|
habituallyred posted:Foocubus pretending to be a Paladin. Humanoid of indeterminate gender and race, due to the full plate they wear, that swears to aid the party until they can return the favor with Lay on Hands. Won't break character until the Lay on Hands trap is sprung. Can be trusted to stand watch, carry baggage, basically anything but Lay on Hands. All of the jokes, much less of the embarrassment. This is a very good suggestion, thanks.
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2020 11:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 12, 2024 14:50 |
|
|
Got myself tangled up in a bit of in-game lore and could do with some help. I asked a player to describe his city and then his sister and now I’m stuck! - player is runaway from ruling family of Vultan’s Wall, giant fortified city - Vultan’s Wall extracts tribute from other the city states for keeping back the terrible power of the ice giants - player knows this is a scam - the ice giants have been extinct for decades - and ran away when he came of age and learned the truth - they have discovered some of the legendary & unique defensive systems of the city being used elsewhere in the world The party are about to encounter this character’s big sister, a strictly lawful good senior member of the wall guard. Vultan’s Wall is very totalitarian so she could be brainwashed, but I just can’t square away a very morally strong individual going along with 1) the extortion of the other cities and 2) the selling of the ancient defences for profit (even if she knows they aren’t needed). Any ideas?
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2020 13:32
|
|
|
Sanford posted:Got myself tangled up in a bit of in-game lore and could do with some help. I asked a player to describe his city and then his sister and now I’m stuck! the giant stuff is a lie but as a result of the defensive fortifications and tithes and the standing guard on the wall life in the city and surrounding city states is better. the person in charge of the city(father/mother..? shadow ruler..???) is an extremely good salesman and sold the sister on these facts. they convinced the sister the ends justify the means, and while she is guilty about this, she A) does not want to throw away her entire life B) was convinced by some guard the mastermind paid off that "if you leave, the moral fibre of this place might drop, but with you here we are safe" C) witnessed a bona fide attack on this city. depending on how evil you want the city to be the mastermind could either be benevolent(they also believe this), mischievous(it is all a convenient lie), or malicious(this is my town, and i alone rule). being pure evil, i prefer the latter as it allows you to put a wedge between the PCs and this characters sister, and also because a genius type antagonist should rules a city can do a lot of cool stuff. (if you make the mastermind malicious, C can become "the attack was orchestrated by the mastermind because loyalty was slipping" as a startling reveal to get the sister on your teams side)
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2020 13:46
|
|
|
Sanford posted:Got myself tangled up in a bit of in-game lore and could do with some help. I asked a player to describe his city and then his sister and now I’m stuck! The city was set up in part by a seer. They saw a threat in the future and set up the wall as part of a defense test. The other stuff around the world is other tests, the sister knows this and is in on it. Just a few more decades and the work will be done, but the forseen enemy knows too and has sent agents to bring the graft to light and get the project shut down.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2020 13:54
|
|
|
Sanford posted:Got myself tangled up in a bit of in-game lore and could do with some help. I asked a player to describe his city and then his sister and now I’m stuck! "Does it bother me? Of course it bothers me. But you need to see the bigger picture here. Suppose the truth was known to everyone. What happens? All the other settlements stop paying tribute. The food we need to live stops arriving at our gates. What will the people of Vultan's Wall do? Just curl up and starve, next to an empty bowl and a loaded crossbow? I'll tell you what they'll do, they'll march right out of their gates and start taking the tribute. You think all the soft southern cities are going to be able to stop them? It'd be civil war, a bloodbath, and could easily end in Vultan's Wall just sitting back on top with slaves instead of tributaries. How many lives is the truth worth brother? How many would you condemn to die in the name of honesty? It's not pleasant, but the status quo is the best we can do right now. Maybe, if I can become commander, we can start scaling back, reduce the tribute, gradually, over time. Give Vultan's Wall time to develop into something more than a frozen city sustained by others. I don't like the lie, but the truth is worse."
