Accidental Daily Power Overuse Consequences

[alfredbester]

Hey,

So one of my players, a wizard, accidently used their daily power twice and nobody caught it. The session is long over and "undoing" history really would be a silly option. I don't want to do some sort of experience penalty or anything harsh because well, I believe it was an accident (due to not playing too often between sessions) and I've been following the 4th edition "everyone has the same XP" suggestion with good success so far.

Can the wiseness of the forum think of a creative solution that doesn't overly punish the guy, or is the best solution to pretend like it's never happened?

Context: The characters are on level 3 of a 4 level tower with the presumable "boss" coming right up. It's a 6 PC party and they're level three.

Thanks!

edit: Sorry, this should be in General RPG Discussion.

 

[Merlin's Shadow]

If it was an honest mistake, why punish him? Now, if it happens again and again, you may want to look at just having a talk with the player. I don't see why he should be punished, though, if he just honestly screwed up. It's just a game.

 

[alfredbester]

Yeah, it's a *fairly* casual group and I don't think anyone is going to lose sleep over it, but the wizard's daily (flaming sphere) did have a huge impact on the battle and I know the other players do have a sour taste in their mouthes because of it. (After realizing the spell shouldn't have been.) I would not really like to punish the wizard for their mistake, but at the same time I would like to award the players who take the extra time to take notes on what's happening and where their character is at. Doing nothing is certainly an option, but I believe it will maintain a slightly sour cloud over the party for a bit and lessen the "immersion" of the campaign experience and the camaraderie the players have developed.

In my brainstorming I've been thinking of giving the wizard the Fatigued condition until they long rest. Hmmmmmmmm.

Thanks!

 

[small pumpkin man]

Make a plot hook out of it! It sounds like they want it to have a consequence, but that doesn't mean it actually has to be a proper punishment. If it was Exalted I'd say a spirit of magic comes and tells him off, makes him do something/blackmails him, but in D&D, maybe pushing the magic beyond what it should opened an ongoing mini portal to the plane of fire and now things around him spontaneously combust? Set it up like a curse or a disease?

 

[Byronic]

Personally, I think someone will be quite interested in this wizard channelling so much arcane energy. Some spirit or other thing interested in magic.

It's a possibility. Personally we've had the same problem in our game where the guy used 3 times his daily allotment and no fuss was made. Although... it's quite possible that I was the only one that noticed it and decided to have a talk with him myself (it was an honest mistake)

 

[wedgeski]

Make a plot hook out of it! It sounds like they want it to have a consequence, but that doesn't mean it actually has to be a proper punishment. If it was Exalted I'd say a spirit of magic comes and tells him off, makes him do something/blackmails him, but in D&D, maybe pushing the magic beyond what it should opened an ongoing mini portal to the plane of fire and now things around him spontaneously combust? Set it up like a curse or a disease?

That's good stuff right there. Personally, I let things like this go all the time. I've never had cause to think that a player is abusing my trust.

 

[Protagonist]

I you really want to "balance it out", I would also suggest finding a ingame solution that doesn't feel like a punishment, but more like a challenge.

I think the spirit of magic / etc. hook could work, or you could have a future daily explode in the wizards face instead of working or some other wild magic-y thing. Maybe the next time he tries to cast his daily he gets teleported to a strange place instead (and back again after a while if the campaign isn't end-paragon/epic) in the middle of the battle. Give him (and the group) something to wonder about. In the realms you could even tie this into the setting history (i.e. remaining effects of the Spellplague)

 

[Olaf the Stout]

The simplest solution to me is to just have his daily not work the next time he goes to use it. That would even out the extra use he got. Explain to the group why you are doing it though.

Personally, if it was an honest mistake, I wouldn't bother trying to punish the player for it. Just move on and try to remember it for next time. If the other players feel ripped off about it, talk to them.

If they feel like there should be some sort of punishment, even if it was an honest mistake, then talk it through as a group. Then make sure the punishment is consistent for everyone should the situation arise again.

My group would probably not be bothered by the whole thing though. Everyone makes mistakes from time to time.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Merkuri]

I agree with Protagonist and SPM. Do something in-game to "punish" the character and make an adventure out of it. I think your players want consequences, not real punishments, so if you give them some consequences that might seem bad for the characters but are fun for the players then it's a win-win situation.

I like the idea of some spirit or something coming to confront the wizard. It could either demand to know how he controlled so much power, and/or demand that he not do it again because the fabric of the universe was delicate and being slowly unraveled. Then maybe some adventure is in store for the PCs to repair the small amount of damage that the wizard did to the fabric of time - maybe they have to plunge into some long-forgotten ruins to recover a unique ritual scroll that'll repair little tears in the universe.

 

[Umbran]

The other players should perhaps consider how much punishment they really want to see, considering that they,. too, are human, and might make a mistake themselves at some point.

If he's not making a habit of it, I wouldn't worry about it. If you think there needs to be a "punishment", the next time he's up for an Action Point, don't give it to him.