On making Baba Yaga the true final villain
I’ve been watching one of Runesmith’s videos on Tasha and it gave me an idea. I’m considering making Baba Yaga the final antagonist. My main idea is inspired by the time loop in >!Hades II!<.
The concept would be that Tasha/Zybilna is actually destined to become Baba Yaga eventually. Baba Yaga isn’t simply her adoptive mother, she is Tasha from the far future, trapped in an endless causal loop. Zyblina is already the “Witch Queen” kinda similar to “Mother of Hags” and both are feys. Also, Zyblina’s future head in her palace depicts her as a Hag.
That would mean everything in Witchlight was orchestrated by Baba Yaga from the beginning. The Hourglass Coven, Zybilna’s imprisonment, the carnival, even the players’ journey; all of it would secretly be designed to push Tasha toward becoming the person she eventually becomes.
Baba Yaga wouldn’t necessarily be trying to kill Tasha, she’d be trying to ensure history stays intact. If Tasha refuses her fate, the entire timeline begins to unravel.
My current plan is to have Baba Yaga waiting at the Inn at the End of the Road, quietly steering the party toward fulfilling their role in the story. But how could the players truly challenge or reshape the time loop she’s trying to preserve?