Need help with a Wish before tonight's game

[ToastyTobasco]

Playing CoS and we came across a Luck Blade with one Wish left in it.

I want to use it to change my characters class and basically redesign him but there are a few twists. Thing is, my DM likes to hold things to semi-realism and keep things very much in character/RP, so the Wish cant be meta'd.

Currently a Conquest Paladin that has just been an absolute miserable experience with damn near EVERYTHING being immune to fear in this module for any fight worth actually using Fear as CC. I've basically been playing a really crappy fighter with a couple heals and very Meh spells.

The odd twist with this guy is that he has the soul of another dead adventurer in him. Two souls, one body and they have swapped and fought for control over the campaign and eventually learned of each other's existence.

One soul is kind hearted but untrusting and the other is selfish and power-hungry. The party really likes what I did with both soul's personalities so I cant just take a nosedive off Castle Ravenloft and roll a new character.



The Desired Effect:
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I want to make him/them into a Swords Bard but the DM has poked at the fun idea of making them split and become 2 PC's that I would control or one that went full Jekyll/Hyde and had a full physical change when my control mechanic came up. Mechanically it would be a bit messy, but we find ways of making strange things work. I'm fine with either and we have a lot of fun magic items to play with like a Staff of Power and a bucket full of holy symbols b/c we seemed to have found every damn one in Barovia.


The ideal split would be like Bard and Barbarian as it would be an easy way to see the divide of Charisma and Strength from the Paladin. But I really want to multiclass these characters just to play with some fun/goofy builds to alleviate the misery of being a mechanically useless character. Bard/hexblade and Barbarian/Ranger.

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The Wish Itself.

For a simple Class change I was thinking along the lines of : "I wish I had trained in the bardic arts instead of taking an Oath of the a paladin." Class gets changed but still stuck with the Two soul thing and it is a bit of a hassle if I go too long without playing him.


But for splitting the souls to have their own bodies so there isnt any fighting for control and getting the desired effect is where I am stumped. In a perfect outcome, I could have it be where the Bard half basically takes all the good skills and knowledge from the two souls and blends into the amazing skill-monkey, leaving the rest of the parts to become a Zealous meat-head who is only concerned with shinies and survival. It would also fall into the fun Barovia style of not getting quite what you expected.


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Help?

[kazaryu]

Ok, so what is it you're looking for? Like what all you said sounded really cool, but it did leave me confused as to the question itself.

Are you looking for class ideas that would narratively fit? Help in phrasing the wish?

[DCraw]

Well, one option would be for you to change the class of one of the personalities but not the other. Have the soul of the dead adventurer take control, then wish "I wish I could be my true self". In his previous life, he was actually a Bard/Barbarian (or whatever your ideal build is). When he's in control, you have the class features of that build. When the other personality is in control, you have the class features of a Paladin. For hit die/HP, use whichever form is in control - and use wildshaping or polymorph rules for the transition.

Also, talk to your GM about allowing something where when your Paladin fails at everything it weakens him mentally, allowing the other personality to take hold - that way you won't be stuck in the nerfed form for excessive periods of time. It could even become a defining character trait: "you wouldn't like me when I'm frustrated!".

[False God]

Have you spoke to your DM about just letting you roll up a new character because of the reasons you've mentioned? I get that the party "likes what you did with this character" but it's your character, if you're not having fun with them you shouldn't keep playing them just 'cause the party likes it.

Personally I think splitting them into two characters would be the simpler solution, plus your Conquest character could run off and join Strahd and produce some interesting RP opportunities down the road!

[ToastyTobasco]

Ok, so what is it you're looking for? Like what all you said sounded really cool, but it did leave me confused as to the question itself.

Are you looking for class ideas that would narratively fit? Help in phrasing the wish?
Ah, the curse of ADD. Sorry about the confusion.

Phrashing the wish to get a class revamp and for each soul to get a body

[ToastyTobasco]

Ok, so what is it you're looking for? Like what all you said sounded really cool, but it did leave me confused as to the question itself.

Are you looking for class ideas that would narratively fit? Help in phrasing the wish?
Ah, the curse of ADD. Sorry about the confusion.

