D&D designer explains how Ravenloft: The Horrors Within is different from Van Richten’s Guide

“Why Ravenloft?” is the first question I asked Dungeons & Dragons principal game designer Wesley Schneider during our video interview. The team’s decision to go back to the game’s beloved horror setting with Ravenloft: The Horrors Within baffled many fans, including me. As I wrote in my review, this is a great sourcebook, but it’s also the remake of a popular 5th edition product, Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, released just five years ago. Also, I may be a traditionalist, but having the horror entry in D&D’s new seasonal model drop in June rather than in October just feels wrong.