{"id":1455,"date":"2021-07-05T23:12:38","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T04:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rcveeder.net\/blog\/?p=1455"},"modified":"2024-02-10T08:39:51","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T14:39:51","slug":"k84-a-diachronic-survey-of-ravenlofts-catacombs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rcveeder.net\/blog\/2021\/07\/05\/k84-a-diachronic-survey-of-ravenlofts-catacombs\/","title":{"rendered":"K84: A Diachronic Survey of Ravenloft\u2019s Catacombs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this post we will look at the crypts in Castle Ravenloft and see how they changed from edition to edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a different post<\/a> about locations in Barovia outside the castle. Here’s a third post<\/a> about the castle itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unnecessary Abstract Introduction<\/strong> (JUST SKIP THIS SECTION PLEASE)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps you have heard somewhere the idea that all stories\u2014sitcoms, epic poems, video games, This American Life<\/em> vignettes\u2014are fundamentally retellings of older stories. Perhaps you have even heard the idea itself multiple times. In some contexts, the proposition refers to deep underlying structures to which storytellers inevitably return. This is a rich subject for analysis\u2014but the big money is in abandoning all but the merest pretense of originality and casting the same characters in the same conflicts in the same settings that the audience remembers from 30 or 10 years ago. And this might be a good subject for analysis too. I hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This practice of story-rehashing is especially salient in the stories of Dungeons & Dragons, <\/em>many of which are embodied in physical locations with detailed maps. The most successful D&D settings and stories are reprinted decade after decade, edition after edition, so that new players can enjoy the same adventures so beloved by their forebears, and old players can whine about the things that got changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe the paradigm example of this is Castle Ravenloft, depicted in the modules I6 Ravenloft<\/em> (1983), RM4 House of Strahd<\/em> (1993), Expedition to Castle Ravenloft<\/em> (2006), and Curse of Strahd<\/em> (2016). All four of these books tell basically the same story: “Go to this spooky castle and kill this evil vampire.” The vampire is always menacing the same young women; the aged fortune-teller always helps you find the same artifacts that will help you slay him. And in all four books, the floor plan of Castle Ravenloft is presented in basically the same form. This is fascinating, but not surprising: Nerds, who are humans, naturally hate change. Also, the original dungeon is very good. Why would you change it? Why indeed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

(The original Ravenloft<\/em> was rereleased\/updated for 2nd Edition in 1999, and Curse of Strahd<\/em> got a \u201cRevamped\u201d release in 2020. I am excluding these versions from my analysis for the time being, mostly because I don\u2019t think any differences therein are relevant to the subject.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am as fascinated by the changes made to Castle Ravenloft over the years as I am by the aspects that remain unchanged. I would like to quantify them, and perhaps account for them. The most quantifiable element of Castle Ravenloft for these purposes is Location K84<\/strong>, the catacombs beneath the castle, which contain forty crypts, which in turn contain numerous monsters and traps and characters and jokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just to be clear: I’m not setting out to prove that one book is the best, or that one edition of D&D is the best, or that one design ethos is better than another. It is not my position that old things are bad, or that new things are bad. Even this practice of tweaking and republishing the same story\/adventure\/castle over and over again isn’t inherently good or bad! I just find it interesting. I just want to talk about it, at length, a lot, with many many words.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhat More Concrete Introduction<\/strong> (SKIP THIS TOO PROBABLY)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most readers are probably familiar with the context of these forty crypts, but some explanation may be helpful to someone:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A party of Dungeons & Dragons<\/em> heroes usually enters Castle Ravenloft searching for its master, the villainous vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich, with the aim of destroying him. (In some cases, they may instead be searching for an artifact that will help them defeat Strahd, or for an innocent girl that the vampire has abducted.) The catacombs are two floors down from the entry level, and the heroes will have to explore much of the rest of the castle before they come here. The main stairway would lead directly from the chapel to the catacombs, but Strahd has walled off that portion of the stairs so that none may disturb his tormented slumber\u2014a useful pacing device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Strahd is defeated in battle somewhere else in the castle, he transforms into mist and retreats  (possibly through a chink in the wall sealing that stairway!) to his coffin at the south end of the catacombs. The characters will have to find him there before he regenerates in order to end his villainy with a stake through the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The catacombs form a sort of labyrinth of distractions that the players must navigate in order to find Strahd\u2019s tomb. The forty crypts are arranged in a manner that looks symmetrical and comprehensible from a Dungeon Master\u2019s-eye view, but isn\u2019t nearly so simple for the heroes trudging through guano past dozens of stone doors. Most of the doors are engraved with epitaphs of their occupants. In most cases, the crypts\u2019 epitaphs and contents are entirely gratuitous: They have nothing to do with the heroes\u2019 quests; they contain no clues as to Strahd\u2019s location; they are more likely to contain traps than treasure.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
