Tsolenka Pass focuses on using the expanded map scale to turn the journey to the Amber Temple into a perilous wilderness adventure. This section references Curse of Strahd Reloaded for various environmental hazards. Things the Gazetteer itself provides is a 2d6 random encounter table for threats specific to Barovia’s mountains, using Kasimir Velikov as a guide to help them survive the journey, and an upgraded Stat block for the goat monster Sangzor among other things.
The Amber Temple hints on how the dungeon is notorious for killing PCs even by Curse of Strahd standards, but not to pull punches given the party likely heard all sorts of warnings about it for quite some time. It talks about how the placement of threats in the temple can make the party engage in one big battle or a series of smaller ones to drain their resources. For changes, the Gazetteer says that the berserkers should be expanded on as being Mountainfolk seeking shelter. They can be persuaded to not fight the PCs, and this attempt auto-succeeds if one of them displays Sangzor’s pelt. Additionally, the possession feature of the Staff of Frost should come with a warning or remedy along with a saving throw to resist, given permanently changing a PC’s personality is kind of a dick move. Diamond dust is added to the Lich’s Lair so that it can be used to cast Greater Restoration in order to restore Exethanter’s memory or unlock the command words for the volumes in the library. The library itself is greatly expanded on, containing a book that can help restore Exethanter’s memory as well as wandering allips haunted by the secrets they discovered in life. A new Special Event is added to this section as well, in having Ezmerelda show up as a general counterweight to whatever the PCs have done so far to shake things up.
Last but not least, the Gazetteer goes over the Dark Gifts, mentioning that by RAW the PCs can lose control of their characters via a single bad die roll if they turn evil. Otherwise, many of the gifts’ consequences may be cosmetic and encourage them to treat the vestiges like a grocery store for permanent buffs. The Gazetteer makes mention of Curse of Strahd Reloaded’s alternate system along with Matt Mercer’s Corruption rules for a more gradual multi-stage corruption process.
Castle Ravenloft goes into detail on this dungeon crawl. Instead of being a “final dungeon” for PCs to put off until the end, it can be made into a two-parter. An earlier “social phase” may have Strahd invite the PCs to dinner, and his intentions at this point are non-hostile. As long as they observe Barovian guest law, the party can explore the castle in relative safety, providing a great opportunity to interact with the castle inhabitants out of combat. If a treasure is to be found in Castle Ravenloft, the PCs may even mount a daring heist and the Gazetteer suggests the Treasury being perfect for such an event. PCs can stay in the guest room during this phase, and if they take a long rest a group of green hags (who replace the Barovian Witches) attempt to steal personal articles or locks of hair from the PCs for spell components. PCs who catch them in the act won’t earn reprisals from Strahd, as due to his Lawful Evil nature he will denounce the hags for violating the guest law.
The bulk of this section deals with changes and additional guidance to various rooms in the Castle. For instance, details are given in the Chapel if Strahd seeks to wed Ireena, giving outlines for characters who would be involved. Such as Rahadin being the Count’s best man, and Van Richten or Ezmerelda (if still alive) are lurking in the shadows for the perfect moment to strike the darklord.
Although it’s detailed later in the Appendix, Lifting the Curse expands on an alternate ending idea addressing DMs who may feel that the cycle of Strahd’s saga makes victory hollow if the domain will inevitably reset. This section provides more background details and “win conditions” for PCs to break the domain’s curse for good: one of the PCs is Sergei’s reincarnation, resulting in a dramatic reveal when Strahd welcomes them as his sibling during dinner at Castle Ravenloft.
In this scenario, Strahd seeks to find atonement by gaining the forgiveness of Tatyana and Sergei. How? By doing the classic drop to one knee and ask Ireena to marry him. He will then ask the reincarnated-Sergei PC to bless their union. Of course this plot is doomed to fail, for Strahd is making everything all about himself. Additionally his means of “atonement” don’t involve him giving up anything material, like his power over Barovia or allowing Ireena to live her own life on her own terms. The curse befalling Barovia can be broken by reuniting the spirits of Tatyana and Sergei…but neither of them must have accepted a dark gift from the vestiges at the Amber Temple. In such a case, the reincarnation will instead become Barovia’s new darklord.
Epilogues provides one more post-game victory which incorporates the “good ending” from Lifting the Curse where the reincarnated souls of Tatyana and Sergei are reunited. It has a detailed boxed text of the sun returning to Barovia, describing its rays shining down on the various locations explored during the campaign. Additionally, a massive celebration will be thrown for the party in the Village of Barovia, giving PCs time to tie up loose ends and say farewells to friends if they wish to leave. If Ireena ends up married, another epilogue happens nine months later as she delivers a baby. PCs who left Barovia are heading back in Ezmerelda’s wagon for the news, and as the baby cries the midwife does as well, for this is a sign that souls have returned to the land. If Ireena didn’t survive or otherwise isn’t looking to have kids, another character can be substituted, such as Stefania Martikov at the winery as Urwin is reunited with his family.
Strahd Von Zarovich: A User’s Guide is a three-page course of how to run Strahd. It’s a mixture of role-play and tactical advice. For example, it expands on his disguise as Vasili von Holtz and how being able to walk the land under an alternate identity allows him to gain a second set of impressions when people don’t know he’s Strahd, and also because he likes it:
Vasili also offers something even more important to Strahd: a chance to be among people again. In Castle Ravenloft, he’s surrounded by sycophants and mindless undead. As Vasili, he can walk the streets of Vallaki without sending the crowd running away in terror. He probably appreciates this aspect more than he would ever let on.
And then there’s the fun of it. Strahd likes being Vasili because he enjoys fooling everyone and knowing something they don’t. Not to put too fine a point on it, Strahd is a sadist whose only remaining pleasure lies in tormenting others. While you don’t want to run anything just to be sadistic to your players, there is something so inherently cruel about his betrayal of the characters’ trust as Vasili that it speaks to an essential truth of his character even as he is pursuing other goals.
The section also goes over tactics where the DM can be more lenient with the use of metagame knowledge (to a limit) given Strahd’s control over Castle Ravenloft combined with his scrying and spy network. Additionally, it recommends two combat guides on Reddit for running him when initiative is rolled, so the book instead focuses on his strategist aspect while also making it narratively satisfying without abuse of wall hacks.
Monster Hunter’s Gear provides new equipment which is notably owned by Rudolf Van Richten. It includes a modified crossbow with an underslung that can fire alchemical vials, including new powdered silver that can blind and poison lycanthropes as well as remove their damage immunity. He also has 3 doses of ether which he can use to poison and knock unconscious a target for 4 hours. Finally, an intact copy of Van Richten’s Guide to Vampires can give the PCs metagame knowledge of the traits of vampire and vampire spawn from the Monster Manual. Depending on the campaign, the Guide may also have hints of Barovia’s cyclical nature with passages of Van Richten killing Strahd in a fashion similar to the original I6 Ravenloft module.
