Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft is not only a major update to the world of Ravenloft, it also presents an interesting approach to building Dungeons & Dragons adventures that could mark a major shift in the ethos of D&D publications. In 1983, Tracy and Laura Hickman introduced the gothic horror-laced world of Ravenloft to Dungeons & Dragons. While Ravenloft was originally created to hold the iconic D&D vampire Strahd von Zarovich, the world eventually expanded to include a patchwork collection of “Demiplanes of Dread,” each of which served as an eternal prison for some sort of foul creature. The current Fifth Edition set of rules for Dungeons & Dragons revisited Ravenloft in Curse of Strahd, a re-telling of the original Ravenloft adventure set in Barovia. Despite not being set in the iconic Forgotten Realms, Curse of Strahd is considered one of D&D’s best “modern” adventures by players and critics alike.
