D&D 5E Curse of Strahd 'Revamped' Boxed Collector's Edition

If you're in the market for a revamped (geddit?) edition of Curse of Strahd (which is my favourite of all the D&D adventures so far) in a coffin-shaped box with additional material, you're in luck!

This boxed set is coming out in October and costs $99.99.

There's a whole bunch of stuff included:

• Updated softcover of the adventure itself, including errata and presumably some of the other adjustments to Vistani talked about recently.
• A short 20-book of monsters called Creatures of Horror.
• Double sided poster map of Barovia and Castle Ravenloft.
• A Tarokka deck and 8-page booklet.
• Handouts for players.
• A dozen 'postcards' from Barovia.
• A DMs Screen.

Updates to the original adventure include errata, minor tweaks, and sections of text which have been identified as problematic regarding the Vistani.

IGN has a video looking inside the box.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Oh man, that they were. Loved In On the Kill Taker

Fugazi is also a really great band from the 1980s and '90s.

Anyway, yeah, the stereotypes used for the Vistani are 100% applied to the Roma. I've seen that first-hand in my travels.

 

[Marandahir]

I understand the need for some of the changes with the Vistani. I don't understand why living outside of civilization was bad. That's not the same as uncivilized.

Also the drunken part / scense. These are not all the Vistani, but one group who are stuck in the mists and living in that dreadful world probably had an effect on them. That's why they started to drink. Some of those scenses must have been really funny, a shame they changed them. Maybe a better change would have been to change them to non-vistani bandits and they could have left the drunkenness in.

By the way, ist the Roma being drunkards a real stereotype? I can't imagine that they drink more than the average European.

Also, these are one group of Vistani, but they're the only exposure 5e has to Vistani thus far. Your first encounter with a new group of people defines the baseline, from which later encounters can deviate.

For example, "All Dwarves are All the Same" emerged because Tolkien's 13 dwarves were interchangeable and had rhyming names, with the exception of Thorin, who was alone and different because he was the important one. The 1950s adaptation got rid of all the other dwarves. The 1970s adaptation made all the dwarves look interchangeable and hard to distinguish by sight. The 2010s adaptation made each Dwarf different and memorable in their own way, but at the cost of vastly expanding the early chapters of the book to take up an entire film (and then expanded the roles for Elves and Men later on to make this a trilogy rather than a single film). Likewise, in 2001-onward popular fiction, all Dwarves speak with Scottish accents because John Rhys Davies gave Gimli a Scottish accent and thereby set the standard for modern fantasy fiction depictions of Dwarves.

Early D&D players' first encounter with Drow was during G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King. The scheming, secretive force behind the Giants' alliance set the standard for their understanding of the Dark Elves. But ever since 1988, new fans have always thought of Drow instead as entirely Chaotic Good rebels, yearning to throw off the reputation of their evil kin, carrying standard issue dual scimitars. This speaks to the strength of archetype introduced to new players through Salvadore's writing (and through many cameo appearances in alternative media to TTRPGs).

D&D Orcs weren't usually green. But Warhammer Orks are, and by simile, Warcraft Orcs are. So now D&D Orcs are green, because that's what people expect Orcs to look like.

This box set (and reprinted book) is the first chance for many new players to meet the Vistani. It shouldn't be a racist caricature. This group needs to be representative, because it's going to be seen as representative regardless.

 

[Reynard]

Also, these are one group of Vistani, but they're the only exposure 5e has to Vistani thus far. Your first encounter with a new group of people defines the baseline, from which later encounters can deviate.

For example, "All Dwarves are All the Same" emerged because Tolkien's 13 dwarves were interchangeable and had rhyming names, with the exception of Thorin, who was alone and different because he was the important one. The 1950s adaptation got rid of all the other dwarves.

Wait, what?

 

[jasper]

Wait, what?

I agree what what what 1950s version? IM Films Based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Novels - IMDb

 

[Charlaquin]

Also, these are one group of Vistani, but they're the only exposure 5e has to Vistani thus far. Your first encounter with a new group of people defines the baseline, from which later encounters can deviate.