Monsters & NPCs includes the stat blocks of new and remodeled creatures not present in the base Curse of Strahd module. We’ve got stats for individual Black Banner adventurers as vampire spawn (as the base monster but with some minor racial and/or class features to individualize them), a buffed-up stat block of Clovin Belview (bard spells and a taunt debuff), a False Hydra (like the normal one but has a rechargeable song that causes a humanoid to become incapable of noticing or remembering its presence on a failed Wisdom save), Red Lukas (undead bandit boss monster specializing in mounted combat who can summon vargouilles and has legendary actions), a buffed-up version of Sangzor (a CR 6 beast with a Legendary Action to perform a mobile kick attack), a new Warlock of the Undead (a CR 7 NPC who can turn into a more frightening visage of their patron), a Werewolf Pack Leader (like a werewolf but stronger), a unique stat block for Kolyan Indirovich for the flashback sequence in the Village of Barovia, and stat blocks for existing monsters such as Allips, Bodaks, and the Gulthias Tree.
This section ends with a unique, buffed-up CR 17 version of Strahd for more experienced and larger parties. Beyond higher stats where it counts, he can cast up to 6th level spells and has a unique 21 AC for when he’s wearing his animated armor as the major differences.
Handouts is our final section of new and altered in-game texts the PCs can find. They’re also available as their own individual PDFs for sharing with gaming groups. They include the religious history of the Abbey of St. Markova* detailing how it was brought down when one of the saints to which it is named led a doomed rebellion against Strahd with the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind; angsty writings of Victor Vallakovich’s private diary; a reworked account of Van Richten’s Journal; and a Tome of Strahd with a slightly altered backstory in line with Lifting the Curse, where Strahd was killed by his guards and rose as a vampire before Tatyana’s death.
*The Gazetteer mentions that -ovia typically denotes a place name and that Markovia is already the name of another Domain of Dread. Markova is in line with Barovian naming conventions.
Overall Thoughts: The Barovia Gazetteer is a stellar guide for DMs seeking to run Curse of Strahd. It has just a little bit of everything, from expanded details on Barovian culture and economy for increased verisimilitude, rebalancing of problematic encounters and events, and fun suggestions for adding interesting twists to virtually every location. The “social phase” idea for Castle Ravenloft is a great idea in making the dungeon more “explorable” given that most gaming groups won’t get to experience the place in its entirety.
Overall I don’t have many complaints for this, and those that exist are rather minor. I would recommend its purchase for DMs both old and new seeking to run Curse of Strahd.
Join us next time as we sail the Whale Road, seax in hand, to visit Heorot: Beowulf’s Domain of Dread!
It should take the better part of a week, but I'm approaching the end of my Ravenloft sourcebook reviews. I will probably take a well-deserved break for November, but figured to share my next potential reviews to gauge reader interest. None of these are set in stone, and some are books I'm still reading.
The Heist of the Mad King's Jewel is an adventure path where the PCs advance a plot to rob a bank of a valued artifact in a gnome-run steampunk metropolis
Dungeons of Drakkenheim is a dark fantasy adventure centering around the PCs delving into the ruined capital city of a once-great kingdom and battling a cosmic horror that threatens the entire world. Also politicking between various factions who have their own designs on Drakkenheim.
Historica Arcanum: City of Crescent is an urban fantasy setting and adventure path taking place in 19th Century Istanbul/Constantinople. Monsters and spellcasters are part of a literal underground society and are wrapped up in a World of Darkness-style plot of politicking and conspiracy that can spell the fate or doom of the entire city and beyond.
Inferno: Dante’s Guide to Hell & Virgilio’s Untold Tales is a setting and pseudo-adventure path where the PCs are lost souls cast down into Hell and are journeying to find salvation as Satan’s minions and other sinners thwart them at every turn.
Awakened is a sourcebook for creating talking animal and plant PCs. Not anthros, not furries, but mundane animals who now have the ability to talk and think at sapience level.
It should take the better part of a week, but I'm approaching the end of my Ravenloft sourcebook reviews. I will probably take a well-deserved break for November, but figured to share my next potential reviews to gauge reader interest. None of these are set in stone, and some are books I'm still reading.
The Heist of the Mad King's Jewel is an adventure path where the PCs advance a plot to rob a bank of a valued artifact in a gnome-run steampunk metropolis
Dungeons of Drakkenheim is a dark fantasy adventure centering around the PCs delving into the ruined capital city of a once-great kingdom and battling a cosmic horror that threatens the entire world. Also politicking between various factions who have their own designs on Drakkenheim.
Historica Arcanum: City of Crescent is an urban fantasy setting and adventure path taking place in 19th Century Istanbul/Constantinople. Monsters and spellcasters are part of a literal underground society and are wrapped up in a World of Darkness-style plot of politicking and conspiracy that can spell the fate or doom of the entire city and beyond.
Inferno: Dante’s Guide to Hell & Virgilio’s Untold Tales is a setting and pseudo-adventure path where the PCs are lost souls cast down into Hell and are journeying to find salvation as Satan’s minions and other sinners thwart them at every turn.
Awakened is a sourcebook for creating talking animal and plant PCs. Not anthros, not furries, but mundane animals who now have the ability to talk and think at sapience level.
Named after the famed mead fall in which the hero Beowulf fights Grendel each night, this Domain of Dread is a cold, early medieval domain inspired by the myths and legends of ancient Celtic and Nordic peoples. Dominated by a massive body of water known as the Whale Road, society is split up into semi-autonomous villages that praise and valorize mighty deeds of arms and keeping one’s word as their bond. But it is also a domain filled with monsters: trolls, wolves, giants, and worse things lurk in the uncharted wilds, and the bonds of loyalties and blood prices can cause ancestral feuds to spiral out of control. It is a realm of natural beauty, inspiring tales, good-hearted leaders, and trust forged from lifelong friendships, but it is also a land that is locked in a literal cycle of violence.
Settlements and Sites detail the major areas of Heorot. The domain is split up into several large regions, with Scyldingland, Geatland, Mycre, and Scylfingham comprising the human kingdoms. The Hranfolk, a nomadic group based off of the real-world Sami people, lair in the northern reaches, and the great mountains of Domesdæg in the northwest is a kingdom of fire giants, Dweorg Fells is home to the dweorg (a subrace of dwarf), and the Endless Ice of the far north is the dominion of first giants, dragons, and other monstrous horrors. Many of the population centers reference rules for Carousing in the Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and what kinds of complications and contacts can be made in those particular settlements. They also detail stat block references and numbers of NPCs and longships in case violence inevitably strikes, and most of the lords and ladies of the larger lands have their own unique entries. The book is a bit scattered in this last regard, where such characters are spread between 3 different areas: first a brief overview in this section, then in a section of their own labeled Lords of Heorot, and finally stat blocks in Friends and Foes. For ease of reading I’ll cover them all as they come if possible. Some commonalities I’ll note of Heorot’s significant NPCs is the Legendary Action to form a Shieldwall or Boar’s Snout, which grant free movement to nearby allies to enter into formations that can grant various benefits such as cover bonuses to AC and advantage on melee attacks in certain situations.
