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Introduction 3Fear and Horror Checks 3Running the Adventure 3DM™ Overview 4Gregor's Tale 5The Domain of Vorostokov 9A Note on Lycanthropy 10Starting the Adventure 11

Chapter One 14I: The Forest 14II: Igor's Campsite 14III: Surviving the Night 16IV: The Yeneskyy 17V: The Black Wolf 18VI: Mikhail 20VII: Journey to Torgov 21VIII: The Boyar 23

Chapter Two 26I: Making Plans 26

II: Mission to Kirinova 27III: The Arayashka 27IV: Kirinova 28V: Qregor Again 31VI: The Hunt 34VII: The Witches of the Woods 35

Chapter Three 38I: Journey to Vorostokov 38II: The Village of Vorostokov 39III: The Boyar's Hall 49IV: Dark of the Moon 54

Appendix A: Nonplayer Characters 56Appendix B: Exposure and Survival 58

New Monsters 61Loup du Noir 61Arayashka 62

Handout: Igor's Journal and Map 63

CreditsDesign: L. Richard Baker HI

Editing: Thomas M. ReidProject Coordinator: Dori Jean Watry

Cover Art: Robh RuppelBlack and White Art: Arnie Swekel

Graphics Coordinator: Sarah FeggestadArt Coordinator: Peggy Cooper

Cartography: David C. Sutherland IIITypesetting: Angelika Lokotz

Thanks to: Michele Carter, Bill Connors, Andria Hayday, Bruce Nesmith, and David Wise

TSR, Inc.POB 756Lake GenevaWI53147U.S.A.

TSR Ltd.120 Church End

Cherry HintonCambridge CB1 3LB

United Kingdom

AD&D, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM, and RAVENLOFT are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.DM, DUNGEON MASTER, and the TSR Logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. All TSR characters, character names, and the distinctivelikenesses thereof are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.

Random House and its affiliate companies have worldwide distribution rights in the book trade for English-language products of TSR, Inc.Distributed to the book and hobby trade in the United Kingdom by TSR Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors.

This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any unauthorized use of the material or artwork containedherein is expressly prohibited without the written consent of TSR, Inc. © 1993 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

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INTRODUCTION

he land of Vorostokovis haunted by a darkand terrifying evil. Inthe snowy woods of

t/Li/.j/jIM/y&B&BK^ this frozen domain,hunters take on theshapes of savagewolves and stalk theforests with evilbloodlust and hunger.In this land of endlessfrozen wastes andhaunted fir forests,men learn to wear theshapes of bloodthirstybeasts in order tosurvive.

Dark of the Moon isdesigned for four to six player characters of5th to 8th level. The adventuring party shouldbe well balanced and well equipped, since thiswill be a difficult adventure. However, theDUNGEON MASTER™ (DM™) should not over-equip the PCs with magical items andweapons; part of the challenge in facingwerecreatures lies in finding weapons capableof harming them or alternate means ofcombating them.

Before beginning play, the DM should skimthe adventure to get a feel for how it should runand then read it in detail. A review of theRAVENLOFT® boxed set is also a good idea. It isalso suggested that the DM become familiarwith the NPCs to better understand theirmotivations and mannerisms.

Fear and Horror Checks

f rom time to time during the course of thisadventure, situations will arise where a fearor horror check is appropriate. However,

rather than instantly reducing the outcome ofsuch an event to a simple die roll, give theplayers an opportunity to role-play the scene.Players who can effectively role-play fearful orhorrified reactions will add flavor and realism to

the adventure, making the gaming more Iintense. In addition, the players get to maintaincontrol over their own characters, rather thanforce the DM to dictate their actions through dierolls. Nevertheless, if the players do not or willnot effectively role-play their characters in theface of fear and horror, then those checksshould be made for them.

