Ravenloft and the Domains of Dread are the natural home for Dungeons & Dragons‘ most manipulative, malign, and insidious villains – so rules to have your characters accept horrific devil’s bargains from a Darklord were a stroke of genius… when Wizards released them in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft back in 2021. New D&D book Ravenloft: The Horror Within resurrects these Dark Gifts for 5.5e, with one new one added. Are they worth signing up for, though? Let’s taste the blood of each and test their worth.
As you’ll see from Mollie’s Ravenloft: The Horror Within review, D&D’s first proper release of 2026 has team Wargamer feeling a bit conflicted. On the one hand, it’s full of good stuff, especially for new players. Particularly yummy are the fresh, Ravenloft-flavored additions to the menu of DnD races, and a truckload of phenomenal new artworks.
On the other, many of its game features feel like recycled, partially exsanguinated versions of stuff from Van Richten’s Guide (VRG): popular rules that’ve returned as thinner, less satisfying shadows of their former selves. Sadly, the Dark Gifts are among them.
This new 5.5e iteration has nine possible Dark Gifts: special D&D feats you can take instead of an Origin Feat, that represent “sinister bargains” your characters form with dark entities. The theory is sound, and perfectly matched to the horror setting: when you make a pact with a mysterious evil, the “terms are always clear and their prices terrible”, but in return you get unearthly powers that have a dramatic impact on the game.
Problem is, some of those powers aren’t really unearthly enough to counterbalance their terrible prices – making these Faustian bargains a lot less tempting. Additionally, the narrative suggestions, rolling tables, and nasty consequences of these new Gifts have been heavily streamlined and simplified compared to their VRG versions.
Still, I don’t want to be all doom and Barovian gloom! The Gifts may feel a tad under-written compared to their 2021 forebears, but they’re still a fine way to mold your character to Ravenloft’s frightful surroundings. Read on for our highly scientific ranking of all nine Dark Gifts – based on a combined rating of in-game power, and how satisfyingly spooky they’ll be for tabletop storytelling!
9. Touch of Death
Unquestionably the worst Gift on offer here, in both narrative and power terms. This literally, canonically, just makes you ‘a bit death-y’. You get free access to an OK cantrip, and in exchange you become drastically more likely to die whenever you get downed.
The gift: You learn the spell Chill Touch (melee spell attack, 1d10 Necrotic damage and the target can’t heal for a turn) and can cast it without materials, ignoring Necrotic damage resistance.
The price: You have Disadvantage on death saving throws.
The rating: Atrocious. Conceivably, this is here just so you can take a Dark Gift with a fairly freeform narrative hook and not get left out of the ‘cursed by evil powers’ club, without it needing to have much of a real impact on your character or playstyle. But the trade-off is so abysmal you shouldn’t even take it on that basis. Avoid.
- Spook factor: 3/10
- Power level: 2/10
- Score: 5/20
8. Aberrant Anatomy (New)
The one entirely new Dark Gift in RTHW, Aberrant Anatomy is rather unsubtly themed after the book’s other big innovation: the return of Cthulhu to D&D. Essentially, it makes you an Innsmouth Person (that’s a fish person, for the uninitiated).
The gift: You can hold your breath for one hour; you gain Proficiency and Expertise in Perception; and you gain 15 feet of Blindsight.
The price: You’re physically mutated (gills are suggested) and every time you roll a 1 on any D20 test, you must pass a DC13+proficiency bonus CON saving throw, or your mutation warps further, and you become Stunned ’til the end of your next turn.
The rating: I can see this being put to some interesting use in Lovecraftian adventures, perhaps as a forced consequence rather than a chosen bargain – that could play nicely into a creeping, corrupting fear of a Far Realm horror. Plus, if you’re going to have a lot of quests in and around water, an hour of (effective) water breathing, and extra sharp eyes, could come in very handy.
Is it worth a permanent 5% chance of switching off your character completely for up to two full turns? Not on your fishy nelly.
