The heroes of Ravenloft come in many forms. Some heroes, like barbarians and fighters, are well suited for battling physical foes. Spellcasters, like clerics and sorcerers, wield their numerous talents against more spiritual threats. Some heroes, such as bards and rogues, can be invaluable during investigations or exploration.

Class features altered by the Mists are listed below. This list is not exhaustive for all classes. Ask the DM for further.

Barbarian

Villages huddle in the frozen wastes of Vorostokov. Nomads wander the burning sands of the Amber Wastes. Tiny homesteads struggle to beat back the cyclopean forests of Verbrek. Life for the people of these communities is a daily struggle against unforgiving terrain. Their clans need hunters, warriors, and protectors — and the most powerful of these is the barbarian. Lone barbarians can also be found in other lands, where they live as solitary hermits or mountain men and avoid the noise of civilization. Among the monstrous races, barbarians are believed to be relatively common among lycanthropes and the larger goblinoids.

Barbarians respect physical prowess above all else; they eschew the practiced combat techniques and "dirty tricks" of the fighter, seeking to win their battles through sheer force. Any education a barbarian receives comes from folktales heard at an elder's knee, so most barbarians are intensely superstitious. The Voros of Vorostokov, for example, believe that written words inherently contain evil magics.

The folk of more "enlightened" cultures view barbarians as uncouth at best or drunken berserkers at worst. Tales are whispered of unsuspecting travelers who fell afoul of inbred barbarian clans who would sell the pelts of anything they could catch.

Barbarians usually adventure to test their might, to gain power, or to protect their lands and family.

Altered Class Features

• Barbarian Rage: This operates as stated in the Player's Handbook. However, barbarians enjoy an additional +4 bonus to Fear, Horror, and Madness checks while enraged. Barbarians not currently in the throes of rage when one of these checks arises do not gain the +4 bonus.

Bard

Bards tend to hail from more civilized lands, where travel is easiest and audiences are most receptive. Bards in Ravenloft may take the form of traveling storytellers who offer news of distant lands, often in highly embellished form, for a hot meal and a few coins. In some cases, bards are tortured performers whose talent is barely distinguishable from their madness. These bards maintain their fragile grip on sanity by channeling their feverish imaginations into their art — and into the forces of magic. Bards are also commonly associated with Vistani entertainers — particularly those of the Boem tasque — who entrance audiences with their swirling dances and the frenzied music of their violins.

Many bards, regardless of birthplace, aspire to study at the famed bardic colleges of Kartakass. For a bard, little in life yields more prestige than to be admitted to the Harmonic Hall or to perform in Harmonia's amphitheater.

Bards are restless creatures who wander from one audience to the next. As such, their calling often appeals to those who lack communal ties, such as half-elves or giogoto.

As entertainers, bards are often adept in the fine arts of diplomacy and can be invaluable in gaining the trust of local villagers in strange lands. Most bards consider themselves observers of the world and seekers of new experiences and sensations.

Altered Class Features

• Spells. Some spells function differently in Ravenloft.

Cleric

Clerics bear the sacred responsibility of carrying the divine message of their patron deity to his mortal followers. Of course, in Ravenloft, this message is as likely to be the Lawgiver's ceaseless demands of obedience or Zhakata's ravenous cruelty as it is to be the words of hope offered by deities like Ezra or the Morninglord. Clerics in Ravenloft may be the shepherds of their congregations, adventuring to remove the faithful from danger, or they may be itinerant priests, preaching the word of their god in the earnest hope of converting new followers to their faith. Then again, they might be depraved cultists, secretly carrying out the obscene mandates of their foul patron.

If your cleric is an outlander, non-native to Ravenloft, consider how the unspoken pact influences them and their views on their faith.

Altered Class Features

• Spells. Some spells function differently in Ravenloft.
• Channel Divinity: Turn Undead. Undead have Advantage on their saving throws.
• Destroy Undead. Undead are only destroyed if prevented from fleeing from the cleric by the best and fastest means available to them as their next action.

Druid

Druids are the pagan practitioners of a truly ancient religion who revere and draw power not from any deities, but from nature itself. According to tradition, the first druids entered Ravenloft with the domain of Forlorn, but they spread to many other lands in the centuries that followed.

Druids are the guardians of the untamed wilds. Most druids are secretive about their faith and avoid civilized lands, for good reason: not only do druids find the cities of mankind unsettling, they often face hostility from ignorant locals. Most folk in Ravenloft know of the druids only through the filter of folklore, and they often confuse druidic magic with witchcraft, a feared and poorly understood form of magic said to be the plaything of hags. To avoid danger, many druids pass themselves off as clerics of "modern" gods when passing through settled lands. Druids strive to preserve the purity and balance of nature. Many claim that the Lands of Mists are out of balance, tainted — or even overrun — by seeping, unnatural evil. Most druids adventure to eliminate these sinkholes of evil, restoring the natural balance and fearsome beauty of their beloved wilderness.

Altered Class Features

• Spells. Some spells function differently in Ravenloft.

