Having heard that "Howls in the Night" was playable in Gothic Earth, I called up my local shop and ordered a copy. One week later it had arrived and I'd finished the read-through. A few things really irked me about the adventure. The way it read gave me the impression that little time was spent checking over it before going to print. In one of the annoying little dialog boxes, an NPC tells the characters that, although it may seem strange to them, folks in Mordent lock their doors at night. In Ravenloft? The PCs should think it far amiss if the NPC didn't lock, barricade, and trap the doors. Additionally, one of the possible curse-enders is also the obvious result of letting the curse run its course. If the PCs don't bother with it, the flawed curse will self-destruct without accomplishing its goal. Another weak bit is a suggestion for a note that appears on the optionally evil Burton Wescote's desk. The sentiment is that he wished he'd commited a specific evil action
when he had the chance. Unfortunately, the optionally evil Burton DID commit the act.
To adapt the adventure to different campaigns, the DM is given a choice of alignments for two of the central NPCs. More pressing than whether the Wescotes are naughty or nice, is the issue of what the party is doing in Mordent and why they would bother to help out when doing so has resulted in combat with big ugly monsters in 37 of the last 38 instances of them helping out frightened townspeople. Just saying, "they're adventurers," doesn't cut it for me. Rather than making the scenario more flexible, the alignment option is cluttering and a little confusing. At least it is playable on Gothic Earth.
On the positive side, the inside cover is taken up with five maps. As a GM I'm an admitted map-junky. Since the first Ravenloft boxed set, the number of useful maps has dwindled to the point where the new RL campaign setting, "Domains of Dread," has a trio of Rorschach tests in the vague shape of stains to represent the core domains. While not much to look at, the maps in "Howls" add useful scale and help in describing scenes to the players.
The adventure is truly a quickie and one in which the PCs are toys in the latest brief chapter of a supposedly long-running ordeal. Colin McComb managed to work in player efficacy without resorting to writing a scenario that leads the group around like kids on a field trip. That is no small accomplishment, especially in Ravenloft. For much of the scenario, atmosphere is emphasized. The beastie contingent is fairly small and none too powerful (read: no tarrasques)
What most devalues Howls, though, is its brevity. A moderately experienced bunch of players can roll through it all in about 3 hours, including bathroom breaks. If played on Gothic Earth, the time could be even shorter. The only monsters the party can fight would be dispatched by a pair of repeating rifle-toting shopkeepers. Since Howls doesn't really segue into more adventure, the session ends on the moors. Generally, I like a scenario to run at least 5 hours with the option to extend the adventure. No one, neither DM nor otherwise, wants to finish any session and hear, "is that it?" For a short session, this would work well. Then again, for the preparation required to play Howls (the read-through and figuring out which plot to run, followed by a second reading, and ample consideration to adapt it to the current game), any capable DM could come up with a brief scenario that does just as well. Still, for time-strapped DMs looking for a good, quick adventure, "Howls" is
worth looking into.
Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 2 (Sparse)
