Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft Reveals Other Domains of Dread from The Land of Mists

I enjoy the way each fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons book leans into the modular nature of the game in different ways. Aside from satisfying fans of the classic D&D horror fantasy setting Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft terrifically illustrates how a core chunk of material can fuel innumerable content for games. The other Domains of Dread presented in the book focus a dark lens on the core of 5E D&D for all the tools a Dungeon Master needs to unleash the horrors of Ravenloft. Let’s get into it.

Other Domains of Dread for 5E D&D

The legendary Ravenloft setting entranced D&D players back in 1983 and its hypnotic gaze continues to draw people in to this day. Fans familiar with classic domains can find them described in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft with wonderful support and guidance for setting adventures within them. But it’s been nearly 40 years since Ravenloft’s entry into D&D history and it stands to reason more mocking reflections of the evils they confine emerged over those years.

As far as I know only one Darklord ever came out on top against the Dark Powers. The iconic death knight Lord Soth’s staunch refusal to face his past dark deeds and suffer the curse of the Mists lead to his release. The Knight of the Black Rose is so evil even Ravenloft didn’t want anything to do with him.

Undaunted the Mists or the Dark Powers or whatever the heck creates Darklords hasn’t been idle. The Mists are fickle and may carry unwary adventurers to countless domains drifting through them in the demiplane. Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft presents 22 other Domains of Dread for a sampling of those uncounted multitudes. There’s even a handy d100 table with all 39 domains included in the book plus a space for a DM’s own design, which seems a little strange to include only because if a DM were so inclined they probably wouldn’t be rolling on a table but this is neither here nor there.

Before diving into the other Domains of Dread proper it’s worth noting these additional domains do not receive the same depth as the 17 core domains. What they do provide, which I hinted at earlier, I’ll call another drawer in the best toolbox a DM’s got — the 5E D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide. The modular chunk of core material I mentioned is basically the entirety of chapters 3 and 4 in the DMG. Creating Adventures and Creating Nonplayer Characters. I greatly appreciate whenever 5E D&D material points back to or expands upon the basic principles like this and Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft duly earns this appreciation.

Not only does the book build on its own resources by providing the broad strokes for these other Domains of Dread but indicates to players how material from elsewhere in the book combines with these to create more expansive content. That content itself serves as a reminder of several other invaluable DM resources like the aforementioned DMG and even the fantastic This Is Your Life section of Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. It’s really cool how there’s a loose hierarchy of complexity starting from a blank slate and creating a Darklord and their domain, to developing one of these other Domains of Dread and tailoring it to a DM’s liking using existing resources and tools, to fully developed domains and finally a complete campaign showcasing how it all comes together.

• Cyre 1313, The Mourning Rail. A train ride of terror strikes the perfect notes to start this journey through strange domains within the Mists. The identity of The Last Passenger and how they’re connected to the disastrous lightning rail tragedy now haunting the rails with a train of the dead sounds evocative as hell.
• Forlorn. If I’m honest this one sounds very convoluted and confusing to me. I like the elements of dark druidism but the Darklord’s story and motives seem too messy. There’s some other strange details that feel kind of tacked on. This one doesn’t grab me.
• Ghastria. Here comes a take on The Picture of Dorian Gray to rescue my disinterest in the previous one. I dig the twists to what I must assume is the inspirational material to make it distinctly different and more fantastical. The more insular and compact story beat is also a refreshing change from the last one. Cursed art makes for some fine questing opportunities.
• G’henna. Like Forlorn this has a big and broad feel to what’s otherwise a concise collection of idea prompts. Unlike Forlorn this comes across much more straightforward. This one definitely gives off bleak vibes. I imagine harsh and hardy adventurers and players who like adventures reminiscent of Conan stories will cotton to this fierce domain.
• Invidia. Not gonna lie I can’t help but think of NVIDIA graphics cards when I see this. I reread this one several times to pick out the crux of the tension and I’m not finding much. This one feels half baked, like it could use some more time in the oven before it was done. Despite all of these other Domains of Dread essentially providing prompts, there isn’t enough here. It’s like, there’s an obsessed mother calling on the supernatural to guide her child. What’s a DM do with this? It doesn’t feel up to Darklord snuff to me.
• Keening. This domain haunted by a banshee has several cool things going for it including a connection with Tepest, one of the established and developed Domains of Dread. There’s also an extremely creepy and hence fantastic component where the residents of the domain deafen themselves to avoid the banshee’s wail.
• Klorr. I think I just had a nerdgasm. Whereas pretty much every other domain (except Bluetspur) at least resembles a terrestrial world this domain of impending doom is the end of worlds. Small islands float in mist around a burning eye orbited by 13 stars, which die one by one and draw an island into the eye where it’s consumed by flame. The entire domain is a doomsday clock and the adventurers are part of it through the will of a clockmaker Darklord — Klorr themselves!
• Markovia. I’m not going to lie, I thought this was a classic domain. The name sounds very familiar but probably because it’s a dictional country in DC Comics. In Ravenloft though it’s their take on another classic piece of literature — H.G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau along with elements of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Pretty incredible stuff!

