With tiles, all the material components used and spell decisions are made when the tile is made. The tiles for beheaded will do only that. You will probably try to get enough information about magic tiles to try to use them against me, that being an abuse of the Socratic method.
My very simple question is this... Would the necromancer normally have special made beheaded tiles vs having tiles for generic use and save his spells for specialty use? Seems logical to not have a pile of tiles JUST for special use so it seems to be a metagaming DM move.
As long as they end up being more expensive to make and are available to both heros and villains I don't see the problem.
The issues isn't who has them available, it's that the universe created them because the party picked up skulls and then illogicly gave the local necromancer a free gift box of them...
I take it my idea for a staff that is fueled by destroying remains is better received. It hasn't been attacked by the Socratic method.
I honestly don't recall that. If it was created just to mess with the party, I most likely would have the same issues.
I'm not sure why having events unfold based on the roleplaying your PCs have done needs to be considered a punishment though. I mean, the game is made up largely of encounters. I'd think that having encounters which are themed around who your PCs are and what they've done or are doing could be a good experience. Maybe the skull encounter could be helpful and informative, lead to great treasures, serve as a prophecy (when the skulls float up, glow, and chant some curse, warning, cryptic message, etc), or just be a spooky but fun interlude or minor combat challenge.
I have no issue with this in general. The Dm makes a plot that makes sense, cool. My issue isn't that "encounters which are themed around who your PCs are and what they've done" in general but having it happen JUST because of the skulls. If every pocket picket, bandit killed and cult vanquished comes back to haunt the party then the skulls coming to kill them makes sense. If the gods call the necromancer out of the blue and offers power, items information JUST because the players picked up some skulls then it's an issue for me.
So cool plot point, good! Meta-gaming screw-over, bad.
If my computer came to life that would be kind of weird, but since it is a sub $200 Chromebook I guess that the value of having a unique supernatural experience which proves magic is real (and therefore I’m the true heir to the throne of Melnibone/Atlantis/Gondor?) might outweigh the price tag of getting a new computer (and maybe a witch to cast a protective spell over it?). This is assuming of course that I can handily defeat an animated computer and get magical healing to make any injuries I suffered in the fight disappear.
If I were at a hunting lodge with a bunch of hunting trophies in it and those came to life and haunted me while I’m weathering a blizzard there I think that would be pretty cool though - at least if I were capable of dealing with such supernatural disturbances effectively. I remember an old adventure like that in Dungeon magazine. In that case the trophies weren’t taken by the PCs but by hunters of the past, but I could imagine a DM changing that part of the story. It also makes me think of Bjorn on Vikings hanging out in the hunting lodge all winter. I guess his DM sent a Berserker to attack him just because of his roleplaying choice to hook up with Torvi, but instead of complaining Bjorn killed the Berserker since he's an awesome Viking and therefore likes challenges (though a Vikings alignment thread might not be much prettier than a Game of Thrones alignment thread)
Anyhow, it isn’t like demon skulls are valuable magical treasure or equipment (like my +1 Cruel Furious Chromebook), so I think the whole comparison is a little off really. The demon statue which might potentially come to life also isn’t a monument built to represent one of the PCs, but honestly if some villain animated a statue of some hero and had it go on a rampage that might not be a completely unreasonable storyline. I wouldn’t expect that the animated object itself would be much of a challenge to PCs powerful enough to who have statues built in their honor, but tracking down the maniac who is using their images to kill people could be a decent adventure.
I'm not pitching a "The monsters raped and killed your mother and sister and now your half-fiend half-sisters are sneaking into camp to coup de grace you and your friends" story line here, maybe just some talking skulls which might or might not be aggressive or particularly dangerous. I'm also not saying that the DM "should" do something like that, just that I don't think it should be terrible and off limits.
Of course any action the DM might or might not take is a little different from the OP's original intent of changing the party's behavior from within. A lot of folks might feel that there's no need to change the behavior of keeping Evil skulls as trophies since they don't feel there's anything wrong or offensive about that. There's probably some other behavior like cannibalism, sexual abuse, racism, or fart jokes which more folks would agree is unacceptable if it makes some members of the group uncomfortable though. I guess the answer there is usually something like, "Tell your group you're sensitive and the way they're roleplaying makes you feel bad. They might tell you to grow up, apologize and behave the way you'd like, or perhaps laugh with glee and take the behavior to new heights."
The Staff of Life and Death basically would be rewarding the characters for destroying that trash. 200 lbs of remains vaporized would restore one charge to the staff. A true resurrection would use all 10 charges.
If the GM wanted to mess with anyone, they would have the skulls talk only to the guy creeped out by them.
Ooooh! How about a staff of life that recharges one charge by vaporizing 200 lbs of remains? Of course a True Res. will take all 10 charges. A few of those in the campaign area and everyone with dearly departed will come knocking at your door. Talk to your GM and see if the Staff of Life and Death is right for your game. :)
Disclaimer: The Staff of Life and Death costs much more to make. It will not restore the lost level. May cause constitution loss in 1st level characters. It may offend some religions to destroy remains like that. Side effects may include Monty Haul or Christmas Tree syndrome. Use responsibly unless everyone has signed off on an irresponsible campaign.
This was on the first page of this topic. I guess that's why you missed it.
I kind of like the idea of the Thirteen Skulls animating and speaking and acting as a chaotic evil Greek Chorus. Sibilant whispers spreading gossip and lies, creating strife between the PCs. Trying to get the PCs to betray one another. The Thirteen Skulls try to draw each PC to interact alone with them. That will be their opportunity to get in the PCs' heads and mess with them.
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...Huh? Paladins can work with neutral people just fine.
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The skulls are not at all the real problem. Alignment is the problem Paladins are Lawful Good and most won't work with neutral characters unless under dire circumstances. If they do something to suggest they are not good he may actually take off. Paladins are a powerful class but they have strict guidelines to follow regarding alignment and ethos.
I'm not even sure why a good character couldn't collect skulls of things which are already dead anyway. (though I agree with Sundakan above) Can no hunter with a deer head on their wall be good? Are medical students all neutral at best for studying on cadavers & having real skeletons in the classroom?
Honestly I don't see how this conversation is still going, the only issue with collecting skulls is if one of the players objects, it's neither evil nor dangerous.
Absolutely, the issue was most likely resolved weeks ago.
A good stupid question keeps lingering, for years. Like Succubus In A Grapple. :-)
I've even run out of ideas how to make the skulls attack them.
Have you tried from behind.
... It's just not the same...
Turn Unthread!