D&D 5E Some More Ravenloft Art: Reborn, Hexbloods, Dhampir, Lamordia

With the book's release fast approaching here are a few more previews of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. Also check out Harkon Lukas and Rudolph Van Richten.

D&D 5E - Meet Ravenloft's Harkon Lucas and Rudolph Van Richten

WotC has shared some artwork from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, featuring the titular vampire hunter himself, and the darklord of Kartakass, Harkon Lucas. "Rudolph Van Richten prepares for his next expedition, watched over by the spirit of his son, Erasmus." "A born liar and...

www.enworld.org

Life is cheap in Lamordia. As far as the land's esteemed scholars are concerned, the spark that animates flesh is merely the result of chemical accidents and the proper formulas. Golems, homunculi, and other constructed beings groan to life to support a populace desperate to survive this frigid realm.

Death isn't always the end. The reborn exemplify this, being individuals who have died yet, somehow, still live. Whatever their origins, reborn know a new life and seek experiences and answers all their own.

Aboard her ship, River Dancer, Larissa Snowmane travels the endless domains, guided by fate and song.

Poised between the worlds of the living and the dead, dhampirs retain their grip on life yet are endlessly tested by vicious hungers. Their ties to the undead grant dhampirs a taste of a vampire's deathless prowess in the form of increased speed, darkvision, and a life-draining bite.

Hexbloods are individuals infused with eldritch magic, fey energy, or mysterious witchcraft. While many hexbloods gain their lineage after making a deal with a hag, others reveal their nature as they age - particularly if a hag influenced them early in life or even before their birth.

 

[Tonguez]

They should have also done a "stitched" race who have had parts of their bodies replaced with limbs or organs from other creatures - a Falkovian survivor who replaced their arm with a zombie's arm only to find it sometimes has a mind of its own, a rogue who stole a hag's eye to replace their own in the hopes he could see (and control) magic, a faithful butler who had Mordenheim place his elderly charge's brain into his own body, a young girl who was saved by a heart transplant of a dying man who was secretly a serial killer...

Reborn Origins
2 Stitches bind your body’s mismatched pieces, and your memories come from multiple different lives.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Reborn Origins
2 Stitches bind your body’s mismatched pieces, and your memories come from multiple different lives.

If it only has 2 stiches isn't it likely to fall apart?

 

[Stormonu]

Reborn Origins
2 Stitches bind your body’s mismatched pieces, and your memories come from multiple different lives.

Is that from the new book or something you made up on the spot?

 

[Tonguez]

Is that from the new book or something you made up on the spot?

its from the Reborn UA article, so I assume its in the book too

it appears that Reborn includes Flesh Golems

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

For hags those Hexbloods are awfully pretty, I’d love for someone some day to create character portraits that are actually unattractive and monstrous.

Oh well it is nice art

I don't think the Reborn or the Dhampir in this art looks very attractive, but you do have a point about the Hexblood. (Gods, I'm going to confuse Hexblood and Hexblade so often. Couldn't they have named them "Hagkind" or something like that?)

 

[imagineGod]

I have to agree. I especially enjoy how all of the art looks the same, while also being diverse. And by "the same", I mean that the overall design choices for the art appear to be the same throughout the book (from what I've seen so far, that is). I was quite put off by Eberron: Rising from the Last War having a bunch of new art for 5e while also having a ton of older-style art. It just made it feel like two books combined into one for me (Explorer's Guide to Wildemount had a similar effect for me, but it wasn't as jarring as E:RftLW).

All of the art in this book looks great, and all of it has the same visual theme. Those are the only two things that matter to me for the art in 5e books.

Comparing the art ftom the biggest RPG publisher to that of better crafted art by third party publishers in Europe is worthy of consideration.

I was most impressed by the consistency in art style, genre guidance, and composition of the French 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons by Studio Agate. So much so, that it has replaced my American WoTC vore books.

Even smaller Italian Studios create better art than Wizards on the Coast. I just wish Lex Arcana was 5e. The art is so much better stylistically than any WoTC product.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't think the Reborn or the Dhampir in this art looks very attractive, but you do have a point about the Hexblood. (Gods, I'm going to confuse Hexblood and Hexblade so often. Couldn't they have named them "Hagkind" or something like that?)

They used to use "Hagspawn" and "Caliban", although they had different mechanics.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Comparing the art ftom the biggest RPG publisher to that of better crafted art by third party publishers in Europe is worthy of consideration.

I was most impressed by the consistency in art style, genre guidance, and composition of the French 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons by Studio Agate. So much so, that it has replaced my American WoTC vore books.

Even smaller Italian Studios create better art than Wizards on the Coast. I just wish Lex Arcana was 5e. The art is so much better stylistically than any WoTC product.

Yep. That's exactly what I'm talking about. Kobold Press also has their own style for art, which is consistent throughout their products.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

They used to use "Hagspawn" and "Caliban", although they had different mechanics.

Either of those could work, but I would have preferred Hagspawn. Anything but Hexblood.

 

[Parmandur]

They should have also done a "stitched" race who have had parts of their bodies replaced with limbs or organs from other creatures - a Falkovian survivor who replaced their arm with a zombie's arm only to find it sometimes has a mind of its own, a rogue who stole a hag's eye to replace their own in the hopes he could see (and control) magic, a faithful butler who had Mordenheim place his elderly charge's brain into his own body, a young girl who was saved by a heart transplant of a dying man who was secretly a serial killer...

The Returned has three specific suggestions for the PC origin: a mummy, a flesh golem, and a creation of the Apparatus in Mordent.