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

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Hello, a new Dragon Talk dropped today... and it includes a new "Lore You Should Know," this time entirely on the Demiplane of Dread "Dementlieu."

Some important changes to the plane have been made;

• A new Dark Lord (or really, Dark Lady)
• Has a strong twisted "Fairy Tale" theme
• The Demiplane has shrunk, only containing the city

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

 

[JEB]

Sounds like a completely different domain, "Cinderella meets Poe's Masque of the Red Death" as they put it. Which makes one wonder why they didn't... create a completely different domain.

I mean, new Dementlieu sounds interesting, in and of itself, with well-thought-out theming. Seems like a nice addition to Ravenloft's landscape. I also like that they're retaining the "false history" concept.

But presumably the point of reviving an old setting is to use the old stuff, which they don't appear to be here, except for a few names and it being French-themed. (In fact, it sounds like they didn't think much of classic Dementlieu.)

They do describe this Dementlieu as "evolved", so maybe we'll get some backstory explaining how classic Dementlieu became new Dementlieu. Overall, though, at this point it sounds a lot more like 5E Ravenloft is a reboot.

Other thoughts:

• 5E Ravenloft is definitely going for "weekend in hell" rather than "cohesive horror-world", as expected. It is the most usable and marketable approach.
• I wonder if the three hags are the former darklords of Tepest, and if new Dementlieu is kind of a merger with that domain. (If not, this seems like a clear indicator that Tepest isn't going to be returning for 5E; not gonna have two domains with hag covens in a prominent role.)
• I always assumed it was pronounced "day-mon-loo", not "dem-ent-lee-oo". (Google Translate says it should be pronounced "duh-mon-lee-oo". And that it means "godless".)

 

[Islayre d'Argolh]

I always assumed it was pronounced "day-mon-loo", not "dem-ent-lee-oo". (Google Translate says it should be pronounced "duh-mon-lee-oo". And that it means "godless".)

Google translate is wrong ^^

Dementlieu can be translated as "madplace" :

dement = mad/crazy (dementia ?)
un lieu = a place

But it's basically "bad french" a native speaker will never call a city "Dementlieu"

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Seems a bit odd to associate a "city zone" with fairy tales. I usually see fairy tales as being rural stories.

I guess that means we are focussing on French fairy tales (Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast) rather than German (Hansel and Gretel) or English (Jack and the Beanstalk).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

But it's basically "bad french" a native speaker will never call a city "Dementlieu"

Allo? Allo? Leesen very carefully. In Dementlieu they spake Common with zee bad French accent.

 

[Islayre d'Argolh]

Allo? Allo? Leesen very carefully. In Dementlieu they spake Common with zee bad French accent.

You mean zee sexy one, of course ^^

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Dementlieu sounds as the Spanish word "demente"(demented).

I think Ravenloft is going to become one of the alpha or main settings of the 5th Ed. I miss the core (but its geography was too "boring" or simple, to square/rectagular to be an alleged tectonic plate) as place of confrontation between different supernatural factions (vampire clans, werebeasts tribes, fae courts, ghost brotherhoods/guilds, wizards societies..). Have you seen the list of things published in the DM Guild? Or the net-fandom from Fraternity of Shadows web. There are also gothic-horror/dark fantasy settings by 3PPs as Obsidian Apocalypse by LPJ, Kaidan by Rite Publishing and Shadow over Varthak by Fat Gobling. They are a lot of potential market of players who want horror adventures, because it is like to be within a movie.

* I wonder about Dark Powers abducting Vecna's mother when she was just going to die as a hook against the god.

* If there is a reboot, what about the novels and official modules? The hidden secrets when the events about grand conjuction were published. Maybe now WotC is worldbuilding all the planet from the original Barovia in the material plane, maybe even the rest of the crystal sphere.

 

[Remathilis]

So it appears the theme of Dementieu is "illusion". The Duchess isn't really nobility, she is a poor girl masquerading as wealth. Everyone tells others that they are just "embarrassed millionaires" and not destitute, acting out as if they were rich. The domain beyond the city is a lie; people tell stories of towns and villas lost in the Mists. And anyone attempting to break the illusion meets a swift end.

I can see a lot of the old Dementieu there: the social status, the emphasis on spectacle, the society based on lies. The Darklord who demands others bow to their will. The big difference is that their is much less mind-control (esp with icky consent baggage) and the domain is focused on a much smaller area (both geographically and thematically).

What I'm disliking though is the lack of neutral space; areas where life isn't a fun house for evil. The western coast had a number of small domains that created a buffer for the larger horror areas. Places PCs could come from. I'm hoping some of that still exists.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Can you actually be fully human and come from the Shadowfell? Doesn't the fact of coming from the Shadowfell make you a shadow?

This is a fairly significant lore change from 2nd edition Ravenloft by making the domains more fully part of the Shadowfell rather than their own demiplane.

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.

-Book of the Raven

 

[Remathilis]

Can you actually be fully human and come from the Shadowfell? Doesn't the fact of coming from the Shadowfell make you a shadow?

This is a fairly significant lore change from 2nd edition Ravenloft by making the domains more fully part of the Shadowfell rather than their own demiplane.

-Book of the Raven

Debatable, but even if it didn't, the Shadowfell is still too otherworldly to be the neutral that say, Mordent or Invidia is. I'm hoping they keep some of the quieter domains to balance the fun house ones. Maybe Darkon due to it's size will work...