Scyldingland is famed for hosting the Hall of Heorot, a place full of good cheer and friendly competitions. But this happiness conceals a pall of fear and despair, for every night the monster Grendel comes to cause inevitable violence, and upon his death the Mere-Wife, his mother and the darklord of the domain, sets out to slay his killers. Due to the unique curse of the darklord she and Grendel are immortal, coming back to life as the people involved forget the incident (and those slain by them also arise). This amnesiac time loop remembered by none save those from outside the domain and a precious few NPCs who are in on the domain’s true nature. The region is also home to the town of Waelsing whose chieftain and family suffer from the cursed items of their own treasure hoard obtained from an ogre warlord; the dangerous Ettinmoors which hold a high concentration of ogres, ettins, trolls, and other minor giantkind; the Skjoldungen Isles that are rugged places only the largest of which have settlements of any size along with undead-haunted barrows; and the Mist Mere that houses the underwater grotto of Grendel and the Mere-Wife.
King Hrothgar and Queen Waltheow are the greatest authorities of the Scylding people, who are your typical “good-hearted rulers who need the PCs to keep their lands safe.” Hrothgar has become privately depressed over the nightly deaths of Grendel’s work. Which seems a bit of a contradiction, as the time loop would make him forget. PCs who slay Grendel are rewarded many great treasures along with warhorses, although due to the Darklord’s curse such boons are doomed to eventually leave their hands. In combat Hrothgar is your typical melee warrior with Legendary actions themed around granting boons and additional actions to allies. Queen Waltheow isn’t as much of a warrior, but she is a legendary alewife who can remove impurities from food and drink, her prepared meals have the benefits of Heroes Feast spell, and she can grant people Unfailing Inspiration a limited number of times per day to add 1d10 to a D20 roll once within the next 10 minutes…and if an ally nearby uses it, her Infectious Inspiration can bounce to another creature without expending the use!
I’m just imagining the Queen cheering on the PCs as they battle Grendel, making them more powerful past their mortal limits.
Geatland is the other major kingdom of Heorot from where Beowulf hails. In fact, this hero is the nephew of its king. The Geats and the Scyldings are on friendly terms due to the deep bonds between their leaders. It is due to this bond that Beowulf is amenable to traveling to Heorot Hall to stop Grendel’s rampages…again and again and again. Geatland is a heavily coastal region, and its cliffs are plagued by evil giant eagles. The High Hall is from where King Hygelac and Queen Hygd rule, with the latter being famously wise which makes her a fine ruler. The region’s more interesting places include the farming village of Greotan where a monstrous dullahan lives in a cave and emerges during low tide to ride and stalk prey among the farmland; the market town of Hrethelham, of which quality hirelings and magic items can be obtained; and the mountain range of Dragonhome, which is home to a particularly powerful dragon known as the Wyrm who is worshiped by a troll-led cult that regularly wars against the Geat-allied goliath tribes.
There’s not much to say about the King and Queen of the Geats save that the King possesses a magic ear horn that helps him hear normally due to his deafness, and the Queen possesses a modified Jug of Alchemy that generates honey, mead, and other alcoholic beverages. Silver and gold rings given in service for acts of heroism by the rulers act as Mist Tokens to Heorot.
Myrce is an independent city-state that peaceably trades with the other major kingdoms and the Hranfolk. Its greatest threat comes from the monsters of the forest who raid the town for cattle and people. Known as the Trollesweald, it is home mostly to trolls and some sceadugengan* spirits. Its King died in battle against an unknown foe, and Queen Modthryth is a half-elf woman whose disposition seems to only have improved after her husband’s death. Once a cruel and bitter ruler, she is now famed for her loyalty and kindness, remaining happily single. In terms of stats she is similar to the others, although due to worship of the Raven Queen she can magically teleport.
*This term is usually spelled without the last “n” from what I’ve seen, but this is how the sourcebook does it.
Scyflingham and Ravenswood is the territory of the Scylfing clan, whose wicked leader King Onela harbors a deep hatred for the Geats. When the Mists claimed the region, he was afflicted with a monstrous curse, where every night he turns into a two-headed monster known as a sorrowsworn and hunts the lands for hapless victims. None of his subjects know about this condition. The Ravenswood is a dangerous forest home to the dead spirits of Scylfing warriors who died at the hands of Geatish invaders.
In terms of stats King Onela has a human form that is pretty much a nonmagical melee warrior, but in his Sorrowsworn form he gains a variety of upgrades, such as gaining resistance against all damage while in darkness, natural hooklike weapons, and deals increased psychic damage to those who successfully damage him.
Hranfolk Lands detail the wide-ranging regions patrolled by the nomadic Hranfolk. The terrain consists of hilly wide fjords and deep marshy valleys in a tundra climate. The Hranfolk have the ability to travel the Mists much like the Vistani, but unlike the Vistani they often settle down long-term in lands they find amenable based on animistic traditions. They view every living creature as having a connection to the spirit realm, and bears are a sacred animal in their culture to the point that they hunt them during special holidays and bury their bones in mounds after using the rest of the body. Hranfolk souls reincarnate into the bodies of descendents, and they often assign affectionate nicknames to family members like “Little Father” once a shaman identifies the particular reborn spirit. They make use of reindeer as mounts and beasts of burden, and are famed for their skis which they use to traverse snow-blanketed regions.
The closest thing the Hranfolk have to a city is Guokso, a year-round collection of roundhouses arranged around a giant spear-like plug of gray stone they can use to magically commune with their ancestors. The leaders of various clans traditionally dwell here so as to have a means of communication between each other. One other interesting place includes the village of Ridne, whose hunters can serve as guides into the treacherous Endless Ice and is also home to a community of arcanists who train with dweorg artisans in the nearby hills.
The high leaders of the Hranfolk are King Darbmu and his husband Kare, who is also King through wedlock. They do not take to blood feuds and politicking like other leaders of Heorot, instead prioritizing ways for their people to survive the coming winters and maintain spiritual balance with the natural world. PCs who earn their respect and trust can be gifted magical rune stones which are often stone-based magic items such as a Stone of Good Luck or various Ioun Stones. Statwise they are Hranfolk Hunters, a stat block akin to rangers with specialization in bows and thrown items, along with minor spellcasting and the ability to create Hunter’s Wards which act like Protection From Evil and Good.
