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.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

My feeling is that D&D novels are mostly read by old diehards. And that isn't nearly enough for them to be profitable. Which is why they are so sporadic. WotC really need to attract the young adult readership, like they did in the old days, and still manage to do with MtG novels, hence their "Fallbacks" series.

Ravenloft would seem like an odd choice to try and revive the novel series (Baldur's Gate would be the obvious choice). I wonder if it's like the Drizzt and Dragonlance novels - the author approaching WotC and saying "can I write?", rather than WotC commissioning them as part of a broader strategy.

Also, don't forget to include digital sales. I think one of the reasons covers are so naff these days is an expectation that a majority of sales will be digital, where no one looks at the cover.

 

[Von Ether]

My feeling is that D&D novels are mostly read by old diehards. And that isn't nearly enough for them to be profitable. Which is why they are so sporadic. WotC really need to attract the young adult readership, like they did in the old days, and still manage to do with MtG novels, hence their "Fallbacks" series.

Ravenloft would seem like an odd choice to try and revive the novel series (Baldur's Gate would be the obvious choice). I wonder if it's like the Drizzt and Dragonlance novels - the author approaching WotC and saying "can I write?", rather than WotC commissioning them as part of a broader strategy.

Also, don't forget to include digital sales. I think one of the reasons covers are so naff these days is an expectation that a majority of sales will be digital, where no one looks at the cover.

I think an early article on ebooks helping with the rise of genre literature speculated that people could read them without anyone seeing a cover that would out them.

That was like over 10 years ago, so perhaps the stigma of a genre cover may have changed since then.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think an early article on ebooks helping with the rise of genre literature speculated that people could read them without anyone seeing a cover that would out them.

That was like over 10 years ago, so perhaps the stigma of a genre cover may have changed since then.

That’s not really what I’m talking about. Whenever you pick up or put down a print book, you see the cover, so it should be good. With an ebook you see a tiny image of the cover when you first buy the book, then never see it again.

 

[Bedrockgames]

That’s not really what I’m talking about. Whenever you pick up or put down a print book, you see the cover, so it should be good. With an ebook you see a tiny image of the cover when you first buy the book, then never see it again.

I definitely know what you mean. I have lots of ebooks where the cover is an afterthought. But I don't think they were intentionally neglecting cover quality here. This looks like effort went into it. My complaints are about the aesthetic choices and if they fit the mood. I don't have major complaints about the actual composition from a technical standpoint (not saying it is perfect, I just haven't noticed anything glaring about it in that respect).

With books like this, the cover is pretty important for marketing. The fantasy and RPG market is very visual in that respect and a badly done cover can mean the difference between people buying your book or game or not. If they were going in the cover as afterthought direction I think it would be look quite a bit more shoddy

 

[TiQuinn]

End of the day, I'm happy that the book is coming out because I always have to keep in mind that Ravenloft, more than many of the other settings WotC / TSR has created over the years, continues to get to support. It's really one of their most popular settings, and it's my absolute favorite.

 

[Zarithar]

Y'all realize these are YA novels, right? On par with HP, Hunger Games and Percy Jackson? This isn't Stephen King.

Some of the grimmest, darkest fiction out there is categorized as YA. You just listed one as an example...

 

[Zarithar]

This looks bad, as have all of the recent D&D tie-in novels. I will admit I haven't read any of them so I could be wrong. Am I secretly missing out?

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Sorry, maybe you remember some times I like to rave about crazy ideas or suggestions, and this is one of those. Let me to explain it and forgive me this little off-topic.

This novel will be published by Penguin Randon House. This company is the current owner of ediciones B, a division whose origins is in "Editorial Bruguera", a Spanish defunct publishing house. Here the characters from the magazine for children by Bruguera were popular and famous decades, even more superheroes before cinematographic productions.

OK, Penguin Randon House is the current owner of Bruguera's IPs. Then here my suggestion is (even if it seems a totally fool idea) is to recycle the characters from Bruguera franchises to publish new titles. For example "la Panda" (by Robert Segura) in a new adventure where they are sent to a fantasy world style D&D and isekai anime (with intentions of adventure + parodic comdy). Why? Because today to reuse forgotten IPs may be easier than starting totally from zero. I guess in the reboot some new girl would be added to te group and that type of changes

* My opinion is WotC would rather Penguin Randon House choose the strategy because this knows better the literaty market, and I wouldn't blame them.

