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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8797991" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.*****.com/MiFuGr7.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/product/352469/Barovian-Born-and-Raised" target="_blank">Product Link</a>Product Type: Character OptionsCoS-Required? YesGenerations of gamers have experienced Barovia in all of its gothic glory. PCs from all manner of campaign settings, from the fertile heartlands of Solamnia to the bustling marketplaces of Waterdeep, have taken the fight to Strahd Von Zarovich to free the people from his gloomy tyranny.But why does it have to be adventurers from out of town? What if Strahd’s end is not brought about by the aid of foreign saviors, but Barovians who bravely rise up to overthrow the Von Zarovich legacy?Or maybe when playing Curse of Strahd one too many PCs die, and it feels too strange to keep importing ever more adventurers to join the party by happenstance.In either case, it sounds like your next PC should be Barovian, Born and Raised!Player Primer is the player-facing side of the screen, covering races, classes, and backgrounds and how they can be incorporated in the creation of authentic Barovian characters. We start out with some common knowledge of the territory followed by the mentioning of Lore Handouts in the back appendices. These detail things that would be common knowledge to Barovian characters, with Barovian Lore a handout to which everyone has access. Further handouts provide more information, such as handouts for Vistani, dusk elves, druids, PCs living in one of the three major population centers, etc. This is helpful, in that PCs in a typical Curse of Strahd campaign are unaware of things taken for granted by large portions of the population, so it’s good to outline what is likely to be in-character knowledge for indigenous PCs.We next talk about the Races of Barovia. As a small, human-majority land, there isn’t the diverse array of species in more high fantasy realms. Such races may be allowed, albeit with DM permission and not enough that they’re the majority of the party. Humans are the most common, separated into ethnic Barovians, Vistani, and the Mountainfolk who live up in the Balinok Mountains as herders. The other allowed races include Aasimar who are extremely rare but bear some connection to the Morninglord; the Dusk Elves, who Strahd genocided and doomed the survivors to a slow demise; Tieflings, who have some touch of fiendish influence; and Goliaths, who aren’t in the default adventure but are suggested for this book given the harsh lifestyle of Barovia. Barovian Goliaths live in the Balinok Mountains, split into two tribes who are now hostile towards each other after a war against a silver dragon. They predate Strahd’s arrival to the land, tasked with guarding a sanctum of dark power in Mount Ghakis. Then some individuals of their precursor tribe betrayed their mission and stole power from the sanctum, eventually bringing the wrath of the Order of the Silver Dragon.Each of the major Barovian races discusses their brief history in the domain, where they were most likely raised, and a d6 Call to Arms table for sample reasonings for adopting the adventuring life and taking the fight to Strahd. The Vistani Call to Arms table is the same as the Mountainfolk, which is likely an error as the Vistani’s table explicitly references aspects of Mountainfolk culture.Heirs to Ruin are the wild card for a PC who wants to be a dragonborn, gnome, or some other option not covered here. In this case, they’re descended from an outlander adventurer who perished in Barovia, but not before siring children.<img src="https://i.*****.com/DSSmnAJ.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />As for classes, all 12 core classes plus the Artificer are available to Barovian PCs, although some are more common to certain subcultures than others. For example, Rangers and Rogues are most common among dusk elves and Vistani, while Druids are common among the Mountainfolk. There’s even brief listings for subclasses and their likely origins, although not all are appropriate so some aren’t covered, and many of them tie the characters to existing characters in the module. For instance, a Bard part of the College of Creation may have been hired by Strahd himself to paint an image of Tatyana with the threat of undeath if they fail to “capture her beauty.” Needless to say, they succeeded. A Ranger part of the Hunter Conclave likely knows of the wolf hunters of Vallaki, while the Monster Slayer likely would’ve read one of Van Richten’s famous works.Artificers are most likely to be inspired by the works of the historic Fritz von Weerg, the legendary inventor who created a clockwork automaton, or were inspired by some other notable living craftsmen such as Gadof Blinsky. Barbarians are souls who inherited a legacy of buried rage and violence prevalent in Barovian culture, such as being cursed by a witch or one who bonded with a fiend during a botched sacrifice by a cult. Bards find their talents in high demand in Barovia, but also breed resentment as their beautiful creations are painful reminders of that which has been lost. Clerics are most likely to either worship the Morninglord or Mother