D&D 5E [Updated with cover!] The D&D Book Is.... Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft!

Yesterday's hints that a new D&D book would be announced today have born fruit -- we now have a product description and a title! It's a Ravenloft setting book, with tools and new rules for horror-themed games, and new horror-themed character options. I'll update this post with a product image as soon as one is revealed -- the official announcement allegedly comes today!

D&D 5E - Here's the Ravenloft Alternate Cover!

As usual, there is an alternate hobby-store exclusive cover for the upcoming Ravenloft book. Here's a look at it! And here's the full wraparound art. https://www.enworld.org/threads/updated-with-cover-the-d-d-book-is-van-richtens-guide-to-ravenloft.678411/...

www.enworld.org

D&D 5E - Everything We Know About The Ravenloft Book

Here is a list of everything we know so far about the upcoming Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. Art by Paul Scott Canavan May 18th, 256 pages 30 domains (with 30 villainous darklords) Barovia (Strahd), Dementlieu (twisted fairly tales), Lamordia (flesh golem), Falkovnia (zombies), Kalakeri...

www.enworld.org

Here’s some info on Dr. Rudolph Van Richten! He's a vampire hunter (he appeared in Curse of Strahd, and he's been around in the Ravenloft setting for decades) and is basically Van Helsing to Strahd's Dracula. His name appears on a whole pile of 2nd Edition D&D sourcebooks, all titled "Van Richten's Guide to.... Vampires/Ghosts/Werebeasts, etc."

The Ravenloft setting, of course, features a bunch of 'domains' other than Barovia itself, each ruled by its own Dark Lord. Strahd rules Barovia, but even other signature D&D villains like Lord Soth and Vecna have been placed in Ravenloft ruling dread domains of their own, along with an assortment of other domain rulers.

The Mist Beckons

The image below is not of the upcoming book, but of one of the many D&D 2nd Edition Van Richten's Guides.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I really want rules for corrupting player characters. It's something I feel was missing from Curse of Strahd.

It would be really cool, but you got to be careful as well.

 

[robus]

Anything in Innistrad ruleswise is likely to be in this book: a sidebar referring people to the free Innistrad 5E resource and the Art book should suffice.

Some maps for Innistrad would be nice though.

 

[dynath]

I'm pretty disappointed personally. I mean the curse of straad adventure covered 90% of the original boxed set. I can't even remember another adventure set in ravenloft, I know there were several just can't remember them. I was sincerely hoping one of the as yet untouched settings would get a book. Ravenloft is fine I guess, its just... fine... I hope the vampire fans will enjoy it. I'm sure it will be good quality, most of the stuff for 5e has been just fine. This will be... fine... just... ugh... fine... I don't know why I expected something else.

 

[dynath]

double post sorry.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Do we know for sure Innistrad won’t be one of the domains of dread?

It occurred to me that this was possible.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Setting books may have replaced Monster books at this point in the Edition, frankly.

Yeah I love a good monster book, but we have a solid enough base right now that I'm fine with monsters being part of setting books (it would have been infuriating if they'd tried to run the whole edition this way, but they didn't).

I do miss 4E's incredibly time-efficient and math-correct DDI monster builder, but that's kind of a different topic!

Also yeah as @Whizbang Dustyboots says, the third-party monster book scene is pretty good too for 5E.

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah I love a good monster book, but we have a solid enough base right now that I'm fine with monsters being part of setting books (it would have been infuriating if they'd tried to run the whole edition this way, but they didn't).

I do miss 4E's incredibly time-efficient and math-correct DDI monster builder, but that's kind of a different topic!

Also yeah as @Whizbang Dustyboots says, the third-party monster book scene is pretty good too for 5E.

Between the MM, VGtM, MToF, and Kobold Press's two books....and all the campaign settings...I have a lot of Monsters. More are always welcome, but WotC might not want to compete with themselves for pure Monster books anymore with three currently selling.

Of course, if they drop the Draconomicon, I'm buying it because I also have a problem.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I'm pretty disappointed personally. I mean the curse of straad adventure covered 90% of the original boxed set. I can't even remember another adventure set in ravenloft, I know there were several just can't remember them. I was sincerely hoping one of the as yet untouched settings would get a book. Ravenloft is fine I guess, its just... fine... I hope the vampire fans will enjoy it. I'm sure it will be good quality, most of the stuff for 5e has been just fine. This will be... fine... just... ugh... fine... I don't know why I expected something else.

Well, it seems the book has far more than vampires.

A Zombie Apocalypse setting
A setting with Lycan's attacking towns (picture)
A setting where you are in the jungle being hunted by the Dark Lord


And rules to create your own dread domains. Maybe a setting where ghosts never leave but always linger, feeding off of each other and possessing the living to continue their own existence. There was a setting mentioned about mad science, creatures altered and experimented upon to make new, horrifying existences.

There is a lot of good potential here beyond vampires and strahd

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I do though worry, having recently gone through a rather painful experience where someone tried to run us through a module based in the Dread Domain of Vecna and Kas about the... tone is perhaps the right word.

An huge issue with that temporary mini-campaign that just drained the enthusiasm from the players (who to note, were never asked if they wanted this style of game, we just let the guy take the DM chair for a bit) was that it came down to obey Kas the evil Tyrant or Vecna the Mad Lich.

Now, if you present the players with this at session 0 and they agree to it, awesome, but it is incredibly difficult to get players to pick between two bad options. "Which end of the world do you help bring about" is a very bleak way of approaching a game, and not one that I've seen garner a lot of enthusiasm outside of an evil game.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Between the MM, VGtM, MToF, and Kobold Press's two books....and all the campaign settings...I have a lot of Monsters. More are always welcome, but WotC might not want to compete with themselves for pure Monster books anymore with three currently selling.

Of course, if they drop the Draconomicon, I'm buying it because I also have a problem.

Volo's did state that there would likely be undead and dragon "monster" books in the future. The question is if the undead one got merged into this Ravenloft book and the dragon one with a likely upcoming Dragonlance one, or if we'll still be seeing separate monster books later...

 

[willrali]

So Wizards pasteurizes and bland-ifies yet another great AD&D setting. I'll give it a miss.