Ravenloft Campaign Setting (Book)

Product Information

Authors: Andrew Cermak, John W. Mangrum, Andrew Wyatt
Type:Setting Guide, the first Ravenloft book in 3rd edition
Format: 224 page hardback
Release date: October 2001
Other notes: White Wolf has released a Limited Edition version of the Ravenloft Third edition Core book. It has a black leatherette-like cover, with red metallic logo, and includes a place-keeping bookmark ribbon. There were 3,000 copies made of this numbered edition. There is an errata file for this document – we will try to find it soon!

Dates

Published 2001
Ravenloft 755 BC

Errata

Pg. 35 Alignment section: “giorgio” should be “giomorgo”. (Errata)

Pg. 38 In the “Tales of Death and Madness” sidebar. Replace second sentence with: “If the bard performs with the intent of instilling terror, those in her audience are required to make a Fear save (see chapter 3) with a DC of (bard’s Perform check – 10).” (Errata)

Pg. 56 Table 2–2 and 2–3: Some item CLs are incomplete. Straight razor: CL 5+; Bomb and Smokebomb: CL 8+. (Errata)

Pg. 57 Table 2–4: Book, blank: CL 5+. The “Automation, small” should weigh 50 lb. (Errata)

Pg. 99 Remove the “Greater Restoration: as Lesser Restoration” line. (Errata)

Pg. 100 Modify Memory: change “check” to “failure”. (Errata)

Pg. 101 Nightmare: The first sentence should read: “If the victim is killed by the damage inflicted by this spell, she returns from death as a bastellus. (Bastelli is detailed in Denizens of Darkness; DMs without that accessory can use allips instead).”. (Errata)

Pg. 101 Protection from Good: As protection from evil, below. Casting this evil spell does not require a powers check.”. (Errata)

Pg. 101 Protection from Evil: Change the paragraph to read: “Protection from Evil: This spell works normally, but the DM should apply the applicable deflection bonuses secretly, so as not to reveal the moral alignment of evil attackers.”. (Errata)

Pg. 102 Spectral Hand: change “per level” to “per caster level”>. (Errata)

Pg. 102 Status: change “character” to “subject” and “failed check” to “failed saving throw”>. (Errata)

Pg. 103 Cursed Items: change “to all saving throws” to “to all of its saving throws”. (Errata)

Pg. 104 In the table, change “Saving Throw Penalty” to “Saving Throw Bonus”(Errata)

Pg. 106 Book of Vile Darkness: add “(in place of the experience point bonus listed in the Dungeon Master’s Guide)” at the end of the first sentence. (Errata)

Pg. 110 Charted Mistways sidebar: The Bleak Road should connect “Southern Nova Vaasa — Northern Vorostokov”, and not Barovia!>(Errata)

Pg. 112 The Core, 2nd paragraph: change “east” to “west” and change “West” to “East”. (Errata)

Pg. 112 Change Barovia total population to “27,700” (not 27,7000)>(Errata)

Pg. 115 Borca. Change "Von Ziyden" to "Vor Ziyden">(Errata)

Pg. 116 The correct population percentages for Darkon are: “Humans 70%, Halflings 14%, Dwarves 6%, Elves 5%, Gnomes 3%, Half-Elves 1%, Other 1%.(Errata)

Pg. 118 The “Other” population percentage of Dementlieu should be 3%>(Errata)

Pg. 119 At end of ‘character’ section: change “Weapon Finesse (pistol, rapier)” to “Weapon Focus (pistol, rapier)”. (Errata)

Pg.132 “The Nocturnal Sea” landscape section, 1st paragraph: change “west” to “east”, and “western” to “eastern”. (Errata)

Pg.181 ‘rank five’ second paragraph: change “living beings” to “living or undead beings”. (Errata)

Pg.185 Magic Mimicry: change sentences 4 and 5 to: “The lich does not need to know the spell, but it can mimic only those spells found on its own spell list. A lich who is an 11th-level wizard cannot mimic a cleric or druid’s spells, for example.”. (Errata)

Pg.186 Poison aura: change “magical aura” to “magical (necromantic) aura”. (Errata)

Pg. 190 Change the Spider Climb special quality from “(Su)” to “(Ex)”(Errata)

Pg. 191 Change “Advancement: As base construct.” to “Advancement: By character class (fighter, rogue, commoner, expert, or warrior only).” (Errata)

Pg. 192 Regeneration (Ex) should read: “The dread golem gains Regeneration 5. Two relatively common varieties of damage must be selected that deal normal damage to the golem. Dread flesh golems, for example, are frequently unable to regenerate fire or acid damage. As a construct, the dread golem remains immune to attacks that would normally inflict subdual damage. The dread golem cannot regrow lost body parts, but it can reattach severed body parts instantly by holding them against the stump.”. (Errata)

Pg. 201 Corruptive Aura: add special quality “(Su)”. (Errata)

Pg. 204 Curses, 5th paragraph: change “a bonus” to “an insight bonus”. (Errata)

Pg. 208 Manusa tribes, 2nd paragraph: change “sorcerer class” to “wizard class” and “sorcery” to “wizardry”. (Errata)

Kagatane.com Review Page^[1]

abrelle

I will keep this short as to say one thing: WOW. I agree that every edtion of ravenloft is better that the last and at last a ravenloft book that not only explains the world/firearms/religion in excellent details but is is "Player Friendly". Thats right a player can read this and still not have a clue as to the true nature of the inhabitants of the domains. but has plenty of usful information to get an mental imagin of the land.

Buy now even if your a player! 5 blood drops.

Venom

greatly disapointed ... I was hoping for alot more on this product... I think withe wolf did a few mistakes ... mainly ... no domain lord descriptions! I mean, compared to the 2nd edition product : Domains of dread, this book can't even look up to it. Of course the book isen't all bad, the descriptions for such creatures as the ancient dead, vampires, lich etc ... Are very interesting and the domains are well described. I just don't think its worth the price. On a scall of 1 to 10, comapred with the price for it ... I give this book a 5/10, but for a price of 20$ it would be an easy 9/10 ... oh well ... we all get screwed one day or another! But don,t forget, this is a personal opinion ... Some peopel may love it, otehrs hate it ... so don't take my word for it ;-)

Walt Wilkerson

I just got the limited edition yesterday night, and so far i havent been able to get away from it. I love Ravenloft, and now i love 3rd edition. For one, there are so many things that i never even thought of that i think make the game much more interesting, such as the new rules for divinations(u gotta get the book if u want to see what they are:-)). And im so glad that they described all of the clusters that they mentioned in the book, unlike 2nd ed where they said 5 existed, then only described some of them. I also think the Frozen Reaches cluster is an excellent idea. Overall, if you like DnD and u like Ravenloft, then there is not way u could possibly dislike this book. Id say its a must-have.

Jaero

I am thoroughly pleased with the result of this work. You three did a hell of a job. I am sure that there were many discussions over what information was to be omitted do to the limited confines of space, but all of the important features were there. An overview of the Baronies, realms, kingdoms, etc. using the understanding a native might have is EXACTLY what this product line has been needing; Not since the van Richten guides, has this need been so wonderfully met. I could immediately sense the obvious change of approach in emphasis with this campaign setting. Whereas before, the emphasis lay with the darklords, and this demiplane as an acursed prison, this edition presents the land as more of a beautiful landscape slipping away from the hands of the people who love it. Ravenloft is no longer for the villains, and as one passage so eloquently stated, "Ravenloft is a land worth living in. It is a land worth fighting for. Don't surrender it to the night." I give this work five blood drops without hesitation.

Martijn van Roosmalen

I'm quite impressed by this book. At first glance I was disappointed, because I the darklords were missing, but when I read further, I began to like this book. It covers all there is from a players point of view. That doesn't mean it is a players handbook, it is just a book in which the real secrets of the domains aren't told. The descriptions of the domains are from the inhabitants point of view, which is nice. As a DM you don't have to ponder over questions about how people in the domains think about certain things (like who their ruler is). Also included, unlike in Domains of Dread, are all the clusters, including nice maps. I never liked the idea of dozens of floating islanddomains (and PCs hopping from one to another), so I like the inclusion of the clusters.

The playercharacter section is also good, especially the new feats (duplicating kits from Champions of the Mist), skills and the Outcast Rating. I find it strange though, that some of those feats can be chosen by a PC. (Like "from now on I'm haunted by the spirit of my uncle George!"). That shouldn't be a choice of a PC, I think, but of the DM. The religions and the two new cleric Domains (Ezra/Eternal Order & Osiris) are nice too. The other chapters are revisions of the 2nd edition rules.

Some bad points: I would have liked a nice map (not in the book, but a postermap.) The two maps near the covers are nice, but too small to use in a campaign. I think I'll stick to the Red Box postermap.

There are some strange typos in the book: in the chapter that describes the domains, 'east' and 'west' are sometimes interchanged. E.g.: page 112: To the east of the Balinoks, denseley forested river valleys (..) flowing toward the Sea of Sorrows. Shouldn't that be west? The same happens in the description of the Nocturnal Sea. However, these typos don't distract too much (as long as you keep the map in mind).

I give this book 4 drops.

Art Pitchford

I just first want to say that i am incredibly surprised at the horrible job white wolf did with this. They usually do such good work.

This book is horribly writted. It is neither a PHB or a DMG to the Demiplane of Dread.

For players that have been with ravenloft for a long time it might have been pretty good. But for players (and DMs) that are just gettin into ravenloft it is absolutely horrible. A DM new to this "world" cannot be expected to run a game with this. I promised my players we would play in two weeks (this was prior to the release of Limited Edition) i received the book and i have been forced to push our game back 3 more weeks so i could receive Secrets of the Dread Realms.