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2020 13:57
|
|
|
The sister's Lawful Goodness presents as the kind of naiveté that convinces her that honest people will prevail if they stand up straight and tell the truth in a firm clear voice, and she's been vainly attempting to change the corrupt system from within while being transferred/promoted to irrelevancy. Optional: She's also been beyond the wall and knows the truth: The ice giants aren't extinct, they're resting, and they're about to start coming back. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 14:32 on Jul 21, 2020 |
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2020 14:28
|
|
|
Aah good stuff, I can definitely use this. But what about the selling of the ancient defences? They are a range of magical siege weapons, some needing operation and some fully automated (think a bolt thrower version of the sentry guns from Aliens). The party have found them being used in a number of places, both rival city states and private/criminal organisations. To add a bit more exposition (you know you love it): Players Sister - this npc knows the big secret that the giants are all but extinct. All the nobles learn this when they come of age. - she also knows that Vultan’s Wall is massively depopulated. All the totalitarian “STAY IN YOUR SECTOR” bullshit is because only three out of 88 sectors have anyone living in them. The players DO NOT know this - only senior ranks of the Wall Guard and maintenance crews do. - she was destined to be Scramblemaster (head of wizard guild & member of city ruling council) but when her brother (player) was born she noped out and became a wall guard instead, leaving him to fulfil the destiny that she didn’t want. Commander Thalarctos, head of the Wall Guard - he knows a further secret - the giants are not extinct. They are much, much further north than he allows his patrols to travel. - he keeps it secret because he wants them to attack Vultan’s Wall, and destroy it. That’s why he’s been secretly selling off the defences. He believes the destruction of the city will rouse the aspect of the god of balance that is war. He wants to do this before the players waken the other aspects of this god. - he wants this because he is a loving MANIAC. I want it so I can say to the players giants are attacking the city, but your immediate priority is this military trained polar bear that’s about to attack you. - I forgot to mention that he is a 9 feet tall polar bear. Pick out the bits of my story that I got from your posts in this thread! There’s lots to choose from!
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2020 14:31
|
|
|
I was imagining she might support selling off the defences on the basis that it would make it easier to then reduce the tribute at a later date due to lower maintainence costs, maybe believing that the money coul dbe used to fuel Vultam's development toward self-sufficiency, but that's harder to justify if she knows the population only has like 5% of its claimed population. At that point the city won't be doing poo poo either way and I'd struggle to see a need to keep up the charade if they're actually lawful good. Maybe she's part of, or even leading, a conspiracy to overthrow Commander McBear? Possibly Commander McBear knows full well about the extent and nature of the plot, but doesn't actually give much of a poo poo because worst case scenario, he's overthrown, Sister dismantles the tribute system and completes the draw down of the defences, and then Oops, All Giants. Now Sister goes down in history as the person who let the giants win! Or maybe, and stay with me here, maybe PC's Sister has actually been kidnapped/imprisoned and the person claiming to be PC's Sister is actually a secret Bear. Nobody believes PC that Sister is a Bear.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2020 15:02
|
|
|
Reveilled posted:I was imagining she might support selling off the defences on the basis that it would make it easier to then reduce the tribute at a later date due to lower maintainence costs, maybe believing that the money coul dbe used to fuel Vultam's development toward self-sufficiency, but that's harder to justify if she knows the population only has like 5% of its claimed population. At that point the city won't be doing poo poo either way and I'd struggle to see a need to keep up the charade if they're actually lawful good. This works. The commander has been keeping the plains before the wall clear, claiming he aims to afford enough enchantments to turn this frozen wasteland into temperate farmlands and allow the city to be self sufficient. He’s actually keeping it clear so the giants can launch an assault there, and pocketing all the cash. When they give him a kicking he’s going to try and escape on a glorious golden airship he’s bought with his ill-gotten gains. Thank you!
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2020 15:09
|
|
|
So my players were stoked to start in Sharn and none had read the Eberron book's adventure, so I decided to run it after all. There's 5 of them and they're light on healing and level 1 to boot. Looking over the adventure, it seems pretty darn lethal to a group of level 1s, 2 of whom are brand new to TTRPGs. So I feel like I either need to half the enemy count and fudge some damage, or start them off at level 2. Thoughts?
