D&D 5E Ravenloft: Is it likely to get a 5e re-VAMP?

[El Mahdi]

I think it's just a matter of time before they bring back Ravenloft. Although at the pace they are releasing campaigns/settings, it could be a few years before they do so.

I don't so much think they need to rewrite the setting to fit 5E as much as they need to introduce some Ravenloft specific mechanics to 5E. If they follow the model they've used for the other settings/adventure paths they've released, I'd expect a Player's Campaign Guide including the unique mechanics (released for free on-line) concurrent with a Ravenloft Mega-Adventure/Adventure-Path release.



And I gave you XP for the clever thread title. I see what you did there too...

 

[Jester David]

They can fake it easily; group starts in Realms, gets swallowed by Mists, explore Ravenloft AP, defeat Strahd, Mists send them home. AP happens in Ravenloft, has Realms tie in for AL. DM can modify if the wants to go beyond APs borders.

The Adventurer's League makes that tricky.
Encounters only runs through the first 1/4 of the adventure, usually ending in an almost random location or a potential cliffhanger. But, the party can't end trapped in Ravenloft in case people want to take their Encounters characters and move them to Expeditions. Similarly, the Expeditions adventures are set in the Realms and deal with other plot threads and elements of the storyline. But if the adventure is set in Ravenloft that doesn't work.
And it's harder to bring in Sword Coast Legends or Neverwinter content.

At best, they could do a storyline where the Mists and darkords imprint themselves on the Forgotten Realms, or create regions of crossover that allow people to come and go. Possibly as an escape attempt by a darklord. But I'm not sure that's the best Ravenloft adventure they could do (we've seen the "darklord escape" adventure three or four times now). And that won't give much attention to the land and setting itself.

 

[MechaPilot]

I'd like to see it happen, but I'm not going to hold my breath. As far as I know, FR is slated to be WotC's setting of choice for the next 30 years.

 

[Revan79]

If they don't do a re-VAMP then i'll take it upon myself to do 5e conversions

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Morrus]

I assume it'll be an Unearthed Arcana at some point, like Eberron was.

 

[delericho]

I think we are likely to see a gothic-horror-themed story and the usual 5E mega-adventure, but not a campaign setting per-se.

This. Of all the campaign settings, Ravenloft is the easiest one for them to drop in to the Realms, so it's probably the one we're most likely to see... after a fashion.

 

[Mercule]

I don't see it happening any time soon. If this edition lasts long enough, maybe. I agree with others that an AP with the thematic elements is likely, but we'll only see Unearthed Arcana support for the setting, at best. The AP might have a bit better conversion notes, or a bit more of a web supplement, but it's still a variation of the UA-only level of support.

The only setting I still hold out much hope for is Eberron. Some of that is probably fan bias. I do think, though, that the Artificer is a stand-out for an established class that calls for its own mechanics. The Dragonmarks are also mechanically interesting. The setting is fairly young and (I think) still has a fair following. Eberron could also represent the "dial" of a common-magic setting. Dark Sun is the only other setting that really that has the same level of mechanical potential baked into it. It's older and didn't have the same following (to my knowledge), so it probably isn't as likely.

Interestingly, both settings have psionics as a major element. That might make a could pairing with a more formal psionics supplement.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

Since I am guessing that this edition is supposed to have a ten year lifespan... with a sixth edition coming for the 50th Anniversary (and I imagine that sixth edition is more going to look like a 5.5 version and be largely back compatible with fifth edition adventures), there is definitely a space later in the time line for specific setting specific products.

Marvel obviously hasn't stopped publishing comic books to focus entirely on movies and those other settings are IP that are just sitting around otherwise, but if FR gets up and going to ignite interest in the brand in general I definitely could see them reviving old settings. If anything they could just release one campaign setting book, one big cinematic mega-adventure and a novel trilogy for that setting. They could basically use it as a very glossy pitch to prospective filmmakers and video game developers to do their own products based on that setting. A lot of this rides on the success of the Forgotten Realms film(s.) And I am not sure where it leaves more traditional settings like Greyhawk and Mystara that cover a lot of the same conceptual ground as FR (even if the tone is a bit different). Dark Sun, Planescape and Ebberron all seems distinct enough that they could support their own mini-universes. Though given Hollywood's need for Marvel style crossover events only Planescape and Spelljammer really lend themselves to that model.