Some GM'ing Advice Required

[Arachnofiend]

So I'm running a game for some friends of mine. It mainly revolves around the fey, and right now the main villains (who have only barely been introduced at this point) are a Tombstone Fairy and her resurrected Juju Oracle subordinate. Because of this I'm mixing in some undead fun in the fey forest, and I came across the Abandoned One. Curse of Oblivion and Forgotten Friend are really freaking cool, but I'm not sure how to play it in a way that will be entertaining to my players. It seems like it would be kind of lame if I just tell everyone "okay, now the Oracle vanishes and you forget he ever existed" and they just have to roll with it. I'd rather it be more involved. Any suggestions on how to run this?

[FireberdGNOME]

I ran a fight with a "Shadowbeast" that devoured light when it got close to a source. It cloaked itself in shadow and looked like an almost amorphous feline-ish black mist. There was one PC that had True Seeing so could see the creature simply-unless it was in the dark, where it liked to stay... when it came to each player's turn I would describe what they had seen during the previous action and let them run with it.

The Abandoned One's camouflage abilities could be run the same way: Keep track of who either made the save, or has been attacked by the beasty and each turn tell the players what they can see. Imply it's an illusion if you like.

Sounds like a complex encounter, but it could be a lot of fun, too! :D

[shroudb]

I would play it more like insanity/misunderstanding.
Speak to your players as if they misunderstood something.

"I cast glitterdust where the oracle was"
"Huh? What oracle? Oh, you mean thaaaaaat. Ok you see that there is nothing there anymore" evil grin.

Make them doubt themselves, ask for random will saves (that do nothing but will make a lot of people think about illusions and such"

[Anonymous Visitor 163 576]

Have the players run into the effects of the Abandoned One first.

"Hey, villager, where's the barkeep we spoke to yesterday"
"We've never had a barkeep"
"It was yesterday"
"I've lived here my whole life, and we haven't"

*cue creepy music*

[Anonymous Visitor 163 576]

Then, for step two, you'll need a pair of cell phones, and some index cards that explain what happened.

Call one phone with the other, and put both on speaker. Then turn the volume down on phone two.

If anyone fails the save, give them phone one and the appropriate index card, and send them into the next room. They should be able to hear what's happening, but not speak.

Likewise, the other index cards should say to the remaining players what their jobs are.

Enjoy.

[Mathius]

I would not use vanish on a PC. A foe with long term improved invisibility that you can treat as there because you rationalize the sword in you gut is bed enough.

Targeting important NPCs will be interesting. The AO can walk into town and vanish the lord out of a meeting with his advisers and family. If the next 5 most important people in town do not remember the lord do they assume they were in charge? What about that babbling idiot who keeps mentioning the fictional guy in the picture on the wall?

How do the townsfolk react when the lord's son claims to be lord and not only that has always been the lord?

['Sani]

If you did target a PC with the curse and it stuck, I would hand out notes to everyone who DIDN'T get hit with it, explaining that the cursed PC is no longer there, they can no see it or hear it and they don't remember them existing at all. But DON'T tell the cursed PC.

That way the other players can play up ignoring anthing the cursed PC does, pretending they don't hear them or see them, while the cursed PC tries to get their attention. It both drives home th curse very well, while at the same time letting the players have some fun roleplaying with some good natured teasing of their friend.

But I'd only do that if the players all get along and can take a joke at their expense. If your players would get offended by being ignored like that, or would think being kept in the dark as to their own curse would anger them, then this whole method would backfire horribly.

[Arachnofiend]

I like the way you think, Sani. My players are all close friends and can take a good joke so I'm pretty sure that would be a hit.

[Nessus_9th]

basically, make them meet (what seems to be) different people every time, it is the same person but since they have no memory of him you just describe him differently. You wont have to tell your players to "forget" him because their chars never actually "met" him before. no meta gaming even if they tried lol

[shroudb]

Ask from your players to write down their actions and pass them to you. That way:

If a party member makes the save, you can even alter his words.

P.e. the cleric of the group, Alan, gets targeted. Everyone but the paladin fails their sv throw.

You pass up cards to all of what they see and ask to write what they do.

Then you describe it in a manner that seems true:

Ok the WHOLE party is moving through the woods when the paladin suddenly stop and starts slashing in the air.
He looks towards you and yells "what are you doing? Mark needs our help?"
What do you do?

Most players will acknowledge that the "whole" is including the cleric, when in fact you know that this isn't the case.

Also they could possibly believe that the paladin is under some mind controlling effect

[lorenlord]

Sani's idea definitely seems fantastic, especially if your players can handle the role-playing and don't take it personally if they're being ignored. That would be a very interesting combat indeed. Sounds fun!