It is back!!! What we do know about VR Guide to Ravenloft?

[Manofevil]

And they still haven't done "Carmila"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Dammit. The more I see of this book, the more I think it'd irk me to actually read it...

[Dion of the Fraternity]

Keith Baker just issued a tweet that more or less confirms the presence of Cyre 1313 (the Mourning Rail) as a pocket domain. This ties in with an Eberron-Ravenloft DMsGuild supplement named "Project: Pomegranate."

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Dammit. The more I see of this book, the more I think it'd irk me to actually read it...

I get what you mean. Why make Azalin separate from Darkon? Why bring Erasmus back? Usually titbits like this make you interested, but in this books case it makes me nervous.

Which is a shame because the gothic lineages were so interesting in Unearthed Arcana.

[Igor the Henchman]

...and to make it worse, STILL no Farelle!

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

...and to make it worse, STILL no Farelle!

I am intrigued Tovag is still there, though.

[Igor the Henchman]

That is intriguing, and I'm also curious what "Klorr" will turn out to be.

But I'm disappointed that the Ezra and Hala faiths don't get a section.

[FiranDarcalus]

That is intriguing, and I'm also curious what "Klorr" will turn out to be.

But I'm disappointed that the Ezra and Hala faiths don't get a section.

I would imagine that there will not be anything about religion in this book. Given that the domains have no unifying threads anymore, it would not make sense to have different Ezran sects throughout the Domains of Dread. Maybe we might get a snippet of Ezra in something like Borca, but I would not hold your breath. I don't think the new designers even acknowledge that Ravenloft 3rd edition happened, and while Ezra did appear in the 1997 Domains of Dread book, the bulk of the development of that, and frankly all religion in Ravenloft, was a 3rd edition development.

Nice to see Wilfred Godfroy is still around, along w/ Lukas.

I really do not like that they have removed Azalin as Darklord; and he goes by his true name now (!!??), but in Tasha's Guide they still call him Azalin. Makes me wonder who the domain lord of Darkon is; they did not mention it in the table of contents, unlike the other domains. Weird! I guess Death is gone from the game as well. That's too bad....always rather liked ol' Mr Dachine

[Rock of the Fraternity]

I think that if I do end up buying this book, I'll likely strip it of everything I find fun or useful and incorporate it into the 3.5/PF1-era set-up, then banish the 5e setting to Alternate Timeline-territory.
Did anyone notice it looks like Mordenheim and Drakov have both been genderbent, if their names are anything to go by? That, or replaced by female heirs, which is more likely in Drakov's case; he had plenty of heirs.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Why would they turn the Gentleman Caller into just "the Caller"?
I know the concept of a 'gentleman caller' may not be part of the cool young kids' vocabulary, but I wonder whether this is indicative of more than a desire to make the fiend sound dangerous and cool.

[Igor the Henchman]

Why would they turn the Gentleman Caller into just "the Caller"?
I know the concept of a 'gentleman caller' may not be part of the cool young kids' vocabulary, but I wonder whether this is indicative of more than a desire to make the fiend sound dangerous and cool.

Just a shot in the dark, but I imagine it's so he can seduce people of all genders and orientations. Succubi are genderfluid in 5E.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Why would they turn the Gentleman Caller into just "the Caller"?
I know the concept of a 'gentleman caller' may not be part of the cool young kids' vocabulary, but I wonder whether this is indicative of more than a desire to make the fiend sound dangerous and cool.

Just a shot in the dark, but I imagine it's so he can seduce people of all genders and orientations. Succubi are genderfluid in 5E.

o_o ... I was not aware that gender had ever stopped an incubus from doing whatever the hell (pun fully intended) it wanted to do to anyone. As for being genderfluid, in some of the older mythology incubi and succubi were the same demon swapping genders as needed; succubi to collect semen from men, incubi to later inject it into women after corrupting it with their demonic nature, seeing as they were themselves sterile. Maybe D&D 5e should have just copy-and-pasted that.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

These snippets make me more intrigued, not less. As I'd said before, the changes seem deliberate, (other than Odaire, which seems like a typo!) and I'm eager to see them fleshed out and see the motives behind them. The Azalin stuff does make it seem like the 3e line will be completely ignored, which is a shame, but not entirely a surprise. The fact that obscure stuff like duCire, Klorr, Risibilos, Larissa, and the Chataeufaux fiends are showing show they did their homework. As someone on the discord said, we've had dozens of books over decades (not to mention all the netbooks and online discussions) to flesh these things out. A one sentence blurb may be all there's room for, for many of them, to fit into one book.

I'm really pleased to see Scaena and The Shadowlands making appearances. Two of my faves that I thought for sure wouldn't make it in.

Other things of interest..

"Ez" d'Avenir - Why the new nickname? Ezmerelda's too new of a character to get gender-swapped, so I doubt that's it. Did they want to distance her from Notre Dame's Esmeralda as part of the sensitivity pass?
Chakuna is the new darklord of Valachan. Will it be Von Kharkov under a new name or something completely new.
GOD-BRAIN BACKSTORY?!?!
Nepenthe? Who's that?
What happened to 2 of the 3 hags?
Vampiric Mindflayers, check. Bluetspur, check. Any hope for Lyssa?
The House of Lament adventure is a healthy 20 pages. Not just a sketch. Yay!
Carnival as a Domain... ehh.. this may be my least-liked change. I hope Isolde is all corrupted fallen angel or something now.. I liked it as a bright spot in the darkness. Holding on judgement until I see how they've handled it. I think at least one of the old products called it a domain as well, but it never really was one.
8 pages of "Introduction." That's a lot. Perhaps that will be where they talk about past iterations of the setting? and how you can join the domains if you want? (wishful thinking, I know. But there doesn't seem much room in the 4 page "nature of Ravenloft". I can't imagine how you'd fill 8 pages of intro, unless it's a lot of flavorful stuff about "mist-shrouded castles on the cliff." etc.)

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Did anyone notice it looks like Mordenheim and Drakov have both been genderbent, if their names are anything to go by? That, or replaced by female heirs, which is more likely in Drakov's case; he had plenty of heirs.

LOL, where've you been? Yes, that's been known for a few months and debated to death here.

Still remains to be seen if they are simple genderbent or if it's an advance timeline thing. The snippet from the adventures section of Dementlieu seems to indicate Dominic may have been put in an Asylum to make way for Saidra, so I expect most of us "old school" fans who make use of the new book will consider it to be a changing of the guard for the others as well, and not just a retcon.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Cut me a little slack, please. ^^; Last I saw mention that Mordenheim had been genderbent was during the April Fool's incident.