Wes Schneider Is the Product Lead for Ravenloft: The Horrors Within

Wes Schneider was confirmed to be the product lead for Ravenloft: The Horrors Within in a recent panel at Gary Con. Over the weekend, Wizards of the Coast hosted a panel discussion about the past and future of Dungeons & Dragons featuring much of the current game leadership and Luke Gygax. While discussing the upcoming Ravenloft: The Horrors Within rulebook, D&D game design director Justice Ramin Arman stated that Wes Schneider was the product lead for the book. Schneider notably was the product lead for the last Ravenloft book Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft.

Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft notably updated the lore of Ravenloft, with different Domains of Dread shifting to focus on different genres of horror. While it's unclear whether that change is being reversed or fleshed out further, the new Ravenloft book will notably include statblocks for the various Darklords, something that Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft curiously lacked.

Ravenloft: The Horrors Within will be released on June 16th.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

In the TTRPGs the creators can imagine their works in certain way, but after the players do it with their own style, and this is not wrong.

 

[M.L. Martin]

Hickman's influence on Ravenloft has been entirely negative since 1986 so no surprise there.

Controversial opinion: With the exception of Strahd and Castle Ravenloft themselves, the Hickman elements taken into the setting (the Vistani and Soth) have been more trouble than they were worth.

 

[Remathilis]

Controversial opinion: With the exception of Strahd and Castle Ravenloft themselves, the Hickman elements taken into the setting (the Vistani and Soth) have been more trouble than they were worth.

I would argue to the extent that they had any influence post I6 and I8, the Hickman elements were added by other people who interpreted them very differently then Hickman did. That's not to say the Vistani in I6 are done well, but moving them from small element of I6 to major power players in the setting (and expanding their otherness that came with it) was not Hickman's doing.