For one thing it contains nothing for a DM to work with. The realms darklords and their powers arent even listed. What the hell am i supposed to do with that. Next, the secrets and stuff of the realms are even stated. For god sake just look at the description for Bleutspur. Its horrible. Not once does it even mention the Mind Flayers (Illithids)

Hell, the only time they even talk about Strahd is in the intro to chap one. AND thats an article takin from the tome of Strahd. Azalin, mentioned one maybe two times. hes another main character that gets no mention. The mist is explained rather throughly but still many main questions arent answered about it. For example, It never says when, why or where the mists appear.

The only reason i know about the stuff im talkin about now is because i have access to someone that knows about everything about ravenloft. Like i said this book is perfect for someone like him but not a novice ravenlofter

Another thing, prestige classes and feats. Well for one, there are no (thats right no) prestige classes. What the hell. And for feats there is about a half of a page worth. The only chapter worth its salt is the character chapter because it describes modifications to characters.

Other than that this book is just sad in my opinion. Ive been playing D&D; for 10 years and played about every campaign out there (exept ravenloft) and i have to say that this cannot even be called a campaign setting. This book is making Greyhawk look good. Talk about sad.

Im really not done and i could keep going but ill stop now. Just for all those out there that didnt get limited edition and are planning on gettin the regular edition...dont expect much.

Jared Nelson

I purchased the Ravenloft Collector's edition as soon as it was available. To be honest, I was expecting much more for $60.00. Most White Wolf collector's editon books come with a slipcase and an artbook. Why this wasn't done for the Ravenloft book-a book with great artwork, I don't know. I also was disapointed by the size of the book, it just seemed too small for 60 or 30 dollars. So, with my disapointment over the size and pricing of the book out of the way, the compliments can begin. I was very impressed with the new more internally focused direction the setting has taken. Making Ravenloft less outlander oriented was a sensible and natural course, which I think will make the setting stronger. The writing was excellent: solid, consistent and closely tied to the Gothic mood. The Caliban are simply awesome, the new rules for powers checks and magic are solid and well designed, and the advancment of the timeline is very interesting, allowing Ravenloft DM's like myself a slew of new possiblites.

In short, Ravenloft is really expensive, but its as well written as it is expensive.

Kibagami Tenrou

As the re-introduction of the Ravenloft Campaign setting, this book is perfect for GMs and players, alike. Packed full of all the information needed to create characters, NPCs, and dynamic settings and adventures, Ravenloft Third Edition is a wonderful read. If you want more info on domain lords and creatures, grab this book to start, then await the upcoming products from WW.

julien smith

Considering I've been DMing Ravenloft & explaining new concepts to my players for 10 years now, I am amazed at what I was able to do with this book: Spend an evening reading it out loud with my players, each of us taking a turn per section. Each realm was described in more detail than it ever has before, putting more life into the inhabitants, the economy, and the thoughts of the realms than I have seen since the original Realms of Terror. I could not have been more pleased; it is a far cry from the one paragraph per domain descriptions of some editions, and the descriptions of the faiths, the races, and the basic creatures of the Demiplane make this a must-read.

Pick it up - no matter what edition you had previously worked with, I judge that it will improve your campaign.

Scott Bourgeois

Ah the sweet smell of new book. Leather bound, very tome-ish, bookmark is a nice touch. Let's take a look inside shall we? Oh! I got number 1880 of 3000 in the limited run. Nice touch.

Okay, enough of that. This book is great. It has in depth descriptions of all of the domains from a VERY player firendly point of view. The domains are in more detail then in the previous book, and the art and maps are excellent. (Much better then the black-on-black maps in the Domains of Dread book.) "But where's the Domain Lords?" you ask. Well, the Kargat did say it would be December's releases of Secrets of the Dread Realms and Denizens of Darkness that would shed light on the enigmatic movers and shakers of Ravenloft.

All in all, well worth 5 Blood Drops. For those of you who didn't get the limited edition print, For Shame!

James

Excellant work by the writers , the domains are in so much detail making this My fav edition yet since you can add a lot more flavour to your games. Though some people may say not putting Domain lords in is a mistake i think it is excellant since i will no longer have the problem of PC borring the book to check a spell only to find out the stats and name of the domain lord there in, since they have just spent 30 min talking to hi and dint know it. Top class.And thats coming from a English man!

Jarrod

I was forsaken and forlorn when I read the new Core book. For starters, the maps are printed on the boards of the outside and inside covers. You'd think that for a core book (and I purchased the $59.95 limited edition) that they could give you at least one map that could be displayed to players. Secondly, as it regards the asthetics of the work, there are no color pictures and the drawings included are second rate at best. The actual body of the work is well written but largely useless. There are very few specific rules for running 3rd eition Ravenloft. There are no prestige classes and no new spells. One has to wonder why the book was even written. I can just as easily run a 3rd edition Ravenloft adventure using 1st or 2nd edition material as this book provides almost nothing unique. Moreover, there are no descriptions of the Domain Lords which I found bemusing since the book is rather slender as priced. The section of spell alterations was useful, but one gets the feel that the author(s) is making it up as he goes along. In general I found the work completly useless. I will continue to run a Ravenloft Campaign using 3rd edition rules, but I will not purchase anything else from this horrid company. Eldritch shivers indeed! Maybe we can send a minion to Wizards and make them an offer they cannot refuse to please buy Ravenloft back!

Jeff Yurkiw

Aside from a few typoes and several index entries a few pages off, this book is a great buy. Although there are no Domain Lord entries, I feel that they would have taken up too much space that could have been devoted to things that were actually USEFUL. After all, not every Ravenloft campaign centers around the Darklords.

I feel that White Wolf has a much better grasp of the gothic horror genere than WotC and TSR combined (hehhehheh), and the new Ravenloft edition shows it.

I give it a five out of five drop rating.

Dan Haugen

As easily the most vocal critic of some of the decisions made in regard to Ravenloft, I can't pass the opportunity to make some inane, snap judgements about the book.

I find myself in the perfect gothic quandary--torn between two extremes.

On one hand, the page backgrounds, the new player-friendly domain descriptions, the revelation of currency, the Death by Pitchfork sidebar, and a couple of the feats--especially Back to the Wall all show great competence and promise for the greatest of campaign settings. And simply seeing the Ravenloft logo on a printed game product without the corny "can be used in any setting" tag is enough to get even the most hardened heart to crack.

But then, there isn't enough here to run or play a Ravenloft campaign without serious DM work--no Darklords, monsters, or secrets. And no Prestige classes, new spells, player options, etc. It tries to walk a fine line between a player's guide and a full campaign setting, and at times, does not do a very good job of it. The firearms rules are nothing special (see the DMG, the lack of usable maps (which killed DoD), and the fact that there is really little new here that didn't exist in prior products (though Mistways were a great addition, though a little out of player's realm of knowledge....)

But I should have guessed that I might have been in trouble because I grew frustrated in the first two chapters with how many times I ran across the word 'wizened,' and the pompous sections that describe what's in the following sections: section X discusses blah, blah, blah. In Section Y you will find blah, blah, blah. People have been talking about a lack of space--with some of the half-pages and these worthless sections (just get on to the meat) there could have been a few more domains, a list of Darklords witout background, but listing their race/level etc in a rough table format, etc.....

Compared in price to some other works, the $30 price tag is steep for something that has this many flaws. I would have definitely paid $40 for a Ravenloft book on par with the book for the Forgotten Realms (the setting is so-so, but the book was a bang-up value for the price). Though again, the brutal reality of the business is that these kind of prices are here to stay (see the softcover Forgotten Realms releases at $30 for a rip-off) because that's what they need to charge for the company to stay in business.

The art strikes me as much of the other White Wolf stuff--you like it, alot--or you don't--alot.

As far as knowing the gothic tradition better, I'd much rather have Steve Miller and Cindi Rice helm this world than the folks over at White-Wolf. Lest it be forgotten, STREET FIGHTER was a storyteller game. When people play D&D;,, they want to be heroes. They can handle fighting a tough battle--but the angsty, prose-laden thing doesn't appeal to most players (though a good story will always be king!).

I think the effusive letters of all praise come from those blinded by the heady rush of a "new" Ravenloft product. There's some good here, and the reality is that the three authors have worked hard to bring our favorite contruct back to life. With time, and the next couple of products, all of the information will be at hand (with hopefully a better map!).

Like Victor Frankenstein in the 1930s, we should be shouting, "It's Alive!" The unfortunate thing is that like his monster, this book cannot possibly fulfill all of our dreams for it.

Take it for what it is: better than many books, worse than others. Pricy, yes. But it wasn't going to only be $10. It isn't going to draw new players to the setting, but most people reading this review aren't new to the setting. The book is simply--OK.

3 drops--right in the middle--could have been better, could have been worse. If that doesn't keep you up at night agonizing over whether to buy it, nothing will.

Igor the Henchman

From the start, I want to say that I expected this book for quite a long time. It comes to no surprise, then, that some parts I was pleased with and some parts dissapointed. However, it is clear to all that this book represents huge quanitities of great and honest effort from its authors, the mighty Kargatane. This effort is seen in this book.

First of all, now, I shall comment on the good stuff. First of all, great job with the PC rules! Awesome work here! The races are wonderfully described and the feats, that I feared might disrupt the fragile gothic atmosphere, were actually desinged with the goal of enhansing roleplaying. For instance, you might take the feat of Ethereal Empathy, allowing you to permanently gaze into the Ethereal plane and the spirits who dwell there. Note - this ability DOES NOT allow to see invisible subjects, for instance, ghosts who would prefer to hide their presence. Or you can be uncounsiously haunted by a spirit of a dead friend, who acts as "a second pair of eyes" for you. It may be a great way to salvage dead characters.

Also my compliments for describing the languages of the domains. Now we have a complete list of all the tongues and idioms spoken around the Demiplane and the domains they are used in.

Also included are 13 distinct deities who are worshipped throughout Ravenloft. That's right - the Demiplane of Dread gets its own patheon. Although hardly any of those religions are new, they have now been compiled into one body of reference. You can now picture the religious side of the Core clearly, without having to pick it bit by bit from various veiled references in a wide range of products. Ezra, Hala, Belenus, Eternal Order, Lawgiver, the Wolf God of Verbrek, Zhakata and more.

