The Shadow Rift

by William W. Connors

For many years folk have gazed into the churning black vapors of the Shadow Rift and wondered at the horrors that might lie within. Some have speculated that it might be a realm of the doomed, where tortured spirits suffer the hours of eternity. Others have speculated that it might be an empty domain, waiting for the arrival of a master who is evil enough to claim it and shape it in his own image. Even the mysterious Vistani do not know what secrets are hidden in the depths of this gaping chasm. Now, the time has come for the veil of shadows to be parted. Loht, king of the shadow elves, has reclaimed the mighty Sword of Arak. With this relic, he intends to set in motion a plan that has take thousands of years to form. He will throw open that very gate of darkness and invite one of mankind's greatest enemies to walk the land of the living. And if he is not stopped, the rivers of Ravenloft will run red with the blood of the innocent.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons

Paperback

First published April 20, 1998

Reviews

[Ανδρέας Μιχαηλίδης · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow... This is... stunningly badly written, especially as it bears the signature of William W. Connors, who wrote and contributed to many excellent Ravenloft books.

Ravenloft is one of my favorite settings for AD&D (and homebrew D&D 5E - the new official setting is trash), if not THE favorite one, and I tend to bristle when I see haphazard approaches to it.

The whole background of the Shadow Rift is a poorly subverted concept ported from Mystara (despite claims that this is untrue) and sort of combined with Drow, while retconning Tristessa into it. It is shoddy, and the backstory of Gwydion, Loht and Arak is shoddier still. It brings to mind the first worldbuilding attempts of a teenager.

Of course, that is not to say the book is useless, as one can cannibalize it for some information and creatures, as well as use the domain in very, VERY broad strokes in order to create something that makes sense.

Note that this is the WotC transition era, when a LOT of things went wrong, but still, that is no excuse for the many editorial errors this volume sports besides everything else.

[Dennis A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find most Ravenloft fans either love or hate this supplement. I rather enjoyed it. The Shadow Rift is part adventure and part supplement which details the area of the Shadow Rift in the core for the 2nd Edition of the AD&D game. The Rift is home to the Arak, the dread domains version of dark elves. The rift is a dark wonderland where the horror lies in the strange and bizarre. The setting is made to send your players into this dark fantasy land the dark version of the Feywild if you will. And the final boss is a creature so powerful the fight is actually done more with theatrical roleplay as opposed to an out and out fight and the way the battle ends may determine the fate of this realm and the core. Like most modules the DM will have to do some work to make it their own but I feel this book has a ton of cool information and adventure scenes that there’s a lot here to mine for details.