Endless Ice and Godsfall dominate the domain’s far north, a perpetually frozen expanse of ice and snow. Its blizzards are without compare and are magically empowered (like Eldritch Storms in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything), earning them the moniker Thrym’s Howl. All sorts of arctic monsters can be fought here, although a grand waterfall known as Godsfall is home to fossergrim and nixies who may not be as hostile as others unless their home is polluted or otherwise disrespected. The Hranfolk way station of Biktadallat serves as a jumping-off point for expeditions into the Mists to journey to other domains.
Nifolham is a tribe of frost giants living in the Endless Ice. Their queen, Kvietea, has had a secret affair with King Rodfare of the Domesdæg fire giants, but due to a misunderstanding from a breakdown of communication Kvietea now hates the man she believes to have spurned her. She has also privately forsaken the traditional worship of Thrym in favor of the troll god Vaprak the Destroyer, who granted her immortality in exchange for more power and regeneration. Now she is building a cult whose members hunt down ice trolls to consume and gain their powers.
Queen Kvietea doesn’t have a stat block of her own. She uses the stats of a Frost Giant Everlasting One, which is a multi-headed giant who can regenerate like a troll and has a Barbarian-like Vaprak’s Rage ability.
Domesdæg is the mountainous land of the fire giants, whose King Rodfare was a legendary warrior who grew jealous of his younger, more vigorous children that were fast eclipsing him in his old age. He began an affair with Queen Kvitea as the result of a midlife crisis, and in a fit of drunken resentment killed all of his children via poisoning. This happened as the Mists of Ravenloft descended due to the Mere-Wife’s own misdeeds. When King Rodfare was slain by his own wife horrified by his actions, he awoke as an undead death knight. Faced with the great shame of kin-slaying, he’s become a more reserved ruler, delegating much of his duties to fire giant necromancers. Galdorscraf is a cave located in the eastern mountains, the domicile of three hags of different types who use their natural cunning and magic to encourage vengeance and resentment among the domain’s people. Many blood feuds have been exacerbated by their doing. For those who feel they are not powerful enough to slay their hated foes, the hags have a process where they can transform someone into an ooze known as a slithering tracker that is so hungry for revenge they know of no other path.
King Rodfare is one of the most powerful creatures in Heorot. As a CR 21 Fire Giant Death Knight, he is basically a paladin with punishing physical attacks, a variety of spells, and some unique AoE fire-based attacks. However, he doesn’t have Legendary or Lair actions, which blunts his ability as a boss monster in comparison to Grendel and the Mere-Wife.
Dweorg Fells is a hilly tundra east of Hranfolk Lands home to Heorot’s duergar, or dweorg in their own cultural dialect. They live entirely underground in a series of winding tunnels with cleverly-hidden entrances to the surface. The dweorg operate on a higher level of magic and technology than the rest of the domain, with their forces supplemented by all manner of clockwork constructs and whose smithies have produced more than a few items of legends sung about in bardic tales.
Whale Road is the central sea in the domain of Heorot. Virtually every culture has lands touching this body of water, and even the Hranfolk Lands have lakes and rivers running down into it. People travel in longships to raid and trade, and sailors make use of magical sunstones to avoid getting lost at sea during the day. We do get a generous assembly of tables for random encounters at sea suitable for every Tier of play. The unique locations are all notable islands, such as Draug Island which attracts undead spirits who died at sea and is home to a cave with runic engravings dedicated to the goddess Hel, or Storm’s Eye which is home to a storm giant oracle by the name of Wyndgyfu whose visions have stretched across time and space. The oracle can even tell the PCs of how to lift the darklord’s curse and rescue the domain from the Mists, but due to Ravenloft’s corruption she has become greedy and will only offer this insight in exchange for the hoard of the Wyrm of Dragonhome.
The Mere-Wife and Grendel tell us the tragic tale of how Heorot became claimed by the Mists. Her name long forgotten, the Mere-Wife was a human woman who sought to become a warrior in a male-dominated society. But after being gravely wounded in one battle, she was kidnapped by an ogre from the Ettinmoors.
Content Warning: attempted sexual assault
The ogre sought to make her his sex slave, but the ogre’s brother was disgusted at this idea. An argument erupted, resulting in the death of the would-be rapist.
After being rescued by the ogre’s sibling, the Mere-Wife was able to see that not all monsters were irrevocably evil, and what began as a mutual respect and friendship turned into love. They had a son who they named Grendel, and while they could not return to human society due to generations of hate and fear of monsters, they lived a relatively happy life in the swamp. This happiness would end, when the ogre was ambushed and slain by trophy hunters. Grendel began to suffer from a congenital sickness, causing the Mere-Wife to hunt for him. Due to a mistake where Grendel mistook a human for an odd animal and ate him, a strange power was unlocked. B eating the flesh of humanoids Grendel became more powerful, partially nullifying his sickness. When the Mere-Wife began hunting humanoids for him to eat, the Dark Powers of Ravenloft took notice.
More tragedy ensued when Grendel began to grow curious about human society. He was particularly fascinated with music, and the instruments being played from Heorot Hall practically enchanted him. When he entered the Hall to sing and dance, the assembled people were horrified. They saw him as a dangerous monster who just burst into their homes. Many died that night from this misunderstanding, and as Grendel fled the Hall bleeding profusely the dreadful cycle began: for nearly ten years Grendel would hunt and eat more humans, growing more powerful until the Geatish hero Beowulf accepted a quest to find and slay him. The Mere-Wife, angered with rage, came to King Hrothgar and demanded a weregild. She was refused, for monsters were considered no better than beasts and the King said that Beowulf has done a great service in ridding the land of him. She killed everyone in the hall save for King Hrothgar, to let him suffer as she had in losing what was most precious to her. Then the Mists claimed the lands touching the Whale Road as a new Domain of Dread.
The Mere-Wife is the darklord of Heorot, and her curse is that she has to experience her own son dying in her arms whenever Beowulf or some other hero wounds him. Grendel’s monstrous vitality is such that he lives until he returns to their lair so that she can personally witness his death. While the Mere-Wife wishes to take Grendel somewhere safe and never be troubled again, they cannot leave the domain, which engenders in her and Grendel a resentment of the company and good cheer the humans experience in their mead halls and villages.
The cycle is such that Grendel and anyone killed by the Mere-Wife or her son preceding her act of vengeance is revived 1d4 days after Grendel’s death. None of the domain’s permanent inhabitants remember these killings or events that arise around them, and any treasure or gifts granted for slaying Grendel are magically restored to the previous owner’s possessions. The only people who can be aware of this cycle are visitors from outside the domain and Hranfolk NPCs, but even they must succeed on a Wisdom save in order to have even hazy memories of the events. The DC lowers over time, as the cycles become more and more prominent.