The catacombs as depicted in Curse of Strahd, which credits its castle maps to David C. Sutherland III, Francois Beauregard, and Ben Wootten. The numbered squares are the crypts, 10 feet on each side. Notice how, except for the ones facing the central passage, their doors open in basically random directions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I\u2019m not sure that Tracy and Laura Hickman intended for players to bother looking at all of these crypts.<\/strong> I think it\u2019s critical to keep in mind that a Dungeon Master\u2019s experience of reading all these inscriptions one after another is wildly different from the players\u2019 experiences of trudging through a bunch of nonlinear tunnels and deciding which tombs to disturb. The Hickmans had to be sensitive to this, and they leveraged this sensitivity along with a certain intention for the players\u2019 experience when they designed these crypts (and made so many of the inscriptions such goofy puns). Each new Ravenloft author, when they came to Location K84, had to interpret that original intention and apply their own intentions to it\u2014and I in turn can only interpret what I believe all those intentions to be. So let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription reads: \u201cSpectre Ab-Centeer. She now walks that path of pain and torment. A gift to all who look upon her still.\u201d In all versions of the castle, the door of this \u201ccrypt\u201d in fact leads to a stone tunnel, which may be the heroes\u2019 means of entry to or exit from the catacombs. \u201cAb-Centeer\u201d would appear to be our first pun, but I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s specifically a pun on \u201cabsentee\u201d or it\u2019s trying to say \u201cSpecter absent here.\u201d (Most of these puns are subject to multiple interpretations, so I\u2019ll give my own readings here in the hope that you\u2019ll let me know<\/a> if you have better ones.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The original is very inconsistent about whether there are periods at the ends of inscriptions. I’m trying to reproduce each book’s formatting as precisely as I can, so a lot of it is going to look weird.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House of Strahd:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition to Castle Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSteliana Albusel; She now walks a path of pain and torment; A gift to all who look upon her still\u201d We shall see that the authors of Expedition to Castle Ravenloft<\/em> just hated puns. This name looks sort of like it could be an anagram though\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(I believe the semicolons in Expedition<\/em>‘s inscriptions stand in for line breaks.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse of Strahd: <\/em><\/strong>\u201cHerein lie the ones who walk the path of pain and torment\u201d I think that, in general, Curse of Strahd<\/em> waves away the revisions made by Expedition to Castle Ravenloft<\/em> in favor of lending a new sort of slickness to the original Ravenloft<\/em>. I understand that Expedition<\/em> was not a well-regarded book, so it makes sense to minimize its influence (although it certainly hasn\u2019t been ignored completely). This line uses the original language to refer obliquely to the adventurers in a cool way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cArtista DeSlop – Court Ceiling Painter\u201d This book\u2019s explanation of location K84 says that \u201cEach crypt houses the remains of the person (or persons) listed on the crypt’s stone door with an epitaph.\u201d Since no other information is given about this crypt specifically, apparently Artista DeSlop is a real person. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a real pun here beyond the fact that \u201cSlop\u201d is an ironic name for a professional artist. I mean, the name “Artista” is a pun too. I did notice that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cAurica Dancescu; Court Ceiling Painter; Beloved of Dragomir\u201d The names in Expedition<\/em> aren’t just rewritten to remove the puns: The authors have converted most of them into legitimate (or legitimate-looking) Romanian names, usually with the same initials as the original. There\u2019s a little bit of backstory given about how Aurica was an illegitimate daughter of the Zarovich line. (All the backstory blurbs in Expedition<\/em> require skill checks for characters to recall them.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cArtista DeSlop – Court Ceiling Painter\u201d Ten years later, the puns are back! Curse<\/em> also adds unique physical details to crypts whenever it can, so no skill checks are required to see some additional characterization for each dead person. This chamber\u2019s ceiling is painted with \u201cimps holding bouquets,\u201d and Artista\u2019s skeleton is clutching a box of ancient painting supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cThe Lady Isolde Yunk (Isolde the Incredible). Purveyor of Antiques and Imports.\u201d My interpretation of the pun is \u201cIs old junk\u201d or \u201cIt\u2019s old junk\u201d (Victor Gijsbers suggests “I sold junk” which makes a lot more sense) but, as of 1983, there\u2019s no junk to be found in this crypt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cLady Iolanda Yonescu; Merchant Queen Extraordinaire; Purveyor of Hope\u201d This near-anagram of the original name is very impressive. Iolanda\u2019s backstory paints her as a rags-to-riches trade mogul. Her (inanimate) skeleton clutches an antique<\/em> silver ankh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cThe Lady Isolde Yunk (Isolde the Incredible): Purveyor of antiques and imports\u201d This book finally makes good on Isolde\u2019s name and fills her crypt with tons and tons of old junk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 4<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cPrince Aerial Du Plumette (Aerial the Heavy)\u201d I don\u2019t think there\u2019s more than one way of interpreting the joke between \u201caerial\u201d and \u201cplummet.\u201d The prince\u2019s violent ghost is inside the crypt, and the authors explain that \u201cAriel [sic] was a terrible man, who sacrificed more than himself in his quest for wings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cPrince Aerial Du Plumette.\u201d The explanation of the prince\u2019s ghost is basically the same, and the misspelling \u201cAriel\u201d is preserved, but this edition adds a ring of feather falling<\/em> to be looted from the right hand of the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cPrince Aurel Plesu; His quest for the sky never ceased\u201d Prince Aurel was an insane hunter who wanted to catch a flying horse. He accidentally fell in a chasm, and his faithful dog followed him. Ghosts of both the prince and his dog attack the players, as well as Aurel\u2019s physical remains in the form of a \u201cskin kite\u201d that flaps around. The ring of feather fall<\/em> is now hidden in a secret compartment along with a potion of fly.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cPrince Ariel Du Plumette (Ariel the Heavy)\u201d The misspelled name is now canon. Again he is described as \u201ca terrible man.\u201d Instead of hiding a ring of feather fall,<\/em> Ariel has unreliable artificial wings that led to his death. His ghost attacks alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 5<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cArtank Swilovich: Here interred and with great mourning courtesy of the Barovian Wine Distillers Brotherhood.