I've never posted on the boards before, so I don't know if this is the right spot for this. I DM a Pathfinder-Eberron-converted Savage Tide Game. One of my players made a deal with an aboleth. The deal consisted of him letting the aboleth go in exchange for everything it knows on aberrations ( because the daelkyr are the bad guys for the campaign), daelkyr, etc. The aboleth jumps at this as it has been bound to a particular spot for thousands of years. The character, an elf named Illyia, spends 4 months in the dark, writing everything this aberration has to say down. The aboleth knows that Illyia is onto something that he really shouldn't be, something big. So during those months, he casts a curse upon the elf. He can sense everything Illyia can, at will, knows his memories and has full control over his sensory imputs. The aboleth wants to turn this elf against his friends, make him mistrust everything he sees and hears and drive him so mad that he can be used as a tool for the aboleth and his master, a powerful daelkyr. What I need are suggestions on how to help accomplish this. Ideas for hallucinations, paranoias, random phobias and even some mechanics help on penalties ( or bonuses) to apply while experiencing these events. Can you help? BTW, I HAVE gone over this with the player and he wants me to 'bring it'.
Feeling thing burrowing into his/her skin is always creepy.
During a battle, have his character "notice the room won't stop spinning". After that, there's a 25% chance he sees a friend as an enemy, and vice versa.
Waking up and thinking your still dreaming can be scary as well.
Have him hear a voice whispering something like "your offer of loyality has been accepted...here it is a gift for each slave of the mighty daelkyr!". After 1 round, make him see a daelkyr simbiont on each one of his "friends" ;)
Hi!
Its always the small things, subtlety for the win!
Figure out what creeps out the player, as much as the PC, and make sure you start slow. At first give cursory descriptions of something which make things seem just not quite right, for instance how the smell of blood just won't go away after a fight. How that particular dude keeps looking oddly at the PC, the sound of spiders or other diminutive creeps moving about at night. >_>
When you got the player sufficiently hooked, and starting to get paranoid, then add some "accidents" involving the PCs party members in a fight. Angle it such as those accidents are viewed upon from the PCs view as possible deliberate acts, and from the party's view a request from/something stupid done by the PC. Or just a regular "whops, sorry" situation. It's especially fun if you get to make it so that they have to attack him at one time (illusions, anyone) to make it seem like they're saving his life. Of course, the PC shouldn't know about this, and be sufficiently paranoid beforehand. ;)
Never miss out on the details, whatever you do. Small things and subtlety for the win. :):) Oh, and take your time with it too! Patience is your friend.
Just think about the movie that scared you (or your friend, rather) the most: What did they use to get you so creeped out? :D
Warning: Don't ever be obvious about it! Always make it seem like it's a part of the normal descriptions. Once your friend picks up on what your doing to make him freak out, the illusion will be dispelled and make things way less enjoyable for everyone.
The best part is if the other players don't pick up on it either, imagine the surprise! :D:D:D
Sounds a lot like this aboleth was taught by a Horror from Earthdawn...
In Earthdawn, I once had a Horror curse a PC. Once the PC was aware of it, the Horror promised that this particular hero would never again enjoy the taste of victory... which was particularly nasty for this particular character type (a t'skrang swordmaster, for anyone who knows the game).
He's save a town from raiders only to find the food at the celebration feast poisoned... rescue a damsel in distress and return her to her family only to discover that she murdered her parents then took her own life...
This Horror could also sense what the pc sensed, etc. and I'll give you a but of a warning. The pc's will eventually figure out that the aboleth is making good on his promises (and if they don't, the aboleth should eventually get around to taunting the cursed pc!). They will want to act against this aboleth post haste. If they can't plan in front of the PC, your sessions will boil down to the cursed player being left out and frustrated. I speak from experience...
In retrospect, I would have put some serious limitation on that particular ability... a range limit (even if its miles), limited duration, or some sort of feeling the pc would get while the aboleth is tapping in. Thinking of it now, I'd let the pc get the feeling after a few times... or let him figure it out ("You had this buzzing in your head and, each time, things have gone wrong..."). If they're particularly savvy, the pc's may plan around it. They can test things out and figure out that the aboleth has no clue the pc is aware of the tap. Ultimately, the pc's can use the tap against the aboleth - hopefully even setting up their final confrontation.
The Abolith probably gave him directions on how to reach the realm of dreams through the far realm. The PC might also have gained the feat Illuminated: He knows and sees things in all 10 demensions, and seems dilusional to others. Since I could feel alien creatures scurrying through the ether around me and through me I have to take Seraquil to maintain any sainity. He can constantly be talking to the elementals in rocks, the dead spirits in the halls who won't shut up about things that only they care about, and when facing one monster he keeps asking "Which one?" Watch or read "From Beyond", both are pretty good. See if you can get him to roleplay his character as if everything is more or less a lie. If someone at the table says something completely out of character, pass him a note that says "You realize that not only is your friend saying something from a player in another universe, but the player is a puppet being run by an alien being mistakenly called a soul." If you can get him to start trying to catch you in saying two things that conflict, you've won. If you have to go back on a judgement call, tell them only the illumionated character saw the other character both die and not die and it makes the illuminated character 'shaken'.
Wow, these are some pretty good ideas. I know that my PC will seek out this aboleth for revenge, I've set up for that. I plan to start off by describing small things as being odd and then build up to what Goth Guru suggested. The build-up will be so much fun, basically slowly letting the dimensions 'run together' until he sees them all at the same time. Gaslighting works perfectly to help him distrust his friends ( he sees them do something, or say something and is SURE that he heard/saw it, but they deny it). I just need to throw in some strange visions/hallucinations to totally creep out the player and help them not be able to sleep. The player doesn't want this to be easily cured and more or less wants there to be a REAL risk of his character losing it and attacking those he loves. He does want a good ending, but wants the bad ending possibility to actually exist and wants to actually feel the struggle.
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