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2020 03:51
|
|
|
Just give them a milestone level up after the first encounter.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2020 05:11
|
|
|
Saxophone posted:So my players were stoked to start in Sharn and none had read the Eberron book's adventure, so I decided to run it after all. There's 5 of them and they're light on healing and level 1 to boot. generally i tend to lean for nonlethal fail states for difficult encounters early on like that. i havent ran the adventure in the eberron book so i dont know what that is like, but a good rule of thumb is enemies 1) have no real desire to fight to the death, and 2) if they have no investment in dealing with the PCs, just want to resolve the situation. for 1 - if an enemy is getting the crap beaten out of it, it will run. why would it stand to the last second? there has to be a good reason for an enemy to fight to the death. (this is great for goblins, by the way. cowardly goblins that only fight if their boss is around is low level gold) for 2 - if the party intervened on some random crap some thugs are doing, killing them might be way more trouble than it is worth. depending on the scenario, the group of random level 1 PCs are probably less of a threat/nuisance than the subsequent murder investigation from the town guard. if your enemies are anywhere near intelligent, instead of a level 1 TPK, have them beat the crap out of the PCs, take their items, maybe break a bone if they are really bad, and tell them in no uncertain terms to get lost. the PCs can get bounce back from this loss, maybe even get their stuff back if they opt for revenge. (alternatively just level them past level 1, levels 1 and 2 are unusually lethal compared to the rest of the game)
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2020 05:33
|
|
|
pog boyfriend posted:generally i tend to lean for nonlethal fail states for difficult encounters early on like that. i havent ran the adventure in the eberron book so i dont know what that is like, but a good rule of thumb is enemies 1) have no real desire to fight to the death, and 2) if they have no investment in dealing with the PCs, just want to resolve the situation. This is really good advice. Honestly, I try to do this for every encounter I run -- if the fail state of an encounter is "the players all die and the campaign ends" you know you're not really going to let that encounter end that way, so why have it at all? Even with ravenous mindless beasts the fail state can be something like "you come round later, one of you has been dragged off and eaten but the others have been left intact" so there's a consequence but the plot still goes on.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2020 06:50
|
|
|
I played the Kraken fight today! It went pretty well, thanks to the suggestions made here. Some things I learned: - don't throw an AC13 boss at a lvl 5 group that loves to use bless. - I had legendary actions that made whirlpools that'd knock down players (who failed a save) at the beginning of their turn. This was ineffective, as they just got knocked down and immediately stood up. Should've knocked em down when the whirlpool was created, so the Kraken could hit them with advantage at least once before they get up. And jesus, my group can dish out the pain. I had planned the monster at 250HP for phase 1, then they had to destroy three hearts with 80HP each. I put the health bar at 500HP "to make them sweat". Turns out, they hit 250 damage in turn 3 and I just played until they finished the 500HP. Otherwise the fight would have been way too quick. After the kraken fight, they had no ressources left, and I threw some displacer beasts at them during their rest. That kept them on their toes. Afterwards, they returned to their colony, had a big "we killed a kraken" party and befriended some sketchy Gnolls that want to join the colony. A good mix of combat and RP. Fun was had! And my favourite quote from the session: sailor to one player, a sentient tree: "have you any experience with sailing?" sentient tree: "No, but my cousin is a rowboat" Here's a screenshot of the kraken fight: 
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2020 21:13
|
|
|
That rowboat line is gold.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2020 21:47
|
|
|
Hello everyone! I'm about to start running LMoP into SKT. What;s more, the game is gonna be Play by Post. Is there any good advice or things I should know before starting?
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2020 22:21
|
|
|
Hey, y'all. It's been years since I DM'd anything, but the lockdown has dragged me back into the hobby kicking and screaming. I just wrapped a campaign of Arthurian Knights vs steam-powered zombies in Fate Condensed, and I'm trying to find a new system for the next game. I've been out of the hobby for 5 years, so I don't know the new hotnesses. What's a good system for a medieval mecha campaign inspired by Escaflowne? I'm looking for something relatively rules-light, but with a little crunch to let the players feel like tactical geniuses. Stuff I want the system to support: * Smashing down a dam with a hammer bigger than god * Veiled threats exchanged over noble banquets * Tragic character flaws that drive brave souls to ruin * Shoulder-slamming through castle walls * The ability to wield ballistas akimbo
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2020 04:22
|
|
|
Tonight I had D&D via zoom. When we rolled I had everyone change their name to include initiative next to their name. It was soooo much easier
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2020 05:01
|
|
|
Luebbi posted:
Wish it would fit in the thread title lol. Nice moves on the fight. I've also run into the "Holy poo poo I guess this guy has hit points until the fight gets boring." situation when they ate through an adult dragons HP in two turns. It is a bad feeling to fudge things that way, but I don't show health bars for that reason.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2020 23:36
|
|
Glory to Italia!
