Ravenloft Player's Guide for 5th Edition (Redraft)

8/9/2019 Ravenloft Player's Guide for 5th Edition (Redraft)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ravenloft-players-guide-for-5th-edition-redraft 1/21

1



2

Introduction 3

Updated Rules for Ravenloft 4

Fear, Horror and Madness 4

Powers Checks 4

Outcast Rolls 4

Detection Powers 5

Turn Undead 5

Destroy Undead 5

Channel Divinity 5

Domain Lords 5

Closed Domain Borders 5

Necromancy 6

Magical Travel 6

Curses 6

Races 7

Caliban 7

Dragonborn 8

Drow 8

Half-Vistani 8

Humans 8

Teiflings 9

Classes 10

Barbarian 10

Bard 10

Cleric 10

Druid 11

Fighter 11

Monk 11

Paladin 12

Ranger 13

Rogue 13

Sorcerer 14

Warlock 14

Wizard 15

Character Customization 17

Anchorite 17

Arcanist 17

Avenger 17

Doctor 17

Gypsy 17

Languages 18

Feats 18

Back to the Wall 18

Courage 18

Firearms Expert 18

Jaded 18

Open Minded 18

Skills 19

Animal Handling 19

Deception 19

Hypnosis 19

Equipment 20



3

Welcome to the 5th

Edition Player’s Guide for

the Ravenloft Campaign Setting. These are fan

created in the spirit and ideal of the setting as

an aid to help bring Ravenloft games forward.

The overall intent of this update is a

desire to return Ravenloft back to its core ideals;

a feeling that I believe was lost with the 3rd

Edi-

tion rules and, of course, never even explored in

4th

Edition.

This is a labor of love and an ongoing

process so I hope that what I create is useful to

fans and DMs of Ravenloft from all over.

What to Expect;

Updated Rules: This file contains informationand data that hopefully updates all present and

past Ravenloft games to the current setting of

5th

Edition D&D.

Modular: The attempt is to make this feel as

close to the Ravenloft setting rules as possible,

but DMs should in no way feel obligated to use

these rules, as this will be drawing from all eras

of Ravenloft.

What not to Expect;Replacement: This is not intended to be a re-

placement for previous products and it is ex-

pected that players own previous editions of

Ravenloft in order to fully utilize these rules up-

dates.

Mandatory: These are fan made rules in an at-

tempt to bring the spirit and feel of the

Ravenloft setting forward into the 5th Edition of

D&D, and in no way should anyone feel re-

quired to use them.

Excuse for Piracy: These rules are not intended

for players to not buy any products from WotC,

and not a legal excuse for piracy. Buy the prod-

ucts and insure that D&D will live on and con-

tinue to provide entertainment into the future!

CreditsBased on the Ravenloft Setting created by:

Bruce Nesmith and Andria Hayday

Domains of Dread Setting written by:

William W. Connors and Steve Miller

Sword and Sorcery Edition written by:

Andrew Cermak, John W. Mangrum and

Andrew Wyatt

Fan Update written by

Ravenspyre

LegaleseDUNGEONS & DRAGONS, RAVENLOFT, the

RAVENLOFT logo, D&D, PLAYER’S HANDBOOK,

DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE, and MONSTER

MANUAL are trademarks of Wizards of the

Coast. Cover art from the CASTLE RAVENLOFT

Board Game. Back art from RAVENLOFT: Van

Richten’s Guide to Werebeasts. Additional inte-

rior art within this guide from various other

RAVENLOFT sourcebooks and are all owned by

their respective owners and are used out of re-spect in this guide for their work they put in.

This is a fan created rules update and as such I

claim no ownership of said products, only a love

for the setting itself.



4

The following are updated rules for Ravenloft

interpreted for 5th Edition D&D. This is an at-

tempt to cover 2nd and 3rd Editions to the best

of my interpretation. Uses of these rules are not

required.

Fear, horror and madness

checks now correspond

to an Ability check.

Fear: Fear is the

mind collecting itself

from a quick shock thus it

is a Wisdom check. Fear

saves have a DC = 8 +

creatures Charisma Modi-fier or just a flat DC of 10

for a scene. If it’s a never

before seen encounter or

creature then the DC is

increased by +2. If the

character is alone the DC is increased by +1. If a

character has lost half or more of their HP then

the DC is increased by +1. If the creature is ob-

viously stronger than the character then the DC

is increased by +2.

Horror : Horror is the attempt of trying

to process the true threat of a scene, thus it is

an Intelligence check. Horror is harder to gauge

for and not as simple to create a flat DC. In

short this is left up to best judgment of the DM,

but a safe bet is a base of 8 for something like

seeing a decaying body. The more gruesome or

unexpected the scene might be, the harder it

should become. Witnessing a malign paradigm

shift, such as discovering your fiancé is the

blood thirsty werewolf you have been hunting

all along, should easily be considered a +10 tothe DC number.

Madness: Madness is the attempt to try

and convince oneself of the rationale of the im-

possible that has been seen, thus it is a Charis-

ma check. Madness checks depend on the situ-

ation they occurred in. If it’s the result of trying

to contact an alien mind, the DC = 8 + ½ HD +

Wisdom modifier. Madness checks that are the

result of a spell use the saving throw value of

the spell. A Madness check that is the result of a

total catastrophe such as a particularly bad hor-

ror save, should use a similar DC to the horror

save.

Bonuses to fear

and horror checks should

either be a +1 or +2 de-

pending on the situation.

