Posted in: Dungeons & Dragons, Games, Tabletop, Wizards of the Coast | Tagged: d&d, DnD, dungeons & dragons, dungeons and dragons, Ravenloft, Van Richten’s Guide To Ravenloft, wizards of the coast, WotC

Dungeons & Dragons Announces Van Richten's Guide To Ravenloft

Published Tue, 23 Feb 2021 10:00:59 -0600

by Gavin Sheehan

Last updated Tue, 23 Feb 2021 10:11:19 -0600

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This morning, Wizards of the Coast revealed the next book coming from Dungeons & Dragons with Van Richten's Guide To Ravenloft. As you might suspect from the location and the cover you see here, yes, we are revisiting the home location Strahd von Zarovich, one of the oldest characters to be in D&D's long history. But unlike the 2016 adventure book Curse Of Strahd, this will have you visiting a lot more of Barovia as well as the creatures, curses, treasures, and simply insane paranormal stuff happening in and around the other Domains of Dread. Dungeon Masters will have more than 30 Domains of Dread as well as the tools to create new horrific stories. You'll get details on each domain's Darklord, a new ready-to-play adventure, several new monsters, lineages, and sub-classes. As usual, the game will have two covers, the main one from Anna Podedworna available everywhere and an alternate cover by Scott M. Fischer sold only in game shops. You can read more about the book below as well as read a quote on it from today's announcement as it will hit shelves on May 18th, 2021.

A look at the front cover to Van Richten's Guide To Ravenloft, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

The correspondence of Rudolph Van Richten and other heroes of Ravenloft, like Ezmerelda d'Avenir and the Weathermay-Foxgrove Twins, introduce a new generation of monster hunters to the Lands of the Mists. Some of the Domains of Dread might feel eerily familiar to fans such as Lamordia, which explores the horror of experimentation on creating undead beings from deceased body parts by Dr. Viktra Mordenheim. Other horrors include the surreal, fairytale masquerades of Dementlieu; treachery in the war-torn rain forests of Kalakeri; and the endless zombie hordes of Falkovnia. Van Richten's Guide includes rules and advice for DMs to create custom domains and Darklords by portraying established horror tropes or whatever special new blend of terrorthey can imagine. Players can create more terrifying characters with Dark Gifts that provide roleplaying ties tothe Domains of Dread by bestowing benefits that may have a deadly cost. With Van Richten's Guide, players can also roll up a dhampir who's been created by a vampire, a hexblood descended from a hag, or a reborn who's been brought back from the dead. Two new subclasses further flesh out the options with the College of Spirits for bards and the Undead pact for warlocks, as well as new backgrounds to explore and trinkets to collect.

A look at Dungeons & Dragons' alternative cover for the book, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast. — A look at *Dungeons & Dragons*' alternative cover for the book, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

"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 Wes Schneider, senior game designer and lead designer of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. "Working with exciting new voices in horror and visual artists like D&D concept artist Shawn Woodwas essential to make sure we're updating the aesthetic for today's fanswhile staying true to the roots of Ravenloft."

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