D&D: An Adventurer’s Guide to Rudolph Van Richten
He wrote the definitive guide to Ravenloft. He’s hunted monsters from Darkon to Barovia and back. But who is Rudolph Van Richten, really?
Dr. Rudolph Van Richten was the greatest monster hunter that has ever lived. And in Ravenloft, he’s a rarer breed even still: a hero in the Land of Mists. Van Richten’s guides to the various monsters of the world are essential for survival.
But where did he begin? How does one man survive by slaying monsters for decades at a time? What makes a humble doctor a legend that the creatures who lurk in the darkness fear?
Like most things in Ravenloft, Van Richten’s is a tale of tragedy.
Rudolph Van Richten – The Doctor of Darkon
Doctor Rudolph Van Richten was born in the city of Rivalis in the dread domain of Darkon. There, he proved to be an intelligent young man with a knack for anatomy and medicine. And at an early (but not prodigious) age, he enrolled at the University of Il Aluk, finishing his studies while he was still a proud youth of no more than 22.
For the first part of his life, Van Richten lived a life of study and practice. Skilled doctors are a boon in any town, but doubly so in one trapped in the Mists of Ravenloft, where monsters and undead lurk.
He even found love, marrying his childhood sweetheart, Ingrid, and together the two of them had a son, Erasmus Van Richten. For a while, life was good. And the Van Richtens prospered as much as any can in the Dread Lands of Ravenloft.
But all too soon, tragedy found them.
Vampires and Vistani
When Erasmus was just on the cusp of adolescence, Vistani agents of the vampire lord, Baron Metus, kidnapped his son. In hot pursuit, Van Richten raced through the countryside of Darkon to find those who kidnapped his son. However, he was too late. And when he finally reached his son, the vampire’s terrible work had already been done. Erasmus had been transformed into a vampire himself, and Van Richten was forced to slay his own son.
In an act of revenge, Metus sought out and killed Van Richten’s wife Ingrid. But in doing so, Van Richten was driven to learn the secrets of vampires. Armed with the knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses, Van Richten set out in search of the Baron. And when he found him, Van Richten accomplished what seemed to be impossible: the humble doctor slew the powerful vampire.
And so began Van Richten’s second career. Doctor, and now hunter of monsters.
Van Richten was not alone in his pursuit, though. He took the Vistani Ezmerelda d’Avenir on as an apprentice, and the two of them bonded over monster hunting. Though Van Richten eventually realized their paths diverged. And not long after, Van Richten was cursed by a Vistani seer, dooming any who became his friends to die.
Thus the good doctor became a loner. Wandering through the Mists of Ravenloft, looking for those who would torment others.
Van Richten’s Guides
Van Richten has spent a lifetime hunting monsters. And the knowledge he has acquired is vast. He has authored a number of guides on various monsters, including:
- Ghosts
- Vampires
- Werebeasts
- Witches
- the Ancient Dead
- the Created
- Liches
- Demons
- Vistani
- the Shadow Fey
- Walking Dead
Perhaps most tellingly, he wrote a guide to the Mists of Ravenloft themselves. Perhaps that is why he was cursed. And why he must tirelessly pursue evil wherever it rears its head.
Van Richten’s legend will live on, through his actions and his wisdom
