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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9496537" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/4GwG6RE.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/product/377183/Countess-von-Zarovich" target="_blank">Product Link</a>Product Type: DMing ToolsCoS-Required? YesEarlier in this thread we covered She Is the Ancient, which built off the idea of making Strahd Von Zarovich a woman and the implications this entails for a campaign. Although far from the only gamer to do this, turning this idea into a fleshed-out paid-for product is quite rare. Countess Von Zarovich is one such book, and whereas She Is the Ancient changed the genders and backstories of far more NPCs in CoS, this book focuses first and foremost on the main villain. In addition to new material, it is a collection of essays, as well as characterization and DMing tips on elements to handle subjects that you wouldn’t ordinarily get with a default male Strahd.Countess Von Zarovich is split into three chapters plus five appendices, with the Introduction discussing the design goals for this book and reasons why DMs might opt for applying Rule 63 to Strahd.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/H0Mu2Wt.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />This chapter covers broader discussions on gender-swapped characters and media portrayals of women beyond just Curse of Strahd. It discusses a history of classic portrayals of vampires in media, particularly female vampires who tended to be more sexualized and also how they were the oldest film portrayals of lesbians in media. It also discusses how female villains (vampire or no) are often less likely to be viewed as irredeemable or predatory by society, and similar topics. In the coverage of Strahd, the book notes that while the original character displays many tropes of predatory men using their power to abuse and possess women, a simple gender change won’t lessen this by default. The book also theorycrafts the idea of Barovia being a patriarchal society, and how that would have shaped Strahd’s formative years. From what obstacles she’d have to overcome into becoming a noted military leader, and to what extent she would accentuate stereotypically masculine or feminine expressions. For this last part, the book has no single right answer, instead asking the DM various things such as whether Strahd would be more comfortable in a suit or dress, would she wear her hair more simple and short or longer and elegant, how this would affect her Vasili Von Holtz disguise, and so on.There’s a sidebar for talking about ways to project a powerful aura as a female Strahd via roleplaying, like avoiding comically high-pitched voices and that she should sound “commanding and arresting, not pleading or suggestive” given her background. There’s also talk on alterations to Strahd’s name, as it has a “strong, masculine-sounding presence” by default, and if she would have been given or later chosen a more traditionally feminine name like Strahdova, Stroya, or Strahd von Zarovichna. The book also goes over some common tropes for female characters, vampires and monsters, and what purpose they can serve and what to look out for. For instance, the portrayal of lesbians as sexual predators in fiction was often done with vampires both for titillation purposes and homophobic messaging. The book thankfully doesn’t say to make Strahd misunderstood or to make Tatyana/Ireena a man to avoid this, but it suggests how the DM can avoid sending bigoted messaging, such as allowing a wider variety of LGBT representation in the module besides Strahd’s unhealthy obsession.The book also talks about how to handle PCs making unwanted sexual advances towards Strahd at the table: basically, the book points out that this would be inferred as a blatant show of disrespect towards the ruler of Barovia in-game, and Strahd is not one to forget such a violation. In other words, it asks how a DM would run a male Strahd being shown such disrespect by a PC. The chapter’s final section talks about “Physical and Emotional Violence,” how different villains in media use coercion and the threat of it to establish their villainous nature. There’s a sidebar noting that the DM should ensure a healthy separation between player and character distress, and ways to avoid making Barovia and the battle against Strahd feel too depressing to avoid player burnout.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/RbVkcgp.