Recent content by Dire Bare

Are we getting hung up on the word "heir"? In the novel, there most certainly is an "heir" of Strahd, but . . . (spoilers) Darklords aren't supposed to be able to flee their prisons in the mists, although some have managed it. Strahd knows this and constantly strives to find and bind Tatyana...

The Ravenloft setting, starting with the original Ravenloft module was never gothic horror. It was from the beginning, a blend of gothic horror and D&D, two seemingly incongruous genres that shouldn't work together, but do. Not always smoothly, certainly, but wonderfully. But claiming the author...

Okay. Very clever.

Who said it was a happy ending? It is very much not. Nice assumption though. Sheesh.

Some third party publishers do just that, but . . . most don't. And the reason is obvious, folks like options instead of restrictions. Folks like the classics being available, perhaps with a twist, but also enjoy new options.

There are sci-fi games that do something similar, allowing players to create their own alien species. I wouldn't mind such a thing in D&D as an option, but not a part of the core experience. D&D fantasy races give players the, well, fantasy of being an elf, dwarf, or hobbit, plus the races...

There is a lot of weird energy in this thread, isn't there. :(

I don't remember from your earlier posts . . . have you read the book? It is a horror book with horror moments and themes. How horrifying the narrative is, well, YMMV. The initial scene just after the group meets is pretty horrifying, IMO. And when the party travels to Lamordia on the macguffin...

"Demonization of white American males"?? Okay.

Eh, I don't see it that way, but I suppose you see what you want to see.

For blurred spoiler text: Click on the first "More options" button which opens a submenu. On the far right is "inline spoiler" which looks like a domino mask kinda. You can also surround your text with HTML codes "ISPOILER" Does the novel retcon Strahd's curse? No, I don't think so.

The dedication reads, "Perkins led us for decades, then abandoned us. He is dead to us now."

First, this isn't a "monster party". Drow, tieflings, orcs, and kenku haven't been "monsters" for a while now. They are people. That's a shift some folks aren't happy with, but . . . oh well. IMO, this party in "Heir of Strahd" and also the party in "The Fallbacks: Bound for Ruin", the party...