Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd Review

Like many Ravenloft tabletop adventures, five adventurers are plucked from the realms by the mists to find themselves in Barovia. As usual, Strahd sends one of his minions to invite the newcomers to his castle to enjoy his hospitality, a.k.a. for Strahd to mess with their minds and tempt them.

The characters are:

• Rotrog: An arrogant Orc wizard apprentice
• Kah: A shy Kenku cleric from Waterdeep
• Fielle: A cheerful human artificer from Baldur’s Gate
• Alishai: A moody, hot-tempered Tiefling paladin to Selune
• Chivarion: A good-natured Drow barbarian with a hairless tressym named “Murder” as his pet.

Over the course of the novel, you discover that each one was taken when they were faced with a terrible choice or were poised to take an awful action. That sets the stage for the crux of the novel—which character(s) will succumb to either Strahd’s temptations and/or the malevolent energy of Barovia, embracing their darkest impulses.

Should You Buy It?​

I found Heir to Strahd interesting because while it presented elements of Barovia that Ravenloft players and DMs will be very familiar with, not everything was what I had expected, even though I’ve GM’d Ravenloft adventures. The spirit of Tatyana most notably was presented in a way I did not expect based on the prior information I had read.

I don’t want to explain too much about Tatyana, and how she factors into the plot because it could ruin the mystery of who falls prey to the darkness to become the titular character. I will say that I suspected the doomed character at first, then talked myself out of it, assuming it was a feint to distract from another option. A later character reveal reinforced my original suspicion, but I still thought there might be a twist to go in the another direction. There wasn’t but instead of being unsatisfying, the ending makes me eager for a sequel.

Regardless of how one feels about the mystery and certain aspects of the ending, this Ravenloft novel can be very useful for anyone thinking of DMing an adventure set in Barovia. Dawson, the author of a few Star Wars novels and several fantasy novels, not only sets the tone very well for Barovia but also shows how Strahd could be played by a DM. The audiobook in particular showcased how even a simple conversation with Strahd can be equal parts charming and sinister.

For those who like or prefer audiobooks, the narration by Ellie Gossage was very good. It’s also available in hardcover and ebook editions.

Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd: B+.

 

[MuhVerisimilitude]

Just wanted to say that I love the cover.

 

[LazarusKane]

Althought I have to agree with most of the review I would only give the book a D, maybe a D+ at most. Why? None of the protagonists seem like real persons to me, they were very one-dimensional, more like (bad) actors trying (and failing) to act in a movie with a moderately well written basic script.

 

[doctorhook]

Something about the cover bugs me; maybe it’s that they’re all posing while casting spells? Or maybe it’s that only one character is a traditional D&D PC species and I’m a stick in the mud who liked the old ways? Or maybe it’s just that that lady is definitely gonna drop that potion she’s holding

 

[Henadic Theologian]

The voice acting was great.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Haven't read it and haven't read good things about it, but I will say that the particular blend of races and classes in this book's adventuring party really reflects my experience with contemporary D&D, in a good way. Lots of players pick classes and races that are a bit contradictory (like tiefling paladin or orc wizard) and it's fun to have a "monstrous" PC race like a kenku be part of the main cast instead of a sidekick like Dragonbait.

EDIT: Also one of the players in my game owns a sphinx cat and plays a wizard with a tressym familiar and they're going to be over the moon when I tell them that hairless tressyms are now canon

 

[Not a Decepticon]

Something about the cover bugs me; maybe it’s that they’re all posing while casting spells? Or maybe it’s that only one character is a traditional D&D PC species and I’m a stick in the mud who liked the old ways? Or maybe it’s just that that lady is definitely gonna drop that potion she’s holding

The other dnd novel published recently and new dnd comic has more traditional dnd party- the Fallbacks, where token Tiefling Bard is most unusual character alongside more tradiional class+species combinations.

Of course, people called that party lineup boring, I guess you cannot please everyone

 

[pukunui]

Something about the cover bugs me; maybe it’s that they’re all posing while casting spells? Or maybe it’s that only one character is a traditional D&D PC species and I’m a stick in the mud who liked the old ways? Or maybe it’s just that that lady is definitely gonna drop that potion she’s holding

What bugs me about the cover is they all look far too cheerful for people who’ve just been dumped into Barovia.

 

[nyvinter]

The Barovian gloom and doom hasn't set in yet.

 

[Prof_Dogg]

How is this book horrific?