Finally, congradulations with the maps. Huge improvement. Clear, easy to use and can be shown to the players freely, even though it contains mostly everything the DM needs to know himself. It is, I think a major plus, the players can use this book without really learning any of Ravenloft's secrets - in the section on Madness Checks, Dr Daclaud Heinfroth (Dominiani) is actually referred to as a good guy! (still, a little negative note about the map - some islands in the core's seas seem really too big compared to the core; for instance, though L'Ile de la Tempete was originally a tiny island, it is now about the size of Kartakass, and the Isle of Ravens is as big as Forlorn).

Above, I described waht seem to be the main benefits, that is the player rules. Since this originally was the goal of the product, we can say it is a success.

On to the bad stuff.

OK, now, from the start I want to say that, though one side of me wants to scream out all the flaws of this product in an indignant way, I also don't like to criticise this product, mainly because I owe much to the Kargatane for making this book for us, and I hope they will not take it too badly when I will speak of the product's bad side. For it indeed has one.

Speaking generally, my main dissapointment was the relative lack of gothic atmosphere throughout the book. Even Domains of Dread, that I remember many said lacked the horrific aspect, seemed to catch the tone of Ravenloft better than this new edition. The text is far more focused on the political, technological, sociological etc sides of the game that the gothic side has been as if overlooked. Even the last chapter, the one about ravenloft adventures and campaings seemed rather incomplete, as if added in a rush. My main worry is how would new DMs interpret this book. When I read through the pages, I didn't really picture myself Ravenloft as I know it, but rather a dark and melancholic take on standard D&D.; Doubtlessly, adding a suitably gothic art would have much improved this aspect of the product, but the art is exactly one of the weak points of the book. Oh, no - there are some really good isolated bits of art, especially the illustration of Fiends, with the little gilr with glowing eyes, but most of the illustrations look more grotesque than actually gothic. Sometimes, I had to force my eyes just trying to *comprehend* what the picture is supposed to represent.

Secondly, there is a major regression regarding the powers checks. I don't know whose idea it was, and I don't want to blame anyone, but it has been reduced from the excellent 13-steps downfall from Domains of Dread to the old 6-steps sistem. To me, it is a regression, as I liked the old system much better. I am puzzled.

Third, some basic notions of Ravenloft have been overlooked. For instance, it says nowhere that Ravenloft is a prison for planar travenlers as well as darklord that allows entrence and prevents exit. A few allusions are made here and there, but overall, if a DM decided to design a permanent two-way portal between RL and the Prime material, he would find no objection to the idea in the book. Same thing for common magic items that PCs might create.

Finally, and importantly, the book lacks Darklord descriptions. This is at the same time a good and a bad thing. It is a good thing because the book is player-friendly and as such the players can be kept in the dark (the book does that very nicely!), however, this has a downside. It seems that a great part of reading a domain description in a rulesbook to read about the darklord of the domain and to see his or her portrait. It allows you visualise the domain from the horror side of view, as the realm and the lord are intimely linked. With the new book, I realised that removing the lords also removes a great part of the interest of reading the domain descriptions. It reminded me of the new Living Greyhawk and D&D; Gazetteer, where I thought I'd fall asleep reading througt all the socio-political information. Don't get me wrong, though - the domains have known a great evolution, and are now more complete than ever, but as I said, without darklords, it rather bored me.

As you can see, my opinion on this product is a mixed one. On one side, I am thrilled by all the new game mechanics presented in the book, on the other side I fear for new DMs who never knew Ravenloft prior reading this book. Maybe my fears are immaterial, for my opinions are just mine and nothing else. My general appreciation would be around 4 blood drops.

I would like, however, to sencerely thank Andrew Cermak, Andrew Wyatt and John W. Mangrum for this new generation of Ravenloft that opens befor us. I liked your work, guys, and I can't wait to see more.

Scede

I managed to pick up a copy of the limited edition and thought I would comment on it. I have mixed feelings.

On one hand I am very impressed with the artwork and leatherette cover. The only thing I'm disappointed in is the recycled artwork used between the chapters...the artwork that was originally commissioned would have been soooo much cooler, but hey, what can ya do? It is chocked full of useful information that can be shared with the players and details the land of mists.

On the other hand, being that I am a GM, I bought the book thinking that there would be a bit more for me like the darklords and stuff along those lines. The book is probably confusing for those not already initiated into the demiplane of dread and so, it looks like any other fantasy campaign world.

On the whole, I like the book very much and think it was a worthy investment and that I do plan on buying the next two books that come out. I just don't think it is all that interesting to new people that are unfamiliar with the setting and "true" history of Ravenloft.

Andrew Snow aka Dante Ghostwalker

Well I got the book yesterday, read it cover to cover, and now I'm going to spout my opinion on it. ...I love this book! I see alot of people here complaining about how it wasn't worth 60 dollars, in my opinion...for 60 dollars it had better be 600 pages long and leave nothing untouched, I don't care if the cover's made of leather or Adam's own patchwork skin. But for thirty dollars this is all that I could have hoped for, my only gripes were personal things on little things that were left out, mostly the various groups of rebels around the entire demiplane plotting to do bad things to various bad people, as far as I could tell the only groups represented were the Gundarkite Rebels, and the Desert Nomads, throwing in an extra sentance about the others somewhere would at least let me know if they were still there or not. I'm assuming that the avenger will be brought up somewhere, hopefully as a prestige class, because it would be just plain foolish to give up on such a cool concept.

Now onto the purely complimentary part of my rant

Calibans?....Hell I just might dump half orcs in my normal campaign and replace them with those loveable mishappen S.O.B.s.

New Feats?... Wonderful way to explain the of the littney of strange kits and powers some 2e characters seemed to have!

AND FINALLY SECTIONS ON FAITHS,LANGUAGES, A USING EVERYDAY ITEMS AS WEAPONS!!!!!

So I loved it, and remember when you spend 60 dollars for any book you're always going to end up disappointed.

Bobkytten

There seem to be quite a few mixed feelings on the new third edition book . . . but not from me. I absolutely love it. The strongest complaints that I have heard are that there is not enough DM only information - no, there is none. And, in my oppinion, this is a good thing. This book is presented from the point of view of the residents in the Domain of Dread - not the DM's running it. It is a perfect book for players - it gives them everything they, as players, need to know, without revealing any secrets. Further, it has been stated repeatedly that the next few releases will present the DM only information, including the darklords and domain secrets. This separation is extremely useful for one with my gaming style - I do not like to always have to "teach" my players what their characters need to know by reading bits and pieces from various books to them, or, more often, in my experience, recite everything that I think would be relevant for them. With this book, I could easily just let them read for themselves - or even buy thier own - providing me with precious time to prepare. Another complaint I noticed - a DM new to the campaign cannot take this book alone and start playing. True. But the same was true for third edition as a whole - the DMG did no come out until a month after the PHB, and then it was another month before the MM hit shelves. Whereas it might be nice to have all this information available at once, splitting it into three releases really does make more sense.

Some more points countered - I disagree with those who say that this book takes away from the Gothic feel of the previous editions. It does, however, add a more personal, local, and realistic feel to everything. I like this. And no, there are not large ammounts of game mechanics info, but again, I like this - it does lead to a more roleplay story-driven feel than just regular roll the dice mechanics-laden style that often plagues DnD, and even many Ravenloft games.

Overall, I have played in too many games that felt more like late night B-rate horror movies than true gothic masterpieces, and I feel that this book may help, at least in some small ammount, to turn that trend around. Five out of five blood drops, freely and gladly given from my own lifeblood.

Charles Brown

The good - Well-laid out, great player information, nice interior artwork.

The bad - There are no monster or darklord stats. While I understand and defend the decision to keep the DLs out of the book, I think maybe a few pages, like the Player's Handbook contained, on monsters or (better yet) monster design would have been very nice. As it stands, the book is almost useless to an inexperienced DM - but then an inexperienced DM would probably not want to USE Ravenloft for a first campaign anyway, so this is a very minor complaint.

The ugly - There are some pretty bad typos on the first few pages. Nothing serious, just jarring.

Overall: Great work, guys! Well worth $30, especially to someone who is already familiar with the setting enough to not NEED the monster stats.

Nestoriel

While I haven't bought a copy of the new Ravenloft Edition, and am not likely to either, I have had a good look inside. I must say that I am quite disappointed with the overall look inside. It is way too bright, I thought that Ravenloft was a dark setting with lots of mood and atmosphere, this book certainly lacks it in the visuals. I think that the 2nd Edition books look much better!

David Ledford

Overall this is a fine book, if you have previous editions.

The first chapter with the overview of ravenloft is well done and clarifies many things. The history section is like the history section in all the previous editions with the exception of that it clears up the whole Leo Dillsinya thing, where I,Strahd claimed that Leo slaughtered the guests and every other source says strahd did it. Now it is fully explained combining both sides of the arguement.

The second section on pcs is the best section of the book. The Caliban is nice, and the outcast ratings are great additions. The classes are less modified then they were in previous editions, which is okay. The information on dread companions and the new feats are all great. The new equipment is okay, but not exactly overwhelmingly important, only 3 firearms, and a couple of rienassance items. Plus the information on the religions was great.

the 3rd section on the new rules is the same as it has always been. 3rd edition fear, horror, and madness checks. The dark power checks are back to six steps, which is better than 13 steps, as it never made much sense to split darklord power levels up. The innocence condition is also a nice update of the pure condition. The modifications to spells and magical items were a little more sketchy this time through, though some of the descriptions, like those for a rod of security and magic jar, make good adventure hooks.

The 4th section is where the book started to lose me at the domain descriptions. Seriously I never have considered the fashion, architecture, and trade items of the various domains to be that important, yet thats what each domain description mostly was. The domain descriptions were mostly useless to any dm looking for adventure hooks for the various domains. Pretty much the dryest domain information this side of the greyhawk gazzeter (which is probably only worse because its descriptions were longer).

