Rating: 
Summary: It COULD be perfect
Review: >>Yes, this book could be perfect. Almost everything you need to run a RAVENLOFT campaing is there. Many things I missed in the 2nd. Ed. are here, like the rules to play with Clerics (religion, gods, domains, etc...), and the answer for: "how can I travel from Barovia (Core Domain) to Bluetspur (an Island of Terror)?". Chapter 5: Horrors of the Night, simple pays the book, in this chapter you'll find lots of information on how to advance creatures like vampires, ghosts, liches, lycanthropes and others, and make them more powerful, and special rules for lycanthropy. The chapter dedicated to the domains is good too. All domains are very well described, with useful information like important cities (and population), percentage of the races in a given domain... Well, the darklords are missing, but there's SECRETS OF THE DREAD REALMS (another book describing them). So, RAVENLOFT 3rd. Ed. is a very good book...Can you belive that Arthaus simple didn't include a poster map inside the book? The only thing you have is a terrible two pages map inside the book! And you'll need glasses to read it! Ah! And it's black&white! For the Dark Powers sake, where's the poster map? Why not? I say, why didn't Arthaus make a map for us? Is it so difficult? Too much expansive? The only thing left is to pray for the Dark Powers... Maybe someday Arthaus realize the mistake, and give us a decent poster map (like the Forgotten Realms one! That's a great map!). After all said... I recomend this book! Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: A simple addendum to the reviews below...
Review: All in all, I believe this was a wonderful book. It succeeded in it's purpose; bringing forth the Realm of Dread for the 3rd Edition generation. As a fan of Ravenloft since the old I6 module for 1st Edition AD&D, I believe this was quite a worthy effort(. . .)
Rating:
Summary: Adequate, but somehow lacking
Review: Don't get me wrong: I'm glad I got this book in order to bring my favorite D&D setting up to 3rd edition, but I was slightly disappointed with the book's presentation. One of the things that really drew me into the 2nd edition of Ravenloft were the moody illustrations which evoked the gothic atmosphere of the campaign setting. Here, the prevalent flavour of the book is more akin to high fantasy, while foregoing the grimer (grisly?) aspects of Ravenloft. Buy this book if, like me, you don't care to spend the time working to upgrade your Ravenloft campaign to 3rd edition. However, if it's a creepy sourcebook you're looking for, try to track down an earlier edition.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Little to Interest the Experienced Ravenlofter
Review: First of all, I'm not a fan of the d20 system, but that's a debate for elsewhere. I *am* a major fan of Ravenloft - I've been with the campaign world since it was released in 1992, and began DMing adventures not long after - so I eventually caved in and took a look at the d20 version of it. Thankfully, the Kargatane have saved Ravenloft from becoming totally extinct, but this book will be of limited interest to those familiar with the campaign setting.It uses the same timeframe outlined in the Domains of Dread hardcover released in 1997, post Grand Conjunction and post Grim Harvest. That means there is very little (read: nil) new information in this book as far as the Ravenloft "canon" goes. In fact, this book is intended to be a "player's guide" (even though it deals with powers checks and other DM-only phenomenon), so it has only sketchy information about domains and zilch about the Darklords. Want that information? Get ready to shell out for ANOTHER hardcover book (two of `em, if you want all of them...) The rest of the book is devoted to making 3rd edition characters using some of the customized character rules and races (half-Vistani, for example) from the DoD book. So its safe to say that there's very little to interest the longtime Ravenloft gamer here. Converting 2nd Edition to d20 isn't impossible - in fact, there are several freeware programs one could download to do all the hard work. For those of us who have all the old material, and can play 2nd Edition AD&D without a book because we know the rules so well (and yes, I DO have a life), there isn't much to interest us. Since it's actually cheaper to scrounge most of the 2nd Ed. materials, I say go with those, unless you are dead-set on running 3rd Ed. In that case, you better be rich... Final Grade: D+ (it's Ravenloft, I can't flunk it outright!) NOTE: I bought it anyway, because I'd like to see the Kargatane keep Ravenloft alive. Something to consider when making your decision...
