D&D General Am I crazy (BBEG idea)

[Committed Hero]

I'm gonna run a 3-5 session game for some newbies and I think I know who the villain is. A centaur game warden for the royal forest. However, he is cursed with lycanthropy and becomes a nightmare on the full moon.

Is this an idea worth the number crunching?

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I don't know what numbers there are too crunch, are there rules for creating custom were-creatures?
I'd say the idea might have some merit. Though: Is lycantrophy really "needed" here? I assume there are rules for dealing with lycantrophy, but maybe it would work just as well if it's a unique curse you could build your own story and avenues for resolution around.

 

[Tonguez]

I love the idea, the Royal Warden of the Greenway, is respected by the court, feared by poachers, and whispered about by the forest’s folk, especially now that travellers and woodcutters have started to go missing.

its mythic and tragic and if you can play the centaur as a good guy who the PCs get to know while they search for clues you get a nice emotional hit too, once the horror reveal happens

 

[AlViking]

Just because I think it's a fun idea doesn't mean you're not crazy.

The centaur also does not need to have lycanthropy - it could easily be some other kind of curse. The big questions I would have is does the centaur know he's cursed, does he know he turns into a nightmare? I think it would be more interesting if he did not know but potentially has moments where he is struggling with the curse. In addition, there may be a way to break the curse without killing the dude - although oftentimes curses appear to be broken but really are not.

As far as design details we'd need to know more and I'm always hesitant to use solo monsters. If it is a curse and you want the cursed nightmare to have allies, you get the bonus benefit of an excuse to use killer bunnies. Depending on your GMing style, of course.

 

[MarkB]

I don't know what numbers there are too crunch, are there rules for creating custom were-creatures?
I'd say the idea might have some merit. Though: Is lycantrophy really "needed" here? I assume there are rules for dealing with lycantrophy, but maybe it would work just as well if it's a unique curse you could build your own story and avenues for resolution around.

That also allows for some playing with the concept - is he a centaur cursed to turn into a nightmare, or a nightmare cursed to think he is a centaur?

 

[Tonguez]

Just because I think it's a fun idea doesn't mean you're not crazy.

The centaur also does not need to have lycanthropy - it could easily be some other kind of curse. The big questions I would have is does the centaur know he's cursed, does he know he turns into a nightmare? I think it would be more interesting if he did not know but potentially has moments where he is struggling with the curse. In addition, there may be a way to break the curse without killing the dude - although oftentimes curses appear to be broken but really are not.

I think it would be more fun if the centaur does know that he's cursed (but only with vague memories of what happens), but he needs to keep it secret so as to avoid Royal embarrassment.
Make him a good guy, doing his job but burdened by a terrible secret he doesnt know how to deal with. He might even be working with a local apothecary to brew a salve that can help stave off the curse effects (which becomes a clue should the PCs investigate)

 

[Richards]

Are you crazy? Well, you are a "Committed" Hero, so....

In all seriousness, some other curse than lycanthropy might work better here - or are there werenightmares in your game world? There's also the (in my mind) problem with a lycanthrope with a "human" form being that of a centaur, an "animal" form being that of a nightmare, and a "hybrid" form being, what? A centaur with a horse's head and flaming hooves? I'd see that as looking more comical than fearsome.

Johnathan

 

[Committed Hero]

Are you crazy? Well, you are a "Committed" Hero, so....

LoL I've always meant the other kind of committed.

He's going to be the patron giving the PCs their initial mission. Maybe it does make to have him tragic as opposed to double crossing, though.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

In case he is an unwilling Nightmare, and you still want to avoid a solo combat against a single Nightmare, consider giving him some nightmare or (were)-friends that are attracted by his appearance and protect him. If it's a curse, maybe the Nightmares seek to make the effect permanent. Maybe they also enjoy that they have a powerful ally at their side during the full moon, but on other nights, they can give him terrible nightmares about this evil deeds. Maybe that's even the way to do it - drive his Centaur self to insanity, wrecked with fear or guilt.

 

[Richards]

Some further thoughts:

I'm not sure what edition you're using; I'm a 3.5 guy and so this is all going to be using what I know of the 3.5 rules - there might be some tweaking of this concept if you're using 5E rules. (I honestly don't know enough about 5E to confirm.) However, it strikes me that if you're using the curse concept, a night hag might be a reasonable explanation of what's going on here: she's got a slightly different version of the "dream haunting" supernatural ability going on, in that instead of entering the victim's dreams and riding him all night in his dreams, she's literally transforming him into a nightmare and physically riding him all night. So the PCs would be trying to fight the night hag, not realizing the nightmare steed she's riding is the centaur game warden who asked them to help him track down and stop the hag in the first place. Maybe her hold on him grows stronger each night, and if nobody can stop the process she'll eventually turn him permanently into a nightmare. (Maybe that's where nightmares actually come from? Just a possibility.)

There are a few possible obstacles to this approach: in 3.5 at least, night hags can normally only enter the dreams of chaotic or evil dreamers, and the centaur default alignment is neutral good. You might need to come up with a reason around that. Also, night hags in 3.5 are CR 9 and nightmares are CR 5; I'm not sure what level you were shooting for for your 3-5 game sessions, so that might a disqualifier.

Johnathan