Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft is the next sourcebook coming for the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons. One of the earliest adventures for 5e was the Curse of Strahd that told the story of just one of the many Domains of Dread. Five years later, a fresh injection of horror is on its way for DnD with Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. Instead of focusing on just one story or location, Van Richten's Guide is a more comprehensive sourcebook that includes references for multiple adventures, new plot hooks, and information on thirty different realms that exist in the miniature multiverse.
The Ravenloft setting isn't anything new for DnD. Many game settings and novels were set in the expansive horror-realms over the course of the 90s, and horror as a thematic element itself isn't new to 5e specifically with the aforementioned Curse of Strahd and the much more recent Rime of the Frostmaiden. However, returning to Ravenloft with such an expansive sourcebook, clocking in at 256 pages, is likely going to be monumental for DMs who want to add some horror into their own homebrew campaigns or as separate darker one-shots as breaks from a more light-hearted adventure. For perspective, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything was 192 pages, and that book was a full-blown supplement to the game's core ruleset.
Returning to the Macabre in DnD 5e With Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
While Rime of the Frostmaiden dealt with horror themes like isolation, mistrust, and an overall The Thing feel, Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft is bringing some modern twists on very classic horror tropes. This is reflected in everything from the different adventures, like one that will have players tracking down a mad scientist and her escaped flesh golem a la Frankenstein, to new subclasses like the College of Spirits Bard that allows players to take on the role of a full-blown spiritualist. Players can hold seances in order to contact the dead or help fight off an impending zombie apocalypse.
The new book has a lot for DMs and players. Alongside the new Bard subclass is the Undead Patron for Warlocks which will allow aspiring spellcasters to obtain power via contracts with the most powerful of vampires and other Darklords. New character lineages are also available like the dhampir, a sort of psychic vampire, and the hexblood, a child born under some ill portent or under the effect of a supernatural contract. Combining the new subclasses and races will give players new options not just for stories based on Van Richten's Guide but also any other adventure that leans a bit less "Good" on the alignment chart.
DMs are treated with information on thirty new realms and several new adventures that will take place within them. Van Richten's Guide will also provide a framework for players to design their own Domains of Dread. Ravenloft exists within the Shadowfell, a dark parallel reality that exists alongside the Material Plane, so it's not difficult for DMs to fit a Van Richten's Guide- themed adventure into an already existing game. But much like the recently released Candlekeep Mysteries the new sourcebook also offers an offering of bite-sized adventures that can be plugged into an existing game or played as short one-shots on their own.
Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft is looking to bring more horror into DnD 5e in a big way, and excited players and DMs don't have much longer to wait.
Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft releases May 18th in physical and digital formats.