Hey there! I created a nasty little assassin that PCs wil have a hard time tangling with. Lucia Calderon is crafty, manipulative and... eight years old. There is, of course, more to her identity than that. But what will PCs do against a villain they can't fight outright?
what will PCs do against a villain they can't fight outright?
Die trying. But why can't they fight her outright?
When an eight year old starts showing signs of having eight character levels, there's only one reasonable conclusion: it's not an eight year old. It's a shapechanged fiend, or a halfling with an astronomical disguise skill, or some sort of hitherto unknown fey. Either way, the party is going to kill it.
Considering the Young template has a -4 to Strength and Constitution for a +4 to Dex, don't you think the stats on this character are a big high?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The stats are a bit high; no doubt about that. Additionally, I ws using a template with some lighter ability adjustments, as well. But yes, they are a bit high. Also note that the mental ability scores of the 45+ year old adult have some inherent bonuses for age. And that they combine with the physical stats of the new body.
The reason they are unlikely to fight her outright is because they aren't just going to run into her out in the wilderness, and she isn't going to directly engage them where she can be seen. While it's true that the standard and expected D&D/Pathfinder way is "if it's hostile, we kill it", the consequences of trying to kill a child should not be overlooked.
Consider: She attacks, and realizes the party is not going to be the easy mark she thought. She bolts, screaming. She swings around a corner to a more populated area. All of a sudden, you have a smallish child screaming about a bunch of people trying to kill her. It would seem to me the default reaction of nearby folks would NOT be to asssume that the armed, thuggish out-of-towners are acting on the common good. They would assume that they are murderers of the worst sort. All too often, players just assume that because they are the protagonists the need for the story to advance gives them a bit of a shield from certain types of consequences. It's good to make them sweat sometimes.
Edit: Spelling.
Darn. Spelling in the above reply (mine) is atrocious. My apologies. I'm also not seeing the Edit option...
Edit: Found it. Edit option was missing for some reason before.