Why is this a terrible experience most of all for them? That's something that really gets driven home throughout every one of the domains.' An excerpt on zombies from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. But how are they suffering? How are they tormented? These are evil characters, and they're imprisoned and trapped here. 'Something that I feel that many of the past editions of Ravenloft didn't focus on,' Schneider says, ' the dark lords have always been prisoners. In 2021, however, Falkovnia has been reimagined as a nightmarish Groundhog's Day-style loop, where a struggling nation-which happens to be ruled by a brutal warlord-is endlessly besieged by massive hordes of the walking dead, who just so happen to look like everyone this warlord has ever killed. Its Darklord was a fairly basic analog for Vlad the Impaler, a brutal warlord with a penchant for ultraviolence, and it had few defining characteristics beyond being a land ruled by a brutal warlord with a penchant for ultraviolence. While other domains-like Har'Akir or Lamordia, which were effectively Advanced Dungeons & Dragon's 'Mummy World' and 'Frankenstein Land,' respectively-drew on classic horror inspirations, the domain of Falkovnia was always considerably less fantastical. Schneider recently gave us an in-depth look at Falkovnia, one of the domains receiving a big renovation from its '90s roots. Some, like the vampire Strahd von Zarovich (whose infamous Castle Ravenloft is where the Ravenloft setting gets its name) or mad scientist Victor Mordenheim, are clear homages to classic movie monsters, while others feature D&D mainstays like liches or Mind Flayers. Each domain has what's known as a Darklord, a ruler of each domain that - despite clearly being 'the big bad' - constantly find themselves tormented by the Demiplane's mysterious overlords. The Demiplane - also known as 'The Domains of Dread' - is a series of pocket dimensions loosely connected by an ethereal mist, itself controlled by some vaguely-defined Dark Powers with an affinity for punishing especially evil deeds (there are theories that the Powers are obscure demigods or ephemeral beings trying to attain godhood, but nobody really knows for sure). What Is Ravenloft? For the unfamiliar, Ravenloft is the shorthand name for a series of popular Gothic horror settings from the 1990s, collectively known as the Demiplane of Dread.

They might not function exactly the same as you're used to seeing them in movies - for example, in the current rules as written Zombies don't even have a bite attack - but the classic undead monsters are about to shamble into the spotlight with the upcoming sourcebook, Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, in one of the biggest departures from the source material for the fan-favorite setting.

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