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First Post
I need help in trying to figure out how someone in a D&D setting would conduct a paternity test. (Could this be the oddest request of the past few weeks?)
DM's note: Like most groups, my players are really good at overcoming challenges by fighting. So I like to give them non-standard challenges and plenty of roleplaying hooks to keep things interesting. Plus, they love opportunities to roleplay.
The PCs have been in a large city (10,000 residents) for nearly three months now. They've gotten famous (or infamous) for their exploits, as well as quite popular and of course rich, and everybody wants to hang out and be pals with the "heroes." We're about to finish one story arc and it has yet to be determined what comes next, so as an epilogue I plan to give each PC a reason to stay in town (i.e. be a hero and bask in the glow of popularity and wealth) as well as at least one reason to leave and find adventure elsewhere.
One of the PCs was in the habit of hiring escorts at the beginning of his adventurous career and it's about to come back to haunt him. We're talking about the party rogue, of course. He's a guy with a rather sleazy background -- drugs, women, booze, questionable ethics -- who has also been undergoing a journey of personal and moral growth throughout his career. He had his alignment magically altered from CN to LG, then he died and came back as CG. His moral compass has been dragged all over the place.
Enough background, now on to the point: in the near future, a young pregnant working girl will approach him with a claim that he's the father of her unborn child. She does this in a very public place so there's no way she can be later made to disappear without serious questions being raised. Is she blackmailing him? What does she want? Well, she wants him to take responsibility by marrying her and raising their child.
The timing's right, and she looks vaguely familiar, but the PC won't know for sure whether or not it's his child. Heck, I haven't even decided whether or not the child is his; I'll figure that out based on how he plays it. I'm thinking the PC will either "do the right thing" and take responsibility for the girl and her unborn child, he'll contest her claims that he's the father, or he'll comvince the other PCs it's time to get out of town.
So how would one go about attempting to prove in a D&D setting (roughly Victorian-age technology level and standard magic) that he is or isn't the father of the child? Without the use of DNA testing, how would a D&D paternity test be conducted? The PCs will of course have access to standard magic; they'll also have access to the local library run by the temple of the god of knowledge.
I've thought about a zone of truth spell to question the girl. The problem with that is she truly believes he's the father, regardless of whether or not he actually is.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.
DM's note: Like most groups, my players are really good at overcoming challenges by fighting. So I like to give them non-standard challenges and plenty of roleplaying hooks to keep things interesting. Plus, they love opportunities to roleplay.
The PCs have been in a large city (10,000 residents) for nearly three months now. They've gotten famous (or infamous) for their exploits, as well as quite popular and of course rich, and everybody wants to hang out and be pals with the "heroes." We're about to finish one story arc and it has yet to be determined what comes next, so as an epilogue I plan to give each PC a reason to stay in town (i.e. be a hero and bask in the glow of popularity and wealth) as well as at least one reason to leave and find adventure elsewhere.
One of the PCs was in the habit of hiring escorts at the beginning of his adventurous career and it's about to come back to haunt him. We're talking about the party rogue, of course. He's a guy with a rather sleazy background -- drugs, women, booze, questionable ethics -- who has also been undergoing a journey of personal and moral growth throughout his career. He had his alignment magically altered from CN to LG, then he died and came back as CG. His moral compass has been dragged all over the place.
Enough background, now on to the point: in the near future, a young pregnant working girl will approach him with a claim that he's the father of her unborn child. She does this in a very public place so there's no way she can be later made to disappear without serious questions being raised. Is she blackmailing him? What does she want? Well, she wants him to take responsibility by marrying her and raising their child.
The timing's right, and she looks vaguely familiar, but the PC won't know for sure whether or not it's his child. Heck, I haven't even decided whether or not the child is his; I'll figure that out based on how he plays it. I'm thinking the PC will either "do the right thing" and take responsibility for the girl and her unborn child, he'll contest her claims that he's the father, or he'll comvince the other PCs it's time to get out of town.
So how would one go about attempting to prove in a D&D setting (roughly Victorian-age technology level and standard magic) that he is or isn't the father of the child? Without the use of DNA testing, how would a D&D paternity test be conducted? The PCs will of course have access to standard magic; they'll also have access to the local library run by the temple of the god of knowledge.
I've thought about a zone of truth spell to question the girl. The problem with that is she truly believes he's the father, regardless of whether or not he actually is.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.
