D&D Scares Up New Subclasses for Ravenloft: The Horrors Within

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Wizards of the Coast has recently unveiled new information on its upcoming sourcebook Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, which is coming out in June, but available for pre-order now from local game stores, D&D Beyond and on Amazon.

Designed for both DMs and players, the book also includes seven brand new subclasses. These consist of: the College of Spirits Bard, Grave Domain Cleric, Phantom Rogue, Shadow Sorcery Sorcerer, Undead Patron Warlock, Hollow Ward Ranger and Reanimator Artificer. Of these, however, only the last two are new to D&D 5.5E, with the other five subclasses previously appearing in either Xanathhar’s Guide to Everything, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. It’s also worth noting that all of them recently appeared in the Unearthed Arcana Horror Subclasses playtest which was launched in May 2025.

So are these new Ravenloft character options worthy of the Domains of Dread? Below, we dissect all the grizzly details.

What are the new subclasses in Ravenloft: The Horrors Within?

Below are all seven of the new 2026 Ravenloft subclasses. Where applicable we’ve called out which are new and which are updates of already existing subclasses from the existing D&D 5E rules. Notably, the features listed are taken from the 2025 Horror Subclasses UA, so may change in The Horrors Within (will update this page with a complete list once the book is released).

Reanimator Artificer (New)

Reanimators are essentially the Dr Frankensteins of D&D, defying the laws of nature and creating undead Companions stitched together by science and sorcery who release an explosion of necrotic energy when destroyed. Notably this is a brand new subclass, having never before appeared in any D&D sourcebook.

Key Features

• Strange Modifications: When creating your Companion, you can grant it specialized traits such as acting as an arcane conduit for your spells or attacking with increased ferocity.
• Improved Reanimation: You can further evolve your Companion to be bloated for crowd control, gaunt for superior mobility and fear, or wet for aquatic combat and acid defense.
• Promethean Reanimation: You master the science of life, halving the cost of revival components and gaining the ability to siphon your Companion’s magic to heal yourself.
• Reanimator Spells: You always have a thematic list of prepared spells, including False Life, Animate Dead, and Raise Dead.
• Jolt to Life: You can modify the Spare the Dying cantrip to revive a target with 1 Hit Point while releasing a burst of lightning damage to nearby creatures.

College of Spirts Bard (Update)

Bards of this College use occult trappings to conjure legendary spirits from beyond the grave to influence the world. These entities can, however, be cruel and untrustworthy, and the effects they produce are not always entirely under your control. This is an update of a subclass that appeared in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft.

Key Features

• Spirits from Beyond: By expending Bardic Inspiration, you channel a random spirit to provide immediate magical effects such as healing, teleportation, or psychic damage.
• Mystical Connection: You gain greater mastery over your summons, allowing you to roll twice on the spirits table and choose your preferred effect.
• Channeler: You gain the Guidance cantrip and proficiency with playing cards, which you can use as a spellcasting focus.
• Empowered Channeling: You gain a bonus to your damage and healing rolls and can cast a modified version of Spirit Guardians that provides cover to allies.

Grave Domain Cleric (Update)

Clerics of the Grave shepherd spirits to the afterlife and maintain the boundary between life and death. They often seek to destroy the undead while staving off death for those who still have work to accomplish in the world. This is an updated subclass that first appeared in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything.

Key Features

• Divine Reaper: You can target two creatures with certain necromancy spells and heal nearby allies whenever an enemy dies.
• Circle of Mortality: You deal extra necrotic damage to bloodied creatures and automatically use the highest possible rolls when healing a creature at 0 Hit Points.
• Grave Domain Spells: Your connection to this domain provides always-prepared spells like Bane, Revivify, and Hold Monster.
• Path to the Grave: You can use Channel Divinity to curse a foe, giving them disadvantage on rolls and making them vulnerable to a massive burst of extra damage.
• Sentinel at Death’s Door: You can use your reaction to halve the damage of an attack hitting yourself or a nearby bloodied ally.