Phrashing the wish to get a class revamp and for each soul to get a body

[dragoeniex]

Ah, the curse of ADD. Sorry about the confusion.

Phrashing the wish to get a class revamp and for each soul to get a body

It sounds like you're wanting the kind-hearted half to make the wish, which is probably a good idea. The nice thing here is you have an opportunity to get in-character with a little bardic flare added to the Wish itself. I've found that a one-stanza rhyme is a nice way of adding detail to a Wish while feeling appropriate.

Perhaps something like...

"Warring minds and tangled souls,
leave this endless feud behind.
Split these halves to form our wholes.
My true self, now, I wish to find."



What do you think? Does this seem like the kind of thing the DM might go for? Or do you need to figure out how to jam the desired classes into the Wish as well?

[ToastyTobasco]

It sounds like you're wanting the kind-hearted half to make the wish, which is probably a good idea. The nice thing here is you have an opportunity to get in-character with a little bardic flare added to the Wish itself. I've found that a one-stanza rhyme is a nice way of adding detail to a Wish while feeling appropriate.

Perhaps something like...

"Warring minds and tangled souls,
leave this endless feud behind.
Split these halves to form our wholes.
My true self, now, I wish to find."



What do you think? Does this seem like the kind of thing the DM might go for? Or do you need to figure out how to jam the desired classes into the Wish as well?
(Sorry for late reply, went to gym) This is a really nice approach and might be just what I need to do this with a creative flair. It also leaves it open for me to determine what it means. I dont know if I need to jam the classes in specifically but having another option might work.

[dragoeniex]

(Sorry for late reply, went to gym) This is a really nice approach and might be just what I need to do this with a creative flair. It also leaves it open for me to determine what it means. I dont know if I need to jam the classes in specifically but having another option might work.

My turn to offer apologies for the late reply; I was out most of the evening, haha. I hope the previous bit helped, but either way, I'm curious how the Wish and its results went for you. :smallsmile:

[Sjappo]

"I wish things would fear me more!"

I dunno, get some kind of boon which let you influence creatures normally immune to fear and fear effects? That way you could keep your character. That should be doable with a wish IMHO.

[Laserlight]

Is your DM the kind to whom you can say OOC "I want this Wish to do X" and he'll go along with that? Or is he the sort who will twist things in a major way unless you write out a 32 page legal document and you incorporate that into your Wish?

[ToastyTobasco]

Apparently the legal type. He apparently has a hard on for things making hard narrative sense. Wouldnt let me explain what I wanted to happen outside of game and let me modify it after finding out what he was making happen.

It will likely end with a mild success overall and I will just wind up BSing everything in session from then on until whatever results of the wish explode into a meaty paste.

[Nagog]

Perhaps the undercurrent soul (the Sub, for lack of a less stigma-ed phrase) is able to wrestle control as the Wish is being cast, stealing the Wish from the Dominant soul, and wishing for their freedom from sharing that body. They'd be freed, but that may translate into a few things:
1. The Dom and Sub souls switch roles. The submissive soul discovers who they are, (letting you rebuild the character), but keeping the duality and escaping your Paladin Oath ("the other soul made that oath, not me") while keeping your base stats (if they're good)
2. Splitting the body into 2 characters
3. Blending the souls into one. Reclass into some multiclass amalgam thing.

[Mutazoia]

"Gods damn it! I WISH I was a [insert chosen class build here], instead of an f'in Paladin."

or, if you prefer:

"Gods damn it! I WISH I had listened to my mother and became a [insert chosen glass build here], instead of an f'in Paladin!"

[ToastyTobasco]

My turn to offer apologies for the late reply; I was out most of the evening, haha. I hope the previous bit helped, but either way, I'm curious how the Wish and its results went for you. :smallsmile:

Well, it appears I am getting a duo of PC's with the evil one being a Tiefling Sorceror (Shadow or Dragon), and an Aasimar Light Cleric/Sun Soul Monk. No idea on the level mix and there apparently is a flaw with them thanks to Barovia that will trigger me. No response on the levels or their newfound curse. I dont mind the sorcerer but I wont get to pick spells.

