player lycantrophy drama playout

[Aurich]

Situation

I have a character in my group that got bitten by a werewolf. He knows what can be in store for him ( char background, being paladin gives him enough reason to know what he ca nexpect, more or less).

He botched a cure option in the beginning, being a paladin, curing the poison of the belladonna immediately after ingesting it.
Now he is in a frantic search for a 'remove curse' option, which he has a lead on, but he will not be in time for the full moon before getting to the cure option.

ceveat:
He ASSUMED he is cursed (though he did save his con test, unbeknownst.) i don't know if there ways to detect if effectively afflicted with Lycanthrophy ( detect poison and diseases maybe?, which isn't done on him (yet))

So atm his whole drama play will end up a bust, because he isn't sick actually, if following the original roll. But the player is convinced his character is afflicted.

I have ideas to have the whole scene play out in a sort of epic final ( end of the campaign. both with and without a ww in the mix)

So atm the question is what to do (best):

keep the none affliction result and have the whole drama be just that he thought he was. The incentive of finding the cure will then change to (maybe) (depends on how involved they feel into it) a rescue of someone (priest) from a loanshark/sadistic fighting ring bbeg, making for maybe a more meh ending, rescueing a priest that got into trouble because of money.
Or
change the actual original result to the player effectively being afflicted. creating a liability during the end fight (damage will cause him maybe to transform), for a more epic ending? making the players have more of an incentive to follow the arc to rescue the priest and end up in the end finale fight.

[Rukelnikov]

"When To Fudge?" Tis a tough subject.

I don't think anyone is better suited to answering that question than you. You know the plot better than anyone, you know your players.

Even then, there are some things you could take into consideration while deciding that. For instance, what kind of campaign are you going for? Do you want the setting to mold itself after the PCs? For instance, the evil wizard will always be 5 minutes away from finishing his ritual when the PCs enter his tower, or do you want a world independant of your PCs? The evil wizard will be finishing his ritual by sunday 5 pm, if the PCs arrive later its done, if they arrive close to 5 pm, they will catch him during the ritual, if they arrive earliear, he hasn't even started.

No method of DMing is inherently bad, but they lend themselves better for different kind of adventures. Heavy storied adventures may preffer the former method, as it allows the players to be part of every scene that was planned for the adventure. More sandboxy games may prefer the latter method, since it makes for a more "living world" PCs are a part of.

[Zhorn]

He ASSUMED he is cursed (though he did save his con test, unbeknownst.)
So assumedly this is either the player was blind to the roll, or blind to the DC.
In either case, if the player's actions and motivation in play are more interesting as a result, then this is working out well.
Sometimes you don't need to worry about the 'ending' being big and flashy if you instead have the story and the leadup being interesting and engaging.
If the player had known they passed and did not have the false idea of being infected, would that have made play better, or meant that combat ended in a 'meh' moment with no sense of stakes or tension? In the immediate present, the illusion of consequences is doing just as good a job as the real thing in supplying the drama of a ticking clock.

That's just my take on this.
As for fudging, my other 2 cp on this is don't, but that's more about personal taste as I'm strongly opposed to fudging dice in d&d.

[Khrysaes]

I would let the ppayer keep searching as it is more interesting and driving the character.

That said. Since lycanthropy is a “magical curse” maybe detect magic could find it?

[Greywander]

Okay, so here's the galaxy brain play that should end up making the whole debacle exciting and fun for the players. Have an antagonist learn that the paladin is searching for a cure for lycanthrope, and have the villain also assume that the player has been infected. Have the villain create an elaborate plot to trap the players and take control of the werewolf paladin, which culminates in a showdown on the night of the full moon. The villain gloats about how he's already won and it's too late, only for... the paladin not to transform. The paladin then saves the day, frees the other players, and they kick the bad guy's butt.

This is basically a perfect set up for something like this. You'll have some very dramatic moments, but secretly the players are never in very much danger, but neither the players nor the villains know this. It prevents the players from feeling disappointed when the whole thing turns out to be nothing, because it didn't turn out to be nothing because you made it into something (by introducing a villain into the lycathrope plot).

