Cthulhu is officially coming to Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards of the Coast's preorder page for Ravenloft: The Horrors Within has revealed that Lovecraft's Innsmouth will join the book as a brand-new Domain of Dread, with the Great Old One expected to serve as its Darklord, complete with a full combat stat block.
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Start organising for freeThe 288-page sourcebook, releasing 16 June, profiles 16 Domains of Dread in total. Fifteen return from previous supplements, but Innsmouth is entirely new, drawing on H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth to bring cosmic horror into D&D's gothic setting. Lovecraft's key works entered the public domain in 2024 (95 years after publication), clearing the way for Wizards to use the material without licensing complications. Earlier editions of D&D included Cthulhu in the original 1980 Deities & Demigods, but the content was voluntarily removed after negotiations with Chaosium, the publisher of Call of Cthulhu.
The book also delivers on player options. Seven subclasses join the roster, headlined by the Reanimator Artificer, which lets you build and upgrade your own Frankenstein-style companion as you level up. The Hollow Warden Ranger is the other entirely new subclass, while five more return in updated form from previous sourcebooks: the Phantom Rogue, Shadow Sorcery Sorcerer, Undead Warlock, Grave Domain Cleric, and College of Spirits Bard. Four playable species round out the character options: Dhampir, Hexblood, Reborn, and the Lupin, a wolf-folk species with darkvision, a natural slashing attack, and proficiency in Perception, Stealth, or Survival.
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See how it worksThe book also includes 17 Darklords with stat blocks (including the returning Lord Soth from Dragonlance), 68 monster stat blocks, 17 one-shot adventures, and 47 maps. D&D Beyond Master Tier subscribers can access it digitally from 2 June, two weeks before the physical release on 16 June. The standalone book is priced at $59, with an Ultimate Bundle at $149.99.
Preorders opened on 13 April, and community reaction has been mixed. Some players are thrilled at the idea of fighting Cthulhu at the table, while others question whether a 1920s New England fishing village fits alongside Barovia's gothic castles. Either way, the Great Old One is getting a stat block, and your party is going to need a bigger boat.
Sources: EN World | Wargamer | EN World Preorder Details | Bell of Lost Souls
