Ravenloft: The Horrors Within will deliver more player options like new horror-themed subclasses, species, backgrounds, and Dark Gift feats. It will also deliver content around Darklords and Domains of Dread, as well as dozens of Fearsome Mists Denizens, including potential allies like the iconic Rudolph van Richten. The Horrors Within is a complete package for DMs to build a horror-themed campaign, with content that spans multiple subgenres like gothic, dark fantasy, cosmic, the occult, and more.

When Wizards released playtest materials for horror subclasses last May, everybody assumed that we’d return to Ravenloft at some point. Sure enough, that’s going to be the case. We can safely expect revised subclasses for the following: Bard (College of Spirits), Cleric (Grave Domain), Rogue (Phantom), Sorcerer (Shadow Sorcery), and Warlock (Hexblade Patron and Undead Patron), along with new subclasses for the Artificer (Reanimator) and Ranger (Hollow Warden).

Curse of Strahd introduced the Haunted One background, but offered very little in terms of character options. Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft remedied that by adding the Investigator background along with other mechanics to infuse characters with a touch of horror. Dark Gifts are described in Van Richten’s Guide as supernatural gifts that express “both a mysterious power and insidious influence,” essentially functioning almost like a Warlock pact and a background fused into one. The most important thing that The Horrors Within will achieve is to adapt all of this into the 2024 ruleset. Among the update’s biggest changes: ability score increases and origin feats will now be incorporated into backgrounds, instead of race.

Van Richten’s Guide also dedicated roughly 140 pages to fleshing out the Domains of Dread within Ravenloft. These demiplanes are each ruled over by an evil Darklord trapped within it. Strahd’s domain of dread, called Barovia, presents a vampiric gothic horror. Others explored body, cosmic, or folk horror. One basically centers on a zombie invasion. Another has a Hunger Games-style battle royale scenario. It seems like The Horrors Within will provide Dungeon Masters with the resources needed to explore domains like these in even greater detail.