Yesterday saw the release of the new D&D source book Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft (VRGR).

VRGR takes players and DMs back to Ravenloft and the Domains of Dread. But this isn’t an adventure like the Curse of Strahd. This is a campaign source book.

A campaign source book that gives players and DMs the tools to run horror themed D&D campaigns.

As the content page (above) shows those tools include new options for players such as lineages, dark gifts, new backgrounds and subclasses.

For the DM there is a chapter on creating your own Domain of Dread that also covers the various types of horror. Followed by coverage of the Domains of Dread that make up the Ravenloft setting. DMs also get a chapter on running horror games that also includes an adventure “The House of Lament”. This adventure is for first level players and takes them up to level 3. From a cursory glance over the adventure it looks like a haunted house type of affair.

This brings me onto a minor criticism, and I know that page space is an issue in these sort of things. But considering the advice earlier in the chapter about session zeroes etc, you would have thought there would be a paragraph or two that a DM could use summarising the themes and content for the adventure. But to be fair I’d like to see this sort of thing in all of the official D&D books.

I’ve not run the Avernus campaign, so was shocked when I saw in a Sly Flourish video that it uses body horror in part of the campaign. There needed to be some sort of paragraph at the start of the book, and also at the start of each chapter similar to what I suggested above. If nothing else it forewarns the DM that there might be problematic content for their gaming group.

The final chapter is the good ol’ bestiary for the Domains of Dread. More monsters is always a good thing.

VRGR is the latest instalment in what seems like a fixation with horror for the WotC D&D crew. Since the release of Avernus, we have had Icewind Dale, Curse of Strahd Revamp and now this. It will be interesting to see if they lighten things up.

I’ve been looking forward to VRGR since it was announced. And apart from the comment above, my initial look through the pages hasn’t disappointed.

I’d like to run a campaign in the Domains of Dread. But luckily the way my current campaign is structured I can introduce horror elements to it using VRGR and Tasha’s as well. Naturally before doing so there would need to be a conversation with the players. (Is there a name for a mid game session zero? ) And although this book is specifically for D&D some of the information like horror genres, or running that session zero are applicable to other systems. Horror Cyberpunk Red anyone?