Summary
Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft is a unique, horror-themedDungeons & Dragonsmodule available to Dungeon Masters for 5e. This sourcebook offers various campaign settings, unique backgrounds, and playable species for players and DMs to use alike. Most importantly, though, this sourcebook gives players the option to select a Dark Gift.
Dark Gifts are special powers that players can take at character creation that both buff and nerf their character builds. These can be very fun to roleplay, especially in a horror-themed campaign. Here’s a ranked breakdown of every Dark Gift in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, and what they do.
Banes
Intrusive Echoes
This is the first Dark Gift listed in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, and also, categorically, the weakest. This gift forces you to share your soul with another being, whether that being be a past life, macabre spirit, or some other entity. When you take this gift,you gain proficiencywith two skills of your choice and an additional language, thanks to the knowledge granted by this gift.
However, when you roll a natural one on any given roll, your soul’s memories merge with the other being inside you, and you are likely to be inflicted with some kind of bane, rolling a d6 on a table to figure out exactly which one. Five out of six of these rolls are bad, meaning you’re likely to regret this gift more often than not. And, the boons aren’t that great to begin with.
Nerfs to Attack Rolls
Your shadow is alive, almost like Peter Pan, but in a macabre, spooky way. The shadow acts of its own free will at times, haunting those around you. When you take this gift, you gain access to Mage Hand and can extend your melee attacks by ten feet thanks to your shadow.
However, if you roll a natural one, your shadow will take over and can potentially hurt or hinder those around you. There is potential for boons in this form, which makes it slightly better than Echoing Soul. However, the next time any creature within 30 feet of you makes a roll, you roll a d4, and reduce their total by the number rolled if it’s odd, and increase their total if the number you roll is even.
Potential Exhaustion
Mist Walker is a highly unique Dark Gift that’s tailor-made for the Domains of Dread campaign setting. This gift allows you to function as a Mist Talisman, meaning that you can successfully travel to other Domains of Dread so long as you know the name of the domain you’re traveling to, unless the Darklord of said domain has closed the borders.
However, while this is a nice perk, ultimately, if you’re not playing in the Domains of Dread or if your campaign is limited to just one domain, this isn’t that helpful. Plus, if you’re stuck in one domain for too long, you may potentiallytake points of exhaustionafter failing certain Constitution saves you must make, thanks to this gift.
Inadvertent Wild Magic
Second Skin is a very fun Dark Gift that’s perfect for high-Charisma characters. When you have this gift, you’re able to cast the Alter Self spell to appear in a predetermined second form, which you can select from a table or homebrew with your DM. This casting requires no spell slot, but only works once per long rest.
However, this transformation can be triggered inadvertently, similar to the way a Wild Magic surge can be triggered for some sorcerers. This means that your second form can be just as much of a blessing as it is a curse, hence the name Dark Gift.
Potential to be Charmed
Anyone familiar with Spider-Man and his lore is sure to know what this Dark Gift is all about. Symbiotic Being offers you a forever companion in the form of a second being that resides metaphysically inside your body, and can manifest on you at certain times. The symbiote has its own stats and proficiencies, and you can use the symbiote to help your saving throws anddeath-saving throwsalike.
However, the symbiote also has its own unique agenda that might not always align with yours. If the symbiote commands you to enact its agenda, and you disobey, it can potentially charm you, meaning you might not have control of your character for several hours. This can prove costly, particularly if the DM enacts this at the exact right time.
Potential Disadvantage, Conditions Inflicted
Spiritual beings stalk you, either the souls of the damned, or mysteroius beings from another world. Their voices whisper in your ear, occasionally tormenting you. This Dark Gift gives you the Message cantrip for free, and the ability to channel these whispers onto enemies, potentially increasing your AC so that attacks miss you.
This Dark Gift is really strong, and ultimately, the banes are all potential and not that impactful. When you roll a natural one, you roll on a d4, potentially causing the frightened or deafened condition, or giving you disadvantage. However, you can also potentially cast the Augury spell through these means. These banes and boons are ultimately a lot stronger than other Dark Gifts that function similarly.
Disadvantage on Charisma Checks
Watchers offers a lot of fun roleplay opportunities and has decently good buffs, especially if you’re not choosing to play a high-Charisma character. This Dark Gift bestows upon you a group of malevolent spirits that are always stalking or watching you from afar. While you have this gift, you have advantage on Investigation and Perception checks, and you cannot be blinded.
However, you have disadvantage on Deception, Performance, and Persuasion checks against anyone who can see the creatures. However, because these spirits can be dispersed at will (given a successful Animal Handling check), this bane won’t always come into effect, and you can counter it.
Can’t Touch Allies
In terms of roleplay, Touch of Death can prove harmful, but ultimately, this Dark Gift has the most upsides and the least downsides, making it the best of the bunch. When you have Touch of Death as your Dark Gift, your touch is harmful to all. You can focus your deadly touch to deal extra necrotic damage with your unarmed strikes (perfect for a monk), and anything grappling you also takes damage.
Of course, this means you cannot touch your allies unless you want to accidentally inflict damage on them. But outside of this, there are no other banes to this gift, making it highly effective in combat-focused campaigns.
