The Curse of Galeb Dur

[Old_school_overlord]

I'm writing a dungeon of a dwarf fortress fallen to the curse of madness.

Various monsters may expose the heroes to this curse and I was planning on using the Disease track for this:

The Doom

Level 14 Curse
Arcana: Improve dc:23, Maintain dc:18 Worsen dc:17 or lower

The curse is lifted
/\ \/
Initial Effect
The target begins each day with no action points. Each time the target becomes bloodied it laughs uncontrollably and is Dazed (save ends)
/\ \/
The target takes a -2 penalty to Fortitude, Reflex and Will defences.
/\ \/
Creatures with Combat Advantage deal an extra 1d6 damage to the target.
/\ \/
The target is dazed
/\ \/
The target is dominated


Completion of the quest will also cause it to be lifted.

Any thoughts on this? I especially wondering if Arcana is the right skill for resisting a curse...

Thanks

 

[Mesh Hong]

I would add another state between initial and cured.

I would have a look at the (level 8) Remove Affliction ritual and realise that it renders all even level diseases and curses trivial.

I would increase the DCs of the arcana checks, possibly to 26/21/20.

In my experience diseases and curses are as close to pointless as you can get if the group can cast remove affliction. In order to make a disease or curse dangerous or even noticable you need to make it a higher level than the PCs.

I recently tried out a "fast acting disease" that required checks at the end of each encounter (and didn't give the PCs enough time to cast remove affliction) which worked alright, but it was even level and the group still shrugged it off without any real problems.

Sorry if this sounds a bit turse but I am pressed for time

 

[Old_school_overlord]

doh! I should have mentioned the PCs are 10th level.

Some additional content I've worked up for this, monster theme powers to be used with the "Those that Hear" from DMG2:

Attack Power
Hideous Babbling (Standard, encounter)
Close burst 3; targets enemies; Level+3 vs Will; The target Acquires The Doom.

Utility Power
Puppet of Flesh
This creature makes a save against all Dominated, Stunned and Dazed conditions at the begining of its turn.
The turn after it is reduced to 0 Hp it is revived with temporary HP equal to its level.

 

[Mesh Hong]

doh! I should have mentioned the PCs are 10th level.

It should be OK then.

Just out of interest is this section of the adventure long enough for the full curse progression to be an issue? (4 days).

 

[Old_school_overlord]

I hope not, cause what would I do with a player who's character have been permanently Dominated?

It's main purpose is to give them some difficulty, motivate them into solving the quest and provide narrative insight into what happened at the fortress.

 

[Mesh Hong]

I hope not, cause what would I do with a player who#s character have been permanently Dominated?

I was wondering the same thing, if you design something you had better be ready for the consequences though! (no matter how unlikely)

 

[Old_school_overlord]

I guess I have to decide whether I'm willing to allow the curse to take out Heroes or not...

Need to think about that, with the size of my group (8players) I probably could - but that doesn't necessarily make it a good idea.

 

[Mesh Hong]

A dominated PC could be just like a dazed PC except you can force them to do dramatically appropriate things as necessary.

Not really a problem.

Is there a trap in the shadowy corridor ahead? Time for the dominated PC to get a sudden urge to wander in that direction and activate it.
- Oh no the curse has struck again!

 

[the Jester]

First off, who or what dominates the cursed victims in their final state?

Secondly, if you want the curse to be a real threat, it should absolutely have a chance of taking a pc out!

 

[sfedi]

Isn't Dazing or Dominating permanently taking a PC out?