- Spook factor: 6/10
- Power level: 3/10
- Score: 9/20
7. Echoing Soul
This one forces you to share your consciousness with “a past or alternate life” – a pretty flexible, fertile ground for psychological horror in a character!
The gift: You gain Proficiency in two skills of your choice; you get Expertise in one skill you’re proficient in (changeable each Long Rest); and you know one extra language.
The price: You hear “voices from beyond”, and whenever you roll 1 on a D20 test, you must pass a DC13+proficiency bonus WIS saving throw or be Incapacitated and halve your speed stat ’til the end of your next turn.
The rating: Two extra proficiencies and a hot-swappable expertise is a decent, fairly versatile boost for a skill monkey character, and the sheer variety of fluff you could invent for your competing personalities has lots of spooky potential. Ultimately, though, a permanent chance of 1-2 turn incapacitation every roll is still a too-high, and ultimately just dull cost.
- Spook factor: 6/10
- Power level: 4/10
- Score: 10/20
6. Gathered Whispers
You hear dead people… well, constant otherworldly spirit whispers, anyway. With a little creativity, this one could generate some decent scares – and the powers you get feel a bit better costed, too.
The gift: You learn the Message spell and can cast it without materials. You always have the Augury spell prepared, and can cast it for free once per Long Rest (this lets you get an Omen from the DM about how the next 30 minutes are going to play out).
Neater still, a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus each Long Rest, you can channel your spirits into an “unearthly scream” that adds your proficiency bonus to your AC, plinking off some attacks.
The price: Whenever you roll 1 on a D20 test, you must pass a DC13+proficiency bonus WIS saving throw or be Deafened, and have Disadvantage on ability checks and attacks ’til the end of your next turn.
The price: For me, this one falls straight down the middle on both spooks and utility. The curse of foreknowledge, through the medium of voices in your head, is a pretty storied psychological horror well to drink from, but I think narrating it in-game could lose its shock and thrill pretty quick. Similarly, the power you’ll get out of Message and Augury is super situational and, in my experience, limited. Being able to scream so hard it deflects arrows is very amusing, though.
- Spook factor: 5/10
- Power level: 5/10
- Score: 10/20
5. Living Shadow
NOW we’re talking – your shadow is alive and can act of its own accord, helping you in battle and also sometimes terrorizing you.
The gift: You gain the Mage Hand spell and can cast it without components. A number of times equal to your proficiency bonus each Long Rest, you can use your shadow to extend the range of a melee attack by 10 feet.
The price: Whenever you roll 1 on a D20 test, you must pass a DC13+proficiency bonus WIS saving throw or the shadow takes control of you, making you Incapacitated until start of next turn, at which point it forces you to move randomly, attack a random target, or become Prone.
The rating: With some inspired story crafting on the identity and character of your sentient shadow, this one has some solid spook potential. The cost-benefit analysis on your power is also a little healthier, at least if your character does a lot of melee attacking to make use of that extra range.
- Spook factor: 6/10
- Power level: 5/10
- Score: 11/20
4. Mist Walker
This one’s quite elegant: you get powerful mobility buffs using Ravenloft’s infamous mist, but also the mist wants to kill you.
The gift: You can travel to a known domain of dread as if you had a Mist talisman for it, as long as a Darklord hasn’t closed the border.
Most importantly, whenever you take damage or fail a save against Grappled or Restrained, you can take a Reaction to teleport to an empty space up to 15 feet away (a number of times equal to proficiency bonus per Long Rest).
The price: Every time you finish a Long Rest, you’ll have to travel more than 10 miles away before taking a Short Rest – otherwise, you’ll need to pass a DC13+proficiency bonus CON saving throw or gain no benefits from the Short Rest.
The rating: The spookiness is a little more subdued and middling here, but mechanically you get a good bang for your buck – teleporting out of combat is a potent tool to have in your back pocket, and more importantly the “terrible price” is so much easier to handle (as long as you have a good healer in the party).
- Spook factor: 5/10
- Power level: 6/10
- Score: 11/20
3. Second Skin
You’re a werewolf. Or, at least, a were-thing, that transforms into “a beast, a terrifying avenger, or a walking nightmare”.
