Dungeons & Dragons' Codename for Curse of Strahd Revamped Was a Twilight Reference

Dungeons & Dragons had a bit of fun with the internal naming of their latest release. Today, Dungeons & Dragons is releasing Curse of Strahd Revamped, a box set containing an updated version of Curse of Strahd with some new goodies for players to enjoy. As Curse of Strahd Revamped shipments made their way to game stores, at least one retailer noticed something....unusual about the shipping labels for the box. LaTia Jacquise, a retailer, D&D writer, and cast member of the fantastic D&D series Rivals of Waterdeep, pointed out on Twitter that the box for Curse of Strahd Revamped was labelled "D&D Edward." Tipped off by Jacquise's tweet, ComicBook.com reached out to Wizards of the Coast, who confirmed that the internal codename for Curse of Strahd Revamped was indeed "Edward."

My favorite thing about Strahdmas today is that the box it came in didn’t say “Curse of Strahd Revamped”, it just said “D&D Edward”. pic.twitter.com/D0twrxCFwn

— (LaTia) Jacq, the Pumpkin Queen 🎃👑 (@LaTiaJacquise) October 20, 2020

"Edward" is almost certainly a reference to Edward Cullen, one of the main characters of the Twilight series of novels. Cullen is famously a vegetarian vampire who falls in love with Bella Swan and eventually draws her into Stephanie Meyer's unique interpretation of vampire society. We'll note that the Twilight books are mostly set in Washington state on the Olympic Peninsula, approximately 4 hours from the Wizards of the Coast headquarters in Seattle.

In addition to both Edward and Strahd von Zarovich being vampires, the duo share some other similarities as well. Both have possessive qualities - Edward famously abducted Bella after tricking her into attending a sleepover, while Strahd's obsession over his one love Tatyana led him to kill his brother and become a vampire in order to "woo" her. One of the core plotlines of Curse of Strahd is that the party is trying to protect the supposed reincarnation of Tatyana from Strahd, leading to a confrontation in the famous Castle Ravenloft. But while it can be argued that Edward's positive qualities outweigh his worst tendencies, Strahd undoubtedly is a villain and a complex one.

You can check out Curse of Strahd Revamped, which is now available in game stores. Dungeon Masters running the adventure are welcome to make as many Twilight references as they'd like.