Dungeons and Dragonssaw the release of its newest sourcebook last week with the arrival ofVan Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. Following up one ofDnD’s most popular adventuresCurse of Strahd,Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloftintroduces new Domains of Dread and gives DMs and players the tools to create morbid atmospheres and new creepy characters. The more than 250-page compendium introduces a lot of new material and goes a long way to embrace its horror roots.
DnDis more popular than everand its fifth edition is now packed with different adventures and worlds for fans to explore. While plenty of its adventures feature some frightening elements likeGhosts of SaltmarshandRime of the Frostmaiden, the newVan Richten’s Guide to Ravenloftis the first book sinceCurse of Strahdto explore more classic horror themes and it does so with aplomb. The new sourcebook provides more than a dozen new Domains of Dread for players to explore and gives DMs the tools to create their own while giving solid breakdowns of several different genres of horror.
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Exploring Horror in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Horror can be difficult to incorporate intoDnDgames. The tendency to break tension at the table by making jokes or other silliness can pull players out of an ambient world crafted by the DM.Ravenloftgoes a long way into injecting a fresh dose of horrorinto any game, whether that be a short diversion for a single night of terror, or for full campaigns full of doom and gloom. One way the new sourcebook does so is by giving DMs an extensive breakdown of different types of classic horror genres, alongside tables full of ideas to use as inspiration or to be pulled out directly and placed into a game world.
Ravenloft’s second chapter includes a section that helps define body, gothic, cosmic, and folk horror alongside traditional ghost stories and dark fantasy. Those sections are full of information about the nature of the genre, and tools to help create a world based around a singular/mix of genres.
It provides brief overviews about what makes each genre unique, andRavenloftalso helps identify tropes to avoidin each. Tables present full of ideas for an overall villain, adventure location, and general plot hooks to use in each genre. The tables work both as good inspiration for a DM looking to build a wholly unique game, or as quick references for one looking to build a quick one-shot game for a single night in the Mists.
What’s useful about the nature ofRavenloft’s Domains of Dreads is that each one is wholly its own plane of existence. DMs can make travel between them as (relatively) simple or essentially impossible as they please. This goes a long way in helping to contain a story to a relatively small area, which can help a game flow and can also engender dread all on its own, as players find themselves trapped by the Mists that border each domain.
This allows for multiple worlds that embrace different horror genres to feel distinct while still existing simultaneously. What this means is that DMs can also bring players from a dark fantasy-styled world moresimilar to the upcomingDark Allianceinto a more cosmic horror-themed adventure that feels more likeBloodbornethan traditionalDnDfairly quickly.
Embracing both its roots in classic horror and the success of its spooky contemporaries across a wide range of mediums is at the heart ofRavenloft’s success. Bringing evencreepier new monsters toDnD, allowing players to create characters steeped in the horrific worlds they inhabit, and giving DMs inspiration in a multitude of ways means thatRavenloftcan potentially offer loads of new content for fans. It’s likely thatVan Richten’s Guide to Ravenloftwill be providing classic horror toDnDtables for quite a long time.
Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloftis available now both in physical and digital formats.
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