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<blockquote data-quote="Felon" data-source="post: 3185801" data-attributes="member: 8158">So, has anyone here tried to create a scenario where some villains want to get a hero to do a job for them, and want to imbed some insurance into their pawn--something long-term and potentially pernicious? To properly exploit this plot device, you can't have the control be something easily overcome, nor can it be so totally overwhelming that the hero sees the situation as hopeless and his efforts as futile. It's a fine line to walk. A &quot;shock collar&quot; effect might go off once or twice in order to ratchet up tension, but for the most it just creates a dilemna for the heroes to resolve.In D&amp;D, the designers decided that eliminating down-time takes precedence over devious plot hooks, so most debilitating effects are easily and automatically alleviated by low-level spells. The rules never present poisons as something with long-term insidious ramifications, and even if they did, neutralize poison is easy enough to come by in spell or potion forrm. Same goes for remove disease and remove curse, although I notice that their descriptions actually make allowances for curses that might be particularly difficult to remove.Geas is this obvious way to effect this scenario, but sufficiently obvious that most folks are familiar with circumventing it. A lesser geas is ripe for a remove curse, while a true geas is alleviated by break enchantment. I have a few ideas of how to handle this. The necrotic cyst line of spells from Libris Mortis seem perfect for the job, and since they're official, rules-savvy players don't get that look they get in their eye that they get when the DM's coloring outside the lines.But I figure this is a good topic for discussion at ENWorld. What kind of experiences have you guys had?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Felon, post: 3185801, member: 8158"] So, has anyone here tried to create a scenario where some villains want to get a hero to do a job for them, and want to imbed some insurance into their pawn--something long-term and potentially pernicious? To properly exploit this plot device, you can't have the control be something easily overcome, nor can it be so totally overwhelming that the hero sees the situation as hopeless and his efforts as futile. It's a fine line to walk. A "shock collar" effect might go off once or twice in order to ratchet up tension, but for the most it just creates a dilemna for the heroes to resolve. In D&D, the designers decided that eliminating down-time takes precedence over devious plot hooks, so most debilitating effects are easily and automatically alleviated by low-level spells. The rules never present poisons as something with long-term insidious ramifications, and even if they did, neutralize poison is easy enough to come by in spell or potion forrm. Same goes for remove disease and remove curse, although I notice that their descriptions actually make allowances for curses that might be particularly difficult to remove. Geas is this obvious way to effect this scenario, but sufficiently obvious that most folks are familiar with circumventing it. A lesser geas is ripe for a remove curse, while a true geas is alleviated by break enchantment. I have a few ideas of how to handle this. The necrotic cyst line of spells from Libris Mortis seem perfect for the job, and since they're official, rules-savvy players don't get that look they get in their eye that they get when the DM's coloring outside the lines. But I figure this is a good topic for discussion at ENWorld. What kind of experiences have you guys had? [/QUOTE]

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