The fifth section is great with excellent information on the nine van richten guide subjects, and the sixth section is the same as all the previous editions telling you how to run your own game.

Overall 4 blood drops if you have previous editions, 2 blood drops if you don't (which averages out to 3 blood drops)

bluesman81

When 3rd Edition was released and Ravenloft was discontinued, I was devastated. Therefore, you can imagine my content when I heard that 3rd Edition RL would be released. My friend, (a fellow player) bought me the core rulebook, I was so excited! HOWEVER, after reading the book cover to cover, I was greatly disappointed.

Although I didn't spend money on this, I feel terribly bad for my friend who in my opinion had wasted $30.00. Compared to the DOD book, this release is a joke. I liked the domain descriptions. I can never get enough information on a domain, especially Darkon/Necropolis where my campaigns have centered. However, not having any real NPC description or domain lord bios really set me off. There is a considerable ammount of new history added to the RL timeline, but not much of it is described. It seems as though major events in the 2nd Ed. timeline were blurred and even altered...such as the whole Grim-Harvest/Azalin disappearance thing...Azalin the wizard? how about Lich??? I think for being considered a "CORE RULEBOOK", this book was more designed for players, not DMs like it was expected to be. Putting the demi-lords descriptions in another book was a really sneaky way to get more money...In the good ol' 2nd Edition days, if you bought a campaign setting, you should be able to have all the basic info you need to run a campaign...unless you really want to get specific with it...anything outside of a boxed set was always considered optional. It wasn't necessary to buy 3 or 4 boxed sets to run the campaign...so why must we buy 3 or 4 books to run RL3ed??? The new publishers should focus not on getting more money with numerous products, but focus on the game/product value to the players. Quality, not quantity. Enough said, I'm going to get my friend's money back and run my campaign through DoD.

Orestis Vantzos

I think people are been too harsh on the whole darklords issue; DM's only stuff are to be found in the Secrets of the Dread Realms supplement, as far as I can tell. If they find the Darklord specifics so vital, then it is perfectly reasonable that a separate book should be made out of them. The price of the book is pretty high, but I noticed that most of the people with the negative reviews have bought the limited edition; people, if you can't afford it don't buy it! Buy the normal version and save money for the (indispensable) supplements. I will give it 4 drops; the bane of WW's artwork is the manga-style drawings they like to put into everything they make lately. It was irritating in the Revised VtM , it wrecked Exalted and now makes Ravenloft look.. well less gothic than I'd expect. Just about everything else in the book rocks... CU in the Mists..

warushiru yakiru

Since I don't have time to write a short novella like some of these reviewers. I will keep my comments short and sweet. The last Soth book by James Lowder (whom I felt just slapped his name on and let another person write) is reminescent of my feelings for this book. Even for the discounted price that I purchased this book,(under $20) I still feel cheated. I think that White Wolf dropped the ball by letting hack writers develop this book. This is pure fanzine quality stuff. Kargatane or no Kargatane I feel that this was a subpar effort from White Wolf who usually publishes some very quality products. If I were to recommend either the Domains of Dread book or this one, by far and away I would recommend the later. (This one stinks)

Shadowcast the Exiled

Five stars. . . er. . . blood drops! This is a must for DMs, and even some players! However, if you are a DM, I would urge you to ask your PCs NOT TO BUY THIS BOOK! It may ruin a few of the (sometimes nasty) little suprises that you have planned. I know that the Parthian Rapier scared the crap out of my players. . . Anyway, I was a little irritated to find the Domain Lords missing, but I can't really blame them for trying to sell more books. Well, I can, but I'm not going to. It's something that I can easily overlook, and look forward to. I can see that Ravenloft is in good(?)

Stephan W. Pfuetze

Oh frabjuous day! Calooh! Callay!

Ravenloft's back for Third Edition!

Let's start off with the good stuff. First off, I liked the inclusion of the Outsider Ratings. For those DMs whose roleplaying skills aren't the greatest (such as my own), the ORs are a good rule-of-thumb to judge how greatly certain characters are snubbed by the locals.

I also thought the calibans were a cool addition. I figured the Kargatane would simply skip over the caliban as being too S&S; and not Gothic enough, but they twisted them enough to make sense within the setting.

I was originally upset that there were no stats for darklords within this tome, but the reason finally hit me halfway through the book: if you want to keep vital stats away from players, put them in a different book! To be sure, there will be some that read the book just to know, but far fewer will do so. Two thumbs up to the Kargatane on this move.

Onto things that I didn't like. I echo the sentiment of a lack of a postermap! I'd prefer not to use the map that came out concurrently with the DoD, as the illustrations of the darklords along the borders are really bad, and the map itself is confusing.

I know there's no way to do this, but I miss Soth in Sithicus; Azrael's not nearly as interesting a character, at least not as he was written. To be sure, I'm certain WW had to shell out a pretty penny to get Ravenloft, and they'd have to spend even more to get the rights to print the word "Lord Soth", but the southwestern Core feels empty without him. As for Vecna, eh, we all knew his time in the Mists was going to be short.

From what we've seen in the core release, I'm psyched for later releases, and with the capable hands of the Kargatane, I'm convinced that there will be great stories for some time to come. Five out of five drops.

Jeff Davis

This book is wonderful, though, in my opinion, there is one major flaw. WHERE ARE THE NIGHTMARE LANDS??? Some of the domains that were left out were understandable. But why the Nightmare Lands?

Ryia

I had time to ponder the book over the few short weeks, I do not usually post reviews but this book is a special situation.

Limited and Unlimited Limited edition leather cover is okay, the ribbon is just a tad better then cheap, more like 2nd worse ribbon. I was expecting more for my money like perhaps a special case, some seperate notes and pictures about the team, or even a special advertisement of the book. The interior art should been better, like WhiteWolf special editions. The only redeeming quality was that you got the book before other people.

Well limited cost me $100 Canadian, though it could for the collector (1444/3000) I would not recommend it to anyone else. I would say it more wise to buy unlimited.

Maps Will there is no scale, I do not mind that. But they are in the inside covers and you lose some of the map with the overlapping binding. Having two maps were good and the quality is not bad. But pull out maps or fold out maps would be better.

Credits I think they are missing a few people.

Chapter fronts The in-character texts were good, but they should have included art. My only guess is that it was either too time-consuming\ they could not put much of a budget for this product.

Chapter 1 I did not like the lightning in the graveyard art. Character art was good. The history was done great, too bad they shut most ties to other worlds, I would have thought wizards of the coast would like the extra promotion.

The culture levels were gradually better then Domians of dread.

Chapter two. Languages-great

Outcast rating- nice touch
Calibans- also nice, but should be more expanded
Half-vistani- Nice to have them back
Classes
Barbarian/monk- They should change this class to suit ravenloft better. But It could be personal opinion.
Bards-like seeing ravenloft have native bards.
Paladins- definitly need some fixing!
Dread Companions- Well I have to run them to comment on them.
Other classes- no real change, and no bad comments
Skills- Good
Feats-Did not like ghost sight and would not add it in the game but rather use the wonderful Ethereal Empathy (the DM-friendly way for ghostsight), the others are wonderfully done.
Churches- Very good to see them, they miss a few like Divinity of Mankind and the Kami! They should have paladin for these faiths.
Creating a Ravenloft character- good to add!
Overall the chapeter is good, but paladin need reworking or should I say it again.

Chapter Three- Nothing wrong with it but the magic item part, I like it when the rules are in good detail. They should include more rules for creating magic items, perhaps that in the next book.

Chapter 4- Hmm this was what I am waiting for.

Mistways-great
Having list of major settlements, the folk, trade and characters was very good. I found the landscape description long winded and most of the time colouring a few important words. They could have put less into it by removing a few adjectives.
The book is player Friendly, but they should have made more advertisement on this matter. Saying this is a player-friendly book with only basics when it comes to Domains. Player-friendly book is very good.
Where is the outcast levels for certian domains they talk about earlier. Maybe its in the next book.
Sea of Sorrows and Nocturnal sea was really gutted. I like to have more information then that for islands. But I guess I have to wait for gazeteers.
Shadow rift- should just write Chasm of black mist where myriad horros come from. Nothing is known beside people do not come back- put the staircase example.[look how much room I free without repeating THE WORD unknown.
Verbrek- Something good to see info on.
Amber Waste Cluster-Very good work on this
Frozen Reaches- hmm abit boring. I like Vorostock but thought I would be more sold on it.
The Shadowlands-This is what I been waiting for. But I was not impress with lack of history. Shadowborne had good history and story behind it. I hate seeing it lost in the mists. What about a paladin order to spice this place up.
I like the map though!

Vendurous lands (Steaming Lands)
I did not like how the map turn out, the concept from the Mordent Cartography society was much better. It was first thing I spot with discontent. But enteries on Saragoss and Sri Raji will very good.
Other cluster-no problems, in fact it good seeing information on them.

Islands
Bluetspur-poorly done, I like it in the book to show that they be working with that domian instead of forgetting it. If you are not giving detials you should done the same as Shad Rift example I gave.

G'henna-Good
Ordiare-Very good
Rokushima- Very good to see this, should have katanas though.
Souragne- well not as great as I wanted it to be.

Overall-moderate chapter but alot of long boring descriptions that could be lessen to put another domain.

Chapter 5- better then the redbook and the best about this book.

Chapter Six- this should be there, maybe they should cut the history of Gothic and put a lesser of a summary here. Maybe this should be put with chapter one, to free up 2 pages.

Overall 3 blood drops- remember this is a player-friendly guide to ravenloft

Redeeming qualities: Faiths, Population\Currency and some Folk Enteries, Maps of Clusters, Calibans, Decent History, How to Make a Ravenloft Character, Van Richten Guide stuff, Character Art, Good Info on Fear\Horror\Madness, Mistways, Rokushima Taiyoo, Player Friendly.

