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.

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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

 

[Faolyn]

It improves on gender, but still seems suspect in terms of race and culture.

Well, fighting against invaders, becoming the thing you're fighting against, wanting disproportionate revenge against those who wronged you--those are fairly universal tropes.

 

[Remathilis]

So I've been "reading" the video @Ash Mantle posted as best I can. (On a laptop, its very readable.) Its taken a few hours to get through a 46 min video this way, but I've pulled some dread secrets from it.

Spoiler

1. Ivana Bortsi is a true no longer kills with her touch, but she is immune to poisons and an expect alchemist who can make poisons that mimic magical effects. She is physically ever youthful, which works in her favor with lovers but also means others don't take her seriously. Ivan Distiliya (sp) is an old decepit man who still thinks like a child and demands toys and amusement from others. He operates through letters that are magically delivered. The two dark lords are mirrors in some way (an old soul perpetually young, an old man with childlike tastes). Posion and politics are still big factors.
2.) Darkon is an apocalyptic wasteland since Azalin left, making the Requiem look like a summer day. The land itself is crumbling into the Mists, factions fight against each other, and anyone who dies rises up as an undead 24 hours later. But hey, no memory-curse anymore!
3.) Harkon Lucas is a werewolf and not a wolfwere. His origin is fairly unchanged, except he craves Fame and not Rulership. He only takes his male form now (sans monocle) but has family (esp his daughter) who mimics his appearance to boost their own fame. Kartakass is much more a lycanthrope domain, while the people are friendly and music is still important, they crave fame and admiration more than everything and passions boil over into werewolf attacks.
4.) Richetumont is a city under the effects of the Plague. It comes in waves and it's brought on by the rats. Jacqueline is the acting regent during this time, but she resents her life of luxery has been reduced to caring for commoners, so she doesn't do a good job of much but quarantining and leaving them to die. Actually, not true; she knows when the plague is over, she and her wererats will no longer be in power, so she does what she can to spread the plague and keep it going. Any connections to certain governments during certain recent pandemics are purely coincidence.
5.) Mordent is a land where everyone who dies there becomes a ghost, but Mordentish etiquette demands no one speak of it. Lord Godrey is using the Apparatus to try to find a way to end his afterlife and avoid his dead family. He uses ghostly spies to find interesting candidates to experiment on using the machine. All of which is a damn-sight more than he used to do. It's still a good "catch your breath" domain, but ghosts and incorporeal undead linger everywhere.

Those are just some of domains I read. I'll do more as time permits. Considering some of these topics have been discussed, I wanted to try to clarify things.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Maybe the monocle is the prequesite to can alter his shape. I guess it is like a picture with a model and you can change gender or race, but always the same face as "template", like an actor playing different characters with a little make-up.

The original Tsien Chiang was from Kara-Tur. It is strange the rebooted version talks about a golden dragon and not a "lung". This had got good reasons to stop teaching. That magic was too dangerous for something too blinded by the resentment and vengeanze, too close to fall in the "dark side of the Force". It was not only to defend her people, but to conquer and rule this fatherland. With that power she would become a new tyrant, and later her realm would try to conquer others. The dragon knew the cycle of death and war had to stop, and then the total reconciliation was necessary. Without this new wars would start in the future. Do you remember what happened when Anakin Skywalker tried to rescue his mother, kidnapped by the dune-raiders? Other point is maybe in some point of the future metaplot Tsien-Ching could find the redemption, being replaced as dark lady by other. The original Tsien Chiang could returns...but with a different name, and her daughter Nightingale as nemesis or punisher. A woman who summons Nightingale with a special ritual using a mirror, music and canddles will become the "host" of this spirit/kami or bisan(fey) for a year, at least (sometimes the target is a supernatural faction, for example shainji ruling tong), but Nightingale will punished who hurted or offended the female summoner (something like the feminist heroic (or anti-heroic/anti-villain) version of candyman or Bloodmary).

Being Human Wiki

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Penny Dreadful Wiki

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Monster and Slashers Wiki

Welcome to the most wondrous collection of the most absurd, frightening, crude, grotesque, and unnerving monsters ever to appear within the world of film. Be mindful that this Wiki does contain mature content and is not for the faint of heart or the impressionable. Also, there are spoilers...

monster-and-slashers.fandom.com

 

[Kobold Avenger]

However, WotC supposedly employed sensitivity consultants, and I don't think any of us are Chinese, so there could be something we are not understanding.

I obviously haven't read the whole entry so I don't have any opinion yet. I'm also born and raised in Canada, so I have different opinions from someone who comes from China. Things like Head Taxes and Exclusion Acts weigh more to me, than things like the Opium War or Dynasties such as the Qing or Yuan.

 

[Remathilis]

MORE? Ok...

Spoiler

Chaluna is a werepanther who challenged the former rule Von Karhov and WON. He isn't a vampire, but more of an evil T'Challa

Nova Vaasa is a soliders domain, and Myra (not Tristan) is a fierce warrior whose bloodlust split her into a noble leader and a savage hunter, Malken

Souragne is a prison, not a plantation, and Anton was Warden. Still has the swampy zombie element.

Gabrielle Addire is Rosemary's Baby/The Omen; a devoted mother who in convinced (manipulated) by her son that he is destined for greatness and nothing and no one will get in his way, even if she means to kill to do it. No references to the Vistani that I saw...

 

[Faolyn]

I'm not quite thrilled with the changes that make it so everyone who dies in Darkon or Mordent becomes undead. It kind of makes the horror less... special, in a way. More of an inevitability to be resigned to than a dread of something that may or may not happen.

 

[Remathilis]

I'm not quite thrilled with the changes that make it so everyone who dies in Darkon or Mordent becomes undead. It kind of makes the horror less... special, in a way. More of an inevitability to be resigned to than a dread of something that may or may not happen.

Mordent is a little more subtle; many of the spirits go about their day Invisible to the normal population, but Modentis are careful what they say of do because grandma could literally be watching. A good way to simulate regency, IMHO.

As for Darkon, they burn the bodies and move on. It's the least of their worries...

 

[Bedrockgames]

This could possibly be helped by including an Index in the books.

An index doesn't really fix the problem though. if the players go to a location and you need to look it up on the fly, the longer entry, the harder it is to sift through the info. If each area is a paragraph or two, that is a lot easier to grab during a session than if it is five pages

 

[M.L. Martin]

So I've been "reading" the video @Ash Mantle posted as best I can. (On a laptop, its very readable.) Its taken a few hours to get through a 46 min video this way, but I've pulled some dread secrets from it.

Thanks for the information. It sounds decidedly more over-the-top than I'm looking for, among other things.

 

[Eubani]

I find only two sub classes (and of course they are both for spell casters) and no feats to be a bit half assed. More stat blocks fore NPC's would of been useful as well.