The Ghost Dancer visits nightmares upon a sleeping victim and the undead pirate Darklord Pietra Van Riese haunt two of the other Domains of Dread in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. [Images courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

• The Nightmare Lands. The remarkable thing about this one is how much the text packs into such a small space. Dripping with awesome concepts and flavor there’s also a virtual trail of breadcrumbs leading to an amazing campaign concept. This one hooked me with the phantasms, dreamscapes and Nightmare Court but the reality of what’s going on propels it into spectacular territory. It’s going to be hard to top this one.
• Niranjan. Another domain with a connection to one of the main ones this is another one missing the 5E D&D adventuresome oomph. It reads like a summary of a novel on the inside dust jacket and while it kinda sorta explores the Darklord’s inner thought processes I’m not feeling like there’s any clarity what a DM might do with this information.
• Nova Vaasa. I’m torn on this domain. On one hand the premise it pretty clear and there’s some concrete details to build on. On the other hand it doesn’t come across with enough Ravenloft-y meat on its bones. This peaceful domain of nomadic riders that sometimes erupts in brutal violence feels more like a one and done adventure or even just a colorful encounter.
• Odaire. Like a few of these other Domains of Dread this one offers a dark twist on a piece of fiction from our own world. This time around the Mists of Ravenloft reimagines the beloved children’s tale of Pinocchio and imagines what the toy come to life would do were it an evil soul swapping construct and tricked the toymaker into crafting more of its kind who then murdered all the adults.
• The Rider’s Bridge. If you’ve seen Sleepy Hollow you already know the basics. The Headless Horseman is a classic myth most popularly known through Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Oddly the description indicates how multiple domains contain a Headless Rider so I’m not sure how that translates into it’s own distinct domain. The examples of how the entity manifests in a few of them along with a suggestion that escaping the encounter to the other side of the bridge may land survivors in a different domain so this could make a terrific continuity hook for a campaign involving travel between them. Also our own take on dullahan is cooler because you can play a character with a detachable head!
• Risibilos. There’s been a few already I’ve felt were scant on substance but so far this one takes the top spot among them. This doesn’t even sound like an encounter idea but more like the kind of interesting detail you might find as the description of a music hall in a domain like Barovia rather than an actual domain of its own.
• Scaena. I’m trying to wrap my head around how this would play out in practice. The domain is a single playhouse where the Darklord’s bloody performances involve slaughter of the actors on stage. So does the DM describe such a scenario while the characters sit quietly in their seats? The second something fishy starts they’ll be on the stage in seconds flat to put a stop to the violence.
• Sea of Sorrows. I’m clearly not the only one who loves the idea of a nautical domain since there’s far more material for this than any of these other Domains of Dread. An undead pirate captain and an island fortress on haunted seas capable of manifesting on any body of water knocks it out of the park. This section even provides brief descriptions of compelling locations on the island like an asylum run by a vampire doctor, the impossibly tall tower of the Lady of Ravens, a creepy lighthouse harboring a lurking terror and an undead paladin who offers refuge to weary travelers from a coral bluff all sound like awesome places for adventures.
• The Shadowlands. I think this is a take on the King Arthur myth where the twist imagines Excalibur is a cursed blade and traps vanquished evils within its borders, including the tragic failures of the circle of knights who do the vanquishing. There’s a rich mine of ideas to tap here but it feels like it would need a subtle hand to make it work.
• Souragne. There’s strong concepts here surrounding a sadistic prison warden and a bloody inmate uprising leading to the warden becoming Solomon Grundy. But it’s similar to Nova Vaasa in the sense it seems more like a one shot adventure than an ongoing reflection of a Darklord’s tragic story. In some ways I feel like the riotous inmates would be the Darklord over the warden the way it’s described.
• Staunton Bluffs. The start of this domain’s description lead my imagination down one path but the story went a different direction. Here again I can’t help thinking there’s some crucial component missing. If the premise were a sweeping regiment of brutal mercenaries forever pushing toward the Darklord’s castle and leaving destruction in their wake I’d feel like there was some sturdy structure to hang adventures on but all those juicy details are part of the prologue for the domain, which seems rather boring if I’m honest.
• Tovag. They had me at Kas the Bloody Handed. Do D&D villains get much more classic than this? Despite (or more likely because) he’s a brutal vampire warrior I can imagine lots of players really hooking into this domain where Kas toils endlessly to carry on his war with the lich Vecna.
• Vhage Agency. Honestly this should be included with the Travelers in the Mists section rather than here as a domain. It’s literally a single room with a quest giver inside. Not for nothing it illustrates the occult detective adventures among the Genres of Horror, which I found to be a poor inclusion there as well.
• Zherisia. The saving grace here is conjuring my deep affection for the Hannibal television series. But I can’t shake the feeling it’s another one more akin to an adventure than worthy of a domain. But a single detail of the barely there Darklord making me think of Hannibal outweighs the drawbacks enough for me to get excited about the concept of a doppelganger serial killer and the terror beneath the streets in this domain of urban decay.

Whew! Between the 17 main domains and these other Domains of Dread I’m domained out. At the end of the day I don’t like all of them and that’s the point — who would? The ones I did like make me excited to develop them further and see what sorts of cool things emerge from my own imagination. The ones I bounced off of certainly hold appeal to tons of other people and gets them excited to incorporate their own ideas from the springboard these descriptions provide.

The domains I don’t like do share a similar quality of being too broad in scope and too narrow in what they mean for a 5E D&D game. The difference comes down to playstyle I suspect. I much prefer clear goals and pathways to action and concepts heavy on cerebral elements appeal more to DMs less concerned about the gameplay aspects and more intrigued by the story being created. For those folks the lack of clear hooks and sources of tension to draw character in might well be the very aspects they connect with in the first place.

Which of these other Domains of Dread from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft speak most strongly to you? If you haven’t been the DM before do any of these domains inspire you to give it a try? Have you developed any of these using the terrific resources in the Dungeon Master’s Guide and really made them your own? Please share your thoughts in the comments below and of course stay nerdy!

*Featured image — Cyre 1313, the Mourning Rail, thunders through domains, ever trying to escape the disaster that slew its passengers as seen in the 5E D&D Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

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