Giving Birth

[kitsune9]

Okay, next session a PC's cohort is giving birth. I'd like to make it dramatic and interesting for my player. What do you recommend?

Info to work with:

• PC is a bard
• her cohort and BFF is a sorceress
• the hubby is the PC's brother
• there might be a cleric nearby, but he's a first level cleric of the knowledge god
• it is the first birth for the cohort
• they've fought against the forces of Lamashtu and Dagon

.

Any ideas?

1. Cultists attack the PC's in attempts to retrieve the unborn/born child for their foul rituals dedicated to Lamashtu and/or Dagon.
2. The birth of the child is immediately followed by earth-shaking stuff such as an earthquake, a freak storm, the land covered in darkness, etc. However you want to run it is up to you but the child will either be a herald for good (it was the "evil" gods throwing a fit) or evil (the child is foretold by such omens).
3. Ignorant villagers mistake the birth as one of the above and they think by burning the house with the mother inside will keep the evil spirits away. Those silly ignorant commoners. The PC's are also inside when they notice the house on fire.
4. The child dies during birth, but because of the good heroes' deeds, a representative from a good god grants a resurrection. This is just a roleplaying drama event.
5. The PC's enemies will use the event as a chance to get even, attempting to cause as much damage as possible before being driven away.
6. A dragon/demon/djinni/angel/whatever suddenly shows up and wants the child as part of a deal they made with the mother. She carries a secret that she was mortally wounded a long time ago and given a second chance at life. Obviously the good creatures are more willing to bargain for a service in exchange for the child whereas evil creatures are likely to tell the PC's to roll for init.

Happy Gaming!

 

[coyote6]

AFAIK, times to give birth vary widely, depending on lots of factors -- you could probably just make something up, and be okay.

I'm not sure I'd say childbirth involved hit point loss, except for those situations that might kill the mother. So I don't think cure light wounds would be useful, in most situations. Lesser restoration can remove fatigue & reduce exhaustion, so it would be helpful in getting the mother back on her feet after birth (they call it "labor" for a reason!).

 

[Doug McCrae]

You never know when they are going to pop out so it could be at an inconvenient time. If the party is in a dangerous area then the challenge could be finding a safe place to deliver the baby.

For medical complications this forum isn't the best place to ask. Get on wikipedia and do your research.

 

[Dragonbait]

Unfortunately, the noise, odors, and fluids given off from birth attract certain kinds of predators. A needledrake swarm might want to make off with a rather soft and easily digested newborn.

A midwife (or equivalant) might be readily available, but she might be a member of a cult of Dagon. The birth could go very well and you could make it look like the baby is safe. Strike when they lower their defenses.

 

[Jack99]

How long do non-hospital births take?

A birth takes as long as it takes. Doesn't really matter much where the mother is. Usually the first time is significantly longer than the next ones.

What effect would cure light wounds and maybe lesser restoration have on the process?

I would say that the spells would at least ensure that the mother isn't too weakened from blood loss.

What crazy beliefs might a book-knowledge cleric have about the safest way for a woman to give birth?

Stuff like running up and down stairs or doing exercises? While both can provoke an early onset, it's only earlier in the pregnancy that they can do this. Later on, it pretty much doesn't matter what you do. The baby will come when he comes.

How incapacitated would the woman be after the birth and for how long? (I'm thinking of a dramatic scene sometime AFTER the birth.)

It varies a lot. My wife was incapacitated for weeks after the first birth (it was a very rough one though), but after the second one, she was up and running almost normally within hours.

In home births, is it necessary to watch the child at all times or is it plausible that it might be left in a crib at some point?

As long as the baby is on its back, you can leave it un-attended for a while - for example when you sleep.

 

[Turtlejay]

The birth is a single event. Do that right (and several good ideas have been suggested) and you win at DMing.

What about the baby? Do you have something planned for it? If you plan on making the birth an *event*, then it would be. . .silly? Contrived? Something less than stellar, if you then just ignored the baby. "We send it to the monestary, and it lives a happy, full life."

No, like everything that the PC's obtain, the baby is just another plot hook. Whatever you do with it, you should make it part of the game.

Also, I think this has the potential to get really, really wierd if you aren't careful.

Jay

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Having a fight during the birth is the first thing I thought of. Which is why I would suggest that you do something else. Its the first thing your players are likely to think of too. There are several good idea here. BTW, what system/edition?

After all, you don't want to be predictable. (When the GM says you have to get somewhere by ship, you know that its going to run into a storm/pirates/monsters. But if none of those things happen, and they arrive at their destination safely, the players are going to really wonder what underhanded evil you have in store for them.)

 

[roguerouge]

My player out! Spoilers!


Thanks everyone! Okay, here's what elements I've decided on, but let me know if you have refinements:

It's a medium-long birth (6 hour variety) with twins. (The demi-goddess of good fortune prophesized that the parents wouldn't die until they had three kids, although said demi-goddess is flighty, unreliable and does not have fate in her portfolio.)

Odd glyph-like birth mark is a go.

Terrible storm is a go. The midwife is the elven druid that my player hates, as she stole her man back at first level. Will they bring her in or trust to the knowledge cleric? Will they be able to find the druid in the storm?

Knowledge cleric beliefs: to speed labor, walk up and down the stairs (false); lying flat on a table makes labor harder, so the mother should squat or recline at an angle (true); pain control techniques (true); and the mother needs to eat the placenta to shore up her health after labor (animals do this to aid the uterus and to foster milk-production; some in China, the Pacific Islands and the West do the same.)

Breech birth with C-section by cleric or druid is a go.

Wife crushing husband's hand is a go. Blaming husband and luck goddess for getting her into this is a go at 4 hour mark.

A fainter has been scheduled. Specifically, the father, in trying to get the mother to "breathe", demonstrates and hyperventilates.

The hubby will indeed offer Ray as a possible name, 'cause it's like a spell-type. Now, will it be accepted?

Oh, if the mother had etherealness, she'd totally use that. Boilling water by prestidigitation is a go.

The noise, odors, and fluids of birth attract the attention of a quasit, the very first antagonist of the campaign.

In the very first adventure of the campaign, the player defeated a wizard, but never investigated the hole in front of his idol depicting hezrou demon Frogroth. In that pit was the REAL bbeg, which was a quasit. (The quasit recruited the wizard and was the one with the connection to the demon.) So, the quasit, left in this tiny farming village, recruits the only person left to free Frogroth... the wife's much-disliked wizard mentor!

So, after the birth, the quasit steals one of the babies for sacrifice, because the stars are right. The PC and the husband should be able to guess where a tiny demon might take the baby, which leads them to the climactic battle at the site of the player's first climactic battle. And mummy stays behind to guard the other twin with a readied magic missile.

 

[Andor]

In home births, is it necessary to watch the child at all times or is it plausible that it might be left in a crib at some point?

I believe european tradition was that a new born had to be watched constantly to prevent the baby from being stolen away by the elves.

In a world chock full of magical things that like to steal children I think the odds of a party of professionally paranoid PCs allowing the babes to be left unattended are nil. If you want one stolen I'd suggest having the midwife take one into another room followed by the classic scream-thud-unconcious midwife-stolen baby scene. The fact that they hate and distrust the midwife is just gravy.