Putting the Players in a Corner - The Un-Fun of an Inevitable, Lingering Death


Advice


I seem to have put my new low-level players in a pickle. They just encountered some vargouilles:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/vargouille.html

We ended the session there, but I then realized the PC's are in a remote location. If any of them are infected by the vargouilles, it's very unlikely they would make it to somewhere with a remove disease spell available before they...lose their head.

So what do? I hate for the players to lose any sense of agency that the world is fraught with danger and uncertain death, but at the same time, a lingering, horrible and inevitable death is not that much fun. What would any of you suggest as a side-quest, "out", or would you?

"The next 24 hours is a horror you'll never forget, as the thief is transformed before your eyes..."

Dark Archive

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Here's a side-quest idea:

One or more PCs contracts the horrible disease. Symptoms worsen. Time is running out. A couple days before the PC's impending death, when his friends are becoming desperate, a nymph/angel/demon/whatever -looking creature approaches them. "I can heal you," she says, "in exchange for a small favor in a few months. Nothing you can't handle."

When the PCs accept, she heals the PC in question. He is back to full health. The only difference is a new tattoo on his arm, in the shape of a vine looping around his forearm.

When a few months have passed and you've gone further with your intended storyline, the nymph/angel/demon/whatever reappears and asks for the favor. You can tie this into your current quest or make it something completely new (if the PCs have just finished their current task). If the PCs try to refuse the offer or cheat their healer, the vine tattoo acts as a mark of justice that first begins constricting the PC's arm in warning, and then takes effect one day later if the PC hasn't resumed the quest.

The fun part is that if the PCs keep getting in trouble and dying, the healer can keep popping up and telling the PCs the favor she seeks will be "just a little greater." I used this once over the course of a campaign, having the nymph reappear half a dozen times (the PCs kept getting themselves in trouble), and eventually the PCs had to travel to Hell to regain something stolen from the nymph. It was loads of fun.


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Make sure they know you aren't going to pull punches, then don't pull your punches (beyond trying to avoid a wipe). If it does come up though, I would suggest:

- Letting them run with any wacky scheme they might come up with to get back to town in time (tag team remove exhaustion to spend the whole night riding a corpse toboggan back down the mountain!)

- Conveniently have a scroll or magic item nearby (possibly taken by the vargs to avoid this situation, and in with their loot).


Maybe they run into nomads led by a cleric that can help them, but for a favor later on.


The easiest way would be to put a cure method in game just in case but as you rightly said your players may "lose any sense of agency that the world is fraught with danger and uncertain death."

I'd suggest you work from this.

The Pathfiner PRD wrote:
This transformation's progress is paused by sunlight or any light spell of 3rd level or higher

You can then place in the dungeon an area lit by a fragile magical orb that sheds light as a heightened to level 3 light spell as well as a journal of a man who got infected and tried to stave off the transformation only to find his creation (the orb) attracted certain dangerous creatures. That way you can then run a kind of chase as the party tries to get to civilization for a cure.


See how it goes, if one(or more) of the characters gets infected on the 'way out' have them run into a cleric who was planning on clearing out the nasty critters themself. The cleric could then offer to take care of the issue at a reduced/free cost for casting spells as they dealt with the issue. If none of them get it, you were worried for nothing ;)

Silver Crusade

"So we can control this with proper application of light? Huh...hey, do you guys mind if we wait on curing this until the hair tentacles grow out? I think it would be a nice look. Liek Kit Fisto."

I always did want to have a PC or NPC down-on-their-luck adventurer stuck with partial Vargouille features...


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Hiya.

Use the characters skills instead of magic. I see faaaar too many "new" (re: less than 10 years of RPG experience) players think that Problem A can only be fixed by using Special Ability/Spell Y. So, go back to basics...

Ask to see the character sheets of everyone there. Find a skill that someone has (Knowledge:Nature would be ideal, but others may work), then ask for a respectively low DC check (like 10, 12, or 15 max, lets say). If they make it, tell the PC he may know of some plant/herb/fungus that could slow down or temporarily halt the transformation. If they don't make it, tell them they don't know what plant/herb/fungus it is, but they do remember reading something about it...maybe if they seek someone out who has more expertise in it...

Of course, I would also give them a penalty of some sort ("The strange mushroom stew tasted rather good, but you are seeing things a bit strangely...like everything is under water...you have -1 to all mental stuff and -2 to physical things, but +1 to Fortitude saves").

That said, I do like the idea above about the light thing...maybe work that in as well? The key thing to do is make it dangerous; give the players something to worry about other than how many hit points they have or what their AC is...something that isn't based on "game mechanics". Trust me...players will remember those incidents WAY more than they will remember yet another time when they needed an 18+ to hit their opponent.

^_^

Paul L. Ming


Make sure a scroll or 2 of remove disease is in the loot...


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Exactly what kind of "remote location" are they in? If they're in an underground dungeon, then I like the light orb thing. If they're just out in the wilderness, have them do an epic journey, traveling only by daylight and doing what they can to stave off the effects. I also favor 'Branche's idea of an intervening force. I did that once with the ghost of a dryad slain by her folarren child. The side quest? Save her daughter. "Nothing is more powerful than a mother's love for her child..."

Anyway, if one of the party is going to die make it meaningful, memorable. Pming also hits on a good point - they may have things at their disposal they don't know about. Of course I'd make it a whole skill challenge, involving Heal, Knowledge skills (several pop to mind) and if one of them has the ability to Channel positive energy that might help the process.

Finally, don't be afraid to allow the inevitable. Stories have ever been fraught with characters who know they're doomed and only then, when time is so short, do they realize signifcance and greatness. Perhaps they're somewhere too remote to do anything about the Vargouille's Kiss but in the hours before his death the rogue gets visions of some vital piece of the quest - a mcguffin nearby, a village in need or something. This vision helps the party achieve some measure of success before the rogue really starts losing it.

But then the moment comes. The rogue, laid out sweaty and pale, implores his fellows "peasants...out of danger?" The cleric looks down at him, tears streaming down, "yes dear friend, you've saved them all." The rogue smiles. "Good. Maybe that will wash out some of my sins. When I see Pharasma in the Boneyard, I'd like to be able to retire somewhere nice." Then a grim look comes over his face; "Warrior, attend me. You've one last task with your axe. Now, before these things crawling up the back of my throat do their grisly work...kill me"

Not a dry eye in the house as the stoic dwarf fighter hefts the battle axe high, like an executioner...


Some excellent, excellent answers here. Thanks everyone!

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