For instance if you have a

weapon that can hurt a

particular enemy you

gain a +1 bonus or if a

loved one is in danger

you might gain a +2 bo-nus. Other things might

give you Advantage on

said rolls such as you

have faced a similar

threat before and tri-

umphed, or you’ve gained some knowledge on

how to defeat such threats.

Of course Disadvantage can happen on

said rolls to. If a character has faced a similar

threat and been defeated that may cause Dis-

advantage. And if a friend or ally turns out to bethe cause of the check then that may cause a

Disadvantage to the roll as well.

Powers Checks remain unchanged in this sys-

tem still relying on a percentile roll. The only

exceptions are specific to classes in these cases.

In White Wolf’s rules for 3rd Edition D&D, races

had an outcast rating that would determine

penalties or bonuses on specific social rolls. Inthese updated rules, Outcast Rating is now a

Disadvantage on social rolls. In the case of rolls

used to Intimidate or Frighten others gain Ad-

vantage on said rolls.

This rule can be completely ignored for

more RP focused groups.



5

Spells, abilities and items that grant a player the

ability to detect other beings, such as detect evil

and good do not reveal what the beings are.

Instead, the player gets a sense of something is

either natural or unnatural. DMs are encour-

aged to broaden their horizons on what is con-

sidered natural and unnatural, such as nonhu-

mans, familiars and other spells might be con-

sidered unnatural.

Undead receive a bonus in that they get

a Wisdom save. Self-willed undead are further

protected from mental invasion and if they

make their save they can reveal whatever the

creature wishes. Domain lords are completely

immune to being detected and will always ap-

pear normal on such spells unless the lord willsit otherwise.

The only exception to this rule is a very

powerful artifact. Such artifacts can go beyond

the powers of Ravenloft and reveal the true in-

tents and nature of such beings, but artifacts

are exceptionally rare in the Land of the Mists.

Undead gain a +2 bonus

on their saving throw in

Ravenloft. Intelligent andself-willed undead that

fail their save are not

compelled to flee but are

unable to approach a

cleric or paladin with a

presented holy symbol.

Turn the Unholy and Turn

the Faithless are similarly

affected.

The effect of this is half inRavenloft. When consult-

ing the chart on page 59 of the PHB always half

the value, thus ½ becomes ¼, 1 becomes ½, 2

becomes 1, etc.

The presence of the divine is felt less in

Ravenloft than in other worlds. While a majority

of channeled divine effects mechanically will

appear unaffected, the Dark Powers have a

sense of humor. They tend to warp the actual

appearance of said effects to differing things,

such as a war priest who channels the divine

might start having blood drip from them or a

tempest priest might have mists forming

around them as they channel their abilities.

This of course is completely optional ef-

fect and is only something that would occur to

heighten the atmosphere for role-play purpos-

es. Ignore this rule if you feel it’s too much.

Normally domain lords are pretty much unstop-

pable forces. However, sometimes there is a

chance that a player can overcome their influ-

ence. In these cases, domain lords always have

Advantage. In instances where a domain lord is

the master of whatever the contest concerns,

such as a domain lord that can control all the

wolves in his domain, the domain lord wins au-

tomatically.

Domain lords also know

when someone is trying to pry intotheir minds. As a result any save

required is automatically passed

unless the domain lord wills it oth-

erwise. Prying into the thoughts of

such an evil being requires a Mad-

ness check, at the very least.

In the case of special closed do-

main borders, such as Strahd’s Poi-

son Fog, any special protections or

other effects that would provide

immunity for the character are ig-

nored. These are special effects that go beyond

any protection the player characters might have

and thus those protections do not apply. Thus

poison still affects those immune to it, darkness

still affects those able to see in darkness, and

extreme heat or other weather conditions can-



6

not be ignored or altered magically or other-

wise.

Furthermore, any attempt to try and

cross a closed domain border with magic or

special class abilities automatically fail. The

character attempting to do so will find them-selves deposited back in the domain they just

left. Only with the permission of a domain lord

can one hope to cross a closed domain border.

The only exception to this rule is again,

powerful artifacts. But artifacts of such power

are exceptionally rare in Ravenloft.

Necromancy is much more powerful in

Ravenloft than in other worlds. When casting a

necromantic spell, it is treated as if you used a

spell slot 1 level higher than you actually did. In

addition to this the undead created gain 1 addi-

tional hit die.

However, necromancers have to be

wary. When the undead are first created they

get a Wisdom saving throw. If they succeed,

they are not under the control of the caster and

are free to attack whomever they wish (usually

the caster for bringing them back in such a piti-

ful state).

Any time that a necromantic spell is

cast, the character must make a Powers Check.

Magical travel in Ravenloft is much more lim-

ited than in other worlds. Attempting to use

spells that would normally allow the character

to leave the Demiplane, fail, and instead depos-

it the character randomly in another location

within Ravenloft.

Curses are powerful in Ravenloft, much more so

than other worlds. Removal of such curses can

only be accomplished through the clause in the

wording of said curse. Spells like remove curse

can provide temporary relief but require the

afflicted to make a Wisdom saving throw versus

the DC of the spell that bestowed the curse.

With curses of vengeance, the DC = 8 + ½ invok-

er’s HD + charisma modifier + severity of the

curse.

Cursed magical items require the cursed

user to make a Wisdom save with a DC = 10 + 1per property of the item to break the attune-

ment. Thus if a weapon had 3 properties, for

instance, that would be a DC of 13.

Sinkholes of evil still exist. Whenever a

player is near a minor sinkhole of evil, the

creatures gain a +1 bonus to their saving

throw when Turn Undead is employed. A

major sinkhole of evil increases this bonus

to saving throws versus Turn Undead to a

+2.