\u201d I think the pun is just the word \u201cswill\u201d (and \u201ctank?\u201d) No other details are given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cArtank Swilovich: Here interred and with great mourning, courtesy of the Barovian Wine Distillers Brotherhood.\u201d The comma is the only thing added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cDuchess Dorota Dobre; Loved Forever; By Her Grieving Family\u201d Dorota, \u201ca minor noble of little importance,\u201d was disinterred here to set up a trap that protects Crypt 6, quod vide. Artank’s Romanian replacement is in Crypt 9 for some reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cArtank Swilovich: Friend and member of the Barovian Wine Distillers Guild\u201d The word \u201cBrotherhood\u201d is not politically correct. This crypt is full of empty wine bottles covering the entire floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 6<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> The book explains that the engraving here has \u201cbeen clawed off as if by some mad tormented beast. The stone once read, \u2018Marya Markovia: Great was her beauty, undone by a jealous hand.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The (erased) inscription is unchanged, but now Marya occupies the crypt as a vampire. We shall see that House of Strahd<\/em> added several vampiresses to these crypts. The book appeared a year after the film Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula<\/em>, which brought sexy vampire ladies to the forefront of the public consciousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSaint Markovia; Great Was Her Might; Undone By a Jealous Hand\u201d This engraving is almost<\/em> unreadable. Markovia is no longer a vampire bride (and the focus on sexy vampire brides is much diminished in this edition), but she has become a much more complex character: A holy warrior who attempted to vanquish the vampire Strahd and somehow got her own crypt in his castle. (I’m not sure this makes sense, and I don’t think a “jealous hand” really enters the equation.) On her bier is the artifact Saint Markovia\u2019s Thighbone<\/em>, which can be wielded as a holy mace against vampires\u2014but adventurers who try to access this crypt activate a poison dart trap and an ambush by various monsters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSaint Markovia: Dead for all time\u201d The poison dart trap remains, but the monster ambush has been excised. The crypt still contains only Markovia\u2019s magic femur. When it\u2019s picked up, Markovia\u2019s ghost appears and tells you to use her as a weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 7<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cEndorovich (Endorovich the Terrible): What the blood of an thousand slaves did not do, the spurn of a woman accomplished.\u201d (I\u2019m not sure if \u201can thousand\u201d is a typo or some sort of archaism? Invented archaism?) This stone door has been thrown to the floor, and the spectre of Endorovich lurks inside. Endorovich loved Marya Markovia and tried to poison her lover, but poisoned her instead. The unnamed lover was hanged for her murder. Endorovich was wracked with guilt and driven to murderous madness. I assume we are meant to think Endorovich or his spectre is the one who clawed at Marya\u2019s tomb so tormentedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is changed to read \u201ca thousand.\u201d Endorovich\u2019s story is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cEndorovich the Terrible; What the Blood of Slaves Could Not; A Woman\u2019s Scorn Achieved\u201d This is the first occupant whose name hasn\u2019t been changed! Endorovich\u2019s backstory has been edited only slightly, to specify that the victims of Endorovich\u2019s murderous madness were women. And Endorovich himself is present as a ghost, who attacks intruders with some wraiths and ghasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cEndorovich (Endorovich the Terrible): What the blood of a hundred wars did not do, the spurn of a woman accomplished.\u201d Besides replacing a thousand slaves with a hundred wars, in this version his backstory lacks the word \u201cwomen\u201d that Expedition<\/em> added, with the overall effect of Endorovich appearing as an oddly sanitized insane undead murderer. His spirit possesses the two gargoyles (serially, not simultaneously) that guard his remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 8<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cDuchess Dorfniya Dilisnya\u201d is given no further explanation, but the Dilisnya clan would go on to become a major element in the greater Ravenloft Campaign Setting. I don’t see any pun here myself, but “Dorfniya” is an awfully strange name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged. The body of the duchess is now wrapped in a magical robe of vermin.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cMarius; A Life Well-Lived; Long Suffering, He Found Peace\u201d Marius was an expert in geography. Ghouls ate his remains and are waiting here to attack intruders. By the time Expedition<\/em> was released, the Dilisnyas were well-established players in the Ravenloft Campaign Setting. Why was the Duchess removed? Was there some sort of continuity issue? Were the authors of Expedition <\/em>trying to distance this book from the campaign setting? Were they afraid the name “Dorfniya Dilisnya” might be a pun?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cDuchess Dorfniya Dilisnya\u201d returns, interred with a magically preserved quilt that depicts a royal feast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 9<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cPidlwik (Fool of Dorfniya)\u201d There are four earthen jars full of electrum pieces in this crypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription and the crypt\u2019s contents are unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cAdrian Selymes; King of Vintners; Interred with Great Mourning\u201d This appears to be Expedition<\/em>‘s version of Artank Swilovich from Crypt 5, transplanted here perhaps to remove the indirect reference to the Dilisnyas. Adrian produced \u201cnearly supernatural wines\u201d in his secret winery, and his skeleton holds a bottle of magical wine (\u201caged 5 years, worth 12,000 gp\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cPidlwick \u2014 Fool of Dorfniya\u201d They added a C to his name. Such a minor respelling is unusual for Curse of Strahd<\/em>. Pidlwick\u2019s ghost can be found elsewhere in the castle, as can \u201cPidlwick II,\u201d his clockwork successor. The earthen jars are gone, but a deck of illusions<\/em> can be found if this crypt is visited after the adventurers meet Pidlwick\u2019s ghost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 10<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSir Leanne Triksky (Sir Lee the Crusher). What sword did not, time’s passage did.