Dungeons and Dragons dropped its contents list for upcoming book Ravenloft: The Horrors Within on March 13. We were expecting to see many of the subclasses and DnD races listed, but there are a few more surprising entries. Namely, "the new cosmic horror domain Innsmouth".
For context, Innsmouth is the fictional setting of the famous H.P. Lovecraft story, The Shadow Over Innsmouth. It's an isolated Massachusetts fishing town populated by suspiciously fishy-looking cultists. These people are slowly transforming into eldritch Deep Ones, and, as you can imagine, horrors ensue.
The more you think about this being a D&D setting, the more bizarre it gets. It's hilarious to me to think that part of 20th-century Massachusetts has been sucked into a D&D pocket dimension. Have we just introduced motor cars to the multiverse? How am I going to explain the Wall Street Crash to Strahd von Zarovich?
Presumably, the Cthulhu stat block we saw in earlier Ravenloft: The Horrors Within reveals is linked to this domain of dread. Lovecraft purists are already gearing up to "uhm, actually" the fact that Cthulhu never appears in Innsmouth. However, it's clear that Wizards is going to take some artistic liberties with the setting.
Innsmouth is one of 16 domains of dread featured in the new book. Wizards promises 17 Darklords, complete with stat blocks, to loom over these doomed locales.
Plus, DnD classes get 7 new subclass options, with the Reanimator Artificer and the Hollow Warden Ranger both confirmed. We can also expect to see four species, four backgrounds, two origin feats, and nine Dark Gift feats. Ravenloft: The Horrors Within also promises eight Bastion facilities, two magic items, and 51 monster statblocks.
For more on upcoming books, check out our DnD release schedule guide. Or, if you'd like to get nerdy about Ravenloft, let's get spooky in the Wargamer Discord.