The only way to end this cycle and free Heorot from the Domains of Dread is to find the legendary sword Life Blade, completely wooden yet forged from the bark of the World Tree Yggdrasil. It is in the Mere-Wife’s lair and visible to only those from beyond the domain. Once she is slain with it her blood will warm the blade, melting it like spring’s arrival driving away the snow. This metaphor represents a release from a cold, harsh winter and the bloody violence wrought over the domain. Besides the storm giant oracle, Healgamen the Scop (famed bard in Heorot Hall) knows that the key to the Mere-Wife’s deaths lies in her lair, albeit he doesn’t know about the Life Blade specifically as his advice came to him in a dreamlike vision.
We have a table for 1d20 Adventures in Heorot which provide for minor quests and encounters besides the central plot of Grendel and the Mere-Wife, along with a 1d12 table of Travelers in the Mists who can be found around the domain’s edges. The Mists are known as the Ginnungagap by locals, perceived by them as a yawning void at the land’s extremities. Encounters in the Mists include Hranfolk and Vistani travelers, message-bearing ravens of the Keepers of the Feather, and even a warlock encouraging adventurers to visit the domain of Bluetspur in hopes of manipulating them into finding powerful treasures and knowledge. We have a detailed backstory and stat block for one particular wanderer, Wiglaf Weohstansson. A very distant cousin of Beowulf, Wiglaf was a former warrior serving under King Onela but found himself driven away from his former lord’s cruel ways. After maturing and learning more about the dangers of the world by studying with the Hranfolk, he grew wise to the role of the Mists and how other lands beyond Heorot were similarly cursed in cycles of mortal sins. He can be found in other Domains of Dread, but he has a soft spot for Heorot and seeks to find the means of freeing it from the Mists.
He also has romantic feelings for Beowulf, and hasn’t confessed this to him yet. Wiglaf’s stat block has him as a melee-based fighter with wereraven abilities. He isn’t immune to non-magical, non-silvered weapons but instead regenerates damage unless damaged from a silvered weapon.
The non-bestiary side of Heorot ends with New Magic Items, detailing 21 new treasures for PCs who hold the shieldwalls and brave the currents of the Whale Road. Some of the more interesting treasures include Aesir Vessels (drinking vessels that can turn liquids placed within into various magical potions and poisons depending on rarity), a Feather of Exaction (consumable item which increases one ability score to 20 permanently but decreases a random score by 1d12; a score of 0 kills the person), Figureheads (engraved visages of various animals at the heads of longships which can grant magical buffs to the entire crew), new Figurines of Wondrous Power (such as a giant goat whose meat can magically restore lost hit points or a pair of ravens which let the item’s owner cast animal messenger on one and beast sense on the other), a Hran Spirit Whistle (stabilizes a dying creature if blown on, but cursed to have a chance of having a ghost randomly possess a nearby target if the user isn’t a cleric, druid, or Hranfolk), Ogre-Etched Weapons (+1 weapons which do maximum damage when striking dragon type creatures and nullifies their breath weapon for a turn), Sunstone (a ship on which you’re a passenger cannot become lost during daylight hours), War Banner (fabric depicting either a fearsome beast or Norse deity of strength, can grant various benefits as an action to nearby allies), and the Warlord’s Helm (legendary helmet that grants +2 AC and Wisdom and Charisma saves, upgrades cover to the next highest type, once per turn can spend reaction to have a nearby ally make an extra melee attack).
The Life Blade is the most detailed magic item here. An artifact required to defeat the Mere-Wife for good, it is a +3 longsword that deals double the rolled weapon damage on a hit. Any target reduced to 0 hit points with it is also affected by Remove Curse, and due to being forged to be wielded by giants anyone with less than 18 Strength or isn’t at least Large size suffers disadvantage on attack rolls with it. It also has 9 charges which can be spent to cast a variety of spells, such as Goodberry, Heal, Plant Growth, and Summon Beast. Those who worship a Norse god or are Chaotic Good receive additional boons such as +2 Constitution, resistance to fire damage, and can use charges to cast the Barkskin spell. But those who don’t fit these qualifications gain negative traits such as automatically extinguishing nearby nonmagical fires, and all creatures of the dragon type are hostile to the wielder and have advantage on attack rolls against them. As the sword cannot be taken more than 100 feet where it was obtained and the battle fought in an underwater grotto, the nonmagical fire curse isn’t as bad. However, one of the creature types the Mere-Wife can randomly summon is a black dragon wyrmling, which can then come into play.
Thoughts So Far: Heorot is a cool domain reminiscent of British/Nordic dark ages fantasy. There are lots of interesting locales and characters which can inspire a variety of adventure ideas beyond the central conflict with the darklord. While a bit excessive in detail, the various settlement entries are well-equipped for defenses in case the PCs decide to raid, need to defend the village from a raid, or wish to gain some hired help for an adventure. I have to wonder if the author was inspired by the Followers system for Beowulf: Age of Heroes in this last regard.
The take on the original story of Beowulf is an interesting one, and does much to expand on the backstory and role of Grendel’s mother in a narratively satisfying way that fits in with the self-damned nature of Ravenloft’s darklords.
Join us next time as we cover new monsters and NPCs in Part 2: Friends & Foes!
You're welcome! I've been collecting these sourcebooks for quite some time, and it's been great seeing what the community has made these past few years. But with the relative dearth of discussion I wanted to do my part in highlighting what good books I can.
I totally agree. One of the real shames is that the DM's Guild stuff often gets pooh poohed as amateur or poor quality and largely ignored. That hasn't ever been true and I've found the DM's Guild stuff invaluable when running a WotC adventure.
You're welcome! I've been collecting these sourcebooks for quite some time, and it's been great seeing what the community has made these past few years. But with the relative dearth of discussion I wanted to do my part in highlighting what good books I can.
I really appreciate. It makes me wish the was a dedicated source (blog, website, zine, etc.) that would do this for the whole guild. If I hit the lottery that would be my per project and I would hire you to do the reviews!
I totally agree. One of the real shames is that the DM's Guild stuff often gets pooh poohed as amateur or poor quality and largely ignored. That hasn't ever been true and I've found the DM's Guild stuff invaluable when running a WotC adventure.
I agree. The problem for many is that there is so much stuff it can be daunting to some. It is not overly difficult to focus on the best stuff, but it can be overwhelming at first. Do wish there was some type of semi-official area like the old adepts program but better. The authors of new WotC products have a habit of releasing additional content on the Guild, I wish the was a specific place you could find their work.
