Dungeon Master Manual

DUNGEON MASTER MANUAL

By Lilivati

TABLE OF CONTENTS

p. 3 Maps

p. 8 Quest/Subquest Summaries

p. 10Character Hooks

p. 10Death/Bleeding System, other scripts, and DMFI

p. 11NPC’s

p. 13Adventure breakdown/walkthrough

p. 20Final thoughts

Maps to Mayhem

* A word about the maps. While all of the landmarks are correct, the orientation of some of the areas have been changed. Another words, simply rotated. Be sure to check the in-game map with your DM manual map-also, not all of the areas are included here, just most of the exterior ones*

DM Chamber:

Mt. Ghakis Pass:

Forests of Barovia- South

The Hermit’s Abode

The Road to Kroftberg

Kroftberg- Outskirts

Vistani Camp

Cave

Tunnel

Temple of the Wolf God

Quest Summaries, From Primary to Optional

The main quest, of course, is for the players to find their way out of Ravenloft and back to Faerun (or wherever they came from). There is in addition, a big subquest (The Trickery of Annisa) and a few optional, smaller sidequests (such as Swords From Hell, Lizabeth’s Guardian, and Vistani Card Tricks.). These optional sidequests can be used or dropped depending on time, characters involved, and the type of game you want to run.

Main Quest: Get the Hell Out Of Here!

Throughout the game, the players’ primary concern will be focused on the all-important goal of getting home. The main quest is described in much greater detail in the Adventure Synopsis. However, here is a brief overview.

The party is transferred to Ravenloft via the Mists. They have no idea (in-character, anyway) what has just happened to them, where they are, or that they have been relocated to a notoriously dire as well as closed plane of existence. Once they come round to the idea that they are very far from home indeed, their focus will switch to finding a way back home.

In the webbed cave, they may or may not find a journal explaining their present situation.

As they head northward through the woods, they encounter Matthaus’ hut, and note the blood and the apparent kidnapping of the hut’s owner. They also note Lizabeth’s grave and either rob it or let it be.

Eventually, they are pointed toward the Vistani camp, and this is where things really start to happen. Madame Isla explains that their coming through the Mists was foretold, and speaks of the evil brewing in the forest of the wolves. She wants the party to put an end to it and bring her the head of the one responsible. In exchange, she will send them home. She also advises they seek out Jander before taking on the wolves, though she does not reveal his vampiric nature.

At Jander’s grove, the party learns that Matthaus is the name of the wolves’ victim, and that he was a good friend of Jander’s. They witness Jander’s grief and see his torment at breaking his vow to Eldath by leaving the grove to help Matthaus. They also discover he is a vampire, and learn precisely where they need to go to confront the wolf menace.

They head to the cave in the Barovian woods. Eventually, they make their way to the Temple of the Wolf God within the cave, and find Matthaus about to be made into a werewolf. The ceremony is presided over by the wolfbrother priest Aluska. This can go several ways, but ultimately the wolfbrother is killed, and the party claims his head. They then begin the journey back to Madame Isla for their reward. (The module usually ends before they get there, as it is intended to be the first in a series. The second chapter is presently under construction.)

Lizabeth’s Guardian

Quest Criteria: Players must have dug up Lizabeth’s grave next to Matthaus’ shack in Forests of Barovia- South AND retrieved the sword named Lizabeth’s Guardian. TIP: Almost nobody digs up the sword, so enjoy this quest while you’ve got it.

Digging up a grave is evil business, especially in Ravenloft. That goes double for grave-robbing. In this case, however, the players have done more than foul a grave…in removing the guardian sword, they have made Lizabeth’s soul vulnerable to any manner of dark powers. Instead of resting peacefully as before, her soul is torn and consumed by these powers. TIP: You might send tells saying that the player carrying the sword feels “uneasy” or the like.

Once they arrive in Jander’s grove, after perhaps a little conversation (see the description of Jander’s role in the main quest), Jander catches sight of the sword. (It’s a big honking sword; players wouldn’t be able to hide it in their backpacks in real life, no matter how the NWN inventory system functions.) At first deadly calm but with an edge of menace, Jander asks where they got it. As the players stutter out some lie (persuade check, DC 20 at a minimum), Jander’s rage grows. He explains that they have made Lizabeth’s soul vulnerable, and flees to her grave hoping it is not too late for countermeasures. Don’t forget to dissolve him to gas as he exits the grove, and roll lore checks (DC 18) for the players to recognize him as a vampire. TIP: If there is a paladin or good cleric within the party, you might send them tells emphasizing the horror and evil their actions have wrought, as they become fully aware of the situation.

