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Message: <blockquote data-quote="texastoast" data-source="post: 7045964" data-attributes="member: 6873909">[MENTION=56398]Wepwawet[/MENTION], is Van Richten particularly important outside of the reveal that he was behind the death of that one character's clan?  I get the impression the answer is "no."  In that case, my instinct is that you should rather introduce the idea that the person behind the death of his clan is here in Barovia, and gradually drop clues to his identity, assuming they take that bait.  (I suppose this loses its punch if the characters are Barovian.)  If you do that, how much does it matter to the PCs that he is Van Richten, Monster Hunter?  It might actually make it a more exciting reveal if this person they have been (I presume) looking for all this time turns out to be the unassuming bard with whom they've crossed paths a bunch of times.  I suppose the way you want to play up Rictavio and nudge the players toward him depends on what kind of reaction you want them to have to him when they put it all together.  I think whether you want him to be a villain in your characters' story, or whether you want to make his story somewhat redemptive, either way you can use the tiger attack you suggested.  If it happens off-camera as you described, Rictavio really comes off as a murderor, reinforcing the "he murdered my family with zombies" narrative.  Or you could have Arrigal and some Strahd-aligned Vistani ambush the party for some reason (ideally in a predictable place like the Vallaki camp) and have Rictavio and the tiger rescue them, mostly out of good timing.  That would play up the "Vistani are evil and allied with vampires" angle and make it more natural for the players to find him sympathetic.I definitely don't think she would go unhinged and attack.  I view Lady Wachter as a patient, intelligent schemer, like an even-more-evil Mom from Futurama.  If her cult was destroyed, she would begin fashioning her next scheme.  It may be less interesting for the players, but I think she would essentially fade away as a major player in Vallaki politics for the time being while she set up her next long con.  Maybe she forges a relationship with the werewolves to pick off and demoralize the town guard.  Maybe she somehow feeds the myth that Lake Zarovich requires sacrifices to provide fish, and gets the townspeople all riled up to the point that they sacrifice Izek, or the Baron himself.  I suppose the more immediate question is what would Lady Wachter do if the characters confront her about the cult in her cellar.  Again, since I see her as a conniving con artist, maybe she turns the tables by thanking the characters for ridding her of the cultists.  Maybe she claims that she didn't know about them, or that they were in some sense imprisoning her in her home, or that she couldn't say anything for fear of what demonic ritual they would perform against her or, gasp, what they would have done to the town.  Priest stats notwithstanding, I see her as highly intelligent and charismatic, if insane, so she should be able to plausibly deceive people if she chooses to.</blockquote>

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