Ravenloft: Realm of Terror
Ravenloft: Realm of Terror is a boxed set accessory published in 1990 for the Ravenloft campaign setting for the "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy role-playing game. Contents. "Ravenloft: Realm of Terror" is a supplement of rules for including Gothic horror in "Dungeons & Dragons", and details a setting of 30 realms of a demiplane each controlled by evil beings. Publication history. "Ravenloft: Realm of Terror" was written by Bruce Nesmith and Andria Hayday, with a cover by Clyde Caldwell, and was published by TSR in 1990 as a boxed set with a 144-page book, four large  color maps, 24 cardstock sheets, and a transparent map overlay. The supplement was previewed in "Dragon" #160 and "Dragon" #162. Published in June 1990, "Ravenloft: Realm of Terror" was the first boxed set for the "Ravenloft" campaign setting and the fifth major world for "Dungeons & Dragons". It was created by Bruce Nesmith with Andria Hayday. The supplement contained "Dungeons & Dragons" first fear and horror check rules; "this sort of 'psychological saving throw' originated with "Call of Cthulhu"'s sanity checks and soon become "de " for the horror genre". It also contained variant monster rules, new rules for curses and fortune -telling, and outlined consequences for characters slipping into the evil alignment. The supplement introduced the Demiplane of Dread, outlined the different domains within it including Barovia and Mordent, and added the quirk that the demiplane acts as a changeable living realm. Similar to "Spelljammer", the supplement also contained "a way to crossover all the existing TSR settings. Gates from the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Krynn, and the "Oriental Adventures" realm of Kara-Tur are all detailed in this book, while some of the domain lords are also crossovers from those settings". Shannon Appelcline, author of "Designers & Dragons", highlighted that "Ravenloft: Realm  of Terror" focused on Gothic horror unlike other RPG horror competitors which focused on cosmic horror or modern horror. Appelcline wrote that "a year after the release of "Ravenloft", White Wolf's "" (1991) appeared. [...] Its popularity caused TSR management to request that Ravenloft move 'toward a darker, more psychologically sinister outlook'. The "Ravenloft" designers refused and the success of "that" decision would soon become obvious. The "Ravenloft" line ran for a decade and a half through three major editions". Reception. In 1991, it won the Origins Award for "Best Graphic Presentation of a Roleplaying Game, Adventure, or Supplement of 1990 . The supplement was reviewed in Challenge" #46 (1990) and "White Wolf" #23 (1990). Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book "Heroic Worlds", describes the set's fold-up castles as "scary". In 2013, Alex Lucard, for "Diehard GameFAN", wrote that he felt "Ravenloft: Realm of Terror" was "far more accessible than "Domains of Dread", which was the hardcover re-launch of the campaign setting post the Grand Conjunction. "Domains of Dread" requires you to know what happened in the Dark Domain before the Grand Conjunction [...]. "Realm of Terror" is simply easier for gamers of all levels to appreciate, more accessible by  far and, well, it features better art in my opinion. [...] "Realm of Terror" gave you everything you needed to delve into the "Ravenloft" campaign setting. You had a 144 page softcover book which gave you in-depth information about the Dark Domain, all of its locations and various Darklords, and it was simply a wonderfully fresh take on 2e D&D. [...] Words cannot express how much I would love to see this thing be made electronically".