\u201d I feel like there\u2019s a pun here but I\u2019m not sure what it is. \u201cSurly and tricksy?\u201d This skeleton has three vague \u201cpieces of jewelry\u201d draped over it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription and the crypt\u2019s contents are unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cLet these remind those who would contest the Master\u2019s will.\u201d Inside are four corpses of adventurers Strahd tortured to death: The silly name is replaced with a scene of utmost grimness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSir Leonid Krushkin (Sir Lee the Crusher): Bigger than life, he loved his jewelry\u201d We change the name to a pun (or a different pun, if “Triksky” means anything), but now his nickname<\/em> is a pun on his real<\/em> name, and, this is all very strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Lee left behind a huge skeleton. His bloodstained maul (nonmagical but awesome) leans against his oversized slab. His three pieces of jewelry are now explained to be necklaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 11<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cTasha Petrovna, Healer of Kings. Light unto the West. Servant. Companion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged. Tasha\u2019s coffin now has a secret compartment containing a spell scroll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cTasha Petrovna; Light Unto the West; Friend and Companion\u201d No longer a servant, but a friend. The background information adds \u201cHealer of Kings\u201d to Tasha\u2019s epithets, but the spell scroll is gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cTasha Petrovna \u2014 Healer of Kings, Light unto the West, Servant, Companion.\u201d Back to being a servant! The ceiling is painted with a sun mural, which has some effect on creatures that would take damage from sunlight. Tasha\u2019s holy symbol is around her neck, and it\u2019s the focus of a little side quest that takes adventurers far away from the castle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 12<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cKing Toisky\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cKing Tomescu; He Traveled Far\u201d The background information indicates that King Tomescu is not a real person. Inside is a \u201cPortal to Anywhere\u201d that by itself would be too complicated to get into here, BUT ALSO, there\u2019s a hidden chamber where an erinyes is hanging out. AND, the erinyes has a mirror with a frame made of fingerbones. FURTHERMORE, one of the fingerbones is a relic of Saint Bogdan, which has magic powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cKing Troisky \u2014 The Three-Faced King\u201d A non-pun is converted into a pun! The Portal to Anywhere is no longer here. Instead of bones, a three-faced helm sits on the slab in this crypt. Removing the helm triggers a poison gas trap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 13<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cKing Intree Katsky (Katsky the Bright. King, Ruler, and Inventor).\u201d Alexander Colton suggests that the name could be read “intricate-sky,” and “intricate” is a word we associate with inventors, so, okay. 500 platinum pieces are in \u201ca hole under the skeleton\u201d which is such a weird description.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription and the crypt\u2019s contents are unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cKing Ignatie Kazaku; Kazaku the Bright; King, Leader, and Inventor\u201d The door is locked and trapped. Inside the chamber there is only a rusty clockwork device: A music box. The background information is intriguing: Kazaku had a secret workshop where he came up with lots of apparently nonmagical gadgets, and people thought he had a demonic advisor. It really feels like there\u2019s something else going on here\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cKing Katsky (Katsky the Bright): Ruler, inventor, and self-proclaimed time traveler\u201d This crypt is an exciting synthesis of previous versions. The implications of Expedition <\/em>are teased all the way out out, and Katsky is made out to be a time traveler whose \u201cinventions\u201d come from the future. His musket and powder horn lie near his skeleton, and a sort of hang glider is hanging from the ceiling. Certain details in Curse <\/em>seem like they wanted to exert a sort of cooling influence over the wilder stuff from the TSR days, but a gun that comes from the future is a brand-new, totally out-of-left-field inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 14<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cStahbal Indi-Bhak: Advisor to Endorvich [sic] from eastern lands. A truer friend no ruler ever had. Here lies his family in honor.\u201d The pun is \u201cStab All In The Back,\u201d which completely went over my head but luckily @slimeineden explained it to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This vault is bigger on the inside, and contains fifteen stone coffins containing fifteen wights. A trap protecting Strahd\u2019s tomb teleport-exchanges intruders with the wights, so the heroes end up in the coffins and the wights get teleported into the heroes’ armor so they can stab all their co-adventurers in the back.<\/em> I get it now! But this implies that the pun is Strahd’s, and Stahbal is not a real guy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The typo in the inscription is corrected. Now there are nine coffins and nine wights instead of fifteen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cShuhul Ishai-Bal; Advisor to Endorvich [sic]; Friend from the East; Here Lies His Family in Honor\u201d As is typical of Expedition,<\/em> they removed the pun while preserving the guy’s initials, but because he’s a “Friend from the East” they didn’t Romanianify the name. I\u2019m not sure how they reproduced the \u201cEndorvich\u201d typo. This time there are fifteen coffins, but only thirteen contain wights. (The others contain a wraith and a shadow.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cStahbal Indi-Bhak: A truer friend no ruler ever had. Here lies his family in honor.\u201d By removing the reference to Endorovich they kind of make it look like Stahbal was instead a friend of Strahd\u2019s. This door opens on a shaft that plunges into darkness\u2014at the bottom are the fifteen stones coffins and their fifteen wights, and the whole setup works basically like it did in the original, except that the bones of \u201cservants who swore to avenge Stahbal Indi-Bhak\u2019s family\u201d litter the floor and can animate into up to a hundred skeletons. By referring to his family in the DM-facing text, Curse<\/em> establishes that in this universe, \u201dStahbal Indi-Bhak\u201d is a real person, not an invented pun name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 15<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cKHAZAN: His word was power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cClaudiu; None Shall Ever Forget; His Courage and Sacrifice\u201d The background information explains that despite his epitaph, nobody can remember who this particular Claudiu might be. This is the type of joke that is acceptable in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cKhazan: His word was power\u201d Khazan was a lich who failed to become a demilich; he gets some more backstory elsewhere in the book. His skull is here, set with precious gems. A creature who utters the name \u201cKhazan\u201d boldly inside the crypt will summon a staff of power.