The Abbot's Letter to Vasili ...2 the Anti God
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Tomes of Ravenloft is a collection of twenty three player handouts The Abbot’s Letter to Vasili ........................... 2 intended to enrich a Curse of Strahd campaign. The entries marked The Anti God .................................................. 3 with a * in the Table of Contents are books or letters native to the Baking (for) Children ..................................... 4 campaign. They were mentioned somewhere in the text but had no Balinok Mountains Survey Report ................. 5 substance—until now. Barovian Home Remedies .............................. 6 The other entries are completely new creations. You can find a The Blade of Truth* ....................................... 7 place for them and hand them out whenever you feel the time has Castle Building 101* ........................................ 8 come. Study them well. Some offer quest hooks, others tell the The Devil We Know* ...................................... 9 characters about the lore of the world. Some of the lore is old, Embalming: The Lost Art* ............................ 10 other lore is completely new. For example, did you know that the From the Life of Saint Markovia ................... 11 inhabitants of Barovia called their home Balinokova before the Goats of the Balinok Mountains* ................... 12 devil Strahd invaded? The Grimoire of the Four Quarters* .............. 13 Hymns to the Dawn* ...................................... 14 On the following page, you will find some ideas on where to place Killing the Devil ............................................. 15 the new tomes and how they, and the old ones, might benefit the Legends From the Svalich Woods .................. 16 characters. Life Among the Undead* ............................... 17 The Oath Celestial* ........................................ 18 Author: Christian Eichhorn Rictavio’s Journal* .......................................... 19 Rituals for Mother Night ............................... 20 Editor: John Parker Van Richten’s Guide ........................................ 21 Travel Guide: Balinokova ............................... 22 Von Holtz’s Letter to Lovina* ....................... 23 Wolf’s Head Jamboree* .................................. 24 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon amper- sand, Ravnica and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. All other original material in this work is copyright 2021 by Christian Eichhorn and published under the Community SampleContent Agreement file for Dungeon Masters Guild. Use these thoughts to award the characters with books and boons where applicable. The books don't give any permanent bonuses but may result in advantage on certain ability checks or small bonuses. Some books may even open completely new avenues for the characters, like Rituals for Mother Night and Grimoire of the Four Quarters. The Abbot’s Letter to Vasili. A letter explaining the Hymns to the Dawn. A volume of chants to the Abbot's thoughts about his life choices, linking him to Morninglord. Offers insights for certain Religion and Vasili von Holtz and the Belview family. Can be found in Performance checks. Can be found in churches. the Abbey or Castle Ravenloft. Killing the Devil. A pamphlet that hangs in Vallaki's dark The Anti God. A heretical text about the gods. Offers alleys. A quest hook to get the characters into trouble. insights on the inner workings of the world and the gods. Could be a trap laid by Baron Vargas Vallakovich or a Offers limited insight on Religion checks. Can be found in genuine appeal from the Keepers of the Feather. churches and libraries. Legends From the Svalich Woods. A book featuring dark Baking (for) Children. A collection of recipes by and for stories about the Svalich Woods. Grants deeper insights hags. Offers insights on baking and benefits checks using for History checks about Barovia and contains a quest cook's utensils. Can be found in Old Bonegrinder or in hook. Can be found in many homes. Castle Ravenloft near the cauldron. You can try out the Life Among the Undead. A tragic story, written by one recipes at home, only switch bone flour for regular flour. "Vasili von Holtz." Offers role-playing opportunities with Balinok Mountains Survey Report. A survey Strahd, giving an insight into his disturbed mind. Can be commissioned by King Barov before the invasion. Offers found in Castle Ravenloft. a quest hook to prospect for gold in Lake Luna and The Oath Celestial.A historical book about the knights of information about the Amber Temple. the Holy Empire of Valentia. Offers limited benefits for Barovian Home Remedies. A hodgepodge of questionable History checks and role-playing opportunities with the tips and remedies for real and imaginary ailments. Can Revenants. Can be found in