The Evil Eye

The Evil Eye is an adventure in the Ravenloft setting for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition (which came out at least five years before I was born, good lord), and while I currently have no plans to run it in either 2e or 5e, I can definitely see a lot of potential for this adventure. Due to 5e producing campaigns labelled as adventures and 2e producing campaign guides and standalone adventures separately, it's important to describe what to expect with this book. After reading through it all the way once and returning to earlier sections, I'd say that this adventure is best run as a standalone short campaign. It was originally designed for levels 4-6 in 2e, but I'd say that with some tweaks for difficulty it could be made to work for a 1-5 campaign for 5e without much trouble. Now it's time to break down this campaign and talk about its components, for some reason described internally as six different scenarios, even though they are far better as a whole.

Tangent: Vistani in 2e

Vistani in 2e are something that I am conflicted about in the extreme. As written, the Vistani are literally every stereotype of the Romani ethnic group that has likely ever existed. At best in the standard source material, they're outlaws doing all sorts of mischief on their own, and at worst they collude with the various evildoers, because they're evil I guess? That being said, even as written they're not without value and nuance. Despite what the books say, Vistani in the adventures I've read are generally more neutral than evil, and are overwhelmingly more likely to fall victim to the attacks of fearful and paranoid townsfolk than the other way around. They also are from what I can reason, logical in their core beliefs and values as wanderers and considering their prior experiences with bigots. Despite this, they lack depth beyond being mysterious travelers who whisk people into the land of Ravenloft, aka 'The Core'.

Fortunately, this adventure centers around their culture and mythology, giving players a greater glimpse into their way of life and beliefs, which is probably the number one initial attractor of mine to this adventure.

Part 1: Widower Once Again

Calling this an adventure is a little rich, it's basically an encounter turned into a quest. It shouldn't take longer than an hour and a half, maybe two hours to complete. The gist of this is that a traveling blacksmith has rolled into town with his baby, who appears to be dying. In truth he is haunted by the ghost of his dead wife, whom he loved dearly. This part does have definite narrative potential depending on how you run things. On the one hand, this could be your players' introduction, either intentional or unintentional, to the in and out of universe racism the Vistani face as outsiders. As written, it's a good example of a good railroad (i.e. something that makes sense and doesn't feel contrived) with the added bonus of separating paths. Whether your players choose to do the right thing or indulge in cold-blooded murder, they're going to feel like they screwed up, entering Ravenloft cursed either way (the curse differs depending on how things went, both are bad). Both routes also offer interesting combat encounters, but handling the ghost is far more interesting and rewarding narratively, even if the party will definitely be wary of any combat the rest of the adventure due to a curse reducing the effectiveness of healing. Either way the party is now in Invidia, a pretty funny name for a location in retrospect.

Part 2: River Cruise

This adventure might be the one I'm most conflicted about. The book says that it's optional should the players choose to forego a free ride 60 miles downriver, but considering that characters from this chapter show up and are central to the events of later chapters, it's really not. It's a good time to build up tension as the players expect a combat (one they get and then some), but also it gives a reason for the players to start trusting people again. 

Provided the blacksmith is still alive at this point, the players can (sort of) choose which path to take to the town of Karina. On the one hand, friendly but pretty racist boat captain, or a greasy aristocrat-type who berates his employees who in turn whip his dogs. Both are super compelling. The journey is pretty uneventful, but can be incredibly tense for inquisitive types. A great (mostly) social adventure.

Part 3: Karina

This one is hard to talk about because it's basically an overview of the town of Karina, complete with attractions, rumors, and encounters. The players are arriving just in time for the annual Carnival celebration, and the town of Karina is bustling, the locals predictably waiting the festivities out. There's a delegation from Falkovnia here, and these guys make another good obvious minor antagonist. Karina itself isn't terribly impressive, but it really shines as a way to show players that the world their characters are now in has a lot of life, even if they know all about the Domains of Dread. Each major location has something to do, whether it be chat with people, learn rumors, or experience one of the special encounters. These encounters just feel necessary, and outside of maybe one they all relate to the main story, though some are more closely tied than others. It's here where the players will gradually come to know the dramatis personae of the adventure through these run-ins, including a tense reunion with the sneering Matton Blanchard they met earlier. There's lots of potential for drama in this city and I live for it.

There's also a festival going on when the players arrive: Carnival. It's a big yearly celebration, and the locals aren't huge fans of the revelry and noise, but it brings in commerce so they can bear it. Besides a few remarks, nothing much is done with the festival. There is also nothing that connects it to the players outside of it just being in progress when they are in Karina. To be honest I forgot a few times as I was reading this that it was even happening. No significant events or locations revolve around it, so maybe it would have been best to cut it. 

