D&D General Secret Curse Help

[Keaggan]

Hey hey!

I want to do something different in my next campaign. It's going to be a tight and focused 10 sessions, set in a darker fantasy adventure. I need to ramp up the tension early and often. At some point, the group will discover that one of them has been "touched" by the dark entity they have been searching for. The twist, which I need help brainstorming, is that this dark energy will infect ALL players.

I want to avoid clichés like casting them out forever or having to kill them. Instead, I'm looking for a serious consequence that decides what to do next.

The question is: What could being "influenced by ancient dark magic" look like?

 

[TheSword]

Hey hey!

I want to do something different in my next campaign. It's going to be a tight and focused 10 sessions, set in a darker fantasy adventure. I need to ramp up the tension early and often. At some point, the group will discover that one of them has been "touched" by the dark entity they have been searching for. The twist, which I need help brainstorming, is that this dark energy will infect ALL players.

I want to avoid clichés like casting them out forever or having to kill them. Instead, I'm looking for a serious consequence that decides what to do next.

The question is: What could being "influenced by ancient dark magic" look like?

My advice would be that they see things that no one else can. Hostile forces that attack or threaten them but that no one else can see, other than the party, shadows or wraiths. Perhaps the dark magic infects NpCs - otherwise friendly folks that turn on the party and then don’t remember or don’t remember why. If the PCs react violently the rest of the population could see them as unhinged or dangerous because they hurt old Granny Hubbard.

In short change the world not the PCs.

Check out the plot of Alan Wake or Alan Wake 2. Sounds right up your alley.

 

[GMMichael]

The question is: What could being "influenced by ancient dark magic" look like?

Your offspring always turn out to be goblins. Or worse: dragonborn warlocks.

My immediate concern is that some players won't want to know that their PCs are suffering a curse without having done something to earn it. So you'll get push-back if it's actually harmful. A benign effect might be like briefly, occasionally turning into a keymaster or gatekeeper.

 

[aco175]

Give a magic item out like something that grants +5 to Perception and Investigation checks. Have another cool ability if you want. The PC that takes this item is now the patsy of the curse. You can give information to them and they will thing that it is the item being cool.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

How about they can no longer see the light--they can only see shadows. Bright light is (magical) darkness to them and darkness is bright light.

 

[Keaggan]

Hey everyone! Just wanted to take a moment to thank you all again for the fantastic suggestions you've been sharing. I really appreciate the brainstorming!

To give a little more insight into what I'm thinking, I had this fun idea to introduce a twist where each player learns they've been "touched by the ancient evil entity" (no BBEG picked yet) during one of our sessions, but the curse will start to become a real issue! At some point, an NPC will bring it to light, sensing the darkness within and pointing out the threat they pose to the town and the NPCs they care about.

With that in mind and incorporating your ideas, I'm leaning towards a two-part concept:

1. Summoning Dark Powers: The curse can actually grant them some cool powers! Each time they tap into this dark side, they'll gain a mechanical benefit that's tailored to their class. I'm thinking the perks might come with a cost, tied to the severity of how much they're drawing on the ancient evil. And to keep things mysterious, I might make each character's perk list unique, potentially linking them to the seven deadly sins. This way, everyone has their own flavor of the curse and it won't be immediately apparent since they'll all be cursed together!

2. Curse Progression: As they rack up more curses, they'll face increasing disadvantages starting with narrative effects and evolving into mechanical ones. For a campaign that's around 10ish sessions, I'm aiming for 3-5 tiers of progression. Here's a draft of what I have so far (remember, they only get one new drawback per tier):

- Tier 1: Fresh bread and produce suddenly taste awful/raw meat is the only thing that tastes good; their shadow grows larger; skin feels cool to the touch.
- Tier 2: Food rots in their presence; people start to feel uneasy around them; small animals might run away.
- Tier 3: They have nightmares and need to make a Wis Save for a full rest; travel is only possible at night or they take DisAdv on all rolls during the day.

There were some really great ideas about the character's perception that I'll definitely include in my GM notes too!

What do you all think about this so far? I'm super excited to hear your thoughts!