Dungeons & Dragons: Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
Dungeons & Dragons
Published by Wizards of The Coast, Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, it is the Italian transposition of a manual that will allow us to learn to know one of the most dangerous and feared planes of existence in the entire cosmology of the most famous role-playing game in the world. The purpose of this manual is to accompany us "step by step" to those important, dangerous or, simply, characteristic elements that make this setting unique, thus making it easier, and probably lethal, to transmit it to our game table. We point out, as is right, that this volume also marks the return of all the elements of production to the parent company; precisely for this reason we will try to be more critical than the norm, paying particular attention to the translation, an element that from the first day has not failed to stir the spirits of the fans.I first steps in the Mists
As usual, before going to analyze the actual manual, let's take a quick look at the product itself. Honestly, the glance is not at all disappointing: the volume has over 250 pages and from the cover introduces some of the iconic characters of the setting. Passing inside, the positive impression only strengthens: the manual is studded with numerous illustrations of a good level which, in some cases, are really excellent, able to convey the right feeling of horror and terror that should accompany the one that, in some ways, it is the quintessential gothic setting of Dungeons & Dragons.The Many Connections Between ‘Star Trek’ & ‘Dungeons & Dragons’
Getty Chris Pine and the cast of 'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' at Comic-Con International 2022.
Worlds will collide on March 3, 2023, when actors from “Star Trek,” “Avatar,” “Bridgerton,” “Jurassic Park,” “It,” and “The Lair of the White Worm” join forces for the latest big-screen iteration of “Dungeons & Dragons.” According to Variety, the cast of “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” includes Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Rege-Jean Page, Sophia Lillis, and Hugh Grant.
The premise of “Dungeons & Dragons,” according to a short synopsis provided by Paramount Pictures is: “A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.”
The trailer features Pine, Captain James T. Kirk in the J.J. Abrams “Star Trek” features, as a bard named Edgin, according to Variety. He’s joined by a cast with an assortment of “Star Trek” connections. Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga, a barbarian. According to the Internet Movie Database, she starred in “Avatar” as Captain Trudy Chacon, has portrayed Letty Ortiz in the “Fast and the Furious” franchise since 2001, and co-starred in “Alita: Battle Angel.” Alita was played by Rosa Salazar, who, Memory Alpha states, played Captain Lynne Lucero in “Star Trek: Short Treks” episode “The Trouble with Edward.”
Chris Pine Leads the Cast of ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Play VideoVideo related to the many connections between ‘star trek’ & ‘dungeons & dragons’2022-08-05T09:03:08-04:00Other co-stars include Justice Smith, best known for “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu,” and “Jurassic World Dominion.” According to IMDB, he plays a Sorcerer named Simon in “Dungeons & Dragon,” and the actor’s “Star Trek” connections include “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” co-star James Cromwell. Cromwell, according to Memory Alpha, has appeared in “The Next Generation,” “Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: First Contact,” and Enterprise.” Lillis, who IMDB notes starred as Beverly March in “It” and “It Chapter Two,” is cast in “Dungeons & Dragons” as a druid. The young actress, the site confirms, starred in “Gretel & Hansel,” a 2020 horror movie that featured Alice Krige, who originated the role of the Borg Queen in “Star Trek: First Contact.”
Page exploded onto the international entertainment scene in 2020 as Simon Basset in “Bridgerton. According to Variety, he plays a paladin named Xenk in “Dungeons & Dragons.” Page can currently be seen in “The Gray Man,” which features Alfre Woodard, who, as noted by Memory Alpha, played Lily Sloane in “Star Trek: First Contact.” Variety reported that Grant co-stars in “Dungeons & Dragons” as a rogue named Forge Fletcher. One of the British actor’s earliest film credits was the Ken Russell horror movie “The Lair of the White Worm.” IMDB notes that Grant’s next film is “Unfrosted,” which co-stars Christian Slater. Slater, according to Memory Alpha, made a cameo as an Excelsior Communications Officer in “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,” as his mother, Mary Jo Slater, served as the film’s casting director.
Several ‘Star Trek’ Actors Appeared in the 2000 ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Feature Film Play VideoVideo related to the many connections between ‘star trek’ & ‘dungeons & dragons’2022-08-05T09:03:08-04:00“I wasn’t a big ‘D&D’-er, but my nephew, who’s 13, is a huge player,” Variety reported Pine telling fans gathered in Hall H for the “Dungeons & Dragons” panel at Comic-Con International on July 21, 2022. He said the movie “feels open and light and buoyant,” adding “It was an amazing thing to see all my family light up in that way (as his whole family played the game with his nephew). It slowly snowballed and three hours in, you forgot that you didn’t want to (play).
“‘(It’s) one game that should be played in every single high school in the nation,” he continued. “You can get the bully and the jock — of course, I only speak in John Hughes terms — and I guarantee you no one will remember what class they came from. I just wanted to spread the gospel of ‘D&D.'”
“Dungeons & Dragons” is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game, or RPG, that was first published in 1974. A description on the official site for the game, which is currently published by Wizards of the Coast, reads: “In Dungeons & Dragons, the players form an adventuring party who explore fantasy worlds together as they embark on epic quests and level up in experience. The Dungeon Master (also known as the DM) is the game’s referee and storyteller. There’s no winning or losing in D&D, at least, not in the conventional way. At its heart, D&D is a game that focuses on storytelling. The dice just help you along. Everything is your decision, from what you look like, to how you act, to what happens next. The collective creativity in your D&D game builds stories that you’ll tell again and again — ranging from the stuff of legend to absurd incidents that’ll make you laugh years later.”
Several ‘Discovery’ Actors Regularly Play ‘DnD’The game has spawned books, comics, and an animated series, as well as animated and live-action films, and factored heavily into the most recent season of “Stranger Things.” The live-action film “Dungeons & Dragons,” released in 2000, featured three “Star Trek” actors, according to IMDB and Memory Alpha. Zoe McLellan, who portrayed Marina Pretensa, had previously played Tal Celes in the “Voyager” episodes “Good Shepherd” and “The Haunting of Deck Twelve.” Lee Arenberg, who co-starred as the dwarf fighter Elwood, guest starred as five different characters, though mostly Ferengi, in “The Next Generation,” “Deep Space Nine,” “Voyager,” and “Enterprise.” Robert Miano appeared as Azmath in “Dungeons & Dragons,” and had previously guest starred as Frankie Eyes in the “DS9” episode “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang.”
The “Dungeons & Dragons” RPG is also very popular with several cast members from “Star Trek: Discovery.” Since late 2020, during the heart of the pandemic, actors Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Noah Averbach-Katz, Emily Coutts, Ian Alexander, and Blu del Barrio have held regular sessions, inviting fans to join in the fun. They collectively call themselves Disco Does D&D and they live-stream their current campaign on Sundays at 4 p.m. EST on Twitch.