To be fair, the adventure kind of expects Luvash’s camp to be the second or third group of Vistani the players encounter. By the time they get to Vallaki they should have at least encountered Madam Eva’s camp at Tser pool to get the Tarokka reading, and depending on which hook you use, they may have encountered a Vistani caravan before that who brought them to Barovia in the first place.

 

[stadi]

Also, these are one group of Vistani, but they're the only exposure 5e has to Vistani thus far. Your first encounter with a new group of people defines the baseline, from which later encounters can deviate.

For example, "All Dwarves are All the Same" emerged because Tolkien's 13 dwarves were interchangeable and had rhyming names, with the exception of Thorin, who was alone and different because he was the important one. The 1950s adaptation got rid of all the other dwarves. The 1970s adaptation made all the dwarves look interchangeable and hard to distinguish by sight. The 2010s adaptation made each Dwarf different and memorable in their own way, but at the cost of vastly expanding the early chapters of the book to take up an entire film (and then expanded the roles for Elves and Men later on to make this a trilogy rather than a single film). Likewise, in 2001-onward popular fiction, all Dwarves speak with Scottish accents because John Rhys Davies gave Gimli a Scottish accent and thereby set the standard for modern fantasy fiction depictions of Dwarves.

Early D&D players' first encounter with Drow was during G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King. The scheming, secretive force behind the Giants' alliance set the standard for their understanding of the Dark Elves. But ever since 1988, new fans have always thought of Drow instead as entirely Chaotic Good rebels, yearning to throw off the reputation of their evil kin, carrying standard issue dual scimitars. This speaks to the strength of archetype introduced to new players through Salvadore's writing (and through many cameo appearances in alternative media to TTRPGs).

D&D Orcs weren't usually green. But Warhammer Orks are, and by simile, Warcraft Orcs are. So now D&D Orcs are green, because that's what people expect Orcs to look like.

This box set (and reprinted book) is the first chance for many new players to meet the Vistani. It shouldn't be a racist caricature. This group needs to be representative, because it's going to be seen as representative regardless.

This is great reasoning, I can get bihind this.

 

[stadi]

6 of one, half a dozen of the other, if you ask me. It implies that their own culture doesn’t count as part of civilization.

Maybe I understand this differently. Civilization is the static thing (villages, towns) and outside of civilization are the wanderers who do not want to stay put. Back then (before the modern times) that was probably a conscious choice, not necessarily a good or a bad thing, just a different (like hunters / gatherers vs farmers). So actually, for me that's a synonym to wanderers. Be removing it, they not not take anything away. Being wanderers still means the same. And is still not a negative one in my eyes. But I might be naive here.

 

[Charlaquin]

Maybe I understand this differently. Civilization is the static thing (villages, towns) and outside of civilization are the wanderers who do not want to stay put. Back then (before the modern times) that was probably a conscious choice, not necessarily a good or a bad thing, just a different (like hunters / gatherers vs farmers). So actually, for me that's a synonym to wanderers. Be removing it, they not not take anything away. Being wanderers still means the same. And is still not a negative one in my eyes. But I might be naive here.

The idea of romani “wanderlust,” traveling out of a desire to stay separate from “civilization” is a romanticized notion, which erases the reality that they are often forced out of “civilization.” It is very rare that people live on the road by choice, and far more common that it is a necessity due to generational poverty and racist policy. And it’s not as if the Vistani don’t have long-term settlements (see the camps at Tser Pool and Vallaki).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Likewise, in 2001-onward popular fiction, all Dwarves speak with Scottish accents because John Rhys Davies gave Gimli a Scottish accent and thereby set the standard for modern fantasy fiction depictions of Dwarves.

I'd say Warhammer has a lot to do with it as well.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Civilization is the static thing (villages, towns) and outside of civilization are the wanderers who do not want to stay put.

As someone whose family had to move constantly because my father was in the government, I find this a pretty odd definition. (I was in middle school before I ever lived anywhere more than two years and one year was the norm.)