I'm shortly going to be running a game in Invidia. One of my players has elected to start the game cursed. For the sake of simplicity and because it's easy to understand and so on, I elected to make him a werewolf, and the curse hits him because of something his parents did, which is why he gets raised in the a village in the middle of nowhere, where the cursing scandal won't be well known about.
So. What can this guy's parents have done to get their only son cursed with lycanthropy? I'm thinking it has to be a Vistani curse, because it's most of the players first jaunt into Ravenloft, and the game's set in Invidia, where the Vistani have to show up eventually, even if it's the background of the characters.
I'm thinking that if he is cursed for being the son of a random couple, then this couple must have done something to a Vistani child... any cool ideas?
Curse of Lycanthropy
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Jason of the Fraternity
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If you are planning on cursing the character to become a werewolf, then I think that you could use something along the following lines:
Several months before the character was born, a caravan of Vistani stopped at the couples town. The Vistani bartered varies wares with the villagers, and things were going rather smoothly. However, one young Vistani child wandered away from the safety of the Vardos. Approaching one of the homes, a pair of guard dogs came rushing forth. The child, in a youthful panic, used his small dagger to slash at the animal. Unfortunately, this only pushed the angry animals to attack the boy even more violently. All the while, the couple watched as the dogs ripped the life from the Vistani child.
It was not until later that evening, when the child's mother noticed that he had not return, that the tribe went searching for the boy. It didn't take long for several members of the tribe to find the mangled body of the boy lying upon the yard of the young couple. The mother, grief-striken over her loss, screamed a curse at the couple.
"My child's life has been stolen,
and there was nothing you would do.
Now may you share my tragic sorrow,
and let the beast consume your son, too..."
It wasn't until their child was born that the couple learned the full extent of the Vistani woman's curse...
Again, this is just a general idea and can be reformatted to more appropriately fit your campaign and character sketches.
Several months before the character was born, a caravan of Vistani stopped at the couples town. The Vistani bartered varies wares with the villagers, and things were going rather smoothly. However, one young Vistani child wandered away from the safety of the Vardos. Approaching one of the homes, a pair of guard dogs came rushing forth. The child, in a youthful panic, used his small dagger to slash at the animal. Unfortunately, this only pushed the angry animals to attack the boy even more violently. All the while, the couple watched as the dogs ripped the life from the Vistani child.
It was not until later that evening, when the child's mother noticed that he had not return, that the tribe went searching for the boy. It didn't take long for several members of the tribe to find the mangled body of the boy lying upon the yard of the young couple. The mother, grief-striken over her loss, screamed a curse at the couple.
"My child's life has been stolen,
and there was nothing you would do.
Now may you share my tragic sorrow,
and let the beast consume your son, too..."
It wasn't until their child was born that the couple learned the full extent of the Vistani woman's curse...
Again, this is just a general idea and can be reformatted to more appropriately fit your campaign and character sketches.
[i]Pandemonium did not reign, it poured![/i]
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ScS of the Fraternity
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Jason of the Fraternity
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FavouredEnemy
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Jason of the Fraternity
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Jennifer
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Hi Favored Enemy,
In my campaign one of my players started as a werewolf too. He became one, because his family and he were attacked by a group of werewolves when he was younger. He was the sole survivor and he still has the scars of those terrible wounds the werewolves inflicted on him. Through thse wounds he got infected.
He did not know he was a werewolf, he was the sole survivor and was very young at the time. His fellow villagers and more distant relatives thought he and his family were attacked by normal wolves. he developed quite a hatred for werewolves.
By now his disease has manifested itself and he does not want to accept that he too is one of those monsters he hates so much. So although every night of the full moon he runs in the wild as a wolf, he still denies it. The denial is hard going at the moment, his fellow party members have seen him change and he has already killed one innocent bystander during these nightly escapades.
