Customer Reviews

Domains of Dread (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft, Campaign Setting/2174)

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Domains of Dread takes TSR's popular gothic horror Ravenloft setting and gives it a new soul: an evil one, naturally. Imagine a city whose sewers materialized from another dimension, a heart-eating mummy who retains her beauty, or a lithe and limber Frankenstein's monster as lord over his own land, and you'll start to get an idea of the new and improved Ravenloft.

This expanded version of Ravenloft contains a much wider geography of the Demiplane of Dread, and for the first time includes the option for playing characters who are Ravenloft natives. Included is a chronology that sets all previous Ravenloft publications, whether novels, adventures, or accessories, into context as the history of the current campaign book. Earlier Ravenloft material is also tied in, item-by-item, to each description of a land, realm, island, or kingdom (called domains) and the lord of each region. Enough background is presented so that an inventive dungeon master can proceed from the material given, while those interested in the novels and available adventures may single out which products they may be interested in buying.

Domains introduces four new character classes (avenger, anchorite, gypsy, and arcanist) as well as one new race, the half-Vistani. All changes and effects pertaining to spells, items, and character traits in Ravenloft settings are included, along with special rules applying only to Ravenloft. New sections explain the rewritten fear, horror, and madness checks for characters. However, dungeon masters will find that some of the other Ravenloft products, particularly the Monstrous Compendiums, are necessary in order to use this campaign book.

The emphasis is, of course, on creepy: many of the characters and situations in Domains will be familiar from classical horror literature, with different names of course. Vampires and lycanthropes abound; Dr. Jekyll's spiritual brother is here; and Dr. Frankenstein, as Victor Mordenheim, seems to have acquired an unwanted empathic link with his creation. Other classic characters with a delicious horror twist appear here, such as a domain lord called "Pinocchio" who led his wooden brothers and sisters on a murderous rampage.

A "nice" romp on the dark side for fans of horror and things of the night.

--Sharon Daugherty for Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine

I have always been interested in the Ravenloft campaign settings, but never much felt like buying each individual module just to have a good view of the Core. I picked up this book a couple of days ago and have not put it down since. This is a must buy for any D&D people who want to run a Ravenloft game, or even just for DM's who need ideas to add a touch of horror to their own games.

Though this book does restate a lot of what has already been set down in many boxed sets and modules, it is an invaluable guide, at the very least for condensation's sake. I'm a compendium person, myself, so I appreciate the value of an "all-in-one" source for the Demiplane of Dread. With an even half-experienced, half-talented DM, this, and some office supplies is all you need to run a long-lasting, fully enjoyable campaign. I strongly recommend purchasing one, along with some mechanical pencils, and a case of Jolt Cola. (Having had recent experience, this is the second best solution to a long evening of thunderstorms, power outages, and insomnia.)

If you are a Ravenloft DM, this book will make your life MUCHeasier. Everything you'll need for quick reference in your game ishere and INDEXED (Yes, they finally made it easy to find what youneed!) I love this book and it's made my life much easier. Watch for the "Fear, Horror, Maddness check" sections - they've made them a bit separated for each class so that can muck you up a bit the first go-round, but it's TONS better than those 50 odd books from separate box sets. If you were considering buying all of those "accessories" forget it - this book covers nearly everything you could even need. Players do not really need any books for Ravenloft, and if your DM has this one you can borrow it for the rare times you may need it.

Domains of Dread accomplishes the task it was created for in an admirable fashion; to provide Ravenloft players with a comprehensive means in which to explore these dark realms as natives of the Mists; granting them the ability to fully realize the sheer brilliance of the Ravenloft line

The book is very good and contains a very good cronology of the Ravenloft world, bit contains also much information that is already printed in the Player's Handbook and anothers AD&D basic rule books. The book add some new classes and races incluiding the half Vistani, also includes psionic but the Complete Psionics Handbook or the Player's Option:Skills&Powers book are needed to run psionics in Ravenloft. Here in Brazil this edition was printed in portugueese and the title here is ¨Dominios do Medo¨, and it's the only Ravenloft book printed in portugueese unlike the others books and boxed sets. So here this is the greatest , best and unique Ravenloft book. People that already have the Realms of Terror and Forbidden Lore boxed set should not buy this book, because this reapeats much of the info that the boxes contains. I agree with anothers readers that some valuable space in the book was wasted with things that was not needed and should be used to add new stuff in the game, but this book is the best and more complete Ravenloft book because contain much information. Get it if you are a new player in the Ravebloft World and if don't have the previously released boxes.

I collect Ravenloft stuff so I already had the first two boxed sets ("The Red Box & The Black Box") when I bought this book. DOD goes in to more detail on the various domains and offers a nice selection of player classes and races. The drawbaks that I have include the interior art and the repeating of some material from other sources. The interior art of earlier Ravenloft products is a bit more in tune with the Gothic setting than the art in DOD. I wish the would have included a nice map with the book. Overall, this is a great book for anyone looking to get into Ravenloft for the first time.

If you have both the RAVENLOFT and the FORBIDDEN LORE boxed sets already, you can spend your hard-earned cash elsewhere. This title just isn't worth the cost.

With a few exceptions, almost everything that was already covered in the aforementioned boxed sets is merely repeated here, with minor updates. Much of the book is merely a repeat of what has gone before. I understand the need to provide these things for new gamers who have not been introduced to the Demi-plane of Dread, but I've been a denizen for a long time.

In it's favor, the book does provide a few new materials (the addition of a new race, the half-Vistani, and a handful of new classes), but then TSR outdoes themselves with filler by reprinting (with minor editing) the ability score tables that can be found in the PLAYER'S HANDBOOK! Why? That was a waste of valuable space that could have been used to provide new material!

In all, if you have visited RAVENLOFT before, you might wish to skip this one. The money that you will spend does not justify the amount of new material. But for those who have never been introduced to the face of terror, by all means, come in...

Ah, the heady days of 2nd Edition. This is an update of the various "Boxed" editions of the Ravenloft Campaign Setting, with a lot of extras thrown in. There's all sorts of essays and articles on the setting and many updates of the metaplot so I guess it's worth getting. TSR loves to sell you the same thing many many times and this is a prime example. Some of the artwork is a little hokey, but hey it's a game book for crying out loud and there's enough Stephen Fabian stuff to keep you happy.

It's the best comapigen setting there is