[da newt]

Maybe there is a good middle ground - the Player did succeed at resisting the curse, but is still partially afflicted. This can give you the opportunity to dial up or dial down the 'curse' as things play out and players take actions etc. All I'm saying is it doesn't have to be 100% black or white - you can play with all sorts of grays in between as it serves your narrative best.

[MrStabby]

This is where I like to introduce a succubus.

THe stereotype is really based on Lust, but what the sucubus is doing is offering hope of a cure. A temptation to avoid that path. Just in exchange for a bit of casual evil. Maybe nothing too evil - not something less than burning down an orphanage with the children still inside, but maybe a spot of theft or extortion. And then once they are in, it just needs a bit more. A little evil gets you owning the cure, a bit more gets it transported to where you are... a bi more still gets you the instructions on in which order you need to take the different elements. Exploit their sunk cost.

Sexy succubus you can spot a mile off. Impoverished succubus with a tale of how she can help but needs expenses to feed her family, or needs a favour for the local crime boss to keep her out of slavery or whatever can put her in less of a bad light. See how far the Paladin will go.

[Lunali]

Maybe there is a good middle ground - the Player did succeed at resisting the curse, but is still partially afflicted. This can give you the opportunity to dial up or dial down the 'curse' as things play out and players take actions etc. All I'm saying is it doesn't have to be 100% black or white - you can play with all sorts of grays in between as it serves your narrative best.

Or the character completely resisted the curse and is in no way affected. However, they believe they are infected and they live in a world where magic exists. The placebo effect is a powerful thing and I can't imagine it would be weaker in a world where people can wield magic by force of will.

[Zhorn]

Or the character completely resisted the curse and is in no way affected. However, they believe they are infected and they live in a world where magic exists. The placebo effect is a powerful thing and I can't imagine it would be weaker in a world where people can wield magic by force of will.

Even outside of the current lycanthropy topic, the idea of some caster's have their magic influenced by their own self actualisation could be an interesting one to play with. Similar to how a paladin's divine power is a function of their faith and devotion, the strength of what they believe to be true could cause a manifestation of such a belief. The Lucifer tv series (for all it's corniness) played around with a similar concept and drove some interesting elements of the plot.
You would need to be very strict on this though, with doubt or false belief preventing it from being abused.
if used sparingly, it could be a fun aspect to play about with.

[Toadkiller]

Okay, so here's the galaxy brain play that should end up making the whole debacle exciting and fun for the players. Have an antagonist learn that the paladin is searching for a cure for lycanthrope, and have the villain also assume that the player has been infected. Have the villain create an elaborate plot to trap the players and take control of the werewolf paladin, which culminates in a showdown on the night of the full moon. The villain gloats about how he's already won and it's too late, only for... the paladin not to transform. The paladin then saves the day, frees the other players, and they kick the bad guy's butt.

This is basically a perfect set up for something like this. You'll have some very dramatic moments, but secretly the players are never in very much danger, but neither the players nor the villains know this. It prevents the players from feeling disappointed when the whole thing turns out to be nothing, because it didn't turn out to be nothing because you made it into something (by introducing a villain into the lycathrope plot).

Quoting this in full, because it is brilliant.

[Glorthindel]

Or the character completely resisted the curse and is in no way affected. However, they believe they are infected and they live in a world where magic exists. The placebo effect is a powerful thing and I can't imagine it would be weaker in a world where people can wield magic by force of will.

I had this occur in a campaign I ran a decade ago. The setting was Ravenloft (so, one where malevolent powers are more than happy to toy with a characters mind/body), and a character was badly wounded in a fight with a Vampire. Now, Vampirism isn't infectious the way Lycanthropy is, but the player didn't know that, and was convinced he might 'turn'. He did a lot of research, and still convinced, he turned to a Vistani fortune teller to read his future (actually another player who had Vistani blood and who had obtained a Tarokka deck as a quest reward). They did the reading, and the 'future' card drawn was "The Beast" (which literally depicted a werewolf howling at the moon - I mean, it doesn't get more clear than that, the other players burst out laughing at the draw). So, despite their being no normal chance of the character being inflicted, his own conviction, his choice to invoke 'powers from beyond' in his search for the truth, and the hilarious bad luck on the random card draw sealed his fate, and the Dark powers made his fears reality.