The gift: You always have the spell Alter Self prepared, and can cast it for free once per Long Rest (without a spell slot, materials, or requiring Concentration). That spell lets you choose to become a water breathing, gilled, swimming creature; completely mutate your appearance while maintaining your basic DnD size and shape; or grow natural weapons like claws or fangs. There’s a fair amount of utility there, as you’re always able to pick which of the three transformations you get.
The price: Every time you meet a nominated “catalyst” – a certain phase of the moon, familiar sound, or smell chosen when you first take this Gift – you’re forced to cast Alter Self as above. If you’ve already done so this Long Rest, you’re Stunned until start of next turn instead.
The rating: This one gets a strong Spook factor, purely for enabling so many classic horror tropes. The price being something you can mitigate by choosing not to actively transform also opens up some fun roleplay options, especially given the naughty ol’ DM can introduce your “catalyst” at any time.
Unfortunately, it also literally motivates you not to use the feat’s primary bonus, and to fear it instead. Neat for RP hounds, but hardly a powerful enhancement in the game.
- Spook factor: 7/10
- Power level: 5/10
- Score: 12/20
2. Watchers
You’re constantly watched and followed by “something unnatural” – of which “scurrying vermin and other eerie creatures” are suggested. As a result, you get a magical affinity with animals and they help you find things.
The gift: You always have the Beast Sense and Speak with Animals spells prepared, and can cast each for free once per Long Rest. You also get to add 1d4 to all ability checks as part of Search actions.
The price: Whenever you roll 1 on a D20 test, you must pass a DC13+proficiency bonus WIS saving throw or you’re overwhelmed with paranoia, getting Disadvantage on all D20 tests for one minute (10 rounds). You can repeat the save at the end of each turn to shake it off, mind. You also get Disadvantage on saving throws against the Scrying spell, which should come up once every two billion years.
The rating: Nice and spooky, on the whole; being followed by creepy things forever is going to be a constant source of anxious tension, and potentially some great story hooks too. Power wise, it’s mid. Your trade off isn’t as punishing as some other Gifts, but that Dr. Dolittle act and room-searching buff is nothing special either.
- Spook factor: 7/10
- Power level: 5/10
- Score: 12/20
1. Symbiotic Being
Your body is host to another living being, that can aid you but has its own nefarious ends. This one has serious fright factor – with all kinds of body, psychological, and existential horror avenues open to you – but it’s also one of the most mechanically impactful of the bunch, in both the boon and bane columns. This is closer to how Dark Gifts should work, in our opinion.
The gift: When you fail a saving throw, you can spend a Hit Dice, roll it, and add the number to your save (a number of times per Long Rest equal to your proficiency bonus). For classes with massive hit dice, this means your symbiote could really save your bacon when your weakest saving throws pop up.
You also get Proficiency in Arcana, Deception, History, Intimidation, Insight, Investigation, Nature, Religion, Perception, or Persuasion, plus an extra DnD language.
The price: Whenever you roll 1 on a D20 test, you must pass a DC13+proficiency bonus WIS saving throw or you become Charmed for 1D12 hours. While you’re charmed, the DM acts as the Symbiote and gives you instructions, which you must follow. BUT you get to re-roll the save to try and escape it every time you take damage.
The rating: That’s what I’m talking about – a properly scary condition for your character to be in, balanced against a genuinely useful set of benefits, with an ever-present pitfall that’s going to be terrifying, but in a narratively satisfying, DM guided way. Streets ahead of the boring, feels-bad Incapacitations on offer with other Gifts.
- Spook factor: 8/10
- Power level: 6/10
- Score: 14/20
And that’s your lot – the Darklord Wizards of the Coast has forged nine Dark Gifts for mortal men, deep in its fortress of Seattle. And, while a lot of the effects have been flattened since they appeared in Van Richten’s Guide, there’s still some good, chilling fun to be had with them.
Disagree with our rankings? Got a favorite dark bargain you’re eyeing up for your next campaign? Come join the free Wargamer Discord community and let us know!
Source: Wargamer