All Gothic & Horror Books | Penguin Random House

Browse our latest titles in the Gothic & Horror category to discover your next read from PenguinRandomHouse.com

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

PRH doesn't need the brand "Ravenloft" to sell gothic+horror fiction. They have got, literally, more thousand titles. I guess the intention with Ravenloft franchise is the 13-17y reader who enjoys stories where "freaky" gothic heroes kicking-ass grimm monsters.

* Let's remember Ravenloft drinks from gothic horror, but it's not grimm style Konami's Castlevania, Blizzard's "Diablo" or "Resident Evil" (but maybe "the Evil Within" could). Here the PCs have to use the brain to survive, not only being the hardest fighters in the battlefield.

* If they wanted an horror novel with a lower survival rate, Duskmourn would be a better option. Maybe this should be a comic miniserie.

* In Ravenloft survival doesn't mean always a happy end. Maybe there is a hard sacrifice, the sanity is lost, or the characters suffer a horrible curse. Other times the main characters suffer a horrible end, and this is nice because this was a criminal who had to be punished. Other times a ghost story doesn't mean violence, but the mystery to be solve (for example the discovery it was not a suicide but a tragic accident).

* How would be a crossover Raveloft with "Evil Dead/Army of Darkness"?

* I would rather to read webcomics before ebooks.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Sorry, maybe you remember some times I like to rave about crazy ideas or suggestions, and this is one of those. Let me to explain it and forgive me this little off-topic.

This novel will be published by Penguin Randon House. This company is the current owner of ediciones B, a division whose origins is in "Editorial Bruguera", a Spanish defunct publishing house. Here the characters from the magazine for children by Bruguera were popular and famous decades, even more superheroes before cinematographic productions.

OK, Penguin Randon House is the current owner of Bruguera's IPs. Then here my suggestion is (even if it seems a totally fool idea) is to recycle the characters from Bruguera franchises to publish new titles. For example "la Panda" (by Robert Segura) in a new adventure where they are sent to a fantasy world style D&D and isekai anime (with intentions of adventure + parodic comdy). Why? Because today to reuse forgotten IPs may be easier than starting totally from zero. I guess in the reboot some new girl would be added to te group and that type of changes

* My opinion is WotC would rather Penguin Randon House choose the strategy because this knows better the literaty market, and I wouldn't blame them.

All Gothic & Horror Books | Penguin Random House

Browse our latest titles in the Gothic & Horror category to discover your next read from PenguinRandomHouse.com

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

PRH doesn't need the brand "Ravenloft" to sell gothic+horror fiction. They have got, literally, more thousand titles. I guess the intention with Ravenloft franchise is the 13-17y reader who enjoys stories where "freaky" gothic heroes kicking-ass grimm monsters.

* Let's remember Ravenloft drinks from gothic horror, but it's not grimm style Konami's Castlevania, Blizzard's "Diablo" or "Resident Evil" (but maybe "the Evil Within" could). Here the PCs have to use the brain to survive, not only being the hardest fighters in the battlefield.

* If they wanted an horror novel with a lower survival rate, Duskmourn would be a better option. Maybe this should be a comic miniserie.

* In Ravenloft survival doesn't mean always a happy end. Maybe there is a hard sacrifice, the sanity is lost, or the characters suffer a horrible curse. Other times the main characters suffer a horrible end, and this is nice because this was a criminal who had to be punished. Other times a ghost story doesn't mean violence, but the mystery to be solve (for example the discovery it was not a suicide but a tragic accident).

* How would be a crossover Raveloft with "Evil Dead/Army of Darkness"?

* I would rather to read webcomics before ebooks.

Just on the topic of penguin. Many of the gothic novels I read last year were Penguin editions (and in many cases books I had read before under different publishers): penguin does a very good job with those. But I will say, it being published by penguin is I think more of an argument for leaning more heavy into the gothic mood I was discussing as they have the kind of reach that will get that audience if it is done right

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I think a few of the settings has had problems between how they were actually played on tabletop vs how they were in the novels. So I could see them wanting to get novels more in with actual tabletop play.

And some of the responses from this thread make me feel really old, even though I can both be considered an Elderly Millennial and a Baby Gen Xer based on my age.