Fighter

Fighters are "everyman" heroes: men and women, lacking in any supernatural gifts, who prefer to face their obstacles head on. Fighters can be found in every settled domain and can fill any niche requiring martial skill and physical prowess. They serve as armored knights in Darkon, Nova Vaasa, and the Shadowlands, and toil as soldiers in Falkovnia's armies, but their ranks may also include anything from a constable or a bodyguard to a thuggish bandit, or even just a peasant with long practice in defending her livestock from cunning wolves.

Fighters tend to adventure for clear-cut, "mundane" reasons. Like anyone else, they seek to better their stations in life and secure their happiness. A fighter might adventure to seek fame and fortune, to pursue justice or vengeance, or she may simply follow her own moral imperatives. Fighters are often invaluable when battling physical threats, but without magical aid, they can find themselves all but helpless against some unnatural foes.

Monk

In some ways, monks have much in common with clerics. They primarily concern themselves with matters of the spirit. Unlike clerics, however, monks place little faith in higher powers. A monk turns her eyes inward, seeking to use strict discipline, intense meditation, and focusing exercises to perfectly purify her spirit (or ki) and, through it, her flesh. Monasteries dedicated to this pursuit are nestled in the exotic realms of Rokushima Taiyoo and Sri Raji. In the latter domain, the monks (called fakirs in the Rajian tongue) test their inner strength by inflicting sometimes-grotesque physical punishments on themselves, such as piercing their flesh with iron skewers and hooks. The monk tradition also exists in the lonesome city of Paridon, where the local adherents have melded it with occult lodge traditions to create the "theological philosophy" they call the Divinity of Mankind.

Tales also exist of lone monks who wander other domains. Rather than joining monasteries, these monks often learn under a single master and pass on their teachings to a single apprentice.

Monks are keenly aware that they live in a world brimming with carnal and spiritual temptation. Those who choose to adventure do so to set themselves against these honeyed barbs, knowing that inner strength means nothing if it is never tested. Some monks are selfish, purifying their spirits in the pursuit of power, but other monks wander to help steer those souls who lack the enlightenment to protect themselves from corruption.

Altered Class Features

• Purity of Body. This ability does not protect against the effects of a closed domain border.
• Empty Body. This ability does not allow a monk to pass a closed domain border.

Paladin

No one in Ravenloft simply decides to become a paladin. They are extremely rare, the chosen ones of divine forces, selected for their spiritual purity. These divine forces imbue paladins with holy powers, appointing them to champion the meek and deliver justice to the forces of darkness. Paladins tend to see Good and Evil as living, elemental forces that should be easily divided into black and white. Of course, true paladins understand the difference between the pure, unremitting evil of a vampire and the misguided wrongs of a drunken bully, and they react appropriately. Paladins blinded by hubris quickly become servants of the Dark Powers.

The divine forces that grant a paladin her special abilities are as faceless as the Dark Powers themselves — in fact, they may well be the Dark Powers. Evidence exists, however, that paladins are an aberration in the grand tapestry the Dark Powers have woven for themselves. Paladins posses extensive, powerful gifts in their personal life-quest against the forces of evil, but in many ways the deck seems stacked against them. The Dark Powers may seek to destroy paladins in their realm, or it may be that the Dark Powers are enraptured with the potential paladins hold, and they simply provide them with fitting challenges.

Paladins native to Ravenloft usually ascribe their divine powers to the prevailing deities of their homeland. They almost never adventure simply for the pursuit of lucre or personal gain: they seek out and battle evil because they know it is the right thing to do.

It is the rare paladin indeed who dies of old age in Ravenloft; many become fatalistic as they proceed through life, knowing that the examples they leave after their deaths will be as important as the actions they took in life.

Altered Class Features

• Spells. Some spells function differently in Ravenloft.
• Divine Sense. Any intelligent celestial, fiend, or undead that would be detected by this power may make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + Paladin's proficiency bonus + Paladin's Charisma modifier) to avoid detection. Unintelligent undead receive no save. This ability can also detect Innocents (no save).
• Divine Health. This protection is not inviolate in Ravenloft. Darklords and curses are powerful in the Realm of Dread. As such, the paladin is not immune to diseases spawned by these sources. This ability does not protect against closed domain borders.
• Aura of Protection. The paladin also applies this as a bonus to attempts to improve the reactions of good NPC's (effectively counting the Charisma bonus twice). However, this is a penalty when attempting to improve the reactions of evil NPC's (effectively negating the Charisma bonus).
• Aura of Courage. The paladin remains immune to magical fear but is not immune to "natural" Fear saves. The bonus from Aura of Protection still applies.
• Disruption. As a paladin's powers grow in strength, they begin to disrupt the very planar fabric of the evil-tainted world around them. Darklords can sense the presence of a paladin in their domains as they would a festering wound on their own body. With a successful Perception check (DC 25 - the paladin's level), a darklord can detect the location of a paladin within their domain within a one-mile radius ("in that town" or "in the woods west of this keep"). The darklord can make this check once every 24 hours.

