Review: I10 Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill

Can you imagine a world where Christopher Lee only made one Dracula movie? No. Neither can I. Thanks to the movie magic of Hammer Horror, we got to see Lee's Dracula (who I believe played Dracula more time than any other actor) return time and time again from Victorian England to the Swinging Satanic 70s. Each time, he is confronted by his nemeses, the Van Helsing family, often in the guise of Peter Cushing.  So if Ravenloft is Hammer Horror, then it should come as no surprise that we would get a sequel adventure. 

We did. Strahd is back in Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill.

This adventure, while not as well received as the first, ground-breaking, Ravenloft it did have a lot going for it. For starters, it was much more classically Gothic in nature. An old family, an ancient curse, ghosts, a strange and charming young Alchemist by the name of Strahd von Zarovich.

I10 Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill

by Tracy and Laura Hickman*. Cover art by Clyde Caldwell, interior art by Jeff Easley. (1986). Color covers, black-white interior art. Cartography by Dave Sutherland. 48 Pages.

I should point out here that this adventure, while having the Hickmans in the by line, was really just an outline and some notes. Tracy Hickman had left TSR in 1985. The adventure was given over to David Cook, Jeff Grubb, Harold Johnson, and Douglas Niles. Now personally, I can see the sections that were created by Grubb and Niles. I had become very familiar with their works by this point. I honestly believe that if they had started from scratch, this would have been a different sort of adventure. 

Not that I am complaining. I rather enjoy this adventure, significant warts and all. It is more Gothic than Ravenloft I6 was, complete with an epic battle on lightning-streaked moors. 

This adventure introduces many elements that will become central to the Ravenloft campaign setting. The Weathermays, the lich Azalin, the d’Honaires, the Timothys, will all appear again in the Realms of Terror boxed set. 

One thing that won't make that much of a splash though is the big surprise of this adventure; the Alchemist Strahd. Is he the distilled goodness of the Vampire Strahd? Is the Vampire the distilled evil of the Alchemist? Or is there something else?  Like the first adventure, this one has a random plot device. Instead of fortune-telling cards, we get a mesmerist's session. The nature of the two Strahds can be found here.

Or not.

Again, the Alchemist doesn't make a significant impact in the later AD&D 2nd Edition. The Ravenloft campaign setting is all but forgotten in future treatments.  This is not a bad thing, really; the whole Alchemist deal felt like a bit of a retcon in some respects.  Though I can imagine running this adventure now for, say, the 5e players who know who Strahd is would be a lot of fun.

At 48 pages, with more isometric maps, it is larger than the original Ravenloft adventure. There is also a lot more going on. Though fans of "hack n slash" style D&D are going to be disappointed. Oh there are monsters here and they are deadly as hell, but that is not what the adventure is about. Those are just obstacles to the real adventure.

Dreams of Barovia

There is a small section of this adventure titled "The Dreams of Barovia" which is rather fun. The idea is that you play I6: Ravenloft and I10: Ravenloft II concurrently. The character move back and forth between one reality to the other. Playing the same characters but at different times and places. For example, the characters fall asleep in Barovia (I6) and wake up in Mordentshire (I10) wearing different clothing. 

I ran it this way back in college. My old High School DM, Bob Grenda and I ran it together for his normal group. We took turns DMing, with me taking I10 while he ran I6. We did it in a marathon session from a Thursday night to Sunday. It was fun but I forgot to tell my roommates and girlfriend at the time I was doing this and they had no idea where I was. This was the early 90s, so before everyone had cell phones. I found my notes, it was 10/26/1991. 

It worked well, but it was really deadly. HP loss and wounds carried over from reality to reality, which really upped the fear.  I'd love to try it again sometime, but I'd make some tweaks.

If you didn't like Ravenloft I then this one will feel like more of the same. But I enjoyed it and there is still a lot of untapped potential in this adventure for me. 

Rereading it now, so many years later there is a lot I would like to do with it still. A lot I would change, but all in all it was a great time.