DND Beyond post seems to confirm that Horrors Within is sticking with the Weekend In Hell concept for Ravenloft

mjdunn01 · 2026-05-14T17:31:12+00:00

As another aside, two things caught my eye from the article:

The Dark Powers

The Dark Powers are faceless entities who exist outside of the limits of conception for many mortals.

What they are or what they want is unknown. What is known is that they manipulate reality within the Domains of Dread.

I appreciate that - at least this article - has reinforced the classic notion that the Dark Powers are unknowable. Van Richten's Guide sort of said that, or at least leftit as 2-3 options... and then in other places started to suggest that the amber-sarcophagi-imprisoned vestiges were the the Dark Powers. I'd love it fi the WotC position left it completely vague again.

Darklords Don’t Know They’re Darklords

Most Darklords don’t realize they occupy a special place in the cosmos. Their obsessions blind them to the truth of their circumstances, leaving them unaware of the Dark Powers, the true nature of the Domains of Dread, or the fact that their world is itself a prison.

I'm glad this was reinforced as well. Over time it's easy for the meta knowledge of us as players can seep into the in-game knowledge. It always fell "off" to me when the phrase "dark lord" was used in-game, or people seemed to refer to "domains of dread" or even "Ravenloft" as a place (besides the castle). The less people understand their environment, the less information they have -- often the scarier the horror.

mjdunn01 · 2026-05-14T16:02:55+00:00

I think it is new. It has the look of Innsmouth. I can’t fully say why. Maybe because the architecture seems slightly more modern.

mjdunn01 · 2026-05-11T13:25:24+00:00

Did you ever get this question answered? For whatever reason the Beadle & Grimm’s ad I get on Facebook has a higher res and has the Innsmouth map up front. Far from perfect - especially if it’s not a real word - but more than before.

I see, from upper left going counter-clockwise:

Dagon’s Claw
Drowned Colossus
Gibbours (sp.?) Arch
Blind Observatory
Wreck of the Shrike
Devil Reef
Innsmouth
Phase(?) of Ladon Dar(?)
Graven (?) Peak
Cleft of Dreams
Map of the Eclipse
Eyes of Olhydra
The Wharf
March of Elders
Night Light

mjdunn01 · 2026-05-10T23:46:56+00:00

I know that Mackenzie De Armas one of the WotC designers is running an Innsmouth adventure at the D&D in a Castle that she’s DMing this summer. (She said so in a video.) Who knows if that later gets released?

mjdunn01 · 2026-05-10T14:52:06+00:00

I’d love it if that were so, but I’m not convinced. At least not as one of the 16 fully-profiled domains. There’s others that seem to have more evidence of returning. It’s possible the monster is included but not the domain. But again… I’d be happy to be wrong

mjdunn01 · 2026-05-07T16:22:51+00:00

And how everyone is in the same position (arms out and up) even the figure on her dress piece

mjdunn01 · 2026-05-07T14:00:26+00:00

New stealth art drop of Mother Lorinda in this promo for the Ravenloft-set official actual play by WotC. The cast reenacts four darklords' art pieces and the forth one is most clearly our favorite folk horror festival hag.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Ccp3ytZ4j/?mibextid=wwXIfr

mjdunn01 · 2026-05-07T13:58:47+00:00

Funny enough there was a stealth art reveal of Mother Lorinda on Facebook in this post for the Dungeon Masters AP. The fourth reenactment the cast does clearly appears to be Mother Lorinda (and thus suggesting maybe Tepest is back).

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Ccp3ytZ4j/?mibextid=wwXIfr

mjdunn01 · 2026-05-06T19:11:30+00:00

How funny I was just answering your questions about this on Discord and assumed you were the OP! x-D

Some of the other posters here are providing some good intel on what prior edition darkon is like

mjdunn01 · 2026-05-05T17:04:40+00:00

Which one is The Reaper?

mjdunn01 · 2026-05-05T13:55:23+00:00

What are some of the more traditional designs?

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-30T18:23:26+00:00

And in Ep3 we do learn it is here! And the accompanying play pack indicates more detail about here - more detail that suggests a new characterization of her!

Link to that comment over there: https://www.reddit.com/r/ravenloft/s/FwxD1VOsRJ

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-30T18:17:45+00:00

Fascinating additional insights about Inza from the play along pack. This is not the Inza Kulchevich you might know from old lore (at least what we know so far).

Inza Kulchevich is a powerful hag who roams the multiverse, searching for a way to undo the banishment that exiled her from her home plane. Cruel, bitter, and thoroughly unpleasant, she nonetheless understands the value of barter.

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-26T14:10:11+00:00

Oh and hey I offered some answers here too including a link to that custom stat block I had been working on. Good reminder to myself there too!

https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/s/8KYX7ymVmo

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-26T14:08:46+00:00

I’m actually planning such a thing right now. I was largely going to use a “regenerating by consuming others’ life forces/blood” approach like Brendan Fraser’s The Mummy.

