Power checks: a character's descent.

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Satyrwyld
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Power checks: a character's descent.

Post by Satyrwyld »

I figured the folks around these parts would be amused by this. My group might be in the process of creating the next Elena Faith-hold.

After a too-long hiatus, I've dragged my (2E) gaming group kicking and screaming back into the Mists. Armed with the raise dead scrolls from Night of the Walking Dead, our Lawful Good cleric of the Morninglord found the corpse of the villain of the week's previous (Good) victim, and decided to resurrect her. Unfortunately, this was after he looted her body, and did not return what he found. And when she was less than pleased to find out that she'd been hauled back to the world of the living only to be left alone in the villain's lair while she recovered and they finished the adventure. When they got her home afterward, she was sufficiently ungrateful that the cleric decided to "teach her a lesson in humility" by casting Wyvern Watch at her front door. Over the course of events, I made three powers checks (default for raise dead, theft from a Good target, disproportionate retribution spellcasting against a Good target).

I maaaaay have forgotten to explain the concept of Powers check to him, but the rest of the group was cringing visibly when I asked for percentile rolls, and facepalmed when they heard "02." Rather than tell him outright "you've drawn the notice of the Dark Powers," I'm justifying it as a granted power he's gaining with the level he earned in that adventure. The "carrot" is that he can now see injuries highlighted by a red glow (no indication of severity or age), and the "stick" is that his eyes perpetually glow red, just like the Morninglord's. Clearly this is a sign of his god's favor...
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Re: Power checks: a character's descent.

Post by jamesfirecat »

Satyrwyld wrote:I figured the folks around these parts would be amused by this. My group might be in the process of creating the next Elena Faith-hold.

After a too-long hiatus, I've dragged my (2E) gaming group kicking and screaming back into the Mists. Armed with the raise dead scrolls from Night of the Walking Dead, our Lawful Good cleric of the Morninglord found the corpse of the villain of the week's previous (Good) victim, and decided to resurrect her. Unfortunately, this was after he looted her body, and did not return what he found. And when she was less than pleased to find out that she'd been hauled back to the world of the living only to be left alone in the villain's lair while she recovered and they finished the adventure. When they got her home afterward, she was sufficiently ungrateful that the cleric decided to "teach her a lesson in humility" by casting Wyvern Watch at her front door. Over the course of events, I made three powers checks (default for raise dead, theft from a Good target, disproportionate retribution spellcasting against a Good target).

I maaaaay have forgotten to explain the concept of Powers check to him, but the rest of the group was cringing visibly when I asked for percentile rolls, and facepalmed when they heard "02." Rather than tell him outright "you've drawn the notice of the Dark Powers," I'm justifying it as a granted power he's gaining with the level he earned in that adventure. The "carrot" is that he can now see injuries highlighted by a red glow (no indication of severity or age), and the "stick" is that his eyes perpetually glow red, just like the Morninglord's. Clearly this is a sign of his god's favor...
I need to reread/relisten (since it's an audio book) to my copy of Vampire of the Mists, but aren't Jander Susntar's (the inspiration for how to depict the Morninglord in Ravenloft) eyes gold, or possibly silver? I don't think they were red....

I could very well be wrong here just wanted to make sure that I had this right/wrong...
Satyrwyld
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Re: Power checks: a character's descent.

Post by Satyrwyld »

jamesfirecat wrote:I need to reread/relisten (since it's an audio book) to my copy of Vampire of the Mists, but aren't Jander Susntar's (the inspiration for how to depict the Morninglord in Ravenloft) eyes gold, or possibly silver? I don't think they were red....

I could very well be wrong here just wanted to make sure that I had this right/wrong...
Yeah, I'm taking some liberties. Part of it is the character's backstory is that he wasn't particularly religious until he "had a vision of the Morninglord" while getting jumped by some bandits and suddenly developing cleric powers (yeah, that's coming back to bite him later).

One of the themes I'm going for is "everything you know is wrong"- for example, the Darkon native just hit the 30 days away mark, and the first thread of "surely my quiet life in Darkon under the benevolent rule of Azalin Rex and this bizarre prophecy from Hyskosa are completely unrelated" has just started unraveling. So whatever the cleric thinks he saw, there's more at work there. Still working out details, but considering that in any other setting he'd be seeking out an Atonement spell at this point, it's becoming evident that he needs to have not been chosen for his kind and gentle nature.
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Re: Power checks: a character's descent.

Post by brilliantlight »

Seems fait to me as he seemed to be asking for it. The glowing eyes should give him an OR, probably of +1.
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Re: Power checks: a character's descent.

