Ex Carta

As the popularity of Dungeons & Dragons grew in the 1980s, so did the demand for supplements and other game aids. As well as the core rulebooks, TSR published Adventures (also referred to as ‘Modules’ or ‘Scenarios’): booklets that detailed specific narratives, settings, and encounters, accompanied by detailed maps and other information required by the Dungeon Master to run the game for the other players. As well as fleshing out the existing fantasy milieu of the game, such as Gary Gygax’s own Greyhawk setting, TSR authors took the opportunity to broaden the potential of D&D by experimenting with other genres. Ravenloft (1983) is a classic example and its impact still resonates today.
In the late 1970s, Tracy Hickman (b.1955) was part of a D&D game in which he was becoming increasingly frustrated with the arbitrary nature of the encounters presented to him – one popular way of running D&D was to map a bewilderingly labyrinthine dungeon and populate it with a sequence of random foes to defeat, with the focus on combat and reward rather than narrative. A ‘wandering monster’ table remains a popular mechanic in play to this day – a die is rolled, with each number resulting in the appearance of a different enemy. Hickman was baffled by the arbitrary appearance of a vampire in one such encounter, complaining later to his wife Laura Hickman (b.1956) that such an iconic entity surely demanded a more detailed rationale for its existence and its own backstory. Their conversation developed into the creation of Strahd von Zarovich and the world of Ravenloft, informed by the Hickmans’ subsequent research into vampire literature and lore, and replete with his ‘own setting, his own tragic history’.
Ravenloft was an immediate success and the setting continues to be enriched and explored in supplements decades later. The character of Strahd has become iconic among D&D players, his status recently confirmed by his appearance in the final D&D game played by the protagonists of Netflix’s hit show Stranger Things, in the 2026 series finale.

This classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure by Tracy and Laura Hickman introduced the Gothic horror realm of Barovia and its tragic ruler, the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich. Accompanied by evocative maps – including detailed isometric cutaways of Castle Ravenloft – the module demonstrated how cartography could deepen narrative immersion in role-playing games, helping transform D&D from a series of dungeon encounters into a more fully imagined narrative world.

The Hickmans’ new Gothic horror D&D setting was developed over a series of annual Halloween games. Strahd is the Lord of Ravenloft Castle in the mist-laden lands of Barovia – a land modelled in part on the Eastern-European tropes of classic Universal monster movies – cursed in an endless search for his lost love. To accommodate existing player-characters into this new realm, the Hickmans developed the notion of a ‘pocket dimension’: characters were absorbed by a sinister dark fog and transported magically to Barovia. The conceit of a pocket dimension endures as a mechanic whereby D&D players can experiment with different world-building and genres without contradicting the established world of their main campaigns. When Ravenloft was published in 1983 it was received very enthusiastically and lauded as a step forward in developing the true narrative potential of RPGs. One part of this was the detail the Hickmans provided in the form of maps. While the map of Barovia itself is a simple hex-grid with colourful yet basic terrain, the world of Ravenloft becomes immediately vivid with the ‘exploded’ cutaway maps of Ravenloft Castle and its dungeons. These are presented in 3D, isometric projections revealing its multiple storeys, staircases, and myriad hidden secrets, across four pages. The immersive nature of this new environment set a new precedent in the potential of RPGs for world-building, well beyond its established fantasy milieu.

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Ravenloft Hex Map. Map 1 - Lands of Barovia

Cover for Advanced Dungeons and Dragon: Ravenloft

Map 2 - Walls of Ravenloft, Map 5 - Rooms of Weeping, Map 6 to 10 - Spires of Ravenloft

Map 3 - Main Floor, Map 4 - Court of the Count, Map 11 - Larders of Ill Omen and Map 12 - Dungeon and Catacombs

Introduction to Ravenloft and Count Strahd von Zarovich the Vampire

Game play rules from the Ravenloft manual and an artists impression of the Castle Spires of Raveloft

Game play rules from the Ravenloft manual with character illustration

Game play rules from the Ravenloft manual with small map and battle illustration

As the popularity of Dungeons & Dragons grew in the 1980s, so did the demand for supplements and other game aids. As well as the core rulebooks, (Tactical Studies Rules, Inc.) TSR published Adventures (also referred to as ‘Modules’ or ‘Scenarios’): booklets that detailed specific narratives, settings, and encounters, accompanied by detailed maps and other information required by the Dungeon Master to run the game for the other players. As well as fleshing out the existing fantasy milieu of the game, such as Gary Gygax’s own Greyhawk setting, TSR authors took the opportunity to broaden the potential of D&D by experimenting with other genres. Ravenloft (1983) is a classic example and its impact still resonates today.

In the late 1970s, Tracy Hickman (b.1955) was part of a D&D game in which he was becoming increasingly frustrated with the arbitrary nature of the encounters presented to him – one popular way of running D&D was to map a bewilderingly labyrinthine dungeon and populate it with a sequence of random foes to defeat, with the focus on combat and reward rather than narrative. A ‘wandering monster’ table remains a popular mechanic in play to this day – a die is rolled, with each number resulting in the appearance of a different enemy. Hickman was baffled by the arbitrary appearance of a vampire in one such encounter, complaining later to his wife Laura Hickman (b.1956) that such an iconic entity surely demanded a more detailed rationale for its existence and its own backstory. Their conversation developed into the creation of Strahd von Zarovich and the world of Ravenloft, informed by the Hickmans’ subsequent research into vampire literature and lore, and replete with his ‘own setting, his own tragic history’.

Ravenloft was an immediate success and the setting continues to be enriched and explored in supplements decades later. The character of Strahd has become iconic among D&D players, his status recently confirmed by his appearance in the final D&D game played by the protagonists of Netflix’s hit show Stranger Things, in the 2026 series finale.