Argynvostholt. be found in almost any home. Offers some insight into Rituals for Mother Night. A book containing rituals to medicinal plants and corresponding Nature checks. interact with Mother Night. The rituals work and give Castle Building 101. A book about the basics of building benefits once properly executed. The Rite of Forlorn castles. Grants insights for checks using mason's tools and Tongues gives a character dangerous or forbidden ability checks to find traps or hidden doors. Can be found information. The Rite of the Night's Eye allows a character in libraries or Castle Ravenloft. to see and speak with the recently deceased. Mother's Embalming: The Lost Art. A paper detailing advanced Boon gives a character a large bonus or advantage on embalming techniques. Interesting conversation topic for ability checks. Can be found in Baba Lysaga's hut or the parties. Can be found in libraries. werewolf den. Travel Guide: Balinokova. From the Life of Saint Markovia. A book detailing the A guide with information life and death of Saint Markovia. Gives hints about the about Barovia before Strahd invaded. It offers insight for whereabouts of her body and has benefits for History History checks and includes a quest hook. Can be found in checks. Can be found in churches or the Abbey. libraries. Van Richten's Guide to Lycanthropy and Vampirism. Goats of the Balinok Mountains. A paper about goats. Contains quest hooks about treasure and mountable goats A book containing information on vampires and (can carry Medium creatures). Can be found in libraries or lycanthropes. Improves all History or Arcana checks for Castle Ravenloft. these types of monsters and contains useful information on how to fight them. Can be found in Van Richten's tower or The Grimoire of the Four Quarters. A book detailing ways Samplethe Bluewater Inn. file to summon and negotiate with devils. Summons a different type of devil depending on the characters' level. Can only be found in the Wachterhaus. The Abbot’s Letter to Vasili Dear Vasili, We haven’t seen each other in many years. Decades, or centuries even? Not after you revealed your true self. I am not sure why I write this letter. Maybe to meet you again, at least in my memories. Writing helps focus the mind. As I formulate each thought, it gathers more meaning. It becomes more tangible once I put it in ink. To this day, I am struggling with what we did to—or rather together with—the Belviews. I say us, but in the end, it was my decision and responsibility. A responsibility I am staying true to even now. I do not know why you pushed me, revealed secrets to me I never wanted to know. Maybe you genuinely wanted to help. Or it was part of your grander designs. Whatever it may be, I still feel the urge to help. You are many persons, a split soul. I see good in there and I will do my best to save it, my friend. I have recently started tailoring. Though, not with fabric. Instead, I use flesh and skin. It will take many months and years to harvest the necessary parts. I hope the villagers can forgive my deeds. It is for the greater good, Sampleafter all. Soon, I will reunite you with your love. file Stay strong. The Anti God The Anti God Second Annotated Edition Written by an unknown author, with commentary by Loremaster Elspeth Paxton A tick burrows into the flesh of its host. It This book started circulating in 999 DR, penned sucks blood to survive, depriving its victim by an unknown author. Independent actors of their energy and lifetime. The tick must handled reproduction and distribution, making it stay hidden, else the host notices and ends near impossible to confiscate and burn all copies. 1 it. Parasites have no reason for being. (1) Parasites have meaning. They strengthen a The gods are more shrewd. They are species as a whole by winnowing out the weak. parasites who hide in plain sight. They can The entire argument is moot since the gods have only exist as long as we invest them with a symbiotic relationship with their worshippers. 2 our faith and power. Prayers, thoughts, and (2) Gods can indeed perish when none of their sacrifices nourish them. They deprive us of faithful remain. However, a portfolio does not die our lifetime, a trickle at a time. Although alongside its custodian. Exemplar, the concepts of they redistribute some of their accumulated murder and love always accumulate power. powers, they keep enough for themselves. (3) The ways of the gods are ultimately mirror For what? To waste it on strife and idle images of their worshippers. The fault lies with us. machinations.3 (4) "Peon" is hardly the correct term for what Would you still pray if you knew that the awaits the souls of the faithful after death. After a thousandth part of your thoughts and life life of worship, our souls enter the realms of our is spent on wars of vanity? What if it was various patrons and revert to their original state.