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Making that promise explicit was half the mistake--the other half was making the changes too obvious. 3E and 5E kept or brought back enough chrome and surface features to disguise the underlying differences until people were already invested in the game. :) But I think there was a...

The quote in question appears to be from Logan Bonner's comments on skills in Wizards Presents: Races and Classes, p. 68.

Given that this book had a cultural consultant, does it include any notes about the fact that Asmodeus is a demon in a book (Tobit) held as Sacred Scripture by a majority of the world's Christians, and his use and portrayal in D&D may seem inaccurate or misguided to some?

Good. I'm still not buying the product for a host of reasons, but at least they managed to avoid that misstep.

He claims to be summarizing, and the other spoilers match what other sources have said ...

They defined the Dark Powers.

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

And immediately follows it with "His exact appearance in each race and gender is always the same, however, and is determined by greater powers." RA1 Feast of Goblyns confirms that "Unlike most wolfweres, Harkon Lukas is cursed by the Dark Powers of Ravenloft. Because of this curse, he always...

Ah, but ever since the original setting, it's been stated that while Harkon can choose race (presumably in D&D sense) and gender, his exact appearance in each form is fixed. RA1 Feast of Goblyns even has him resorting to a magical item to get around this. Well, there is this illustration:

The important question is ... can monks Suplex the engine? :)

I only just noted that the last page of the book is a 'spirit board.' Was Jack Chick only forty years ahead of his time? :)

Everything I'm seeing suggests that they're taking out a lot of the elements I liked (classic monster archetypes, the Gothic atmosphere, the moral underpinnings of the setting, the product aesthetics), doubling-down on elements I didn't like (the real-world fortunetelling elements, the...

This arguably reflects the broader change in D&D's philosophy from TSR--"D&D as a way to do all sorts of fantasy adventure stories"--to WotC--"D&D as its own unique genre and multiverse."

We all float down here in Ra5Enloft. :)

I think Hazlik’s sexuality was first floated on the Ravenloft mailing list in the mid-90s by one of the designers, and fans sort of picked it up and ran with it. Sadly, my archives of the list are in a format I can't unpack right now.

I expect this is because it's the traditional date of the Crucifixion, and the Comedy definitely takes place over the Easter Triduum (although Good Friday in 1300 fell on April 8th; Dante wasn't a stickler for details like that, it seems). It's also the date of the Annunciation, since Christ is...

It's entirely possible I was wrong; it was just the impression I got from a brief flip-through. But WotC hasn't produced anything I've really enjoyed for nearly a decade, and everyone in the D&D space seems united in telling me that whatever makes 'real' or 'good' D&D, it's not for me, so I...

This, but I think it will be called '6th Edition' or '50th Anniversary Edition'--I think the '3.5' nomenclature backfired on WotC back in the day, and they won't want to market something along those lines again. I also expect it will incorporate the changes in gaming/corporate culture from...

I glanced at it about a year ago and got the impression of strong nostalgia for the days of the Satanic Panic and the 'edgy and dangerous' feel ascribed to the game in that era. It's one of many reasons I'm skeptical of WotC's direction for the game.

What I'd like: Reprint the Rules Cyclopedia. What I expect: 6th Edition