I've been playing Dungeons and Dragons (5th Edition) for 2 years straight now and while I did play a few games of early additions way back in the day I barely remember them (pretty sure I was a generic blaster mage of some sort) 5E is definitely my primary D&D experience. In comparison i've been playing Magic the Gathering on and off since the mid 90s and continuously since the early 00s so while I am a big fan of both games I am definitely more of a MTG player by nature and it's from that perspective that i'm writing this article.
As a long time MTG player who also plays D&D when Wizards of the Coast (the company that produces both MTG and DnD) announced that they were doing a full setting book crossover featuring the popular MTG plane of Ravnica I was of course very excited and couldn't wait to get the book myself. And over the last 6 or so months I was the Dungeon Master (DM) for a group of 5-7 friends using the setting.
The Lore
In terms of the MTG timeline the Ravnica D&D setting is based on Ravnica after the 2nd Ravnica block (with Jace the Living Guildpact). This means that the setting can be run using the full MTG lore leading up to the events of War of the Spark, but personally I prefer to think of it as a parallel reality using the same starting point but not necessarily having the same future events. The MTG settings (which also include Theros which I will likely do an article on down the line) are technically not part of the traditional D&D universe but are their own universe that just happens to use the same gameplay mechanics, but this could be easily homebrewed differently allowing a DM to use the Ravnica setting in an inter-planar D&D campaign.
Magical additions ,,,
The setting adds many uniquely MTG based things into D&D, Races like the elephantine Loxodon folk, the MegaMind-like blue skinned Vedalken and the magically/genetically engineered Simic Hybrids are all unique to MTG and others like Centaur, Minotaurs and Goblins while existing in some versions of D&D have a distinct MTG and Ravnican style to them. There's also a couple of new D&D subclasses - the Order Domain Cleric which is strongly influenced by the Azorius Guild and the Circle of Spores Druid which is likewise inspired by the Golgari Guild.
Guild Backgrounds
The setting also brings with it unique backgrounds for each Guild, these backgrounds give magic users access to Guild themed spell lists and by gaining renown (a little used option 5E rule which gets a lot of love in this setting) a character's position, job title and perks with their guild increase as the campaign goes on (this includes powerful perks like the ability to summon soldiers to help you, or the right to be given Guild magical items like Signets, Charms and Keyrunes). They also include useful contact tables for creating background NPCs (each character built this way will end up with a Guild ally a Guild Rival and a Contact from another Guild).
Running a game
For me one of the best things about the setting is the options it provides for campaigns, The setting itself is high magic, high magical technology, high civilization with a world spanning city as the background (seriously Ravnica is all city, the nature is overgrown city, the wastelands are rubble filled ruins and even underground the city is mainly built on the Ruins of older parts of the cities). Which is nice and allows for a lot of pop culture style concepts that wouldn't work in a typical D&D setting (for example a crime noir style campaign with Azorius and Boros detectives tracking down Goblin criminals with Mafia style Orzhov connections). Each guild provides a unique experience either as a setting or as the campaign villain (my campaign had a terrorist Simic Biomancer and was heavy on the monster creation themes and had in game references to things like the Island of Dr. Moreau).
Above 4 MTG cards which have item/NPC/Monster counterparts in the setting. Below 4 oof the 10 Guild Charm cards from the Map Pack.
The Monsters
What's a good setting (MTG or D&D) without some great monsters and Ravnica luckily has an abundance. Ravnican versions of Demons, Angels, Lich', Giants, Vampires etc. all exist alongside more uniquely MTG based monsters like the insectoid Kraul, divine Felidar and bio-engineered Krasis. The last of which (Krasis) are my favorite monsters from the setting, they come in 3 size varieties and each Krasis has 1 of 8 minor and 1 of 8 major adaptions giving them a lot of variety. If you are looking for a good monster which won't be easily meta-gamed against (like the typical oh it's undead hit it with Radiant) then Krasis is the monster for you.
The NPCs
Another big win for Ravnica is the NPCs, each of the 10 guilds has a Guild leader (a super powerful NPC like Niv-Mizzet of the Izzet Guild) and a number of normal Guild member NPCs for different in Guild positions. Some NPC types also come with special perks like the Rakdos Carnival which with enough Rakdos performers (6 or more) draws a crowd and creates a unique portable lair complete with pyrotechnics and regional mental effects.
The items
MTG has many wonderful items usually represented by equipment or auras and the setting book has done a good job in making them into D&D items. From simple things like Guild Keyrunes to notable equipment like Sunforger there's a lot of good options many of which can easily be ported to other settings/campaigns.
Bringing the Magic?
The setting of Ravnica is one of MTG's most popular, with its Guild system, Legendary characters, locations and lore (plus many format defining MTG cards) there's many good reasons that people love the setting. So did this D&D version manage to capture what makes Ravnica special? In my opinion, yes it did. The distinctly different guilds are all there, the powerful Guild leaders and other special characters show up as Monsters/NPCs and there are many special items, locations, abilities etc. which are uniquely MTG and Ravnican.
Bonus: Maps and Miscellany
In addition to the main setting book there was also a supplementary map pack for Ravnica. The pack contains maps for all the precincts in the Tenth District (the main hub city of Ravnica), schematics for many different Ravnican building styles (very useful foor designing encounters and for when your players use background abilities which give them design knowledge) and it also comes with a set of cards for the Guild Charms (special one use magical items often given out to guild members undertaken important missions). I'm not sure I can fully recommend it (it retails for around half the cost of the actual setting book) but as a MTG fan and a DM who ran a campaign in the setting I like having a copy.
I hope that you enjoyed this 1st, of what should be many articles about D&D. TabletopLG will be back with more MTG and other articles next time. Feedback, comments, questions always appreciated.
All images are originally the property of Wizards of the Coast and are used in this article for review purposes only.