Wes Schneider Is the Product Lead for Ravenloft: The Horrors Within

Dire Bare said:

I would be very surprised if they reversed any of the lore changes from the previous book.

Also, I hope they don't! Personally, I appreciated the lore changes.

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I'm okay if they bring back the concept of the core and the Islands of Terror so it feels more like a cohesive setting that interacts with itself and makes old school fans happier.

For the dummies, is there a short version of what was changed regarding the lore before?

Van Richten's Guide was a disappointment to me. It wasn't even worth the $16 I paid for it on Amazon. Looked at it a couple times, then sent it to my FLGS for store credit.
It was just another designed by committee book with no theme, purpose, or unifying sense of quality.
Which is why it was priced to move at $16 on Amazon and why my FLGS ended up with an entire shelf of copies they couldn't move for years.

zottel said:

For the dummies, is there a short version of what was changed regarding the lore before?

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There’s probably too many to fully list in a short version but I’ll make an attempt:

1. The concept of a Core set of connected lands was done away with and each domain has become an island of terror.

2. Travel through the mists is achieved typically through a guide or a token from the domain you are traveling to.

3. Some of the darklords are changed, and their backstories updated. Examples: Adam is no longer the Darklord of Lamordia - it’s now Viktra Mordenheim, creator of the monster Elise. Dominic D’Honaire is no longer Darklord of Dementiieu - it’s now the Duchess Saidra D’Honaire who throws a grand Masquerade ball where she judges the aristocracy who attends. There are several more changes to Valachan, Sri Raji (now Kalakeri), Falkovnia, etc.

4. The domains are more tightly defined by the type of horror subgenre they represent. Domains that didn’t have a strong theme typically were changed to have one. Some domains were simply removed or destroyed, such as Sithicus due to the removal of Lord Soth (but who knows if that will stay the way it is…) There was a focus on getting more representation across genders and cultures in the mix. Sri Raji was completely rewritten by Ajit George to have a stronger South Asian inspiration.

There are certainly more changes in the lore of varying degrees. Obviously with changes like these, you will have people who run the gamut from very happy to very unhappy.

Remathilis said:

Wes has been doing good horror in ttrpgs since his days with Goodman Games. I'm absolutely comfortable with him being the standard bearer for Ravenloft.

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He got his start doing fan work on the Kargatane netbooks last century.

Retreater said:

Van Richten's Guide was a disappointment to me. It wasn't even worth the $16 I paid for it on Amazon. Looked at it a couple times, then sent it to my FLGS for store credit.
It was just another designed by committee book with no theme, purpose, or unifying sense of quality.
Which is why it was priced to move at $16 on Amazon and why my FLGS ended up with an entire shelf of copies they couldn't move for years.

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"I didn't like it" is a fine response to a D&D book.

But . . . that isn't the same thing as claims of no theme, purpose, or quality. The book had all of those things. Doesn't mean you have to like it, but hyperbole isn't useful.

All D&D books these days are designed by committee. Have been for quite some times, measured in decades. Personally, I don't think that's a bad thing. Depends on the committee I suppose.

Dire Bare said:

"I didn't like it" is a fine response to a D&D book.

But . . . that isn't the same thing as claims of no theme, purpose, or quality. The book had all of those things. Doesn't mean you have to like it, but hyperbole isn't useful.

All D&D books these days are designed by committee. Have been for quite some times, measured in decades. Personally, I don't think that's a bad thing. Depends on the committee I suppose.

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The committee I would like to see design this book is the Fraternity of Shadows website.

Just sign me up. I'll be getting all things horror and D&D. It's one of my many weaknesses. I just can't resist.

Wes years at Paizo were my favorite. Absolutely love Strange Aeons, Carrion Crown, and Rule of Fear.

Retreater said:

Van Richten's Guide was a disappointment to me. It wasn't even worth the $16 I paid for it on Amazon. Looked at it a couple times, then sent it to my FLGS for store credit.
It was just another designed by committee book with no theme, purpose, or unifying sense of quality.
Which is why it was priced to move at $16 on Amazon and why my FLGS ended up with an entire shelf of copies they couldn't move for years.

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My feelings are mixed. There was some good, new material - but the retconning was annoying and in most cases would have been better handled as new domains instead of "oh, this domain? It was always like that."

My favorite bits of the book was the Masquerade ball, Cyre 1313 and alt Falkovia domain - Cyre was new and the other two should have been new realms as well instead of changing the old. Hazlik's domain was one that surprised me most and its changes "clicked" in a way I could see me running an adventure there now, whereas in the past I would have avoided it.

To me the changes to Lamordia (Frankenstein-based) and Har'Akir were just bad, though in the latter Har'Akir has been constantly changing and remolding over Ravenloft's published lifetime.

Also, I do like the domains being depicted without fixed routes/connections to each other so the DM can arrange a core (or not) as they choose fit. To me, it creates an uncertainty that is appropriate to the land of mists, where the PCs don't have reliable control where a certain road out of a domain may take them ("Hans, I don't remember this trail leading to a valley - wasn't there a pond around here somewhere last time - y'know, the one with the reeds that tried to suck our blood dry?")