My group is currently about halfway through Ghosts of Saltmarsh, and have been delighted with a little side excursion into the Shadowfell. As a result, they're all interested in playing "Curse of Strahd" as our next campaign.
However, I've run into something of an issue: the depiction of the Vistani in CoS. As the Vistani are obviously an analog to the Roma people, I find (and my players will, too) the negative stereotypes historically applied to them are just annoying. Thieves, drunks, beggars, cutthroats, servants of dark powers, etc. I have no problem with *some* of them being such, but it seems like just about all of them in CoS fall into this category.
So, my question is this: has anyone run CoS *without* using these tropes all over, and is it possible to still keep the main themes but have the Vistani much more diverse? I suspect it is, and by adding groups of Vistani to aid the PCs and actively oppose Strahd, I think it should be doable; I just don't want to waste a bunch of time doing re-writes if it's essential that just about all the Vistani are bad-guy ******bags.
First, you can read a bit about Vistani in the original Ravenloft setting, where they were more varied (some may have served evil, most are just trying to live their lives)
Secondly, I''d say make sure the Tser Camp and Vallaki Vistani are kept separate. The Tser Vistani are genuinly interested in helping the players, or, at worst, just aren't particularly concerned, but they might offer useful advise (don't kill ravens, avoid windmills, do not piss of Strahd), whereas the Vallaki Vistani are more hostile. Also, make sure the players remember that Ezmerelda is a Vistani. You might also introduce other friendly Vistani or Half-Vistani NPCs, such as Blinsky in Vallaki.
Overall, try to reimagine the Vistani as a culture that bear no ill will toward outsiders (or Giorgio, as they call them), but mostly keep to themselves, since most Giorgio don't really trust them. If players are cordial or even friendly, a Vistana might be delighted to finally meet a reasonable Giorgio.
First, you can read a bit about Vistani in the original Ravenloft setting, where they were more varied (some may have served evil, most are just trying to live their lives)
Secondly, I''d say make sure the Tser Camp and Vallaki Vistani are kept separate. The Tser Vistani are genuinly interested in helping the players, or, at worst, just aren't particularly concerned, but they might offer useful advise (don't kill ravens, avoid windmills, do not piss of Strahd), whereas the Vallaki Vistani are more hostile. Also, make sure the players remember that Ezmerelda is a Vistani. You might also introduce other friendly Vistani or Half-Vistani NPCs, such as Blinsky in Vallaki.
Overall, try to reimagine the Vistani as a culture that bear no ill will toward outsiders (or Giorgio, as they call them), but mostly keep to themselves, since most Giorgio don't really trust them. If players are cordial or even friendly, a Vistana might be delighted to finally meet a reasonable Giorgio.
Thanks for that - I don't have any of the original Ravenloft stuff, but I'll hunt around for it. It's probably on DMGuild or DriveThruRpg. Good suggestions, all.
Hi folks.
My group is currently about halfway through Ghosts of Saltmarsh, and have been delighted with a little side excursion into the Shadowfell. As a result, they're all interested in playing "Curse of Strahd" as our next campaign.
However, I've run into something of an issue: the depiction of the Vistani in CoS. As the Vistani are obviously an analog to the Roma people, I find (and my players will, too) the negative stereotypes historically applied to them are just annoying. Thieves, drunks, beggars, cutthroats, servants of dark powers, etc. I have no problem with *some* of them being such, but it seems like just about all of them in CoS fall into this category.
So, my question is this: has anyone run CoS *without* using these tropes all over, and is it possible to still keep the main themes but have the Vistani much more diverse? I suspect it is, and by adding groups of Vistani to aid the PCs and actively oppose Strahd, I think it should be doable; I just don't want to waste a bunch of time doing re-writes if it's essential that just about all the Vistani are bad-guy ******bags.
First, you can read a bit about Vistani in the original Ravenloft setting, where they were more varied (some may have served evil, most are just trying to live their lives)
Secondly, I''d say make sure the Tser Camp and Vallaki Vistani are kept separate. The Tser Vistani are genuinly interested in helping the players, or, at worst, just aren't particularly concerned, but they might offer useful advise (don't kill ravens, avoid windmills, do not piss of Strahd), whereas the Vallaki Vistani are more hostile. Also, make sure the players remember that Ezmerelda is a Vistani. You might also introduce other friendly Vistani or Half-Vistani NPCs, such as Blinsky in Vallaki.
Overall, try to reimagine the Vistani as a culture that bear no ill will toward outsiders (or Giorgio, as they call them), but mostly keep to themselves, since most Giorgio don't really trust them. If players are cordial or even friendly, a Vistana might be delighted to finally meet a reasonable Giorgio.
Thanks for that - I don't have any of the original Ravenloft stuff, but I'll hunt around for it. It's probably on DMGuild or DriveThruRpg.
Good suggestions, all.
There's an entire sourcebook, Van Richten's guide to Vistani for 2e