Ravenloft anyone?

[Ratenef]

I was looking through the WotC May to August 2006 previews catalogue and found an interesting entry.

In July they are planning to re-release as a paperback Laurell K Hamilton's Ravenloft novel The Death of a Darklord. Now that itself isn't a big deal, but the fact that the book is subtitled The Ravenloft Covenant Book 1 makes for some interesting possibilities.

Let's look at what we know

1) Arthaus resold the rights of Ravenloft back to WotC
2) WotC published a horror supplement to DnD D20 (Heroes of Horror)
3) WotC is (re)publishing this (as well as other) Ravenloft novels

What are the other books in the Ravenloft Covenant? Are they all going to be reprints?

Does this show that (as a friend of mine suggests) WotC is looking to reoffer their version of Ravenloft? If so, WHEN!!!

I already own all the Ravenloft novels, but if I knew that by buying this I would be ensuring the creation of new Ravenloft product (now that Arthaus isn't doing it), I'd easily pay the $10.

Anyone got any better information or ideas?

 

[Crothian]

I doubt we will be seeing new Ravenloft RPG material, if it was able to make money Arthaus would have kept it.

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

Did they have the option to keep it?

 

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

I hope they do bring back Ravenloft, preferably returning to prior Azlan's weirdo experiment. Maybe right after the Grand Conjunction.

Sorry, but Arthaus' stuff didn't seem to sell well at the nearby FLGS, where the old first or second boxed set was nearly impossible to grab before someone else wanted it.

Plus, weirdly enough, the 3.X stuff seemed to lose... something... that Ravenloft had. An almost intangible quality.

 

[Crothian]

Did they have the option to keep it?

Ya, it sounded like they just didn't renew the liscense

 

[Joël of the FoS]

Ya, it sounded like they just didn't renew the liscense

Did WW chose not to renew it? Or was money that kept the agreement between WW and WotC to resume? No se, we'll never know until a top guy tells us. We know sales were not as expected for the last half of the line, that's all we know.

The retitled "Ravenloft Covenant part 1" is sadly the reprint of one of the worst Ravenloft novel of the twenty made for the RL setting, Death of a Darklord. Not a bad novel per se, but one that ignored many of the setting's conventions.

I think WotC is hoping to cash in on the good sales of the author's other vampire work. But I ust hope to be proven wrong when other Ravenloft titles will be released

Joël

 

[Mouseferatu]

Hey, all I know is that I would kill all of you for the chance to write a Ravenloft novel.

I'd feel really bad about it afterwards, but I'd already have my contract.

 

[Stormborn]

Hey, all I know is that I would kill all of you for the chance to write a Ravenloft novel.

And if you did that who would read it?

You know, I never really got into ravenloft before, but if WotC did one I would probablly pick it up. I did get the Masque of the Red Death that came out a while back. Eh. I was unimpressed. Would be much happier with the flavor of that in a DnD fantasy world for 3.5 or in a d20 Past setting book.

 

[devilbat]

I would probably pick up anything that was released with the Ravenloft name on it. With the exception of Death of a Darklord. That novel didn't do it for me the first time around.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

The retitled "Ravenloft Covenant part 1" is sadly the reprint of one of the worst Ravenloft novel of the twenty made for the RL setting, Death of a Darklord. Not a bad novel per se, but one that ignored many of the setting's conventions.

Joël

Yep. Waste of Paper.

Not as bad, as, say Tower of Doom, but bad.

If WoTC is going to re-print Ravenloft Books, why not go with the good, ones and leave the horrid ones to lie undisturbed in their crypts.

Like maybe Elrod's I Strahd or Golden's Vampire of the Mists. Both were very good novels.

The Ravneloft novel line suffered from very poor execution (probablly involving trying to balance classic horror with kiddie-friendly). But of all the 20 or so Ravenloft Novels (I've got them all), less than 5 or 6 were any good. Death of a Darklord was very middle of the pack.

Spoiler:

Of course, many think Death of a Darklord was uber-crappy as no Darklord even comes close to dying in it.