When a domain lord is in close

proximity, they grant a cumulative +1

bonus as well to any saving throw when

Turn Undead is employed. This means

that if a domain lord is nearby on a major

sinkhole of evil, any saving throw made

would have a +3 bonus to Turn Undead.

In addition to this, the modifiers

of a sinkhole of evil also affect Fear and

Horror checks. Thus if characters were in

the depths of Castle Ravenloft, any check

required would gain an automatic +2 to

the DC.



7

This section only includes Ravenloft races, clari-

fies what races are not native to Ravenloft, and

provides rules for handling truly bizarre races

from the PHB and beyond.

Orcs are unheard of in Ravenloft and thus there

are no natural born half-orcs. Caliban take their

place instead, misshapen humans that were

exposed to foul, corruptive magic while still in

their mother’s womb. Average features tend to

be hump backs, tusk like teeth and tough hide

bodies, abnormal facial features, etc.

Ability Score Increase: Strength is in-

creased by 2 and Constitution is in-

creased by 1. Age: Same as humans.

Alignment: Having been born outcasts

and rejects, Caliban tends towards neu-

tral or chaotic alignments.

Size: Average sizes for humans.

Speed: Base walking speed of 30 feet.

Darkvision: Whether thanks to whatev-

er foul magics corrupted you or the fact

you were hidden away in darkness, you

have developed superior vision in dark

and dim conditions. You can see in dim

light within 60 feet of you as if it were

bright light, and in darkness as if it were

dim light. You can’t discern colors, only

shades of grey.

Menacing: You gain proficiency in the

Intimidation skill.

Relentless Endurance: When you are

reduced to 0 hit points but not killed

outright, you can drop to 1 hit point in-

stead. You can’t use this feature again

until you finish a long rest.

Savage Attacks: When you score a criti-

cal hit with a melee weapon attack, you

can roll one of the weapon’s damage

dice one additional time and add it to

the extra damage of the critical hit.

True Outcast: Your standing with others

never improves because of your cursed

appearance. You always have a -2 pen-

alty on social rolls in addition to Outcast

rules, and others tend to look on you

with pity, disgust or both. This is a +2 in

the case of rolls used to intimidate or

cause fear in others.

Languages: You speak two of the lan-

guages of the Core.



8

There are no native Dragonborn in Ravenloft.

All Dragonborn are outsiders of the Land of the

Mists. Due to their incredibly alien appearance,

they suffer a -3 penalty with all social rolls in

addition to normal Outcast rules, or a +3 bonus

when trying to intimidate or frighten. DMs can

also opt to encourage Fear checks upon first

seeing a Dragonborn if they are revealed or take

no actions to disguise themselves.

Drow are unheard of in Ravenloft and any Drow

in Ravenloft are always outsiders. Due to them

looking more like some dark fey creature, they

receive a -1 penalty on their social rolls in addi-

tion to Outcast rules. This becomes a +1 bonus

on rolls intended to intimidate or cause fear, ofcourse.

Called giomorgo, or giamarga if they have an

elven parent, are a troubled lot. Welcomed in

neither their Vistani families nor their human or

elven ones, they are a race between worlds,

much like half-elves. They resemble their

Vistani parents, with angular or aquiline fea-

tures, dark brown to raven black hair and dusky

or olive complexions and only slightly pointed

ears if they are from elven stock. Like theirVistani parents, the Half-Vistani tends to wan-

der the countryside, never staying in the same

place twice. This wanderlust

has given them some added

benefits as well.

Ability Score Increase:

Wisdom is increase by

2 and Charisma is in-

crease by 1.

Age: Same as humans.

Alignment: Half-Vistani

tends towards chaotic

alignments due to their

carefree nature.

Size: Average sizes for

humans.

Speed: Base walking

speed of 30 feet.

Survivors: You gain proficiency in Sur-

vival skill.

Moon Madness: During the night of

and the night preceding and following

the full moon, the Half-Vistani’s mind is

clouded by restlessness and anxiety, of-

ten called lunatio. They are unable to

rest properly and cannot benefit from a

short or long rest during this time peri-

od. The physical toll taken on the char-

acters body is extreme and all saving

throws and skill checks are at a Disad-

vantage until they are capable of taking

a long rest.

Tribal Heritage: Choose a tribal herit-

age. It imparts one additional perk.

- Canjar : Arcane Proficiency

-

Corvara: Sleight of Hand Proficiency- Equaar : Animal Handling Proficiency

- Kamii : Advantage when using skills that

deal with metals or metallurgy.

-

Naiat : Performance Proficiency

-

Vatraska: Medicine Proficiency

-

Zarovan: Advantage on initiative rolls.

Languages: They can learn one of any

language of the core plus the Half –

Vistani is familiar with Tralaks (a series

of glyphs used by Vistani). When at-

tempting to read the symbol the Half-Vistani makes an Intelligence check. On

a successful check, the DM rolls a d20.

On a 2 to 20 the Half-Vistani

correctly identifies the glyph.

On a roll of a 1, however, the

Half-Vistani misreads the sym-

bol and completely gets its

meaning wrong.

Humans are the most repre-

sented race in Ravenloft with

very few exceptions (such as

Sithicus). As such, as most rac-

es tend to be human, humans

also don’t react as negatively

to them.



9

Socially Accepted: Humans tend to be

more accepted with the denizens of

Ravenloft, thus they do not naturally

suffer Disadvantage on rolls as outcasts

unless they make their foreign nature

apparent or dealing with nonhumans.

