Why Would You Want To Play This?
- A great way to inject something fresh into your Curse of Strahd
- Hundreds of unique encounter ideas
- Great guidance and tips for GMs old & new
- More than you’ll ever use in one campaign
Blurb
Barovian Nights is a compilation of encounters, mechanics and dastardly tricks for use with your Curse of Strahd game.
You can mix and match these features as best you like to fit in with your particular Ravenloft game. This volume contains
101 Random Barovian Encounters, divided by environment, connected to various parts of the Curse of Strahd narrative for added depth and flavour
Unfamiliar Familiars. A list of flavourful ideas for familiars conjured inside Barovia, including an all new familiar – the Wisp
Dusk until Dawn: Some Divine Charms to better show the power and influence of Barovia’s divine forces
Whispers of the Soul: Short, Medium and Long term madness effects tailored to Barovia.
Vicious Circles: Advice on using the option Honor ability score in Ravenloft and the return of Dark Powers checks
Death Wish: Guidance on returning to life by the will of the Dark Powers, and the changes that wreaks on characters
Blood of the Covenant: A re-imagining of the Vistani
Jinxed: Handling Barovia’s inherent misfortune in play, and how to expand that to include curses, hexes and other misfortunes
Gifts Ungiven: Expanded Dark Gifts for the Amber Temple
Dealing with the Devil: An increased challenge statblock for Strahd, including advice on combat and spell choice for your favourite BBEG
As a DM…
This product is just a god-send for DMs whether you’re running Strahd for the first time or the 100th you are going to find some fantastic encounter ideas – more than you’ll ever use in one campaign – and plenty of tips, guidance and suggestions for making your Barovian adventures truly unique. It was wonderful to see the increased stat block there as well – a real time saver if you’re running with a higher level party. Everything was neatly laid out and so clearly presented you could really just pick this up on the fly and dive into it to pull out an encounter or two as you need them. Honestly, it’s a real dream in that respect.
As a Player…
My players for this were a group of dinosaurs who had played in Barovia many many times and met the devil in all his many forms right back since 2e. I’m happy to say they were delighted by all the new encounters and ideas and so joyful to meet a Strahd who was much more of a challenge than he had been in the past!
As a Romani person…
Sadly, the re-imagining of the Vistani is where the product falls short. I will have to be honest and say that (although I adore all Oliver Darkshire’s other products and so was very excited to see where they had gone with this) the Vistani are a racist concept at their core and I wonder if it is even possible to re-imagine them in a way that isn’t going to be hurtful and offensive to Roma. Especially if no actual Roma are consulted in the development of that re-imagining (nothing about us without us please!). I must be fair and say I don’t know if any Roma were involved or consulted in this re-imagining, but it didn’t come across as if they had been.
True, this re-imagining has taken out many of the inherently evil characteristics of the Vistani, and for many players that might be enough. But there is still a lot there that is uncomfortable, even if different reasons are given for it. There is also quite a lot here that is actually contradictory and offensive to Roma culture and belief and so that too is difficult terrain – true, it could be argued that Vistani are not Roma, but as they were originally overtly based on our race, that becomes a disempowering – almost gaslighting – argument.
I think the bottom line with this issue is that turning any race – especially one that is currently being persecuted worldwide – into a fantasy creature with inerrant magical powers is dehumanising. If creators feel comfortable doing that to their own race, that’s up to each individual. But taking another race who are already dehumanised in real life and dehumanising them further (even if the intention is to paint them in a positive light) is not something anyone has the right to do.
I can 100% understand the wish for kind-hearted non-Roma creators to want to make amends for the horror that is the Vistani, I love that they want to do that and I want to put my arms round them and hug them and thank them for feeling that way. This is obviously what Oliver Darkshire has tried to do and I do deeply appreciate that.
But if a non-racist re-imagining is possible I think it can only – and should only – come from Roma ourselves. My personal view is that we should just rid Barovia of the Vistani altogether (and the highly offensive mongrelfolk as well!).
Just to end this section (which I hope has not detracted from the overall message that this really is a wonderful product in every other regard!) I’d like to reach out and give a big friendly wave to any creator / player thinking of changing the Vistani or wanting to include aspects of Roma culture in their games and say “We Roma are here! We’d love to talk to you! We’d love to collab with you! We’d love to give you guidance and help you produce something authentic! Many Roma play and create ttrpgs! We are very approachable! We do not bite! (or curse you XD 😉 ) :D”
Overall…
Please don’t let what I’ve said about the Vistani put you off buying this wonderful product. I had to be honest – I am always 100% honest in my reviews – but if you lay that element to one side (or if authenticity doesn’t bother you – which is fine, game how you game!) then this is a fantastic resource for DMs that will last you through many happy years of Barovian campaigns. It’s beautifully produced, a real time saver and a valuable source of inspiration and guidance for this much loved setting!
Get It Here…
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/279708/Barovian-Nights–101-Ravenloft-Encounters
Glitzy Demon's Dungeon 