To make this product better

A better Limited Edition! A better budget and page count.
Fill the Faiths in, if you mention them why not add them
Paladins to have deities and a domain to come from.
Shadowland history.
Outcast rating for domains
Avengers and the Knights of Shadows
I was told it was the same moon now for all domains!
Some descriptions are repeative just to keep format, and others are just flowery wordplay. Fitting another domain here would be great. Or make a text page of Domains known but not featured, even Domains of Dread told about clusters not included.
No eye candy. If could superimpose images to free room for another domain or another rule\class\skill\equipment list.

HIK248

So the third edition has finally arrived.Let us take a closer look into the new Land of the Mists.From a fist read this book seems like a Players Handbook for Ravenloft,let us see if this gambit that the guys in Vallaki took is worth it.I will descibe this book having in mind Domains of Dread which I think is the best Ravenloft campaign book and more importantly the only Ravenloft campaign set I have .The new book has 6 large chapters

Chapter 1:This is an introduction into the Realm of Dread.It contains the timeline and a quick reference to everything there is in Ravenlot.Unfortunately lots of the information in this chapter like the existense of Darklords,the nature of Domains as prisons and the Dark Powers are not ment for the eyes of the PCs which violates the nature of the book as Players Handbook(PH).Also there is mentioned Stahd`s vampiric nature and Azalin`s entry in 542BC which shows that he is centuries old and may indicate his not so human nature.On the good part Azalin is finally back and Vecna and Kas are sent back in Oerth to terrorise the inhabitants of the Flanaess.

Chapter 2:This contains the changes of races,classes,feats etc.The useless in Ravenloft half-orcs are replaced by the almost equally useless calibans.Also we have the third edition half-vistani.The classes are brougt smooyhly into the new Ravenloft although I would like some limitations on the bards magic powers.I noticed that there are no prestige classes,why? will they be detailed in another product?Personaly I think that some classes from DoD like Arcanist and some kits from Champions of the Mists like Knight of Shadows would make great prestige classes.The new feat are quite interesting.Also we have (finally)a very good description of Ravenloft religions.We see that Bane has been replaced by the Lawgiver breakibg all ties of this Ravenloft religion with the newly ressurected Bane in the Forgotten Realms.Finally we have weapons and some interesting rules about using house tools as weapons

Chapter 3:This has the third edition rules for fear,horror,madness,power cheks ,spells and magic items but no rules for psionics(also in the previous chapter there were no classes from the psionics handbook)Why?Although I do not have the new psionics handbook yet I think psionics were always useful in a Ravenloft campaign and they will be useful in the third edition also.I hope to see these rules in another product soon.

Chapter 4:This is the main course,the description of the domains of Ravenloft.The descriptions are very good from the players point of view.We have descriptions for all the domains of the core,all the clusters (and a new one the Frozen Reaches)unlike DoD which left out some interesting clusters and some islands.Compared to DoD there are some islands missing like Kalidnay,Nosos I`Cath and Nightmare Lands.Nigtmare Lands because of thir nature and the whole new set of rules where logicaly left but I miss Nosos.Also there are no pocket domains.I understand that because of their nature they could not be in a PH but I hope to see them in another product soon

Chapter 5:This has a quick but good convertion of all of Van Ricthen`s guides in the new rules but I don`t think it should be in a PH

Chapter 6:Here are the classical but always useful advices for running a good Ravenloft Gothic campaign The maps of the book are book but why there is no scale on them?Some of the artwork is interesting but some which I think comes from artists of Vampire the Masquerade is not Gothic at all

Adding it all up we get a good result but the attempt to make it players only was not very suceesfull.The book has the flavor of a player`s handbook but it contains things players should never see.I think it would have worked much better if it was a complete campaign setting like DoD and not like this, leaving a lot of information for the Secrets of the Dread Realms.

Inan Shadowstar Native Ravenloft Psion

Hmmmmm.. What do you mean psion? What's that? 3E? D20? HUH? Well I guess you want my opinion huh?... Well okay...

The Good: Hmmm well lets see #1 Azalin is back rock on.. #2 The new feats #3 The list of the Ravenloft dieties #4 Gunpowder weapons are included in the main book #5 The domain descriptions rock esp. the descriptions of the inhabitants (Now I can get a cultural and fashion sense for each domain..) #6 The return of the general overviews of Ravenlofts monsters and the Vistani #7 the maps are now readable (though they do seem a bit squished..)# 8 That the book was treated like a players guide makes it nice for those of us trying to keep the mighty DM conspiracy going..

The Bad: #1 The art is nowhere near creepy enough (Though I do like the pics of each race... man are those the coolest looking Gnomes you have ever seen or what.)#2 Calibans... I am sorry but this race seems to me just pandering to the Half-Orc crowd (Player:what do you mean I can't have a Half Orc PC...DM: Well I don't think a half orc will fit well into my campaign.. Player: But I wanna Half Orc wahhhhh... DM: Fine Fine play a Caliban they have exactly the same stats just a different background... Player: YAY..)#3 No mention of psionics anywhere... Considering that the last two editions (DOD + Red Box) both supported psionics (Well at least as mentioning that it exists in Ravenloft)I am greatly dissapointed.. (I assume that either the authors thought Psionics did not fit the mood of Ravenloft (Which is Bull!) or Wizards was not interested in letting them use psionic info in the core book without shall we say compensation..)#4 No descriptions of specifically Ravenloft magical items (Then again maybe that stuff will be in the Secrets of the Dread Realms)#5 No Darklords not even a listing of them... Nuff said.. #6 Very little DM info (HUH didn't I just say I liked this as a Players Guide .. Yep but I also don't like having to pay for another who knows how expensive book..)#7 No Lord Soth wahhhhh (this last one is me just being a whiner....)

Hmmm 7 for and 7 against gonna haveta call this one a tie.. If I were gonna rate this blood point wise I'd haveta say 3.5 because its better than a three but not quite a four...

Andrew Blyth

I have a confession to make: I have not yet bought the 3rd edition D&D; rulebooks. My current campaigns still all use 2nd edtion rules, including my newly started Ravenloft one. Please bear this in mind when you read my review.

I have one word for this product: "Coherence". I hope I've spelt that right.

Not only is this book the best written book since the original Realm of Terror boxed set, which is still a joy to read today, but it is infinitely more fleshed out than any core ravenloft rules-set ever written. Finally, I have a book that talks not about the exceptional things that happen in a domain, but a description of the day to day atmosphere, with such things as weather, trade, politics, law, costumes, even styles of housing! True, Domains of Dread made leaps and bounds in this direction, but even that is paled by the amount of background detail that now makes Ravenloft far more believable as a self-contained world. Ravenloft relies on normalcy to make the supernatural interesting.

Another factor is that the book is by and large directed towards what is common knowledge in the Realm of Dread, rather than detailing merely the secrets of each domain. Before, if someone had asked me with the Realm of Terror boxed set what they knew about Lamordia, there was very little I could have told them for fear of revealing something that was not supposed to be common knowledge - I had to filter out the details in my own mind, which could cause problems for subsequently published adventures and supplements. No more is this a problem.

Of course, there is a flip side to this - no Darklord descriptions. I say, fine, but for the benefit of 3rd editon players who are relying on the actual game rules in this product, I ask White Wolf why couldn't they publish the darklords supplement at the same time? This book is almost useless stand alone as a result. Luckily for me this is not a problem, but I can imagine many frustrated DM's out there waiting for December 2001.

Apart from that, all the core rules are contained in this book, but I wouldn't say it was exactly a players handbook - the rules for creating raveloft monsters are something I'd never let my players see in a million years. I'd rather use this book to read out background information to my players, safe in the knowledge that I wasn't going to let anything inappropriate slip out.

The artwork is good for the most part, and certainly gives me a better idea of how Ravenloft characters should look - again something that I felt was neglected in previous rules-sets. On the whole, I prefered the artwork in Realm of Terror - it had far more atmosphere - but on the whole the illustrations in 3rd editon are there to help the DM visualise some things that just cannot be described in words. I think the maps on the inside covers are actually far more useful than the old poster maps, which I felt revealed too much for the players and too little for the DM. The fact that it's on the inside cover means I can sneak a quick peek at it now and then without waving it under any potential cheater's noses. If DMs require player maps, or colour poster maps, then the best resource for that would be the excellent Mordentshire Cartographic Society, available on the web using a link from this site. I don't think there'd really be any point in trying to compete with those guys.

Many of the other comments I'd make about this book are pretty much refinments of what was introduced in Domains of Dread, so I won't mention them here other than to say that it was good that the authors of this product didn't throw those improvements away.

Bottom Line: Brings Ravenloft to life far better and more realistically than any product before it and is actually entertaining to read at the same time.

5 drops. Looking forward to the next releases. Might even persuade me to switch to 3rd edition!!!

Jaagup Irve

When judging this book on the basis of text it contains -- the work is outstanding inprovement over DoD I'd say. The style is good, nice to read. All the things expected are there, I don't mourn the lack of darklords as many do. One minor aspect of the book is the feeling that Dread Realms are just not "there", somehow the book does not give a sense of uneasyness when read. Unless I start to think.

The next thing is artwork -- some of it is outstanding (classes and races especially), still, some of it just are repulsive, take the robotic undead that are situated below the lich or the raving ancient dead skinhead for example. Oh, the maps are nice, also the rotting lower end of page is an excellent touch.

But layout is a total blunder. I'd like to comment a bit on the use of fonts in the new book. More than three fonts per product is not good, the product becomes messy. R3E uses an exessive amount of fancy fonts and sometimes it is tiring to switch from one to another all the time. At the top of the page the paragraph's name is in gothic white font and just on the edge of incomprehension, also page numbers are a pain to find. Take all the different introductory paragraphs of different NPC-s. Some of them even fit -- Strahd, Gennifer, they have time and patience to write in typed text like clarity. But why use a curved handwriting on a text that has been scratched into a stone tablet?!? The werewolf part has been blotched with ink/blood, still the handwriting remains calm and correct, maybe a hand-written scrap of paper would have done the trick a lot better? Also, Azalin seems to take a lot of pains to typeset his laboratory notes... Why on earth has the "Core Rulebook" text on cover been made ugly by giving it bold look? Also the black metal framing on the page looks really ugly and is totally out of style. Gods, even I might have done a better cover... I really do hope that layout of the Arthaus Ravenloft line would improve drastically.

