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View Full Version : DM Help Well, that escalated quickly...



Guran
2015-11-21, 04:53 PM
So in my story, character and roleplay driven D&D campaign I have this big bad "evil" "immortal" sorceress who has taken an interest in the player characters. She seems to be taking a lot of pleasure in challenging them on a personal level and testing them. For example she once isolated the fighter and put him into a situation where three important NPC's were about to die. The BBEG then casted timestop for everyone except for herself and the fighter and allowed himto choose who to save; One of his best friends, the son of his party member or a prince who might be one of the few persons able to restore political peace in the empire.

Last session our sorceress decided to pay our ranger a visit in his dreams. This ranger is an elf married to a human woman. They have two children who the ranger knows he will outlive. (Taken he will not be eten by a dragon at some point.) The sorceress exploited this fear, told him of her own accounts in losing children in the 3000 years she has been alive and told the ranger she would be able to extend the children of the rangers life. She told the rangers that when he wakes up he will find a small bottle with a black fluid. He had to give this to either on of the high ranking nobles or the quartermasterof the order the PC's belong to and she would spare the ranger the suffering she was too late to safe herself from.
Naturally the ranger wanted to know what the liquid would do. The sorceress stated that it would permanently render the victim incapable of participating in society.

The ranger decided not to do it and opted to accept that he would one day have to bury his family. He shared his story with one of his party members. While pondering over the actual effect of the drink, its nature and why the sorceress was doing this, the party member decided to drink the potion and swallowed the engineered liquid 100% lethal parasite. I don't know what he was thinking. Maybe he thought she was bluffing them? Point is that he is sick right now and his situation will get worse. I don't really want to kill of his character, but lore wise to the game it would seem he is about to lose this character. Even if this did not kill the PC, it would put him out of fighting condition for a long time if not forever.
Any advice on loopholes or should I just let him face the raven for his decision to drink something lethal?

Deophaun
2015-11-21, 05:06 PM
Is this 3.5?

Neutralizie poison? Panacea? Heroics + a novice iron heart vest to iron heart surge the effects away?

There has to be more to the story for a slow-acting poison to be a game ender.

TurboGhast
2015-11-21, 05:15 PM
Ask the player what he was thinking while he said that his character would drink the poison, and his reasoning behind calling an action that was likely to be self destructive.

If needed, you could retcon away the event.

Jornophelanthas
2015-11-21, 06:18 PM
The player is sick with a slow-acting poison that will surely make the character unplayable.

Your solution could consist of two steps:

1. Make the poison's effect somehow interesting.
First, it should be slow-acting, so the player has time to do something about being poisoned.
Additionally, make the poison do something other than "When you wake up the next day, you die." Make the effect outlandish. Perhaps the character slowly turns into a parrot, sprouting feathers on day 1, developing a beak after a week, etc. Perhaps the character starts shrinking a little every day, until finally he becomes so small to be imperceptible (and utterly unable to do anything meaningful at all). Perhaps the character gradually grows insane to the point of having to be locked up eventually, where you give the player cumulative instructions to play out every day which become more and more debilitating.

2. Offer a solution, but not an easy one.
In order to save their friend, the party (including the affected player) must embark on a journey to find the cure. Perhaps they have to find a legendary hermit alchemist who can make an antidote, but only if they can find a rare and precious flower that only grows in the Jungle of Doom. Perhaps the character can be cured through the blessing by the Goddess of Healing, but only if he and his friends (the other player characters) first perform a major favour for the faith, like reclaiming a long-lost divine relic from the lost shrine of the Goddess in the middle of the Jungle of Doom. Perhaps the sorceress reappears and dangles the only known antidote in front of them, saying that if they want it, they can go look for it, before teleporting back to her fortress in the Jungle of Doom, where she locks the precious vial into her heavily trapped magical vault.

Bam! Instant adventure!

Quertus
2015-11-21, 11:05 PM
The ranger decided not to do it and opted to accept that he would one day have to bury his family. He shared his story with one of his party members. While pondering over the actual effect of the drink, its nature and why the sorceress was doing this, the party member decided to drink the potion and swallowed the engineered liquid 100% lethal parasite. I don't know what he was thinking. Maybe he thought she was bluffing them? Point is that he is sick right now and his situation will get worse. I don't really want to kill of his character, but lore wise to the game it would seem he is about to lose this character. Even if this did not kill the PC, it would put him out of fighting condition for a long time if not forever.
Any advice on loopholes or should I just let him face the raven for his decision to drink something lethal?

