DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: VAN RICHTEN'S GUIDE TO RAVENLOFT is Insanely Helpful
Dungeons & Dragons will be releasing Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft on May 18 and I’m here to tell you this book is amazing. They were kind enough to supply me with a copy of the book to look over before release and there’s so much in here. You’ve got lineages, subclasses, domains and darklords, guides to creating custom domains and darklords, a small bestiary, and more. You can grab a copy of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft from your local game store, bookstores, online retailers, and digital outlets like D&D Beyond and Roll20.
I am loving this book. It has so much great information for world-building, character creation, and more. Maybe I’m partial because I’m currently running a Curse of Strahd campaign, but I really wish I had this book when I was first preparing for it because of how useful it is. The introduction to the book is one of the best I’ve seen at laying out what to expect and providing a very basic understanding of different items like Domains and Darklords. It also does a wonderful job of explaining that everything in this book is designed to help you run safe and enjoyable horror RPG sessions.
Then, in character options, we get official versions of the Dhampir, Hexblood, and Reborn lineages from previous Unearthed Arcana. There is also information about how horror heroes can be different from many other genres and how the goal should be to scare the characters while making sure the players are safe. Dark Gifts are a new mechanic that help up the horror element in various ways like having characters be haunted by spiritual beings or have your soul not be alone in your body. It’s really cool and this is something I particularly wish I had because after my party was TPK’d I essentially gave everyone the Echoing Soul and it would’ve been nice to have something to use as a base instead of making something up. The subclasses are cool and the new backgrounds are interesting to me. I particularly want to make a character based on someone from Scooby-Doo and use the Investigator background.
Of course, DMs get a lot of great tools in the book too with guides on creating a Domain and a Darklord as well as NPCs and a bestiary. One of the most useful things throughout the process is the guides to different kinds of horror. There’s gothic horror, body horror, slasher horror, and so many other kinds of horror and this book helps you understand some of their differences and ways to incorporate them into your campaign. This is extremely useful.
Another piece DMs are going to love is when the books talk about the canon Domains and Darklords. You could easily use this to create a cool campaign where the players end up traveling through the Mists in an attempt to save the different Domains. You can even use the information to create one-shots for the different Domains including a Curse of Strahd Lite.
If you’ve ever wanted to run a horror-themed D&D game, Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft is possibly the best tool you can have. It is so helpful in understanding different elements of the genre and provides a lot of fun tools. I now am dreaming up ways to have my players continue with their characters once we finish Curse of Strahd. I would definitely recommend this book to D&D players. Plus, the alt-cover by Scott M. Fischer is gorgeous.
