I would say that the Vistani camp has enough manpower in it to resist Rudolph attacking them alone (with his tiger). That being said, he's a legendary, experienced vampire hunter. He wouldn't go on a suicidal mission. He would probably pick them off one by one, whether when they go out scouting, getting supplies or delivering messages to Strahd. You could have the Vistani camp on high alert when the characters eventually get there, and if they bring Arabelle, the vistani will trust them, which would allow the characters to learn that someone has been picking the Vistani off one by one, and they have spotted some tiger tracks. This should be enough of a clue, but you could be more explicit like Ezmeralda letting them know it's likely Van Richten. That would also be a neat way of letting your players in on some background information, like the fact that the Vistani are Strahd's spies, and van Richten's backstory.
Hope this gives you some ideas ;)
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We are paratroopers, private. We are supposed to be surrounded.
I would argue against this plan. My reasoning is this--Van Richten is smart would know that if he started slaughtering Strahd's followers, then Strahd would inevitably show up with a cadre of vampire spawn and kill him on the spot. Van Richten should know that he wouldn't be able to kill Strahd alone, and especially without the necessary artifacts needed to defeat Strahd. Sure, he and his tiger could probably take down most, if not all of the Vistani, but Strahd would certainly know about it and show up. Thus, it'd be a meaningless suicide mission on Van Richten's part.
I see what you're saying here, and I agree that Strahd wouldn't help anyone, but he might be willing to protect his things should something start murdering them. Doesn't Strahd need his Vistani to bring fresh souls into Barovia? I honestly agree with everything else you've said Van Richten would do, but it should be a risk for him to consider that if he goes off and starts killing Vistani left and right, the vampire lord might show up to see what's happening to his spies. Maybe I misread you and that's actually what you want to have happen?
I second the idea that Van Richten wouldn't strike in the open, as he's too clever for that, but he might start picking off the Vistani one by one. But if Strahd was aware that Van Richten was doing this, then it's quite possible he'd do something to intervene.
One potential approach is to have Van Richten try to pin the murder of Strahd's Vistani spies on other powers. The Vistani are able to travel freely, true, but Barovia is full of other dangers besides the mists and foes that Strahd has no direct control over. Van Richten could perhaps stage the murder (and maybe capture and interrogation) of Strahd's spies as the act of another malevolent entity.
You could run this as a morally grey scenario, a kind of murder mystery. The PCs know the Vistani are spies, but if they start getting picked off by a mysterious "monster," then the PCs might be enticed into helping hunt down this evil, which could lead to a surprise confrontation with Van Richten. Perhaps in his zealousness to deal with the spies, Van Richten kills some Vistani who were not corrupted by Strahd, adding further ambiguity to this situation. This might even give Strahd a reason not to intervene, as his ultimate goal is to corrupt Van Richten; what's the loss of a few spies if it leads Van Richten down the path of darkness?
Also, don't forget that Van Richten has a very large curse over his head for murdering an entire caravan of Vistani already. He's going to be super methodical about it all, as to insure his curse isn't redoubled by the last breath of another Vistana.
I'd say no to the killing, as information he could spy out from their camp about Strahd's activity is worth vastly more than Strahd having a dozen less spies. However, he may be spurred to act if the Vistani have one of the treasures from the reading that they are unwilling to relinquish.
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#OpenDnD. #DnDBegone
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I would say that the Vistani camp has enough manpower in it to resist Rudolph attacking them alone (with his tiger). That being said, he's a legendary, experienced vampire hunter. He wouldn't go on a suicidal mission. He would probably pick them off one by one, whether when they go out scouting, getting supplies or delivering messages to Strahd. You could have the Vistani camp on high alert when the characters eventually get there, and if they bring Arabelle, the vistani will trust them, which would allow the characters to learn that someone has been picking the Vistani off one by one, and they have spotted some tiger tracks. This should be enough of a clue, but you could be more explicit like Ezmeralda letting them know it's likely Van Richten. That would also be a neat way of letting your players in on some background information, like the fact that the Vistani are Strahd's spies, and van Richten's backstory.
Hope this gives you some ideas ;)
We are paratroopers, private. We are supposed to be surrounded.
I would argue against this plan. My reasoning is this--Van Richten is smart would know that if he started slaughtering Strahd's followers, then Strahd would inevitably show up with a cadre of vampire spawn and kill him on the spot. Van Richten should know that he wouldn't be able to kill Strahd alone, and especially without the necessary artifacts needed to defeat Strahd. Sure, he and his tiger could probably take down most, if not all of the Vistani, but Strahd would certainly know about it and show up. Thus, it'd be a meaningless suicide mission on Van Richten's part.
I see what you're saying here, and I agree that Strahd wouldn't help anyone, but he might be willing to protect his things should something start murdering them. Doesn't Strahd need his Vistani to bring fresh souls into Barovia? I honestly agree with everything else you've said Van Richten would do, but it should be a risk for him to consider that if he goes off and starts killing Vistani left and right, the vampire lord might show up to see what's happening to his spies. Maybe I misread you and that's actually what you want to have happen?
I second the idea that Van Richten wouldn't strike in the open, as he's too clever for that, but he might start picking off the Vistani one by one. But if Strahd was aware that Van Richten was doing this, then it's quite possible he'd do something to intervene.
One potential approach is to have Van Richten try to pin the murder of Strahd's Vistani spies on other powers. The Vistani are able to travel freely, true, but Barovia is full of other dangers besides the mists and foes that Strahd has no direct control over. Van Richten could perhaps stage the murder (and maybe capture and interrogation) of Strahd's spies as the act of another malevolent entity.
You could run this as a morally grey scenario, a kind of murder mystery. The PCs know the Vistani are spies, but if they start getting picked off by a mysterious "monster," then the PCs might be enticed into helping hunt down this evil, which could lead to a surprise confrontation with Van Richten. Perhaps in his zealousness to deal with the spies, Van Richten kills some Vistani who were not corrupted by Strahd, adding further ambiguity to this situation. This might even give Strahd a reason not to intervene, as his ultimate goal is to corrupt Van Richten; what's the loss of a few spies if it leads Van Richten down the path of darkness?
Also, don't forget that Van Richten has a very large curse over his head for murdering an entire caravan of Vistani already. He's going to be super methodical about it all, as to insure his curse isn't redoubled by the last breath of another Vistana.
I'd say no to the killing, as information he could spy out from their camp about Strahd's activity is worth vastly more than Strahd having a dozen less spies. However, he may be spurred to act if the Vistani have one of the treasures from the reading that they are unwilling to relinquish.
#OpenDnD. #DnDBegone