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+.

 

[BB Shockwave]

Why would Strahd want an heir? He is A: immortal, B: stuck forever in the Domains of Dark. He does not need an heir.
Looking at these characters on the cover just shows me how little this generation knows about classic Hammer and Universal horror movies, or the books that that inspired Ravenloft. Colorful weird people are likely to get burned as evil entities by the peasants long before they even meet Strahd. A Kenku can maybe pass themselves off as a Wereraven, but even those guys never go out in the open in hybrid form. And Orcs, dark Elves and literal hellspawn Tieflings? This would be a very short lived party there.

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

If your friend wants a real Sphinx familiar, you can do that now - Sphinxes of Wonder are exactly that.

So. I am going to guess: the cheerful Human is the one that succumbs to temptation and an Evil fate awaits her. The four other species find redemption. And this commentary on racism is the point of the novel.

Modern writing is so cliche now that I can always predict that if a movie has a straight white man - or sometimes woman - especially if they are rich, they are always revealed as the villain in the end. I started reading the synopsis of M3gan 2.0 and looked at the cast and already knew who the secret surprise villain will be.

Now, Ravenloft and the Haunted Mansion are both popular and fun, but expecting either to be a horror experience is unrealistic.

If you think Ravenloft is just a "skin" you put on basic 5E then clearly you never read the 2E original setting books.

What is drawing a lot of people into D&D is the fantasy of being whenever you want to be, looking like whatever you want to, and not encountering prejudice because of it. That includes pointy ears, furry feet, green skin, horns, tusks, tall, short etc etc etc.

It’s the cosmetic options that matter. A bunch of video games make most of their money by selling options that are purely cosmetic.

Race should not be a cosmetic option. It should define your character. If it is just a "skin" for you then that's the World of Warcraft style of "RPG" - if done right it should be like the Dragon Age Origins style of RPG where a Dwarf noble player would have completely different reactions from NPCs and party members than an Elf Mage.

BTW I provided these just as a fact-check, because someone else above said kenku had never been evil and your comment suggested that they've never been used as villains. They don't have an evil alignment in the books but their monster entries, which I quoted some of a little further back in the thread, sure have them doing some bad stuff (literally) 95% of the time.

Kenku are not really evil but also very much untrustworthy, and mostly operate as thieves and run black markets in cities. They are Chaotic Neutral so basically, trusting them is a very naive idea.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Why would Strahd want an heir?

It's a trap.

if a movie has a straight white man - or sometimes woman - especially if they are rich, they are always revealed as the villain in the end.

And the hero. And 99% of all the other characters in the movie.

If there is a character who isn't white or straight, they are probably a sidekick who dies tragically.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

Race should not be a cosmetic option. It should define your character. If it is just a "skin" for you then that's the World of Warcraft style of "RPG" - if done right it should be like the Dragon Age Origins style of RPG where a Dwarf noble player would have completely different reactions from NPCs and party members than an Elf Mage.

I played Origins and honestly, it is such a rare occurrence to have your race matters, it's honestly a joke. Origins was a good game, but is being held on a pedestal it doesnt' deserve.

And yes, "race" is just a skin because it is not possible for humans to conceive a truly inhuman perspective, hence why all "races" will never amount to more than humans with rubber foreheads.

If you think Ravenloft is just a "skin" you put on basic 5E then clearly you never read the 2E original setting books.

Oh yes, the books that could only manage a horror vibe by making every bad guy super overpowered so the PCs are never capable of affecting the status quo and every adventure is a railroad.

Why would Strahd want an heir?

Explained in Curse fo Strahd - he sometimes tries to find a way to pass his curse on a worthy heir to escape the mists, but he never can find an individual he trusts enough for it.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Oh yes, the books that could only manage a horror vibe by making every bad guy super overpowered so the PCs are never capable of affecting the status quo and every adventure is a railroad.

Plenty of the darklords were 0-level humans. They were hardly overpowered. But leaving that aside, "affecting the status quo" was never solely about whether you could kill a darklord or not.

Explained in Curse fo Strahd - he sometimes tries to find a way to pass his curse on a worthy heir to escape the mists, but he never can find an individual he trusts enough for it.

A terrible addition to that adventure that severely misunderstands Strahd's curse - it's tied to him! He can't pass it on! He could lose it by giving up on his obsession with Tatyana and understanding that his own sins but his arrogance won't let him do that. "Passing it on" is almost so antiethical to Ravenloft's themes I'm led back to the belief that the last person who understood Ravenloft as a setting departed Wizards twenty years ago.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The irony and tragedy in Ravenloft is even if the curses could be broken by means of the way of redemption the dark lords are too linked or hooked to their sins and flaws to leave their wrong paths. They themselves sabotage or ruin any chance of redemption, and rejecting such opportunities makes them even more monstrous.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

A terrible addition to that adventure that severely misunderstands Strahd's curse - it's tied to him! He can't pass it on! He could lose it by giving up on his obsession with Tatyana and understanding that his own sins but his arrogance won't let him do that. "Passing it on" is almost so antiethical to Ravenloft's themes I'm led back to the belief that the last person who understood Ravenloft as a setting departed Wizards twenty years ago.

Hence why it is literally stated he will never find an heir because he cannot find anyone worthy. I thought I made it very clear.

lenty of the darklords were 0-level humans. They were hardly overpowered. But leaving that aside, "affecting the status quo" was never solely about whether you could kill a darklord or not.

And everything else was still meaningless because each place was at mercy of Darklord whims and Darklords could not be removed either because if killed they'd just come back.