PC finding his father. What to do?

[Rat Army]

A PC in my campaign, a Changeling, lost his father when he was young, but never saw him die. This of course give me as the DM a chance to place him somewhere, likely in hiding, somewhere in the world.

Their current mission has sent them into the Underdark and I have placed him in the city of Gracklstugh, the Duergar city. He has been given hints that a Changeling may be hiding there. Changelings are rare in the part of the world they are in, so rumors of one are a positive sign in his search. Assuming that he locates his father, what should I do?

I debated the whole death bed thing we often see in movies and comic books, where the main character finds his long lost friend/family/lover/etc...only to arrive as they are dying. But is that too cliche? Kind of feels like it; but it does allow for reconciliation and closure all at once. Probably why it's used so much.

But any ideas? What have you done in the past as a PC found a long lost family member?

[sayaijin]

What would the PC want to do if they find the father alive? Would they continue traveling with the group or retire from adventuring and stay with him? You may consider asking the player. That might be a good starting point for your planning.

[Greywander]

Why did the PC's dad leave him? Why is he in a city in the Underdark? Perhaps his father is also an adventurer of sorts, so they might be able to meet up, share stories, and then part ways again, with a promise to see one another again later. You could make the dad a recurring side character that they run into every so often.

[Melphizard]

A Changling lost his father when he was young. Is the father a Changling? Would they even recognize each other? Could possibly have him be an npc they interact with and he can drop subtle hints here and there. Things like "I had a kid once" or things similar to that and let the players possibly decipher it.

[Rukelnikov]

I once had a PC meet with his father for the first time at around lvl 14, the PC had never known his father whom he thought dead. By the time he found him, his dad was an alcoholic Paladin who had been on a downward spiral for years, he gave the party some answers about the PCs past, and helped during one battle, and then the PC would visit him during downtime, and he stopped hitting the bottle as hard as he used to.

As a player, with an elf PC I had been playing for around 10 years, I eventually was informed that his mother was made captive by Githyanky in the Astral Plane and had been there for more than a century, and that's why she had never shown up since he was lil. With the help of the party we eventually busted her out, and then back in Prime she found a place near my PC and would pop up from time to time.

[Toadkiller]

On the Changelings recognizing each other thing. I’m playing one now who had been an agent in the war. I’ve specified that he will often have subtle tells in place in his appearance that others he worked with would recognize. The DM used it to provide a hook, which was fun.

It just seemed to me that they would likely have some tactics for recognizing each other. Or at least some would.

[Kurt Kurageous]

Ask the player out of game/between sessions/on break. See what their wants are, and accommodate as you see best.

The risk of mishandling is leaving the spotlight on too long for the changeling.

[KorvinStarmast]

Whatever else you do, if the changeling's father has a sword of sharpness, and gets into the duel with the PC and ends up cutting off the changeling's hands, only then can the father tell the PC

I'm your father!
after which the PC gets extra bonus XP if they respond with
"Nooooooooooo!"

[Angelalex242]

Whatever else you do, if the changeling's father has a sword of sharpness, and gets into the duel with the PC and ends up cutting off the changeling's hands, only then can the father tell the PC

I'm your father!
after which the PC gets extra bonus XP if they respond with
"Nooooooooooo!"

Naturally, said sword of sharpness glows red for no particular reason.

[Glorthindel]

Especially given that there are Changelings involved, I would probably fully lean into body-swapping shenanigens:

- I would have the character "discover" their father during the course of the campaign
- However, reveal the father as a villain
- Have the party chase and confront the father (potentially aided by a mysterious enemy of the father - see later)
- Pull the deathbed switch - have the villain reveal he is not in fact the characters father, that the father is indeed long dead, and the villain had taken his identity on his death to further his goals
- Following the villains confession, lead the character to his fathers grave, and the discovery that he was in fact a brave hero, who died saving lives from the actions of the imposter (throw in meeting with someone who tends his grave who owes their lives to the fathers heroic sacrifice)
- If you want the ultimate happy ending, throw a last switch, and that the dead man was another Changeling who took the "hit" for the father, allowing the father to adopt a new identity and work against the villain in the years since his faked death - re-enter mysterious stranger, who was the father all along, but couldn't reveal himself until the villain was dead.

- Add extra imposters and face-swaps to taste

[KorvinStarmast]

Naturally, said sword of sharpness glows red for no particular reason.

For sure, and even a cheesy sound effect would not be out of place.

[Porcupinata]

A PC in my campaign, a Changeling, lost his father when he was young, but never saw him die. This of course give me as the DM a chance to place him somewhere, likely in hiding, somewhere in the world.

Their current mission has sent them into the Underdark and I have placed him in the city of Gracklstugh, the Duergar city. He has been given hints that a Changeling may be hiding there. Changelings are rare in the part of the world they are in, so rumors of one are a positive sign in his search. Assuming that he locates his father, what should I do?

