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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Abe.ebA" data-source="post: 2883671" data-attributes="member: 32545">I'm working up some ideas for a potential campaign to run this fall and a large part of the overall plot will revolve around some cursed items.  I'm planning to borrow an opening I read in another thread here that really caught my attention: the characters all find themselves in a room holding loaded weapons (crossbows, I think, in my case) surrounded by strangers (the other PCs and a couple of NPCs) and a few bodies on the floor.  The twist here will be that everyone has, in addition to the crossbows and the clothes on their back, an old coin set with a little chip of stone in the center.  The stones will vary in color and each has different powers.  Offense, defense, strength, dexterity, etc.  The PCs will be unaware of the coins nature and may not even be initially aware that they have them or that the rest of the party does.Eventually the coins manifest their abilities in one way or another and, beginning at that point, slowly alter their hosts' minds.  In addition to a particular theme of abilities, the coins have a certain trait or emotion tied to them.  Anger, paranoia, greed, corruption, etc.  The longer someone carries the coin and the more they use its powers (or allow it to manifest them on their behalf), the more control the coin has over its host's mind.My question here is how to run this.  Should I tell the PCs straight out (one-on-one, that is) after their coin initially manifests its abilities what it's doing and let them roleplay it, or should I slowly clue them in by 'forcing' emotions on them?  In the latter case I think I'd just pass notes with messages along the lines of, "As you sit near the campfire, you suddenly have a feeling of being watched.  Looking around, you realize that the rest of the party is staring at you.  They all look away and pretend otherwise immediately, but it's obvious that something is up."  for Paranoia, or "A slight fellow with a bad haircut and a bit of a droop to his features bumps into you as he turns away from the bar, sloshing his drink on your shirt.  An unexpected rage boils up within you and you have your sword half out of its sheath before the anger vanishes as rapidly as it came, leaving you feeling empty and flushed." for Anger.I can't decide which is more 'railroad-y'.  I don't want to tell the players how to play their characters, but I also dislike dictating what their characters should feel, even if it's due to a magical compulsion.So what would you do?</blockquote>

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