D&D 5E Sanitizing Curse of Strahd (+)

[MGibster]

Are there entire tables that see "these guys are dying out cause Strahd killed all the women" and then just shrugging their shoulders and saying "sucks to be them". There are groups where not a single person thinks "what can we do to help?" Because the adventure as written provides only one solution for them, and that's "revive this woman to help them repopulate"

I think they're doomed even if they revive Patrina. After all, Patrina's goals are to become a powerful vampire like Strahd.

 

[Gradine]

It doesn't take a lot of imagination, no. But in the printing of CoS I have, Kasimir's motives are explicitly spelled that he wants to save his sister from eternal damnation. There's nothing in there that he wants her to be the mother of their race.

Kashmir is not the entire remaining population of his species. I'm sure he's just thinking about saving his sister. Anybody else thinking "Save the Dusk Elves" is a side quest can come to only one solution. And it's gross.

Maybe it wasn't intended by the writers; maybe it was an error of omission, where the writers stinky failed to think through the implications of this fairly significant plot point that otherwise gets left dangling. Either way, it's not a great look.

 

[MGibster]

Kashmir is not the entire remaining population of his species. I'm sure he's just thinking about saving his sister. Anybody else thinking "Save the Dusk Elves" is a side quest can come to only one solution. And it's gross.

I've run Curse of Strahd twice and the players never considered saving the Dusk Elves. They had been in this state for centuries and there really isn't anything they can do for them. But I wouldn't be surprised if some groups thought they had to save them somehow.

 

[IndigoTraveler]

PC's: So we convinced your dame to hook back up with ya Count S. Can we ask a favor?

Strahd: Of course! Anything for my new found friends who did me a solid. Blah Blah Blah.

PC's: Can you revive the Dusk Elf chicks?

Strahd: No: out of the question! blah blah blah

PC Bard: WE did you a solid man!!

Strahd: Okay, blah blah blah, fine. (snaps fingers).

The entire party is turned into female Dusk Elves

PC Bard: I swear, for once, it ain't my fault guys!!

 

[Gradine]

Regardless, this discussion is off-topic. At best, the implementation of this plot point is extremely unsatisfying, and at worst it is disgusting. I would like to turn this into a story where my PCs can make a positive impact, and hopefully without condemning a single woman to a lifetime of forced breeding.

I am looking for solutions for this. I'd prefer to change the "all women were killed" plot point, and I absolutely want a definite solution to the problem. Tied to the Amber Temple, if at all possible.

 

[MGibster]

I am looking for solutions for this. I'd prefer to change the "all women were killed" plot point, and I absolutely want a definite solution to the problem. Tied to the Amber Temple, if at all possible.

Well, the adventure is Curse of Strahd. How about a curse over the Dusk Elf women that placed them in a death-like sleep similar to Snow White? Maybe each one of the elves in a village has these women sleeping in their little huts being taken care of with the hopes that they'll awaken one day?

 

[Mistwell]

They tried, but it's not nearly enough. Frankly, "fixing" the Vistani involves removing them entirely, Roma stereotypes and all, which WotC would frankly, depressingly, never get away with. That the "Roma" are part in parcel with the Gothic Horror genre is depressing enough, the fact that they're so inextricably linked with the setting is worse.

Looks like enough to me. Hopefully helps some people improve their game. Sorry it's not enough for yours but thankfully this thread is full of a lot of additional ideas.

 

[Guest 6801328]

"Right, so the plan is: we escape Barovia and seek out every Deck of Many Things in the multiverse. We bring the decks back to Barovia and give them to the Dusk Elves. Then we all cross our fingers."

 

[Charlaquin]

Precisely... I’m seeing a lot of extrapolation. I’m not entirely sure that Izack is specified as being incestious either. The word they use is ‘unwholesome’ which can apply to a lot of unhealthy relationships. Not least of which is locking a person away in a room as stated by the book.

Now you can play it that way. Though I had Izek by the brother of a female PC with an unknown origin similar to @Charlaquin simply because it was more engaging than yet another person be after Ireena.

A lot of the issues are springing from the fertile minds of readers. Not that this is a problem, or rather it’s a PICNIC... Problem-In-Chair-Not-In-CurseofStrahd.

Part of thinking critically about the media you consume is considering underlying messages, not only explicit textual content. Izek’s feelings towards Ireena are pretty clearly implied to be incestuous (though he doesn’t know she’s his sister). And Kasimir’s motivation doesn’t need to be to use Petrovna as breeding stock for the notion of her being the only female dusk elf to squick people out.

 

[Charlaquin]

Looks like enough to me. Hopefully helps some people improve their game. Sorry it's not enough for yours but thankfully this thread is full of a lot of additional ideas.

They changed almost nothing in the book. If the errata was “enough” to fix the Vistani for anyone who thought they needed fixing in the first place.