Um... what was he thinking?

What system? In most systems, you can't really create a 100% lethal anything... let alone a 100% lethal parasite.

IMO, it should be up to the party to try to come up with a solution. Keep in mind, not all of their attempts necessarily should work. Perhaps they search the library / ask the local witch doctor / cast divinations for information on related maladies. Perhaps they make their party member immune, such as by making him an undead. Perhaps he dies, and comes back as a ghost. Perhaps they seek medical or magical aid. Perhaps they try to engineer a "100% lethal to parasites" parasite. Perhaps they try to communicate with the parasite - even granting it sentience if necessary in order to facilitate a diplomatic solution. Perhaps they petition a god, or an alternate reality version of the sorceress, for help. Perhaps they hunt down a mirror that creates (alignment-opposite) duplicates of beings reflected therein for the sole purpose of duplicating the sorceress, and asking her double for aid. Or perhaps they go directly to the real sorceress herself, requesting that she cure the poor fool (probably their worst possible plan).

If you present a solution... well, if I presented a solution, assuming I somehow hadn't stated this all out ahead of time... I would only provide something to remedy the condition, not a cure. So they would constantly have to take higher and higher doses of some drug (think Iron Man II); further, this drug would be difficult to acquire, addictive, give cumulative penalties, have the side effect of slowly turning them into a demon/devil/statue/etc, make them prone to random bouts of insanity or fourth-wall breaking - ie, whatever I thought was the right combination of something the player would be comfortable with and have fun with, while still teaching them to be more careful in the future. Since you have already put issues of mortality in the game, eventually it (either the disease or the cure) would still kill them - but perhaps not before they have completed the current campaign. And then old age would claim everyone else. But perhaps not before they got to participate in the next campaign, alongside that player's new character.

Or just let them die, and roll up a new character.

goto124
2015-11-22, 12:12 AM
Ask the player what he was thinking while he said that his character would drink the poison, and his reasoning behind calling an action that was likely to be self destructive.


Um... what was he thinking?

I believe this is the first step. Why did he drink something that makes someone 'unable to connect to society'? What had he expected?

FocusWolf413
2015-11-22, 01:01 AM
Honestly, that character should die. It was clearly bad stuff and he drank it anyway. In my games, if your own idiotic actions lead to your character's demise, then you suck it up, learn not to be dumb, understand that actions have consequences, and roll up a new character.

Guran
2015-11-23, 06:13 AM
Ask the player what he was thinking while he said that his character would drink the poison, and his reasoning behind calling an action that was likely to be self destructive.

If needed, you could retcon away the event.
He said to me that his character wanted to make a point to the villainess and show her that they could do things not even she expected. He certainly succeeded there. No kidding. I didn't see it comming either. Especially not from him. He also considered his character to be the most replacable and said that he would be ready to face any consequence. I kinda get his characters motivation, but it won't score high on my meter of very good idea's.


Um... what was he thinking?

What system? In most systems, you can't really create a 100% lethal anything... let alone a 100% lethal parasite.

IMO, it should be up to the party to try to come up with a solution. Keep in mind, not all of their attempts necessarily should work. Perhaps they search the library / ask the local witch doctor / cast divinations for information on related maladies. Perhaps they make their party member immune, such as by making him an undead. Perhaps he dies, and comes back as a ghost. Perhaps they seek medical or magical aid. Perhaps they try to engineer a "100% lethal to parasites" parasite. Perhaps they try to communicate with the parasite - even granting it sentience if necessary in order to facilitate a diplomatic solution. Perhaps they petition a god, or an alternate reality version of the sorceress, for help. Perhaps they hunt down a mirror that creates (alignment-opposite) duplicates of beings reflected therein for the sole purpose of duplicating the sorceress, and asking her double for aid. Or perhaps they go directly to the real sorceress herself, requesting that she cure the poor fool (probably their worst possible plan).

