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

 

[David Murrell]

In an attempt to steer the thread back, what're you most looking forward to seeing/reading in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft?

The Dark Gifts and see how they have updated/changed the Domains. I appreciate that I am not some loyal fan of 10-20 years, I can only manage 36 years and bought the black box set when it came out and ran a 4 year campaign in the setting, but as a wide eyed newbie I actually like what I see so far (can you tell I am getting slightly hacked off by being told by some how I should react as a D&D veteran, especially when becoming a fan at the turn of the millennium seems to be the cut off point of what an OG is?).

 

[Bedrockgames]

They defined the Dark Powers.

 

[overgeeked]

They defined the Dark Powers.

I'm not sure if that's one homebrewer's ideas for Ravenloft in 5E or if that poster has the book and is summarizing what's in it.

Either way, it sounds like someone is a fan of the old World of Tales from the Crypt RPG.

 

[M.L. Martin]

I'm not sure if that's one homebrewer's ideas for Ravenloft in 5E or if that poster has the book and is summarizing what's in it.

Either way, it sounds like someone is a fan of the old World of Tales from the Crypt RPG.

He claims to be summarizing, and the other spoilers match what other sources have said ...

 

[Bedrockgames]

Legit everything we've ever known about Ravenloft contradicts this sentence. Literally the entire focus of Ravenloft is the Dark Lords.

The point of the old setting was you could do whatever. You could have players going around dealing with dark lords (plenty of modules did that), but you could focus on monster hunts, mysteries, monster of the week, and other kinds of adventures that never even deal with dark lords (or deal with smaller lords if you prefer). Some people ran it very open style, some had tighter more focused adventures. The lords were certainly important. They shaped the domain (and adventures in them were often reflections of the dark lord's nature). Ravenlloft was about living adventures (the big thing Ravenloft as a module did, on top of gothic horror and isometric maps, was having a villain who could move around. And they emphasize this in Feast of Goblyns as well in the section (they describe it as the major wandering encounter). To me that major wandering encounter really encapsulated the philosophy of how to run the monsters and villains. But the new stuff, quite honestly, looks like Harry Potter with a bit of cobweb and G-rated horror atmosphere.

 

[Remathilis]

To be fair, one mind-controlling baddy would still be more compelling than a masquerade ball.

But, and here me out, what if the mind controlling baddie was forcing everyone to put on the masquerade ball to feed her own ego?

 

[Weiley31]

Not having the Dark Lords statted up, ala Strahd, does suck indeed. But I guess customizing them is the next best thing. Heck, if your lucky enough to have any of the Adventures in Middle-Earth 5E books, like the Rivendell Region Guide and Loremaster Guide, you can even use some of the various Creature Abilities listings in it to add to said Dark Lords.

One of my fave said Creature Abilities from the Rivendell Region guide is as followed

Dwimmerlaik: If a PC scores a critical hit against (monster), said (monster) can use its own reaction to make the PC do a STR Check. If PC fails the check, the Critical Hit damage is REFLECTED back upon the PC and their weapon is destroyed if it isn't magical. Magical Weapons aren't destroyed but are automatically dropped on the ground due to an intense cold pain/dread going through the PC's body.

I would totally love adding that to a Dark Lord to use against the PCs.

 

[Weiley31]

Side Note question bout Dark Lords: Don't you have to do something that involves a weakness of theirs/related to their sin or whatever to even permanently put one down or to remotely harm em or something?

 

[Faolyn]

Agreed. Not stating Gods in an new Deities & Demigods makes sense. Not stating dark lords when a bunch of them are at a pretty reasonable power level is pretty lame. I don't think it's unreasonable for players to assume that they may very well have some sort of climactic battle with them. In that light, see xx monster block in MM and staple immunity to poison to it is really lame.

There was a spoiler here that repeated what's been known in RL for a while: the Darklords are basically immortal. They either can't be killed or they can be but are reborn in a new body, unless the Dark Powers want to get rid of them.

 

[Faolyn]

Side Note question bout Dark Lords: Don't you have to do something that involves a weakness of theirs/related to their sin or whatever to even permanently put one down or to remotely harm em or something?

No, that's mostly for various monsters. DLs have plot armor.