With Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft recently come out, it was inevitable that people start becoming fascinated by the Dark Deals. While there are plenty of options to get down and dirty with an evil patron, there are a few gifts that soar among the rest.

Which of these will prove the most powerful in the lands of the dead? Let’s take a look.

Misty Travels

With a traveler’s spirit, you can go anywhere. The Misty Travels feature allows you to traverse through the Mists of Ravenloft, and every other Dread Domain, with ease. You act as a Mist talisman to any Dread Domain that you wish to access. The only thing that can get in your way is if the Dread Lord of a plane locks access to the plane. You also gain access to the Misty Step spell if you did not have it previous.

The one big downside is that the world around will make you suffer for the deal you have made. You can stay in one area within a 10 mile radius for a number of weeks equal to your Constitution modifier. While this is pairs well with a traveling Bard, I think this is best played by a character who desperately wants to stay with their loved ones. It adds a dimension of tension that could lend to some great roleplay moments.

Touch of Death

Touch of Death allows you to deal some damage whenever you grapple or strike a target with an unarmed attack. When grappling, you deal 1d10 additional necrotic damage, and unarmed strikes can deal anywhere from 1d10 to 5d10 necrotic damage based on your level. This gift is especially useful for Monks, who will be able to absolutely destroy an enemy from the inside out.

As the mechanic and name suggests, this Dark Gift makes it extremely dangerous for anyone to touch you. It doesn’t matter if it’s an ally, an enemy, a random creature. If they touch you, there is a good chance that it’s going to kill them.

There are plenty of ways that this kind of gift could cause the character strife – not able to touch loved ones, not able to interact with people in a way they find meaningful, etc. Just make sure to lean into these moments. While very useful, this Dark Gift will have huge psychological repercussions on a character.

Symbiotic Nature

Ah yes, the Dark Gift that Eddie Brock took. Paid off well for him, hm?

The Symbiotic Nature gift is all about making friends with the thing that lives inside you. Whether it was placed there by you or someone else, this gift gives you a little friend who is living inside your body at all times.

This gift allows you to gain one additional skill proficiency that your Symbiotic friend would have knowledge about. Also, since your new bestie doesn’t want you to die, you are able to add its hit dice rolls to your saving throws if you fail on a check. If you activate this ability on a death save, then you immediately gain one hit point.

The only downside is that your new buddy isn’t a nice creature – not all the time anyway. It is constantly trying to pressure you into performing something it wants to accomplish. Whether you agree of not is up to you, but don’t think it will give up easily. If you’re not careful, it has the ability to charm you for up to twelve hours. A lot of stuff can happen within that time…

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