Close
Close
Advanced Search

She is the Ancient: A Genderbent Curse of StrahdClick to magnify
Quick Preview
/gs_flipbook/flip.php?xml=/demo_xml/369197.xml&w=500&h=324

She is the Ancient: A Genderbent Curse of Strahd

ADD TO WISHLIST >
PDF
$19.99

Second Edition PDF is done and live! Hardcover printed books are coming early June. 

She is the Ancient: A Genderbent Curse of Strahd

Re-imagined NPCs, backstories, and concepts for your Curse of Strahd campaign!

When I first picked up Curse of Strahd, I wondered how exciting it might be if this Count were instead a Countess. Here is the visual culmination of what's been swirling around in my mind and at my tables. 

This guide is a reference to the NPCs of Curse of Strahd. You'll find that each character has helpful descriptions, connections, and suggestions for roleplay. I've included story changes and alternate encounters as well. Not every NPC has been gender-bent, but many have. Some characters simply swapped backstories or societal roles. While I market this as "A Genderbent Curse of Strahd," it's a bit more than that. There are changes to how horror gets depicted, and there are alternatives to the characters centered around racial slurs and ableist language. 

Maybe you'd like to see more women represented as more than just desired objects or hags? Perhaps you'd like to play a classic Dracula story with less targeted sexual violence? We can have TTRPG horror without the repeated use of prominent real-life horror. After all, as my good friend Casual Campbell states, "Vampires should understand consent better than any monster. They literally have to ask for permission to enter a home."


What you’ll find in this 157-page, full color guide: 

  • My playtested changes to Strahd’s backstory
  • New story concepts
  • Over 85 NPC descriptions
  • Digital NPC portrait tokens
  • And more!

This guide includes web-page access to plain text for e-reader purposes.

Page previews for She is the Ancient including faction information, NPC map, NPC description pages, handouts, encounter changes, and location changes.

Page previews for She is the Ancient including faction information, NPC map, NPC description pages, handouts, encounter changes, and location changes.

Digital tokens

Want to see some of this content in action?

You can watch Beth the Bard DM for Casual Campbell, Fenway Jones, Jesse Jay, and Ty Stone! Where? On Satine Phoenix's Gilding Light TV, each Tuesday evening from 5-7pm Pacific @ twitch.tv/GildingLight. More information on SheIsTheAncient.com.

Ginny Di Video Transcript:

“Imagine Strahd von Zarovich as a woman — a powerful, female vampire holding Barovia in her grip.

“There’s been plenty of talk of genderbending Strahd online, but in Beth the Bard’s new book, She is the Ancient, you’ll find a lot more than swapped-out pronouns. Beth has completely rethought Curse of Strahd, one of the most popular D&D adventures of all time, to come at its themes of abuse and control from a totally different angle.

“Countess Strahd has her own version of the original backstory, and her own relationships with other characters, different but parallel to the narrative laid out in the original. NPCs have had their genders and stories rethought as well. She is the Ancient gives you everything you need to run this module with a flipped script that puts women of all kinds into the driver’s seat while also cutting out sexist tropes, targeted violence against women and children, racism, and ableism.”