Night with appropriate domains listed, although Vistani clerics are freer to pay homage to foreign gods. The mountainfolk hold the most powerful Druidic traditions in Barovia, and the traditions were practiced by many dusk elves and even some Barovians. Fighters are so mundane and common that they’re more likely distinguished by a general background via a Feat of Strength table, although some subclasses have sample suggestions such as the Psi Warrior being supposedly haunted by a poltergeist or the Rune Knight finding magical runes at a stone menhir.Monks are rare and mostly the descendants of the Abbey of Saint Markovia before it fell to Strahd’s forces. Paladins are doomed heroes of hope in a world that no longer yearns for heroes, and most of their Oaths revolve around Strahd or the monsters infesting the country in some way. In the Oath of Conquest’s case, they may even seek to dethrone Strahd and become ruler of the land, while the Oath of Redemption seeks to make the vampire lord confront his own errors before sending him to the grave. Rangers are a vital resource to all cultures in Barovia, although the dusk elves and mountainfolk sport the most in being the most experienced with the horrors beyond the village walls. Rogues all bear some form of extraordinary luck, for thievery is a capital offense in a land where so many have so little. Some roguish archetypes tie the character to an organization, like Inquisitives being witch-hunters for the Church of the Morninglord or an Assassin being a potential recruit for the Ba’al Verzi before their recruiter wound up dead. Sorcerers can appear in any culture but are often exiled for fear of their talents, and the most appropriate origins tie into the setting such as Draconic for Argynvost or Wild Magic being descended from a powerful wizard of the past. Warlocks are sadly common in spite of the death penalty for consorting with dark forces, for the lack of hope can drive many to do the unthinkable. Several of the otherworldly patrons can be encountered as NPCs in the adventure, although their identities are detailed in the next chapter. Finally, wizards are rare as the facilities necessary for their training are few and far between. Still, some of Barovia’s greatest figures are wizards, including the Devil Strahd himself. Instead of detailing backstories for specific schools, suggestions are given from a table of who their mentor or master is most likely to be.Backgrounds have greater importance for Barovian PCs. A table is given for character hooks tied to the backgrounds, such as a Soldier being a Vallakian guard who’s been ordered by Baron Vallakovich to hurt innocent people on a few occasions, a Guild Artisan being a former apprentice of the Wizard of Wines who got fired for inquiring too much into how the vineyard remains so fertile, or the Noble being the last living descendants of the Dilisnya lineage. Additionally, further charts and tables are given for determining or to be picked on a PC’s parental figures, siblings, their family’s great shame, causes for death of loved ones, and even some possessions and property such as gothic trinkets, the details of their home, strange pets or beasts of burden, and even a magic heirloom the family got lucky to possess!<img src="https://i.*****.com/8Gc4TLt.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Behind the Screen details things from the DM’s side. The hidden mysteries and campaign spoilers for the prior chapter, as well as detailing what NPCs are most likely to be relevant allies or enemies based on a PC’s class, race, and/or background. For example, an aasimar PC is the reincarnated soul of a famous Barovian from history such as Saint Markovia herself or even Sergei Von Zarovich. While Father Donavich is likely to see them as a sign from the Morninglord, the Abbot of Krezk will view them as competition to undermine, for how can he shine brightly when another torch is burning away the darkness?There’s a lot of things to cover, but will pick out the more interesting parts and cover broad terms. For instance, a DM who wants goliaths to have a greater role in Curse of Strahd can reflavor the druids of Yester Hill into being a clan who worships Strahd. The small population of Barovia means that Human PCs are likely to be related to one or more major NPCs (which is covered in Chapter 1) or even famous lineages of Barovian history, allowing for some additional adventure hooks. As for Vistani, the book recommends that the Vistani don’t have the Evil Eye ability, but only evil ones who embraced foul forces, and suggests that their culture is retconned to be unaware of the nature of Barovian souls. For dusk elves, a female of the race is certainly disguised in order to avoid Strahd’s wrath, and Rahadin will make a great archenemy for them. Tieflings frequently face fear and suspicion by other Barovians; the night hag Morgantha may even make a deal with that PC, to curse them so that no one will ever truly see or remember their face in exchange for expanding her dream pastry business throughout Vallaki.For Classes, relations are recommended much like races but also possible miniature events and quest hooks. An artificer’s late master may have been cursed to possess Strahd’s animated armor and may appear at least twice during