I always appreciate Jeff's reviews because he shares his true feelings even if the publisher might get mad or even stop sending review copies. That honesty seems to be really rare in this hobby right now.
@dallinturner
3 жыл бұрын
I found this for $70 and that felt like a fair price. I've never played Strahd before, and neither has anyone in my upcoming campaign. I was initially excited about mailing them the postcards to "officially" invite them to the game, but I was disappointed to see the postcards actually kind of spoil some surprises in the game. I'm also a little sad that some of the handouts got doubled up, which means I'll have to cut them up before I give them to my players. But I like that the book is softback - it makes for a more comfortable reading experience. Unfortunately, I've found a few editing errors in the book and references to page numbers that no longer exist, since they've been broken out in separate booklets. I do like the separate monster manual and the tarokka deck itself, but the booklet for the deck feels extraneous. The screen and map are nice, but I still wish we got a little bit more. Maybe some pictures to show the players of places and NPCs. Or some more individual maps that aren't connected to the big poster. So yeah, I agree, Wizards of the Coast certainly could have done a better job on this.
@janteeter3106
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks , you helped me make the informed decision to just grab the hardcover book plus the original Tarokka Deck suppliment. I love the coffin shaped box , but its not enough.
@Thegaminggang
3 жыл бұрын
Glad I could help! ~ Jeff
@MCastleberry1980
3 жыл бұрын
For $100 there's no way I'd get this, but it's on sale on Amazon right now for $55, with most book stores selling the original hardcover for $50, I had to snag it. Seems like a great value at that price point.
@shotgun5822
3 жыл бұрын
I bought it but I got it when it was 50% off on amazon so about the same price as the original so I was fine with that price so I am excited about it and running it for the first time with my group
@Thegaminggang
3 жыл бұрын
Good to hear you got a deal! As I said in the review, there's really nothing wrong with the collector box set outside of the price tag being far too high. ~ Jeff
@larryblevins8078
3 жыл бұрын
I like the cubby holes in the box for dice set and mini characters for curse of Strahd
@themadman9735
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, I think I’ll stick with my hardcover original release. I had also purchased the Tarokka deck separately. For me, having the monster guide separate means less flipping between pages and I do like the handouts and DM screen. But production issues with the new cards and that price! Nope, not for me. I was originally on the fence and trying to talk myself into it. Seeing what’s inside and that I already have almost everything anyway doesn’t justify the cost.
@jasonmountain4643
3 жыл бұрын
I saved up my money and went with the Beadle & Grimms Legendary Edition instead. The fully mapped out Castle Ravenloft was worth it alone.
@Thegaminggang
3 жыл бұрын
Nice! That looked mighty impressive! ~ Jeff
@bladesinger2002
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this review, this along with your unboxing video has helped me a lot on my decision for this item.
@Thegaminggang
3 жыл бұрын
You're very welcome!
@evelynophelia
3 жыл бұрын
Picked it up for $55 on Amazon after this review. Can't believe its MSRP price, glad I caught it on sale.
@benjaminklein8379
3 жыл бұрын
Same
@Bondanalloy
3 жыл бұрын
yeah as soon as i saw what was included i thought 'even if i didn't have the original hard cover i'd just buy that' it's too much cash for not much extra, and a softcover lol
@twitchster77
11 ай бұрын
I can't make up my mind...it's only at about $45 right now on Amazon on discount but I've never been into vampires and goth, don't like the softcover, and am not sure I'll ever run the campaign.
@Thegaminggang
11 ай бұрын
I've got to say, for $45.00 that's a really good deal. If that had been the MSRP at release I'd have said this is a nearly a must own at that price. ~ Jeff
@thereluctanthireling
3 жыл бұрын
Good and fair review....going to skip on this one since I already have the hardback CoS and I6 and House of Strahd and Expedition to Caste Ravenloft and....