If the players are so foolhardy as to return to Lizabeth’s grave, they find a blood-weeping Jander, who has indeed arrived too late to defend her soul. After some angsty wailing, Jander fuels his anger and grief into action, attacking the party. He should kill at least one of the players. Use the Affliction Wand to apply a knockdown effect to surviving players, who are probably pretty beat up at this point. Here you have essentially three options. If they party received the Ghoul’s Hand from Madame Isla, the Vistani seer, then Jander can use it to transform the dead player into a ghoul. [IMPORTANT: This must be done with the Polymorph Wand, not by actual use of the Ghoul’s Hand. Remember to remove the Hand from the player’s inventory.] Likewise for the Zombie Flesh. If the party has neither of these items, knock a player into unconsciousness (bleeding or use Affliction Wand) and have Jander feed on him/her, transforming the player into a vampire (via the Polymorph Wand).

Jander appears at the end to conquer Matthaus regardless, because he does it to put his friend out of his misery rather than to aide the party.

Swords From Hell

Quest Criteria: The party must have received the Hellblade from Madame Isla, the Vistani seer, and someone in the party must be using it.

TIP: There’s a lot of room for improvisation in this quest. Also, if you’re into customizing modules, you can add a different cursed or bizarre item to Madame Isla’s inventory for a little variety, though it’s recommended that you limit the number of cursed items possessed by the party in a given game to one.

A little possession, anyone? The Hellblade is a deeply evil semi-sentient sword imbued with twisted Vistani magic. It cannot speak, but longs for blood. The first time a player kills with it, send a tell along the lines: “You feel a burst of ecstatic joy from your weapon.” When the player tries to sheath it (before or after using it in combat) send a kind of warning tell: “You find it surprisingly difficult to put away your sword.”

If the player persists in using it…well, it doesn’t get caught by surprise twice. From that point on, the player is unable to sheath the blade. (Remember to send a tell to that effect.) Furthermore, in punishment for even attempting to subdue it, the sword sends a bolt of agonizing pain up the player’s arm, and the player experiences powerful waves of anger from the sword.

Removing the Hellblade: If other players attempt to knock the sword out of the afflicted player’s hand, or whatnot, they are badly burned by the sword and let go immediately. There are a few ways to remove the sword. The easiest is if the afflicted player passes a very difficult (DC 20) Will Saving Throw, but there are other ways. The afflicted player’s arm or hand can be cut off; the (good) cleric or paladin can pray for divine intervention; Jander can succeed in removing the blade. If the blade is not removed the player becomes wholly possessed by the sword, to the point of attacking everything in sight to slake the blade’s neverending thirst for bloodshed.

Vistani Card Tricks

Quest Criteria: Characters with some real personality for Madame Isla’s card reading to exploit.

The description of Madame Isla’s role in the main quest can be modified slightly, if there is time and if you have good players. In her inventory is a bunch of Tarot cards. She can invoke the spirits, then rather than simply communicating their visions, channel their energies into the cards and do a reading for each player. She can also draw for the party in general, or for key NPCs such as Jander or Matthaus. Readings for players should, if possible, capitalize on a fault, weakness, or fear. For example, your paladin tried to seduce the gate guards to get into town, or your good cleric ignored the robbing of Lizabeth’s tomb; a reading for such a player might warn that their deity is upset with them, and may turn their back if the behavior continues.

TIP: BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT TIME. It is incredibly easy to get very far off-schedule for this module by doing the card reading, even for experienced DMs.

Character Hooks, or, How To Get This Party Started

There are a few ways which this module can be used.

1. Pure One-Shot

Game is not part of a pre-existing campaign, nor is the party pre-existent. A good background story must be concocted for the party to be logically traveling together.

1. “Evening in Hell”- Auxiliary module to a campaign

Your campaign is at a lull, your players between adventures, or you just want to do something different this week. Send the party into Ravenloft.

Death System and DMFI

Ravenloft- A Requiem for Jander uses the HABD system. If you are not familiar with this system, I suggest you read the excellent documentation available at NWVault. Basically, it ensures that players do not die immediately. When they reach 0 HP, they are knocked unconscious and begin to bleed. At –10 HP, the player dies. While the player is bleeding, the rest of the party can use healing kits or spells to revive them, or make use of the free and reuseable Bandages. The bandages make a DC=15 heal check to revive the fallen player. There is also a chance the player will auto-stabilize, but don’t rely upon that.