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 16<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cElsa Fallona\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged, but like Marya Markovia, Elsa is now a vampiress who sleeps in this crypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cElica Florea; Loyal Servant and Gardner\u201d The name \u201cFlorea\u201d for a gardener seems like the kind of pun this book supposedly doesn\u2019t condone. And there\u2019s a wand of command plants<\/em> here too! Elica is not here; instead there are two vampire spawn who serve Sasha Ivliskova (see Crypt 20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cElsa Fallona von Twitterberg (Beloved Actor): She had many followers\u201d I posit that, by exceeding the goofiness of the original adventure, by stretching its skeletal hand out of the D&D world and into the realm of pop culture, this joke is responsible for much of the hate that Curse<\/em> gets from grognards. All the other puns would be far less objectionable if this one weren’t so egregious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsa is no longer a vampire: She is an inanimate skeleton, surrounded by the bones and handsome portraits of her nine consorts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 17<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSir Sedrik Spinwitovich (Admiral Spinwitovich). Confused though he was, he built the greatest naval force ever assembled in a land locked country.\u201d Probably the dumbest joke in the catacombs. If any designer had any desire to purge Ravenloft of cartoonish goofiness to any degree, this is definitely where they\u2019d start. Right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cCount Sergiu Solomovici: Never Afraid To Attempt; What Others Deemed Impossible\u201d Count Solomovici was also called \u201cAdmiral\u201d Solomovici, and he supposedly built a  ship that sank in Tser Pool not far from the castle. This may in fact be one of the more charitable joke-deletions in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSir Sedrik Spinwitovich (Admiral Spinwitovich). Confused though he was, he built the greatest naval force ever assembled in a land locked country\u201d This room contains a funeral barge full of fake gold coins. This detail is amazing: \u201cThe funeral barge, which was assembled inside the crypt, is too big to fit through the door.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 18<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cIreena Kolyana: Wife\u201d This crypt is empty, and its stone door is carefully placed to one side. Ireena is the damsel Strahd intends to vampirize and marry, believing her to be the reincarnation of the woman he was in love with when he was alive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The whole situation is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> Everything is basically the same, except that Strahd has placed a golden comb on Ireena\u2019s bier \u201cwith several strands of dark hair lovingly and neatly woven through it.\u201d (The color of Ireena\u2019s hair could be the subject of an analysis similar to this but much, much shorter.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> The comb is gone, so we’re back to the Ravenloft<\/em> version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 19<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cArtimus (Builder of the Keep). Thou standeth amidst the monument to his life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition: <\/em><\/strong>\u201cDhavit The Builder; Thou Standeth Amidst A Monument To His Life\u201d Background information explains that Dhavit was a great architect. There is a secret switch in this crypt that moves the bier, revealing a stairway\u2014a secret exit from the castle!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cArtimus (Builder of the Keep). Thou standest amidst the monument to his life.\u201d It tickles me that they corrected the grammar. The secret switch and the secret passage have been removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 20<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSasha Ivliskova: Wife.\u201d Sasha, one of Strahd\u2019s brides, resides here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription and the crypt\u2019s contents are unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> This inscription is unchanged! Sasha has a tragic and fairly detailed backstory, the upshot of which is that she is compelled by Strahd to kill intruders. To this end she has some vampire spawn lurking in a nearby crypt, and she somehow summons a celestial dire lion to attack whoever opens her own tomb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSasha Ivliskova \u2014 Wife\u201d It\u2019s very striking how Curse<\/em> replaces Expedition<\/em>\u2019s lengthy backstory and complicated tactical encounter with just a few evocative sentences. The read-aloud text has Sasha covered in \u201cwebs as thick and pale as linen.\u201d When her crypt is opened, she calls out: \u201cMy love, have you come to set me free?\u201d When she realizes the adventurers aren\u2019t her beloved Strahd, the abandoned wife tears the webs off her body and attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 21<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cPatrina Velikovna: Bride.\u201d Patrina is inside, in the form of a banshee. Hardly anyone interred in the 1983 edition gets any backstory; Patrina\u2019s is astonishingly convoluted and worth reproducing in its entirety: \u201cPatrina was a gypsy elf maiden who, having learned in early life a great deal of the black arts, was nearly a match for Strahd’s powers. She felt a great bond with Strahd and desired to become one of his wives. Strahd, ever willing, agreed, but before the final draining of spirit from her soul could take place, her own people stoned her to death in mercy. Strahd demanded, and got, the body. She then became the banshee spirit found here.\u201d There\u2019s a bunch of money lying around here: 500 platinum pieces, 3,300 gold pieces, 5,300 electrum pieces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is the same, and the book gives the same backstory. Patrina is still a banshee, and her loot is the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is the same, but the backstory has been dramatically compressed: \u201cPatrina was a villager in Barovia who was stoned to death for practicing witchcraft.