Teiflings are extremely rare in Ravenloft, but

there are a few. Due to the tales often told, the

folk of Ravenloft take Teiflings as the devils they

resemble. Whenever a Teifling’s nature is first

discovered, Fear and/or Horror checks may be

called for. Teiflings will never gain the trust of

the superstitious Ravenloft folk and thus will

always be outcasts, having a base -3 penalty on

social rolls, or +3 on intimidation and fear rolls.

Furthermore, any reaction on a failed social rollwill always be hostile to outright lethal. Most

naturally born Teiflings never even get a chance

at life, hence why they are so rare.

It should not be unusual to say that the

more unusual the race the less likely they

are to receive any response at all in

Ravenloft. DMs should be ready to place

penalties on social rolls if not inspire Fearchecks from NPCs that see player charac-

ters that come from strange and unusual

races, such as Outsiders.

In those cases where even at a

glance such characters could not pass as

human or one of the core four races, then

the social roll should automatically have

a -1 penalty. This penalty should go up

the harder it would be for such a race to

pass themselves off as a core race to a

maximum of -3. This becomes a bonus onrolls made to intimidate or cause fear.

Types of responses that DMs

might even consider could very well bor-

der on running the player out of town to

lynch mobs that think that the character

will bring bad luck to even wanting to

sacrifice them to appease some evil spirit.

Life as a nonhuman is very rough indeed,

and for a fantastical nonhuman can be

downright deadly.



10

What follows are rule changes to the specific

classes that can be found within the PHB. This

will not give full details on any classes and it is

expected that a copy of the 5th Edition PHB be

owned in order to receive the full benefit ofthese class changes.

Barbarians are uncommon in the Core of

Ravenloft as nomadic tribes tend to be small

and spread out. However in the less civilized

domains, sparsely populated tribes can be

found. Many barbarians tend to hail from the

land of Vorostokov with a few scattered tribes

in the densely forested region of Verbrek.

Barbarian Rage: While under the af-fects of rage, a barbarian gains a +2 bo-

nus on all Fear, Horror and Madness

checks.

Mindless Rage: Barbarians are not im-

mune to Fear checks but still retain the

bonus from a normal rage. The barbari-

an still has to roll a saving throw if the

charm is from a domain lord or closed

domain border.

The largest contingent of bards in Ravenloft

tends to hail from Kartakass, with a few notable

colleges coming from Nova Vaasa, Falkovnia,

and Mordent. Most, regardless of origin, aspire

to perform at the renowned Harmonia Hall lo-

cated within Kartakass, and as such most of the

colleges tend to be of lore. Falkovnia is the only

domain with a prominent college of valor, due

to the campaigns of conquest attempted every

several years.

Spells: Many spells in Ravenloft havedifferent functions.

Finding a truly devoted cleric in Ravenloft is not

an easy task as the presence of the divine is

weaker than in other worlds. Temples and

churches lay in dilapidated states or in complete

disrepair due to lack of actual use as pews re-

main empty except during the most special of

circumstances. Most clerics from Ravenloft tend

to be theologians or anchorites more than pious

men devoted to earning converts. Clerics, that

come from other worlds, note an almost imme-

diate feeling of disconnect or loss of presence

of their particular deity.

Spells: Many spells in Ravenloft have

different functions.

Divine Intervention: Receiving Divine

Intervention is not a guarantee in the

Demiplane of Dread at level 20, and still

must be rolled. The Dark Powers may

also intervene on any attempted inter-

vention and twist the intervention, de-

pending on what is done. This type ofinterference is left up to the DM. Any

attempt to summon for intervention

from against a domain lord automatical-

ly fails as the Dark powers intervene di-

rectly.

(Knowledge) Channel Divinity: Read

Thoughts: Domain lords always know if

you are attempting to read their

thoughts and as per earlier rules can

decide if you succeed or fail. A domain

lord that allows a cleric to read theirthoughts requires a Madness check

from the cleric. Any suggestions that

can result in death or cause the being to

make a Power’s Check requires the cler-

ic to actually make the Power’s Check

instead.

(Knowledge) Visions of the Past:

Ravenloft does not reveal its secrets

easily; as such clerics using this power

are always at Disadvantage with their

rolls. Scenes of gruesome acts or items

apart of gruesome acts may require a

Horror check from the cleric on success-

ful rolls.

Plant Domain: Plants performs normal-

ly except when in conflict of a domain

lord’s power or a closed domain border,

then the domain lord wins automatical-

ly or the border remains unaffected.



11

Tempest Domain: Mostly unchanged,

except as noted, and unless it conflicts

directly with a domain lords power or a

closed domain border then a domain

lord automatically wins or the border

remains unaffected.

Trickery Domain: Largely unaffected,

except the illusions created by invoke

duplicity and improved duplicity have a

chance to create actual shadows in-

stead of illusions. On a roll on 1 on a

d20, one of the illusions becomes a

shadow instead and may attack the

cleric or others. It will often wait for an

opportune moment.

Druids, like barbarians, are uncommon in thecore lands of Ravenloft, and druids from other

lands tend to note that ones from Ravenloft

tend to be more morose in their nature. The

ones that appear typically come from Verbrek,

Forlorn (very rarely) and Souragne. Those from

the swamp lands of Souragne tend to look and

smell more like a swamp hermit. Druids from

other lands tend to note that the land itself

seems to emit an indescribable feeling of ma-

levolence, but are never quite sure if they are

truly feeling this.



Land’s Stride: This will not allow a druid

to cross a closed domain border. In ad-

dition, domain lords that control the

plants of their domain are treated as

magical, unless the domain lord wills it,

for purposes of effects of this power.

