The domain of Falkovnia, for example, featured a Vlad-the-Impaler-esque warlord, but little else in terms of defining characteristics – so Scheinder and the team pivoted the realm to focus on a more modern horror theme: the zombie apocalypse. While many domains have been refreshed, some have been entirely reimagined to stretch the Ravenloft domains outside the realm of “classical Gothic horror”.
Fischer.These aren’t just reprintings of AD&D worlds with 5e mechanics, of course. We’ll also be seeing cosmic horror, ghost stories, dark fantasies, psychological horror – all of these different things, depending on what your favorite flavor of nightmare might be.”įull alternate cover art by Scott M. “We’re starting with the core of Curse of Strahd and then expanding out from there into other Domains of Dread and beyond just Gothic horror. “Just like how the original Ravenloft adventure then spread out into an entire campaign setting back in the ’90s, we’re doing very much the same thing,” Schneider said. So we wanted to make sure that if you played Curse of Strahd or other adventures in Ravenloft, that Van Richten’s Guide isn’t just like, ‘Oh, well, I did that.’” “It’s been very popular, a lot of folks have played it already. “We understand that Curse of Strahd came out many years ago,” says Wes Schneider, senior D&D designer and lead on Van Richten’s Guide. Fischer (R).The guide won’t simply be Curse of Strahd 1.5, however – you can check out last year’s ReVamped edition for that – VRGtR will provide options for a variety of horrific adventures and settings. It focuses on the various Domains of Dread - perhaps better known to some D&D veterans as the Demiplane of Dread - featured in past editions of the game, from the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Realm of Terror to the hugely popular 2016 Fifth Edition adventure Curse of Strahd.Ĭover art for Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, by Anna Podedworna (L) and Scott M. Tempest Bradford, Van Richten's Guide is set for a May 2021 release. The Dungeons & Dragons team has announced a new horror-themed sourcebook, Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft ( see it at Amazon).Featuring work from authors like Cassandra Khaw, Molly Ostertag, and K.