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+.

 

[Scribe]

The argument was that "this generation" should be specifically vibing with Universal Studios and Hammer Films monster movies when it comes to Ravenloft. Monster movies and horror films are (so far) eternal, but this:


Is not the same as this:


Tone, content, sound mixing (oy, Hammer, what were you thinking with that trailer?) and other tastes evolve over time.

I don't know. I'm just not a fan of changing something to chase an audience. If it has to change, then it's not Ravenloft that survived, as it's no longer Ravenloft.

 

[Distracted DM]

I'm not sure why they should be interested in B-movies their grandparents or even great grandparents cared about.

It's definitely an academic/passion thing- you can't expect everyone to want to learn the history of the hobby. I started playing DnD with 2e in the 90s, but I never gave more than a glance at the history/provenance of DnD until it became something of a passion much later in the mid-2010's. I was playing TTRPGs of all sorts for almost 20 years but didn't care much about how TSR fell, how Gygax got started, what Blackmoor was, White Dwarf and the UK TSR stuff, etc. At best I collected some old Dragon magazines cuz they were fun to read through.

I look at being interested in hammer horror etc. that helped inspire the products we have now (Curse of Strahd etc) in much the same way. If someone's very passionate about it, they might go diving into the Appendix N... but otherwise, it's not reasonable to expect folk to research what originally inspired the products that they're enjoying now decades down the road.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't know. I'm just not a fan of changing something to chase an audience. If it has to change, then it's not Ravenloft that survived, as it's no longer Ravenloft.

Well, it's corporate-owned IP. I think it's more likely they're going to keep it in print and sell it to contemporary audiences than put it in a museum somewhere.

 

[Scribe]

Well, it's corporate-owned IP. I think it's more likely they're going to keep it in print and sell it to contemporary audiences than put it in a museum somewhere.

But what if neither needs to happen?

Are we saying that the setting could not tell stories and remain true to what it was? I just dont see how that can be.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Are we saying that the setting could not tell stories and remain true to what it was? I just dont see how that can be.

Creating something for the contemporary audience that enjoys fantasy horror will almost certainly look different than the campy Hammer horror films of the 1950s through the mid 1970s. In fact, strongly correlating it to those old films will almost certainly set off alarm bells in-house, as that's just not what current horror is about.

This doesn't have to be a bad thing: I think the Bag Man from Van Richten's was almost universally hailed as a great, spooky new Ravenloft monster. But thematically, it has much more in common with movies like the Babadook or the Conjuring than it does The Satanic Rites of Dracula.

 

[Tonguez]

I'm not sure why they should be interested in B-movies their grandparents or even great grandparents cared about.

If Ravenloft is going to survive as an ongoing franchise that sells to audiences in the 21st century, it can't be because the audience are all familiar and enthusiastic about movies that were released before even OD&D was.

While I can sympathise and generally agree with that position, I dont think my issue with this books is an audience issue but rather an issue of Authorial choice. As the example of Frankenstein above and the recent Nosferatu remake show there is an audience for Hammer style Gothic horror-action. The Curse of Stradh in particular is a core Gothic romance and the crowning jewel of the Ravenloft setting.

This author has chosen to ignore the gothic sensibilities that built the product and insert a new voice, that might well be based on what new players like, but does it have to? Why not create a new setting to showcase the new sensibilities?

Why not leave Curse of Stradh as a gothic romance in a humanocentric setting and write it as such

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This author has chosen to ignore the gothic sensibilities that built the product and insert a new voice, that might well be based on what new players like, but does it have to? Why not create a new setting to showcase the new sensibilities?

Because they're trying to sell Ravenloft to new players. The 13 year old who picks up this book was 4 years old when Curse of Strahd came out.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

This author has chosen to ignore the gothic sensibilities that built the product and insert a new voice, that might well be based on what new players like, but does it have to? Why not create a new setting to showcase the new sensibilities?

Because maybe a setting that wants to exist for people to play games in should be more than one note?

 

[Tonguez]

Because they're trying to sell Ravenloft to new players. The 13 year old who picks up this book was 4 years old when Curse of Strahd came out.

Yet they're directly referencing it in Heir of Stradh, they could have gone and done Heir of Nosferatu and done whatever story they wanted to or based the story in Lamordia and gone full steampunk

Because maybe a setting that wants to exist for people to play games in should be more than one note?

Yeah Ravenloft already has a whole lot of alternative places for people to play in without having to keep bringing out Stradh and Barovia. Its like they only have one story that needs to keep being told

 

[Scribe]

Because they're trying to sell Ravenloft to new players. The 13 year old who picks up this book was 4 years old when Curse of Strahd came out.