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

 

[Bedrockgames]

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).

This seems an odd distinction. I do see how you would differentiate between say Texas Chainsaw and Videodrome, but at the same time, Barker is someone I would say is also a body horror master, and his material definitely veers into bloody (but it evokes the same sense of horror surrounding the fragility and sudden transformation or revolution about the body).

 

[Rikka66]

This seems the WotC's goal is Ravenloft to become the most popular horror RPG, the "killer" of the rival titles.

No, it doesn't.

 

[overgeeked]

This seems the WotC's goal is Ravenloft to become the most popular horror RPG, the "killer" of the rival titles.

I don't agree. D&D isn't a horror game. D&D is a power fantasy game. The goals of those two styles are almost diametrically opposed (horror is disempowering; power fantasy is empowering; etc). It's way harder to do horror with D&D than it is with say Call of Cthulhu, Dread, Alien, Chill, Fear Itself, Vaesen, Zombie World, or any one of the dozens of dedicated horror games. You can do it, but it takes a lot more work. You almost have to undermine the core conceits of D&D to get it to work, but with the right group, player buy in, the right DM, and the right safety tools, you can do it. My guess is Ravenloft will be the devs bringing light horror into D&D. D&D with nastier monsters and more gore. I'm just hoping the safety tools they put in the book are good and they're followed.

You might actually like the "sanity" system presented in Free League's Alien RPG. It's more about stress than proper sanity loss, but it works really well. You could sort of port a similar idea over to D&D by marking failed rolls and using natural 1s to represent PCs being too scared or stressed to do anything that round, etc.

 

[darjr]

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Is Strand fighting with a lich? This should be Azalin, but I guess now the curse has been changed.

* An alien spaceship crashed (7:49)? It would be as "Horizon Event".

* There are serial killers in Ravenloft, but this tries to avoid the bloody horror.

* What about the twighlight elves and the half-vistani as PC races?

* Ravenloft is not 100% gothic horror, but a action-horror, with possible pieces of dark comedy if that is the DM's wish.

Ravenloft is different because this as D&D setting is designed to a relative high survival rate if we compare with other horror RPGs, where the creation of new PC can be very fast and simple because it may be necesasry. It is like Buffy vampire-slayer or Supernatural (not only the teleserie about the Winchester brothers, but all those animes of supernatural horror), where the heroes can defeat the most of monsters, but they can't save everyone, and some times some menaces are too powerful, only can be stopped for a time, at least to can be replaced by the next generation.

Sirius the Jaeger Wiki

sirius-the-jaeger.fandom.com

 

[eyeheartawk]

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.

Do you think WotC's goal is to kill the rival titles to make room for the return of a new dominant version of a universal/Modern D20 game? I feel like this is interesting and would like to know more of your thoughts on that matter.

 

[Faolyn]

* There are serial killers in Ravenloft, but this tries to avoid the bloody horror.

Bloody horror/gorn would involving showing or describing the death in gruesome detail. You can have a serial killer withut describing their murders that way. It's the difference between saying "a brutally eviscerated corpse" and talking about how the corpse's intestines are floating in an inch of blood.

* What about the twighlight elves and the half-vistani as PC races?

AFAICT, those elves are from 4e onwards and are described as being mechanically the same as wood elves.

Vistani are humans with a culture, and their abilities are no longer racial. So a half-Vistani would simply be a human, and whether they have any Vistani abilities would be up to the DM and player, based on how they grew up.

 

[darjr]

 

[Remathilis]

Vistani are humans with a culture, and their abilities are no longer racial. So a half-Vistani would simply be a human, and whether they have any Vistani abilities would be up to the DM and player, based on how they grew up.

I kinda wish they would give some rules on PC Vistani, insofar as handling any magical powers like the Evil Eye. A feat or something like a dragonmark would be great. They don't need a race, but I'd like something.

 

[Remathilis]

View attachment 136173

Oooh, now we'll be getting daily domains? Nice...