Nature’s Ward: Druids are not immune

to effects from domain lords and closed

domain borders. Charms, fear effects,poisons and diseases can still affect the

druid, though they get a saving throw in

those cases.

Nature’s Sanctuary: Creatures con-

trolled by domain lords do not have to

make a saving throw and can attack the

druid freely.

Circle of the Moon: In Ravenloft, the

user chooses an animal type (i.e. wolf,

bear, etc). As the druid levels up they

gain the features of that animal type

but slowly start resembling a lycan-

thrope of that type (such as a werewolf

or werebear). People witnessing a druid

use this power may require a Fear

and/or Horror check and this power

may get superstitious folks hunting the

druid.

Fighters are everywhere within the Land of the

Mists. From men-at-arms, to guardsmen, to

mercenaries they are readily available, though

training can be sporadic at best. Falkovnia and

Nova Vaasa tend to produce the best trainedfighters in Ravenloft. Of the paths, Battle Mas-

ter tends to be the most often pursued with

very few actually choosing the path of the

Champion. Eldritch Knights are extremely rare,

though those that do exist tend to come from

Hazlan or Darkon in the Core, with a few of the

gypsies learning the path of the Eldritch Knight

as well.

Monks tend to be uncommon in most of

Ravenloft, and many just view them as another

form of cleric, despite there being obvious dif-

ferences. A few monastic orders of monks exist

throughout the Core of Ravenloft and a few of

the Islands; however most of the orders tend to

lean towards the Way of Shadows. The Way of

the Open Palm and Four Elements tends to be

rarer with either only supposedly having a dedi-

cated place of training on the island of

Rokushima Taiyoo.

Stillness of Mind: This power does notautomatically end a fear effect from a

failed Fear check. Instead it allows the

monk to make a new Fear check.

Purity of Body: Domain lords are still

able to inflict disease and poison on

monks as well as the effects of closed

domain borders.



12

Timeless Body: The aging effects

caused by domain lords or from closed

domain borders will still age a monk

normally.

Empty Body: Attempting to use the as-

tral projection portion of this power au-

tomatically fails in Ravenloft.

(Way of the Open Palm) Tranquility:

Domain lords do not have to roll a save

and can attack a protected monk nor-

mally.

(Way of the Open Palm) Quivering

Palm: Crossing a domain border counts

as entering another plane for purposes

of the duration of this effect. Further-

more, domain lords are unaffected by

this effect.

(Way of Shadows) Shadow Step: A do-

main lord that controls the shadows can

prevent a monk from using those shad-

ows with this power. This cannot be

used to cross a closed domain border.

Paladins are exceptionally rare in Ravenloft.

There are many reasons for this, least of all

which the very presence of a paladin causes

disruption to the land itself, like salt on a gaping

wound. Most paladins tend to be outsiders ofRavenloft, and like clerics, note almost an im-

mediate disconnect from the presence of the

divine. The few paladins in Ravenloft that exist

are usually due to some crusade or oath sworn

for vengeance and as such most Ravenloft pala-

dins tend to follow the Oath of Vengeance.



Disruptive Presence: The Land reacts to

the presence of a paladin. As a result

domain lords always know that there isa paladin in their domain. They only get

a faint glimmer thus the paladin is pro-

tected early on, but as the paladin gains

levels the domain lord gets a stronger

sensation where they are.

Starting at level 11, the paladin

is powerful enough that the domain

lord knows where the paladin is within

10 miles of their actual location. Every

level the paladin gains reduces the

range by 1 mile increasing the accuracy,

with a domain lord being able to accu-

rately locate a level 20 paladin within 1

mile of their location.

If the paladin is brandishing a

holy avenger weapon or some powerful

holy artifact (such as the holy symbol of

ravenkind ) then a domain lord knows

where the paladin is within 100 yards of

their location, regardless of level. This is

why few paladins naturally exist to old

age within Ravenloft.

Divine Sense: Ravenloft does not natu-

rally give up secrets easily. When em-

ploying this power, the paladin onlygets a sense if something is natural or

unnatural. Undead receive saves with

Advantage from this effect and domain

lords are completely immune able to

determine their status as they see fit

and how the DM decides it should be.

Divine Health: Diseases inflicted by a

domain lord or a closed domain border

take effect normally on a paladin.

Aura of Protection: The bonus from this

is reduced by the presence of a Sinkholeof Evil or a domain lord. See Sinkholes

of Evil sidebar on page 9 for more de-

tails.

Aura of Courage: This is a +2 bonus on

Fear check rolls to the paladin and

those within 10 feet of the paladin in-

stead of making them immune to fear.

Cleansing Touch: Attempting to remove

an effect from a domain lord only

grants the target a new saving throw at

a chance to end the effect. Attempting

to remove a curse follows the normal

rules for removing curses found on

page 6.

(Oath of Devotion) Turn the Unholy:

See Turn Undead on page 5.

(Oath of Devotion) Aura of Devotion:

Effects from domain lords or closed



13

domain borders still affect the charac-

ters normally.

(Oath of the Ancients) Nature’s Wrath:

Domain lords with power over plants

can ignore the restraint completely.

Other domain lords might have other

methods for easily getting out, such as a

mist form.

(Oath of the Ancients) Turn the Faith-

less: See Turn Undead on page 5.

(Oath of the Ancients) Undying Senti-

nel: Attacks from domain lords or

closed domain borders that age the

paladin will affect them normally.

