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

 

[Charlaquin]

I think it is important to understand how much the internet changed things. Things get instantly corrected by the audience now, and writers can check stuff like that easily. Back then research was a whole different ball game (back then being the late 80s, early 90s, not the time when CoS was written)

Oh, for sure! I’m not saying they made some terrible blunder. Like, it seems like an obvious mistake now, but it was definitely harder to research then. And like I said, D&D characters don’t need to follow real-world naming conventions.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

The specific nature of "weekend in hell" where you go for a short time in and then your goal is to see the sights and find the exit is one way to play, but I would like some support for extended play in a domain that isn't focused on finding an exit while outrunning the darklord. That's all.

Fair enough, but it just seemed like a really weak criticism because a huge number of adventures, including many classics and popular adventure paths could be summed up that way. I have zero doubt there will be support for extended campaigns. Just not for every domain maybe. And I don't doubt they'll support a multi-domain campaign - they don't have to be contiguous for that.

 

[Voadam]

So, if we accept that horror can happen anywhere when you have the proper idea and the proper challenges, then what about Ravenloft made it better for horror, compared to someplace where it is far easier to have that contrast?

It was more designed for monsters to be fleshed out with stories and mechanics to be explored beyond their attacks and hp. It really fleshed out the ideas of in D&D investigating the tragic backstories of, for example, a specific ghost to defeat it instead of magic missiles and higher plus weapons.

You can do this in any setting, but Ravenloft said explicitly to do so in the Campaign Setting, provided Van Richten's Guide to Ghosts which was a sourcebook on the themes and mechanics to effectuate doing so, came out with Children of the Night Ghosts with a pile of ghosts with individual stories and mechanics done out, and had modules like Howls in the Night which was all about doing so.

Same thing with vampires and werewolves and others.

It also provided a loose justification for curses and tragic stories to have more power and significance than in normal D&D.

It was prepopulated with that kind of a setup and design goal presumed.

 

[Alzrius]

It was more designed for monsters to be fleshed out with stories and mechanics to be explored beyond their attacks and hp. It really fleshed out the ideas of in D&D investigating the tragic backstories of, for example, a specific ghost to defeat it instead of magic missiles and higher plus weapons.

Don't forget that Ravenloft was the only campaign setting to have an entire Monstrous Compendium, MC15 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix II: Children of the Night devoted entirely to specific NPCs rather than creatures. It was even reprinted later in the combined Monstrous Compendium - Ravenloft Appendices I & II (in perfect-bound softcover format, rather than the loose-leaf format of the original publication).

Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.

 

[Bedrockgames]

It was more designed for monsters to be fleshed out with stories and mechanics to be explored beyond their attacks and hp. It really fleshed out the ideas of in D&D investigating the tragic backstories of, for example, a specific ghost to defeat it instead of magic missiles and higher plus weapons.

You can do this in any setting, but Ravenloft said explicitly to do so in the Campaign Setting, provided Van Richten's Guide to Ghosts which was a sourcebook on the themes and mechanics to effectuate doing so, came out with Children of the Night Ghosts with a pile of ghosts with individual stories and mechanics done out, and had modules like Howls in the Night which was all about doing so.

Same thing with vampires and werewolves and others.

It also provided a loose justification for curses and tragic stories to have more power and significance than in normal D&D.

It was prepopulated with that kind of a setup and design goal presumed.

This.

Speaking of curses, they also actually worked in Ravenloft. And the responsive nature of the dark powers, really gave the Gm flexibility to bring gothic horror to life at the table IMO.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Don't forget that Ravenloft was the only campaign setting to have an entire Monstrous Compendium, MC15 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix II: Children of the Night devoted entirely to specific NPCs rather than creatures. It was even reprinted later in the combined Monstrous Compendium - Ravenloft Appendices I & II (in perfect-bound softcover format, rather than the loose-leaf format of the original publication).

Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.

And by the time that came out, I think most Ravenloft GMs had learned to make monsters that way (as individual NPCs). Obviously you might have the lone standard werewolf here or there, but you could easily center adventures around monsters that were fully fleshed out and customized like that. And that notion has roots in the original Ravenloft module where strahd has levels in a character class, and specific weaknesses (he isn't just a run of the mill vampire)

 

[Alzrius]

Speaking of curses, they also actually worked in Ravenloft. And the responsive nature of the dark powers, really gave the Gm flexibility to bring gothic horror to life at the table IMO.

Fun fact: the Ravenloft Revised Campaign Setting had a bit about curses that, insofar as I know, wasn't in Realm of Terror, Forbidden Lore, or Domains of Dread, let alone the 3E version of the setting:

Exclusivity of Curses

As a general rule, any individual–player character or nonplayer character–can suffer the effects of only one curse at a time. Otherwise, a truly evil brute–the type of person who makes for an excellent antagonist in any adventure–could quickly become so burdened with curses that he or she would be crippled. What a waste of a perfectly good villain that would be! Therefore, no curse can affect a character if he or she already suffers from one.

An important note to make at this point concerns domain lords. By definition, all of them are laboring under the most horrible curse of all: that of ruling a domain in Ravenloft. Thus, any curse that the players might wish to lay upon them is doomed to fail.

It also goes on to note that the spell bestow curse is too minor to fall under this prohibition, so it can still be cast on cursed characters. It's a minor tidbit, but I found it interesting how much thought had been put into that particular rule.

Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.

 

[MGibster]

One of the things I've always liked about Stephen King is that he's good about writing characters who have a motivation to stay even when they know leaving is a good idea. Let's take Jack Torrence from The Shining. In the book, we spend some time with Jack as he's winterizing the Overlook Hotel and he contemplates leaving before he's snowed in for the winter. Jack has some bad feelings about the hotel, knows his wife and son have the same apprehensions, but he chooses to stay because he feels as though he's got no other options. Without another job lined up he'll end up in the welfare line, he'd disappoint a friend of his who pulled strings so he could have the hotel job, and disappointing that friend might keep him from the teaching job he actually wants.

In most D&D games, the PCs don't have strong social connection to anyone in the setting. As itinerant seekers of fortune, it's typically easy for them to pull up stakes and head somewhere else. I think it's a great idea to find a reason for the PCs to stick around besides being trapped.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There's no single answer to any of these questions, but most of them have been answered at various times over the years in the Ravenloft line.

If it's not answered in the 5E book, that's a failing by WotC. No one should be required to go back through decades of previous works to plug plot holes in a new book.

 

[tetrasodium]

This.

Speaking of curses, they also actually worked in Ravenloft. And the responsive nature of the dark powers, really gave the Gm flexibility to bring gothic horror to life at the table IMO.

I hit my players with that once in a 5e ravenloft campaign & they were horrified when I flipped to the page(s) on it Not having it for 5e has been a loss