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />This chapter talks about larger worldbuilding considerations beyond the personal. For instance, it talks about the possibility of Barovia as a demiplane gradually shifting towards a matriarchal society due to Strahd’s rulership. Beyond just the various town burgomasters being women, it discusses how women would have the final say on major decisions and dominate various businesses. Exceptions are provided, such as the Church of the Morninglord still having male priestly leaders due to a holdover of the Valley before its conquest by Strahd. Or the idea of Vargas Vallakovich being openly defiant against Strahd, as the family patriarchs refuse to bow down to Strahd and women leaders in general. Additionally, a matriarchal society may place greater (perhaps sacred) emphasis on motherhood, leading to situations where pregnant women would be considered untouchable by werewolves and other monsters. And also that the hags of Old Bonegrinder may not be cannibalizing children, but instead harvesting nightmares from captive children to imbue their pastries with magic.Additionally, the book adds a new faction of witches inhabiting Berez, who can exist in a matriarchal Barovia or the standard one, and are known to be a haven for exiled women looking to start a new life. They learned various means of crafting magical trinkets, and parties who get on their good side gain exclusive access to their services, with a sample list of items grouped by rarity and accompanying cost in time and gold to create. There’s also a section on Jeny Greenteeth, a hag from the Adventurer’s League version of Curse of Strahd that acts as a magic service shop. In Countess Von Zarovich, Jeny still serves that purpose, but is instead a powerful human rather than a hag, and in addition to casting spells for gold she also has a 1d20 chart of favors for the party to do in order to finalize the magic. They are appropriately strange and folkloric, such as obtaining 13 strands of hair from Madam Eva’s head, payment in the form of a vial of blood from a beast they killed with their bare hands, or letting Jeny polymorph a PC into a toad for an hour to affectionately pet as she misses her old pet toad.The chapter’s final major section touches upon Castle Ravenloft and its various inhabitants and quests. I won’t go over all of them, but will highlight some significant entries. There is one section that isn’t directly related to the Castle, namely Strahd’s relationship with Tatyana/Ireena. One idea discusses gender-swapping Ireena, and the fact that reincarnation doesn’t necessarily need to always be the same gender. In fact, Ismark may be the one targeted by Strahd’s predations and not Ireena, effectively swapping their roles and backstories.Another idea is that in order to avoid elements of Strahd’s abusive “romance” with Tatyana/Ireena, to instead have it so that Tatyana was Strahd’s biological daughter. She received a disease incurable even by magic, so Strahd made a deal with the vestiges at the Amber Temple in order to save her. But such an act required turning Tatyana into a vampire, who became a monster that Strahd was forced to kill, sending Barovia into the Mists. In this case, Strahd’s goal is not to gain Ireena as a vampiric bride, but to be doomed to kill her daughter again and again. Each time Tatyana reincarnates, she is destined to see Strahd as (quite rightly) a monster responsible for most of Barovia’s woes.Beyond these changes, specific NPCs in the Castle have some noted variants. For instance, Strahd’s brides are given unique personality traits, backstories, and statblocks, the latter being derived from DragnaCharta’s Curse of Strahd Reloaded overhaul guide.* As for Gertruda, a suggestion to avoid sexual predation elements of her originally being charmed into admiring Strahd and awaiting him in his bedchamber, she instead may be a nanny tasked with watching over Zhoya and Kai, a pair of vampire children. Alternatively, Gertruda can be a lady-in-waiting if the gaming group won’t be comfortable with the idea of possibly fighting evil undead children.Zhoya and Kai also get unique backstories and stats, being turned into undead by a former consort of Strahd who believed this would earn her favor. Instead, Strahd was disgusted at forcing such a state upon children and had her locked in a crypt. Zhoya and Kai are treated compassionately by Strahd, who still remain physically and emotionally stunted in childhood and mostly take to crafting new magical toys in order to entertain themselves. Toys which can be dangerous magic items, and possible rewards for PCs who manage to do errands for the two, such as fetching them a state-of-the-art clockwork construct from Blinsky.*And is listed as a cited source in the Appendix for footnotes.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/X1C7RK3.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />This is our final chapter and the shortest one, detailing a birth-to-undeath overlay of a female Strahd’s life. It follows the general story beats of default Strahd, but with some changes. For example, Strahd’s mother was initially infertile, and became so via a potion brewed by Baba Lysaga who surreptitiously put some of her own blood in it to ensure that the child will be magically talented. Or how the King and Queen showed favoritism towards Sergei, and little to none towards Strahd, who grew to resent this. King Barov, however, was himself a cruel man who began to appreciate seeing a bit of himself in Strahd, and sought to fashion her into a ruthless military officer. While she earned respect and fear, it still paled in comparison to Sergei, who was to be crowned ruler. The nobility’s push to have a native family rule over the valley of Barovia rather than a conquering warlord, pushed Tatyana and Sergei to be seen as ideal candidates.Faced with the knowledge she’d never be truly loved and respected for her accomplishments nor gain her heart’s desire, plus her own mortality possibly dooming her to be a footnote in history, Strahd was told about the Amber Temple’s dark magic via Patrina.  