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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gadget" data-source="post: 6854078" data-attributes="member: 23716">You and I read different stories.  Frodo != pre-Ring Smeagol.  Bilbo had the Ring for sixty years without murdering people and turning into a little monster.  True, he was influenced by the Ring, and would have ultimately been corrupted had he kept it, but the fact remains that he fared much better than Smaegol.  From what we are told, Smaegol was not a stand up guy to begin with, kind like a certain Barovian nobleman we all know.Yes, I feel the original analogy is a bit off.  Strahd's lust and desire to possess her is like the One Ring, not the woman herself.  No one is is saying that Strahd was a great guy who would have been fine if only that fickle tart hadn't shown up on the scene.  No one is blaming Tatalya, only saying that she was the catalyst for Strahd's final push over the edge.  There must be some communication problem here, as I'm seeing several 'victim blaming' accusations being thrown around when I'm really not seeing any.  Strahd was not a nice guy to begin with, no one denies this; the tragedy is the unique combination of events, circumstances, choices and desires that combined to push him from cold, bitter despot into dread lord vampire.</blockquote>