Dr. Rudolph van Richten

At a glance

A renowned monster hunter whose hidden estate contains weapons, alchemical facilities, and extensive research into undead, lycanthropes, and vampires.

Known facts

• Authored monster-hunting guides and a journal found in Richten House.
• Prepared for what he called his “last and greatest hunt.”
• Feared he might never return.
• Bequeathed something within the house to a future reader united with him by a singular purpose, instructing that reader to shelter it.
• Multiple ghosts in the house ask for or seek him.
• Father of Erasmus van Richten.
• Developed several plans for entering Barovia and killing Strahd; some were crossed out.
• Erasmus’s memories showed him leaving Richten House for Barovia on his final hunt.
• Killed many vampires and vampire spawn during his career.
• Survived because an unnamed red-haired monster hunter sacrificed herself for him.
• Erasmus later revealed glimpses of his childhood, an adolescent brother, his education in Il Aluk, his wife and children, frustrated alchemical work, and a connection to an herbalist’s shop.
• The sequence ended with Van Richten obscured by the Shroud, followed by an unidentified half-elf bard performing in Barovia.
• Erasmus revealed that he later became a vampire and that Van Richten was forced to kill his own son.
• Erasmus also showed Van Richten tormented by spirits, dreams, and hauntings in his library.

Current status

Missing after departing for Barovia to hunt Strahd; his fate remains unknown. The half-elf bard shown after his disappearance has not been identified as Van Richten.

Related story threads

• The Legacy of Van Richten

Related sessions

• Session 4
• Session 5
• Session 8
• Session 10

Gallery

• Erasmus Paints the Past — Erasmus projects memories of his father’s history within Richten House.
• A Dance with Van Richten’s Grief — Rage experiences the grief left by the hunter’s survival and a companion’s sacrifice.
• A Life Between the Shelves — Erasmus unfolds the known stages of his father’s life in spectral images.
• What Became of Erasmus — Van Richten confronts the vampiric son he is forced to kill.