|
I have a "problem" in the 5e campaign I'm running where one of my players is way too eager to accept questionable offers of power from obviously shady figures. In more specific terms, I was running The Styes from Ghosts of Saltmarsh, and at the climactic encounter, the aboleth bargained with the party to save its own skin. The story was that the aboleth was leading a cult and compelled them to murder and other atrocities in order to cultivate fear and misery and channel that negative emotional energy to accelerate the growth of a kraken hatchling; the bargain was that the aboleth agreed to give that same growth magic to the dragonborn party member to accelerate his growth into a true dragon. I had already given him a limited ability to polymorph himself into a true black dragon after an exceptionally lucky few rolls after he drank a few beakers of fantasy uranium, so this was meant to accelerate his growth from a very young dragon into a young dragon. I didn't expect him to take such a transparently dubious offer, but I did intend to let him grow up one age category. That said, what kind of consequences would be interesting his choice? He literally used evil magics powered by human suffering to gain his powers, and I want to apply some kind of consequence for it, but I also don't want to take away player agency. How do you convey to a player that they've become (even more) psychopathic, sadistic, and insane? TL, DR: Player underwent an evil ritual to gain great power. What kind of consequences should a player have for doing so?
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2020 23:10
|
|
|
Make people that know react with horror, especially people they care about.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2020 23:28
|
|
|
RP effects are one element, but with evil bargains you usually have to trade more than social capital. Give him the chance to chase the evil path which gradually requires more self sacrifice (HP penalty, cursed magic items, disloyalty to the party, kill someone they like, etc) but make him consider trade offs that could redeem him through less suffering and (optionally) less power.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2020 23:36
|
|
|
EthanSteele posted:Make people that know react with horror, especially people they care about. There aren't a whole lot of those, but rejection from the chromatic dragon community he worked so hard to be a part of would hurt, I think. That's a good idea, thanks!
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2020 23:36
|
|
|
lightrook posted:There aren't a whole lot of those, but rejection from the chromatic dragon community he worked so hard to be a part of would hurt, I think. That's a good idea, thanks! Sorry, you responded on my same minute. I'm suggesting a scroll up, if you care to.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2020 23:41
|
|
|
The abeloth is evil and psychic. Why would the player trust it? Have it only make the player feel like they advanced a few stages in age. To themselves, they look older. Have them slowly find out they've been tricked when what they see doesn't match the effect on the environment and the reactions from others. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. You could have a 'revenge' arc that puts them right in the path of the magical stage-advancing McGuffin, so correcting their mistake has a real reward.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 00:47
|
|
|
Unless you're playing with a hosed up group, the player took the offer because they think this is a cool part of the story. The character seems like they'll take whatever offer of power you dangle in front of them so just keep doing that and upping the price. Play on both of these things. Start by offering them advantage or a bonus or something if they do bad stuff. Be completely open and blatant about it. "You know, since you did all that evil ritual stuff, you've been feeling more inclined to do stuff like <take the currently evil option>, so if you do that, let's call it Advantage... what do you think?" Also just start offering them bad-guy options in roleplay situations. Say "that little voice in your head is telling you to XYZ..." and then just stare at them and wait. They'll make their own consequences soon enough. If you get it right, you can phase out the offer of a reward, and then the actual reward. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Jul 27, 2020 |
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 00:55
|
|
|
Yeah, fortunately my players are invested in their characters and have internally consistent motivations, so even strictly roleplay-based consequences without a mechanical component have some meaning. The aboleth made the offer rather honestly and easily, both to save its own skin and also to turn the player into its pawn in the future. But what's a good way to play that out in practice? As in, how do I communicate to the player that they're losing control and going insane?
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 01:56
|
|
|
What kind of insane are you aiming for?