Running the Aduenture

Since this adventure is designed forcharacters of medium level, the party maynot be able to revive characters killed in

combat. If a player character is killed, the DMshould consider allowing the player to continueto play, perhaps by assuming control of ahenchman or hireling. Another option would befor the player to create a new character, nativeto Vorostokov, who could then join the party asa guide or an ally.

There are several key elements to thisadventure that the DM should try to keep inmind. The first is the low-level population ofVorostokov; the PCs can find safe harbor in anyof several small villages, but there is no onearound who can heal the PCs or provide themwith any real assistance.

The second consideration is the weather andthe difficulty of traveling and finding food. Theplayers should fear and respect the wolves ofthe forest for their ability to move and hunt overterrain that the characters find to be barelypassable. The DM should make sure that theplayers don't take the setting for granted;setting out on a 20-mile journey to the nextvillage is a life or death undertaking inVorostokov's cruel weather. Keeping track of theparty's food supplies and the effects ofexposure and starvation will help make theplayers feel more vulnerable and weak in theface of Vorotokov's evil masters.

The third and most important element ofDark of the Moon is the horrible affliction oflycanthropy. It should be portrayed as a horribledoom for its victims, but with a sinister

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temptation or allure that the PCs will find hardto resist. Infected characters know that they willbecome bloodthirsty, murderous beasts, butthey also know that they will be strong and fast,capable of hunting and surviving inVorostokov's winter. Lycanthropy is a form ofpower, and the DM should not be afraid ofallowing a character to willingly choose thisparticular doom.

Remember, there are three things aboutlycanthropy that players fear: the loss of controlof their character, the difficulty of finding a cure,and the uncertainty of whether they have beeninfected and when the disease might manifest.The DM should play upon these fears.

The DM should customize this adventure tosuit the balance and power of the campaign.New encounters can be added and existing onesmodified. Red herrings and subplots can beinserted into the adventure. Secondary plotscould revolve around a search for herbs neededby Natalya and Elena, or the PCs could besidetracked to a village where the folk areplagued by these witches' spells.

DM Oueruiew

The rest of this introduction contains anadventure outline, a background story, afew notes on lycanthropy, and finally a

possible means of getting the adventure started.At the end of the booklet are some appendicesthat include rules for cold weather exposure andsurvival, two new MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM®entries, and a player handout.

Adventure OutlineIn Chapter One, the adventurers arrive inVorostokov, a land frozen in perpetual winterand ruled by the boyar Gregor Zolnik. Gregor isa loup du noir, a skin-changing werewolf. Soonafter the PCs wander into the domain, they areattacked by a fierce pack of commonwerewolves. In their human shapes, thewerewolves are Gregor's boyarsky, or Lord's

Men, a band of warriors and hunters loyal to thelord of the domain.

The player characters escape from the packor drive the werewolves off, but are still lost inthe endless forests of Vorostokov. Fortunately,they are found by the woodsman Mikhail Zolnik.Mikhail leads the party to the village of Torgov.The heroes learn that the village is in revoltagainst the boyar and his warriors, and ispreparing to make a stand against Gregor'sboyarsky. As Chapter One ends, the PCs helpthe villagers fend off the boyar's attack.

In Chapter Two, the heroes and Mikhailjourney to the village of Kirinova, searching forallies against the boyar and his followers. Whenthey reach Kirinova, they find a horribleslaughter. All the people in the village havebeen torn apart by wild beasts. Following thetrail of the killers, the PCs blunder into theclutches of Gregor and his men.

Gregor and his boyars offer the heroes aterrible choice—join the boyarsky as fellowwerewolves, or die. If the PCs accept, they arelost, but if they refuse to ally with Gregor, theboyar offers them a chance to run for their lives.As the PCs flee through the forests withoutweapons or armor, the boyarsky assume theirwolf-shapes and hunt them.

Fortunately, the heroes are aided in ChapterThree by the sisters of the boyar, the witchesNatalya and Elena. They hate their brother forthe murder of their mother. Natalya and Elenasee the PCs as a weapon to use against Gregor.The sisters also tell the PCs that the curse ofGregor is nearly upon them—any PC who hasbeen wounded by a werewolf will become alycanthrope at the dark of the moon, and willfall under Gregor's sway forever.

