Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd Cover, Synopsis Revealed

The cover and synopsis for Penguin Random House's new Dungeons & Dragons novel has been revealed. This week, Penguin Random House revealed the official title and cover for Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd, a new novel by Delilah S. Dawson. The new novel is due for release in April 2025. The new novel follows a group of adventurers who arrive in Barovia under mysterious circumstances and are summoned to Castle Ravenloft to dine with the infamous Count Strahd. This marks the first Ravenloft novel released in 17 years.

Penguin Random House has slowly grown its line of novels over the past few years, with novels set in Spelljammer, Dragonlance, and the Forgotten Realms released over the last year. Characters from The Fallbacks novel by Jaleigh Johnson also appears in art in the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide.

The full synopsis for Heir of Strahd can be found below:

Five strangers armed with steel and magic awaken in a mist-shrouded land, with no memory of how they arrived: Rotrog, a prideful orcish wizard; Chivarion, a sardonic drow barbarian; Alishai, an embittered tiefling paladin; Kah, a skittish kenku cleric; and Fielle, a sunny human artificer.

After they barely survive a nightmarish welcome to the realm of Barovia, a carriage arrives bearing an invitation:

Fairest Friends,

I pray you accept my humble Hospitality and dine with me tonight at Castle Ravenloft. It is rare we receive Visitors, and I do so Endeavor to Make your Acquaintance. The Carriage shall bear you to the Castle safely, and I await your Arrival with Pleasure.

Your host,
Strahd von Zarovich

With no alternative, and determined to find their way home, the strangers accept the summons and travel to the forbidding manor of the mysterious count. But all is not well at Castle Ravenloft. To survive the twisted enigmas of Strahd and his haunted home, the adventurers must confront the dark secrets in their own hearts and find a way to shift from strangers to comrades—before the mists of Barovia claim them forever.

 

[Von Ether]

Have you seen the past 20 years of media? The sequels, requels, and prequels that litter Hollywood, gaming and music? Every company of moderate or larger is so risk adverse that all they have is defiled corpses to sell. The same two dozen media properties recycled endlessly. It's absolutely not weird, it's what people are buying.

Have you seen the past 20 years of media? The sequels, requels, and prequels that litter Hollywood, gaming and music? Every company of moderate or larger is so risk adverse that all they have is defiled corpses to sell. The same two dozen media properties recycled endlessly. It's absolutely not weird, it's what people are buying.

Indiana Jones and Star Wars were essentially 1970s fan fic for 1950s movie serials. It got to the point that most top tier novelists were making more of a living off movie options from their backlist than they from book royalties back in the 90s.

Yes, there has been original content, but media has always been borrowing and repackaging nostalgia for ages.. And essentially wasn't that the original impetuses for the OSR? More of the old stuff, but a little different.

 

[Von Ether]

I will be wait and see on the story. I could be wrong but I would be wearing a big smirk if the "heroes" end up all dead or drastically betraying themselves after Strahd is done with them. Because that would be the most Ravenloft of Ravenloft endings.

 

[Remathilis]

I will be wait and see on the story. I could be wrong but I would be wearing a big smirk if the "heroes" end up all dead or drastically betraying themselves after Strahd is done with them. Because that would be the most Ravenloft of Ravenloft endings.

That's a fundamental misreading of horror. The point of horror is not to kill everyone, but to see how the horror has changed them. The hunters in Dracula suffer one fatality (Quincy Morris) but the other five hunters all live. Laurie Strode and Sydney Prescott are defined as being "final girls". Horror movies where the antagonists win isn't horror, their torture porn.

Ravenloft is a setting where you win, but never without a price and always understanding the evil will return. Strahd is defeated, but he will always come back. There is always some mad scientist, evil cult, or ancient curse that will keep the monster coming back, but by the same token there will always be someone who can stop the evil. Ravenloft heroes always push against the darkness and that's the point.

So, no, the most "Ravenloft'" ending isn't with Strahd Triumphant and the heroes dead. That's the nihilistic reading of the setting and fundamentally misunderstands the nature of horror and dark fantasy. The heroes will survive, changed from the encounter, and Strahd's plans will be defeated. That is the Ravenloft ending.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

And now we are in the age of videogames. This is important because when you have watched too many slasher movies then you don't worry for the horrible fate suffered by the characters, but in a horror videogame you are suffering because your PC can die in a horrible way.... several times. Other point is now horror may be mixed with other genres, even the comedy. We shouldn't blame them if they bet for the action-horror. Have you read the marvel comics about the "Sons of Midnight" (Ghost Rider, Blade the vampire hunter before the first action-live movie, Morbius..)? "Buffy the vampire slayer" is a good example how horror, action and humor can be mixed together. The horror franchise "Evil Dead" isn't very famous because it was too serious.

And let's remember WotC wants Ravenlot to be +13, not +18, and even if they wanted, others could do it better.

My opinion is if Ravenloft has got some weak point is the setting isn't designed for political confrotations between supernatural factions.

My theory is we could see in the future some "crossovers" event with Ravenloft, Innistrad and Duskmourn but that should happen at least in 2026.

 

[Starmaster]

You are not going to get a stock price-driven company like Hasbro to say "you know, instead of appealing to contemporary fantasy tastes with our flagship game, we should push what their grandfathers like on them, in the hopes that some of them will come around."

If this aesthetic change really upsets people, they should play OSR games, which are much more interested in the old school aesthetic people are mourning.

Being upset that a company is going where their audience is will always be a futile exercise.

Your presumption is that the new D&D tone does appeal to contemporary audiences. Maybe it does, but given the amount of dissatisfaction expressed in this thread, perhaps this is not what contemporary audiences want. Companies do not always do a good job of anticipating what their customers want. Or perhaps the people who do prefer D&D's new feel just don't post frequently on this forum.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Maybe it does, but given the amount of dissatisfaction expressed in this thread, perhaps this is not what contemporary audiences want.

These forums are well known for being dominated by folk who haven't been "contemporary" for over 30 years!

 

[Starmaster]

These forums are well known for being dominated by folk who haven't been "contemporary" for over 30 years!

Speak for yourself! I'm a hip, out there, groovy dude!

 

[Scribe]

Or perhaps the people who do prefer D&D's new feel just don't post frequently on this forum.

They are on Twitter, TikTok and Discord.

 

[Remathilis]

Or perhaps the people who do prefer D&D's new feel just don't post frequently on this forum.

This board is one step away from Dragonsfoot in the amount of Grognardia it wallows in.

 

[Chaltab]

Urgh. In my homebrew, just about every race and combo is possible. But for Ravenloft…

This cover fits about as well as if the next book in the Song of Fire & Ice series featured a Dragonborn, an Ice Genasi, A Goliath and a Disney Princess as its main characters.

I would be more inclined to read it if that was the vibe.