Last week, the D&D community got an opportunity to ask Delilah Dawson, author of the most recent adventure set in the town of Barovia, Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd. Here’s a look at some of the amazing questions provided by our community! 

Some questions have been edited for clarity. Full questions can be found by following the links at the end of this article! 

With this being the first Ravenloft novel released in two decades, did you feel any pressure to deliver based on the setting’s history? (Question from LaTia) 

Absolutely! This is always a concern when writing IP—I only really write in worlds where I'm a fan, which means I have my own expectations and want to delight the fans in the same way that I want to be delighted. It was really important to me to capture the classic Strahd and Barovia as compared to trying to modernize them; they are deeply ingrained in the communal consciousness, including my own, so while the dungeon party is new, Barovia remains, as ever, Barovia. 

How did it feel taking something as well-known and well-loved as Curse of Strahd and finding a new way to tell the same basic story? And are we going to see more of the Boo Crew? (Question from CunningSmile) 

I really hope we see more of them—they are an utter joy to write! Part of my approach here was taking a setting we know and love and dropping in a party of characters who do not know what genre they're in. Because none of them know about Ravenloft or the rules therein, they discover it in time with new readers. The book follows the actual castle maps very closely, aside from adding an extra bedroom for Kah and Alishai because... for a castle, Strahd is really not into providing guests with beds! But other than that, I was trying to play with the existing denizens and objects in the castle in new ways and letting my characters make very stupid mistakes that one would make if they thought they were in an adventure comedy and instead had walked into Dracula's castle. 

How were you able to so perfectly make Strahd a sympathetic villain? You truly toy with the reader in siding with him despite his intentions. (Question from m5byymxvqj) 

Thanks so much! It was really important to me that Strahd remain his classic, cold, cruel, abusive, but tragic self. I did not want him to seem too sympathetic, but he needed to play on his own tragedy to forward his agenda. After reading all of Curse of Strahd and Vampire in the Mists and some of I, Strahd [by P. N. Elrod], I felt like I had a pretty good handle on him and the ways that he uses people and toys with them. Writing sympathetic but still horrible, murderous monsters is pretty much my bailiwick, which is why I wrote Phasma and Rise of the Red Blade for Star Wars. I don't know what that says about me as a person.... 

Artist: Anna Podedworna

How did you originally come up with the five main characters? Are they based on real PCs in your game? (Question from DMSteve) 

We started with choosing the setting, and then I put together a variety of 4- and 5-character teams, combining ideas offered by the Wizards of the Coast team with species/roles that I thought would be particularly fun. We all wanted to play with novel combinations and avoid a heavily human party. For example, they wanted a kenku, and I absolutely sank my teeth into that idea. Looking at the teams I'd created, they told me which ones they liked, and then I did my best to create a balanced party that could actually survive a level 2 fight without a TPK. I did most of the creation with some nudges here and there, I'd say 95% me/5% WOTC. There may have been some Astarion DNA in Chivarion, though. Every party needs a himbo. 

What media/research did you use in the writing process? (Question from Celestial_Spark) 

There is a foot-tall stack of source books at my feet right now, plus my Tarokka deck. My castle map has been unfolded and refolded so many times that the folds are getting soft. And of course, I was on D&D Beyond quite a bit. I really wanted to write a book that had everything a longtime reader and veteran player would want to see in Castle Ravenloft, while also making the story an open door for new players or readers who don't know as much about the world. I may have also put a little bit of Astarion into Chivarion, but just the best bits. And I reread Vampire of the Mists and Dance of the Dead [by Christie Golden] as an immersion into the world. 

You can take a look at all Delilah’s answers in the D&D Beyond Forums and the official Dungeons & Dragons Discord. Got a question Delilah didn’t answer? Head on over to her Bluesky page and ask it there—she's always open to new questions!