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.

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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

 

[darjr]

Another!

 

[overgeeked]

Another!

For anyone having trouble seeing the quoted post...

 

[TheSword]

I must say I’m really looking forward to this book. It’s been a while since I wrote my own adventures and this feels like an amazing source to mine.

Heroic Maps and Seafoot Games have been sending me amazing maps for the last few years and I think this is just the time to start using them.

2 milestones per domain... one level for escaping and one for solving the mystery of that domain.

Should be fun.

 

[darjr]

https://dnd.wizards.com/products/van-richtens-guide-ravenloft

 

[Faolyn]

Her face became a giant thumb!

 

[TheSword]

Her face became a giant thumb!

An aging curse like in Howls Moving Castle could make for a good Ravenloft curse, with the players seeking to cure it.

My players would enjoy roleplaying aging fighters and bards. A bit like the film cocoon. Lol. I wouldn’t do it in the first domain or two but as a surprise out of nowhere?

 

[darjr]

Well we now know where the eyes came from.

 

[Remathilis]

 

[Bedrockgames]

I tend to think of body horror as stuff like shocking transformation of the body, violent changes to the body, parasitic infections of the body, sudden realization of the body's fragility (in some psychologically alarming way), loss of control of the body, etc

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Body Horror - TV Tropes

Welcome to the lovely land of Body Horror. Simply put, this is any form of Horror or squickiness involving body parts, parasitism, disfigurement, mutation, or unsettling bodily configuration, not induced by immediate violence. For example: Being …

tvtropes.org

The set "Magic the Gathering" has got some examples of Body Horror (Bloody Horror is different, and WotC want's to avoid it).

Yawgmoth

Yawgmoth (Phyrexian: wUDkmoDZ, IPA: [jɒʔgmoʔθ], lit. "Machine Father"), also known as The Ineffable to his servants and referred to as The Lord of the Wastes throughout Dominarian mythology, was the god and progenitor of the Phyrexian race. Originally human, in his early life he was a medical...

mtg.fandom.com

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This seems the WotC's goal is Ravenloft to become the most popular horror RPG, the "killer" of the rival titles. I wonder about if some 3PP will dare to create the ultimate sanity/madness system. The classic "you have just seen a cephalopode pokemon, you lose sanity" is not my tea of cup. I suggested something based in the one from Unknown Armies.