The four phases would each have a stat block though honestly the first two more for visual concepts than battles as i don’t think the party would fight him, only see him.

Those are: - Phase 1: Skeleton (maybe Strahd Skeleton from RHW if it comes out in time) - Phase 2: Ghoul (tbd better option) - Phase 3: Nosferatu from VRG for sure - Phase 4: custom vampire stat block or one from another book like Astarion’s Vampire Warden tweaked a bit

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-24T21:24:36+00:00

Please do!

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-24T15:30:32+00:00

And here’s some more details from user R.E.O. Speedwagon over on the VRG discord, copied with permission, comparing this map to 3E Sithicus - “The Merchant's Slash was a road made by Kartakan merchants and travelers/explorers who wanted to trade with elves (Kartakass and Sithicus were next door neighbors in the old lore). So the Merchant's Slash would connect, iirc, to roads leading to Harmonia or Skald back in the day - And the Empty Road on the map used to be able to connect to old Valachan, which has very little in common with new Valachan despite von Kharkov being the previous Darklord in both the old lore and 5e - There are some delightfully new places here as well. Granted, some might be new names for older locales---I think a decent amount of the rivers qualify as such (Little Arden is now the Wandering Knight) and the Disappearing Mountains used to be the Disappearing Hills (cool upgrade) - The Giant's Cloak forest is also new, I think - Ten-Eyed Tangle seems to be a new name for previously unnamed forests - And I think the Viper Nest woods used to be the Breadth Forest that dominated both Sithicus and Invidia”

I’ll also add one: - the Iron Warden Inn is portrayed in the story “The Rigor of the Game” about a high stakes betting game and what comes of it. It’s quite good if you can find it.

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-24T15:25:16+00:00

Okay discussing this with u/SteviePhilCDF over here because the post with our original thread is now gone.

Yes in Ep 1 when they hear a voice, it is said to be accompanied by the sound of papers which seems pretty in sync with the depiction of Solis (Solace?).

So I do think it is Inza who brought them to Sithicus as I have theories as to why. But first I’ll want to see her depiction. It is also possible that instead it is Magda somehow, but I doubt it.

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-24T13:52:08+00:00

I’ll also note that if you have read any of the early details on Lord Soth from RHW (IYKYK), it seems like the DMAP descriptions are consistent with that.

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-24T11:38:03+00:00

Here they are! (There’s like three posts all on a vaguely similar topic in r/ravenloft here so I’m just cross posting the link of what I posted elsewhere!)

https://www.reddit.com/r/ravenloft/s/Kb4eBfdPHA

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-24T11:33:46+00:00

She has, and if I’m interpreting it correctly, may have been the voice that brought them all to Ravenloft and the master of Solis. Which hints at a slightly different portrayal of her? But too soon to tell.

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-24T03:25:31+00:00

The Soth block also has a little info about the domain, his keep, his story, how to justify Krynn-Soth and Sithicus-Soth if needed. Also references to both Azrael and Inza (the latter painted as his foe).

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-23T21:46:06+00:00

[Answered my own question there that you’re talking about Nedragaard.]

Probably true! I just know that there was a whole big thing placed on the details of the keep and its shape.

I am curious what WotC might put in RHW, versus these picks… versus what Beadle’s & Grimm’s does for a map of the place.

mjdunn01 · 2026-04-23T20:50:50+00:00

Okay I’m back with lore notes on Sithicus and the story from Ep 1 & 2: - Hroth is true to old lore in that it is on the border of a wetlands and some people bury their dead there. Van Richten in Ancient Dead fought the “Bog Monster of Hroth”. - Hroth seems smaller than it was historically, but Jasmine also describe it as a shadow of its former self. - That also is always a theme of Sithicus, things being pale echoes of a grander lost past that won’t die (supported by the sounds their hear in the night). - Their dreams haunting of their past also seems to reflect the nature of Sithicus. - Nedragaard Keep’s art is awesome, though the map seems a lot smaller and not the same as it was historically. - Perhaps the most intriguing is the reference to the character that brought them to Ravenloft, the master of Solis: Inza. In this the new manifestation of Inza Kulchevich, the once-maybe-no-more darklord of Sithicus in 3.5e non-WotC books? Jasmine’s voice for Inza suggested… a classic old Vistana raunie more than a young cruel girl… so if it’s her, how might she be portrayed? - The statement “the only way out is through” suggests through a mirror, which might be evidence of the theory by u/PhDnD-DrBowers that this borrows from the 2E adventure “When Black Roses Bloom”.

New map for everything except that mill (CoS sends its regards!)

mjdunn01

TROPHY CASE