Monsters of Ravenloft Inspires Compelling Antagonists and Adversaries from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

When it comes to the monsters lurking throughout the Domains of Dread the latest fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons book Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft offers not only 32 new creature stat blocks but also takes a good deal of space to provide guidance on how to make monsters more frightening and instill horror into adventures in the Mists. Let’s get into it.

5E D&D Darklords and horror monsters of Ravenloft

One omission 5E D&D players noted in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft are stat blocks for the various Darklords who rule the Domains of Dread. The design team, in particular project lead F. Wesley Schneider, explained very eloquently how each Domain of Dread itself represents the central antagonist and prisoner of the realm’s villain. I love this perspective. It makes perfect sense and strongly reinforces the themes of Ravenloft in a deliberate way.

Instead of stat blocks Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft offers suggestions for existing creatures to provide mechanical information for Darklords where appropriate. Strahd is a vampire, Ankhtepot is a mummy lord and so on. Viktra Mordenheim uses the spy stat block while the God-Brain of Bluetspur’s untold numbers of mind flayers and intellect devourers supply all the crunch a Dungeon Master needs to challenge heroes with horror on a cosmic scale.

All but one creature stat block referenced for any of the Darklords (barring any alterations to them noted in the book) can be found in the 5E D&D Monster Manual, which makes it more accessible for players. The exception is a Darklord whose stat block is a new creature included in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft.

Given these relatively broad palettes promotes creativity in DMs. Even if the distinct Domains of Dread aren’t settings for a group’s adventures or even a new one created from whole cloth with guidance from elsewhere in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft (or without!) I’m really happy to see more recent official products straddling the line between providing insights and encouraging creation alongside presenting new pieces of game design with which to play.

• Monstrous Origins. I dig how this section reinforces the idea of singular monsters in any setting, especially ones most often considered part of a larger culture or society. Your campaign world doesn’t need to support an entire yuan-ti civilization — a yuan-ti abomination can be a unique monster created by a transformative curse lurking in the ruins of whatever. There is a ton of inspiration and resources for developing awesome monsters like this in Genres of Horror, which we broke down pretty handily if I don’t say so myself right here.
• Notorious Monsters. This is rock solid DM advice full stop. Foreshadowing the danger of a monster achieves a tremendous amount. Players and their characters recognize the threat. They’ll probably want to learn more about it, which puts them in interactions with NPCs and exploring on their own. And not to be discounted there’s a psychological factor for the players themselves. When the party finally confronts the monster — even if it’s just a regular old Monster Manual stat block — they’ll almost certainly be wary.
• Describing Monsters. My bread and butter. This is perhaps the most useful tool in my DM toolbox and it’s not limited to monsters either. When I’m on the other side of the screen my main goal is envisioning what it’s like to be in whatever scenarios arise so when I’m running a game I strive to help players achieve the same. I’ve been told no small number of times this is the case too, so I must be doing something right. Do not underestimate the power of description to get players hooked, immersed and most importantly roleplaying (with each other preferably!).
• Monstrous Tactics. There’s valuable points packed into this section starting with a reminder for DMs how monsters can try different tactics and combat options same as the player characters. Stat blocks aren’t the be all, end all of a creature’s options. There’s a bit of overlap with the previous section too highlighting how sometimes it’s how a monster causes damage that makes it alarming, not just how much.
• Monstrous Traits. Short and sweet DM advice about how tweaking an existing stat block with even a single additional trait can completely transform a monster and encounters with them. Our own Character Build Guides all include new creatures inspired by the player character concepts and we recently began including more of our own design insights along these lines in the accompanying posts here on the website. The CBGs are all pay-what-you-want at the Dungeon Masters Guild and if you’re interested you can browse through the posts here.
• Monstrous Minions. No, these aren’t referring to the minions you’ve undoubtedly heard about from the best edition of D&D. Instead this section offers a handful of traits a DM can add to a monster’s stat block reflecting their subservience to sinister forces.
• Creating Unique Nightmares. “How could WotC hype the Bagman and not include a stat block!” The chorus of nerd rage was loud upon release of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. But it pretty quickly died down once everyone looked at the new subclasses and bestiary appendix to peruse the rest of the book and noticed this section. There’s over 2,400 official 5E D&D monsters. Does anyone really need another one? The answer is of course yes but in lieu of one more I’m much more pleased to illustrate for DMs how mashing up a troll, a mimic and a black pudding and sticking it inside a bag of holding suddenly creates a terror that gripped much of the 5E D&D community.

Priests of Osybus use soul tattoos to conjure undead servants and escape death’s grip as seen in the 5E D&D Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

Monsters of Ravenloft in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

In addition to a host of monsters lurking all around and everywhere in the Domains of Dread there are terror still beyond those of the 5E D&D Monster Manual. Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft includes 32 new monster stat blocks and since they’re listed by challenge rating in ascending order at the beginning of the bestiary section that’s how I’m giving them here.

