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

 

[Disgruntled Hobbit]

It's worth remembering that even when old lore was new lore, lots of people hated it. In Dragonlance, the 'new' War of Souls lore is so old that it's closer in real-world time to the 'old' 1980s War of the Lance lore than it is to now, and is older than a large percentage of the modern D&D player base. And in Greyhawk, jeez. If you're adhering to the old lore, do you stick to the old 1992 From the Ashes continuity which was so hated at the time? And do you respect the lore from the clown-shoes original Castle Greyhawk module which was written as a middle finger to Gygax as he left TSR, or the more serious retcon later on in Greyhawk Ruins? Sometimes old lore was just bad. Did anyone like Dark Sun MORE after the Prism Pentad blew up the setting? Retconning half the original 2e DS line and winding the timeline back to post Kalak is one of the few things in DS 4e that got almost universal approval.

From what I've seen in the previews and compared with the Ravenloft fan wikia, more seems to have changed than remained the same
Means the answer is apparently to not pick between existing versions and just start fresh, dumping anything the author's dislike but keeping the names

I look forward to a Dragonlance book about the War of the Lance. Which is, of course, the war against the Dragon Overlords, led by Malystryx, and their allies the Chaospawn and the Skull Knights of Neraka
The heroes must search across the continent to find the missing components required to force the mighty Dragonlances before the Overlords finish corrupting the land and turning innocent people into dragonspawn

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

My point is it is a mistake and an uncharitable reading to see that as the message (or as the only possible one). I don't think in 1991, when this was written, they were at all thinking about the things people say they were. They were making a character who lived in a society that valued masculinity and was shamed by that society by giving him tattoos only women wore in that culture. To me that sounds more like the experience of a man who grows up in say a culture where football and sports are valued, who isn't physically strong and is bullied and emasculated by his peers (it is just done with a lot more panache and style here). They do storylines like this because people can identify with them, and it gives a sense of justification to the tragic villainy and rage. And that could be read through a lens of gay rights or queer rights too, but I don't think the message was intending to say he was bad because he transgressed some line from masculine or feminine.

This is the one and only reasonable interpretation. The rest are overinterpretations, in my opinion. Hazlik is driven to evil by society.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Content in media does not equal message. This cannot be said enough.

No matter how many times it is said, it will always be

A LIE.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't think they used that language to cover their butts, they used that language to make it explicitly not about race.

No, direct references to slavery are removed for the same reason they no longer include nudity in illustrations: In order to make it "PG".

 

[Davies]

All four endings involve Van Richten dead or trapped in Bleak House.

In at least one of them, though, it was implied that he would be back eventually. Apparently, it's eventually.

 

[Tonguez]

Good news: Valachan explicitly states Von Kharkov WAS the old ruler, and that Chakuna kills him to replace him as lord. Chakuna was a rebellion leader who grew tired of being hunted by Von Kharkov so he hunted the hunter and in doing so his cruelty gave him the darklord status (he also has Von Kharkov's heart; literally).

Now what VGR doesn't do is spell out who exactly VK was. Gone is the explicit ties to Faerun, the panther-turned-man-turned-vampire, or the white flu.

So does no White Fever mean no Nosferatu?

One conception I had to improve Valachan was to make the WerePanthers and the Nosferatu rivals.
In Northern Valachan Von Khakov is leader of the nation who worship a panther god. Each year the youth draw lots to determine who will be hunted as sacrifice.
Eventually Von Khakov becomes infatuated with Nadia but on the next hunt discovers that the chosen sacrifice is Nadia herself. In defiance of the gods Von Khakov refuses to kill her and instead takes her back to Castle Pantara thus causing a schism between himself and the priesthood (led by Felkovic). (Felkovics Cat adventure, rivalry between Werepanthers and Folk Priesthood)

Nadia however because sick with supposedly as a curse for his defiance of the gods. The real source of the White Fever is Doctor Antianetta Despinni-Hoyer an Elder Nosferatu who has seized on the chance to create her own territory in Southern Valachan (and charmed the Mayor of Ungrad as her new pawn). She initially offers to help cure Nadia, until the reality of her intentions are revealed. (Price of Revenge adventure, rivalry between Werepanthers and Nosferatu)

Valachan now has 3 rival factions, 2 classic monsters (3 with cultist), a sympathetic Darklord plus the FunGeist from Price of Revenge

 

[Remathilis]

So does no White Fever mean no Nosferatu?

Correct. Again, I don't have the book yet, but from what I was able to make out, they don't dwell on Von Kharkov or his abilities, except to set up Chakuna. It is probably possible to have that have been a part of the past, but the domain under Chakuna is not a vampire domain.

 

[Bedrockgames]

No, direct references to slavery are removed for the same reason they no longer include nudity in illustrations: In order to make it "PG".

Possibly, it was 2E. I was talking about there not being mention of it in DoD, not in the new stuff. I don't know what the thinking was there to be honest (in the past I have speculated on reasons for things like that before but then been informed by one of the designers I was totally wrong, and was frankly surprised how little the TSR codes impacted Ravenloft at that time when they told me about it). Ravenloft in the 90s was probably best described not as PG, but as light R (it could get very suggestive, it could get into territory you wouldn't see in a PG or even PG-13 movie) but it wasn't graphic

 

[Bedrockgames]

No matter how many times it is said, it will always be

A LIE.

It isn't a lie. If I have a man hitting a woman in a movie, that isn't an endorsement of domestic abuse or abuse of women. What I am saying when I say this is the message isn't often simple. Sometimes things are there for story reasons, sometimes they are there to reflect reality, sometimes it is just done with a sense of irony or dark humor. Characters behaving in bad ways doesn't mean writers or filmmakers are saying bad things or that you are meant to take that into the world in do bad things (often it is the opposite). But the way people hash over content now, it feels more like a children's book reading of media to me

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Possibly, it was 2E. I was talking about there not being mention of it in DoD, not in the new stuff. I don't know what the thinking was there to be honest (in the past I have speculated on reasons for things like that before but then been informed by one of the designers I was totally wrong, and was frankly surprised how little the TSR codes impacted Ravenloft at that time when they told me about it). Ravenloft in the 90s was probably best described not as PG, but as light R (it could get very suggestive, it could get into territory you wouldn't see in a PG or even PG-13 movie) but it wasn't graphic

I think it more reflects changing definitions of "suitable for children" (or in this case teens). When the Slavelords series was written slavery was largely thought of as a thing of the past. But now people are much more aware that slavery is still happening, and thus is considered more disturbing subject matter.