jasper
Rotten DM
Van Ritchten’s Guide to Ravenloft Review
Warning I have owned and played in I6 Ravenloft, I10 House on Gryphon Hill and Season Four Adventure League modules. I also own the adventure path Curse of Strahd. This is the only official lore I own. Any other lore I have picked up has been by osmosis from gamers.
TLDR. 5 stars barely. Must buy for new dms who want to do horror or get lore. Half price buy for collectors and others. I will add Adventure League remarks when AL guidance is given.
The FLGS cover is great and is another cover which I am not covering any of the art work with my address label.
Artwork. Most of the artwork is great and has different styles and themes. But a purple Strahd on page 67 is laughable. Isolde on page 86 chin disappeared into her neck, it could have used an another light source. I love the combat picture on page 222.
Chapter 1. Includes Lineages, dark gifts, two new subclasses, backgrounds and trinkets. The Lineages mention creature type but does not mention what happens if a creature has multiple types.
Dhampir I give one star out five stars. Why a hybrid lineage would be better at things the base monster is eludes me. A base speed of 35 makes too good of a thing for monks, rogues, or mobile type builds not to take. And bite attack is better than a vampire bite. A vampire has to have a successful grapple attack before it can bite attack. A Dhampir can bite as long as it has an attack action. I recommend if a Dhampir is in the party, give the same speed and bite at will to nearby vampire creatures.
Hexblood I give four out five stars. I think players will argue for the benefits of immune to sleep magic and advantage against charm spells due being a fey. Hex Magic with it multiple spellcasting abilities may lead to some problems or a crowded Spell DC column.
Reborn I give three out five stars. The Deathless Nature gives the elf trance ability, poison resistance, and death save bonuses. The poison resistance should have been dropped.
Dark Gifts are very interesting. With the Echoes, Whispers, and Living gifts the player will need a special d20 any time they roll. With a five percent chance of stuff happening, I can see people forgetting to roll even though it only happens once per rest. Mist Walker’s penalty is a big problem for extended play as it will spiral out of control and can kill a pc quickly. Second Skin, Symbiotic Being, and Watchers are great role playing gifts. However, the best damage dealer is Touch of Death.
The new subclasses should be researched before a campaign in the Horror realms start. So a player could preplan their builds. The backgrounds are well done theme to the book. But the trinkets are just page filler.
Chapter 2. Dark lords, domains, and various horrors. Creating Dark Lords and Domains are great for new DMs and a good idea source for long time DMS. The two sections are a step by step how to do it. The Horror section is a dictionary of horrors and random tables. This is needed so all D&D have a concise idea and definition when talking about horrors.
Chapter 3. Domains of Ravenloft. Decades ago I stole and rename “The Mists” as in game reason to explain why some pcs were not present. The Chaos Fog got him. Mist Talismans give an in game reason for how various people can safely travel through the Mists.
Life in the Domains gives an official hand wave about communication and currency for ease of play. The detailed domains have about four or less pages. These are great ideas for small setting resources. But players will need to buy into the setting and build pcs accordingly.
Barovia gets six pages but last two are random charts which offers variations on how to play Tatyana.
Travelers in the Mists has some great detail on various NPCs, their groups, and motivations.
Chapter 4. Horror Adventures helps DMs discuss and build adventures. The session zero section stresses talking with your players about limits and flavor. The Running Horror section is just stage directions for the group to get in the mood. Or stage directions for the director/DM.
The horror tool kit is another great resources for new DMs. Fear and Stress adds two new saving throws to the game. I suggest the DM expand on the two lists given and require players to have a copy of the triggers. The haunted traps add more traps to the evil dm’s bag and a new use of Channel Divinity.
Survivors are just pregenerated PCs with flavor text and special abilities.
I have not run the included adventure. It reads like a how to do various horror themes to include séances, haunts, and haunted traps. The Guests of Houses has NPCs from various domains guest starring in the adventure.
Chapter 5 The monsters brings about thirty-one great new monsters with a wide range of CR.
Summary. Players should not even crack this book. If your DM allows the PC specific stuff, ask for a photocopy. New DMS and any old DMs who have not bought any Ravenloft lore materials; this is a must buy. Old Ravenloft DMs and collectors should buy at half price unless they want to help out the local friendly game store.