1. (CR 1/8) Gremishka. Monster cats! What I dig about this creature is the signature Magic Allergy feature not only because it packs a terrific surprise for adventurers but also it’s the kind of versatile trait a DM can easily reflavor or repurpose in lots of ways.
2. (CR 1/2) Death’s head. Phenomenal monster design top to bottom. Sure, it seems like an everyday innocuous disembodied flying head. But maybe it’s an aberrant variety or worse yet a medusa head — with a Petrifying Bite! And what’s this? A sidebar variant of terrifying proportions in the form of an awakened tree from which many death’s heads dangle. (Protip: plant one of the heads in unholy ground and see what happens in 1d12 months.)
3. (CR 1/2) Podling. An alien plant’s takeover wouldn’t be very insidious if these were all that distinct from the people they replace. Nevertheless these plantified commoners gain some unusual traits. I’m getting strong vibes of Once Upon a Joe from the “podling melts into a slurry when it dies” part of this stat block and I’m into it.
4. (CR 1) Boneless. Remember how I mentioned the power of description. This undead monster is straight up gross. Seriously it’s revolting just thinking about this. Say what you will about skeletons and zombies a husk of befouled skin takes necromancy to another level.
5. (CR 1) Carrionette. Creepy dolls got that macabre vibe going for them backed up with a terrifying curse — trapping soul inside their construct form while they take over the mortal body!
6. (CR 1) Swarm of zombie limbs. People love zombie stories and Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft knows this. The zombie section of the bestiary includes suggestions for Zombie Apocalypses. Not too long ago we ran into a snag designing an encounter and at one point our solution was not dissimilar from this Medium swarm of Tiny undead. We went in a different direction and presenting the scenario as a hazard rather than a monster so obviously I prefer our approach.
7. (CR 2) Swarm of gremishkas. The Magic Allergy trait I praised might result in this Medium swarm of Tiny monstrosities and woe be to the magic users squaring off against such a thing.
8. (CR 2) Swarm of maggots. And introductory section about swarms in general includes a Swarm Behavior table to help determine how any given swarm walks, talks and generally swarms around. This seems like it would be more appropriate as a hazard like green slime but it is what it is and that’s a disgusting Medium sized swarm of disease carrying beasts.
9. (CR 2) Wereraven. These lycanthropes are just plain cool and I am certain tons of 5E D&D players feel the same way. Like the loup garou in this book there’s a sidebar on how this version of lycanthropy differs from the standard found in the Monster Manual.
10. (CR 3) Brain in a jar. We’ve seen the brain in a jar in some iteration in Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, Lost Laboratory of Kwalish and Infernal Machine Rebuild and I’m so here for it again in Ravenloft. Classic in so many ways, creepy as heck and dripping with a fascinating story a brain in a jar projects an undeniably compelling quality to any campaign.
11. (CR 3) Carrion stalker. Symbiotic with one of the most classic D&D monsters of all — the carrion crawler — these Tiny monstrosities fall into a bucket with a handful of similar monsters whose true danger is what happens over time due to the stuff they infest you with…
12. (CR 3) Swarm of scarabs. And introductory section about swarms in general includes a Swarm Behavior table to help determine how any given swarm walks, talks and generally swarms around. At first I scoffed at the Skeletonize trait, which felt more at place in the description part but there are mechanical implications. Anyone who’s seen The Mummy movie (or any mummy movie, let’s be honest) knows the deal.
13. (CR 4) Strigoi. Nerdarchist Dave ought to get a kick out of these humanoid stirges. He loves those giant bloodsuckers. Connecting this horrific monstrosity with another revolting creature from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft practically writes the adventure itself. If that weren’t enough the lore takes things to another level by introducing the idea of stirge courts and strigoi aristocrats.
14. (CR 4) Zombie plague spreader. People love zombie stories and Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft knows this. The zombie section of the bestiary includes suggestions for Zombie Apocalypses. Winner of the just now invented 2021 Fabulous Trait Name award with their Virulent Miasma this variety of shambling menace infects victims with terrible diseases with the end result of more zombies.
15. (CR 5) Vampiric mind flayer. Mind flayer + vampire = super powerful monster, right? Not exactly. What makes these surprisingly low CR monsters truly terrifying is they’re the flawed results of experimentation. Let that sink in. The God-Brain’s failures result in telepathic atrocities who drink a victim’s very sapience away. What do you think their successes look like?
16. (CR 6) Gallows speaker. Basically an incorporeal undead with very evocative lore there’s two standouts to me. It fits nicely in the CR 6 undead creature slot, of which there are very few. More importantly it touches on a concept I enjoy — fated outcomes — and how I can incorporate them into The Norn Otherworldly Patron.
17. (CR 6) Priest of Osybus. I don’t know how far back Osybus lore stretches in D&D history. Was in only first mentioned in Curse of Strahd? At any rate ever since it’s been a compelling piece of the puzzle I’ve often wondered about so it’s super cool to see this cult explored more in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. There’s a hefty amount of great lore here and a stat block to put all other 5E D&D cultists to shame. If this wasn’t enough WotC invokes some Matt Colville with the Boons of Undeath table to illustrate what these servants of evil’s masters might do when they fall. It ain’t pretty.
