Proposal: Dr. Scruples' Amazing Reality Revision Machine

[KenHood]

I am not proposing that we get rid of the character overhaul.

I am proposing a fun in-game mechanism that's part of our setting to let players change things like their character's race, class, ability score, etc.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

Dr. Scruples' Amazing Reality Revision Machine​

Dr. Scruples is a mad alchemist, with tesla coils and biker goggles.

A character who wants to make changes to himself (e.g., shift points from one attribute to another) goes to the mansion of the good doctor and applies for transmogrification. The doctor provides the potential transformee with a list of materials that require a somewhat suicidal degree of commitment to acquire--basically a Maguffin mini-adventure. For instance, if you want to change your race to an elf, you need to get 'elf parts', 'tree hugging things', and 'androgynonimity'. Dr. Scruples chunks all the bits into his Alchematomic Engine of Awe. The player character enters the para-potential reality chamber and engages in a Nietszchean one-on-one battle with his new self. If he wins, he gets the change. If he fails, he's *cough* dead.

I'd be more than happy to play the part of the Doctor and recrombinatulate characters.

 

[Oni]

I would, personally, be terrified of being recombobulated by KenHood.







Just sayin'.

 

[Tinwe]

For xp and/or rum, I could be convinced to play doctor.

 

[mohalloran]

After facing your first few battles, I would love you to make me into something that cool. However, I probably wouldn't beat the character you made me into anyway.

 

[renau1g]

I'd rather see that instead of perma-kill for the PC if he loses an XP cost as part of the punishment, perhaps drop him by 5-10%, unless that lowers him a level, then you drop him to 1 point over the amount of the minimum of the level?

Thoughts?

 

[Atanatotatos]

As for the mini-adventure-to-get-expertise, I think this is a really fun idea and all, but forcing it as a rule in a living world still doesn't seem a good idea to me.
I apologize if I sound negative too often, but really, I think this is great as an option, but as a rule, not.

 

[renau1g]

I think it was actually for the re-building of a PC, which shouldn't be for everyone. I think it's a fair price to pay for allowing someone a full re-build, and at least have some basis in fantasy-reality.

 

[Atanatotatos]

Agreed, but something else might be more suited to certain characters. Like, someone might want to be reincarnated after death (like, to honor an oath, or carry out his mission), or suffer a curse from a powerful spellcaster and become a monstruous creature (like, from elf to gnoll), or have his consciousness implanted in an artificial body (like, becoming a warforged).
So yeah, ideas to ensure coherence are good, but I disagree with implementing a single mechanism for all characters.

 

[renau1g]

Very true. I was thinking less the fluff & more the background mechanics.

PC wants to do a full re-build (race/class/everything) and needs a way to do to ensure some continuity in the setting.

They need to do a proposal to fulfill their desire, so they propose what sort of mini-addy that needs to be done by their PC.

They need to succeed at some challenge, else they pay a small XP penalty for the transition.

 

[N3rday]

I will happily volunteer to be the first to be recombobinulated. When I was making my character I spent so much time trying to figure out all the mechanical stuff (my first time doing D&D ever, so it was confusing as heck) that I decided to save time and reuse an old backstory I made up for an Orc character for some other game back in middle school. It got me approved fast enough to jump in to an adventure, but it doesn't really match the character I'm actually playing, and it's way, way too wordy and a bit on the boring side.

I should probably wait until the adventure I'm in (Renau1g: Problem of Nobility) ends to do this though, so I guess it is a few months off. Still, I'd be happy to fulfill your sick mad-scientist fantasies to get my character fluff redone and perhaps retrain some of my powers and/or stats.