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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5734942" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>[MENTION=6685059]LurkAway[/MENTION]</p><p></p><p>I'm not sure I compleltey follow your 3 Stooges scripts.</p><p></p><p>As far as the werewolf curse is concerned, I think there are two issues, aren't there. First, what is happening in the fiction to a PC under the curse? Second, what out-of-bounds thinking is possible to change/avoid the effects of the curse.</p><p></p><p>I think the answer to the first is fairly straightforward: as the inner beast takes hold, the PC enters an ever-more-wild rage, lashing out violently. You pose the question - why is the PC only lashing out against his/her allies? But isn't the answer to that that s/he is not - s/he's lashing out at everyone! The "lashings out" at enemies are represented, in the game mechanics by attacks made as standard actions under the normal combat rules. The "lashings out" at allies are represented in the game mechanics by attacks made as free actions pursuant to the curse.</p><p></p><p>There's room for strange stuff here, for example if an archer ranger or wizard is hit by the curse. Until that comes up, though, I'm not going to worry too much about it, or about how I might tweak the curse mechanics.</p><p></p><p>As to the second question, of out-of-bounds thinking - presumably Diplomacy as a standard action against a Hard DC could be used to calm an allied PC (and perhaps Religion, too, saying a prayer, or Nature to administer an earlier-brewed potion of belladonna etc). How long should the calming last? Maybe until the end of the cursed PC's next turn, with a save at the end of that turn to keep it going for another turn, etc.</p><p></p><p>And then a broader question - what exactly does this have to do with "bend[ing] the rules for narrative effect and for the maximum game fun"? The curse has been introduced into the game at the GM's discretion - so presumably the GM has already done something with narrative effect and fun in mind. The GM has presumably got in mind some way of lifting or alleviating the curse. If the players want to get in on the act by contributing their own ideas about both short-term and long-term alleviation, where do the rules preclude that?</p><p></p><p>The only place I can see where the rules <em>might</em> do that is the bit that says "The creature must fight the curse by itself and can receive no aid from its allies." I assume that this is meant to set up a contrast with diseases, where an ally's Heal checks can be used in place of a PC's Endurance check. If the designers are saying that <em>nothing</em> done by the allies of the PC can help, then that's (in my view) a bad suggestion. But to ignore it I don't need a rule that says "bend the rules". I just need to actually change the rules that govern curses - rules which are already optional, and which I have opted to introduce into the game. I don't see that I'm under any obligation (to my own players, to other players of the 4e game, etc) to either not use curses at all, or to use them only under the strictest intepretation of the WotC rule book, which would preclude <em>any</em> assistance of one PC by another in dealing with the curse.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 5734942, member: 42582"] [MENTION=6685059]LurkAway[/MENTION] I'm not sure I compleltey follow your 3 Stooges scripts. As far as the werewolf curse is concerned, I think there are two issues, aren't there. First, what is happening in the fiction to a PC under the curse? Second, what out-of-bounds thinking is possible to change/avoid the effects of the curse. I think the answer to the first is fairly straightforward: as the inner beast takes hold, the PC enters an ever-more-wild rage, lashing out violently. You pose the question - why is the PC only lashing out against his/her allies? But isn't the answer to that that s/he is not - s/he's lashing out at everyone! The "lashings out" at enemies are represented, in the game mechanics by attacks made as standard actions under the normal combat rules. The "lashings out" at allies are represented in the game mechanics by attacks made as free actions pursuant to the curse. There's room for strange stuff here, for example if an archer ranger or wizard is hit by the curse. Until that comes up, though, I'm not going to worry too much about it, or about how I might tweak the curse mechanics. As to the second question, of out-of-bounds thinking - presumably Diplomacy as a standard action against a Hard DC could be used to calm an allied PC (and perhaps Religion, too, saying a prayer, or Nature to administer an earlier-brewed potion of belladonna etc). How long should the calming last? Maybe until the end of the cursed PC's next turn, with a save at the end of that turn to keep it going for another turn, etc. And then a broader question - what exactly does this have to do with "bend[ing] the rules for narrative effect and for the maximum game fun"? The curse has been introduced into the game at the GM's discretion - so presumably the GM has already done something with narrative effect and fun in mind. The GM has presumably got in mind some way of lifting or alleviating the curse. If the players want to get in on the act by contributing their own ideas about both short-term and long-term alleviation, where do the rules preclude that? The only place I can see where the rules [I]might[/I] do that is the bit that says "The creature must fight the curse by itself and can receive no aid from its allies." I assume that this is meant to set up a contrast with diseases, where an ally's Heal checks can be used in place of a PC's Endurance check. If the designers are saying that [I]nothing[/I] done by the allies of the PC can help, then that's (in my view) a bad suggestion. But to ignore it I don't need a rule that says "bend the rules". I just need to actually change the rules that govern curses - rules which are already optional, and which I have opted to introduce into the game. I don't see that I'm under any obligation (to my own players, to other players of the 4e game, etc) to either not use curses at all, or to use them only under the strictest intepretation of the WotC rule book, which would preclude [I]any[/I] assistance of one PC by another in dealing with the curse. [/QUOTE]
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