Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft

Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft offers a lot of terrific material for players and DMs alike for building out their own Ravenloft campaign, or more broadly, for creating a horror-themed D&D adventure or campaign. The book is lavishly illustrated, clearly written and nicely laid out, and is quite in line with the generally high production values I have found in my other 5e books.A good portion of the book - Domains of Ravenloft (pp.60-180) - provides additional setting information on Ravenloft, which is you've already visited the place in Curse of Strahd, this should give you plenty to book a return visit. Or, you can turn that adventure book into something larger with the additional detail provided here. It's all fun stuff to read and to imagine one's players in.Monsters of Ravenloft (p.222-255) offers a bunch of fun critters and villains to throw at your party as well. They are all horror-themed, of course, so they will feel most suitable for horror adventures or campaigns. But you could work one of these into a particularly dark and spooky corner of a dungeon or one-shot you're writing on your own, just fine.But where the book really shines is in its sections on Creating a Domain of Dread (p.38-60) and Horror Adventures (p. 184-221), which are marvelously written chapters on how to get into the tone and direction of a fantasy horror game.Creating a Domain of Dread is helpful intro material for those looking to dive into a horror campaign, and offers nice overviews of various sub-genres of horror, which make the whole thing a bit more manageable to understand and absorb. Just calling a game a horror game is fairly broad, and creates a lot of opportunity for players to have widely divergent expectations of where the game will take them, and that leads to an experience that often isn't as fun for everyone as i could be.The Horror Adventures section is aimed at DMs, but would be a good section for any player to read as well. It is a really, really great section because it doesn't presume one knows what makes a horror story tick. Sure, everyone knows what it's like to be scared or creeped out, but actually crafting that experience for others so that they enjoy it is a much more difficult and nuanced thing. And this chapter provides a lot of helpful tips on how to set atmosphere, create tension, and so on. It also has some really important guidance on setting boundaries, checking in on the players and seeking consent. It gets into the concept of having a Session Zero for the campaign (which is a good idea for any campaign in any game, really), and it stresses that just because you know your players, it's not good to presume to know what their deepest fears are. The point being, running a game that triggers your friend's most intimate fear or trauma is not a legit avenue for entertaining them, yourself, or the other people at the table. And guess what? Everybody has something deep down that they just don't want to see mined for role-playing. We just don't like to talk about that often.There are those gamers who feel such things are unnecessary, to the point of grousing over how this book is too "PC" or "woke" or whatever other buzzword folks like to use to complain about how hard it is to actually be respectful of others at the table. (These same voices seem to have difficulty accepting illustrations of adventurers in wheelchairs, which also appear in this book. That seems like a strange hill to defend, and one that provides no avenues for heroism. But I digress.)The reality is, a horror game is still about having fun. And if you genuinely freak out a player because you weren't mindful of their limits, you've failed as a GM and you've done harm to your player. That's not what any game should be about, even a horror one. And keeping these things in mind is a way to respect everyone at the table. Very few games bother to address this, let along provide helpful guidance to DMs on it, so for this section, I'd give the book a sixth star, if I could.I will also say this - I didn't see any specific sections on "Insanity" or "Madness," as often appear in other horror games, and I welcomed that. Such approaches often treat mental wellness with a very broad brush, ignorantly wielded. Van Richten's Guide often rounds back to how much fear a player is experiencing, and how debilitating that is to one's character in the moment. It doesn't rely on tired old concepts of mental collapse that a) lead to lazy storytelling and b) often reinforce a weird kind of aggression from DMs who say where and when a character is no longer fully in control of their faculties. Once again, there are those who find this approach too gentle. I say that in a world where we are making strides to acknowledge and destigmatize mental wellness issues so that people in the real world can get the help they need without shame or ridicule, using things like D&D to dress up in broad stereotypes about mental illness isn't helpful, and is not pointing towards a better future for this game, our beloved hobby or the RPG industry.Van Richten's Guide is a rich, detailed and fun book that I am looking forward to integrating into my game. I'm not a particularly huge horror gaming fan. But I can see the many things here that I can make use of and bring a sense of dread into my game that I think my players will enjoy.

I have been a DM for 5e for the past 3 years and I have to admit . . . that this is one of the best books in the 5e lineup; definitely up there with Curse of Strahd.Whether for simple one-shots or long drawn-out campaigns, this book caters to everyone, including the dark fantasy writers.I cannot wait to run a session with my table with this book; of course if they agree to it. The properly organized book makes me so happy as an apprentice DM; chapters for the Domains separated out with necessary info, awesome (and terrifying) new creatures to throw in in the bestiary, and even a gorgeously designed spirit board in the back.This is going to be an amazing resource for DMs (and writers), and as a resource, it shines. A resource book that is a well-structured book with all the stat-blocks in an easy-to-find fashion, instructions on how to create a unique Domain of Dread, and a helpful guide on how to add horror to a game. Despite my simple cursory look at the book, WotC finally brought back an iconic book that can be classified as one of the best.I guess I can wrap this all up easily right here:Content = 9/10Ease of play = UnknownOrganization = 10/10Ease to read = 9/10Ease to resource = 10/10Price = 8/10ADDITIONAL INFO (Edited):There is a considerable amount of retconning done by WotC when it comes to a lot of the original lore from the original books. However, the amount of retconning was deemed "necessary" by some individuals. I am not saying they are wrong; the book even retcons parts of Curse of Strahd.Others have pointed out that the section about the various styles of horror mentioned are considered a heavily watered-down version of what they are; I do agree in some regard. However, I do consider it more as the shallow end of the pool rather than the deep; some DMs need to test the waters first.Fantasy is what we make of it. Some of us like it dark and other's don't.SECONDARY THOUGHTS:This is a Dungeon Master's book; specifically, a campaign setting guide for one of D&D's storied locations. This is not a book that tells DMs how to think and how to run games. It is a wonderful resource for those who wish to dabble into dark fantasy and horror; in other words, not for the feint of heart.

Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft is one of my absolute favorite D&D books, offering an incredibly rich variety of gothic and horror settings within the Domains of Dread. The guide takes you deep into the Plane of Shadow, where dark, nightmarish worlds await, and the notorious Dark Lords reign over their respective domains with terrifying power.Rather than relying on traditional spooks, the book focuses on unsettling, psychologically complex horrors, creating settings that are eerie, atmospheric, and uniquely terrifying. The new character options fit perfectly with campaigns set in these dark domains, and the monstrous additions are both imaginative and disturbing. I particularly loved the beastiary's take on familiar creatures, such as a swarm of zombie limbs—a fresh, horrifying twist on an already terrifying idea.The book is a valuable resource for any Dungeon Master looking to add layers of dread, tension, and intrigue to their campaigns. It arrived in perfect condition, with high-quality artwork that truly captures the dark beauty of Ravenloft.If you’re looking to bring a darker, more psychological horror flavor to your games, Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft is an indispensable resource that will make your campaigns stand out.