the campaign; the barbarian may be tasked with retrieving the Blood Spear of Kavan at Yester Hill; Clerics will most certainly end up involved with the religious figures of the Barovian communities, although likely an adversarial one with the Abbot of Krezk; Druids may have one of the nature-themed groups as an archenemy, like the witch Baba Lysaga or the druids of Yester Hill; Strahd will be eager to pit the party in situations that test a paladin PC’s oath; an Arcane Trickster Rogue may be sought after by Vallaki’s powerful families to gain control of the town; in the case of Warlock patrons, the Archfey may actually be Morgantha’s coven of night hags, the Fathomless may be an aboleth or rusalka living at the bottom of Lake Zarovich, and a Great Old One is one of the Dark Vestiges in the Amber Temple. The Hexblade patron may be either the Raven Queen, or their weapon is a Ba’al Verzi dagger forged by Leo Dilisnya to murder Strahd, and the weapon now houses the doomed nobleman’s soul.The Backgrounds are shorter but go into more detail in how they’ll trigger during the campaign. The Guild Artisan knows the layout of the Wizard of Wines and was hired by Urwin Martikov to look into the family’s recent silence, while Izek Strazni may seek to murder a Soldier in fear of his position being threatened. There’s also a section for Family & Friends, explaining encounters of how Strahd and/or his minions will threaten the loved ones of PCs to try and wear away their resolve, like casually mentioning their work schedule and when they go to bed, up to kidnapping and murdering them to turn into vampire spawn.<img src="https://i.*****.com/L2tcEVI.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Citizens of Strahd is another DM-centric chapter, covering the adventure proper for things the PCs are likely to experience as a group rather than individual backstories and hooks. The first is how to begin the campaign; the book suggests starting the PCs at 3rd level as this grants them their subclass abilities which can thus be tied into their backstories. Instead of coming into Barovia via the Mists, the PCs may have been part of the angry mob lead by Mordenkainen to assault Castle Ravenloft (in which case the rebellion was one week ago rather than one year), the PCs begin as prisoners in a wagon transport Skyrim-style to be taken as sacrifices to Castle Ravenloft before an accident causes their wagon to careen off of Tser Falls, or Strahd hiring the PCs via his human disguise Lord Vasili Von Holtz to find Tatyana and to travel to the Village of Barovia to meet one of his contacts. Strahd’s doing this because prior attempts at getting her to his side via minions have failed, so instead he seeks to defy fate by having would-be heroes do so instead. But of course that doesn’t go as planned, for their contact is found dead at the River Ivlis Crossroads, slain by werewolves.Three sample Special Events are given that tie into certain character races. [spoiler=Miscarriage]One involves a grieving father approaching an aasimar in hopes of them resurrecting their stillborn child, followed by Baron Vallakovich’s guards trying to arrest him for “malicious unhappiness.”[/spoiler]The book does say that this event can be triggering, so DMs should ensure player comfort ahead of time.The other two events involve a party with a dusk elf or a mountainfolk human. The former is where Rahadin and some evil Vistani assault the dusk elf settlement to finish off what Strahd started after the party has become too much of a thorn in the Count’s side, while the latter has a warlock from the mountainfolk’s past come to settle an old score.Mysteries of Barovia is our final section, detailing hidden facts of the world that the PCs can come across or already know. In a typical Curse of Strahd campaign, almost everything about Barovia will be new; but in this case such facts are separated into two categories. Lore covers information natives will already know, such as the Mists which seal Barovia from the outside world, while Arcana covers things that only are revealed during the course of play such as the secret order of wereravens fighting Strahd’s rule. A lot of these are already covered in Curse of Strahd proper, but I will mention one interesting change Barovian Born & Raised makes: instead of 90% of the population being soulless, it should be 10%. The book says that this change amplifies the horror and makes it more of a suspicion than a widespread acceptance by the populace.Overall Thoughts: Unlike other books I reviewed so far, Barovian Born & Raised is fluff-heavy, providing material that is more DMing advice for an alternate campaign style. But rather than being sparse and vague, the fluff here is thick and delicious! The book gives plenty of material in tying the PCs to Barovia in a far more intimate way than the default adventure, and gives them higher stakes in overthrowing the Devil Strahd than outside adventurers. The suggested lore integration of various races and subclasses can be of use to non-CoS campaigns set in Barovia as well, explaining how they can be justified in the world in a seamless way.Join us next time as we head aboard Eberron’s haunted train ride on Escape From the Cyre 1313!</blockquote>

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