\u201d It\u2019s very strange that Expedition to Castle Ravenloft<\/em>, delighting in tidbits of lore for every skeleton in sight, chooses to reduce Patrina to almost nothing. She isn\u2019t even present as a banshee anymore\u2014and all the coins are gone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cPatrina Velikovna – Bride\u201d Patrina is back to being a banshee here, and her backstory has been edited a bit. She\u2019s now a dusk elf, a subrace introduced for a Strahd-adjacent adventure in 4th Edition (and unused in 5th edition until Curse<\/em>). Other than that, the story given here is basically the same, BUT ALSO, there\u2019s a subquest where her ghost has been contacting her brother Kasimir, compelling him to come to Castle Ravenloft and bring her back to life. The outcome of this quest is presented very ambiguously, and overall Patrina is a really, really interesting character.<\/em> But, to get back to the point: Now the coins littering her crypt are 250 in platinum, 1,100 in gold, 2,300 in electrum, 5,200 in silver, and 8,000 in copper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 22<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSir Erik Vonderbucks\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSir Ulrich Bucaravich\u201d The background information tells us Ulrich was a knight of the raven who was slain by werewolves. I find the edited name delightful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSir Erick Vonderbucks\u201d returns, now as a man whose dying wish was to have his corpse dipped in molten gold. So here we have corpse covered in gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 23<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> The crypt is empty, its stone door unmarked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> Unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> The crypt is unmarked, but there is a skeleton in here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> Here is one of Curse of Strahd<\/em>\u2019s many little creepy tricks. The crypt has the name of one of the adventurers on its door, and inside is a rotting corpse resembling that adventurer. But when it\u2019s touched, the illusion melts away, and the inscription disappears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 24<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cIvan DeRose, Champion of Winter Dog Racing. The race may go to the swift, but vengeance is for the loser’s relatives.\u201d I\u2019m just now realizing this must be a pun on \u201cI won the race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cIancu Dudnic; Dog Sled Champion; Unjustly Slain\u201d There\u2019s some background for Iancu that expands on the story implied by Ivan DeRose\u2019s epitaph: \u201cthe spouse of one of the competitors he beaten [sic] too many times\u201d apparently killed him with his own sled. One of the walls of this crypt is hollow\u2014but the implications of this are outside the scope of this blog post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cIvan Ivliskovich, Champion of Winter Dog Racing: The race may go to the swift, but vengeance is for the loser\u2019s relatives\u201d I\u2019m not sure why \u201cDeRose\u201d was changed while \u201cDeSlop\u201d and \u201cDu Plumette\u201d were preserved, but \u201cIvliskovich\u201d creates a fun connection with Sasha Ivliskova. The walls are painted to look like a snowy forest, and there are bits of fur on the skeleton. The hollow wall isn\u2019t hollow anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 25<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cStephan Gregorovich, First Counselor to Baron von Zarovich\u201d I don\u2019t think \u201cBaron von Zarovich\u201d can be Strahd (a count), but then I don\u2019t know who it would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> Another person whose name didn\u2019t change! The background information explains that Gregorovich was indeed an advisor to Strahd \u201cduring the vampire lord\u2019s wars of conquest.\u201d Wait a minute: Was he a vampire lord during his wars of conquest? I guess he was a baron before he was a count\u2026 but unpacking this requires getting more involved with the very malleable in-universe timeline than I care to at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cStefan Gregorovich, First Counselor to King Barov von Zarovich\u201d A palpable retcon! King Barov is of course Strahd\u2019s father (interred in the royal crypt to the east of the catacombs), so all strangeness is resolved. Stefan\u2019s magic skull will answer questions, but Stefan is not actually that smart and conveys only false information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 26<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cIntree Sik-Valoo: He spurned wealth for the knowledge he could take to heaven.\u201d The name reads like a really tortured pun, but I can’t get anything out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UPDATE, FEBRUARY 2024: I think it’s “Intrinsic Value.” Yeesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cKhuden Doranal; Ascetic Monk of the Ecaterines\u201d Khuden\u2019s asceticism was so great that his body was borne to the Seven Heavens afer his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cIntree Sik-Valoo: He spurned wealth for the knowledge he could take to heaven\u201d Intree\u2019s skull is as magical as Stefan\u2019s, but Intree actually knows what he\u2019s talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 27<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> No door is mentioned. There are three huge spiders in this crypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> Now this tomb contains a single monster, \u201can undead hybrid of hell hound and huge spider.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> The door is explicitly unmarked, and there\u2019s a nameless skeleton in here. No spiders or spider-like creatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> There is no door, and we\u2019re back to having three big spiders in here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 28<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cArdent Pallette, Chef Delux\u201d The pun on \u201cardent palate\u201d is not the worst we\u2019ve seen in these halls. The text notes that the body, in chef\u2019s garb, \u201crots naturally,\u201d which is such a weird thing to say. The chef\u2019s hat contains three \u201cpieces of jewelry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription and the contents of the crypt are unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cArdan Kharkov; Chef to the Count\u201d Background information reveals that Ardan made the wedding cake for Sergei and Tatyana. (I think this is supposed to be the cake in location K36.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cBascal Ofenheiss – Chef Deluxe\u201d This skeleton clutches a bell, which if rung, causes magic fire to sweep through the crypt. The jewelry in the hat is gone, but underneath the hat is a jewel-encrusted electrum spork. Which is probably weirder than the musket in crypt 13. The new name is still a pun:<\/em> \u201cOfen\u201d and \u201chei\u00df\u201d are German for \u201coven\u201d and \u201chot.