Editing Ravenloft (section)

==Reception==
Game designer [[Rick Swan]] commented in 1994 that when the Ravenloft setting first came out, it "just didn't seem special, a Forgotten Realms variant with a few more bats", but after supplements like ''[[Forbidden Lore]]'', ''[[The Created]]'', and the ''Van Richten's Guide'' series, Swan felt that "the Ravenloft campaign has proven to be a credible adventure alternative for players interested in the dark side of the ''AD&D'' game. Though it lacks the flamboyance of ''[[Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game)|Call of Cthulhu]]'' and the, er, bite of ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade|Vampire]]'', the Ravenloft setting remains the hobby's most enduring fusion of horror and fantasy".<ref name="Dragon #205">{{cite journal |last=Swan |first=Rick |author-link=Rick Swan |title=Role-playing Reviews |journal=[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]] |issue=205 |pages=100–101 |publisher=[[TSR, Inc.|TSR]] |location=[[Lake Geneva, Wisconsin]] |date=May 1994}}</ref>

Darker Days Radio declared Ravenloft the "greatest D&D campaign setting", citing the unique gothic horror elements and classic villains such as Azalin Rex.<ref>{{cite web |title=Darkling #33 |url= http://podcast.darker-days.org/e/darker-days-presents-darkling-33-ravenloft/ |work=Darker Days Radio |date=January 26, 2014 |access-date=2019-01-24}} Ravenloft game overview.</ref>

In the ''[[Io9]]'' series revisiting older ''Dungeons & Dragons'' novels, Rob Bricken highlighted that ''[[Vampire of the Mists]]'' "isn't scary, per se, but Strahd wreaks enough horror and carnage to drive home that Ravenloft is much, much more sinister than the [[Forgotten Realms]]. [...] Ravenloft (and I guess Forgotten Realms) vampires have ''all'' the tropes: They can turn into bats, wolves, and mists, and they don't cast reflections. They can control animals and enthrall people, to a degree. They can't cross running water, and they have to be invited into a home to enter. Unless they're an extremely powerful vampire like Strahd, natch".<ref>{{cite web|last=Bricken|first=Rob|date=December 12, 2020|title=Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting Vampire of the Mists|url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-novels-revisiting-vampire-of-the-1845744777|access-date=2020-12-28|website=io9|language=en-us}}</ref>

Shelly Jones, in the journal ''Analog Game Studies: Volume IV'', highlighted the Tarokka Deck mechanic used in both the original ''Ravenloft'' (1983) module and the 5th edition ''Curse of Strahd'' (2016) module to add randomization to the game and increase [[replayability]]. Jones wrote: "The Tarokka Deck incorporates an inconsistency in the game play that reflects fragmented traumatic memory and reifies the inconsistency present within an abusive relationship".<ref name="analoggamestudies">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=Shelly|year=2017|title=The Psychological Abuse of "Curse of Strahd"|url=https://analoggamestudies.org/2017/01/the-psychological-abuse-of-curse-of-strahd/|journal=Analog Game Studies|volume=IV|issue=I|issn=2643-7112}}</ref> Jones also highlighted that "without sunshine as a key time-tracking element, players are forced to rely upon other means to signal the passage of time within Barovia. Further adding to that disorientation is the knowledge that the players have been abandoned from anything familiar or real. [...] This alienating effect, based upon the physical environment as well as the psychological manifestations, traumatizes characters".<ref name="analoggamestudies"/>

The Ravenloft setting has been criticized<ref name="thegamer2"/><ref name="gizmodo2"/><ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Dungeons & Dragons' Racial Reckoning Is Long Overdue|language=en-US|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/story/dungeons-dragons-diversity/|access-date=2021-05-14|issn=1059-1028}}</ref> "for reinforcing harmful stereotypes through its portrayal of the Vistani, an in-fiction analogue for the Roma people".<ref name="polygon6">{{cite web|last=Hall|first=Charlie|date=2021-05-03|title=D&D's new Ravenloft book swaps outdated tropes for a high-fantasy approach|url=https://www.polygon.com/22417339/van-richtens-guide-to-ravenloft-harakir-ankhotep-the-mummy-preview|access-date=2021-05-14|website=Polygon|language=en}}</ref> In 2020, Wizards of the Coast announced "in the editorial process for ''Strahd''{{'}}s reprint, as well as two upcoming products, Wizards worked with a Romani consultant to present the Vistani without using reductive tropes".<ref>{{cite web|date=June 18, 2020|title=Dungeons & Dragons Team Announces New Plans to Address Race and Inclusivity in the Game|url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-team-announces-new-plans-to-address-1844084273|access-date=2021-02-24|website=io9|language=en-us}}</ref> On this update, Jon Ryan, for ''[[IGN]]'', wrote that "it's worth noting that the book's illustrations of the Vistani still evoke Romani culture, and some players may still associate certain abilities [...] with outdated cultural stereotypes".<ref name="ign3">{{cite web|last=Ryan|first=Jon|date=July 27, 2020|title=Exclusive: First Look at D&D's 'Curse of Strahd Revamped' Collector's Edition|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/dnd-curse-of-strahd-revamped-reveal-unboxing|access-date=2020-11-21|website=[[IGN]]}}</ref> Julie Muncy, for ''Io9'', criticized the "granular changes" to the Vistani people as not very extensive and that "while there's a real opportunity here to do better work—the aforementioned diversity pledge also mentioned future works that will feature the Vistani people and aim to complicate their depictions—starting that work with a fancy collector's edition feels less like a promise to do better and more like a victory lap".<ref name="gizmodo2"/> Muncy also highlighted that the unrevised parts, such as the art and specific magical abilities, still lean "into tropes that suggest the Romani have mystical, dangerous powers, tropes that have been used in the past to target Romani for persecution".<ref name="gizmodo2"/>

Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com, highlighted that in ''Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft'' (2021) the Domains of Dread "all now function as originally intended: prisons meant to torture specific souls. Many of the original Ravenloft domains featured strange punishments that didn't necessarily fit the crime of the Darklord. The revised domains are usually a better utilization of the ironic intent that flavors the immortal prisons of Ravenloft. The domains also now include a variety of different horror genres rather than a fixation on gothic horror. Finally, much of the misogynistic, colonialist, or racist elements have been purged out of this new iteration of Ravenloft. Although these changes will likely be the most talked about part of the book in some circles, these changes seem to have occurred naturally during the course of updating Ravenloft to reflect more diverse horror genres and to make the domains conform to Ravenloft's internal laws".<ref name="Dungeons"/>

In his 2023 book ''Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground'', RPG historian Stu Horvath noted, "In many ways, Strahd is a vessel for the audience's relationship with an ever-changing and evolving vampire legend. While a character in his own right, he is broadly drawn, so every group of players can make him their own. There are many Strahds, each defined by the tastes of the people at the table."<ref name=mahg>{{cite book| last = Horvath| first = Stu| title = Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground| publisher = MIT Press| date = 2023| location = Cambridge, Massachusetts| pages = 118| isbn =9780262048224 }}</ref>