If you present a solution... well, if I presented a solution, assuming I somehow hadn't stated this all out ahead of time... I would only provide something to remedy the condition, not a cure. So they would constantly have to take higher and higher doses of some drug (think Iron Man II); further, this drug would be difficult to acquire, addictive, give cumulative penalties, have the side effect of slowly turning them into a demon/devil/statue/etc, make them prone to random bouts of insanity or fourth-wall breaking - ie, whatever I thought was the right combination of something the player would be comfortable with and have fun with, while still teaching them to be more careful in the future. Since you have already put issues of mortality in the game, eventually it (either the disease or the cure) would still kill them - but perhaps not before they have completed the current campaign. And then old age would claim everyone else. But perhaps not before they got to participate in the next campaign, alongside that player's new character.

Or just let them die, and roll up a new character.

We are playing 5e. As far as I know there is nothing in the DMG saying I can't create anything lethal. In matter of fact, if I did not make it an extremely dangerous concoction, the rangers test and decision would seem less important. Say the ranger had fed the liquid to his target and then started treating him to save his life, it would have been a test without consequences.
The point of confronting him with his mortality is good idea though. Maybe his treatment will prolong his life, but also make him dillusional and make him see a raven that is counting down to his final day.

Madeiner
2015-11-23, 07:18 AM
How about a purely storybased effect?

The poison was made to render the victim incapable of participating in society, but you haven't said how (luckily).

How about it's an incurable magic illness that makes you age really, really fast?
The noble he had to give the poison to, would probably affect the society for many more years, not necessarily now, and that's what the evil npc wanted to affect.

So the poison will kill the elf off of old age... in 5 years or so. Now he has another problem: he won't be able to raise his child, and THEY will have to bury him. It's less "unnatural", but still disturbing (if you roleplay it).

You want to go harsher?
The elf can spread the disease, after it has incubated for a while (long enough for him to see his family ONCE).
After that, the virus will spread (possibly to members of his family only, if you want to keep it light).
So not only his family will have to bury him, he can never see them again unless he can find a cure.

Nobot
2015-11-23, 07:18 AM
He said to me that his character wanted to make a point to the villainess and show her that they could do things not even she expected. He certainly succeeded there. No kidding. I didn't see it comming either. Especially not from him. He also considered his character to be the most replacable and said that he would be ready to face any consequence. I kinda get his characters motivation, but it won't score high on my meter of very good idea's.

Sounds like this person is just finished with his character. :smallsmile:

I'd (i) let him go or (ii) use Jornophelanthas' solution above.

LnGrrrR
2015-11-23, 07:37 AM
Why not make it so he slowly loses charisma? After all, for you to function in society, society will want to function with you. If you are slowly losing your looks, manners and other social graces, you won't have a lot of friends.

Another option could be to have him permanently polymorph into some sort of monstrous race which is feared. Maybe for lulz, have him transform into his racial enemy (assuming it's not a dragon).

goto124
2015-11-23, 08:12 AM
The player himself explicitly said he doesn't mind his character getting killed off? :smallconfused:

I personally would ask him if he even wants his character anymore

hifidelity2
2015-11-23, 08:20 AM
She told the rangers that when he wakes up he will find a small bottle with a black fluid.

He had to give this to either one of the high ranking nobles or the quartermaster of the order the PC's belong to and she would spare the ranger the suffering she was too late to safe herself from.
The sorceress stated that it would permanently render the victim incapable of participating in society.

the party member decided to drink the potion and swallowed the engineered liquid 100% lethal parasite.

I don't really want to kill of his character, but lore wise to the game it would seem he is about to lose this character. Even if this did not kill the PC, it would put him out of fighting condition for a long time if not forever.
Any advice on loopholes or should I just let him face the raven for his decision to drink something lethal?
Well the parasite was to make the people bolded incapable of participating in their society. that does not mean that an adventurer would be unable to to participate in his society

Maybe it gave them bad tourettes - not something a noble or a high ranking person could have. Maybe it made them disfigured with a bad smell - again not something you have have in polite company but would be accepted in an adventurer :smallwink:

If the rules of your high(er) society are VERY strict then it could be something as simple as not knowing what wine goes with what course