As Ravenloft is all about details, I must admit I was a bit dissapointed. But books are judged solely on their contents (as long as it can be read through the layout), the book still gets five drops of blood.

Jester

When I first saw this book I jumped on it. Then I saw the limited edition and had to roll a very high DC saving throw to avoid spending my limited pay cheque on that.

First thougts: After scanning through it I didn't like it at first. Lack of information and details on alot of the domains and a suprisingly small history section. And NO Darklord stats.

Second thoughts: Eventually I thought abit and realized the book was designed for players only. That the 3rd edition DL stats and *hopefully* more detailed domain info would come later. Personally I like that they didn't include the DL stats. In my first Ravenloft campain *shudder* I became too caught up in DLs and their fighting and bringing em in to meet the characters every time they wandered into a new domain. Couple of them died. I was a BAD DM. Eventually I realized that the DLs were completly un-neccassary to the game. A good addition but there were so many adventures that required them only in name, or reference, or as an ominus figure in the distance highlighted by the moon. This seems to be the most common dislike and I think it is highly trivial. It would prove to be a disadvantage to anyone running Ravenloft for the first time though.

Problems: A complete list of cultural levels for all weapons and armour would have been nice. Better maps of course (although the georaphical map was a nice touch). The domians were alitle sparsly detailed in places. A lack of feats was dissapointing as was the total lack of prestige classes! None. I hope the DM supplement (secrets of the dread realms) has dark feats for the villians. Unique ones to throw at the heroes. (what better way to make uniquie Ravenloft beasties?) No new spells or items despite the number in past products.

Pluses: Save the best for the last. Love the emphisis on born characters over outsiders. The way the things have been moving since Domains of Dread. The touch up on racial roles was nice expessially the half-orc/caliban. The generic rules for failed power-checks were also nice. Nothing too new other than the 'Mistways' an interesting concept I must say.

Overall: Coat of paint on previous books. Least the domain descriptions weren't word-for-word copies from earlier versions with 10-15 years added to ages. But a must-have for all Ravenloft fans moving to 3rd edition. Advice for newbies: play up the atmosphere and minor villians and the character's lives and roles before even thinking about the Dark Lords.

Thorus Rak

I have some gripes about Ravenloft 3rd Ed. There are no prestige classes or domain lord descriptions. The latter is perhaps the first thing we look for in a Ravenloft campaign setting; while the former is something to be desired in ANY 3rd Edition campaign setting book. Most of the stuff that WAS included is nothing new - it can be found in 2nd edition books (which I already have, so basically I waisted my money). 3rd Edition Ravenloft is only good for beginners and even then its a 3 out of 5 at best. Sword and Sorcery saved most of the best stuff so they could come out with another over-priced book (i.e., Secrets of the Dread Realms). Personally, I'd rather spend my money on 1 good book than 2 or 3 half-assed ones, but White Wolf/Sword and Sorcery hasn't caught on to that idea.

Matthias Hunger

My interest in Ravenloft has been awoken by reading Domains of Dread, and I was pleased with the thought of a world of Gothic Horror. But when I buyed 2ed adventures, I discovered that Ravenloft actually seemed to be intended to be a punitive instrument for DMs ("So, you think you can outsmart me and be a powergamer? Well, some strange mists rise around you and now you are in a place where I can screw you as I like!"). Some of the adventures were just couples of encounters, and often the players were pushed around ("the Mists")or cursed or killed to get the adventure started. I got halfway through the first two adventures before my players deserted me (and I can't blame them). This started to change with Domains of Dread. Ravenloft promised to become a real world, with real politics and adventures different from frustrating confrontations with Darklords. Then 2ed died.

Now Ravenloft is back, and it promises even more to be a real world. Thus I consider R3ed to be a wonderful corebook, promising to provide a campain world instead of a instrument of torture for PCs. And if the Darklord are not in it - no matter! There MUST be other villains for Ravenloft to be successful! Im looking forward to the future of the Demiplane of Dread.

As to the problem of inferior artwork: Have you ever played Shadowrun, ever seen the pictures of JEFF LAUBENSTEIN ? Those are real horrors! So I can't really understand what's so bad about the interior art of R3ed.

F.Gothe

The new core rule book wasn't too bad, but it certianly didn't meet my expectations. At first my biggest problem with the book was that I was finding a typo almost every page. Not small mispellings either. Big, huge, ugly typos such as text misalignments and glaring gramatic errors. Other minor complains are mainly stylistic --- lots of paragraphs could have been condinced into a sentence or two. RL3e, however, also demonstrates a poor grasp of game balance in my opinion. The Mist domain, for example, makes priests of Ezra virtually invicable; what priest of Ezra would not choose that domain? Some of the feats are also too good. And I seriously doubt much thought was put into the CR modifications for the monsters detailed in the back of the book such as Vampires, Ghosts, Mummies, etc.

That brings me to my next point. This is definatly *not* a player's book. So much of the information included here should have been in SotDR. All Chapters 5 & 6 for example. What good does all of that information do the players? Not one bit. That is DM info. Moreover, Chapter 5 was not well done at all. Especially the Mummy's section. The section on Constructs, on the other hand, was done very well albeit I disagree on one trivial issue. One last thing: Etherial Resonance --- really poorly described. I was sooo confuised by that my head spun for about half an hour trying to figure out what it was, how it worked, and the game mechanics of it. It is an *awsome* idea to be sure. I love it. But I'm *still* not sure I understand it completely. That might be due to the fact that it's described in two entierly different sections of the book, and you need to have seen the second one to understand the origional explination, but even after that it's still confuising.

My final M.I.F. is that there was nothing new. Nothing origional. I was disappointed to see how tightly the book clinged to 2nd Edition ideas as if afraid to take a chance and explore new ground. Apparently, Ravenloft is still part of the old Planescape cosmology where there is a negative energy plane that undead draw their power from, and a posative energy plane, and all of that old boring stuff. Things should be left more mysterious in Ravenloft. More innovation was needed here. What I'm getting at is, the book explained too much. Somehow, knowing a vampire gets his energy drain power from the negative energy plane makes him seem less frightning. It wasn't enough just to leave things unexplained. I think the authors were too afraid to rock the boat at times too. The specific modifications to some spells didn't seem to be enough. And I think they were afraid to say that some spells simply do not exist in Ravenloft. And while I'm on the topic of things that shouldn't be in the player's book --- any mention of the dark powers. A discussion of those should have been in SotDR. Powers checks should have been in there too, although I can understand why they were put in RL3e. I didn't mind the explanation of the darklords -- that was a nice touch and made things mysterious because the writers did a very nice job of making you think that the darklord could be anyone. But the dark powers just don't be long here. Oh, and on a tangent, I wasn't too pleased with the gods. I'm glad to see Forgotten Realms referances gone, but the gods that took over were no better, and they didn't seem to fit. I wasn't too thrilled with their names or the limited selection of dieties. And, if Chapter 5 & 6 were where they should be, there's no reason that that could not have been expanded upon.

The margins were too wide as well.

Ok, but there was good stuff here too. I was pleased with the section on skills and impressed by the majority of the feats. The feats were a wonderful touch and add a lot to the flavor of Ravenloft. The history is good too. Outcast ratings are another fine touch --- finally we have a good measure of Ravenloft's xenophobia. I also like some of the things done with the domain section --- particuarly describing currency and goods. The domain section is good. However, the crowning achivement of the book is the Fear, Horror, and Madness checks section. The curse section is good, but could use some work. Fear, Horror, and Madness, however, other than some unclear passages, was just magnificent. Another good section was the equiptment section. The side bar on "death by pitchfork" was extremely smart. Cultural Level ratings was a good idea, but the explination of how they affect prices was a little unclear. The only pet peeve of mine is that guns are still nothing more than glorified cross bows --- only now you need a feat to use them no matter what. They have so much more potential than that, and the writers did nothing with it.

The art work was bad.

All in all a 3... a 3 going down. If you have any of the old 2nd Edition material, you really don't need this book. Especially since the good part (Fear, Horror, and Madness) is in the BoShadows. If you're new, I think you'll like it. But get your hands on the Red Box or Black Box if you can. It's a lot better. But if it's a choice between Domains of Dread and RL3e, get RL3e.

Prisoner of the Mists

Well, first I must state plainly that I did not buy this book for use as in 3rd edition. I'm still playing 2e D&D; and I wanted to see what the new Ravenloft book was like and whether it would be useful for me. As such, I'll leave the rules-related critiques to others.

Basically, this book eliminated all the objections I had when starting with Domains of Dread. All the important (to players) domains are included, there is a section summarizing the Van Richten's Guides, there is great info on religions , equipment, making a character three dimensional...all great for players. I, personally, am not a big fan of spilling the existence of "Dark Powers" to players, but that's a matter of taste, since the Dark Powers don't really obey any rules other than the DM's desires anyway. Any of the sections you don't want players to see (like the spell modifications, fear and powers checks, or monster info) can easily be hidden from them. And, of course, you can always tell the players that certain rules have been "modified" (whether that's true or not) if you don't want them to know, for example, what happens when they cast Find Familiar.

I'm not really sure, of course, how much patience new players will have to sit and read through all the slightly dry domain descriptions. To me, knowing all about the domains already, it was quite fun, but I think I may end up with a lot of native PCs from Barovia, Borca, and Darkon if I ever use this book as a Players' intro. Anyway, for my own personal campaign I'd probably write up my own intro to Ravenloft for native players (a page or two), then have them read chapters one, two, and four for the detailed info.