Post by Zilfer »

Actually I think that's pretty cool. Is the player in question know the rules of ravenloft? I know some people like their players to learn by playing which is closer to what the character would know.
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jamesfirecat
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Re: Power checks: a character's descent.

Post by jamesfirecat »

Satyrwyld wrote:
Yeah, I'm taking some liberties. Part of it is the character's backstory is that he wasn't particularly religious until he "had a vision of the Morninglord" while getting jumped by some bandits and suddenly developing cleric powers (yeah, that's coming back to bite him later).

One of the themes I'm going for is "everything you know is wrong"- for example, the Darkon native just hit the 30 days away mark, and the first thread of "surely my quiet life in Darkon under the benevolent rule of Azalin Rex and this bizarre prophecy from Hyskosa are completely unrelated" has just started unraveling. So whatever the cleric thinks he saw, there's more at work there. Still working out details, but considering that in any other setting he'd be seeking out an Atonement spell at this point, it's becoming evident that he needs to have not been chosen for his kind and gentle nature.
Was "native" supposed to be in quotes... IE is he a "Darkon native" or a "Darkon 'native'".....


I thought it was 30 days in Darkon to get fake memories, one step outside the domain and they all go away...

On the other hand I get why this doesn't really work for your set up, and you might be using an alternative approach, (more power to you since it is more dramatic/interesting this way) I just want to make sure that I'm remembering if the bits of trivia I read were correct or not...

Does everyone in your campaign (how many are there) have a hidden backstory?
Satyrwyld
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Re: Power checks: a character's descent.

Post by Satyrwyld »

jamesfirecat wrote:
Satyrwyld wrote:
Yeah, I'm taking some liberties. Part of it is the character's backstory is that he wasn't particularly religious until he "had a vision of the Morninglord" while getting jumped by some bandits and suddenly developing cleric powers (yeah, that's coming back to bite him later).

One of the themes I'm going for is "everything you know is wrong"- for example, the Darkon native just hit the 30 days away mark, and the first thread of "surely my quiet life in Darkon under the benevolent rule of Azalin Rex and this bizarre prophecy from Hyskosa are completely unrelated" has just started unraveling. So whatever the cleric thinks he saw, there's more at work there. Still working out details, but considering that in any other setting he'd be seeking out an Atonement spell at this point, it's becoming evident that he needs to have not been chosen for his kind and gentle nature.
Was "native" supposed to be in quotes... IE is he a "Darkon native" or a "Darkon 'native'".....


I thought it was 30 days in Darkon to get fake memories, one step outside the domain and they all go away...

On the other hand I get why this doesn't really work for your set up, and you might be using an alternative approach, (more power to you since it is more dramatic/interesting this way) I just want to make sure that I'm remembering if the bits of trivia I read were correct or not...

Does everyone in your campaign (how many are there) have a hidden backstory?
Oh, he's very much not a legit native. He's also unlocking the fact he's a Chronomancer (with heavy restrictions, but as the cleric evidences, the group deeply lacks common sense, and he's salivating over access to the Paradox spell line). What he doesn't know yet is that his memory has been modified beyond even Darkon's normal effects, as Azalin snagged him to study his unique magic, decided if he couldn't have it no one could, and used liberal applications of enchantments to turn him into a sleeper agent.

I *thought* it's three months in Darkon to lose your memory, one month outside to regain it. I haven't bothered to double check, and I'll be handling it that way in my campaign either way.
Satyrwyld
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Re: Power checks: a character's descent.

Post by Satyrwyld »

Minor update: in our last session (where we just started Touch of Death), the Cleric player proudly announced "I can't do bad things like that, I'm Lawful Good!" and the rest of the group just sort of coughed and buried their faces in their character sheets. (My DMing style is that your alignment is a reflection of your actions, not a conscious choice, and you can think you are whatever you want until a Holy Word or Book of Vile Darkness or whatever proves otherwise.)

Azalin's pawn is coming along nicely. His good friend Van Richten says wonderful things about their "shared homeland" whenever they meet, and it's left him legitimately unsure if Azalin is the great ruler or secretly the darklord (I'm keeping the setting material away from the players).

I'm tempted to have the party's Lamordian fighter find out he's actually a flesh construct of Mordheim's, as part of a larger gambit on the Doctor's part. Or Mordheim thinks he is, and this deception is part of yet another gambit. He's got a small container that he believes contains his wife's ashes, but they could be anything... and I'd hate for my group to think I'm not pulling a mind screw on someone...
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