D&D 5E Everything We Know About The Ravenloft Book

Here is a list of everything we know so far about the upcoming Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft.

Art by Paul Scott Canavan​

• May 18th, 256 pages
• 30 domains (with 30 villainous darklords)
• Barovia (Strahd), Dementlieu (twisted fairly tales), Lamordia (flesh golem), Falkovnia (zombies), Kalakeri (Indian folklore, dark rainforests), Valachan (hunting PCs for sport), Lamordia (mad science)
• NPCs include Esmerelda de’Avenir, Weathermay-Foxgrove twins, traveling detective Alanik Ray.
• Large section on setting safe boundaries.
• Dark Gifts are character traits with a cost.
• College of Spirits (bard storytellers who manipulate spirits of folklore) and Undead Patron (warlock) subclasses.
• Dhampir, Reborn, and Hexblood lineages.
• Cultural consultants used.
• Fresh take on Vistani.
• 40 pages of monsters. Also nautical monsters in Sea of Sorrows.
• 20 page adventure called The House of Lament - haunted house, spirits, seances.

​

D&D 5E - Full Wraparound Cover Art For Ravenloft

We've seen the cover already, but here's a look at the full wraparound art by Anna Podedworna. https://www.enworld.org/threads/updated-with-cover-the-d-d-book-is-van-richtens-guide-to-ravenloft.678411/ https://www.enworld.org/threads/heres-the-ravenloft-alternate-cover.678414/...

www.enworld.org

D&D 5E - Here's the Ravenloft Alternate Cover!

As usual, there is an alternate hobby-store exclusive cover for the upcoming Ravenloft book. Here's a look at it! And here's the full wraparound art. https://www.enworld.org/threads/updated-with-cover-the-d-d-book-is-van-richtens-guide-to-ravenloft.678411/...

www.enworld.org

D&D 5E - [Updated with cover!] The D&D Book Is.... Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft!

Yesterday's hints that a new D&D book would be announced today have born fruit -- we now have a product description and a title! It's a Ravenloft setting book, with tools and new rules for horror-themed games, and new horror-themed character options. I'll update this post with a product image as...

www.enworld.org

 

[Remathilis]

No. You should literally never try to scare your players. You’re running a role-playing game, you’re not running a full-contact haunted house, nor are you a horror film director with a cast who hasn’t signed up to be in your film. Scaring the players at your table is not the goal of horror gaming.

Again, you're conflating a classic storytelling technique for something akin to full contact sports.

My example: a group was wandering around a house they felt was abandoned. It wasn't a horror game per se, but the adventure had a lot of atmosphere and tension. They wandered through the old farmhouse calling out hello, getting no response. All the while, I kept my voice low and measured. Once they were about to leave, they heard a voice shout "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE!!!" Which of course I shouted at them. It was a groundskeeper. They, of course, jumped a bit and one yelped. However, it's a trick they worked because it was unexpected and played on the tension in the scene. You couldn't make a campaign of that.

 

[Faolyn]

Way to not include relevant info in your original post.

It wasn't relevant. I was describing to what a jump scare in an RPG might be like Bedrockgames, who was wondering.

Oh, wait. You did...

So it’s not that you’ve learned better or realized it’s a bad idea...it’s that your knees can’t handle it anymore. Cool.

No, that was what's called a joke.

But again, you are jumping to a lot of conclusions about a lot of things, up to and including my relationships with my players.

 

[Charlaquin]

Scared is mostly used wrong in the context of horror. Scary movies don't actually scare people. They thrill, excite, surprise, disgust, titillate, etc. But they don't really scare, outside of fleeting jump scare moments...but that’s more of a surprise. Scared is when you think you're going to die. Scared isn't when you think something bad will happen to a fictional character. Scared is "thrown into or being in a state of fear, fright, or panic". I do not want the GM to scare me during a horror game, I don't want to fear for my life. I want the GM to thrill me, excite me, surprise me, disgust me, etc. Scared is incredibly bad. Thrilled, excited, surprised, disgusted, etc are all fun. Scared is fight or flight territory.

You’re conflating all fear with mortal fear. One can be scared without being scared for one’s life. I’ve certainly been “put into a state of fear, fright, or panic” while being well aware that my life isn’t in any real danger, and being put into such a state is often specifically what I want from horror media, including RPGs.

Like when people refer to everything as “awesome”. No, your coffee isn’t awesome. It doesn’t inspire awe. It’s not the grand canyon or the Mona Lisa. It’s good. It’s delicious. It isn’t awesome.

