Chapter 2: Domains of Ravenloft - Ravenloft: The Horrors Within

Chapter 2: Domains of Ravenloft. By the light of the full moon, villagers in Kartakass undergo a terrifying transformation At the unfathomable edge of the Shadowfell lie the Domains of Dread, realms bound by Mists where magic and reality twist into nightmare. This chapter for DMs explores the most terrifying of the Domains of Dread. Among other tools, each featured domain includes the following details: Domain This initial section introduces the domain, its unique horrors, and notable locations. Darklord The domain's Darklord, their stat block, effects they create within their domain, how they close their domain's borders (see the introduction), and details of their lair appear here. Adventures This section provides guidance on creating adventures in the domain, a campaign outline, and short adventures. This chapter concludes with an overview of additional domains. Tarokka and the Mists Tarokka fortune-telling cards (detailed in the appendix) have special relationships with domains and their Darklords. Tarokka Mist Talismans Each Domain of Dread is aligned with a tarokka card. A character with a tarokka deck can use it to travel between domains. While in the Mists, the deck's bearer can draw a random card from the deck; that card serves as a Mist talisman (see the introduction), allowing travel to the domain it is aligned with. A tarokka deck can be used in this way once every 24 hours. A list of domains and their aligned tarokka cards appears later in this book. Darklords and the Tarokka Every Domain of Dread has a tarokka card that opposes it-one hinting at the truth of the domain's Darklord. If a domain's opposed tarokka card is drawn during a tarokka reading in that domain, that domain's Darklord becomes aware of the reading and its participants. When this occurs, the Darklord can choose to see through the eyes of the tarokka user and speak through them for 1 minute. The Darklord might make their presence known, level a threat, or misinterpret the cards. A ta...