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View Full Version : A Curveball for a Cannibal



Hectonkhyres
2009-05-03, 04:14 PM
I'm DMing on a weird 3.5 D&D campaign and one of the players is starting to get bored.

The guy is playing a dwarven frenzied berserker, a half naked thing covered with runic tattoos carrying a great axe and an animated shield, and... oh gods, he plays the character well. This guy is a veteran roleplayer to the point he almost forgets he is in a game and I figure he really deserves to have the game spiced up a bit for him.

Well, the guy has taken up cannibalism (specifically the eating of the hearts of his enemies) as per his barbarian tribe's traditions and I think I should tack a mechanic to his doing so without immediately telling him. Something with cumulative advantages and disadvantages. Since he is the only meatshield in the party right now (in a party with a wizard, a factotum, and a cleric) I can go as crazy as I want with the mechanic without fear of upsetting game balance.

I am thinking for starters I will start adding to any saves he makes against the special abilities of whatever he eats. Important considering that he just did terrible, terrible things to an illithid. But how should I screw the guy over and rip from him his humanity?

Looking for suggestions.

JoshuaZ
2009-05-03, 04:24 PM
I am thinking for starters I will start adding to any saves he makes against the special abilities of whatever he eats. Important considering that he just did terrible, terrible things to an illithid. But how should I screw the guy over and rip from him his humanity?

Looking for suggestions.

He ate an Illithid? That seems appropriate? One thing you could do (although throwing in some negatives to balance it out might be appropriate also) would be to make get as bonus feats some of the Illithid heritage feats from Complete Psionic. Alternatively, force him to take those feats instead of other feats. By the end of the feat progression he will have no choice but to keep eating brains...

Eldan
2009-05-03, 04:26 PM
Well, as for bonuses, since eating hearts in fiction is often done to gain the bravery of the opponent, why not a bonus against fear effects? Penalties are a little harder to come up with, but making him lose his own emotions could be a charisma penalty.

Godskook
2009-05-03, 05:20 PM
1.Mandatory penalties would suck. If you want to include them, he should be given the option to say no. Otherwise, I know I'd have a fit.

2.Why do there need to be penalties? He's a tier 4 class playing with a tier 3 and two tier 1s. As long as you don't step on their roles(healing, casting and skillmonkey, I'd imagine), I doubt there are many other abilities he could get which would de-balance the party.

3.How about this for a bonus? Every time he eats a heart, he gains or grows a semi-martial class feature related to what he ate. Eating hearts of normal animals grants him effective druid levels for wild shape. Eating fiendish hearts grants him effective levels of Favored soul class abilities(not spellcasting). Eating dragon hearts grant wing growth or natural armor bonus. I'm sure you get my idea.

Hectonkhyres
2009-05-03, 07:33 PM
When I said that the dwarf did terrible things to the illithid, cannibalism was only at the top of the list. The poor mind flayer had his slaves either freed or killed before him, was crippled and tortured for three days, and suffered for three days before having his heart removed as he watched. His head was delivered by a brainwashed slave back to the Elder Brain to relay what had occurred. A voidmind assassination squad is on route.

If it wasn't for the fact that the dwarf has ridiculously high standards of honor and only targets things that everyone agrees should die, and continually plays the superhero, the party would turn on him.

A cumulative charisma penalty sounds good to me... though I will counterbalance that by giving a bonus to intimidation. I also like the wildshape idea, though I think he should be restricted to some of the lower level animals until he hits epic. It would be a bad idea to have a frenzied berserker T-Rex on the loose.

NakedCelt
2009-05-03, 08:34 PM
Give him a disease, or the chance of contracting a disease, whenever he eats humanoid flesh. Something that not only saps his abilities but also occasionally mimics the effects of a spell like, oh, say, Tasha's hideous laughter or confusion at random moments, if he fails his Fort save.

Hectonkhyres
2009-05-03, 08:45 PM
Give him a disease, or the chance of contracting a disease, whenever he eats humanoid flesh. Something that not only saps his abilities but also occasionally mimics the effects of a spell like, oh, say, Tasha's hideous laughter or confusion at random moments, if he fails his Fort save.

