Want to hazard a guess as to the horrors that might await you in Ravenloft: The Horrors Within? Here are the clues so far.
A shadow looms over the future of D&D, but it’s one we like because it’s the ominous presence of Ravenloft rearing its head once more. With a new book due out in June, Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, we will once again be returning to the Demiplane of Dread. The new sourcebook promises to give you all the tools you need to once again revisit horror in your campaigns. Be it new species, new subclasses, or a taste of the dark side in the form of a deeper dive into the Dark Lords of Ravenloft and their Dread Domains.
But what does all that actually mean? What does it actually entail? Well, believe it or not, WotC has already left several clues. Because between the description and a healthy dive back into the Unearthed Arcana of a year ago (if you can remember back that far), we can get a pretty good idea of what exactly we’re going to see within its pages. So let’s take a look at the conspiracy wall for Ravenloft: The Horrors Within.
Ravenloft: The Horrors Within – The Mists Come Calling Again
Right now we know that Ravenloft: The Horrors Within is coming in June. You can pre-order it starting April 13th, and you’ll be able to play it as early as May if you’re one of the Master Tier subscribers at D&D Beyond (who get early access). It’ll be a big campaign setting style sourcebook.
I think comparisons to the 5E Ravenloft sourcebook, Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft are fair. Especially since it sounds like WotC is still approaching Ravenloft as a charcuterie board full of horror genres. It was an approach specifically codified in Van Richten’s – each Domain of Dread served as its own sort of horror genre as well as a world ruled by a Dark Lord being tormented by the Dark Forces that dwell within the Mists.
One need look no further than the official teaser description to confirm the horror genre approach. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get updated versions of the Domains spotlighted in the last campaign setting outing. These include the familiar gothic lands of Barovia. But other domains include Bluetspur, Dementlieu, Falkovnia, Har’Akir, Hazlan, Lamordia.
“Ravenloft: The Horrors Within will deliver more player options like new horror-themed subclasses, species, backgrounds, and Dark Gifts. It will also deliver content around the Dark Lords and the Domains of Dread as well as dozens of fearsome Mist denizens including potential allies like the iconic Rudolph Van Richten.”
One of the built-in conceits for new monsters is statting out the Dark Lords of each Domain, as well as a few of their minion monsters. We saw this before with the apocalypse zombies which could transmit their deadly plague via bite. But especially after the 5.5E Monster Manual update, I bet we’ll see a lot of VRGR stat blocks get a fresh new coat of paint.
One thing I don’t know that we’ll see is a new Domain of Dread. It’s not impossible. I would certainly love it – but it feels like there’s a lot of “hey remember this thing? it still works in 5.5E and here’s how” going on right now. Maybe that’s just in the marketing speak though, and the actual rules will push forward some innovations. Speaking of…
Subclasses Of Dread
One of the big exciting things about the upcoming release is the possibility of new subclasses. What subclasses? Well as it happens, almost a year ago now, we got a glimpse of some updated “horror-themed subclasses” in an Unearthed Arcana fittingly titled Horror Subclasses Unearthed Arcana.
In fact there were eight new or updated subclasses. That’s quite a feat for an Unearthed Arcana,but does sound like it’d be about enough to go into a new horror themed book. It’s a good place to look, because UA is where WotC does its public-facing playtests. Not every subclass (or class) we see there gets published, but the Forgotten Realms subclasses absolutely got pulled from their respective Unearthed Arcanas. So it stands to reason.
Especially since the Horror Subclasses UA was exploring new ground. One of the big standouts from the playtest was the Artificer Reanimator. As a new subclass for the newly revised Artificer, the Reanimator was all about having your very own Frankenstein companion that you upgrade as you level up.
Or the Hollow Warden Ranger, a new Ranger subclass all about unleashing the ancient terror of dark foreboding forests. With bonus spells that make you more fearful and an incentive to cast Hunter’s Mark because of the benefits it gives you, this was an interesting subclass – though it didn’t fully come online until level 11.
The six other subclasses were all updates of 5E horror favorites:
- Bard College of Spirits – Now about channeling spirits instead of old stories
- Cleric of the Grave Domain – Life and death but mostly life
- Rogue Phantom – Use the power of ghosts to do Sneak Attack damage at range
- Shadow Sorcery – Command magical darkness
- Warlock Hexblade Patron – Everyone’s favorite sword Warlock
- Warlock Undead Patron – Become an undead-ish, terrorize your enemies
Though interestingly enough the Hexblade Warlock might be slated for the later Arcana Unleashed book, because it was also a big part of the Arcane Subclasses UA. Either way, it feels like these subclasses, plus the confirmed species: Dhampir, Hexblood, Lupin, and Reborn, will make for some eerie PCs in the near future.
Look for Ravenloft: The Horrors within later this year!
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