(Oath of the Ancients) Elder Champion:

Using this power may cause Fear and/or

Horror in those around them due to

their superstitious nature in Ravenloft.

The forms appearance is usually twisted

or menacing as well, such as choosing a

tree like appearance the paladin might

assume a form more closely resembling

a dead man’s tree or look more savage

if choosing an animal.

(Oath of Vengeance) Abjure Enemy:

Undead and demons do not have Dis-

advantage on their rolls. See Turn Un-

dead on page 5 for other rules.

(Oath of Vengeance) Avenging Angel:In Ravenloft, the twisted sense of hu-

mor of the Land twists this form into a

mockery, making it appear as a shad-

owy angel of death instead of one of

vengeance. Seeing such a transfor-

mation may cause Fear and/or Horror

checks in others.

Rangers tend to be wanderers, more at home in

the wooded areas of Ravenloft. Uncommon by

most standards they are definitely more visible

than druids and barbarians. Attunement to the

land gives them a natural sense, though rangers

from other realms take note that the land has a

dark mystery to it, and an almost unwillingness

to divulge its secrets. Some rangers from other

realms even claim that the land purposely tries

to disorient them. Due to how beasts act in

Ravenloft, most rangers tend to be Hunters.



Primeval Awareness: Ravenloft does

not divulge its secrets easily. As with

other sensing powers, any information

the ranger might glean would be given

as whether it is natural or unnatural.

See page 5 for further details.

Land’s Stride: This will not allow a rang-

er to cross a closed domain border. In

addition, domain lords that control the

plants of their domain are treated as

magical, unless the domain lord wills it,

for purposes of effects of this power.

(Beast Master) Ranger’s Companion: Aranger’s companion that is of a type

that a domain lord can control must

make a Wisdom saving throw (TN =

8+Proficiency+Wisdom of the lord)

when entering the domain with the

ranger. If the saving throw succeeds the

companion is in full control of its facul-

ties, but is always cowering or whim-

pering and pacing as if uneasy while

remaining in the domain, urging its

master to leave. A new check is madefor every day the ranger remains in the

domain. If confronted by the domain

lord the companion will flee outright. If

the saving throw fails, the companion is

now under the control of the domain

lord, and will attack the ranger if com-

pelled to. The companion is forever lost

at this point, even if the ranger leaves

the domain. Attempting to bond with a

beast a domain lord has control over

automatically fails.

Rogues are everywhere within Ravenloft proba-

bly even more so than any other class. Street

urchins, to conmen, to even wandering gypsies

might have some skill with the larcenist arts. Of

the archetypes, thief tends to be the most

common one that one will run into though in



14

the lands of Darkon, it is whispered that assas-

sins abound in the employ of the Kargatane.

Wandering gypsies and Vistani especially tend

to favor the arcane trickster, using illusions and

trickery to wow spectators and fool the clue-

less. There is a reason many tend to be guarded

when the gypsies are in town.

Sorcery is often looked at negatively in the Land

of the Mists as some sort of curse or ill omen. A

child that has magical ability without use of

some sort of implement is using witchcraft and

typically get ran out of town or killed all the

same. Of the two types, Wild Magic is the most

common as Draconic Bloodlines tend to be rare,

though it is rumored that Hazlan and Darkon

both host a few draconic bloodlines. Sorcerers

do not have a favored land they come from as

anyone has a chance to be born with such pow-ers, but they do tend to float towards Hazlan or

Darkon for possible help in controlling their

powers, eventually.



Draconic Origin: Using powers that

cause outward appearance changes, as

parts of this origin often include, may

require others to roll a fear and/or hor-

ror check in response. Fearful folk may

attack or attempt to drive the draconic

sorcerer out.

Wild Magic Origin: While wild magic ef-

fects are uncontrollable, effects gener-

ated are still under the affects of any al-

tered magic rules that apply. Any effect

that would require a power’s check, still

applies in these instances as well.

Warlocks are a strange lot in the Land of the

Mists; seekers of knowledge and/or power they

willingly truck with dark powers directly. Theyoften, foolishly, refer to themselves as arcanists

as if such a title would change what they would

do trying to disguise their dark practices as

nothing more than scholarly curiosity.

In the lands near to the Shadow Rift, war-

locks tend to make pacts with the Archfey but

the further they get from such lands the more

likely one is to run into focus on the Fiend or

the Great Old One. It should come as no sur-

prise then that when a warlock uses their magic

that they tend to be in danger of falling to the

Dark Powers more than most other classes as

well.

Becoming a warlock is a secret endeavor

and usually the result of despair or a witless

dark pact with some entity in the search for

greater knowledge or power. There are no

teachings or schools for a warlock; this is a lone

endeavor on a road of personal damnation.



Power’s Check: You willingly truck with

dark forces, and as such the Dark Pow-

ers tend to notice you easier. Whenever

you advance in a level you make a Pow-

er’s Check equal to 5% multiplied by

your level. Thus making it impossible to

avoid corruption completely.



15

Horror Checks: Due to the fact that

warlocks tend to truck with things that

no mortal was meant to deal with, war-

locks gain Advantage on any Horror

check they make.

(The Archfey) Fey Presence: Using this

power to charm others into doing dan-

gerous or deadly things requires a Pow-

er’s Check. You cannot charm a domain

lord with this power.

(The Archfey) Misty Escape: You cannot

use this power to cross a closed domain

border.

(The Archfey) Beguiling Defenses: A

domain lord trying to charm you in-

vokes a saving throw instead. If you

succeed the charm fails instead of re-

bounding.

(The Archfey) Dark Delirium: Using this

power invokes a Power’s Check.

