D&D General My cousin in law used random Treasure generation tables that resulted in A 1st level Party getting a permanent potion of Heroism. Ideas

[JMISBEST]

My cousin in law in law has recentely became A GM and his 1st group did their 1st adventure yesterday, the problem is that the rolls for The Villains Treasure was A 100 then A 39 then A 70

This means that the only Treasure The Villain had was A Bottle that held A Blended Magic Potion whose effects were permanent, it was A Potion of Super Heroism

My cousin in law was foolish enough to allow the results to stand, he figured that none of The Pcs would be daft enough to drink it, they'd take it back to town, it would get identified and The Baron that ruled The nearest town would confiscate it but since their 1st level and it was their 1st adventure The Magic User drank it and his level shot up from 1st to 6th, the worst bit is that its permanent

What should my cousin in law do now that he has A group of 5 Pcs were 1's A 6th level Magic User and the other 4 are 2 1st level Fighters, A 1st level Thief and A 1st level Cleric?

Here's all the other information that my cousin in law believes is or will be relevant

Despite it being 1st edition my cousin in law decided that when creating their characters all 5 of his players got to roll 3 dice 12 times, take the 6 highest rolls then choose which of the 6 rolls applies to which his or her characters 6 stats

The player in questions 6 highest rolls out of 12 were 2 16's, 1 18, 1 15, 1 14 and 1 12, bad for my cousin in law but in a way that's good for his player way, but they could have far my cousin in law in a way that would have been even better for his player

In the end my cousin in laws player assigned those rolls of 2 16's, 1 18, 1 15, 1 14 and 1 12 as follows. Str 12, Con 16, Dex 16, Int 18, Wis 14 and Ch 15

Even worse, for my cousin in law, is that his player characters Hp is nowhere near as low as, by my estimate, 95% of Human Magic Users

The reason for this is that the his rolls for Hp were 3 2's, 2 3's and 1 4, which means my cousin in laws players Magic User has 16Hp, add in +2Hp per level for his players characters CON of 16 gives his players character 16+12 or 28Hp

Even worse is that drinking A Potion of Super Heroisim grants 4D10+1Hp and my cousin in law very foolish ruled that because the rules don't say that their instead of The Hp you'd normally gain for gaining those levels that their in edition to them and the rolls came up as 1 9, 1 7, 1 5 and 1 4 +1 which gives +25Hp

Because the effects of the potion are permanent my cousin in laws players got A 6th level Magic User with 53Hp, a large number of useful spells, a small number of fairly powerful spells, see much later, and A Armor Class of 7, see next paragraph, this is going to be a massive headache for him, but I don't feel sorry him for, in fact I'm laughing at him

Even worse is that A Armor Class of 7 is higher then, by my estimate, 95% of low level Human Magic Users that don't have 1 or more Magic Items that boost their Armor Class

My cousin in law was foolish enough, and in my opinion combined with all the other mistakes he's made that's putting it mildly, to let his player choose his characters Spells at every level, even 1st level, but at least he was sensible enough to ensure that his players character acquired Read Magic at 1st level

That is why his players Magic User got Read Magic, Sleep, Charm Person and Shield at 1st level, he gained Magic Missile at 2nd level, he gained Invisibility at 3rd level, he gained Web at 4th level, he gained Fireball at 5th level and he gained Monster Summoning I at 6th level

As a passing comment I will say that even though I remember very little about 1st edition DAD I do remember enough to know that A Player Character as powerful as this 1, especially when the rest of the group are all only 1st level, is going to get very bad for The GM/my cousin in law, very fast, but at least it will happen in a way that gets very good for the players very fast

 

[Seramus]

Can we meet your cousin? Invite him to the forums. It would be interesting to get his perspective on things.

 

[ilgatto]

My cousin in law in law has recentely became A GM and his 1st group did their 1st adventure yesterday, the problem is that the rolls for The Villains Treasure was A 100 then A 39 then A 70

This means that the only Treasure The Villain had was A Bottle that held A Blended Magic Potion whose effects were permanent, it was A Potion of Super Heroism

My cousin in law was foolish enough to allow the results to stand, he figured that none of The Pcs would be daft enough to drink it, they'd take it back to town, it would get identified and The Baron that ruled The nearest town would confiscate it but since their 1st level and it was their 1st adventure The Magic User drank it and his level shot up from 1st to 6th, the worst bit is that its permanent

What should my cousin in law do now that he has A group of 5 Pcs were 1's A 6th level Magic User and the other 4 are 2 1st level Fighters, A 1st level Thief and A 1st level Cleric? (...)

