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

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

A

At least one.

Who? Who's saying you can't scare people with their consent? Link to them. Quote them.

People love being scared with their consent. It's the basis of horror movies and haunted houses and, yes, games.

When you decide to do it to people who aren't up for it, though, you are at best a creep and at worst, in jail.

 

[Necrozius]

People love being scared with their consent. It's the basis of horror movies and haunted houses and, yes, games.

When you decide to do it to people who aren't up for it, though, you are at best a creep and at worst, in jail.

Yeah I don't see what's so hard to understand about this.

If the GM sells me on a campaign based on one mood, theme or Film Rating (G to X), I'd expect them to stick with it. I like surprises, within reason, but I don't want an Army of Darkness campaign to suddenly veer into A Serbian Film without warning.

 

[Kurotowa]

Yeah I don't see what's so hard to understand about this.

If the GM sells me on a campaign based on one mood, theme or Film Rating (G to X), I'd expect them to stick with it. I like surprises, within reason, but I don't want an Army of Darkness campaign to suddenly veer into A Serbian Film without warning.

Man, I've been in a few campaigns where the GM wanted to pull a bait and switch where the campaign premise took a massive twist in the first few sessions. Every single time it miserable failure. Those sort of things can work in a movie, where it's surprising and subverting, but a TTRPG isn't a movie. The players are way more invested in their characters and the amount of work and forethought they put into preparing them for the campaign.

I mean, sometimes you look back at where you were 8 months ago and marvel at how the campaign has evolved. But that's a natural progression over time, one that has a lot of player input into how to goes. The "sudden massive reveal that changes everything" just doesn't work very well in this medium.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I mean, sometimes you look back at where you were 8 months ago and marvel at how the campaign has evolved. But that's a natural progression over time, one that has a lot of player input into how to goes. The "sudden massive reveal that changes everything" just doesn't work very well in this medium.

It's got to be in-genre, for one thing.

The king turns out to be the archvillain in disguise? That's a good twist.

You live in a society of murder-happy cannibals the DM failed to mention before you started play? (This one actually happened to me.) Not a good twist.

 

[Kurotowa]

It's got to be in-genre, for one thing.

The king turns out to be the archvillain in disguise? That's a good twist.

You live in a society of murder-happy cannibals the DM failed to mention before you started play? (This one actually happened to me.) Not a good twist.

There's a lot of variables at play. How sudden, how in-genre, how much it changes the game. The one I still remember is the sci-fi campaign that the GM sold as a fairly cyberpunk setting with lots of factional intrigue all swirling around the first experimental interstellar spaceship that we were to be part of the crew. Then in the first session it turned out he wanted to run a Homeworld ripoff, blew up the Earth, and sent us packing with a ship full of the last refugee survivors of humanity. And it's like, I might have been perfectly happy to play that campaign, but that's not what I'd designed my PC to be about.

 

[Remathilis]

Players need to invest.

I had a DM who loved Planescape. Ever so often, he'd try to create a new campaign with party of players on some prime world, and a session later shunt if off into Sigil. The game would die 1d4 sessions later. Then, one time he offered to allow us to play native planars or primes starting off in Sigil. That game went over 2 solid years and is regarded fondly by the players.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There's a lot of variables at play. How sudden, how in-genre, how much it changes the game. The one I still remember is the sci-fi campaign that the GM sold as a fairly cyberpunk setting with lots of factional intrigue all swirling around the first experimental interstellar spaceship that we were to be part of the crew. Then in the first session it turned out he wanted to run a Homeworld ripoff, blew up the Earth, and sent us packing with a ship full of the last refugee survivors of humanity. And it's like, I might have been perfectly happy to play that campaign, but that's not what I'd designed my PC to be about.

I would argue that cyberpunk and "last survivors of Earth" aren't the same genre, even if they both exist under the broad umbrella of "sci-fi."

If you design a character for Wall-E and your DM decides you're actually playing Event Horizon, they've pulled an out-of-genre bait and switch.

On the other hand, if you design a character for Alien and then your DM decides you're playing Event Horizon, it's a twist, but it's still in-genre.

 

[Necrozius]

Those sort of things can work in a movie, where it's surprising and subverting

For sure! There are great examples of this (Tarantino and Rodriguez' special film that went from gritty crime heist to something ELSE halfway through). I've also read a book or seen a movie that was very whimsical and light-hearted but with a super tragic ending (which was so poignant specifically because of the subtle overlap of nostalgia and sadness).

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

So, when people come over to your house to play a game for fun, your goal is to make sure they understand the full awful reality of life?

So you think FUN is not to read/look/play anithing about orrible things of life?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

For sure! There are great examples of this (Tarantino and Rodriguez' special film that went from gritty crime heist to something ELSE halfway through).

Even more famous than that example is Psycho, which only turns into a slasher film around the halfway mark. Prior to that, it's kind of a noir movie about a woman stealing from her employer and trying to get out of town before the cops catch her.

In RPG terms, though, the player characters in both Psycho and From Dusk Til Dawn are well prepared to handle the stuff on the far side of the big twist.