(The Fiend) Dark One’s Own Luck: The

bonus from this is actually increased,

within the Land of the Mists, to a d12.

However invoking this requires a Pow-

er’s Check.

(The Fiend) Hurl Through Hell: This

power instead buffets the target with

images of the lower planes, burning

them deep into the recesses of theirmind. The damage still occurs, and if

the target survives they are required to

make a Fear, Horror and Madness

check. Invoking this power causes a

Power’s Check.

Path of the Great Old One: In

Ravenloft, following this path actually

starts to wear at the mind of a warlock

as the unfathomable alien nature of

their benefactor is slowly revealed.

Each level the warlock gains require aMadness check from the warlock.

(The Great Old One) Thought Shield:

Domain lords that can read the minds

of others can attempt to read the mind

of the warlock instead. The warlock

makes a saving throw, though they

don’t know why. If the warlock fails the

domain lord reads their mind normally,

if the save succeeds the warlock is still

unaware of why they needed to make

the save.

(The Great Old One) Create Thrall: Cre-

ating a thrall requires a Power’s Check.

Witch Sight: This does not allow you to

detect creatures using their natural

shapeshifting abilities. Only spells of a

magical nature from items or magic can

be detected.

Wizards are uncommon in the Land of the Mists

but have slowly been gaining popularity, espe-

cially in Hazlan with the recently opened school

and reports of smaller schools springing up in

Darkon and Falkovnia. Most lands have few

wizards in them though, so finding a teachercan be exceptionally difficult, or expensive.

Many tend to give wizards a wide berth given

their reputation for employing dark curses on

those that anger them. It’s made even harder

when one considered that the land itself makes

certain darker magic much more powerful.



16



Benign Transposition: You cannot use

this power to cross a closed Domain

border.

Divination: There are no master’s ofDivination in Ravenloft as Divination

magic is highly unreliable. As a result

the Divination school cannot be chosen

for mastery, though many still teach the

spells they find in that school.

Necromancy: As one finds out in

Ravenloft, necromancy is much strong-

er, but it also carries with it a terrible

price. Necromancy is not normally

taught leaving most who seek out such

dark magic to pursue their own courses

and trials. Finding a master of necro-

mancy to teach such magic is difficult

indeed. Using necromancy in Ravenloft

always requires a Power’s Check.



17

Like any other campaign setting, characters

made in Ravenloft have several choices to help

flesh out their characters. Most of these choices

can be found in the PHB but some new ones are

added within the Land of the Mists as well.

Backgrounds in Ravenloft have their place and

the many that can be found in the PHB still

serve greatly as a common source of inspiration

for backgrounds within the Land of the Mists.

The untrustworthy folk are hard to sway within

the misty confines of Ravenloft. However, those

strongly devoted can persuade them if they fol-low similar religious ideals. This variant feature

of the Acolyte background allows the character

to use their faith as a bargaining chip for sup-

plies or shelter in Ravenloft with someone,

though people may still ask for compensation.

This variant feature for the Sage background

gives the character Advantage rolls when it con-

cerns lore, history, or even knowledge concern-

ing Ravenloft itself. As long as the information

and roll in question is knowledge about theLands of the Mists, the character always re-

ceives Advantage on said rolls.

This variant of the Soldier background allows

you to choose the class feature of Revenge. You

are seeking revenge on someone or something

and are doggedly pursuing them. Whenever you

confront a subject that reminds you of your

nemesis, you gain Advantage on any roll related

to that enemy from attack, saving throws to

skill checks. You must describe what your nem-

esis is like when choosing this variant.

Nobles in Ravenloft often are not much higher

than the common vagrant. However a few do

stick out from time to time. This variant for the

Noble background changes a few facets. The

two skills of proficiency become hypnosis and

medicine. Your tool proficiency is a doctor’s kit

(see page 20). The feature of position is still

maintained, though it might not bring privilege

with it in Ravenloft.

This is a variant of the Outlander background.The gypsies of Ravenloft have a tendency to

glean information from the most bizarre of

places from basic tavern talk to just eavesdrop-

ping in on conversations from around the cor-

ner. As such, gypsy characters can make an In-

telligence check (skills can be applied, if appli-

cable) to see if the gypsy might have knowledge

of something. How much the gypsy might know

is left up to the DM.



18

Balok: Spoken throughout the central core as it

has become a trade language, it is also the old-

est language in Ravenloft. It is guttural and not

very pleasant to the ears.

Darkonese: Spoken primarily in the domain of

Darkon, only of note due to how large that do-

main is. Many who pursue a magical profession

also tend to enjoy the language as it lends itself

well to magical formula.

Falkovnian: This is a complex sounding lan-

guage that is very hard to follow unless one

knows what to listen for as the consonants al-

ways sound to be mutating. This language is

rarely spoken outside of Falkovnia, which lends

itself well to the lord there.

Mordentish: A very common tongue spoken

throughout the core it comes in two varieties;

high and low. Common from other realms will

probably sound the closest to Mordentish,

though there will probably be differences.

Vaasi: A very harmonious sounding language, it

is a requirement to be used in the Church of the

Lawgiver. Bards tend to mix this with the

Sithican elf dialect to create a highly poetic

sounding language.

Sithican: An interesting dialect of elvish that is

not spoken by any other elves in the Land of the

Mists is a very lyrical, harmonic sounding

tongue, which inspires many of the bards of

Kartakass to employ its use. Sithicus is an unu-

sual domain in that it has more elves in it than

humans.

