If yes, perfect.  If not, oh well.  Not my right to pass judgement.  I can however, question!

Quote from: Haffrung;1047214Nonetheless, the dungeon had some serious flaws, and those flaws were exploited by players who hadn't learned (and didn't care to learn) how to properly play a story-driven D&D adventure. It was Ravenloft, along with Rahasia (another Hickman module) that showed our group that published TSR adventures have moved far from our preferences. Those were the last two TSR modules we played for almost 15 years.

OK, if you're going to claim that the original Ravenloft is flawed...  I can't argue.  Like, at all.

Quote from: Haffrung;1047214It was Ravenloft, along with Rahasia (another Hickman module) that showed our group that published TSR adventures have moved far from our preferences.

I ran Rahasia (in 3e, ca 2008) pretty much as a regular dungeon crawl. Only real issue I recall was the annoying teleporters and a couple annoying players.

Quote from: Haffrung;1046414Yep. This was when Ravenloft first came out. None of the other players were DMs or bought adventures. They didn't play in other groups. And of course it was long before the internet.

This was an old-school group. Ruthlessness, stealth, and reconnoitring were standard operating procedures.

Still, pretty effective even by those standards.

Quote from: Gabriel2;1046879I took I6 Ravenloft down last night and looked through it for the first time in years.  I've had this module since it was originally released.  I've read it a few times.  I've even played it a couple of times.  I've never thought it was particularly special.  When I read it originally, nothing made an impression on me.  When I played it, the GMs ran it as a generic dungeon crawl.

I blame the opening "room" of the castle.  As soon as you walk in the courtyard, you're going to get attacked by 4 monsters that come across as gargoyles but are statted as very young red dragons.  It sets a tone for the castle, and that tone is that it's time to start hackin' away.  I know when I played, as soon as this encounter occurred, I went into traditional "D&D mode" of just going down corridors, choosing doors, and looking for the next monster to kill and take their stuff.  It also set the tone as I was reading.  As it happens very early on, it historically made me look at the rest of the module as nothing more than the typical keyed monster encounter box.

You know, I NEVER noticed the Guardian of Sorrow?  Not once in all these years had I ever noticed that or encounteed it in either playthru.  I don't know how the hell I missed it.  There's tons of atmospheric stuff in the module which I always just skipped over because of the aforementioned shift in tonal assumption.

I also found myself wondering how characters are expected to approach solving it.  I think in one playthru the GM didn't even notice the note the one spiral staircase is blocked.  In another playthrough, I seem to recall finding the secret door in the office which led down to the crypt.  Looking at it now, I wonder if maybe the intended way to get down to the crypt is to go all the way up to the top of the high tower and then either feather fall or rappel down the shaft?

Well the Dragon Gargoyles are not supposed to attack you when you enter the castle. They are supposed to attack you when you leave. So your DM didnt read the adventure.

Here's a new suggestion:
I Didn't read all the replies, but Dungeon Magazine #50 (Nov/Dec 1994) had an adventure called Felkovic's Cat.  It's one of my favs.  Players end up in a realm controlled by a baron, who is really a vampire (he can also shape change into a panther, and there is a really good back story as to why).  Everyone in town toils on his behalf, except for one wizard who plans to kill the baron vampire with a Figure of Wonsterous Power, a cat, that he creates.  However vampire kills him before cat can kill the vampire.  Adventure starts with players coming in from some other place and they find the figurine.  There's so much I could say about how great this story is, but suffice it to say that in my opinion it is well written and not always predictable.

See if you can get it and have a look..  You could do it in one long or two sessions.  As a bonus, that magazine also has another one of my favorites called Back to the Beach.  Low level mystery for D&D and combat is not the way to solve the problem . . Or at least not the best.

Good luck.

Look at that . . . Dungeon #50 is Archived online.  Admin please delete if I'm violating a rule.

https://annarchive.com/files/Dungeon%20Magazine%20%23050.pdf

Quote from: RoboFrog;1051075Well the Dragon Gargoyles are not supposed to attack you when you enter the castle. They are supposed to attack you when you leave. So your DM didnt read the adventure.

Welcome to theRPGsite, RoboFrog!