Jennifer
In my campaign one of my players started as a werewolf too. He became one, because his family and he were attacked by a group of werewolves when he was younger. He was the sole survivor and he still has the scars of those terrible wounds the werewolves inflicted on him. Through thse wounds he got infected.
He did not know he was a werewolf, he was the sole survivor and was very young at the time. His fellow villagers and more distant relatives thought he and his family were attacked by normal wolves. he developed quite a hatred for werewolves.
By now his disease has manifested itself and he does not want to accept that he too is one of those monsters he hates so much. So although every night of the full moon he runs in the wild as a wolf, he still denies it. The denial is hard going at the moment, his fellow party members have seen him change and he has already killed one innocent bystander during these nightly escapades.
Jennifer
Your campaign was awesome Jennifer. Inspired me to run a much lower level campaign next time. I think I'll make the pcs use npc classes at least initially. I loved the sort of pacing your game had. Is there any more or is it over?
I've been hesitant to introduce werewolves into ravenloft, but I've used them before. I'm at a point where I'm putting my players through Adam's Wrath and an old friend is going to meet his end at the hands (claws?) of lycanthropes (sea wolves on the Isle of Agony) before the party is thoroughly beaten by the Sea Hag Kadra and her sisters.
I don't yet know how they'll play it, they may try to rescue the npc from their attackers (they'll be seperated by a furious snowstorm and only see him through lighter snow in the distance) in which case I have a dilema. Does a lycanthropic virus survive death? And is it a part of the brain, or another part of the body?
In the adventure, they will die, and their body parts will be used by Victor Mordenheim to build new flesh golems, with many different body parts, some of which are assumably from their original bodies. What happens when lycanthropy mixes with constructs.
Any ideas anyone?
I've been hesitant to introduce werewolves into ravenloft, but I've used them before. I'm at a point where I'm putting my players through Adam's Wrath and an old friend is going to meet his end at the hands (claws?) of lycanthropes (sea wolves on the Isle of Agony) before the party is thoroughly beaten by the Sea Hag Kadra and her sisters.
I don't yet know how they'll play it, they may try to rescue the npc from their attackers (they'll be seperated by a furious snowstorm and only see him through lighter snow in the distance) in which case I have a dilema. Does a lycanthropic virus survive death? And is it a part of the brain, or another part of the body?
In the adventure, they will die, and their body parts will be used by Victor Mordenheim to build new flesh golems, with many different body parts, some of which are assumably from their original bodies. What happens when lycanthropy mixes with constructs.
Any ideas anyone?
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FavouredEnemy
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I would say that it would depend on the lycanthrope. Someone who has been cursed with lycanthropy would have some kind of soul taint, a mark of the beast on their soul. In this case, flesh golems would only contract the lycanthropy if you ruled they got bits of soul as well - which could make them hideously insane, which sounds like fun *jots down idea*.
If someone 'caught' lycanthropy genetically, I would say that being a werewolf is in the blood, at which point, if the flesh golem is created from their body parts, then there's a fair chance the lycanthropy would spread and consume the entire thing.
If someone was infected by lycanthropy 'naturally' (ie, bitten), then I would say that it isn't something inherent to the person, and so would disappear after they died... or use the soul taint idea as from above.
Again, it would really depend on your views of how lycanthropy works. I prefer the view as from the Abomination Codex/the Witchcraft line from Eden Studios. But then, I think Unisystem is fantastic.
If someone 'caught' lycanthropy genetically, I would say that being a werewolf is in the blood, at which point, if the flesh golem is created from their body parts, then there's a fair chance the lycanthropy would spread and consume the entire thing.
If someone was infected by lycanthropy 'naturally' (ie, bitten), then I would say that it isn't something inherent to the person, and so would disappear after they died... or use the soul taint idea as from above.
Again, it would really depend on your views of how lycanthropy works. I prefer the view as from the Abomination Codex/the Witchcraft line from Eden Studios. But then, I think Unisystem is fantastic.