[2] The Dungeon Master section includes an overview of safety tools for running a horror themed game[4][5] such as "things like the X-Card, trigger warnings, boundaries, and establishing clear lines of communication".

[6] The book expands on game elements for the 5th edition, such as: Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft was published on May 18, 2021 and features cover art by Anna Podedworna.

[2] Polygon reported that the book has multiple authors, similar to Candlekeep Mysteries, and that "among them is Wizards' new senior designer Amanda Hamon (formerly of Kobold Press), Cassandra Khaw (Nothing But Blackened Teeth), Molly Ostertag (The Witch Boy), and K. Tempest Bradford (The Copper Scarab)".

[11] "Lead designer Wes Schneider told Polygon that the goal was to move beyond the derivative tropes that have plagued the Ravenloft setting in the past, while also allowing players to engage with the material from a number of different perspectives".

In July 2021, Beadle & Grimm (another Wizards of the Coast licensee) will release a limited run boxset called Shadowy Silver Edition of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft.

According to Gothic Lineages, Tasha's Cauldron and Van Richten's Guide will help to inform a new path forward for D&D, one where race is no longer tied to concepts like ability scores, known languages, alignment, 'or any other trait that is purely cultural'.

"[16] The Black Dice Society (2021) is an official actual play streaming series broadcast on the Dungeons & Dragons Twitch and YouTube channels which premiered on April 1, 2021 and is set across multiple Domains of Dread in Ravenloft.

[17][18] B. Dave Walters is the show's Dungeon Master with a cast of six players: Tanya DePass, Noura Ibrahim, Deejay Knight, Mark Meer, Saige Ryan and Becca Scott.

Having run a battle against Strahd and other monsters of his ilk in many game systems many times, I agree with Wizard’s bold design decision.

There’s more to D&D than combat, and this omission will help to steer players toward more elaborate role-play and world building, and relieve the tension of having to maximize their own stats and magical powers to win the day".

[8] Ed Fortune, for Starburst Magazine, gave the book five stars and commented that "Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft is the peak of where Dungeons and Dragons is right now; a fun and accessible game with more to offer than just straight forward power fantasy.

Initially, there's a lot of attention paid to consent and communication, which is really important for any campaign, but especially horror, as people are dealing with things that are fundamentally unsettling.

One of the big difficulties with horror can be that, those well-verse in the genre, can start to feel its effects less and less because they're able to anticipate what should genuinely be a scary or horrifying turn of events too early into the story.