\u201d The significance of \u201cBascal\u201d (which Google knows only as an Italian brand of aluminum cups), if any, eludes me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 29<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cIvan Ivanovich, Beloved of Anna Petrovna.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cIvan Pietroviska; Beloved of Anna Philippia.\u201d The background information: \u201cThe name of Ivan Pietroviska is unknown to history, but Anna Philippia is well known as a bard who stayed for a time at the court of Barov and Ravenovia.\u201d I\u2019m a bit surprised that the original names Ivanovich and Petrovna didn\u2019t make the cut, but maybe they weren\u2019t specifically Romanian enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cBaron Eisglaze Dr\u00fcf\u201d replaces Ivan completely. The crypt is incredibly cold, because it\u2019s full of brown mold. Underneath the mold are Dr\u00fcf\u2019s bones and a luck blade<\/em> with one wish remaining\u2014a completely bizarre inclusion! But it\u2019s justified (if only historically) by a similar sword to be found in the original version of Crypt 37. \u201cEisglaze\u201d is another pun; it basically means \u201cice ice\u201d and establishes a connection with Chef Ofenheiss next door. I\u2019m not sure if the name \u201cDr\u00fcf\u201d means anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 30<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cPrefect Ciril Romulich (Beloved of King Barov and Queen Raven) High Priest of the Most Holy Order.\u201d Ciril\u2019s body also \u201crots naturally\u201d and he has a small chest full of magic items useful to adventurers (arrows, some potions) under his skull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription and the contents of the crypt are unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cPrefect Cyril Remylich; Beloved of Barov and Ravenovia; High Priest of the Order of the Raven\u201d (Strahd\u2019s mother \u201cRaven\u201d has become \u201cRavenovia\u201d in this edition.) Cyril\u2019s body has naturally rotted into a skeleton, but his vestments are magically intact. He still has the chest of magic items under his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cPrefect Ciril Romulich (Beloved of King Barov and Queen Ravenovia): High Priest of the Most Holy Order\u201d Again, Curse<\/em> synthesizes lore from previous editions while basically ignoring all the respellings of Expedition<\/em>. Stone ravens are perched on the walls. The various magic items have been replaced by a slightly magical (and very valuable) holy symbol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 31<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201c$$We knew him only by his wealth\u201d That is how it’s formatted, with two dollar signs and no space. It seems deeply weird to my eyes, but who know how it looked in 1983. There is a treasure chest in this crypt, but it\u2019s actually bait for a trapper<\/em> (a monster disguised as a normal floor).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged, but the trap is different: Opening the chest triggers a cloud of blinding gas. The chest is full of coins made of fool\u2019s gold!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cThorgen the Grasping; Gold Is His Only Legacy\u201d The skeleton in here is clutching a small chest. The chest is covered with contact poison and contains 1 gp. The background information says \u201cThorgen the Grasping is long forgotten. No check will reveal anything about who he was and what his role in history might have been.\u201d Which seems awfully pointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cWe knew him only by his wealth\u201d There is no chest here, but the walls are painted with mountains of gold coins. The trick floor conceals a spiked pit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 32<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSt. Finderway, Saint of Lost Travellers\u201d Inside the crypt are two alcoves with another inscription: \u201cPass not these portals ye foolish mortals!\u201d In fact, the alcoves are teleportation devices that allow access into and out of Strahd\u2019s tomb. It appears that Saint Finderway is not supposed to be a real person, and the inscriptions are just clues\/anticlues for the puzzle of reaching Strahd\u2019s coffin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged; the door has been changed to be easier to open than the others. The alcoves are now full of swirling mist to indicate their magical nature. Everything else is the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> This book\u2019s distaste for jokes reaches its zenith here. There is no epitaph on the crypt. There is no inscription above the alcoves. There is also no mist swirling inside the alcoves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> There is no epitaph on the door, and no mist in the alcoves, but the words \u201cPASS NOT THESE PORTALS YE FOOLISH MORTALS\u201d return so that players have some sort of hint that there\u2019s something going on here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 33<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> The door is blank; the crypt is unused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> Unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> Unchanged!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSir Klutz Tripalotsky: He fell on his own sword\u201d Why waste a whole crypt? Put a joke in there! The skeleton still has rusty armor and a sword plunged through his breastplate\u2014if the sword is pulled out, Sir Klutz\u2019s ghost appears and becomes a temporary sidekick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 34<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cKing Dostron\u201d I don’t get the sense of there being any pun here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cKing Dostron; Hellborn and Hellbound\u201d The slab of marble that should carry Dostron\u2019s body bears only a few ashes. King Dostron was an ancient and apparently not very nice ruler who claimed an infernal lineage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cKing Dostron the Hellborn\u201d retains the backstory he was accorded in Expedition<\/em>, and his crypt gets a bunch of fancy details. He has a gold-plated lead sarcophagus. There is also a stuffed owlbear in here. And an invisible imp who\u2019s just here to mess with people. This is one of the best examples of Curse of Strahd<\/em>\u2019s overall sensibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 35<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> The door is blank; the crypt is unused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> Unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> Unchanged again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSir