Wizards of the Coast today announced the impending arrival of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, coming to D&D players on May 18. Older Dungeons & Dragons players will need little introduction to the concept of Ravenloft; the setting saw its inception in an early AD&D adventure module from 1983, before a later boxed set released in 1990 for the second edition of the game. The setting had a much more recent appearance in the well-received Curse of Strahd adventure that released in 2016, but fans know there is much more than Strahd's Barovia to the sprawling horror landscape of Ravenloft.

Like in the original boxed set, the new 5th edition Ravenloft setting takes a novel approach to presenting the the different styles of horror storytelling. Creeping mists surround individual “Domains of Dread” within Ravenloft, including the vampire Strahd’s benighted Barovia, and individuals are sometimes pulled through the mists to new locations. Each domain taps into different angles on horror adventures, and it sounds like we can expect a mix of both established realms, as well as some new surprises.

D&D groups will be able to visit locations inspired by Frankenstein, devastated lands dominated by hordes of walking undead, and lands of fairytale masquerades, among a total of more than 30 distinct lands. Van Richten’s guide also offers rules for DMs to build their own horror settings and new domains for PCs to visit.

On the player side, the new setting book offers up rules for playing as a dhampir created by a vampire, or a hexblood who is in direct ancestral line from a hag, along with new subclasses – the College of Spirits for bards, and the Undead pact for Warlocks – to enable the creation of characters unique to the Ravenloft horror milieu.

As has become the norm for these new D&D books, Wizards of the Coast is releasing two distinct covers for the Ravenloft setting book. One stays in line with the visual design of most other 5th edition books, while the alternate cover is more distinct, and only available at game stores. Check out both below.

Click image thumbnails to view larger version

Ravenloft is a rich and nuanced setting, and it’s wonderful to see Wizards of the Coast updating the established dynamics of that locale with a more modern twist. For RPG players who want to stick to the familiar D&D 5E rules, rather than branching into dedicated horror RPGs to get their scares, this product promises to be a wonderful addition to the growing game.

For more on D&D and other tabletop role-playing games and board games, feel free to peruse our Top of the Table hub, including our lists of the Best Board Games of 2020, and the Best Tabletop RPG Releases of 2020. 

Hitman 3 launched last month and while we loved it, it certainly didn't have the smoothest launch. Between server issues, entitlements to past campaign content, and other bugs, developer IO Interactive had its work cut out for it in the immediate aftermath of launch. While many of the issues have been assuaged in the month since its January 23 release, IO Interactive has announced its first major post-launch patch that not only address various lingering issues, but adds more content.

First up is the Tactical Turtleneck (pictured above), which is added as an unlockable suit for all Hitman 3 players. Once you unlock it by completing The Final Test again in the ICA Facility, it will be added to your inventory and can be used in any location that lets you choose your starting suit.

If you own the Hitman 3 Deluxe Edition or Deluxe Pack, you can access new content this month as part of the ongoing rollout. This month's rollout of Deluxe content includes Deluxe Escalations like The Proloff Parable and The Gauchito Antiquity (pictured below). This patch enables all players to access the Deluxe Edition content after a bug prevented some from accessing the digital book and soundtracks via their IO Interactive accounts. After installing the patch, players can check the "Rewards" section of the IOI Account profile to redeem, but IO Interactive warns it may take up to 15 minutes for the downloads to appear after playing Hitman 3.

Other fixes brought on by this patch include additional tweaks to allow for more technical improvements to server connectivity. This patch also revolves various issues surrounding software stability and trophies/achievements. On top of that, IO Interactive is introducing new HUD options, rules, and elements to give you move information about when Agent 47 would be trespassing in hostile territory.

Speaking of HUD, the Silent Assassin HUD, which tells you if Silent Assassin rating is still attainable, now has different states to let you know if you're able to achieve the coveted rating in your current playthrough. There's also a new state that tells you when you're still able to achieve that rating, but you need to erase security footage in order to do so.

IO Interactive has also corrected and tweaked various elements of the Hitman 3 locations, including incorrect Arabic found in the Dubai level, a bug where bodies dumped into the Dartmoor pond weren't considered "hidden," and plenty more. The studio has also tweaked various parts of the PlayStation VR experience, including various HUD improvements, better smoke effects for VR, and more. If you want to read the full, in-depth contents of this patch, you can head here.

You can see the full Hitman 3 February roadmap below.

The February patch for Hitman 3 is available to download now. According to IO Interactive, it's between 2 and 3 GB on all platforms, aside from Switch and Stadia. Those platforms automatically get the latest version since they play the game from the cloud. If you haven't jumped in to Hitman 3 and want to learn more, you can check out our online content hub or our review.

Hitman 3 launched last month and while we loved it, it certainly didn't have the smoothest launch. Between server issues, entitlements to past campaign content, and other bugs, developer IO Interactive had its work cut out for it in the immediate aftermath of launch. While many of the issues have been assuaged in the month since its January 23 release, IO Interactive has announced its first major post-launch patch that not only address various lingering issues, but adds more content.

First up is the Tactical Turtleneck (pictured above), which is added as an unlockable suit for all Hitman 3 players. Once you unlock it by completing The Final Test again in the ICA Facility, it will be added to your inventory and can be used in any location that lets you choose your starting suit.

If you own the Hitman 3 Deluxe Edition or Deluxe Pack, you can access new content this month as part of the ongoing rollout. This month's rollout of Deluxe content includes Deluxe Escalations like The Proloff Parable and The Gauchito Antiquity (pictured below). This patch enables all players to access the Deluxe Edition content after a bug prevented some from accessing the digital book and soundtracks via their IO Interactive accounts. After installing the patch, players can check the "Rewards" section of the IOI Account profile to redeem, but IO Interactive warns it may take up to 15 minutes for the downloads to appear after playing Hitman 3.

Other fixes brought on by this patch include additional tweaks to allow for more technical improvements to server connectivity. This patch also revolves various issues surrounding software stability and trophies/achievements. On top of that, IO Interactive is introducing new HUD options, rules, and elements to give you move information about when Agent 47 would be trespassing in hostile territory.

Speaking of HUD, the Silent Assassin HUD, which tells you if Silent Assassin rating is still attainable, now has different states to let you know if you're able to achieve the coveted rating in your current playthrough. There's also a new state that tells you when you're still able to achieve that rating, but you need to erase security footage in order to do so.

IO Interactive has also corrected and tweaked various elements of the Hitman 3 locations, including incorrect Arabic found in the Dubai level, a bug where bodies dumped into the Dartmoor pond weren't considered "hidden," and plenty more. The studio has also tweaked various parts of the PlayStation VR experience, including various HUD improvements, better smoke effects for VR, and more. If you want to read the full, in-depth contents of this patch, you can head here.

You can see the full Hitman 3 February roadmap below.

The February patch for Hitman 3 is available to download now. According to IO Interactive, it's between 2 and 3 GB on all platforms, aside from Switch and Stadia. Those platforms automatically get the latest version since they play the game from the cloud. If you haven't jumped in to Hitman 3 and want to learn more, you can check out our online content hub or our review.