D&D Lore Ravenloft: Part 1 - A Guide to the Mists

Buried in the thick misty shadows beyond the familiar borders of the material plane lie a series of cursed lands birthed from treacherous acts of villainy, horrors taken shape to form isolated realms ruled by the most unredeemable of evil beings.

Welcome to world of Ravenloft and its many Domains of Dread, lands where reality distorts under the weight of corruption, desire and madness.

This is part 1 of a 3 part series - "A Travelers Guide to The Mists of Ravenloft"

Today we will uncover the history, lore and origins of the Ravenloft setting both in game and out as well as some fundamental truths of these realms that every traveler needs to know - in order to survive.

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Twitter: @ RichesandLiches

Timecodes
02:05 Chapter 1 - The Mists Welcome You
09:39 Chapter 2 - Welcome to Ravenloft
13:16 Chapter 3 - Tale of Two Eras
18:12 Chapter 4 - Birth of Ravenloft
24:38 Chapter 5 - Triple D
33:01 Chapter 6 - Dark Powers
41:08 Chapter 7 - Need to Know: Travel
48:05 Chapter 8 - Need to Know: Time

Additional Video Links:

The Shadow Series

[porreefuzius]

Ravenloft has been my introduction to D&D back in the early 90s. Only now, nearly 30 years later I realise how good our DM was to slowly strip all hopes and ambitions from my character without me realising it.

[chipsalom]

Tracy Hickman was my Civics teacher at Kaysville Junior High in the late 80s. I had no idea until later that "Mr Hickman" was THE Tracy Hickman from some of my favorite books, lol.

[HandlesAreStupid]

I am so very thankful for growing up during 2e. Sure it was insane bloat, but there were so many ideas floating around it was like an all you can eat sampler. Got to play in Krynn, Ravenloft, & Athas as a teenager.

[Paul_McSeol]

I spent a summer vacation in the early 90s reading all the Ravenloft novels. Great campaign setting.

[YllibD]

Strad zombies unturnable, genius move by the creators of this fantastic Vampire lord

[Comrade]

Holy hell. I work in Salem, Mass and I have kinda not cared about the history after working there for so long (I grew up in city next over), but that actually made me smile.

[nicholasbehning]

Currently running a 2 plus year expanded CoS campaign. It's our 1st game, and going crazy well. I love your work and appreciate this video. Keep it up!

[AFBH]

Just found this channel last night while looking for something to watch. Really enjoying the content. I wish there was as much enthusiasm on youtube for Forgotten realms lore as there is for lore of some other fictional universes, so we need all the talented creators that we can get!

[nimloth]

74 episodes, looks like I have something to listen to for a few weeks!

[colinleat]

I ran a campaign in the early 90's. It's still one of my all time favorites settings along with Dragonlance. 🇨🇦👍

[Vondarkstar]

You are the only way I will get a peak inside these worlds! 🙏🏻

[chadstinson]

Glad you a re feeling better. One more great work publish.

[KS-PNW]

Oh man i didn't know i wanted you to cover ravenloft but now i can't wait for the next two parts!

Psyched for this 👍👍

[duanebradway]

Again and again, I say, "Well done!". I don't think it quite enough praise though. Ravenloft as a whole is one of my favorite settings. Playing AD&D modules and some homebrew adventures in the late 80s & 90s had me convinced that dark horror fantasy was my favorite escape from the mundane. Because of the design of the domains, they could be stand-alone adventures or be inserted into a long-running campaign from any of the other worlds. We even played an Oriental Adventurers campaign one time that took a brief spin-off to retrieve some magic items from Azalin Rex and Ankhtepot. It was a blast being a Drow Ninja moving around in so much darkness.

[lindsaystutzman]

I read almost all the dragonlance books and had no idea Tracy Hickman and his wife wrote ravenloft (I’m a late convert to D&D)

[andrewgiles]

An amazing video… 👊🏼 really hope you cover all the realms.

[uzunaruMelonness]

A lanky, shivering peasant, clutching the tome and torch, inches forward. The thick fog concealing the dangers of the moor. Silent and barren was the land. The shadows clawing away from the flame.

"Where, in the gods, am I?" The peon scan the area. The fog obscures the view.

A lone Raven caws, drawing attention. On its foot: a letter.

"Ah! Oh, its you, " the poor man accuses. He ran up to it. Carefully removing the letter, the familiar blue seal greets him. "Oh! My lord... I am lost."

[ It is to my deepest regret, that you are summoned. The entity of the realm has coveted more souls. Among them, yourself.

Fear not my dear servant, you are still under my watch...]

The peasant breathes out, hope restored. "The Great One still sees purpose in me."

[ ... but be mindful of the dark gods and their jailers. They conspire to bind you to these lands. And so, my raven shall guide you. Until my arrival, my familiar will be in your company.

Your favored companion and friend, the master of a thousand faces,
Nyarlathotep

Oh, and one more thing: Stay in the light. ]

The peon chuckles. "Master and his strange monikers. He loves to don the identities of others."

The raven flies towards a tree, cawing.

"I'm coming, Imma coming!" He chases the bird...

[nukabat]

My second home of D&D after Dragonlance.

[shokeya]

I haven't a chance to play D&D tabletop in any form, but at least in online game Ravenloft is my favorite expansion.

[danielriley]

You did an amazing job here. This had to be my favorite campaign