Jarnwald the Trickster: The joke was on him\u201d This crypt is a pure trap: An illusory floor conceals a pit full of ghouls. Sir Jarnwald was a real guy, though, and his remains (what the ghouls didn\u2019t eat) can be found on the pit\u2019s floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 36<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> The door is clawed up so that no name is readable; the crypt is empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The door is unchanged, but now there\u2019s a (nameless) vampiress in here to be slain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> The epitaph is now \u201cchipped\u201d away, and it\u2019s empty again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse: <\/em><\/strong>The name on the door is back to being clawed away, but this time there\u2019s a nameless skeleton in here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 37<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cGralmore Nimblenobs\u201d The name looks like nonsense to me, but it could be a pun. The body inside has a bunch of magic scrolls and a +1 sword with one wish.<\/em> A sword that lets you cast wish<\/em> is a very strange thing to leave lying around, but here it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription and the crypt\u2019s contents are unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cJannes\u201d A super boring name to replace a super goofy one. Apparently Jannes was a powerful illusionist. His skeleton hides a wand of fireball.<\/em> The other magic items are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cGralmore Nimblenobs \u2014 Wizard Ordinaire\u201d That\u2019s fun. The wish<\/em> sword has been moved to Crypt 29. Gralmore\u2019s staff unlocks a secret chamber with a few spell scrolls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 38<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cAmerico Standardski (Inventor)\u201d It took me a long time to convince myself, but this can only be a reference to “American Standard,” the brand name most often seen on toilets. This crypt contains three hell hounds and no indication of what relation they bear to Americo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is changed completely: \u201cBandit, Brigand, and Pirate. My beloved pets.\u201d These are the three hell hounds, who still jump out and attack the heroes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> This epitaph has been chipped away. Inside are the skeletons of three large dogs. Doesn\u2019t this seem a little vindictive? I can\u2019t help but read this as the authors deciding that hell hounds didn\u2019t make sense in these catacombs. But I\u2019m also noticing that almost all the combat encounters in this version deal with named characters, not with anonymous monsters. So maybe the hell hounds weren\u2019t narratively complex enough?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cGeneral Kroval \u2018Mad Dog\u2019 Grislek (Master of the Hunt): A lead of hounds and men\u201d The three hell hounds are back, along with General Grislek\u2019s wraith! Grislek commands the hounds in Infernal! There are murals of battle and a broken spear in the crypt. Lots of extra details compared to the original.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 39<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cBeucephalus, The Wonder Horse. May the flowers grow ever greener where he trods.\u201d DID YOU KNOW: \u201cBucephalus\u201d was Alexander the Great\u2019s horse! This horse is a nightmare, though. (DID YOU KNOW: In D&D, a \u201cnightmare\u201d is a monstrous fiery horse!) He is Strahd\u2019s horse, and the text explains that he usually leaves the catacombs by flying up the shaft in the big spiral staircase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> Everything is the same here, except now Beucephalus is referred to as female.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> There is no epitaph here, and the crypt now contains a boring human skeleton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cBeucephalus, The Wonder Horse: May the flowers grow ever greener where he trods\u201d Beucephalus is back, and he\u2019s back to being a boy horse. If the adventurers slay Beucephalus, \u201cStrahd hunts them down mercilessly,\u201d assuming he isn\u2019t doing that already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crypt 40<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ravenloft:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cTatsaul Eris: Last of the line\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s all there is!\u201d is my favorite joke of them all, and the audience for the joke is really the Dungeon Master. The players won\u2019t necessarily reach this corner of the catacomb, and they won\u2019t necessarily reach it last. This is only the \u201clast of the line\u201d for the person reading the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House:<\/em><\/strong> The inscription is unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cSateris Taul; Last of Her Line\u201d The lore explains that Sateris was a powerful fortune-telling mystic long ago. I think this anagram doesn\u2019t follow this book\u2019s usual policy of making the goofy names into fairly authentic Romanian ones, and I appreciate that \u201cLast of Her Line\u201d preserves the basic spirit of the joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em> \u201cTatsaul Eris \u2014 Last of the Line\u201d When this crypt is entered, torches inside light up automatically. The skeleton, on inspection, turns out to be a bunch of fake plaster bones. Somehow this is now Strahd\u2019s ambiguous, creepy joke on the adventurers. I love this so much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this post we will look at the crypts in Castle Ravenloft and see how they changed from edition to edition. Here’s a different post about locations in Barovia outside the castle. Here’s a third post about the castle itself. Unnecessary Abstract Introduction (JUST SKIP THIS SECTION PLEASE) Perhaps you have heard somewhere the idea […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dd","category-prose"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rcveeder.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rcveeder.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rcveeder.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rcveeder.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rcveeder.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1455"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.rcveeder.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1653,"href":"https:\/\/www.rcveeder.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions\/1653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rcveeder.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rcveeder.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rcveeder.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}