Her months of research in that dreadful place placed her on the path towards becoming a vampire, and her extended absence worried Tatyana and Sergei. The two learned of her location via one of Strahd’s friends, who then became angered at this “betrayal.” Another touch is that when Tatyana’s reincarnations are bitten by Strahd, that unlocks prior lifetimes’ worth of memories, which is how Ireena (who was initially fond of Strahd) realized how wicked Barovia’s ruler truly is.There are five Appendices in this book. The first one, the Lilac House, is an optional encounter and location of Tatyana’s original homestead, where it and the surrounding landscape are magically preserved by Strahd to not change and decay from age. It is not particularly deadly, and primarily serves as a means to fill in the backstory of Ireena’s original incarnation, plus a possible Tarokka treasure via the Fortunes of Ravenloft replacement for the Nine of Coins (which would ordinarily be in Castle Ravenloft’s Treasury). The second appendix is a list of women villains in both fiction and the real world, although not all of them I feel are necessarily appropriate for inspiration for Strahd specifically. It feels more like a general listing of “the worst women ever” vs “here’s some female villains who really fit the vampire mastermind mold.”The third appendix is more appropriately relevant, listing some inspirational media of female vampires, and similarly villainesses with supernatural horror themes such as Jennifer’s Body. The fourth appendix is a list of stat blocks for new and altered NPCs, such as Strahd’s consorts (basically vampire spawn but more powerful and with some unique actions and traits like Ludmilla being a druid), Jeny Greenteeth (mage who specializes in a variety of magic), and the vampire kids Kai and Zola (vampire spawn artificer-style mages that can create weapons and construct minions). The final appendix is a series of footnotes, with a handy list of hyperlinks to the original sources and “Go Back” entries that take you back to the page number in which they were first mentioned in the book.Overall Thoughts: Countess Von Zarovich does a good job in outlining the various tips and considerations for a campaign with a female Strahd, and adds onto that with new content. The various design decisions are well thought-out and consistent, while also allowing for leeway and suggestions for the needs of individual campaigns. My major complaints tend to be on the smaller side of things. For example, in a Barovia where mothers and children are given greater protection, I’m not really buying the idea that the Old Bonegrinder coven would be easily able to evade persecution by kidnapping children and harvesting their nightmares as opposed to killing and eating them.I would recommend this book as a useful tool for DMs to mine ideas for a female Strahd. I cannot recommend it for more traditional Curse of Strahd campaigns, as the outright new content such as the witches of Berez aren’t enough to justify buying the entire thing.Comparisons will inevitably be made between Countess Von Zarovich and She Is the Ancient. I reviewed the latter book and overall wasn’t fond of it, so my opinion is that Countess is superior. As to reasons why, it doesn’t try to lessen or have implied sugarcoating of female Strahd’s predatory behavior, and the campaign changes made are more tightly focused, better organized in the book, and don’t make additions simply for the sake of things. There’s also the fact that I found out via the SitA author’s comments on the DM’s Guild page that she used generative AI in making portraits for the various NPCs via the site ArtBreeder. The artwork in Countess doesn’t appear to be made in that fashion and I recognize several of the pieces from traditional tabletop artists, so that’s another point in this product’s favor.And thus concludes my October slew of reviews for DM’s Guild Ravenloft sourcebooks! Barring several days of absence in the final week, I almost managed a near-daily posting rate in covering 21 products. This year has been my most successful one yet in terms of total reviews, and I’m happy that I got the opportunity to share some otherwise overlooked books with readers. Who knows what next year will bring?While I will be taking a well-deserved break for the time being, this month of November I have plans to review Devabhumi, a new 5e/Pathfinder 2e setting based on the legends and folklore of India.</blockquote>

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