Ranger

Like the barbarian and druid, rangers are most at home in the wilderness. Unlike those classes, rangers are often welcome in civilized lands, particularly rustic communities where the wilds press close. Like druids, rangers strive to maintain an uneasy balance between nature and civilization. Where the druid protects nature from the intrusions of mankind, however, rangers often guard humans from nature's savagery. In untamed lands like Vorostokov, they may hunt game to provide for their clans or scout out new territory. Rangers in settled lands are usually employed as game wardens for noble estates. In Sithicus, elven rangers patrol the deep forests astride monstrous stag beetles, hunting evil creatures and discouraging foreign visitors. Most folk consider rangers somewhat rustic, but their skills are generally respected.

Rangers are master trackers and scouts. Rangers usually adventure to eliminate dangerous beasts and other menaces from their chosen territories. Some patrol the wilds to protect or provide for their homelands. Others, particularly lycanthropes, prey on humanity, becoming more dangerous than any beast.

Altered Class Features

• Spells. Some spells function differently in Ravenloft.

Rogue

Like fighters, rogues are an "everyman" hero, lacking any supernatural gifts. Where the fighter prefers confrontation, however, the rogue prefers to solve problems through intellect and guile. A rogue knows that there's no point in battling a chamber full of zombies if you can find the secret passage that bypasses them. With their extensive expertise in skills and their impressive bag of tricks, rogues can be invaluable when creeping through ancient tombs or interacting with suspicious NPCs. Rogues are commonly associated with thieves and tricksters, but they can just as easily be explorers, investigators, or even a mere — if sharp-witted — townsperson.

Rogues often adventure in the name of personal gains; they like to know "what's in it for them”. The rewards a rogue fights for may be wealth or political power, but a rogue is just as likely to adventure to ensure the safety of a loved one or to gain the satisfaction of a mystery solved.

Sorcerer

Sorcerers are born with inherent magical powers. Depending on one's point of view, this may be a fantastic gift or a wretched curse. As a rule, the denizens of Ravenloft are highly suspicious of any beings with inherent magical powers, viewing them as both more and less than human. Common folktales, however misguided, claim that sorcerers are changelings left by the fey, or reviled practitioners of witchcraft, or even that they gain their powers through trafficking with fiends. Sorcerers are known to be common among Vistani women; the spell lists of Vistani seers are almost exclusively drawn from the schools of divination and enchantment. Male Vistani who exhibit sorcerous powers are killed at once, lest they grow to become Dukkars.

No sorcerer asks to be born with magic in her blood, but adventurers who continue to advance in the class have chosen to further develop their talents. Even so, sorcerers are wise to reveal their magical gifts only to those they trust.

As supernatural anomalies themselves, sorcerers are often fascinated by other strange phenomena. Sorcerers frequently adventure to explore the world's unnatural mysteries, seeking to unravel the riddle of their own existence.

Altered Class Features

• Spells. Some spells function differently in Ravenloft.
• Familiar: A sorcerer's familiar is a Dread Companion.

Warlock

Some gain power through study, some through devotion, others through blood, but the warlock gains power from her communion with the unknown. Generally feared and misunderstood, the warlock draws her magic from a pact made with an otherworldly power. Communing with that source, the warlock gains not only a host of spells, but a number of strange abilities known as incantations. As a warlock grows in power, she might learn about the source of her magic, but some remain blissfully unaware. Some are even afraid of that source, fearful of what it might be or where its true purposes lie.

While many warlocks are recluses, living on the edge of civilization, some live within society, openly or in hiding. The blend of warlocks' spells makes them adept at filling a number of different roles, and their incantations grant them a number of abilities that are useful in a fight. Some warlocks travel about, seeking greater knowledge and better understanding of the mysterious powers that guide them.

Altered Class Features

• Spells. Some spells function differently in Ravenloft.
• Familiar: A warlock's familiar, if they have one, is a Dread Companion.

Wizard

What a sorcerer gains through reluctant birthright, wizards must earn through years of toil. Wizards can call on arcane magic to bend reality to their will — they can change one creature into another, animate the dead to serve them, or summon eldritch forces to smite their foes. They command all this without even the veneer of spiritual guidance divine spellcasters receive. Endless years of study and research, combined with their need for forethought, often result in wizards developing at least mildly obsessive and controlling personalities. Some wizards grow drunk on their own power or are corrupted by the evil forces inherent in their spells and begin to think they are the sole arbiters of their fate.

Wizards are respected or even admired in some domains, such as Darkon and Hazlan, but often conceal their arcane powers in less accepting lands. Wizards can be found in nearly any domain, however, often lurking in remote towers or secretly using magic to further their goals in other arenas.

Adventuring wizards know that the study of arcane magic is a great temptation but that the rewards are just as great. Although wizards lack the physical prowess of many other adventurers, their spells can harm creatures of the night that laugh at the mightiest swing of a fighter's sword. Wizards often adventure to learn new arcane secrets and add to their power.

Altered Class Features

• Spells. Some spells function differently in Ravenloft.
• Familiar: A wizard's familiar is a Dread Companion.