Beyond dramatic potential, one thing that really stuck out to me in this section was the shipping and docking fees as outlined in the book. It's a pretty minor detail but one that I really like and will very likely use myself for other adventures, especially for nautical ones. For those interested: 

"Docking at Karina is not free. Although berthing fees are normally inexpensive, during Carnival the fee rises to 5 sp for every 10' of keel per day....Cargo fees are 5% the market value of imported goods, payable in coinage, barter, or actual cargo. In addition, the harbor master also charges each passenger an admittance toll to the town: 1 sp per unarmed person or 1 gp per armed person."

That point aside, if there was one thing this chapter falls short in, it's pacing. The adventure recommends this be left up to the dungeon master but that's pretty weak. There are no potential activities given for outside of the city except to visit the Vistani, which triggers the next chapter, and the Vistani contact the players at the appropriate moment, fantastic.

Going off of what the book gives us, there's a handful of potential side quests to fill this gap. There's The Engineer at Goldfinger (a clocktower) who's looking for parts to finish a device to protect the town, a possible murder mystery stemming from the brutal killings by the Midnight Slasher, and perhaps a quest to hunt the packs of vicious wild dogs on the west side of town to name a few. These quests all take place in Karina, but maybe there could be a delivery or investigation quest that could take them to one of the villages, I dunno.

Part 4: The Vistani

This one is probably the most straightforward of the chapters, coming out to one encounter (not sure why it's here instead of there when the book says that it's best done in Karina), some exposition, and the players finally receiving some sort of concrete objective, kill the Dukkar, the Vistani's ancient enemy, before he grows too powerful. You get some Vistani lore but most is for the DM with the instructions not to reveal it, lame. However, the Vistani are able to answer some of the questions the party might have regarding their culture. The players are then sent off back to Karina the next morning to find the Dukkar, the Dog Pits being their only clue. It's not a great transition in my opinion, since it's pretty much a side quest to give the Vistani time to finish their artifact.

Part 5: Dog Fights

This is the high point of the module in my opinion, and as luck would have it, probably the most extractable part of the adventure. The gist of the adventure is that the players need help to get into this shady underworld dog fighting ring that's held in a secret location. Again, we have some great branching paths here. The players could be going there as bodyguards of the mustache-twirling Blanchard, they could be sneaking in as part of heist with the local thieves' guild, or they could be going incognito as entertainment. Depending on the scenario, there are also also a number of complications/events to play out here, though to be clear this is probably the most dangerous part of the module, as it can easily turn into a TPK. Regardless, a really good sandbox section, even as a standalone one-shot it's pretty good, though the set-up for that might be tricky

Part 6: Vishnadd

This is the climax of the adventure, and it really falls apart here. There's a ton of drama leading up to this confrontation with the big bad, and all the pieces are coming together with the party getting the device to trap the Dukkar and any allies joining them for the big infiltration mission. The lead-up is great, but what in reality happens is that the whole segment is 2 short combats, first against the guards, and then the Dukkar. I would expect that the finale would be when the gloves come off and something fiendish appears, but no, the guards are normal humans and the Dukkar is a human with some innate spellcasting and resistances. He comes with a few dire wolves in tow, but that's it. Probably the most dangerous part of the combat is that any players that fail to save against his evil eye are charmed and fight to the death for him, which is pretty brutal. That's it. After defeating (but not killing) the Dukkar, the gang celebrates, the blacksmith (if still alive) gets closure, and the story concludes with the potential for further hijinks in Ravenloft.

Further Adventures

Nothing particularly compelling here. Most of these fall under the category of either epilogue quests or loose ends if players didn't touch all the major quests in Karina. There's also a section on potential political developments from the end of this adventure in different lands, but these aren't terribly compelling.

Adjustments for Conversions:

If I had to run this adventure for my usual 5e, I'd actually keep most of it, and lower the level range from 4-6 to 1-5. There are a few tougher enemies in this adventure, mostly shapechangers, that will necessitate some preparation so players stand a chance. Otherwise, special resistances to normal weapons are handled well in the adventure as written. The one thing I'd change is to change the ending scenario because as written it is a complete letdown. I'll probably replace the dire wolves with some demons, it would provide a nice bit of something different after an adventure filled with either humanoid, shapechanging, or animal enemies. Giant animals just aren't that. On the whole though the adventure is really simple to convert, which is good, because as a former player of second edition, going back to the old days is a bit of a hard sell, especially with some of the complexities of second edition.

Conclusion:

In total, I like Evil Eye a great deal. It takes a bit for the main plot to be found, and stumbles at the last minute, but I think this adventure would make for a nice mini campaign (it's definitely too long for a single session). It's not terribly horrific, going for a more real-world/snuff film variety of scares, and the scares are pretty few and far between, with more suspense than scares. Evil Eye is also a great way for players to see more and engage with the Vistani in an intriguing adventure, and helps dispel a bit of their mystery for the better. I think it would be fun to run one day, probably more my speed than Dragon Heist, and I think mini campaigns are underrated in all honesty.