@Thegaminggang
3 жыл бұрын
Hahahaha! Sounds like you've got plenty of Barovian content! :D
@Baalslegion07
3 жыл бұрын
My only real problem with this box set are the changes they made. I can get over the lame postcards that you cant even use because they totaly spoil some locations and the reused artwork on the DM-Screen and even the scammy Tarokka cards which are basicly the normal Tarokka cards one could buy seperately just with some foil stamping on the back. Even the softcover book is bearable as much of a step backwards it may be. What I definetly cant get over are the ridiculous changes they made to the module. Having Ezmeralda not be ashamed of her wooden leg lessens her character! Imagine being a young, strong, beautiful and independant woman that tries to follow the steps of a legendary vampire hunter - always trying to impress him so he would teach her new skills or make her his partner - and then loosing one of your legs out of a failure that was on your side. Now she shambles a bit, cant move as fast or elegant as before, is scarred for life and quite possibly has to constantly fight with infections as she doesn't live in a land in which anybody would help you willingly or would have even the possibility to do so. Of course she is ashamed of that! And having the PCs talking her out of that and convincing her that she shouldn't be ashamed - or even helping her with some spells - makes some great character developement for her and the group. Then there are the Vistani. I come from germany - a country in which many Roma where persecuted and terrorized - and the Roma I know would never get offended by these stereotypes. Why you may ask - because they are fictional characters and aren't even called Roma. When they originally made the change from Roma to Vistani they did the right thing - that actually was offensive against roma - but now the Vistani can be the awful stereotype that they are supposed to be! Everyone in Barovia is awful - the abbot is a knock-of Frankenstein, the Burgomaster of one of the towns is a sexual predator (confirmed in the novel I, Strahd), many people are literally soulless, everyone feels miserable, the person who governs this Land is a vampire, there is a temple that contains elder evils and a lich astronomer and even Baba Yaga - pardon Baba Lysaga - is haunting the swamp...well and there are BABY-EATING HAGS hanging around in a windmill - so why of all people should the Vistani be a jolly band of interdimensional travellors that just happen to work for an evil vampire overlord. It just doesn't make sense. Everyone in Barovia is getting drunk, acting awful and are trying to just barely get along with their terrible lifes so if the Vistani dont do that they stand even more out and nobody really has a reason to dislike them. In the original everything was clear. The Vistani were chaotic neutral characters with a tendency to be evil. They once saved Strahd when he was a mere human and now have his gratitude in undeath, they make a profit of their privilege - being able to transport goods and people through the mists - and get just as drunk as everyone else but being much more hardened against the effects of alcohol because they drank even before Barovia was transported into the mists. They were morally grey characters that one could either like or dislike - having both good and bad sides - and making siding with Van Richten even harder. This is another problem I have with the changes. Rudolph van Richten is basicly micro-Hitler. He is the second most awful person in Barovia and if you really get into his character as a DM you will feel pretty awful afterwards. To me it was interesting to give my players the choice of either joining a trained vampire hunter to free Barovia but having to endure his extremely awful personality and choices (basicly killing every Vistani because he is not sure who works for Strahd and who doesn't) and all his paroles of him being a better human being as he is not tainting his perfection like the Vistani do or siding with Strahd who is overall more awful but may be a better choice for Barovia in it's whole - yes everyone would still be miserable but Strahd would be less evil and actually breaking the cicle may break the curse (atleast I ruled it that way). Now van Richten is just a mean white guy who has something against the Vistani but there is no meat to it, the original van Richten at least had some decent points - not the ones I talked about earlier though, just to be clear. The other changes I can get behind, the Stat adjustments are logical and the seperated books are perfect for table use - well actually only the Creatures of Horror one is, the Tarokka book is actually incomplete. In the beginning of the module there are some pages about the "fortunes of ravenloft" and card game rules that are missing from this book. The map is great but it should be a seperately available Product, like the cards or should have been included in the original 2016 release like the map in Tomb of Annihilation. So I say, all in all it really is not worth it. If you own the Hardcover book just stay with that - it has better content and you don't miss out on much - if you want a premium CoS with a nice Box go to Beadle and Grimms! It cost thrice as much but has 10 times the content!
@AmariceSovald
3 жыл бұрын
When i first saw this when it was at full price i fet that.but it recently droped in price and i snatched it up just like u said XD
@larryblevins8078
3 жыл бұрын
I have already bought the box set.
@LegitBabySnuts
Жыл бұрын
I want to know the Amazon price for this and the actual book. I was like "awww mannn I need the Teroka deck!?" But now I know it is on several pages where I could cut them out but really shouldn't as there could be information on the opposite pages and well, that'll be great but a pain to open the book and show the cards. Anyways I can't make this book last over one whole campaign it'll be banged up and destroyed in less than three months I bet. Take good care of my books and I reread them from time to time. Paperbacks are falling apart, and imy hard covers have been watered down and chewed by my dogs but that's like three of the books I own. Is this even worth it if the hardcover has all this stuff but this is separate stuff if I get this revamped thing?
@Alesz15
3 жыл бұрын
I was expecting new pages of content but :(
@ginareed3227
3 жыл бұрын
I'm just wondering if you can buy this game and play it just like that or is it just an add on, I don't know anything about d&d but I love vampires and was looking for a new game to play.
@Thegaminggang
3 жыл бұрын
Hi Gina. This is an adventure for Dungeons & Dragons so you need to have the three core books and dice for all the players and DM. So, no, this is absolutely not stand alone. ~ Jeff
@jacobhibbard6405
3 жыл бұрын
I want Jeff to be my cool uncle.
@Thegaminggang
3 жыл бұрын
I have to chuckle because my nephew's friends, who game with us, all call me Uncle Jeff. :) ~ Jeff
@e1m0k44
3 жыл бұрын
Luckily I got it from amazon for 50ish back when it was first announced. Those cards look really bad, i wonder if enough are like that will wizards issue new ones i find that edging unacceptable honestly. The separate books are to reduce flipping thru the book as much. It would of been nice for the huge amount extra the msrp of this book is and the sealed nature of it they'd include a DnD Beyond code or something. Honesty the price and quality just shows it was nothing more then a cash grab with little effort put in.
@briancherry8088
3 жыл бұрын
Removing content from the book in order to sell this as a "box set" makes no sense, and isnt worth the extra money for a big useless empty box.
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