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 02:28
|
|
|
lightrook posted:Yeah, fortunately my players are invested in their characters and have internally consistent motivations, so even strictly roleplay-based consequences without a mechanical component have some meaning. Why not ask the player what they're expecting the story to be? Then riff off that with their buy-in. Have they willingly sold out for power? They're gonna be ok with playing the descent into madness then, right? Keep putting more power in front of them so they can sell out for it. Their madness will be obvious and it'll be what they want it to be with minimum input from you. Do they think they're conning the aboleth? Like, they're pretending to give in to the dark side of the force and they're gonna double-cross it later? Cool, now you've got an enemy that's distant, smart, and has its hooks into a PC already. Their madness will be more subtle, but "I am tricking the aboleth" is a defintely insane plan, and "power whatever the cost I'll figure out how to get out of it later" isn't a healthy motivation. Did they make a bad decision that they regret and want to make up for? How are they gonna do that? It's not as easy as "I cast remove curse", right? I guess this one's the hard one and I don't have a good answer if they player won't lean into it with minor prompting. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 02:31 on Jul 27, 2020 |
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 02:28
|
|
|
Sorry if this isn't the place to post this, but I recently got Weave and am trying to learn how to use it. Now the site says theres a way to make scenarios for it but i'm not seeing how.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 02:39
|
|
|
lightrook posted:The aboleth made the offer rather honestly and easily, both to save its own skin and also to turn the player into its pawn in the future. But what's a good way to play that out in practice? As in, how do I communicate to the player that they're losing control and going insane? is that what the player wants? if the player is not aware of that being a possibility it is essentially a "gotcha" moment, which is the biggest thing you want to avoid as a DM. regardless of whether or not they should h ave been able to see this coming, anything that takes away player agency is extremely dangerous as a DM, especially in a long term thing like that. a player intentionally making a rash decision and dealing with the consequences later is great storytelling ... if the player is aware of the consequences. "losing control" is the last thing you want to spring on someone - taking away agency makes the consequences feel arbitrary and can poison the character, making it not fun to play for the player anymore. i advise against your plan of action. instead, talk to the player and let them know flat out there are going to be some sort of consequences for taking this power, and let them know that you what you are considering but ask them what the consequences should be. there is nothing wrong with the players knowing where the story is headed in a broad sense, dramatic irony is fun. and besides, if they think they know everything because they have the big picture... you will still have ways to surprise them. the devil is in the details, after all.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 04:25
|
|
|
So I've run into a bit of a problem with my current game. It's meant to be pretty heavy on the dungeon delving, and it is a continuation of what I ran physically at the table where there was a lot of dungeon delving. All five of my players are Level 6, and they'd taken an overrun castle as their base of operations. They have the deed, the land is lawfully theirs. But now I might be running into the problem of bookkeeping regarding the npcs at the castle, and the players getting absorbed in the minutiae of it all. I've had one player approach me privately who said they really aren't super into playing a medieval castle simulator, and as a DM I kinda agree with this player as it isn't what I wanted to run either. Some of the things I thought about doing are simple, like condensing things they've been worrying over or allowing them to let the npcs handle it instead. Putting in more calls to action to draw them back into the dungeon etc. But overall trying to avoid taking it away from them either. Does it sound like I've got the right approach in mind here? I think my only concern is if I should do this behind the scenes or just be very up front about it all. The latter is probably the better choice but might not be necessary, yet.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 05:46
|
|
|
lightrook posted:I didn't expect him to take such a transparently dubious offer, but I did intend to let him grow up one age category. That said, what kind of consequences would be interesting his choice? He literally used evil magics powered by human suffering to gain his powers, and I want to apply some kind of consequence for it, but I also don't want to take away player agency. How do you convey to a player that they've become (even more) psychopathic, sadistic, and insane? One issue I can see is that you have a PC whose whole thing is "become a dragon" and your evil deal was for their next stage in growth. That player may well not have thought further than "oh cool this is how I get my next dragon level", and feel entrapped if you reveal that their dragon level (which they were obviously supposed to take) makes their PC evil. In fact, you established precedence for "doing dumb poo poo gets me dragon levels" with the fantasy uranium business. I'd talk to that player about whether you're on the same page about this thing, and take it from there.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 05:58
|
|
|
