#milan lyudmilovich

[ankoku-jin]

CoS Shenanigans, Vallaki Edition

Canon: Some people in Barovia behave oddly or have a flat affect because they don't actually have souls (bizarre, grossly ableist)

My players, who are entirely queer and ND: Barovia just has a higher rate of neurodivergency, possibly enhanced by the relative isolation of the population over hundreds of years (plausible, doesn't make people with clearly ND characteristics out to be soulless and evil)

Party Conclusion: Strahd von Zarovich has major autistic swag. His special interests are tactical warfare, necromancy, and bats. He's also bisexual and grey-romantic (hilarious, relatable, entirely plausible according to I, Strahd)

(CoS Vallaki spoilers under the cut)

Canon: Gadof Blinsky's obsession with making creepy toys causes him to be a social outcast in Vallaki. The DM is instructed to play him with an outrageously bad parody of an Eastern European accent. (...I probably don't even have to say how this is Bad tbh)

My Party: This man is also clearly autistic, and his creepy goth toys are the best thing ever. He now has eight new friends. We're going to buy half his stock and hand out toys to the children of Vallaki. (Also they believe he should be played by Jack Black, and I agree.)

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Canon: Victor Vallakovich is an evil murdering incel necromancer, and Stella Wachter is so frail of mind that his rejection of the marriage proposal between their families made her go completely insane (also ableist, misogynistic)

Me, the DM: Victor Vallakovich is a miserable 20-something gay goth kid desperate to escape his father's rampant stupidity, as well as a self-taught mage with dangerous gaps in his knowledge. (Also, the party instantly fell in love with his six skeleton cats.) In a misguided attempt to hex and sabotage the whole marriage deal, he accidentally placed a curse on Stella herself, causing her delusion that she herself is a cat. Oops.

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Canon: Lady Fiona Wachter is an evil old power-hungry bitch (ageist, misogynistic)

My Party: Lady Wachter has clearly put a lot of pressure on herself to restore the power she sees as her birthright, alongside dealing with the grief of losing her husband. She's also correct that Lord Strahd is the lawful ruler of the land, and going against him is treason. (It's still creepy that she has her dead husband magically preserved in her bedroom tho, and the demon-cult thing is sus as hell)

Milan Lyudmilovich, Hexblood raised by a Hag: She's much easier to deal with than Mother was, tbh. Also we should tell her that Lord Strahd doesn't look kindly on that Osybus nonsense.