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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Azgulor" data-source="post: 3118131" data-attributes="member: 14291">Build off of the Tatyana theme - companionship.  Strahd is king (ok maybe even god from the Barovians' perspective) of his realm but he can build no lasting relationships.  He's eternal and the villagers are short-lived cattle.  In the mind of nobility, a noble without retainers is a poor noble.  Strahd wants his bride, but also trusted advisers and loyal retainers.  Vampirism is reserved for the select few, but a way of extending the lives of his followers is desireable.  The village can't sustain all of them as vampires, so Strahd turns to science.  Perhaps the mad scientist was employed before Tatyana resurfaced solely for the reason of reanimating his lost love.  You may have to make her remains available for this to work, I seem to recall Tatyana's body isn't "available" so to speak.He could also be looking to science as a means to escape his realm.  Perhaps rather than- or in addition to- genetic experimentation, the mad scientist is working on temporal or extra-dimensional experiments.  This would allow you to incorporate Outsiders and/or aliens into the mix of potential hostiles depending on how far you want to run with it.  Combining the two, Strahd doesn't just want to escape, he wants to escape and rule a new land.  He needs his cybernetic/mutated/undead army to conquer the realm that he will escape into via the dimensional/temporal portal.The temporal travel/mad scientist connection was utilized in the original Ravenloft sequel "House on Gryphon Hill" (I think that was the name).  If you can find it, you could mine it for ideas or run it as an alternate universe/teleportation style story.  Rather than the sequel taking place in the future (from the Ravenloft perspective), both areas exist in the same time period.  Gryphon Hill in western Europe (England probably) and Barovia in eastern Europe (Transylvania?).  Strahd is trying to leave the realm physically, but thus far has not been able to do so.  He's able to appear in an alternate form and/or possess bodies in the Gryphon Hill area.  The mad scientist is working on solving the transportation problems while building Strahd's invasion force.(Damn, now you've got me thinking of running Ravenloft with d20M!)Azgulor</blockquote>

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