The new clans are both more gameable - presenting motivations, needs, wants - and more humanising. They're still deeply weird; the difference is that the weirdness is compatible with them being real people that the PCs can gain some understanding of.

There are still plenty of creatures filling the monstrous/twisted human role (scumboggles, candlethieves), but the humans with an actual society are now presented as fully human, rather than subhuman.

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(comparing Fever Swamp editions 🧵)

A misgiving I had with the original was the rascist vibe towards the locals. This is (IMO as a white British man) better handled in the new edition.

The previous "tribe" table presented traits that played into stereotypes (pygmies, cannibals) and didn't given any insight into their internal lives - they were inscrutable and monstrous.

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The text is largely the same, but where it has been punched up the change is really worth having. Contrast these descriptions of a ruined house's contents (old on the left, new on the right).

If I roll the old one on the table, I need to improvise what it's like to explore the ruin - or just abstract away the looting. The new one adds more flavour both to the environment and to the item, *and* sets up future interactions.

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Oh that's a fun new detail: "Within [the scumboggle] hive, suspended using vines, a single cow, hand-fed the rich vegetation of the swamp. If recovered, the cow’s cheese is of excellent quality – the cow is worth 350gp."

Scumboggles (pictured) are small amphibious cannibal goblins who love cheese.

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https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/224803/fever-swamp

Turns out there's a new updated version - I should take a look at that too!

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