The module settings have a player bleed 1 HP every 4 rounds, giving ample time for the party to revive them. However, should a player actually die, they stay dead. Death in this module is permanent. There are no Raise Dead or Resurrection scrolls available, and the party is not at a high enough level to produce these spells themselves. There is also no respawn. Be certain your players are aware of these facts. (If you are truly opposed to these settings, you can open the easily configured habd_include script in the toolset, and rearrange the settings to suit your tastes. However, we have found that permadeath creates an air of caution and mild fear that suits this module perfectly.)

The ONLY exception to be made to permadeath is if death is lag-related. We (Poetic C. and Lilivati) both have excellent internet connections, so this has never been an issue for us. However, as a matter of DM etiquette, if it is a problem for you or one of your players, don’t punish your players for lag.

Creative Suggestions for Dead Players: Our favorite is to turn them into zombies, to add to the ambiance of the module. They can follow the party around, longing to consume human flesh… Ahem. But player death is extremely rare. In fact, the only time we’ve dealt with it was RP rather than fight-related.

Other useful scripts included: 1) A visual cloak system. Essential for standard Ravenloft ambiance, players can equip any cloak and it shows on their avatar. They are given one for free at start of game. 2) PC Emote Wand/Dice Bag/Autofollow Widget…thee are standard DMFI Player tools. 3) DMFI wands...these are also given to DM’s upon entry. More info about the DMFI system can be found here at

This module was designed with the intent of getting it certified as a DMFI Mod, meaning that is able to be used by relatively new and experienced DM’s alike. Whether it gets certified as such is up to the DMFI staff themselves, but in any case it would help to be familiar with the DMFI tools available to DM’s Their main website (along with all of the DMFI certified mods) can also be found at

NPCs: All You Ever Wanted To Know

There aren’t a whole lot of NPCs in this module, so work hard at the ones that do exist, to leave a good impression. TIP: If DMing with another person, decide ahead of time who will handle which NPCs and have the other DM conduct dicerolls and so forth during that time.

Individuals:

Jander Sunstar:

If you’ve read the book Vampires in the Mists by Christie Golden, you know this character well. Jander is an elven vampire, originally of Faerun, who tries his best to act against his undead instincts- though in reality all he can do is put them off. He is the epitome of the Tragic Hero. He is extremely handsome and genial, welcoming the party to his grove with eager politeness and utmost hospitality. Jander worships Eldath, a Faerunian deity of rivers, and is under her protection while he remains in his grove. By leaving his grove, he feels as if he is betraying and insulting her by rejecting her gift of peace within the grove.

Like most vampires, Jander is leery of garlic, holy symbols, and pointy pieces of wood, but little else. In his case, blood is also something to be leery of, for he is trying to avoid his vampiristic nature and nothing brings it to the fore more quickly then the Red Drink.

Madame Isla:

The raunie of the local Vistani gypsies, she is to be both respected and feared. She is indifferent in the sense of being neither malicious nor compassionate, coupled with a power that need never be stated. She can crush the party without blinking an eye, and if they think otherwise you, the DM, might choose to demonstrate this fact. (For example, when a player once spit on a carpet in her wagon, Madame Isla cursed him, an effect that lasted the remainder of the game.) She is very gifted with the Sight, and is able to peer into the future of the players and the area to give the party information about their quest. She is also the only route back to Faerun (or wherever the party came from).

Of the magical items in her wagon, the one of most note is the crystal ball, which provides her with a more-or-less direct link to Lord Strahd, whom the Vistani serve as spies. She views it with wariness, even a touch of fear, and may glance at it nervously whenever Strahd comes up. The cat occasionally is highlighted by the party’s actions; we like to say he is an unfortunate former suitor of Madame Isla’s granddaughter.

Matthaus:

Matthaus is an elderly, lonely man, living alone in his cottage among his books. His wife, Lizabeth, passed on some twenty years before and is buried next to the cottage. (Lizabeth herself is something of a mystery; why did she die so comparatively young, and why did she have this sword, and why was she buried with it? However, as she does not play a large role in the plot, her story is not pertinent.) Matthaus’ only real contact with the exterior world is Jander. Matthaus may or may not be ignorant of Jander’s true nature; one finds a large supply of garlic in his hut. Nevertheless, Jander was his only acquaintance, much as he was Jander’s, and he went to visit him in the grove frequently.

Recently, Matthaus was kidnapped by the wolves, leaving a ransacked, bloody hut behind him. The cult of the Wolf God plans to turn him into a werewolf, though the party does not realize this until the conclusion of the game.