The wait is over. The mists have risen again. Will this trip be a pleasant one? Probably as pleasant as any trip to the "Realm of Dread" can be . . ..
First and foremost, this book should have been titled THE PLAYERS GUIDE TO RAVENLOFT, because it is essentially a "player-friendly" book. Players can read this book and not get all the secrets that should be "DM Only" material. There are absolutely no stats for any NPCs in this book. The stats for the Darklords will be in the next book, which we�ll have to wait until December to see.
The plus side to this is that the information in this book is given in a way that PCs of the world would understand (mostly, but see Chapter Three below). The law of Markovia is listed as "unknown," although it mentions that sailing vessels that go near the island see structures and strange "�beast-men,�" and that every attempt to colonize it has met with disaster as the colonists have disappeared.
The best way to approach this review is to break the book down by chapter:
Chapter One gives an interesting history of the Gothic genre of literature. It continues with a brief overview of what a Darklord is and what the Dark Powers are, though the material isn�t anything new to anyone who has ever played a Ravenloft game. It then goes on with the history of the realm. It is interesting to see the ways that Arthaus has gone about covering things to keep from using any of WotC�s copyrights, such as never referring to Lord Soth by name. One thing that irritates me is that it mentions that Azrael "seized" control of Sithicus from "the knight" who ruled it after the mountain of shadow destroyed him. Of course, we know that Soth isn�t dead (well, at least he�s not destroyed), but characters in Ravenloft wouldn�t necessarily know that. However, the thought that Azrael may be the new darklord of Sithicus drops my interest in the domain about fifteen notches.
Chapter Two is packed with information and begins by explaining the roles of the various races in Ravenloft and introduces a new race, the Caliban, which essentially replaces the Half-Orc. Starting languages of the Realm of Dread are discussed. Characters are given an Outcast Rating, based on their race and certain other things, which is basically a negative modifier to certain checks, such as "Bluff" and "Gather Information," and a positive modifier to "Intimidate" checks. This is an excellent way to put the xenophobic nature of the people of Ravenloft into game terms.
The chapter continues with a discussion of the affects of Ravenloft on the classes from the PLAYERS HANDBOOK, then moves to a reexamination of old skills and the introduction of a new one, "Hypnosis." It provides thirteen new feats, all wonderfully "Ravenloftish" in feel and some of which were taken from the kits that were presented in CHAMPIONS OF THE MISTS.
Next, major religions are discussed, giving a brief history of each. New equipment is discussed next, including firearms. The chapter finishes with rules for mob weapons, which, in essence, are tools such as crowbars or picks.
Chapter Three covers game mechanics. Fear, horror and madness checks curses, powers checks and altered magic and magical items are discussed. This is the one chapter that I believe isn�t as "player-friendly" as the rest. I don�t see how a PC would know the mechanics behind a Powers Check.
Chapter Four discusses travel in Ravenloft, introducing "Mistways," which are more or less stable "roads" in the Mists that seem to lead from one particular domain to another particular domain more often than not.
The chapter then covers details of each of the domains that are mentioned in the book. The details are interesting, with tidbits such as what different coins are called in different campaigns. The best thing, however, is that it discusses the return of Azalin. I�ve gathered that his reappearance is to be detailed in a module that will be released on the Kargatane web-site, although when it will be released is anybody�s guess.
Chapter Five basically updates Van Richten�s Guides with 3E updates to his treatises on vampires, ghosts, liches, lycanthropes, constructs (golems), ancient dead, fiends, hags, and the Vistani.
Chapter Six gives ideas on adding gothic horror to a campaign. It discusses themes, magic, exploration, heroism and villainy in a Ravenloft campaign. Actually, most of this is covered in the 2nd edition books and really didn�t change much for the new book.
The artwork is really "hit or miss, at least as far as flavor goes." Some of it is very gothic in flavor, though some of it looks as if it could fit in any fantasy rulebook. The art is really good, however, and this doesn�t really affect the quality of the book too much.
The biggest disappointment is the disappearance of the "Nightmare Lands." They�ve been in every core book since the beginning of the setting and I am at a loss as to why they omitted it now.
All in all, the book is worth the price, especially for those of us who were captured by the Mists years in the past. White Wolf, thank you for doing our setting justice.