Not to be unduly humorous, but I think that is actually the definition of 'Frenzied Berserker'. My main issue with disease is, well, that it isn't fun. I'm trying to give the guy a hefty quirk he has to play around... not drive him away from the game.

Also, its disturbing for somebody who isn't wearing any pants to talk about giving someone a disease.

Godskook
2009-05-03, 09:08 PM
I also like the wildshape idea

Thanks.


though I think he should be restricted to some of the lower level animals until he hits epic. It would be a bad idea to have a frenzied berserker T-Rex on the loose.

Just restrict his available forms heavily. If you say it like "you gain a limited wild shape, allowing you to take the form of your choice of 1 of these 3 animals, 1/day." As he eats more of the appropriate hearts, unlock it a little bit.

quick_comment
2009-05-03, 09:39 PM
Wildshaping is a bit supernatural I think for just eating hearts.

I would say he gets a bonus to damage on them, and espically in the case of mind flayers, a bonus to saves against them. Maybe if he eats enough he gets some heritage feats.

streakster
2009-05-03, 10:06 PM
How about a ranger's favored enemy bonus for the types he eats?

Or eating a heart might give that creature's spirit - just use the various stances from ToB, and pretend he's constantly in them. He eats something sneaky? Give him a Shadow Hand stance, etc. Switch them whenever he dines, of course.

Hadrian_Emrys
2009-05-03, 10:25 PM
Honestly, I'd never toss a penalty onto good rp. For a player like that, I'd stick with the common reasoning for heart ingestion and tack on a cumulative +1 morale bonus to saves (in secret) whenever a heart is consumed, and subtract 1 from the bonus each time a save is rolled by the character. Not exactly game breaking, but fits the fluff AND makes the player's good rp benefit the party.

Baron Corm
2009-05-04, 12:00 AM
I would definitely make the bonus temporary. Otherwise, once he gets wind of it, he could easily break it. The other players could even start eating chicken hearts or something to get wildshape. So something like +1 Strength, -1 Charisma per heart, for X hours. Also, circumstance bonus to Intimidate and all saving throws vs that creature equal to Strength bonus for that time.

DracoDei
2009-05-04, 01:17 PM
The other party members don't have his cultural/spiritual background to justify any effect beyond basic nutrition. Also, CHICKEN hearts? I would be hard put to think of a WORSE example... if they tried it I would give them a penalty against fear effects and no bonuses.

If he is that good a roleplayer, he can be trusted not to get too cheesy with it I should think.

Godskook
2009-05-04, 03:17 PM
I would definitely make the bonus temporary. Otherwise, once he gets wind of it, he could easily break it.

Thing is, its like awarding RP xp. Just cause you do it once, doesn't require you to do it again.

TheLogman
2009-05-04, 03:39 PM
I'd support giving him a small bonus for each heart, like a +1 bonus to one save, as determined by the DM, and kept hidden from him. If he stops eating the hearts, the saves drop a little every day.

Also, have the bonuses only last a day or so per heart.

Triaxx
2009-05-04, 07:53 PM
Perhaps a temporary stat bonus? Say a mind flayer heart gives up a +1 INT bonus for ten minutes per HD of the flayer? If he eats a bear hear it's +1 CON for example.

NakedCelt
2009-05-04, 09:46 PM
Not to be unduly humorous, but I think that is actually the definition of 'Frenzied Berserker'. My main issue with disease is, well, that it isn't fun. I'm trying to give the guy a hefty quirk he has to play around... not drive him away from the game.

Also, its disturbing for somebody who isn't wearing any pants to talk about giving someone a disease.

Then don't call it a "disease" -- make it supernatural. And oo, I know! Let him think at first that it's just something like confusion, but over time make it apparent that it is in fact the personalities of the people whose hearts he has eaten slowly taking him over...

NakedCelt
2009-05-06, 11:05 PM
Also, maybe give him a bite attack which he can use when in a berserk frenzy...

Kellus
2009-05-07, 12:21 AM
*cough* (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93577)

Owrtho
2009-05-07, 03:27 AM
Don't really have much to add toward the issue at hand, but thought I'd point out that cannibalism is when one eats members of their own race. Not when one eats humanoids. Thus he only performs cannibalism (and only can become a cannibal) if he eats another dwarf (eating an illithid would only be cannibalism for another illithid).

Owrtho