I debated the whole death bed thing we often see in movies and comic books, where the main character finds his long lost friend/family/lover/etc...only to arrive as they are dying. But is that too cliche? Kind of feels like it; but it does allow for reconciliation and closure all at once. Probably why it's used so much.

But any ideas? What have you done in the past as a PC found a long lost family member?

Personally, I think the whole "your missing father happens to be in the random place to which your adventure takes you" is already too cliche and feels far more like blatant artifice than organic story.

Unless the character is actively chasing up leads and has already looked in multiple places unsuccessfully, and then goes to out of their way to go to this particular city to search, then I wouldn't have them just "randomly" find their father in the place they happen to be passing through.

As for what he's doing there, it would largely depend on the circumstances under which he was "lost" - and we don't have that context. According to the player's background, how is the character's father "lost"?

[Boverk]

Honest answer, like others have said, asking what the end goal of the PC is is a great starting point. You could have the father do the "I'm a different person than I was then, and I can't be the father you need" give them a few nice scenes, let them realize that just knowing the other one is out there making the most of things is enough.

or the silly answer, have the father be a retired (hiding from angry fathers/wives/children) bard, and keep guessing wrong about who the pc's mother is, wake up to a note in the morning about him moving on.

[KorvinStarmast]

or the silly answer, have the father be a retired (hiding from angry fathers/wives/children) bard, and keep guessing wrong about who the pc's mother is, wake up to a note in the morning about him moving on.

Or just do the whole Boy Named Sue thing.

[mucat]

Or just do the whole Boy Named Sue thing.

So, cut off a piece of the PC's ear as well as his hand? Man, the poor changeling's gonna be going home in a matchbox by the time this is through.

[Burley]

I debated the whole death bed thing we often see in movies and comic books, where the main character finds his long lost friend/family/lover/etc...only to arrive as they are dying. But is that too cliche? Kind of feels like it; but it does allow for reconciliation and closure all at once. Probably why it's used so much.

But any ideas? What have you done in the past as a PC found a long lost family member?

I've never done this exact scenario in the past, but I've had DMs bring up something from my backstory that caught me off guard. Sometimes its an interesting scene to play out at the table and sometimes I'm put on the spot and the DM and I had wildly different ideas about how it'd go down, leaving us both feeling like we lost something.

Here are my thoughts on DMing your scenario:
I'd have the realization happen at the end of a session, if its not too late. It's a great cliff-hanger and it'll give you time between sessions to talk to the player and do a bit of planning. Putting a player on-the-spot to RP an emotionally confusing and tense moment could really easily be anti-climactic if you're not both ready for it.
You could RP the entire conversation between sessions and let the player choose how much the rest of the party gets to hear about their own backstory. You could also only have part of the conversation, maybe revel in a couple emotional/witty lines that you'd want to re-RP for the rest of the group next session.
Or, you could just let the player know that it'll happen next session so they can get into that headspace and do their own planning. They may have some things they don't want to come up in front of other players/characters and they can let you know what's off-limits (if anything).

[Rat Army]

Sorry it took me so ling to reply. I've just been super busy, and this thread slipped my mind. Thanks for all the responses to this. I like the ideas flowing here. I'll get to responding shortly.

We had an interesting turn of events in the previous session. Only about a day or two travel time from the city of Gracklstugh, the PCs got lost in the mashes that they needed to travel through, in order to get to the lake, of which Gracklstugh, and their other objective, lies on the far side. After numerous mistakes, they became lost and got into a rather tough encounter. Long story short they ended up fleeing the combat with only a dead Steel Defender and one lost NPC; a freed slave who sadly met his end in the marshes. They never even asked for his name.

One of the PCs had a magical item that was basically a fast travel joint. He could smoke it and go anywhere on that plane that he had already been. It was supposed to be for the end, so they could go right back to the start, rather than finding a way out of the underdark; if they wanted to of course. Well he used it mid combat and they all followed back to the wizards tower on the surface. To the other PCs chagrin, it's about 18 days of in game travel time backwards. So much for finding his father I suppose. Now with some of your questions.

I'm not sure what he would do if he found his father. He does not even know if his father is alive or not. He lost his father when they were young. His father stayed back to distract a mob of humans who had discovered that they were changelings, not humans. They were being chased out of town, or worse. Dad stayed back so mother and son could escape. I'll ask him if he has any plans. Could this spoil it for him though?

He's just in the underdark hiding. As a changeling, people have not been kind to him, him and his family were hidden until exposed. A reunion would be great. As for him being their randomly, the PC has gotten hints in the past from another changeling on the surface that there are others and some hide in that city. Their man quest brought them to the underdark in general, so Gracklstugh is out of the way for their objective.

I was thinking the dad could be one of the guards if they get arrested. The rival NPC is also a good idea, they could start a fight, and if the PC uses unsettling visage, an ability that reveals his true form for a second to impose disadvantage on an attack, then his dad may recognize him. Vice versa would also work. This give me some control as well.