Rating:
Summary: Very Little to Interest the Experienced Ravenlofter
Review: First of all, I'm not a fan of the d20 system, but that's a debate for elsewhere. I *am* a major fan of Ravenloft - I've been with the campaign world since it was released in 1992, and began DMing adventures not long after - so I eventually caved in and took a look at the d20 version of it. Thankfully, the Kargatane have saved Ravenloft from becoming totally extinct, but this book will be of limited interest to those familiar with the campaign setting. It uses the same timeframe outlined in the Domains of Dread hardcover released in 1997, post Grand Conjunction and post Grim Harvest. That means there is very little (read: nil) new information in this book as far as the Ravenloft "canon" goes. In fact, this book is intended to be a "player's guide" (even though it deals with powers checks and other DM-only phenomenon), so it has only sketchy information about domains and zilch about the Darklords. Want that information? Get ready to shell out for ANOTHER hardcover book (two of 'em, if you want all of them...) The rest of the book is devoted to making 3rd edition characters using some of the customized character rules and races (half-Vistani, for example) from the DoD book. So its safe to say that there's very little to interest the longtime Ravenloft gamer here. Converting 2nd Edition to d20 isn't impossible - in fact, there are several freeware programs one could download to do all the hard work. For those of us who have all the old material, and can play 2nd Edition AD&D without a book because we know the rules so well (and yes, I DO have a life), there isn't much to interest us. Since it's actually cheaper to scrounge most of the 2nd Ed. materials, I say go with those, unless you are dead-set on running 3rd Ed. In that case, you better be rich... Final Grade: D+ (it's Ravenloft, I can't flunk it outright!) NOTE: I bought it anyway, because I'd like to see the Kargatane keep Ravenloft alive. Something to consider when making your decision...
Rating: 
Summary: Good, solid DnD book.
Review: For starters, I've never played Ravenloft, though I've been interested in the setting for a long while. And so I picked up the Ravenloft 3e book -- admittedly with some trepidation, as I was afraid the WW guys would inject some WOD-ish angst into the setting. Well, they didn't, and this book helped put me over the edge into running my Ravenloft game. Sure, I think (not having the books) if you have Domains of Dread or the old boxes, there isn't much *new* information. However, its handy to have a full translation of the game. How is it if you don't play Ravenloft? Still good -- I can see much of the material (particularly the madness effects and alternative rules for vampires, werewolves, etc) being able to be easily ported to a homebrew or what have you. Also there's a new race called Calibans, which are essentially grossly deformed humans with the stats of a Half-orc. Easily portable, as well. I give it a thumbs up! Useful whether you DM Ravenloft or not.
Rating:
Summary: Ravenloft
Review: Great Stuff! I'm psyched about this series. Updated to d20 system, it rocks!
Rating:
Summary: Good, not perfect
Review: I had both been excited about this book and dreading it, as I am not a fan of the d20 system. However, I have to admit that John and both the Andrews have done a fair, though not perfect job. All the character classes are present, as is the new Caliban race (though more info on thse guys wouldn't be lost on me), Fear/Horror/Madness has been simplified, though the checks take longer to work out (unless you take 10, 15, etc...), Terror Tracks and other rules for Ravenloft have been condenced somewhat I feel and the reduction of Terror Track stages (it has returned to 6 instead of 10) make the paths into darkness a little short for my liking. The information condenced from the old Van Richten Guides should not be in this book, that is strictly DM info for the players to discover as it is handed out, some Prestige Classes would also have made the book feel more complete. On the whole, it is a very good book, despite my picks at it, though maybe not as good in places as Domains of Dread was, nbut better in others (the timelines and domain information is greatly improved, though most of the maps are terrible). The amount of Errata material also marks the book down a little and the index at the back of the book has never been right yet when I have used it. Still, I give it 4 stars as this is written by the Kargatane, who kept Ravenloft alive whilst it was in limbo and they know what they are doing.
Rating:
Summary: Good, not perfect
Review: I had both been excited about this book and dreading it, as I am not a fan of the d20 system. However, I have to admit that John and both the Andrews have done a fair, though not perfect job. All the character classes are present, as is the new Caliban race (though more info on thse guys wouldn't be lost on me), Fear/Horror/Madness has been simplified, though the checks take longer to work out (unless you take 10, 15, etc...), Terror Tracks and other rules for Ravenloft have been condenced somewhat I feel and the reduction of Terror Track stages (it has returned to 6 instead of 10) make the paths into darkness a little short for my liking. The information condenced from the old Van Richten Guides should not be in this book, that is strictly DM info for the players to discover as it is handed out, some Prestige Classes would also have made the book feel more complete. On the whole, it is a very good book, despite my picks at it, though maybe not as good in places as Domains of Dread was, nbut better in others (the timelines and domain information is greatly improved, though most of the maps are terrible). The amount of Errata material also marks the book down a little and the index at the back of the book has never been right yet when I have used it. Still, I give it 4 stars as this is written by the Kargatane, who kept Ravenloft alive whilst it was in limbo and they know what they are doing.
Rating:
Summary: This was REALLY disappointing
Review: I really expected more from White Wolf and the D&D line in general. For starters, the only "impressive" artwork I saw was on the cover and most of the other "art" sucked! The description of some of the lands were lacking in ANY kind of depth. Lord Soth is gone (which really bummed me out), the Character classes in Ravenloft details were non exsistent for some of the classes, the main villains and such (and I mean all of them) are suposed to com out in another book(?!?!). For the MSRP to be [what it is] there needs to be TONS more information. The only reason I gave this book 2 stars was because of the rules on the descent into darkness which in all honesty were pretty cool. Personally I think if you want to run Ravenloft you should find the old boxed set and convert it to 3e.
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