RAVENLOFT campaigns should include horror, romance, drama, adventure, and tragedy. This game should not resemble a board game, with rules and tables resolving every action. Game mechanics should always yield to role-playing.
Obviously, a powers check is a game mechanic. When a character commits an evil act, die rolls determine whether or not a sinister fate befalls him. A good Dungeon Master, however, will not allow the powers check to interfere with role-playing. Instead, it can be used to promote the macabre atmosphere of the game.
Consider the following example: Byron de la Sol, a young rogue, hijacks a shipment of medicine destined for a city ravaged by the plague. This act will cause dozens in the city to die. De la Sol is well aware of this fact, but he values his own coffers over the health of the innocents in the city. The Dungeon Master decides that a powers check is clearly in order. However, rather than simply instructing the player to roll some dice, he narrates the macabre feelings assumed to be associated with a powers check:
As you transfer the vials of healing tincture to your pouch, a shiver runs down your spine. For the briefest fraction of a second, you are certain that someone is looking over your shoulder. Indeed, you can even feel wisps of icy cold breath on the back of your neck.When the player announces that his character whirls around with a knife in hand, he sees nothing. This is an ideal time for the Dungeon Master to have the player roll percentile dice, without giving any explanation. If the player succeeds at the check, his momentary brush with the dark powers comes to an end. Another brief narrative is then in order:
As quickly as it came upon you, the uncomfortable feeling passes. You see no evidence to Indicate that anything the least bit unusual has happened. Most likely, the whole encounter merely sprang from your over-active imagination.Should the character fail his powers check, the Dungeon Master might employ the following narrative to convey the experience:
A sudden chill wind blows through the room, snuffing the light of your lantern. In the wake of this sudden gust, as the acrid smell of the still smoldering wick twists around you, it becomes clear that something is amiss. The room, which should now be all but pitch black, seems brightly illuminated. After a moment of surprise, you become aware that you can now see as clearly in the dark as by the light of the noonday sun.Of course, what the Dungeon Master has not told the player is that his character will now find normal daylight to be painfully bright. This fact will almost certainly lessen the glee that his new power has brought to him.
Clearly, role-playing the powers check is far more effective than simply asking the player to make a powers check and then telling him the result of the failure in strict game terms.
