Honey, I mutated the PCs!

[blargney the second]

I ran the third game of my new campaign last night, and I must admit I was a little surprised at the players' reactions to some of the stuff that happened... and I'd like to hear other folks' takes on the situation.

First off, I have to admit that there were some slightly attenuating circumstances. I'm leaving Montreal to return to Victoria, so this game (and others) is now prematurely terminated. Needless to say, I think it affected the players' moods a bit.

That being said, I sort of mutated their PCs. One got laser vision that causes him headaches (Searing Light 1/day that causes him subdual damage), another got an eye in the palm of his hand (Eyes in the Back of Your Head feat), and the third one's left arm was turned into a strong blue tentacle (Improved Grapple feat).

Mr. Laserhead started zapping anything and everything that pissed him off (once per day), while the tentacled guy went to a barber to have it cut off. Sir I-Palm didn't complain, but he didn't seem happy either.

Is it a faux pas to alter a player's character like this? I thought it was a nifty alternative to giving them magic items as a reward, but I'm not sure they saw it that way.

-blarg

 

[frankthedm]

I LOVE freak legion / playing Fomori.... but most players don't care for items that help AND hurt them. Couple that with items not easily removed and only certain players might be thrilled with such changes.

 

[random user]

Was there a choice in the matter? Was there any way they could have avoided it if they wanted to? Was there a good reason it happened?

Players like to feel they have input. I think some (though not all) roleplayers would get miffed even at getting a super magical item if they had no choice in the matter and it destroyed their sense of what could realistically happen.

Edit: I want to clarify, finding a single powerful magic item randomly is probably mostly fine. The Book of Swords series, for example, has a neat plot where a level one gets basically an artifact and has to deal with it. But randomly having magic items fall from the sky or in other similarly unrealistic ways, repeatedly, I would be against. Maybe I'm the only one that's like that... I don't know. But if I want a phat lewt campaign I'll go play everquest (the MMPOG not the RPG). I play D&D so I can have choices, and not be an actor following someone else's script. And unless you come up with a really good reason, no level 1 should be running around with a +5 holy avenger and a ring of regeneration.

 

[Dirigible]

Is it a faux pas to alter a player's character like this? I thought it was a nifty alternative to giving them magic items as a reward, but I'm not sure they saw it that way.

If you gave them the option, then it's very cool. If you didn't ask them, then it's a nasty thing to do. In my opinion.

 

[Herpes Cineplex]

Well, look at it from the perspective of the two less-than-enthused players: one of their characters has a GODDAMN EYE ON HIS HAND, and the other has A TENTACLE INSTEAD OF AN ARM.

In other words, in most settings, they are terrifying and hideous freaks. Is that what they signed up for? Is this the kind of thing which is common enough in the gameworld that they wouldn't feel out of place having it happen to their characters?

I'm going to guess that the answer to both of those questions is "no, not really." And that's probably where the dissatisfaction starts; if they were thinking about how they were going to be playing cool adventurers, now they have to adjust to playing I-Palm and the Octopus Man. It's jarring, it's weird, and it strays into an area of character revision which is generally regarded as off-limits for GMs: sort of like if you were playing a wizard and then your GM made a roll behind the screen and told you that, oops, you just lost a level of Wizard but gained a level as a Monk. I mean, what if you didn't want to play a monk?

There are some things the GM should probably ask the player about before actually doing them. Surprises can be fun, but one of the big things most players will agree on is that they get attached to their character, so it can be pretty dangerous to screw around too much with that without making sure the player's not going to pitch a fit over it.

Also, there's probably a little resentment over the fact that Laserhead got the best deal of the three; he gets to look normal AND he gets a nice little hidden weapon with a not-particularly-serious drawback. All the other guys got were a bonus feat and a guaranteed job at the local freak show, if they want it.

--
besides, no one complains about getting magic items as a reward, anyway
ryan

 

[JoAT]

Darn them College Roomies. I bet they're From Hell.... Uh, anyways, I don't normally see something like this as a problem, but, the thing is, you've got to make sure you do it right - either 1) (I dislike this way of doing things), let them know that there's potential for errr... growth and change. Then roll it, in front of them, on a table, fudging when nescisary (If I was told that suddenly I've got a tentical for an arm, I'd be feeling somewhat picked on, unless I actually saw it rolled up, rather than just 'assigned' to me).

Number 2), on the other hand, is much more fun (And since I'm going to have to assume one of them is a were-coyote, it's the one you picked...), in that you choose the changes they under go - however, when doing thigs like this, it's a really, really good idea to not think of your own idea of what would be cool/neat/mean, but, rather, what would fit in with the character (unless the player has no plans other than running around and killing stuff, or wandering around and role-playing with stuff, and dealing with the conesequences - from my experiance, most players have a direction they'd like to see their characters go towards) - rather, look at what the character has become so far, and choose something that your sure will continue that trend - something that would fit in with the player's 'plans', as it were, since going that way tends to be more fun (and if you're unsure, bug the players - ask them where they see their characters going, and if they don't really care, feel free to make them into disfigured freaks with insane super-powers...) And the fun is really what it's all about, right?

 

[Ao the Overkitty]

Darn them College Roomies. I bet they're From Hell....

Number 2), on the other hand, is much more fun (And since I'm going to have to assume one of them is a were-coyote, it's the one you picked...)

Damn it! Someone beat me to it. Damn misery journeys. Is there a cat familiar named Chester?

Anyway, one of the campaigns being run at the moment kinda started with the PCs getting mutated. They received grafts to their bodies as someone experimented with them. One got wings, one got darkvision, I'm not sure what the others got. No one had a problem with the grafts until they found out (as they got more) that they were demonic grafts and they were slowly affecting their alignments. After that, the NG druid immediately wanted them removed, one of the other had to think about removing for a day or two (he finally did), and the guy with wings refused to remove them.

None of the players had a problem with their characters being messed with, but that may be in part because it happened at the beginning of the game.

 

[Fenes]

As a player I would have a big problem with such a thing happen to my character without my consent.

 

[Tetsubo]

I recently bestowed dragon-fly like faerie wings on a PC. He didn't seem to mind. Even though he is living in a xenophobic country that doesn't much like non-humans. He just hides them under his cloak when he isn't using them. Admittedly wings are less unattractive than tentacles or an eye in one's palm.

 

[StalkingBlue]

If you gave them the option, then it's very cool. If you didn't ask them, then it's a nasty thing to do. In my opinion.

I agree.