Is this unfair?

[dragonwarriorfan]

I'm running Expedition to Ravenloft in 4e. I asked around and got a great idea for a disease, Werewolf Moon Frenzy (lv 6). So, each time the PCs enter a room in the castle (and there are lots), they have to make a Will check (or Endurance?) against the disease. Each time they change rooms, a new roll. Too harsh?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Probably a bit over the top, and could prove tedious.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I'm running Expedition to Ravenloft in 4e. I asked around and got a great idea for a disease, Werewolf Moon Frenzy (lv 6). So, each time the PCs enter a room in the castle (and there are lots), they have to make a Will check (or Endurance?) against the disease. Each time they change rooms, a new roll. Too harsh?

That's pretty fast (since with that many checks, they'll fail quickly) against a long-lasting disease. IMO, they shouldn't have to make checks that often.

Alternatively, if they suffered temporary "moon madness", then having that kind of effect potentially strike every time they enter a room might work out quite well.

 

[dragonwarriorfan]

My thought was to have them save when they enter, do whatever they do in the room - might be quick - then next room save again to see if they stay the same, are cured, or worsen. The effect lasts until they leave the room, and enter the next one - check again.

Good point on speed, but I'm not sure I follow the mechanic you suggest. Can you elaborate on what you mean by temporary? I'm game for some help with this, but love the idea that they are constantly penalized, in some way, for being in the castle or at least constantly reminded that they are in a place they should not visit.

Now, I could have them suffer this, but locate a way to neutralize the effect in the castle. Perhaps once they activate the legacy item they bring in (the sunsword or symbol).

 

[Dross]

Maybe have the save after every (short or extended) rest rather than every room (assuming you don't plan on having a fight every room).

That way you could also imply that it is the place's denizens or exertion causing the sickness. You could tie the type of denizen to the disease as well.

Now, I could have them suffer this, but locate a way to neutralize the effect in the castle. Perhaps once they activate the legacy item they bring in (the sunsword or symbol).

I would do this as well, plant a few clues, and you are good to go. You could even make it one of the obstacles to overcome for xp if so inclined.

 

[dragonwarriorfan]

Every short rest would be great - then they'd suffer during each encounter - nasty for that fever which has them making free action attacks. So, would you have them roll with their + Will bonus to a medium/hard DC? I could have them make an endurance check, but Will is more the flavor in this dungeon and I have a bunch of strikers trained in endurance.

 

[DracoSuave]

Insight. Not Will.


Will favors classes like Clerics, Wizards, and various spellcasters. Ravenloft is supposed to hit those characters harder, not lighter. It's your cleric who goes barmy before your thief.

 

[Dragon Sin-Camealot]

This is already answered in the basic DM advice section. Try to make the game fun. I've only play-tested only one campaign of my own, I enjoyed it so they did.

One idea is to model the adventure after one you really enjoyed. On the other hand DnD could be considered game lacking complexity. It's merely a matter of looking up little rules every now and then. But that's another debate.

 

[catastrophic]

I'm game for some help with this, but love the idea that they are constantly penalized, in some way, for being in the castle or at least constantly reminded that they are in a place they should not visit.

So why are you running a game set there, then?

You should not set a game somewhere, and then 'constantly penalise' the players for being there. There's a difference between Expedition To Castle Ravenloft, and Expedition To Find a New Dungeon Master.

This is far too much and is going to get really tedious to deal with from turn to turn because of the details of that particular disease. Basing it on short rest would be much better, but you still run the risk of the disease progressing rapidly with a few bad rolls.

Diseases are not meant to progress within a dungeon crawl, but rather, are clearly set up so that people can do stuff about them in the same time frame as an extended rest. Push people into a position where they don't have those kinds of options as a disease progresses, and you're setting them up to have a real crappy time.

If you add an event to end the effect, it should also aid those far along the disease track at that time.

 

[Mummolus]

I don't know, some diseases are fun, depending on the character. My dragonborn battlemind likes to Persistent Harrier into the middle of everything right at the beginning of the fight, and reaching stage 3 of moon frenzy almost doubled his damage output.