pixel_trans.gif
 
 More from this Title's Contributors
pixel_trans.gif
 
 Customers Who Bought this Title also Purchased
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
Reviews (16)
Discussions (34)
Customer avatar
Rebecca W May 26, 2023 3:10 am UTC
PURCHASER
Any updates on v2.0 timeline? I'm starting a campaign (though we're starting with House of Lament) next month and wondering if I should wait for v2.
Customer avatar
Saria S March 25, 2023 5:54 am UTC
Hello! I was wondering who the artist is for the picture on the cover. Thanks for your time!
Customer avatar
Jessica W November 21, 2022 8:27 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hi! I was curious if there is text only version I could get that would be more printer friendly? I love the images but have a hard time reading on a screen versus a physical copy, thank you!❤️
Customer avatar
Leonel C September 07, 2022 4:20 am UTC
Very, very interested in this product. It could be brilliant. My only concern is, is this version of Strahd evil or sympathetic? I am really tired of the sympathetic villain cliché, and to my disappointment, often when villains are reimagined they are turned into tragic villains with a sympathetic motive at best or at worst; anti-heroes.
One thing I liked about Ravenloft (and most of it's subsequent products) is that the villains are intended to be pure EVIL. And not just in abstractions of alignment as in the mythical creatures out of the Monster Manual labeled CE, but demonstrably and terrifyingly humanly evil. Strahd being amongst the prime examples. He is a horrible narcissistic psychopath, twisted and cruel. Though he sees himself as a "tragic hero" and victim, it is obvious to any encountering him he is anything but. The perfect example of dangerous evil predator. He satisfies his insecurities by wielding his power imbalance over his character nemesis with disdain and disgust. It's what...See more
Customer avatar
Daniel L August 09, 2022 6:24 am UTC
PURCHASER
Very excited to run this version of strahd, I did see in this thread that there was an update on the way. Is there any update on that thanks for the info
Customer avatar
Joseph M June 20, 2022 1:36 am UTC
PURCHASER
If you're on the fence about buying this, do yourself a favor and pick it up. Even if you don't like the idea of gender-swapping Strahd, or anyone else, in the module, pick it up anyway. There are insights here that you'd likely benefit from. Some stuff I've toyed with in my home games, and others I simply did not think of. This is an inspiring piece of work, and I have the privilege of adding it to my library.
Customer avatar
Ben C June 15, 2022 1:46 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I like the idea of this quite a bit. Good work.
Customer avatar
Kevin H May 31, 2022 8:55 pm UTC
Greetings, I'm excited to play this adventure, I was curious if any new or additional magic items are included in She is the Ancient? Besides the standard Strahd items.
Reply
Customer avatar
Beth (the Bard) S June 01, 2022 10:03 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thanks for the enthusiasm and the question! There are no additional items in the current edition, but now that we're Platinum, new content is being added for the update next month. This does include new magic items for the setting! Of course, anyone who has purchased this edition will automatically receive the updated PDF when it's released. I hope that helps!
Customer avatar
Stephen N May 14, 2022 10:57 am UTC
My only question is why do we need this? As dms we can make whatever npc or strahd whatever gender we want? Or why change strahds gender as an established character. Why not run a cool female vampire of your own creation with their own back story motivations and such. If your looking for inspiration there is Elizabeth Bathery (also referred to as lady dracula) from the 1500s who would make an excellent villain in a ravenloft game. Or you could go the Carmila from castlevania route
Reply
Customer avatar
Allen C May 14, 2022 11:05 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Why would you need any published setting adventure ?
I think for folks who enjoy published setting adventures but would like to give their players something unique that not every campaign is doing then this adventure facilitates that really well.
Customer avatar
Matthew O March 23, 2022 3:16 pm UTC
My brother/business partner sugested we use this variation, the next time 1 of our House GMs runs a CoS campaign, at our gaming center ( rpgdungeons.com ). We provide custom tables, 2D and 3D terrain, and hand painted mini's for our games, as well as a bunch of other gaming equipment. So my question is, are there any physical mini's, or downloadable STL print files, for the new gender bent characters?
Reply
Customer avatar
Beth (the Bard) S June 01, 2022 10:04 pm UTC
CREATOR
There are no STL files for physical minis, but I'm totally open to working with someone to make that happen for the upcoming update!
Customer avatar
Sara W December 26, 2021 4:14 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Will there be a printer-friendly version of this?
Reply
Customer avatar
Beth (the Bard) S June 01, 2022 10:06 pm UTC
CREATOR
The hardcover copy will be available next month, and I'm also considering a printer-friendly PDF. It's hard to wrap my mind around as it's a very visually designed supplement, but I'll likely add that to the plan since there has been some interest! Thanks for reaching out. :)
Customer avatar
Imaan M November 24, 2021 6:15 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Is there any way to get my hands on the cover portrait art without the words and such? I have the token, but it would be really cool to have that beautiful art as a handout for my players.
Reply
Customer avatar
Beth (the Bard) S November 26, 2021 5:14 am UTC
CREATOR
Send me an email! ItsBethTheBard (at) gmail (dot) com
:)
Customer avatar
Cam T November 23, 2021 3:32 am UTC
Um, just wanting to know, will i need to purchase anything else with this? like the tarokka cards, or even the curse of strahd itself, or will this be an all inclusive mod?
Reply
Customer avatar
Beth (the Bard) S November 26, 2021 5:13 am UTC
CREATOR
You will need Curse of Strahd and Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft! It's an add-on to those supplements! Thanks for asking. :)
Customer avatar
Andrew R October 28, 2021 1:31 pm UTC
Im willing to bet they didnt flip the gender of Ireena, cant have even lady Strahd loving a dude
Reply
Customer avatar
Tom R October 28, 2021 2:15 pm UTC
Is your masculinity that fragile?
Customer avatar
Mark N October 23, 2021 6:00 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I really wish I had bought this sooner. Because members of my group have played or know CoS, I've been running "pre-Strahd" game where the party can make changes to Barovia that will impact the later campaign. I've been trying to correct some of the things in Strahd that I don't love already, and this supplement does a great job with that. I'm going to work in the changes I can, because I do like this a lot.
Reply
Customer avatar
Mark N October 25, 2021 10:20 pm UTC
PURCHASER
If anyone is interested in trying to incorporate this into an ongoing game, I managed to retcon things to work. I picked Caithlenn of the Crooked Teeth, the arch fey that the hags worship, as the cause of the changes. I had an artifact of hers that allowed someone who possessed it to alter details of the story, but not powerful enough to break the power of the Curse (in my case, the CoS as written was the changed edition, and this is now the "original" world). I left a proper review, but my team really appreciated the changes and the new approach to Strahd.
See 16 more
Narrow Results
 Follow Your Favorites!
NotificationsSign in to get custom notifications of new products!















Product Information
Platinum seller
Community Content
Author(s)
Rules Edition(s)
Pages
223
Format
Original electronic
Scanned image
These products were created by scanning an original printed edition. Most older books are in scanned image format because original digital layout files never existed or were no longer available from the publisher.

For PDF download editions, each page has been run through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to attempt to decipher the printed text. The result of this OCR process is placed invisibly behind the picture of each scanned page, to allow for text searching. However, any text in a given book set on a graphical background or in handwritten fonts would most likely not be picked up by the OCR software, and is therefore not searchable. Also, a few larger books may be resampled to fit into the system, and may not have this searchable text background.

For printed books, we have performed high-resolution scans of an original hardcopy of the book. We essentially digitally re-master the book. Unfortunately, the resulting quality of these books is not as high. It's the problem of making a copy of a copy. The text is fine for reading, but illustration work starts to run dark, pixellating and/or losing shades of grey. Moiré patterns may develop in photos. We mark clearly which print titles come from scanned image books so that you can make an informed purchase decision about the quality of what you will receive.
pixel_trans.gif
Original electronic format
These ebooks were created from the original electronic layout files, and therefore are fully text searchable. Also, their file size tends to be smaller than scanned image books. Most newer books are in the original electronic format. Both download and print editions of such books should be high quality.
File Last Updated:
May 30, 2023
This title was added to our catalog on August 29, 2021.