On the whole, a good, coherent campaign setting that can easily be modified for a DM's own needs. If Secrets of the Dread Realms is as good, I think Ravenloft has been reborn in even greater glory than before.

Alhoon

The book was nice. It has enough information to start a Ravenloft Campaign, even though it has no darklords. The greatest problem is the MISSING map scale. Also I loved the concentrated information of the Van Richten guides.

DarkSoldier

Too many people seem to hate this book. I paid almost $50 Cdn for the unlimited edition, and while I can accept the price (exchange rates falling every day), the content of the book made it worth the price.

The only problem I have is with the maps; putting them in the inside covers makes it impossible to use them effectively. The maps wraps around the crevice between cover and page, obliterating Barovia and Hazlan from view.

Reviewers have called the new art second-rate, but I jump at the possibility of new artwork, and although it's not Luis Royo, it's good enough for me.

"The book sucks, there's no darklords!" Whine to Azalin, for all I care. The darklords are mentioned, but not as such; Azalin Rex is not described as a lich, cursed to never gain new knowledge, and "The Devil Strahd" is not called a 400-year-old vampire. Instead, two of the most powerful NPC's in the setting are described as the grim, yet distant ruler of Darkon and the grim, yet distant ruler of Barovia. The new Ravenloft book was designed to be player-friendly, a quality that TSR didn't include in Domains of Dread. Any GM worth his salt would not allow his players to know the secrets of the campaign, especially when those secrets are vital, like darklords.

For being player-friendly, including Rokushima Taiyou in the first official book since the Red Box, and including the Shadowlands, I give the book 5/5 blood drops. I can only hope for a Rokushima entry in a gazetter sometime in the future.

Nixon

Where to start...?...

"Also, it is our intent with this presentation of the Ravenloft setting that whole campaigns be played herein. While the Realm of Dread is still suitable for a "weekend in hell" for outsiders, the setting has been made more internally consistent and suitable for extended games." Chapter One, page six entitled "Changes Wrought"

You know, truer words were never spoken. Honestly, the authors of this edition have stated their intention, full-out for all to see, and they have quite admirably hit their mark. Ravenloft is now, moreso than ever before, a viable realm; setting. This isn't to say that the previous masters (authors) failed miserably, it's just that this edition is more of an...improved version of that beautiful yet ghastly experiment that was the 'black box'. In all honesty, the torch has been passed to strong hands.

Should I take the time (space) to break things down chapter by chapter for you, the hesitant purchaser, the non-believing reader? I know I'd like a few words more than "it kicks ass!", or, "awesome!". So, respecting your dollar, here goes...

Chapter one deals with, basically, the world of Ravenloft (hence the title of the chapter). Here we find, not the author's perceptional view of the genre "gothic", but a fairly condensed break down that is more historical than, like I said, personal usage. This being the first strokes of the brush, it adds quite a nice vibe to the book. Following this is Ravenloft, the game: a generalization of ethereal (pardon the pun) concepts that marks Ravenloft as different from any other setting out there. Here we find a short doctrine on its history, the introduction of its often subtle yet bestial rulers, a mind-warping (tantalizing)entry on the Dark Powers (the questionable force, or is it forces?, that drives the entire realm), a brief geography of the setting (land formations, not specific details; that's touched on later in the book), the introduction and very well-put explanation of "Cultural Levels", which ranges from Savage to Renaissance (a clever way to help "up" Ravenloft's appeal as a fantasy setting. Simply, there's appeal to all of us "dreamers"), and finally, a list of terms that will be used throughout the rest of the chapters.

Climbing the dramatic ladder (if you're like me, the intelligence behind the first chapter alone has a hook in your brain; imagination), we hit chapter two, which is ultimately for Player Characters. A list of languages starts off this itroduction of Raveloft's inhabitants, followed by the actual make-up of its inhabitants. There are two new races for us to consider in our gigs, the "Caliban" (transmutated rejects) and "Half-Vistani" (bastardized version of the increasingly popular gypsy-based peoples that remain a mystery to all but themselves). Next we have a section on classes (character professions), and how to apply them within the context of Ravenloft. With the noticably subtle inhibitors to all but a few classes, the picture takes a darker tint...then we have a section on altered skills (as presented in the PHB), some new skills and some really interesting new feats. More of the setting's true nature begins to unfold as you read these feats, and I thought that was a pretty clever build up. Anyways, next we have a section of Faith, its various cults (ok, you religious freak, "organizations" ?!), and finally, a small section on new equipment...which introduces us to gunpowder amd its consequential use (guns). I tried to get the picture of guys wearing blouses out of my head, so I moved on without too much thought...~L~ Seriously, this was a well-written chapter that ultimately brings you to Ravenloft, hands-on. The end of this chapter poses some really good questions on creating a character, btw. Purposeful background.

Chapter three introduces us to, basically, the corruption that seemingly backs Ravenloft itself (ways for the DM/GM to abuse his player characters). Rules for Fear, Horror and Madness are, can be, quite debilitating, and this only drops the dime on how evil Ravenloft truly is. It's one thing to say you have no fear, but it's another thing to face a fear you didn't know you had. Basically, even if your character was a pansy dark elf who mastered the art of fighting with two weapons, he wouldn't be immune to Fear, Horror or Madness. I think this works really well, and grounds characters some. Makes them...mortal. Anyways ~chuckle~, onward we trudge. Curses are a big thing here, and the write-up that details them and their usage has me averaging 2-3 hours of sleep a night. ~L~ After curses we have the "consequences of acts of evil" section, a section that explains how easy it is to become yet another denizen of darkness (or, if your optimistic, the "way to be a true hero"). An explanation of altered magic follows (yeah, magic here in Ravenloft isn't like your other fantasy worlds), which includes magic weapons. This was my favorite chapter, and has, actually, sparked my imagination to what it used to be. I mean, curses! How fun is that to work with?

Chapter four is really details of the various domains that make up Ravenloft, from population break downs to major settlements to the folk, the law, landscape, etc, etc. Basically, everything you wanted to know that relates to society, or in Ravenloft's case, societies. I was a little pissed off at the fact that this chapter didn't include any local myths, but, I'm sure this wasn't an oversight by the authors. Who knows, maybe there will be a follow-up...all that little said (~L~), this was a "ffleshing out" chapter that truly brought each domain alive.

Chapter five is monsters, which includes Vampires, Ghosts, Liches, Lycanthropes, Constructs, the Ancient Dead ("mummies"), Fiends, Hags, and last but most certainly not least, the Vistani (native gypsies). I would comment more on this chapter, but my mind was (is) still with the curses...~LOL~ (all monsters presented are actually versions of. That is, Ravenloft's take on them, or better yet, those versions that are "common" to Ravenloft).

Last chapter, six, is actually writing tips for addventuring Ravenloft. How to apply horror (gothic horror, mind you), Gothic themes, Combat, Magic, Heroism, Villainy, all all that "chaser" stuff. Following this chapter is a nicelist of titles that the authors recommend us to check out (perhaps they feel it'll help us appreciate this setting more, and use it as intended..? ~shrug~).

All in all, if you're revisting Ravenloft from the early 1990's, Ravenloft is more...mature. The intelligence behind the words seems to be a subtle push to elevate the various concepts to an older audience, but, this version in no way pushes aside the would be younger audience. It's done (written) so well (maturity is intertwined within a strong fantasy-friendly setting) that one could call me a heretic...and "get away" with it. I dunno, in all sincerity, I was iffy when I found out that Ravenloft was being done over. I liked the resin from the black box. But when I read the book (damn, it's hard to get a hold of! Outside of computerworld, anyway), I was taken back by it's "new" direction. Very promising. $45(cdn) a book is monetary rape, but if a "D&D;" book was worth its price, this one is it (along with "Oriental Adventures", but I won't get into that). Makes you want to break into the business, eh? ~chuckle~

Overall, drip...drip...drip...drip

4 spats of blood.

Btw, the intro to each chapter is done nicely with in-character writing, which "only" paints a darker picture that the actual text. Really nice "throw in".

Bow to your new masters, human flith.

Drew

What to say about this book, hmmm, It seems to have been rushed as nothing seems fully worked out. Infact it seems to be just a re-hashing of older material and comes across as static and unintresting. This was a seriously missed oppertunity. Several things could have been done to bring this setting back to life, in the instiling of a feeling of creepyness, fear, and horror. But the authors here fail in this, also it could also have more closely intergrated with the previously published novels, which would have helped in giving the setting a more realistic and gothic feeling. Instead it fails to produce anything worth useing, and shows that writers of web content should just stick to what works (writing web content). If any opinion is actually worth anything, then I would suggest that thoose intrest in Ravenloft should ignore any new products and work on updating 2E material into 3E material and make Ravenloft their own as this product wont do it for them. And to the author's please stop as your not capable of publishing good content.

