Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd Cover, Synopsis Revealed

The cover and synopsis for Penguin Random House's new Dungeons & Dragons novel has been revealed. This week, Penguin Random House revealed the official title and cover for Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd, a new novel by Delilah S. Dawson. The new novel is due for release in April 2025. The new novel follows a group of adventurers who arrive in Barovia under mysterious circumstances and are summoned to Castle Ravenloft to dine with the infamous Count Strahd. This marks the first Ravenloft novel released in 17 years.

Penguin Random House has slowly grown its line of novels over the past few years, with novels set in Spelljammer, Dragonlance, and the Forgotten Realms released over the last year. Characters from The Fallbacks novel by Jaleigh Johnson also appears in art in the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide.

The full synopsis for Heir of Strahd can be found below:

Five strangers armed with steel and magic awaken in a mist-shrouded land, with no memory of how they arrived: Rotrog, a prideful orcish wizard; Chivarion, a sardonic drow barbarian; Alishai, an embittered tiefling paladin; Kah, a skittish kenku cleric; and Fielle, a sunny human artificer.

After they barely survive a nightmarish welcome to the realm of Barovia, a carriage arrives bearing an invitation:

Fairest Friends,

I pray you accept my humble Hospitality and dine with me tonight at Castle Ravenloft. It is rare we receive Visitors, and I do so Endeavor to Make your Acquaintance. The Carriage shall bear you to the Castle safely, and I await your Arrival with Pleasure.

Your host,
Strahd von Zarovich

With no alternative, and determined to find their way home, the strangers accept the summons and travel to the forbidding manor of the mysterious count. But all is not well at Castle Ravenloft. To survive the twisted enigmas of Strahd and his haunted home, the adventurers must confront the dark secrets in their own hearts and find a way to shift from strangers to comrades—before the mists of Barovia claim them forever.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

Because I see greater value in diversity in how the settings play, and would hope that people can come around to that, instead of what I see as a homogenization of the settings over time as Wizards updates them for the current edition.

Why do we talk at all on this forum, if not to express our views, read others views, and hope to gain an understanding or be understood?

Except you are still for homogenization by trying to make everything ve dnd, when youshpuld just run Ravenyin Warhammer Fantasy.

Also, are people who complain that every single dnd setting isn't humanocentric anymore really claiming they stand for setting diversity now? The irony.

 

[Scribe]

Except you are still for homogenization by trying to make everything ve dnd, when youshpuld just run Ravenyin Warhammer Fantasy.

If Ravenloft, runs differently than Planescape, runs differently than Eberron, runs differently than Greyhawk, runs differently than Dragonlance, with differences in options, tone, and mechanics, that is not homogenization.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

If Ravenloft, runs differently than Planescape, runs differently than Eberron, runs differently than Greyhawk, runs differently than Dragonlance, with differences in options, tone, and mechanics, that is not homogenization.

Tand you sccomplish this by running thrm in different games.

Also one of demands thrown in this thread about how to PROPERLY run REAL Ravenloft was humanocentrism. Something a lot of old school crowd also demands of Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Mystara, Dark Sun, Forgotten Realms and every single other setting for dnd in fact. How is that diversity?

 

[Scribe]

Also one of demands thrown in this thread about how to PROPERLY run REAL Ravenloft was humanocentrism. Something a lot of old school crowd also demands of Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Mystara, Dark Sun, Forgotten Realms and every single other setting for dnd in fact. How is that diversity?

With modern D&D species having no culture, I'd argue that a humancentric setting is at no disadvantage in terms of diversity at all, with limitations on classes, species, and actually leaning into the cultures and religions of these settings, you could easily have more diversity than a few different funny hats.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

With modern D&D species having no culture, I'd argue that a humancentric setting is at no disadvantage in terms of diversity at all, with limitations on classes, species, and actually leaning into the cultures and religions of these settings, you could easily have more diversity than a few different funny hats.

Species were always just humans eith funny hats, developers just drew arbitrary lines about which are ok to play, which must be arbitrary rstricted and which are not. And Ravenloft in particular was bad at it, treating Vestsni, a ssnd in for real life Roma, as a different species like Elves.

 

[Scribe]

Species were always just humans eith funny hats, developers just drew arbitrary lines about which are ok to play, which must be arbitrary rstricted and which are not. And Ravenloft in particular was bad at it, treating Vestsni, a ssnd in for real life Roma, as a different species like Elves.

Well, we are talking about the market juggernaut, I expect better, not a continued decline into blandness.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

Well, we are talking about the market juggernaut, I expect better, not a continued decline into blandness.

It is better than generic bland party number #426 we were usually getting.

Btw, I jyst remembered, didn't people comlain the party from new Forgotten Realms novel looks boring and safe, looking like a grognard's nostalgic idea of a dnd party, rather than what people are playing? I'm starting to think this is a damned if you do, damnd if you don't situation.

 

[Scribe]

It is better than generic bland party number #426 we were usually getting.

Subjectivity is a thing.

Btw, I jyst remembered, didn't people comlain the party from new Forgotten Realms novel looks boring and safe, looking like a grognard's nostalgic idea of a dnd party, rather than what people are playing? I'm starting to think this is a damned if you do, damnd if you don't situation.

Which one? The kids?

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

...

 

[Not a Decepticon]

Which one? The kids?

The Fallbacks