18. (CR 6) Zombie clot. People love zombie stories and Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft knows this. The zombie section of the bestiary includes suggestions for Zombie Apocalypses. World War Z style this utterly disgusting and terrifying creature results when an entire horde of zombies is crushed into a single rotting titan.
19. (CR 7) Bodytaker plant. My first thought was, “Yes! Black Mercy for 5E D&D!” (Black Mercy is the alien plant deployed by Mongul in the Superman story For the Man Who Has Everything.) Not quite but I do love plant creatures and Huge alien plants creating pod people for 5E D&D is right up my alley.
20. (CR 7) Necrichor. There’s no small number of specialized undead to be found in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. Those who love their blood and souls ought to enjoy this abomination formed from “the ichor of evil gods or the sludge in the crypts of failed liches.” Why not both?
21. (CR 8) Inquisitor of the Mind Fire. A psychically gifted priest founded an order of psionic inquisitors once allied with Strahd and now focused on rooting out monsters and corruption. These agents read thoughts, reshape memories and dominate the uncooperative. The lore mentions the Order of Cosima, which makes me wonder if there’s any relation to the God of the Voyage from Magic: The Gathering’s Kaldheim expansion.
22. (CR 8) Inquisitor of the Sword. A psychically gifted priest founded an order of psionic inquisitors once allied with Strahd and now focused on rooting out monsters and corruption. These are the martial arm of the organization who empower their own bodies with psionic energy. There’s mention of an Order of Ansel but I didn’t come up with any MTG connections to this name.
23. (CR 8) Inquisitor of the Tome. A psychically gifted priest founded an order of psionic inquisitors once allied with Strahd and now focused on rooting out monsters and corruption. Scholars of the organization the Order of Tristian uses their mind powers to alter the environment. No MTG connection here either, as far as I could tell.
24. (CR 8) Nosferatu. Like vampires but without the charm and grace. What they give up in classiness they make up for in repugnance through their Blood Disgorge trait. Yuck.
25. (CR 8) Relentless slasher. One of two varieties of Relentless Killers and I appreciate how Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft puts a D&D twist on what in many ways is the scariest domain of all — our own real world. Serial murderers terrify us and in the Domains of Dread these remorseless mortals can enter into pacts with beings of the Lower Planes to become true fiends themselves. The entry also includes guidance for creating unique Relentless Killers with an origin and methods. Slashers perform their bloody work in the shadows and my mind is already drifting to iconic killers like Hannibal Lecter and Dexter Morgan.
26. (CR 8) Unspeakable horror. I’ll speak of them. I ain’t scared. A catchall category for monsters defying classification beyond nightmarish these Huge monstrosities include several extras. Customizing a Horror presents four body compositions on a table with further customization of the creature’s Limbs and alternative Hex Blast traits. The iconic Mists of Ravenloft hide special Mist Horrors too.
27. (CR 9) Jiangshi. Like the best 5E D&D monsters it’s the lore that makes the stat block come alive during a game. I do like seeing peculiar weaknesses incorporated into the mechanics and they’ve got a nasty Consume Energy trait but it’s the origin of such a creature where a DM can find the most use.
28. (CR 10) Dullahan. There’s a lot of juice to squeeze from this amazing monster of Irish myth starting with incredible art depicting this headless horseman’s charge astride a nightmare surrounded by all manner of death’s heads. A Dullahan Legends table even provides a selection of hauntings. Not to be outdone I’d be remiss without mentioning our take on the dullahan as a playable race — including the ability to remove their own head!
29. (CR 12) Relentless juggernaut. One of two varieties of Relentless Killers and I appreciate how Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft puts a D&D twist on what in many ways is the scariest domain of all — our own real world. Serial murderers terrify us and in the Domains of Dread these remorseless mortals can enter into pacts with beings of the Lower Planes to become true fiends themselves. The entry also includes guidance for creating unique Relentless Killers with an origin and methods. Juggernauts offer no subtlety to their brutal work and bring slaughter to the world around them. I get a bit of Pyramid Head vibe from these nasties.
30. (CR 13) Loup garou. The single Darklord without a Monster Manual stat block to represent them draws from this powerful lycanthrope. Not only is it Legendary. Not only does it have Legendary Resistance. Most notably it improves on the traditional vulnerability of such creatures and curses victims with a more powerful form of lycanthropy.
31. (CR 19) Lesser star spawn emissary. Cosmic horror in all its glory! Star spawn are absolutely fantastic monsters and adding more to the mix with both lore and tremendously powerful monsters makes me a happy 5E D&D nerd. I feel it’s worth pointing out this is the lesser version and it’s CR 19.
32. (CR 21) Greater star spawn emissary. All the praise from the lesser version applies and this world ender distinguishes itself with Legendary Actions like Warp Space and Mind Cloud and I’m all about this life.

*Featured image — Darklord Maligno and his carrionette servants ambush the detectives Alanik Ray and Arthur Sedgwick as seen in the 5E D&D Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

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