Michael's RPG Shelf - Ravenloft: The Nightmare Lands (1995, TSR Inc)

Every campaign setting produced for AD&D 2nd Edition during the heyday of the 1990s had its share of obvious cash grabs. TSR gave you tons of options for your role-playing needs, everything from your standard high-fantasy worlds like Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms to space travel with Spelljammer, from the post-apocalyptic hardscrabble life of a gladiator in Dark Sun to the domain-holding, army-commanding world of Birthright.

And then there's Ravenloft, AD&D's gothic horror setting. Ohhh boy, do I love me some Ravenloft.

For an entire setting produced essentially as the result of a one-off module with the same name, it's got a lot to live up to, and the boxed set for the campaign gets most of it right. But unlike many of the other settings, where all the other boxes are filler (exciting though they may be), Ravenloft really needs two other key components to be considered "whole." One is the companion Forbidden Lore set. The other is The Nightmare Lands.

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The Nightmare Lands are yet another of the demiplane's awful potential destinations, but in this case there's no planning for a visit, no stocking up on provisions for the journey. To find the Nightmare Lands, one need only sleep. The horror, of course, is whether you're commoner or baron, 0-level NPC or 20th-level Paladin, you have to close your eyes some time. That's when the fun begins.

The reason The Nightmare Lands is such a necessary component to Ravenloft is simple: maintaining the challenge during an adventure, keeping that component of fear, is a balancing act easily undone by horrible luck. Random monsters that sap party resources at the start of an adventure can spell doom for even the best of players once the going gets tough. Nobody enjoys a game where they realize they could have won if it hadn't been for that pack of dire wolves two hours ago.

So instead, give your players Nightmares. Hey, it worked for Wes Craven and Robert Englund, right?

Nightmares are the Ravenloft equivalent of side-quests prevalent in every RPG you've ever played. They're not the main goal, they often seem like distractions, but their challenges are offset by the rewards doled out to those who overcome them. In Ravenloft, the nightmares aren't there to kill you, believe it or not. They're there to keep both players and characters on edge, to strip away the veneer of safety, healing, and spell memorization that rest, sleep, and trance bring. They can give valuable experience or hints, point out a cryptic solution to an equally cryptic puzzle, and challenge the hell out of the whole group, but they're not going to kill you.

Probably. Like, don't quote me on that. This is Ravenloft after all, a place where walking into the wrong tavern can result in the entire party being polymorphed into giant rats. Don't laugh, I've seen it happen.

The point is, The Nightmare Lands gives the Dungeon Master everything he or she needs to challenge tough parties (or boost up weaker ones) without needing to rely on the tired old shtick of, "Oh look, a goblin village! Roll for initiative!" Your players won't even realize what you're doing, and because it's not the same old, same old, you'll have their complete attention. They're perfect for those interludes where you didn't have anything prepared, when you want to slow a party that's progressing through the adventure too quickly, or assist a party that's fallen by the wayside.

This is written for 2nd Edition AD&D, so if you're using later rule sets, you'll have some conversion work ahead before you can unleash it on your players. But those with a desire to get the best out of what the Demiplane of Dread offers should have no qualms about picking up The Nightmare Lands.

If nothing else, you'll sleep better knowing your players won't.