Warning I have owned and played in I6 Ravenloft, I10 House on Gryphon Hill and Season Four Adventure League modules. I also own the adventure path Curse of Strahd. This is the only official lore I own. Any other lore I have picked up has been by osmosis from gamers.
TLDR. 5 stars barely. Must buy for new dms who want to do horror or get lore. Half price buy for collectors and others. I will add Adventure League remarks when AL guidance is given.
The FLGS cover is great and is another cover which I am not covering any of the art work with my address label.
Artwork. Most of the artwork is great and has different styles and themes. But a purple Strahd on page 67 is laughable. Isolde on page 86 chin disappeared into her neck, it could have used an another light source. I love the combat picture on page 222.
Chapter 1. Includes Lineages, dark gifts, two new subclasses, backgrounds and trinkets. The Lineages mention creature type but does not mention what happens if a creature has multiple types.
Dhampir I give one star out five stars. Why a hybrid lineage would be better at things the base monster is eludes me. A base speed of 35 makes too good of a thing for monks, rogues, or mobile type builds not to take. And bite attack is better than a vampire bite. A vampire has to have a successful grapple attack before it can bite attack. A Dhampir can bite as long as it has an attack action. I recommend if a Dhampir is in the party, give the same speed and bite at will to nearby vampire creatures.
Hexblood I give four out five stars. I think players will argue for the benefits of immune to sleep magic and advantage against charm spells due being a fey. Hex Magic with it multiple spellcasting abilities may lead to some problems or a crowded Spell DC column.
Reborn I give three out five stars. The Deathless Nature gives the elf trance ability, poison resistance, and death save bonuses. The poison resistance should have been dropped.
Dark Gifts are very interesting. With the Echoes, Whispers, and Living gifts the player will need a special d20 any time they roll. With a five percent chance of stuff happening, I can see people forgetting to roll even though it only happens once per rest. Mist Walker’s penalty is a big problem for extended play as it will spiral out of control and can kill a pc quickly. Second Skin, Symbiotic Being, and Watchers are great role playing gifts. However, the best damage dealer is Touch of Death.
The new subclasses should be researched before a campaign in the Horror realms start. So a player could preplan their builds. The backgrounds are well done theme to the book. But the trinkets are just page filler.
Chapter 2. Dark lords, domains, and various horrors. Creating Dark Lords and Domains are great for new DMs and a good idea source for long time DMS. The two sections are a step by step how to do it. The Horror section is a dictionary of horrors and random tables. This is needed so all D&D have a concise idea and definition when talking about horrors.
Chapter 3. Domains of Ravenloft. Decades ago I stole and rename “The Mists” as in game reason to explain why some pcs were not present. The Chaos Fog got him. Mist Talismans give an in game reason for how various people can safely travel through the Mists.
Life in the Domains gives an official hand wave about communication and currency for ease of play. The detailed domains have about four or less pages. These are great ideas for small setting resources. But players will need to buy into the setting and build pcs accordingly.
Barovia gets six pages but last two are random charts which offers variations on how to play Tatyana.
Travelers in the Mists has some great detail on various NPCs, their groups, and motivations.
Chapter 4. Horror Adventures helps DMs discuss and build adventures. The session zero section stresses talking with your players about limits and flavor. The Running Horror section is just stage directions for the group to get in the mood. Or stage directions for the director/DM.
The horror tool kit is another great resources for new DMs. Fear and Stress adds two new saving throws to the game. I suggest the DM expand on the two lists given and require players to have a copy of the triggers. The haunted traps add more traps to the evil dm’s bag and a new use of Channel Divinity.
Survivors are just pregenerated PCs with flavor text and special abilities.
I have not run the included adventure. It reads like a how to do various horror themes to include séances, haunts, and haunted traps. The Guests of Houses has NPCs from various domains guest starring in the adventure.
Chapter 5 The monsters brings about thirty-one great new monsters with a wide range of CR.
Summary. Players should not even crack this book. If your DM allows the PC specific stuff, ask for a photocopy. New DMS and any old DMs who have not bought any Ravenloft lore materials; this is a must buy. Old Ravenloft DMs and collectors should buy at half price unless they want to help out the local friendly game store.
