The Night Fiend of Ravenloft is a one-shot adventure for a level 3 party by Kerry Jordan, set in the fog-choked lands of Barovia.

Disclaimer: We were provided with a free digital copy of this product.

Story

This is a pretty short adventure – a couple of hours should be enough, so it serves as a nice sidequest if your party is roaming around Ravenloft.

About a year before the actual story takes place, a paladin called Lady Rowan Wiggend was hunting an oni known as the Night Fiend, who was abducting and eating children in the surrounding lands. After a confrontation, she drove her sword through its heart – but it also caught her in its final Cone of Cold, each one killing the other.

However, this was not the end – this is Ravenloft after all, and grim darkness is always around the corner. Their spirits remained, continuing their battle in the darkness of each new moon – though the Night Fiend gradually grew stronger and stronger, and is now back on its antics (if you can call them that).

The players don’t know all that at first, of course – all they know is that they heard a scream, and now a child is missing. When they track down the perpetrator, they are soundly defeated – but find themselves saved by Lady Wiggend, their spirits drawn out of their (dead) bodies and able to continue the pursuit. Now able to hurt the evil spirit, they can finally defeat the Night Fiend for good – and they get their bodies back too in the end, don’t worry.

That’s pretty much it – a couple of encounters and a straightforward story with some nice background lore. Still, it’s well-crafted; though there are some points that require extra care. The first encounter with the oni is meant to kill all the players, so as a GM you should let them know beforehand about it – of course, it’s not fun to spoil the surprise, but it requires the players to both stay in place and not retreat, and not feel like it’s an unfair TPK. You don’t have to explicitly tell them “You’ll all die, but don’t worry, it won’t matter”, but maybe you can hint with something vague – as I said, this is Ravenloft, death is often a bit out of order there.

Art, Layout, & Extras

Layout is clean and functional, and everything is easy to read and follow. There are enough descriptions and boxed text to help you run the adventure, and there’s also a player handout included for the new mechanics of their spirit form. There are some plot hooks and possible conclusions, but overall this is a pretty straightforward adventure – you don’t need much to run it easily.

There’s also a minimalistic version of the document included, for easier printing in black and white and without art, as well as a rare bit of extra immersion – an mp3 sound file of a haunting nursery rhyme to enhance the game ambience.

Final Thoughts

Overall, The Night Fiend of Ravenloft is a simple, straightforward, and memorable one-shot adventure that will serve as a fun side-quest in your treks in Barovia.

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