[Yspoch]

My solution in that case would probably involve someone else (either PC or known NPC) who ALSO has a curse (not necessarily the same, but also major and urgent). Then the group or the paladin finds the option for a one-use curse removal (scroll or something like that) and have to decide whom to decurse. As a Paladin the choice shouldn't be hard... 😏

As always this strongly depends on the group and the players involved.

[MrStabby]

My solution in that case would probably involve someone else (either PC or known NPC) who ALSO has a curse (not necessarily the same, but also major and urgent). Then the group or the paladin finds the option for a one-use curse removal (scroll or something like that) and have to decide whom to decurse. As a Paladin the choice shouldn't be hard... 😏

As always this strongly depends on the group and the players involved.

Oooh, nice. This could be dramatic, and of course a great excuse to give out a reward for selfless behaviour.

[Segev]

I would not fudge the result: you don't need to. There are several good ideas already presented for exploiting this through NPCs with villainous plans, so what I'm going to discuss here is more how to make the reveal that he is NOT afflicted just as dramatic a relief as anything else.

It is probable that the paladin will, lacking a guaranteed cure prior to the full moon, seek to isolate or contain himself. Make this challenging. Make there be other time-sensitive good deeds that need doing; make them a mix of things that can be done while pursuing the cure and things that actively detract from time spent seeking said cure, with the latter being all the more heart-wrenching and desperate. It's schmaltzy and overwrought, but if you can work a bevy of children who need protection into it, it makes for very strong short-term motivation for the paladin.

Especially if those children needing protection need to be saved before the END of the night of the full moon, are under threat as that night approaches, and he needs to be with them to protect them. Now it's a race against the clock as to whether he can save them or not.

You can even use - assuming nobody has Keen Mind - an underground dungeon crawl to hide the sky from the PCs, making them blind as to whether the moon has risen yet and thus constantly worrying about when, any moment, the paladin might turn.

If, at some point, he runs off to isolate himself in hopes that the party can do the good without him, you can have him later have reason to risk coming back to be the proverbial cavalry. If instead he stays with them, you can have a moment when the moon is revealed to be up.

Perhaps even tell the Paladin that he's feeling "off" periodically. As if something is coming. It's just his mind playing tricks on him, unless you have some other monster or supernatural reason his paladin-dar would be pinging, but it's good for tension-building.



If the paladin does manage to isolate himself, lock himself up, etc., you could even have another monster - a real werewolf, or something that just does savage attacks - run rampant that night. Maybe it even gets into a fight with the paladin near the end. You can describe to the paladin how peaceful the sight of the full moon makes him feel, a relief, a release of all that pressure. (This is genuinely because he thinks he's not cursed at first.) And then how he later feels jerked awake by a fight with a terrible monster. Run the fight, and make sure to break any bonds the paladin is tied up in. Even better if the party fought off the monster earlier that night; you could even run both asynchronous fights simultaneously, running the paladin's turn right before or right after the monster's.

Oh, to do that, though, you'll definitely need the party to have something urgent to do that involves not watching the paladin. So something like the above scenarios, but this is how you run it if the paladin trusts the party to do the thing entirely on their own and just takes himself somewhere to keep things safe.


If you don't have the paladin rush in as the cavalry during or after a reveal of the full moon being up, and thus use this tactic to build tension with the deception that the paladin really did turn, you can use one of the other plots, as well, wherein some villain thinks he's got his win by controlling the paladin-werewolf...only to find that the monster isn't the paladin. And that he hasn't already won because he doesn't have the monster THERE. (You could even do a sort of double-twist by having it show up late in the seemingly-anticlimactic fight to serve its vile master, who gloats that it worked, even as he's as surprised as anybody else.)