Named after the famed mead fall in which the hero Beowulf fights Grendel each night, this Domain of Dread is a cold, early medieval domain inspired by the myths and legends of ancient Celtic and Nordic peoples. Dominated by a massive body of water known as the Whale Road, society is split up into semi-autonomous villages that praise and valorize mighty deeds of arms and keeping one’s word as their bond. But it is also a domain filled with monsters: trolls, wolves, giants, and worse things lurk in the uncharted wilds, and the bonds of loyalties and blood prices can cause ancestral feuds to spiral out of control. It is a realm of natural beauty, inspiring tales, good-hearted leaders, and trust forged from lifelong friendships, but it is also a land that is locked in a literal cycle of violence.
Settlements and Sites detail the major areas of Heorot. The domain is split up into several large regions, with Scyldingland, Geatland, Mycre, and Scylfingham comprising the human kingdoms. The Hranfolk, a nomadic group based off of the real-world Sami people, lair in the northern reaches, and the great mountains of Domesdæg in the northwest is a kingdom of fire giants, Dweorg Fells is home to the dweorg (a subrace of dwarf), and the Endless Ice of the far north is the dominion of first giants, dragons, and other monstrous horrors. Many of the population centers reference rules for Carousing in the Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and what kinds of complications and contacts can be made in those particular settlements. They also detail stat block references and numbers of NPCs and longships in case violence inevitably strikes, and most of the lords and ladies of the larger lands have their own unique entries. The book is a bit scattered in this last regard, where such characters are spread between 3 different areas: first a brief overview in this section, then in a section of their own labeled Lords of Heorot, and finally stat blocks in Friends and Foes. For ease of reading I’ll cover them all as they come if possible. Some commonalities I’ll note of Heorot’s significant NPCs is the Legendary Action to form a Shieldwall or Boar’s Snout, which grant free movement to nearby allies to enter into formations that can grant various benefits such as cover bonuses to AC and advantage on melee attacks in certain situations.
Scyldingland is famed for hosting the Hall of Heorot, a place full of good cheer and friendly competitions. But this happiness conceals a pall of fear and despair, for every night the monster Grendel comes to cause inevitable violence, and upon his death the Mere-Wife, his mother and the darklord of the domain, sets out to slay his killers. Due to the unique curse of the darklord she and Grendel are immortal, coming back to life as the people involved forget the incident (and those slain by them also arise). This amnesiac time loop remembered by none save those from outside the domain and a precious few NPCs who are in on the domain’s true nature. The region is also home to the town of Waelsing whose chieftain and family suffer from the cursed items of their own treasure hoard obtained from an ogre warlord; the dangerous Ettinmoors which hold a high concentration of ogres, ettins, trolls, and other minor giantkind; the Skjoldungen Isles that are rugged places only the largest of which have settlements of any size along with undead-haunted barrows; and the Mist Mere that houses the underwater grotto of Grendel and the Mere-Wife.
King Hrothgar and Queen Waltheow are the greatest authorities of the Scylding people, who are your typical “good-hearted rulers who need the PCs to keep their lands safe.” Hrothgar has become privately depressed over the nightly deaths of Grendel’s work. Which seems a bit of a contradiction, as the time loop would make him forget. PCs who slay Grendel are rewarded many great treasures along with warhorses, although due to the Darklord’s curse such boons are doomed to eventually leave their hands. In combat Hrothgar is your typical melee warrior with Legendary actions themed around granting boons and additional actions to allies. Queen Waltheow isn’t as much of a warrior, but she is a legendary alewife who can remove impurities from food and drink, her prepared meals have the benefits of Heroes Feast spell, and she can grant people Unfailing Inspiration a limited number of times per day to add 1d10 to a D20 roll once within the next 10 minutes…and if an ally nearby uses it, her Infectious Inspiration can bounce to another creature without expending the use!
I’m just imagining the Queen cheering on the PCs as they battle Grendel, making them more powerful past their mortal limits.
Geatland is the other major kingdom of Heorot from where Beowulf hails. In fact, this hero is the nephew of its king. The Geats and the Scyldings are on friendly terms due to the deep bonds between their leaders. It is due to this bond that Beowulf is amenable to traveling to Heorot Hall to stop Grendel’s rampages…again and again and again. Geatland is a heavily coastal region, and its cliffs are plagued by evil giant eagles. The High Hall is from where King Hygelac and Queen Hygd rule, with the latter being famously wise which makes her a fine ruler. The region’s more interesting places include the farming village of Greotan where a monstrous dullahan lives in a cave and emerges during low tide to ride and stalk prey among the farmland; the market town of Hrethelham, of which quality hirelings and magic items can be obtained; and the mountain range of Dragonhome, which is home to a particularly powerful dragon known as the Wyrm who is worshiped by a troll-led cult that regularly wars against the Geat-allied goliath tribes.
There’s not much to say about the King and Queen of the Geats save that the King possesses a magic ear horn that helps him hear normally due to his deafness, and the Queen possesses a modified Jug of Alchemy that generates honey, mead, and other alcoholic beverages. Silver and gold rings given in service for acts of heroism by the rulers act as Mist Tokens to Heorot.
Myrce is an independent city-state that peaceably trades with the other major kingdoms and the Hranfolk. Its greatest threat comes from the monsters of the forest who raid the town for cattle and people. Known as the Trollesweald, it is home mostly to trolls and some sceadugengan* spirits. Its King died in battle against an unknown foe, and Queen Modthryth is a half-elf woman whose disposition seems to only have improved after her husband’s death. Once a cruel and bitter ruler, she is now famed for her loyalty and kindness, remaining happily single. In terms of stats she is similar to the others, although due to worship of the Raven Queen she can magically teleport.
*This term is usually spelled without the last “n” from what I’ve seen, but this is how the sourcebook does it.
Scyflingham and Ravenswood is the territory of the Scylfing clan, whose wicked leader King Onela harbors a deep hatred for the Geats. When the Mists claimed the region, he was afflicted with a monstrous curse, where every night he turns into a two-headed monster known as a sorrowsworn and hunts the lands for hapless victims. None of his subjects know about this condition. The Ravenswood is a dangerous forest home to the dead spirits of Scylfing warriors who died at the hands of Geatish invaders.
In terms of stats King Onela has a human form that is pretty much a nonmagical melee warrior, but in his Sorrowsworn form he gains a variety of upgrades, such as gaining resistance against all damage while in darkness, natural hooklike weapons, and deals increased psychic damage to those who successfully damage him.
