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

[Charlaquin]

Something I've noticed:

I've listened to at least three actual play games for CoS. All of them have dealt with the hag. None of the DMs ultimately alluded to or revealed that children were being baked into the dreamcakes. Two of the three groups made jokes about it though. Of those two, one of the DMs lapsed into a long silence before carrying on.

I think not using the cannibalism is pretty widespread.

Which gives me hope for humanity.

Anyone else remember the turn of the century where cannibalism was the thing in comics?

The cannibalism part of it actually wouldn’t bother me if it was adults.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Cannibalism always bothers me. It's one of the warning signs of late stage edgelorditis, right before your yes permanently narrow to the point of being completely closed, your feet shrink to the size of thimbles and a series of vestigial pouches grow across your chest, waits and ankles.

 

[MGibster]

If the Abbey is a place laden with "crazy people," that's awfully close to Bellevue, which IIRC is/was a notorious insane asylum. I might be wrong, or @Gradine may be thinking of something else.

Notorious is a strange word to describe what has been described as one of the top hospitals in the United States.

 

[TheSword]

Notorious is a strange word to describe what has been described as one of the top hospitals in the United States.

It’s in poor taste. I also revise my earlier statement that the mongrelfolk brought the alterations on themselves. Their ancestors did but most of the remaining are thoroughly locked away. Funny how ones own alterations to the script stick closer than the originals!

 

[D1Tremere]

The proposed revisions sound fairly solid to me. I would suggest setting it in the Forgotten Realms instead of Ravenloft though, as the dark deeds necessary to get yourself a domain in Ravenloft are necessarily dispicable beyond normal sensibility.

 

[MGibster]

The cannibalism part of it actually wouldn’t bother me if it was adults.

I'm cancelling any dinner plans we might have.

I actually like cannibalism and considered writing about medical cannibalism for my senior capstone class when I was an undergraduate. I ended up writing about medical ethics among barbers, surgeons, and apothecaries in the 17th-18th centuries.

Cannibalism always bothers me. It's one of the warning signs of late stage edgelorditis, right before your yes permanently narrow to the point of being completely closed, your feet shrink to the size of thimbles and a series of vestigial pouches grow across your chest, waits and ankles.

Cannibalism is a part of common fairy tales like Hansel & Gretel. The hags in CoS don't strike me as being particularly edgelorditis to me.

 

[Gradine]

Notorious is a strange word to describe what has been described as one of the top hospitals in the United States.

Nowadays. It does have a past of serving as the model for the traditional "insane asylum", both in the actual, real-life institutions (which were notoriously abusive) and in the horror trope institutions that generally pray on the fear of the mentally ill. Neither is a thing I particularly want to allude to.

 

[prabe]

Notorious is a strange word to describe what has been described as one of the top hospitals in the United States.

My recollection--apparently faulty--was that it was notorious. The very little bit of digging I did at least indicated it was something revolutionary. So ... famous, not infamous (though, as I understand it "notorious" can connote either, it is more frequently used to indicate infamy). I apologize to those more knowledgeable on the topic than I.

 

[Guest 6801328]

My recollection--apparently faulty--was that it was notorious. The very little bit of digging I did at least indicated it was something revolutionary. So ... famous, not infamous (though, as I understand it "notorious" can connote either, it is more frequently used to indicate infamy). I apologize to those more knowledgeable on the topic than I.

You might be confusing it with Bedlam. Maybe?

 

[prabe]

You might be confusing it with Bedlam. Maybe?

I didn't think I was. I mean, I had specific thoughts on the lines of "at least the family name isn't Beddlamm or something." And it's plausible that while it was revolutionary in a good way when it was opened, and it was run with the best of intentions, it was still a horrorshow for the patients (and for any outside observers).

That said, two-syllable names, start with "B." It's certainly possble.