Arthil posted:So I've run into a bit of a problem with my current game. condense as many rolls as you need to, the goal of rolls is to create drama when there is uncertainty in outcome. the day to day running of a castle is not important unless you want to run a game about managing a castle, and it can be assumed that the people living there are not incompetent and will be able to survive without the partys assistance. the way i would do it is to have the head butler or someone similarly in charge of the group pull the party aside and politely inform them that them micromanaging everything is bad for morale, that it makes people feel like they are not good at their job, etc, and that they are capable of competently running the castle by themselves. what they arent capable of, is defeating the dragon hydra lich vampire that exists in the dungeon, and that many of the staff joined to assist in defeating the evil in the dungeon the way that they can -- by cooking, and maintaining the previously lost keep. since people OOC do not want to bother with the minutiae, something in character to address this behaviour will help the verisimilitude of the story while also giving them an out, both in and out of character. it will also make them feel cool because all these guys are supporting them. having trustworthy allies in your castle when you make your way out of the dungeon is relieving, and creates a strong difference in kind between the danger and treacherous factions in the dungeon(if you do monster dialogue), and the warm and friendly castle they can always fall back on.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 06:06
|
|
|
pog boyfriend posted:condense as many rolls as you need to, the goal of rolls is to create drama when there is uncertainty in outcome. the day to day running of a castle is not important unless you want to run a game about managing a castle, and it can be assumed that the people living there are not incompetent and will be able to survive without the partys assistance. Thankfully none of this involves rolls. But it's like I provided an inch of rope in regards to the land they own having farms on it and that they've been receiving money from those farms and they nearly hanged themselves with it. I do think some of the frustration from the player who PMed me was that others in the group seemed so concerned over the specifics of protecting a chest they'd put their latest plunder of gold into. In some ways I cannot blame them, it's a solid 11,000 or so in worth between coin and jewels. But on the other... The people in the castle have been there for six months, so it is highly unlikely any of them would intend to steal from them (they did recruit some adventurers they saved while getting said treasure, but even then.) Some of this does stem from the way I've described the area. The forest itself is blighted, and so growing food is harder. There are very few prey animals, forcing the hunter they do have to need to venture out to hunt game. But what they do have is money, and now they have dependable people to protect a wagon to go collect supplies from a fairly nearby (like 10 miles tops) town beside the river. And even all the other issues are fixable.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 06:41
|
|
|
My Lovely Horse posted:Being able to take the bad deal or not and bear the consequences in either case is player agency. I should give a little more context, then. After skulling the fantasy uranium, he was pretty good about accepting a set of new and dragony motivations for his character, so I think we're both on the same page with things. I dangled the offer in front of him because I knew it would be extremely tempting, and I'm not entirely surprised he took it, either. Our group is pretty experienced and definitely picked up that it was a transparently evil and terrible offer, so I'm just looking for ideas on how to put that into practice. I don't want to sound like I'm frustrated with my players; if anything, I'm glad they don't always make the "safe" or "correct" choice and do interesting things to move the story in interesting directions; my goal is to just figure out what that interesting direction could be.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 07:02
|
|
|
lightrook posted:TL, DR: Player underwent an evil ritual to gain great power. What kind of consequences should a player have for doing so?
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 09:41
|
|
|
This is maybe a bit too on-the-nose, but uhh... has the player ever considered the intrinsic drawbacks of being a dragon, if they weren't able to freely morph? An adult black dragon is a huge monster that's justifiably terrifying to most people in a normal campaign setting. You have to eat an enormous amount of food every day, and think about where you're gonna sleep safely (because you can't exactly fit through inn doors). You can't really keep a low profile or be discrete, ever, and where you go dragon hunters follow: overeager knights that want to prove their mettle by slaying you, vicious poachers and insane wizards that want to carve you up for trophies and spell components. The PC's dream proceeds apace, the aboleth's magic works beyond their wildest dreams, and they continue to age and gain in draconic size and prowess. They rely more and more on their draconic powers until one day, the polymorphing just sort of "sticks", and it becomes rapidly evident that the life of a dragon is frequently a big pain in the rear end. The aboleth can help you turn back, or regain control of the transformation, but that aid comes with a cost... and you've got an adventure hook. IMO, that's the best way to handle devil's bargains: do that Twilight Zone poo poo and give them exactly what they think they want, with logical, reasonable consequences they probably weren't considering at all. Then offer them a way out.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 10:02
|
|
|
Dragon's union rep shows up and "asks" him to join? Or the dragon guild leader. Or the Grand Dragon of the Mystickyl Conclayve of Eldyr Wyrms. You get the drift. Because according to the dragons he's a dragon now.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 10:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 12, 2024 14:50 |
|
|
The player gains the ability to consume the souls of defeated intelligent enemies, which helps power their transformation. Doing so grants a dragonny bonus for the next day and a penalty for a few days after that, but taking another soul makes the penalty go away again. The more they do this, the more souls they need to consume to get their fix, the more of a liability the penalty makes them (things like "if you fail a Diplomacy check then you immediately attack who you were talking to") and the more obviously inhuman and terrifying they become.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2020 11:16
|
|