Aug. 26, 1997. This text should accompany a Blood Map file.


                Welcome to the world of Ravenloft.

The Ravenloft world was created (to my best knowledge) as an 
AD&D Official Game Adventure. It may be that it was written after Anne Rice
created the character Strahd, I don't know. I do however have the module and 
I would encourage anyone who likes this level, or vampires, or roleplaying 
in a gothic realm, to go out and purchase this module from TSR.

The module was written by Tracy and Laura Hickman.  (c) 1983.
ISBN # 0-88038-042-X            or TSR part # 394-53456-4TSR0600

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Disclaimer:  Although I call this and a few planned sequals "Ravenloft", this
is, of course, just a fun level for the PC game Blood, by Monolith. They in
turn use a modified Build graphical engine. The editor used is Mapedit.
Note that this level IS different from the module, although very similar. I 
hope no one is insulted, offended, or otherwise disappointed with its
similarities, either implied or actual. (It's just for fun!)
      -------------------------------------------------------

The intro to the adventure goes like this:

     "Ravenloft is a classic gothic horror story, that features Count Strahd,
his castle Ravenloft, and his hold over the lands of Barovia. The dark 
forests of Barovia are filled with wolves and other creatures that roam at 
night. Nearby are the Svalich woods, wherein Madam Eva and her troupe of 
gypsies have camped. Madame Eva can foretell the future for the adventurers,
and only they can pass beyond the gates to escape Barovia.

      "The village of Barovia is mostly closed, for the night belongs to 
Strahd and his creatures. The citizens now barricade themselves in at night 
and hide trembling behind closed doors.

      "Far above the village sits Castle Ravenloft, Strahd's home. It is a
fortress from which thousands of bats fly at night looking to feed. Sometimes
even Strahd, the villagers fear, must fly with them.

      "The adventurers have been led to this land. As they enter his domain
a wry, twisted smile appears on the Count's face. He watches from his castle 
as his dark plan unfolds. He is the master of Ravenloft, and so he sends his 
wolves to guide these strangers to his castle....."


CREATURES.
Creatures in the module are: Worg Wolves, Zombies, bats, rats, gypsies, 
villagers, and undead (wights, ghosts, ghouls, wraiths, vampires).
I'd love a software designer to include some new creatures in future games.
My wish list is:  (domesticated) horses, even if they just stand there; dogs
that can bark, growl, sleep; cats perhaps; sheep; chickens (weren't the 
chickens in 'Outlaw' fun?) ---- (wild creatures) spiders, rats, bats, 
wolves, bears, cougars, lions?, sharks, piranahs, squid? ---- (D&D monsters) 
skeletons, zombies (various undead), minotaurs, unicorns, pixies, dragons. 

I must say that I love the Cultists in Blood... especially using a different 
language. We could also get Dwarves, Elves, Rogues, Pirates, Thieves, 
Barbarians, Magicians, Wizards, Gypsies, and all these could be friend or foe!
The main foe in classic RPG games were Goblins. I'd like to see a game (and 
the editor) with all these, wouldn't you all agree?

I think that you could have different character classes. You could impliment
Wizardry easily enough. Rocket launcher for Fireball spell, Invisibility, 
Teleportation to a spot where a token or marker was left, Detect Magic would 
just use magic items with alt palette for duration, Breathe under water, 
Resist Fire, No Clipping for Ethereal travel or phase or walk thru walls, 
Levitate, etc. Elves excell at archery, dwarves against poison, Barbarians 
with broadswords, Thieves hide in shadows, can climb walls, pick locks.

It sounds less active than the current trend of games, but I'm sure someone
could make a great version of this RPG games. Of course if you could get 
the licence from TSR and it became AD&D, you would have a huge resource of 
those old modules to turn to. It would just be an absolute blast if they were 
updated with new graphics, sounds, and effects. There is also the stories from
the Dungeon magazines which they could buy the rights from.

Currently, you can play these Cooperative mode, but it is more fun to death-
match each other. If you had different classes, then you might want to play
with each other. It might even be neccessary. If someone does this, you'd 
have to make a minimum and maximum of characters and exp. levels for a 
mission. This can be modified with the current difficulty settings whether a
monster appears or not. If there are no Mages for example, then the Gelatinous
Cube doesn't appear. A word of caution: make a maximum exp.level or combined
experience pool for any certain mission or else it becomes a walkthrough for 
any hacker who can modify character files (ie. Diablo fiasco). If the mission
was designed for say 3-5 players of 2nd to 5th level that would be (not 3x2 
the min. or 5x5 the max.) about 8 to 18 of combined experience. You couldn't 
play it alone unless you were 8th level. A player could have a number of saved
characters, but these files could not have in them saved items. They could 
have favorite clothing styles, colors, and everything that a standard advent-
urer would have. Every adventure or game level (mission) would have all the 
neccessary items needed in the maps.

I'm not used to typing this much so I'll just stop here ;). This is just some
ideas I've had for awhile - since I've seen Blood.

I take my hat off to the designers of Blood, the best game out there now.
Thank you, and I'm looking forward to the next game you'll produce.
ROCK ON DUDES!!!!

Michael Shire.  
aka: MICHCO or REDDWARF.          e-mail:  shirem@cadvision.com

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This text file is with ravloft1.map, and subsequent files. I already have 
started working on Strahd's Castle, and I'll be releasing it soon. 
Ravloft1.map is the village of Barova, and the mountain ascent to the Castle.
Ravloft2.map is the exterior and the upper towers of the castle.
Ravloft3.map is the interior proper, the dungeons, the final crypt area,
		 & the escape back from the castle.
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