Hranfolk Lands detail the wide-ranging regions patrolled by the nomadic Hranfolk. The terrain consists of hilly wide fjords and deep marshy valleys in a tundra climate. The Hranfolk have the ability to travel the Mists much like the Vistani, but unlike the Vistani they often settle down long-term in lands they find amenable based on animistic traditions. They view every living creature as having a connection to the spirit realm, and bears are a sacred animal in their culture to the point that they hunt them during special holidays and bury their bones in mounds after using the rest of the body. Hranfolk souls reincarnate into the bodies of descendents, and they often assign affectionate nicknames to family members like “Little Father” once a shaman identifies the particular reborn spirit. They make use of reindeer as mounts and beasts of burden, and are famed for their skis which they use to traverse snow-blanketed regions.
The closest thing the Hranfolk have to a city is Guokso, a year-round collection of roundhouses arranged around a giant spear-like plug of gray stone they can use to magically commune with their ancestors. The leaders of various clans traditionally dwell here so as to have a means of communication between each other. One other interesting place includes the village of Ridne, whose hunters can serve as guides into the treacherous Endless Ice and is also home to a community of arcanists who train with dweorg artisans in the nearby hills.
The high leaders of the Hranfolk are King Darbmu and his husband Kare, who is also King through wedlock. They do not take to blood feuds and politicking like other leaders of Heorot, instead prioritizing ways for their people to survive the coming winters and maintain spiritual balance with the natural world. PCs who earn their respect and trust can be gifted magical rune stones which are often stone-based magic items such as a Stone of Good Luck or various Ioun Stones. Statwise they are Hranfolk Hunters, a stat block akin to rangers with specialization in bows and thrown items, along with minor spellcasting and the ability to create Hunter’s Wards which act like Protection From Evil and Good.
Endless Ice and Godsfall dominate the domain’s far north, a perpetually frozen expanse of ice and snow. Its blizzards are without compare and are magically empowered (like Eldritch Storms in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything), earning them the moniker Thrym’s Howl. All sorts of arctic monsters can be fought here, although a grand waterfall known as Godsfall is home to fossergrim and nixies who may not be as hostile as others unless their home is polluted or otherwise disrespected. The Hranfolk way station of Biktadallat serves as a jumping-off point for expeditions into the Mists to journey to other domains.
Nifolham is a tribe of frost giants living in the Endless Ice. Their queen, Kvietea, has had a secret affair with King Rodfare of the Domesdæg fire giants, but due to a misunderstanding from a breakdown of communication Kvietea now hates the man she believes to have spurned her. She has also privately forsaken the traditional worship of Thrym in favor of the troll god Vaprak the Destroyer, who granted her immortality in exchange for more power and regeneration. Now she is building a cult whose members hunt down ice trolls to consume and gain their powers.
Queen Kvietea doesn’t have a stat block of her own. She uses the stats of a Frost Giant Everlasting One, which is a multi-headed giant who can regenerate like a troll and has a Barbarian-like Vaprak’s Rage ability.
Domesdæg is the mountainous land of the fire giants, whose King Rodfare was a legendary warrior who grew jealous of his younger, more vigorous children that were fast eclipsing him in his old age. He began an affair with Queen Kvitea as the result of a midlife crisis, and in a fit of drunken resentment killed all of his children via poisoning. This happened as the Mists of Ravenloft descended due to the Mere-Wife’s own misdeeds. When King Rodfare was slain by his own wife horrified by his actions, he awoke as an undead death knight. Faced with the great shame of kin-slaying, he’s become a more reserved ruler, delegating much of his duties to fire giant necromancers. Galdorscraf is a cave located in the eastern mountains, the domicile of three hags of different types who use their natural cunning and magic to encourage vengeance and resentment among the domain’s people. Many blood feuds have been exacerbated by their doing. For those who feel they are not powerful enough to slay their hated foes, the hags have a process where they can transform someone into an ooze known as a slithering tracker that is so hungry for revenge they know of no other path.
King Rodfare is one of the most powerful creatures in Heorot. As a CR 21 Fire Giant Death Knight, he is basically a paladin with punishing physical attacks, a variety of spells, and some unique AoE fire-based attacks. However, he doesn’t have Legendary or Lair actions, which blunts his ability as a boss monster in comparison to Grendel and the Mere-Wife.
Dweorg Fells is a hilly tundra east of Hranfolk Lands home to Heorot’s duergar, or dweorg in their own cultural dialect. They live entirely underground in a series of winding tunnels with cleverly-hidden entrances to the surface. The dweorg operate on a higher level of magic and technology than the rest of the domain, with their forces supplemented by all manner of clockwork constructs and whose smithies have produced more than a few items of legends sung about in bardic tales.
Whale Road is the central sea in the domain of Heorot. Virtually every culture has lands touching this body of water, and even the Hranfolk Lands have lakes and rivers running down into it. People travel in longships to raid and trade, and sailors make use of magical sunstones to avoid getting lost at sea during the day. We do get a generous assembly of tables for random encounters at sea suitable for every Tier of play. The unique locations are all notable islands, such as Draug Island which attracts undead spirits who died at sea and is home to a cave with runic engravings dedicated to the goddess Hel, or Storm’s Eye which is home to a storm giant oracle by the name of Wyndgyfu whose visions have stretched across time and space. The oracle can even tell the PCs of how to lift the darklord’s curse and rescue the domain from the Mists, but due to Ravenloft’s corruption she has become greedy and will only offer this insight in exchange for the hoard of the Wyrm of Dragonhome.
The Mere-Wife and Grendel tell us the tragic tale of how Heorot became claimed by the Mists. Her name long forgotten, the Mere-Wife was a human woman who sought to become a warrior in a male-dominated society. But after being gravely wounded in one battle, she was kidnapped by an ogre from the Ettinmoors.
Content Warning: attempted sexual assault
The ogre sought to make her his sex slave, but the ogre’s brother was disgusted at this idea. An argument erupted, resulting in the death of the would-be rapist.
After being rescued by the ogre’s sibling, the Mere-Wife was able to see that not all monsters were irrevocably evil, and what began as a mutual respect and friendship turned into love. They had a son who they named Grendel, and while they could not return to human society due to generations of hate and fear of monsters, they lived a relatively happy life in the swamp. This happiness would end, when the ogre was ambushed and slain by trophy hunters. Grendel began to suffer from a congenital sickness, causing the Mere-Wife to hunt for him. Due to a mistake where Grendel mistook a human for an odd animal and ate him, a strange power was unlocked. B eating the flesh of humanoids Grendel became more powerful, partially nullifying his sickness. When the Mere-Wife began hunting humanoids for him to eat, the Dark Powers of Ravenloft took notice.