CHRIS WOODS

Ravenloft was dead. My old friend was long gone. WTC made a mistake by canning Ravenloft and I swore that I would not buy anything from them ever. If I could not play Ravenloft then I would play nothing at all. Then the news came that White Wolf was bringing back Ravenloft. I had never bought anything from White Wolf so I didn't know what to expect about the quality of their products. I didn't care. All that mattered was that Ravenloft was back. Bad Ravenloft is better than no Ravenloft. I waited eagerly and almost two years to the day Ravenloft was back. First, let my say that I've been with Ravenloft since the beginning. I own every Ravenloft product so I know what Ravenloft is about. For those who think that the darklords aren't an important part of Ravenloft they are wrong. The darklords are what set Ravenloft apart from other fantasy settings. After I read the 3rd Edition I was excited, but I was alos disappointed. I was excited because Ravenloft was continuing where it left off. A cohesive setting that knew what it was supposed to be, yet it was missing something of a gothic spark. I don't know what it was but Ravenloft seemed different. The 3rd Edition was ment for players. This is not a good thing. Now let's face it. Most people buying the 3rd Edition are Ravenloft veterans. We did not need a players only book. We know what Ravenloft is. Besides I have yet to see any Ravenloft books at my local bookstore or any bookstore for that matter. I ordered mine off the internet. If White Wolf is doing a poor job of distributing the book then how are new players going to know about Ravenloft. It's simple, although new players are welcome this was ment for those who have followed Ravenloft for years. Some would say, well the DM stuff will come out a little later. Oh, I see, this is a marketing ploy to sell more books. Hey, I'm all for Ravenloft making money, the more it makes the longer it stays around. But White Wolf is dropping the ball. Every Ravenloft product by White Wolf has been delayed. That's not good. I have yet to see any Ravenloft product at a store, the only way I can get it is off the internet. That means lower sales. That's not good either. So far every Ravenloft product has felt incomplete (Secrets of the Dread Realms was terrible). In 2002 we'll get a monsterous compendium, another player book in Van Richten's Arsenal, and a domain gazeteer. I predict all of those products will be delayed. That domain gazeteer better have the info on those much neglected islands in the Sea of Sorrows and the Nocturnal Sea. Unless you have Darklords and Book of Crypts(which were made ten years ago) you can not use those islands. The way White wolf is stretching things out it will be a year before we even get an adventure, and that is greed at its worst. To be honest, if White Wolf keeps making half-ass products like Secrets of the Dread Realms, it won't be long before Ravenloft dies again. Quality not quantity. As far as the 3rd Edition book goes; well it is not worth $30, esp

nothri

lately I try to make it a rule to review a product a few months down the line. I want to see if the quality holds up to the test of time. This was doubly important to Ravenloft, in which the initial rush of euphoria of finally getting something new for the campaign setting would have colored any reviews I tried to write. Better to let the fires die down and let the book stand on its own quality. So, seven months after the fact, I am proud to say that the book still does not disappoint.

This new edition of Ravenloft has several merits to it. It picks up where DoD left off and covers new ground. The authors took it upon themselves to settle most of the annoying quirks and inconsitencies that have cropped up over the course of Ravenloft's existence (domain names, currencies, populations, and the like add a sense of depth and wit to the realms that goes above and beyond DOD). There is a much appreciated wealth of detail to the domain descriptions that lets the domains come alive. Domains that I once found bland and uninteresting (particularly Borca and Verbrek) I now have a whole new appreciation for, while other domains (especially Sri Raji and Tepest) I see on an entirely different level. Finally, the chapter dealing with character types, equipment, and religions (by far one of the best sections of the book) finally completes the goal DoD set out to do- make Ravenloft its own setting.

Beyond that, however, is a less tangible feel to the book. Perhaps its the history on gothic horror we are treated to in the beginning of the work, perhaps its the step back to the older versions of the big four checks (fear, horror, madness, Dark Powers) that proved to be the staples of the Ravenloft experience, or perhaps its the tips for DMs in the back of the book. Whatever it was, I feel this book manages to convey the right mood of the gothic setting, a feat only the black box pulls off with more success.

Of course, the book has it problems. The biggest complaint I hear is a lack of darklords. I consider this a minor quibble, considering the wealth of material we are given on the domains, not to mention the fact that I could conceivably lone this book out to my players without fear that they would look up Strahd's stats. Really, the main problem with the story proves to be the artwork. With a few noteable exceptions (mostly found under the racial depictions and Van Richten entries) the artwork was bland and uninspiring, a fact that is quickly becoming the norm for Ravenloft D20. The designs look crooked, undetailed, and frankly boring. Its disheartening to see writing that is clearly a labor of love matched up with artwork that comes across as an afterthought.

All that aside, the booked is an excellent buy, filled with excellent ideas and valuable information that will enhance any campaign. Congratulations to the authors on successfully bringing the Realm of Dread into the 3rd Edition Arena.

The Kosher Pickled Punk

This is a wonderful revision of the Ravenloft Campaign setting into the Third Edition rules. The authors, John Mangrum, and Adrews Cermak and Wyatt, are to be comended for the hard work they put into this Core Rulebook. I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to run a new campaign, revise their old one, or who is a player in a Ravenloft game, since this book is mostly (but not entirely) written to be player friendly. There are a lot of goodies, like new templates, and modifications to other monsters, based on the the Van Richten's Guide series. There are new feats, and two new PC races (okay, one and half, since the caliban is really a modification of the half-orc from the PHB). There are detailed descriptions of dozens of domains, with info on trade, currency, climate, and the local demographics. There are rules for new religions, and two new clerical domains. There are new weapons, new skills, and a very interesting section on how to run a Gothic Horror campaign.

Now that I've finished gushing over the book, here are some valid criticisms. First of all the Darklords are not in this book. Unfortunately, that means that to get the skinny on what really goes on in Ravenloft, namely the Darklords and their tragic tales, a DM needs to buy Secrets of the Dread Realms, which is not nearly as good a product as this one. I understand why this was done, but SotDR is a poor complement to R3E.

Second, there are some serious typos in the book. This seems to be the case with all the Ravenloft books that Arthaus has published so far. Luckily there is an errata file somewhere on this website.

Third, in order to keep the surprises, some domains, like Bluetspur, Timor, and Shadowborn Manor, have minimal entries. This wouldn't be so bad if SotDR filled in the details, but other than naming the DL of the domains, those domains aren't detailed, so a DM who is new to RL will need to hunt for a copy of Thoughts of Darkness, Islands of Terror, or Darklords, in order to run an adventure in these lands. While the upcoming Gazetteer series will recitfy some of the problems, the series is going to focus on the Core first, so detail on the Islands of Terror and Clusters may be a long time in coming. Again, I understand why the authors had to do this, but a prospective newbie should consider himself warned.

Despite these problems, I wholeheartedly recommend buying the book. That goes to die-hard 2E players, who will be surprised at how much new material the book contains.

Erik Frankhouse A.K.A.Enric Ank'Top

Well, to start, on one side of the coin I LOVED IT OVER ALL just the fact that the templets were worth something, and the fact that they went through all the main things, vampirism, witches, lyncanthropy and lets not forget demons! The lush descriptions of the domains was a great touch for those that know nothing about the realm of dread.

Now on the other side of the coin, I bought the limited edition and from White Wolf I expect some full maps, or even some form of a map that I can show the players. I own Domains of Dread and I have been running a 3rd Edition Ravenloft for over seven months, this comes out and I hope to see some new stuff, but NOPE just some new jargon yet not enough MEAT!

The book is well worth it but not worth the limited edition, don't waste the 30 dollars its the same as the other! White Wolf you need to send out some extras for the 30 dollars spent on leather and

Drax

they should have made 2 different books one for Dms and the other for PCs, and put more info in the pc's like new spells and prestige classes, and put new magic items in the Dm's along with the Domain Lords even if there is 40+ of them. i mean its only 2 or 3 pages for a domain Lordso thats about 100 pages there.

Not to mention that they should have put the changes to the Hags, Lycanthropes, and undead in the Denizens of Darkness

Fernando

Three blood drops, not what i hoped for. This is a players version of the amazing Domains of Dread. No draklord descriptions, and in some cases they're not even mentioned. No complete listing of all domains, not all islands of terror are described or even mentioned and there is no description of pocket domains. The timeline is not clear, even hardcore players can have trouble understanding what exactly happened in a given moment.

This is a core rulebook, and as such, it must present the Ravenloft setting as completely as possible, and it fails to do so. I play Ravenloft since the Black box, and i can say that this book has only added a little more detail to the setting. If you are a new player, try to find Domains of Dread so you can see exactly how great is the Realm of Terror.

MadStepDad

Hey y'all, just figured I'd chime in with my two coppers worth.

First off, yes I am SO glad that Ravenloft has been reborn under 3rd Edition rules.

However, a quick backstory: When AD&D; 2nd Edition died, and 3rd Edition was announced, I distinctly remember a small, softcover Conversion Manuel that was handed out at gaming shops. This little book was FREE and it showed you how to quickly and painlessly convert your 2nd Edition game to Third. I still have this little manuel, and truth be told it's all you need.

The Domains of Dread hardcover that came out for 2nd Edition still is the best Ravenloft accessory to come out in a long time (IMO). That book is truly the only one you need. If you've got a 3rd Edition question, just consult your littley handy-dandy FREE conversion guide.

My point is, this Ravenloft 3rd Edition book is unneccessary to those who already know Ravenloft like the back of their hand (EVERYBODY at this site). I personally feel like I blew $30 on this thing.

It really is only a Players Handbook for Ravenloft. Just like their is a DM guide (Secrets of The Dread Realms) and a Monstrous Manuel (Denizens of Darkness). Personally, I don't think we need any of it. It's all just an intro to 3rd edition Ravenloft, which hasn't even changed much since 2nd Edition!

Granted, the new prestige classes and feats are cool (EVERYTHING 3rd Edition related is hot as hell!). But everything else is worthless. This book just seems like a scaled-down version of Domains Of Dread.

I'm just waiting for those 3rd Edition Ravenloft Adventure modules! I can't wait to see where they take the storylines!

The Fallen

This is an excellent book, and very well written. Having recently returned from a long absence to the Demiplane of Dread, I've found this book to be invaluable for updating myself to the many changes and subtle nuances of the current canon plots occuring in the demiplane. The art is good, though I still prefer the 1st edition artists and artwork. Talon Dunning's work in particular is quite excellent.

Getting right down to it, the book presents everything a new player would need to know about adventuring in Ravenloft. The rules and setting, various cultural levels and even some excellent feats, etc. That said, the things a DM would need are slightly lacking. There are no Darklord descriptions, and very few maps. From a marketing standpoint, I can see why - You'll make more money releasing these things individually in later supplements, which has been the case (excluding a nice big, full-colour map). Also, page counts come into contension, etc. etc.

Truly, the missing map is what irked me most. The exclusion of DM material only made sense, given WoTC's, and White Wolf's current paradigm of Player/DM separation in manuals, etc. So 4 out 5 from me. Colour maps = good.

Olek

This is a very good book and is worth the money. But you really need to have secrets of the dread realms, and denziens of darkness.

References

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