On the upside, your MU may now have at least a small chance of surviving a 1st-level 1E dungeon.

 

[James Gasik]

Wait, I thought those potions only worked for Fighters (and I think Bards in 2e)?

 

[aco175]

Being the first time DMing, there is bound to be some mistakes. Sometimes the newer DMs like to give out cool items as rewards (especially in older editions). If everyone is having fun, then just go with it.

The biggest problem may be that the other PCs are bored and start to feel like minor characters if the wizard blasts all the encounters with fireballs and summoned monsters. One thing about 1e is that the classes advance at different rates. The amount of XP a wizard needs to go from 6 to 7th level is a lot and the by that time, the others will be in the 5-8 range themselves.

 

[bedir than]

In every encounter it will quickly be obvious that the Super Heroism Magic User is the threat, and so monsters would focus on them.

Which lets the weaker PCs do what they want

 

[Stalker0]

Mistakes happen, dm can just own it, tell the players they messed up, and give the potion a timer. Something long enough that the player can enjoy it once, but not for the rest of the campaign.

 

[James Gasik]

Ok, so looking at this thing, it is in fact, Fighter only, so that's one out; it didn't work. The other out is:

So all this does is give you the chance to hit of a Wizard X levels higher, and additional hit points, which over time will reduce as the potion's effect is based on your level. It grants no better saving throws or spell slots (as written). So eventually this problem sorts itself out; the bonus d10 hit dice are replaced by d4's as you level, and by level 13, the potion has no effect at all.

And just look at the combat matrices; 6 levels of Wizard is like what, 5% better chance to hit? Lol.

 

[JMISBEST]

Ok, so looking at this thing, it is in fact, Fighter only, so that's one out; it didn't work. The other out is:
View attachment 279361
View attachment 279365
So all this does is give you the chance to hit of a Wizard X levels higher, and additional hit points, which over time will reduce as the potion's effect is based on your level. It grants no better saving throws or spell slots (as written). So eventually this problem sorts itself out; the bonus d10 hit dice are replaced by d4's as you level, and by level 13, the potion has no effect at all.

And just look at the combat matrices; 6 levels of Wizard is like what, 5% better chance to hit? Lol.

Ooops looks like both me and my Cousin in Law had forgotten that only men at arms and fighters can use it. Sorry

 

[niklinna]

Can we meet your cousin? Invite him to the forums. It would be interesting to get his perspective on things.

It's his cousin in law, get it right!

 

[JMISBEST]

I've had a idea for how my cousin in law could resolve this situation. Your thoughts? and in case your wondering I've heard enough about my cousins to know that they will readily agree that both of these options are preferable to the mess their in

Have The Magic User be in the right place to save The Heir of A Senior Elven Count, who in Elven terms is 11 years old, which means he was born roughly 90 years ago, from some racist Dwarfs

If he does step in to save the kid then he automatically succeeds, but in doing so he takes injuries that force his retirement but to make up for it he is made A Fairly Senior Baron, which means his retirement is a luxurious 1

If he doesn't step in to save the kid then the kid gets murdered and to prevent a major diplomatic incident he's executed without trial

Either way problem solved. Do you like my idea?

 

[JMISBEST]

Ok, so looking at this thing, it is in fact, Fighter only, so that's one out; it didn't work. The other out is:
View attachment 279361
View attachment 279365
So all this does is give you the chance to hit of a Wizard X levels higher, and additional hit points, which over time will reduce as the potion's effect is based on your level. It grants no better saving throws or spell slots (as written). So eventually this problem sorts itself out; the bonus d10 hit dice are replaced by d4's as you level, and by level 13, the potion has no effect at all.

And just look at the combat matrices; 6 levels of Wizard is like what, 5% better chance to hit? Lol.