More tragedy ensued when Grendel began to grow curious about human society. He was particularly fascinated with music, and the instruments being played from Heorot Hall practically enchanted him. When he entered the Hall to sing and dance, the assembled people were horrified. They saw him as a dangerous monster who just burst into their homes. Many died that night from this misunderstanding, and as Grendel fled the Hall bleeding profusely the dreadful cycle began: for nearly ten years Grendel would hunt and eat more humans, growing more powerful until the Geatish hero Beowulf accepted a quest to find and slay him. The Mere-Wife, angered with rage, came to King Hrothgar and demanded a weregild. She was refused, for monsters were considered no better than beasts and the King said that Beowulf has done a great service in ridding the land of him. She killed everyone in the hall save for King Hrothgar, to let him suffer as she had in losing what was most precious to her. Then the Mists claimed the lands touching the Whale Road as a new Domain of Dread.
The Mere-Wife is the darklord of Heorot, and her curse is that she has to experience her own son dying in her arms whenever Beowulf or some other hero wounds him. Grendel’s monstrous vitality is such that he lives until he returns to their lair so that she can personally witness his death. While the Mere-Wife wishes to take Grendel somewhere safe and never be troubled again, they cannot leave the domain, which engenders in her and Grendel a resentment of the company and good cheer the humans experience in their mead halls and villages.
The cycle is such that Grendel and anyone killed by the Mere-Wife or her son preceding her act of vengeance is revived 1d4 days after Grendel’s death. None of the domain’s permanent inhabitants remember these killings or events that arise around them, and any treasure or gifts granted for slaying Grendel are magically restored to the previous owner’s possessions. The only people who can be aware of this cycle are visitors from outside the domain and Hranfolk NPCs, but even they must succeed on a Wisdom save in order to have even hazy memories of the events. The DC lowers over time, as the cycles become more and more prominent.
The only way to end this cycle and free Heorot from the Domains of Dread is to find the legendary sword Life Blade, completely wooden yet forged from the bark of the World Tree Yggdrasil. It is in the Mere-Wife’s lair and visible to only those from beyond the domain. Once she is slain with it her blood will warm the blade, melting it like spring’s arrival driving away the snow. This metaphor represents a release from a cold, harsh winter and the bloody violence wrought over the domain. Besides the storm giant oracle, Healgamen the Scop (famed bard in Heorot Hall) knows that the key to the Mere-Wife’s deaths lies in her lair, albeit he doesn’t know about the Life Blade specifically as his advice came to him in a dreamlike vision.
We have a table for 1d20 Adventures in Heorot which provide for minor quests and encounters besides the central plot of Grendel and the Mere-Wife, along with a 1d12 table of Travelers in the Mists who can be found around the domain’s edges. The Mists are known as the Ginnungagap by locals, perceived by them as a yawning void at the land’s extremities. Encounters in the Mists include Hranfolk and Vistani travelers, message-bearing ravens of the Keepers of the Feather, and even a warlock encouraging adventurers to visit the domain of Bluetspur in hopes of manipulating them into finding powerful treasures and knowledge. We have a detailed backstory and stat block for one particular wanderer, Wiglaf Weohstansson. A very distant cousin of Beowulf, Wiglaf was a former warrior serving under King Onela but found himself driven away from his former lord’s cruel ways. After maturing and learning more about the dangers of the world by studying with the Hranfolk, he grew wise to the role of the Mists and how other lands beyond Heorot were similarly cursed in cycles of mortal sins. He can be found in other Domains of Dread, but he has a soft spot for Heorot and seeks to find the means of freeing it from the Mists.
He also has romantic feelings for Beowulf, and hasn’t confessed this to him yet. Wiglaf’s stat block has him as a melee-based fighter with wereraven abilities. He isn’t immune to non-magical, non-silvered weapons but instead regenerates damage unless damaged from a silvered weapon.
The non-bestiary side of Heorot ends with New Magic Items, detailing 21 new treasures for PCs who hold the shieldwalls and brave the currents of the Whale Road. Some of the more interesting treasures include Aesir Vessels (drinking vessels that can turn liquids placed within into various magical potions and poisons depending on rarity), a Feather of Exaction (consumable item which increases one ability score to 20 permanently but decreases a random score by 1d12; a score of 0 kills the person), Figureheads (engraved visages of various animals at the heads of longships which can grant magical buffs to the entire crew), new Figurines of Wondrous Power (such as a giant goat whose meat can magically restore lost hit points or a pair of ravens which let the item’s owner cast animal messenger on one and beast sense on the other), a Hran Spirit Whistle (stabilizes a dying creature if blown on, but cursed to have a chance of having a ghost randomly possess a nearby target if the user isn’t a cleric, druid, or Hranfolk), Ogre-Etched Weapons (+1 weapons which do maximum damage when striking dragon type creatures and nullifies their breath weapon for a turn), Sunstone (a ship on which you’re a passenger cannot become lost during daylight hours), War Banner (fabric depicting either a fearsome beast or Norse deity of strength, can grant various benefits as an action to nearby allies), and the Warlord’s Helm (legendary helmet that grants +2 AC and Wisdom and Charisma saves, upgrades cover to the next highest type, once per turn can spend reaction to have a nearby ally make an extra melee attack).
The Life Blade is the most detailed magic item here. An artifact required to defeat the Mere-Wife for good, it is a +3 longsword that deals double the rolled weapon damage on a hit. Any target reduced to 0 hit points with it is also affected by Remove Curse, and due to being forged to be wielded by giants anyone with less than 18 Strength or isn’t at least Large size suffers disadvantage on attack rolls with it. It also has 9 charges which can be spent to cast a variety of spells, such as Goodberry, Heal, Plant Growth, and Summon Beast. Those who worship a Norse god or are Chaotic Good receive additional boons such as +2 Constitution, resistance to fire damage, and can use charges to cast the Barkskin spell. But those who don’t fit these qualifications gain negative traits such as automatically extinguishing nearby nonmagical fires, and all creatures of the dragon type are hostile to the wielder and have advantage on attack rolls against them. As the sword cannot be taken more than 100 feet where it was obtained and the battle fought in an underwater grotto, the nonmagical fire curse isn’t as bad. However, one of the creature types the Mere-Wife can randomly summon is a black dragon wyrmling, which can then come into play.
Thoughts So Far: Heorot is a cool domain reminiscent of British/Nordic dark ages fantasy. There are lots of interesting locales and characters which can inspire a variety of adventure ideas beyond the central conflict with the darklord. While a bit excessive in detail, the various settlement entries are well-equipped for defenses in case the PCs decide to raid, need to defend the village from a raid, or wish to gain some hired help for an adventure. I have to wonder if the author was inspired by the Followers system for Beowulf: Age of Heroes in this last regard.
The take on the original story of Beowulf is an interesting one, and does much to expand on the backstory and role of Grendel’s mother in a narratively satisfying way that fits in with the self-damned nature of Ravenloft’s darklords.
Join us next time as we cover new monsters and NPCs in Part 2: Friends & Foes!