Draconic: Dragons are rare in Ravenloft, to the

point that most think they are purely legends,

but strangely enough the language of the drag-ons is still used by practitioners of magic. Most

scholars of Draconic tend to be found in Hazlan

and Darkon.

Feats are optional rules used to enhance and

expand upon characters. As stated in the PHB,

whenever a character gains ability points, the

player can opt to gain a feat instead. These are

optional and should be discussed with the DM if

they are allowed. For some obvious reasons not

all of the feats from 3rd edition Ravenloft would

be viable in 5th edition.

You are at your best when things are at their

worst.

Gain +2 to Attack and AC when you are

at one quarter or less of your HP.

You are oddly fearless in the face of danger, or

foolish.

You gain a +2 bonus on Fear checks.

Thanks to your extensive practice with firearms,

you gain the following benefits:

You can reload firearms you are profi-

cient with as a free action.

Being within 5 feet of a hostile creature

doesn’t impose Disadvantage on ranged

attack rolls.

When you use the Attack action and at-tack with a one handed weapon, you

can use a bonus action to attack with a

loaded pistol you are holding.

You have been hardened to the horrors that

exist within the Land of the Mists by cruel expe-

rience.

You gain a +2 bonus on Horror checks.

You keep yourself adaptable to the situations

helping to fortify your sanity.

You gain a +2 bonus on Madness

checks.



19

Within Ravenloft, some of the core skills in the

PHB might have some altered or new uses.

Any attempt to try and change or improve theattitude of an animal that is currently under the

influence of a domain lord, automatically fails.

Deception ability tends to be all encompassing

but in Ravenloft it is useful in a few extra trades

that are often dealt with within the Land of the

Mists.

Telling Fortunes: This is the ability to invent

plausible fortunes from thin air. It is the art of

picking up on subtle clues from the person youare talking to and telling them what they want

to hear; it does not actually allow someone to

peer into the future.

This is a contested roll of deception ver-

sus the targets perception roll. If the player role

plays rather well during the scenario even play-

ing off bad rolls, give them Advantage on said

rolls and possibly Disadvantage to the target.

Seduction: The art of seduction is an old one,

and in the Land of the Mists, a few well placedcompliments, words, and even small gifts can

gain lots of information. This is a contested roll

of deception against a wisdom check from the

target. Again, if the player role plays the scenar-

io well the DM can even give an Advantage roll

or other bonuses if they see fit.

Hypnosis is the ability to induce a deep, calming

trance in your subject. You can only attempt to

hypnotize one target at a time with this skill,

and it requires a peaceful situation and at least

1 hour of work per check. If the subject is un-

willing, you have to first succeed at a deception

check to disguise your intent.

A hypnosis check is opposed by the sub-

ject’s wisdom check. Loud or distracting sur-

roundings give Advantage to the targets wis-

dom check. Willing targets can voluntarily

choose not to make their wisdom check.

Once the target is hypnotized you can

plant a suggestion as per the spell or aid the

recovery of a target who suffers from the ef-

fects of a failed Madness check. If the character

is proficient in medicine they gain advantage on

their hypnosis checks.

This skill cannot be used without profi-

ciency.



20

Ravenloft is a land that crosses many different

periods of time, sometimes within the span of a

domain border. As such it is possible to see eve-

rything from a Stone Age ecology up to one that

resembles a Renaissance. As such it is not un-common to see someone using a primitive bow

and spear next to an armored soldier utilizing a

well crafted crossbow.

Firearms in Ravenloft: Firearms are an exotic

weapon and thus are their own category. When

players attempt to gain proficiency with said

weapons they have to choose whether it is pis-

tols or muskets. Most firearms take one stand-

ard action to reload after use. Use the damage

presented from the 3rd

edition rule book.

Bards and Rogues can opt to take pistol

instead of hand crossbow as a weapon profi-

ciency.

Sorcerers and Wizards can opt to take

musket instead of light crossbow as a weapon

proficiency.

Folk Hero, Sailor and Soldier back-

grounds can also choose either pistol or musket

as a proficiency.

Gunpowder and Bullets: Gunpowder can be

crafted as long as someone has the proper pro-

ficiency to do so. Using the standard rules of 5

gold piece of material crafted per day, it would

take 7 days for a player to be able to create two

pounds of usable gunpowder (enough to fill a

horn) or 50 days to fill a keg.

Bullets for rifles and muskets can gen-

erally be made in batches of 13 per day depend-

ing on the materials used. Doing so requires a

casting kit to be able to make them.

Doctor’s Kit: A doctor’s kit is usually several in-

struments such as surgical scalpels, mask,

gloves, stethoscope, small rubber hammer,

bone saw, and several other implements that

would lead some to believe that the individual

is mad. Bandage gauze, medicines and other

such items can also be found.

Silvered Weapons: Getting a weapon silvered in

Ravenloft isn’t an easy process. The require-

ments usually are in those domains that are

usually sophisticated enough and even then thecost might actually be higher. Silvering a weap-

on can cost anywhere from the base of 100 gold

to as much as double the normal price, or more.

Other Items: Other knick knacks that can be

found within Ravenloft, such as pocket watches,

clocks, straight razors, and the like follow their

normal rules one would find in the Ravenloft

book.

The Parthian Rapier is also present and

follows all standard rules, as they apply, from

the Ravenloft book, except the critical hit rules.

Automaton’s also exists and are the

preview for the super rich as trinkets and toys

to be displayed for amusement, most of the

time.



Date post:	01-Jun-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	von-wittgenstein
View:	300 times
Download:	7 times

Ravenloft Player's Guide for 5th Edition (Redraft)

Documents