The heroes must steal into the village ofVorostokov and gather information and allies totake on Gregor in his own stockade. Aconfrontation with the ghost of Antonina,Gregor's mother, provides them with the lastpiece of the puzzle to defeat Gregor. Theadventure ends as the PCs track Gregor to hissecret lair and confront him for the final time.

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Gregorys Tale

A s a young man, Qregor was a proud andskillful hunter. He was the strongest andbravest man in Vorostokov. One year

winter came early. Snow ruined the crops thatwere still in the field and covered the hamletwith drifts so deep that ponies could not dragsleds through it.

The early snowfall soon deepened into thedarkest and coldest winter the villagers couldremember. Months passed with not the slightesthint of relief, and Vorostokov's stores of foodbegan to dwindle. As the dead of winterapproached, the folk of Vorostokov were facingstarvation. The men of the village hunted eachday, braving the cold and the ice, but foundnothing but the leavings of wolves' kills.

Near midwinter, Gregor Zolnik was makinghis way home after a fruitless day of tracking inthe forest. No sun had risen that day and theshadows were colder than death itself. As hestruggled toward home, he came across ablack wolf that had been injured taking down abull elk.

Gregor watched the dying wolf, consideringthe speed and strength of its kind. "If I had yourstamina and your keen senses, I would not bestarving now," he told the wolf. "I would killenough to feed my mother and sisters—andthen I would kill some more."

In the dark and the cold, Gregor recalled alegend his grandfather had told him years ago,a tale of men who could change into wolves bydressing in the beasts' skins and calling on themagic of the night. Gregor was near the end ofhis strength, and he decided to follow the oldlegends and see if they were true. When themoon rose, he cut the black wolf's throat anddrew a circle in the snow with its blood.Kneeling in the center of the circle, he skinnedthe wolf and donned its hide. Then he ate thewolf's brain, to gain its cunning, and its heart, togain its strength.

For a moment, Gregor thought nothing hadhappened. Then he felt his skin begin to grow

hot. The wolf skin was fusing to his own!Gregor's cries of agony became the throatyhowls of a powerful wolf. The ancient magic hadworked, and Gregor had taken the wolf's form.He bounded off to hunt, tracking down a largecaribou and killing it with ease. Gregor draggedthe heavy carcass back to Vorostokov and left itby his mother's house.

With his family provided for, Gregor went to asecret cave he knew of and removed the skin.When he returned to the village the nextmorning, exhausted, he told his mother whereto find the caribou and went to bed.

When he awoke at dusk, Gregor found thathis mother had shared the caribou with thewhole village. At first, Gregor was furious, sincehe had wanted the meat for his family only.Then he realized that with the wolf's skin, hecould hunt and kill again.

Each night, Gregor slipped away from thevillage to put on the wolf's skin and hunt,feeding the community for the rest of the winter.He never told anyone of his secret.

When spring finally came, Duke AndreiVladimir came to meet the man who had single-handedly saved Vorostokov from starvation;many other villages in the duke's land had notfared as well. During this visit, Gregor met theduke's daughter Ireena. The two fell in love andwere married, returning to the duke's castle.

Unfortunately, Gregor found that the wild callof the wolf still surged in his blood. Cinder thepretext of visiting his mother, Gregor returned toVorostokov and donned the wolf skin. That nighthe hunted and killed, and when he returned toIreena he brought his wolf skin and hid it in agrotto near the castle.

Gregor would wait until Ireena fell asleep, andthen slip out into the night to don the skin andstalk the forests. Ireena soon discoveredGregor's absences, and assumed that he wasdallying with a peasant girl. She took a lover ofher own to avenge Gregor's faithlessness.

Ireena's betrayal drove Gregor into a bestialrage. He murdered her lover and then burstinto her chambers and slew her as well.

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