Eventually I'll probably seek to kill them off and play something like Barbarian/Fighter unless the Sorc turns out to be a lot of fun.

[Randomthom]

Remember that some of the drawbacks of your paladin (undead immune to frightened) is also true of many bardic abilities.

[diplomancer]

Remember that some of the drawbacks of your paladin (undead immune to frightened) is also true of many bardic abilities.

Not that many undead are immune to frightened, unless the DM is houseruling. Notably, vampires (including Strahd) are not. A search in D&D beyond with the filters for undead, frightened condition, basic rules, curse of strahd and monster manual turns up 16 undead, and many from the adventure itself are NPCs which you are not necessarily supposed to fight, and others don't appear in the adventure, so it's irrelevant. Curse of Strahd does have a lot of constructs, though, and they are immune to frightened (but, as pointed out, also to a lot of bardic abilities).

I would say a wish that makes ALL creatures subject to the frightened condition from you would be overpowered and ripe for DM abuse. But a more limited wish to affect constructs with the frightened condition would be an interesting choice.

[ToastyTobasco]

Not that many undead are immune to frightened, unless the DM is houseruling. Notably, vampires (including Strahd) are not. A search in D&D beyond with the filters for undead, frightened condition, basic rules, curse of strahd and monster manual turns up 16 undead, and many from the adventure itself are NPCs which you are not necessarily supposed to fight, and others don't appear in the adventure, so it's irrelevant. Curse of Strahd does have a lot of constructs, though, and they are immune to frightened (but, as pointed out, also to a lot of bardic abilities).

I would say a wish that makes ALL creatures subject to the frightened condition from you would be overpowered and ripe for DM abuse. But a more limited wish to affect constructs with the frightened condition would be an interesting choice.

The thing is, in the Strahd module, there is the little bit about Strahd being able to control and basically puppet those that have sworn fealty to him, granting immunity to the charmed and frightened conditions. That is the thing no one mentions when discussing this. It is a DM tool to make the module harder and it was used often.

All and all, it was a miserable choice in the subclass because I was dicked over by the module itself. The rest has been the odd conflicts with the DM amd the Wish here was the first time I've been legit upset by a result other than saying its not how I or the other players would have run with a particular event.

The flip side is that with this DM, we have discovered it is possible to almost speedrun CoS with the right lucky placement of relics, decisons and taking advantage Strahd's initial impression that the PCs are unworthy of attention right after they enter Barovia.

After my current homebrew campaign is through, I will be running a Crusade through CoS as DM to vent my overall frustrations. DEUS VULT.

[diplomancer]

The thing is, in the Strahd module, there is the little bit about Strahd being able to control and basically puppet those that have sworn fealty to him, granting immunity to the charmed and frightened conditions. That is the thing no one mentions when discussing this. It is a DM tool to make the module harder and it was used often.


Odd. I DM'd this adventure, but it was years ago and I have no recollection of that. Do you know where is the reference for that?

[ToastyTobasco]

Odd. I DM'd this adventure, but it was years ago and I have no recollection of that. Do you know where is the reference for that?

Weird. After searching through the PDF for frightened and charmed, the monsters themselves dont gain the immunity but several encounters of wolves, Direwolves and other zombies are granted immunity to frightened and charmed. I guess after seeing that several times and seeing the lines "These are servants of Strahd and cannot be frightened for charmed." I assumed that extended to anything of Strahd's. And DM was being irritatingly vague when he said my Channel Divinity had no effect of the enemies we fought, when he could have just said they made their save. He *really* loves to try and keep the DM talk more immersive rather than talking game mechanics. I do remember asking if they were immune or if the made their save and he just gave me a smug look of "You dont know."

Sources: Pg 30 (Dire Wolves), 33 (Wolves), pg 142 (Arrigal's Hut), 165 (Ruins of Berez), 186 (Amber Temple)
186.

We never went to Berez or the Amber Temple so it seems we hit all of these others for our main encounters and everything else was small encounters that we beat into the dirt quickly. (Like crit smiting the werewolf that tried to sneak up on us. He barely lasted 2 rounds.)