I've just read a text from my cousin in law who says that he made it a 1-of-a-kind version of a permanent Potion of Super Heroism that can be used by A Fighter regardless of Alignment or by anyone that's not A Fighter whose Alignment is either Good or Lawful

The reason why is that he figured that his Players wouldn't risk their character drinking it, but The Magic Users Player decided that their only 1st level, its only their 1st adventure and if the worst happens his character only miss's out on 1 adventure worth of experance and loot

 

[JMISBEST]

Ooops looks like both me and my Cousin in Law had forgotten that only men at arms and fighters can use it. Sorry

Now updated with info from a text my cousin in law send me

I've just read a text from my cousin in law who says that he made it a 1-of-a-kind version of a permanent Potion of Super Heroism that can be used by A Fighter regardless of Alignment or by anyone that's not A Fighter whose Alignment is either Good or Lawful

The reason why is that he figured that his Players wouldn't risk their character drinking it, but The Magic Users Player decided that their only 1st level, its only their 1st adventure and if the worst happens his character only miss's out on 1 adventure worth of experance and loot

 

[aco175]

I've had a idea for how my cousin in law could resolve this situation. Your thoughts? and in case your wondering I've heard enough about my cousins to know that they will readily agree that both of these options are preferable to the mess their in

Have The Magic User be in the right place to save The Heir of A Senior Elven Count, who in Elven terms is 11 years old, which means he was born roughly 90 years ago, from some racist Dwarfs

If he does step in to save the kid then he automatically succeeds, but in doing so he takes injuries that force his retirement but to make up for it he is made A Fairly Senior Baron, which means his retirement is a luxurious 1

If he doesn't step in to save the kid then the kid gets murdered and to prevent a major diplomatic incident he's executed without trial

Either way problem solved. Do you like my idea?

I do not think the solution to the problem is to take the PC away from the player. The DM might ask the player if he wants this or ask about removing the potion in the first place and making him 1st level again, but if the only options is to be removed from the game or be removed from the game, then that just sucks from a player perspective.

 

[aco175]

The reason why is that he figured that his Players wouldn't risk their character drinking it, but The Magic Users Player decided that their only 1st level, its only their 1st adventure and if the worst happens his character only miss's out on 1 adventure worth of experance and loot

This is why I sometimes use the DM override, or make things up in the moment rule. If the player was just metagaming and said, what the heck, it is only the first adventure, I would just change the potion from super-cool or just a potion of invisibility and have him be invisible for an hour. I would replace the super-cool potion later in the adventure and try again. Some here would argue against this and have a more what happens, happens rule, but I do not have a problem changing things.

 

[Rabulias]

Since your cousin-in-law has already altered the nature of the potion, they could alter it further. Perhaps it is permanent in the sense that the effect can be called forth once per day, but the effects only last 1d4+4 turns. Still overpowered for 1st level, but not as bad.

 

[Rabulias]

My cousin in law in law has recentely became A GM and his 1st group did their 1st adventure yesterday, the problem is that the rolls for The Villains Treasure was A 100 then A 39 then A 70

This means that the only Treasure The Villain had was A Bottle that held A Blended Magic Potion whose effects were permanent, it was A Potion of Super Heroism

Also, I'm not sure what tables your cousin-in-law was rolling on, but random treasure rolls of 100, then 39, then 70 would result in a ring of swimming, at least according to the AD&D 1st edition DMG.

 

[JMISBEST]

Also, I'm not sure what tables your cousin-in-law was rolling on, but random treasure rolls of 100, then 39, then 70 would result in a ring of swimming, at least according to the AD&D 1st edition DMG.

I wondered that myself, so I asked him and its a custom made table that he made and the only reason this kind of thing is possible is because he thought it would never happen, which means he thought that he'd never have to worry about it

 

[Rabulias]

I wondered that myself, so I asked him and its a custom made table that he made and the only reason this kind of thing is possible is because he thought it would never happen, which means he thought that he'd never have to worry about it

He needs to realize if you roll enough times, anything can happen. And if he didn't think it would happen, why put it on the table?

 

[James Gasik]

Since your cousin-in-law has already altered the nature of the potion, they could alter it further. Perhaps it is permanent in the sense that the effect can be called forth once per day, but the effects only last 1d4+4 turns. Still overpowered for 1st level, but not as bad.

Darth Vader negotiations!