The Mist Has Lifted Around D&D's New Sourcebook: Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft

Tags monsters Ravenloft Worldbuilding Horror Sourcebook campaign-building author-joe-starr

The mist beckons. It's time to face your fears.

D&D’s newest sourcebook is Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, a massive expansion of one of the most popular D&D adventures of all time! It’s available for preorder now in the D&D Beyond Marketplace, and you’ll gain access to all the horrors within its pages when it’s released on May 18th, 2021. Let’s take a look at all the dark details we’ve learned about this upcoming book...

Beyond Strahd

While the creeping mist of Bavoria will be further explored in Guide, the 'boundaries' of Ravenloft are being massively redefined with the introduction of 30 different Domains of Dread- all different horror-themed settings to test the mettle and morals of your players! Like Strahd and his kingdom, each Domain will feature its own twisted Darklord with goals and machinations of their own.

Domains announced and discussed so far by the lead designer of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, Wes Schneider, at the book’s recent press event include Lamordia, a frigid vision of mad science gone wrong; the surreal, dark fairytale masquerades of Dementlieu; treachery and intrigue in the encounters in the dark rain forests of Kalakeri; and the endless zombie nightmare of Falkovnia. Further teased and suggested were even more flavors of horror: from most dangerous games to traditional ghost stories, and even D&D’s spin on cosmic dread.  

“I’m a huge fan of all things horror, so it was an absolute thrill to frame this book around bringing frightening elements like mummy lords, cosmic terrors, and urban legends to more D&D tables,” said Schneider. “Working with exciting new voices in horror and visual artists like D&D concept artist Shawn Wood was essential to make sure we’re updating the aesthetic for today’s fans while staying true to the roots of Ravenloft.”

Old Enemies and New Faces  

With Ravenloft in the title, old favorites like Strahd are to be expected--in fact, while the book is aimed at new players (who never had their copy of I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire taken away by their parents in middle school) that may be completely new to the setting, there are plenty of promised nods for long time fans--including the return of Ezmerelda d’Avenir, a fresh take on the Vistani, as well as a new generation of monster hunters in the Weathermay-Foxgrove Twins. And it’s good to have allies in horror, lest your party’s body parts be sewn together and reanimated by Darklords like Dr. Viktra Mordenheim.

Saving Throws to Save Your Soul

Players will also get an opportunity to explore their characters’ dark sides with two all-new character subclasses: the College of Spirits Bard, powerful storytellers who control and manipulate the power and spirits of stories and folklore that shape the past, and the Undead Pact Warlock, for magic-users that want to make a deal with something truly horrific... at the cost of their soul. 

Additionally, as recently explored in Unearthed Arcana, players can also create a dhampir, hexblood, or reborn character, which offer vampire, hag, and undead lineages, respectively. Schneider also challenged players with the idea that in Ravenloft, “death isn’t the end,” pushing the horror theme with ideas of reanimation, inherited mantles, and bloodlines to further explore the idea of lineage. 

Especially intriguing is the addition of Dark Gifts--benefits bestowed with a deadly cost that provide even more role-playing ties to the Domains of Dread. 

Monster Mash

Van Richten’s Guide also includes what Schneider describes as a “meaty” bestiary, with about 40 pages worth of horrific monsters---including classic Ravenloft favorites. He also discussed the book's guidance in taking existing monsters in D&D and approaching them from horrifying new angles. From single goblins to shambling zombies that first-level players would typically yawn at, this could change the way we approach encounters in the game. 

If monsters are your horror flavor of choice, the book certainly seems to have captured them all, from D&D spins on pop culture classics, cosmic madness, and even plenty of creepy nautical nasties in the Sea of Sorrows.  

Whatever Walked There Walked Alone…

Of course, no sourcebook would be complete without an all-new adventure, and Guide features a 20 pages D&D spin on the classic haunted house genre, The House of Lament. It’s an atmospheric adventure of spirits, seances, and things going very, very badly. 

The book, worked on by a who’s who of horror writers, also contains plenty of story hooks and guides for breaking out your own Tarokka decks and spirit boards for creating your own horror stories- and even your own Domains of Dread. 

You can preorder Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft on the D&D Beyond Marketplace right now! You’ll get special goodies for pre-ordering, and instantly have access to the book when it releases on May 18, 2021.

 

 

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