Wisdom drain as a mechanic to for fast turns?

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Help me work my way through an idea.

I have an idea about a monster which has drained the Wisdom of a whole tribe of NPC's and if the PC's take the hook to go attack the monster in its lair they'll have to live with a Wisdom drain also.

My idea is to have a fairly high save, maybe 20, then a few rounds of non-fatally halving the PC's wisdom. If the characters want to role play low Wisdom all the better. I'm just thinking it will be an excuse to have some kind of timer during battles in the dungeon. Something like, "Your Wisdom is 1, you have 5 seconds to say what your character does!". I'll try this on a couple non deadly encounters first. I might also try to make somewhat complicated battlefields so see if anyone does anything silly.

We don't have any Wisdom casters so I don't think I'll nerf anyone.

What else do I need to take into account?

[Spectrulus]

I would make it temporary at worst. Most spells save on either dexterity to avoid damage, or wisdom to maintain control of the character. Permanently lowering wisdom of the party would lead to them being especially magically vulnerable for the rest of the campaign.

Make it require greater restoration to cure either way.

[Arkhios]

I would make it temporary at worst. Most spells save on either dexterity to avoid damage, or wisdom to maintain control of the character. Permanently lowering wisdom of the party would lead to them being especially magically vulnerable for the rest of the campaign.

Make it require greater restoration to cure either way.

No need to make any additional rule, because Greater Restoration already does that:


You imbue a creature you touch with positive energy to undo a debilitating effect. You can reduce the target's Exhaustion level by one, or end one of the following effects on the target.

One effect that Charmed or Petrified the target
One curse, including the target's Attunement to a cursed magic item
Any reduction to one of the target's Ability Scores
One effect reducing the target's hit point maximum



If you refuse to let the spell restore the drained ability score, you're making a houserule literally every player is going to dislike.

[Tanarii]

Based on the thread title, I thought this was going to be more along the lines of "every 6 seconds you take to declare your actions on your turn you lose a point of wisdom" :smallamused:

[Markoff Chainey]

One question: Why?

Ok, one more: Why do you think its a good idea?

If you allow one third: Why do you think this could even potentially be a good idea?

An NPC draining WIS... I fail to see how this could be interesting. It could be an interesting plot hook because the players will have to restore the damage and will search for ways to do so, but if that is not your intention.. ?

Especially if your group does not have a WIS caster, they might not even think that it is all too important to have a lower WIS score and give a damn until they level up and have make WIS saves more regularly.

If you want "faster turns", put a sand-clock on the table with a 2 mins counter and if the players are not done till then, they will suffer some consequences you can hint at beforehand to spice things up. Things I can easily imagine without inventing new rules... make a fright check, because the opponent has an aura of fear that triggers on hesitation, or the whole group must make a poison check every 2 mins (when the clock runs out) that gets harder each time because the whole room is filled with gas that the NPC looses.. or a new opponent appears every 2 mins (summoned through a portal), so they have to hurry or be overwhelmed..

[MarkVIIIMarc]

One question: Why?

Ok, one more: Why do you think its a good idea?

If you allow one third: Why do you think this could even potentially be a good idea?

An NPC draining WIS... I fail to see how this could be interesting. It could be an interesting plot hook because the players will have to restore the damage and will search for ways to do so, but if that is not your intention.. ?

Especially if your group does not have a WIS caster, they might not even think that it is all too important to have a lower WIS score and give a damn until they level up and have make WIS saves more regularly.

If you want "faster turns", put a sand-clock on the table with a 2 mins counter and if the players are not done till then, they will suffer some consequences you can hint at beforehand to spice things up. Things I can easily imagine without inventing new rules... make a fright check, because the opponent has an aura of fear that triggers on hesitation, or the whole group must make a poison check every 2 mins (when the clock runs out) that gets harder each time because the whole room is filled with gas that the NPC looses.. or a new opponent appears every 2 mins (summoned through a portal), so they have to hurry or be overwhelmed..

Why would it be interesting: We play D&D 52+ times a year and it will sure be different. Maybe fun, maybe terrible but memorable.

I can let Greater Restoration cure it. Good idea. I'm not entirely certain of the mechanic I want to use to "inflict it". Maybe a lair or sight action...we haven't done anything with audio yet. I might go that route and give anyone with "Silence" prepared a chance to use it in a different manner. If I could hit 4 out of 5 of my PC's with a DC 15-20 save that is what I'm thinking.

Good idea on making it temporary also. If the party doesn't bite on the plot hook or decides to go chasing a side quest to save the sheep I'll have it wear off after a few long rests or let them save out of it if not exposed or something.

[Beckett]

Maybe consider more like 3E's Ability Damage, where it naturally returns, but at the slow pace of 1 point per day. Not sure if 5E has that, but that seems a little more like what you might want, but shouldn't be too long lasting as to make people want to stop playing.

Or, you could give them a daily Con check, (DC 15?) to let them recover 1 point of Wisdom.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Those are good ideas Becket. I just want this to be experimental and fun afterall

[JakOfAllTirades]

Those are good ideas Becket. I just want this to be experimental and fun afterall

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess the reason 3E had ability drains and 5E doesn't have them is because most players considered them to be not so much fun.

[History_buff]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess the reason 3E had ability drains and 5E doesn't have them is because most players considered them to be not so much fun.

They frickin suck, and I friggin hate ability drains. Not only does it suck as a player it makes me have to fiddle with the bookkeeping more and penalizes my rolls. Just give me poisoned condition but con drain especially is such a pain in the butt.

But seriously, this sounds just like making everyone painfully oblivious to the point of walking into closed doors and it sucks to have to play your character that way.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Your concerns are all noted.

I was going to limit my compelled actions to fast turns in initiative, see if we couldn't get some funny things to happen during combat. Might make it more fun in a way.