D&D 5E (2024) Ravenloft: The Horrors Within preorder page lists the book's contents

Paul Farquhar · 2026-04-18T10:08:01+0100

QuentinGeorge said:
Yes, and you know people are talking about the campaign setting, not the two modules. (The second which doesn't even sync up with the first one, let alone the later setting). But you are persisting with this for some reason.

Where do you think the original adventure was set?! It wasn't Greyhawk! You are doing the equivalent of claiming the 5.5 Starter Set invented the Borderlands, or Wookipedia invented the Star Wars universe! Ravenloft invented Strahd, the eponymous castle, the land of Barovia, the Mists, Madam Eva and Tarokka (including the original art). Gryphon Hill added Mordentshire, Azlin, and the nightmare nature of the land.

It's not unusual for settings to first be described in adventures. Krynn was first described in DL1, and didn't get a setting book until 3 years later. More recently Radiant Citadel did the same.

The 2nd edition boxed set was a half-assed attempt to convert the existing AD&D Horror setting into a Call of Cthulhu and World of Darkness competitor at the time when those games where threatening to overtake AD&D.

I know all this because I was there.

Mecheon · 2026-04-18T12:54:16+0100

Also let's be brutally honest here: The original Ravenloft kind of carries the system. There's a reason they trialed bringing it back by just redoing the original adventure all over again

I have a Strahd Lego minifig on my desk for a reason. Other Darklords don't that recognition.

BB Shockwave · 2026-04-18T14:32:33+0100

TravDoc42 said:
I found the art here! And I agree, the Relentless killers were my faves from the 2021 book, so I'm excited for this update!!

Thanks a lot, that is an useful site!
They have a picture of the new DM screen as well there.

New Ravenloft: The Horrors Within DM Screen Unveiled

We take a closer look at the new Dungeon Master’s screen that's being released as a tie-in to the upcoming Ravenloft: The Horrors Within D&D supplement.

dungeonsanddragonsfan.com

M.L. Martin · 2026-04-18T15:01:54+0100

Paul Farquhar said:
Where do you think the original adventure was set?! It wasn't Greyhawk! You are doing the equivalent of claiming the 5.5 Starter Set invented the Borderlands, or Wookipedia invented the Star Wars universe! Ravenloft invented Strahd, the eponymous castle, the land of Barovia, the Mists, Madam Eva and Tarokka (including the original art). Gryphon Hill added Mordentshire, Azlin, and the nightmare nature of the land.

Distinguo: I6 has the choking fog, but not the Mists as the setting would develop them. And while the card reading is part of the module, the Tarokka and art don't appear until 1992's Forbidden Lore.

Here's what I6 has to say about Barovia:

I6 Ravenloft said:
A perpetual rolling blackness of thunderclouds casts a gray pall over the land. The darker silhouette of Castle Ravenloft looks over the valley from its 1,000 foot pillar of rock.
Castle Ravenloft dominates the small village of Barovia. The castle stands high atop a natural pillar of rock against the cliffs to the north of the village. The dark Svalich woods surround the village and cliffs. Use Map 1 to see the relative locations of the town and Castle Ravenloft.
The road to the village and lands of Barovia goes through ancient iron gates, controlled by the will of Count Strahd. There are only two gates, one east of the village and one west of the castle crossroads up the mountain. The gates open when the PCs arrive but close after they enter Barovia. The gates will not open for the PCs again until Strahd is destroyed.
There is a deathly stillness in the dark Barovian woods. Yet the woods are patrolled constantly by the wolves and serving beasts of Count Strahd.
No one has left Barovia for centuries. This is because of the trapping fog that exists everywhere in Barovia. Once it is breathed,it infuses itself around a character's vital organs as a neutralized poison. The fog does not taste or smell any different than normal fog. It does not harm characters as long as they continue to breathe the air in Barovia. However, when they leave Barovia, the poison becomes active. Characters must save vs. poison or start to choke. Unless choking characters reenter Barovia within 24 hours, they die. The choking stops as soon as they breathe the fog again.
The gypsies were given a potion by Strahd that cancels the effects of the fog. This potion is jealously guarded by Madam Eva, who buried it in a secret place. It is impossible for the PCs to discover the potion. The fog is magically produced by Strahd and disappears entirely upon his destruction.
The poor villagers of Barovia have been terrorized for centuries by "the devil" Strahd. Only the town priest and the few survivors of the second ruling house of Barovia have the will to offer more than just personal resistance to Strahd. No villager has left Barovia for centuries. Those who tried never returned, dying from the vile snapping teeth of the Barovian wolves and the choking deadly fog.

The adventure starts "in an old inn, a few hours march east of the gates of Barovia."

I6 is a setting to the same degree as the Keep on the Borderlands is a setting, IMO. Claiming it's a distinct campaign milieu in the same way as Greyhawk or the 2E iteration is, IMO, an equivocation.

I think it was to account for I6 that the Black Box included the concept of conjunctions:

Paul Farquhar said:
The 2nd edition boxed set was a half-assed attempt to convert the existing AD&D Horror setting into a Call of Cthulhu and World of Darkness competitor at the time when those games where threatening to overtake AD&D.

I know all this because I was there.

Given that the setting launched a year before Vampire: The Masquerade, I think your timeline and reasoning is a bit off.

QuentinGeorge · 2026-04-18T15:36:34+0100

M.L. Martin said:
Distinguo: I6 has the choking fog, but not the Mists as the setting would develop them. And while the card reading is part of the module, the Tarokka and art don't appear until 1992's Forbidden Lore.

Here's what I6 has to say about Barovia:

The adventure starts "in an old inn, a few hours march east of the gates of Barovia."

I6 is a setting to the same degree as the Keep on the Borderlands is a setting, IMO. Claiming it's a distinct campaign milieu in the same way as Greyhawk or the 2E iteration is, IMO, an equivocation.

I think it was to account for I6 that the Black Box included the concept of conjunctions:

View attachment 434930

Given that the setting launched a year before Vampire: The Masquerade, I think your timeline and reasoning is a bit off.

Ravenloft was an answer to CoC, yes, but as you points out above, here nothing to do with VtM (VtM might be influenced by Ravenloft, not the other way around), regardless of who was "there".

Paul Farquhar · 2026-04-18T17:50:46+0100

QuentinGeorge said:
Ravenloft was an answer to CoC, yes, but as you points out above, here nothing to do with VtM (VtM might be influenced by Ravenloft, not the other way around), regardless of who was "there".

I’ll concede that one. I guess they were both tapping in to the same early 90s floppy haired edgy angsty goth vibe.