Greetings, fellow adventurers!

Today we’ll be diving into the various different creatures of Barovia. There are a wide variety of creatures that you will come across in your travels, including; witches, werewolves, vampires, undead, beasts, corrupted druids, and more! Each of these groups have a distinct combat style that will keep you on your toes in a fight. These enemies are also slightly stronger than critters in Chult, but they are a bit more deceptive and rely on heavy hitting attacks and combat tricks rather than stuns and knockdowns.

Faster, Smarter, Deadlier

While fighting these creatures, you might notice that they use their attacks much more quickly when compared to older enemies. This is because their AI has had some work done on them to make them feel a bit more like a real combatant. Enemies will now chain some of their attacks together, spend much less time waiting between attacks, and will fight you in greater numbers.

Ambushes

To coincide with the theme of Ravenloft, we wanted to capture a sense of fear as you navigate through the adventure zone. Throughout Barovia, there are many creatures that lie in wait for their prey. Whether it be a scarecrow waiting for you to pass by, a spider in a tree looking for its next meal, or a twig blight ready to peel itself from a tree, the monsters of Barovia are always ready to strike. We hope that these “ambush” tactics make these monsters feel much more alive and threatening.

Creatures that stalk the night

Nighttime in Barovia is more than just a change in scenery. Creatures that generally roam the night, such as vampires and werewolves, will appear more often and the roads will be more peril than they are in the day. In addition to this, there is a dangerous creature that roams the night known only as the “Night Terror.”

We are looking forward to seeing how adventurers deal with the new threats posed by Strahd, and wish them luck in their travels.

Tony “Balanced” Marasco
Systems Designer