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 (Indian folklore, dark rainforests), Valachan (hunting PCs for sport), Lamordia (mad science)
• NPCs include Esmerelda de’Avenir, Weathermay-Foxgrove twins, traveling detective Alanik Ray.
• Large section on setting safe boundaries.
• Dark Gifts are character traits with a cost.
• College of Spirits (bard storytellers who manipulate spirits of folklore) and Undead Patron (warlock) subclasses.
• Dhampir, Reborn, and Hexblood lineages.
• Cultural consultants used.
• Fresh take on Vistani.
• 40 pages of monsters. Also nautical monsters in Sea of Sorrows.
• 20 page adventure called The House of Lament - haunted house, spirits, seances.

​

D&D 5E - Full Wraparound Cover Art For Ravenloft

We've seen the cover already, but here's a look at the full wraparound art by Anna Podedworna. https://www.enworld.org/threads/updated-with-cover-the-d-d-book-is-van-richtens-guide-to-ravenloft.678411/ https://www.enworld.org/threads/heres-the-ravenloft-alternate-cover.678414/...

www.enworld.org

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 - [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...

www.enworld.org

 

[jgsugden]

The Vistani have the power—some say gift—to travel through the mists that lead to forlorn realms within the Shadowfell known as the Domains of Dread, where creatures born in darkness dwell. This “gift” was thrust upon them by mysterious entities called the Dark Powers, as a boon for their kindness toward strangers.

Really? This is essentially what I did at the start of 4E when they introduced the Shadowfell. I placed my Ravenloft 'plains' into areas of the Shadowfell cut off by the mists (or to be more exact, I decided that the Shadowfell was what existed between my Ravenloft domains). Now I kind of want to see that text.[/ispolier]

 

[Remathilis]

The Vistani have the power—some say gift—to travel through the mists that lead to forlorn realms within the Shadowfell known as the Domains of Dread, where creatures born in darkness dwell. This “gift” was thrust upon them by mysterious entities called the Dark Powers, as a boon for their kindness toward strangers.

This. It's fairly non sequitur to the adventure itself, but it gives a little more on the direction of the Vistani and (coupled with the sidebar in Tasha's) it's pretty clear the 4e Vistani are the model for the 5e ones now.

 

[Weiley31]

I think ultimately in the end, the Vistani are truly the only ones that have the capacity to travel between the different domains in a way that causes the Dark Powers to not take notice of them: unless something happens that gets the Dark Powers to cast their attention on them. Heck they can travel through the Shadowfell too so it's not too far off.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I am thinking when a dark lord dies, breaks free of the curse, escapes or even the rare case to get the redemption, then a time-loop restarts, but with a different cast. For example Adam existed but Larmoid had got a reboot and then the new darklord is Elisa.

Other theory the main goal of the dark powers aren't the psycological pain and despair, but a mixture of training, brainwishing and manipulation to force the dark-lords to try a "cosmic planar prison-break". There is a supernatural conspirancy, and both sides have got precognition gifts. The demiplane of the dread has been created to be inmune to temporal paradoxes causes by "outsiders" time-travelers.

* If I am sincere I feel a litle disapointed because really I don't want to fight the dark lord or the standar monster of the week, but I miss the intrigues and conspirances between the supernatural factions from World of Darkness: Camarilla, Sabath, vampire clans, Tecnocracy, fae courts, garou tribes and lodges... but the demiplane of the dread is a "too small town" for all those groups together. This is the reason about a new setting in the material plane suffering troubles caused by the Dark Powers. Maybe it's a plan by Vecna against the Dark Powers, or use a postapocalypse world as a firewall against that "planar prison-break".

 

[Urriak Uruk]

There is a new Dragon Talk episode out, with a "Lore You Should Know," on Barovia.

Dragon Talk | Official D&D Podcast | Dungeons & Dragons

Each week, the D&D team sits down with celebrities and personalities from across gaming and pop culture to discuss the world's greatest roleplaying game.

dnd.wizards.com

Not a lot of new info, but it gives some insight in to how they are structuring the Domains for this book. I'm expecting more Lore You Should Knows on other Domains, and with one per week until release... could be a lot!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I really want them to put out even a partial list of what monsters are going to be included. That's probably what's going to get me off the fence about buying this book. Ravenloft's traditional monsters include a lot of gems.

 

[Parmandur]

I really want them to put out even a partial list of what monsters are going to be included. That's probably what's going to get me off the fence about buying this book. Ravenloft's traditional monsters include a lot of gems.

That'll be out the week before release or so, as people get their hands on the book and share the ToC.

 

[Faolyn]

I really want them to put out even a partial list of what monsters are going to be included. That's probably what's going to get me off the fence about buying this book. Ravenloft's traditional monsters include a lot of gems.

Well, I already decided to buy it, but yeah, I'd love to see a list of monsters as well. So far, all they've said is "40 pages of monsters, including carrionettes, gremishka, vampiric mind flayers, and new takes on goblins and zombies." So not a lot to go on, even if this basically confirms Bleutspur or something like it. And they'll probably include some of the creatures from Curse of Strahd, so maybe mongrelfolk, wereravens, and tree blights as well.

My personal hopes: bastelluses (bastelli? sounds like a pasta), doppelganger plants, some of their cooler golems (doll golems may be supplanted by carrionettes, sadly, but I hope for mechanical golems, stained glass golems, and wax golems, at least), mist horrors--and maybe some of the mist creatures from the unpublished Van Richten's Guide to Mists (probably not, though), vampyrs (I refuse to put the e at the end), red widows, boneless, boowray (I had great fun running one of those, once), midnight cats (perhaps making them more neutral, with the ability to both bless and curse), those figurines (although I imagine it would be a more generic type rather than six or whatever types based on their materials), head hunters (as long as they're not drow-based), kizoku (but not male only), odem, and skin thieves. I also imagine a few new lycanthropes as well--maybe even the (not female only) werefoxes.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I also imagine a few new lycanthropes as well--maybe even the (not female only) werefoxes.

If I recall they were just based on fox spirits from chinese mythology anyways, so they might want to include more monsters from different mythologies and legends (usually fox spirits are women in a lot of the stories, but there are also stories with male fox spirits---even families of them). There is a whole genre of Jiangshi (hopping vampire hunter) movie as well, with taoist priests instead of christian priests. That stuff would fit well too I think.

 

[Voadam]

I am expecting the undead lords from prior editions (zombie and ghoul, greater mummy is already covered as the mummy lord) the age/rank categories for vampires, mummies, liches, and ghosts and possible customization options for each of them plus werebeasts and created. Hag customization would be nice but my expectation is only maybe they will be covered. I expect some variant vampires, some amount of the variant golems, wereravens, wolfwere, ermordenung, goblyns, and maybe a darkling depending on how they handle Vistani. Individual other undead are possible, though less core.

Those seem most core to ravenloft and so most likely to me to be covered.