This is a separate issue. The meaning of awesome has changed through usage. That’s not really the case with the word scare or scared.

No, I haven’t. It’s just one example of scaring the players instead of the characters.

It was the only example you provided in your response to me of a thing you’d never met a player who wanted it out of an RPG. And I agree, I’ve never met a player who wanted jump scares. Jump scares are, at best good for a cheap adrenaline spike. They are generally not what people who enjoy horror media are after. Usually someone who plays a game wanting to get scared wants a lingering feeling of dread, not a fleeting moment of surprise.

 

[Bitbrain]

What is that thing!!!

Looks like some sort of mind flayer ghoul, if you ask me.

 

[JEB]

Looks like some sort of mind flayer ghoul, if you ask me.

99.9999999% certain it's a vampire mind flayer (which we know is going to be in the new book).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

This is exactly why it’s a fool’s errand (and actually dangerous) to try to scare the players. You don’t do that. You go for thrills, unsettling, unnerving, creepy, cognitive dissonance, etc. If you’re trying to scare your players in the jump scare and gore sense, you’re doing it wildly wrong. I’ve been part of games where the DM tried to scare the players. It ended...badly.

That's ridiculous. Most humans love to be scared. But they love it to happen when there is no actual threat. That's the whole point of ghost stories round the camp fire, horror novels, movies, fairground rides and horror role playing games.

Sure, it can be difficult to do, depending on the DM and the players, but if you aren't going to try then there is no point in Ravenloft.

Which I one of my issues with having a horror campaign setting. In my opinion, monsters should pretty much always be scary, and I will try to make them scary to my players in a normal game. So I wouldn't do something in Ravenloft that I wouldn't do in a regular game.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Scared is mostly used wrong in the context of horror. Scary movies don't actually scare people. They thrill, excite, surprise, disgust, titillate, etc. But they don't really scare, outside of fleeting jump scare moments...but that’s more of a surprise. Scared is when you think you're going to die. Scared isn't when you think something bad will happen to a fictional character. Scared is "thrown into or being in a state of fear, fright, or panic". I do not want the GM to scare me during a horror game, I don't want to fear for my life. I want the GM to thrill me, excite me, surprise me, disgust me, etc. Scared is incredibly bad. Thrilled, excited, surprised, disgusted, etc are all fun. Scared is fight or flight territory.

I mean... I think what most people responding to you are saying, it's totally ok to make people feel much like they do during a horror movie, as long as the players are cool with that.

Now you're just arguing as to what the definition of scared is. Which, who cares. Obviously some people like watching horror films. Some of those folks may also enjoy have the same feelings during a D&D game.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

If they think grabbing their players during a horror game is okay, that’s pretty clear they don’t run safe games.

You do realise there is a difference between a game with close friends and family, and with complete strangers?

Hence the whole "set boundaries in session zero" advice in the new book.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It’s not the grand canyon or the Mona Lisa.

The Mona Lisa is the world's most overrated painting.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I guess the creature from the picture about cosmic horror is the famous vampire illithid.

* When Ravenloft was published as setting internet hasn't arrived yet, and the first Resident Evil was far in the future, or the movie of Buffy vampire slayer, or Tom Cruise, Brad Pritt and Kristen Dunt in "Interview with a vampire". Today it is different, not only because adult young players are used to (survival horror) videogames, American Horror Story but the rich "fakelore" of creepypasta and the horror postcasts as the Magnus Files. We can't denny this recent mythology has to become a serious influence among the new generation of Ravenloft fandom. WotC shouldn't forbid those influences, but allowing space for the different styles.

* Why any people like to feel fear? I guess this helps us to inconsciently remember we are enoughly lucky enjoing a "boring" life and we haven't worry about our safety/security.

* Cosmic Horror is harder in D&D when the characters know there is a hell and a Heaven in the afterlife. Maybe your world, your solar system, is only dust lost among the void of the space, but there are supreme powers who worry about your soul.

* Horror roleplayers don't want "jumpscare" but defeat all that could fear. Some monsters from horror movies, for example C.H.U.D. (1984) in D&D aren't more dangerous than kobolds and goblings when the PCs have got enough weapons and item to defend themself. In the first movie "Alien, the 8th passenger" one was enough to kill almost all the Nostromo crew, but in the sequel dozens, maybe hundreds, could be killed from other room with sentinel torrets.

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