Hollow Warden Ranger (New)

Hollow Wardens draw power from ancient, bloodthirsty terrors lurking in the dark, deep places of the earth. They can also transform themselves into monstrous guardians capable of tearing their foes apart. This is a brand new subclass for D&D 5E and 5.5E.

Key Features

• Wrath of the Wild: Casting Hunter’s Mark triggers a monstrous transformation that increases your AC and creates an aura that hinders enemy actions.
• Rot and Violence: Your transformation deals extra necrotic, poison, or psychic damage and allows you to apply multiple weapon mastery properties simultaneously.
• Ancient Endurance: You become immune to exhaustion and can expend spell slots to stay conscious when your Hit Points drop to zero.
• Hollow Warden Spells: You gain access to a specific list of nature and horror-themed spells, including Wrathful Smite and Spike Growth.
• Hungering Might: You gain a bonus to Constitution saving throws and heal yourself when hitting enemies while you are bloodied.

Phantom Rogue (Update)

Phantom Rogues walk the veil between life and death, infusing their strikes with necrotic energy and stealing secrets from the souls of the departed. This is an updated subclass that first appeared in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.

Key Features

• Tokens of the Departed: You manifest soul trinkets from the dead that grant defensive bonuses and can be expended to cast spells or power your features.
• Wails from the Grave: When you deal Sneak Attack damage, you can cause a second nearby creature to take necrotic damage from the wails of the dead.
• Death’s Friend: Your wails of the dead become more powerful, and you automatically regain soul trinkets when rolling for initiative.
• Whispers of the Dead: You can consult a ghostly presence after a rest to temporarily gain proficiency in any skill or tool you lack.
• Voice of Death: You gain the ability to cast Speak with Dead without using a spell slot or requiring components.
• Ghost Walk: You can assume a spectral form that grants flight, makes you harder to hit and allows you to move through solid objects.

Shadow Sorcery Sorcerer (Update)

These sorcerers claim lineage from the Shadowfell or have been transformed by its sinister energies. Their magic allows them to command darkness and undeath itself. This subclass first appeared in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything.

Key Features

• Umbral Form: You can transform into a shadowy figure with damage resistance, incorporeal movement and the ability to survive fatal blows.
• Eyes of the Dark: You gain superior darkvision and blindsight, and you can see through the darkness created by your own spells.
• Shadow Spells: You have a list of always-prepared spells like Darkness, Summon Undead, and Greater Invisibility.
• Spirits of Ill Omen: You can cast Summon Undead for free and can modify it to last without requiring your concentration.
• Shadow Walk: While in dim light or darkness, you can use a bonus action to teleport up to 120 feet to another dark area.

Undead Patron Warlock (Update)

These Warlocks serve and gain their powers from terrifying undead Patrons (such as liches or vampires). It’s worth noting that this is an update of a subclass that first appeared in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft.

Key Features

• Form of Dread: You transform into a terrifying avatar, gaining temporary hit points and the ability to frighten creatures you hit.
• Superior Dread: Your transformation is enhanced with a fly speed, component-free spellcasting and the ability to heal when dealing necrotic damage.
• Undead Spells: You always have prepared a suite of necrotic and psychic spells, including Speak with Dead and Cloudkill.
• Grave Touched: Your necrotic damage ignores resistance, and you no longer need to sleep, eat, or breathe.
• Necrotic Husk: You gain resistance to necrotic damage and can trigger a massive explosion that heals you when you are reduced to zero hit points.

Final Thoughts

The seven new Ravenloft subclasses seem intriguing and fit well within the Ravenloft aesthetic. That being said, it is a bit disappointing that five of them are existing subclasses we’ve already seen before and it feels a bit like Wizards of the Coast is retreading familiar ground in the Domains of Dread.

The final version of these new players options will be coming out in June within the pages of Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, which you can pre-order now from local game stores, D&D Beyond and on Amazon.

More D&D News Coverage

For more from the world of Dungeons & Dragons, visit our D&D News page.

Subscribe to D&D Fanatics

Get exclusive D&D news, reviews and rules updates delivered right to your inbox.