Torturing a PC and leaving a lasting effect (my players stay out)

[Wippit Guud]

If this is by any chance a Ravenloft game, don't ask the player's permission, he know what he was getting into when he agreed to play

 

[Tuzenbach]

This happened to one of my players back in '94 when we were still using the 1E rules. It so happened that a certain Drow Fighter/Magic-User (who was chaotic evil, so he didn't seem to mind) was afflicted with a horrible curse! You see, he touched an idol that had a sign saying "Do not touch!" clearly hanging from it. Reverse psychology will get them every time! Ha!

Anyway, when ever the character would touch living plants, two things would happen:

1. The plants would slowly whither and die.

2. The character's strength would temporarily leave him and he'd become nauseous for a little while (I don't know the stats for this, sorry).

AFAIK, the curse was pretty much irreversible unless removed from a VERY HIGH level cleric. And actually, being evil, the character saw it as more of a "secret weapon" than anything else.

What eventually ended up happening was the character had to wear gloves while in heavily forested areas and have his other body parts well protected lest an "accident" transpire. He only used his power in times of emergencies.

At first, though, I didn't realize that killing living plants on contact could be advantageous for an evil character. When the guy went around defoliating large amounts of jungle, I knew there was a problem. "All of a sudden, you feel weak.....VERY VERY WEAK!" LoL

Anyway, the PSYCHOLOGICAL effect of a Druid not being able to touch his beloved plants without killing them might be just what you're looking for.

OR...........





Make it so the Druid kills plants without any physical harm to himself whatsoever. That way, a situation might arise where the Druid NEEDED to kill lots of plants to save either himself or his companions. He gets put in more and more of these situations until he begins to feel *comfortable* with this, erm, *curse*. Of course, the more he enjoys the power, the further away from Druidism he strays until he becomes an "Evil Druid" himself.

Of course, immediate effects will not be shown as this is a "long-term" torture technique that ultimatley results in the gradual perversion and distortion of everything the character *once* was. It's evil and I like it!

 

[Tuzenbach]

OR...........





Make it so the Druid kills plants without any physical harm to himself whatsoever. That way, a situation might arise where the Druid NEEDED to kill lots of plants to save either himself or his companions. He gets put in more and more of these situations until he begins to feel *comfortable* with this, erm, *curse*. Of course, the more he enjoys the power, the further away from Druidism he strays until he becomes an "Evil Druid" himself.

Of course, immediate effects will not be shown as this is a "long-term" torture technique that ultimatley results in the gradual perversion and distortion of everything the character *once* was. It's evil and I like it!

BETTER STILL!!!



Like the vampire who is forced to take lives to maintain his existence, the druid must now drain the life force from plants to sustain his own life. If the goal is eventual character corruption, this may be the quickest route!

Not only is the *draining* of the lifeforce of plants necessary, but it actually enhances the Druids abilities immediately afterwards for a short duration. Draining plants actually gives him greater spell effect or something like that. Ooooo! To be DM again!

 

[Rashak Mani]

Neat story about the "curse"...

As for the suggestions of a vampiric druid sucking life from plants... not so sure... unless the Dark Druid is a like a blighter in that he kills plants instead of protecting them.

 

[Rel]

Like the vampire who is forced to take lives to maintain his existence, the druid must now drain the life force from plants to sustain his own life. If the goal is eventual character corruption, this may be the quickest route!

Not only is the *draining* of the lifeforce of plants necessary, but it actually enhances the Druids abilities immediately afterwards for a short duration. Draining plants actually gives him greater spell effect or something like that. Ooooo! To be DM again!

I might get thrown out of the RBDM club for this, but I would remind folks that there is a difference between "lasting effects from being tortured" and "totally screwing up your character concept forever". If the player is cool about going forward with such a change then great. In fact, better than great; these sorts of character changes are deep, interesting and memorable.

But I don't think it is cool to totally undermine the core concept of the character without some means to undo the changes in the not-so-distant future if the player doesn't embrace the change. Otherwise it is kinder to simply kill off the character and let the player make another one.

I want to make it clear that I don't think Tuzenbach intended his post sadistically. It's just that some evil ideas are best left on messageboards or perpetrated on NPC's.

 

[Tuzenbach]

I might get thrown out of the RBDM club for this, but I would remind folks that there is a difference between "lasting effects from being tortured" and "totally screwing up your character concept forever". If the player is cool about going forward with such a change then great. In fact, better than great; these sorts of character changes are deep, interesting and memorable.

But I don't think it is cool to totally undermine the core concept of the character without some means to undo the changes in the not-so-distant future if the player doesn't embrace the change. Otherwise it is kinder to simply kill off the character and let the player make another one.

I want to make it clear that I don't think Tuzenbach intended his post sadistically. It's just that some evil ideas are best left on messageboards or perpetrated on NPC's.

Point taken, Rel. However, there obviously MUST be some way for the character to relieve himself of the curse, just not very easily. Perhaps the character's curse can only be removed if he gains another level or three or maybe he needs TWICE the current number of exp. he possesses for the curse to be lifted. Irregardless of the stipulations, a scenario should develop where the temptation is real for the Druid to walk the "dark path". But he has a choice. It just so happens that the harder choice would be to get rid of this new found power....erm....curse! Yeah, that's the word I meant....CURSE! LoL

But personally it would really be amusing if the Druid CHOSE to be the chlorophil vampire, i.e., didn't bother about having the curse removed. At first, he'd see it as a special power. Later on, though, groups of Rangers and Druids and perhaps even Bards would team up into lynching parties looking for this "defiler". LoL




And can you imagine how he'd be treated by Elves?

ROTFLMAO!!!

 

[Squire James]

I suggest a Geas/Quest spell of some sort, one that would limit the druid's activities in some unpleasant fashion. The spell would require someone 2 levels higher than Dark Druid to break, or an extreme spell such as Heal, Wish, or Miracle.

If you take this course of action, you need to "put some teeth" back into the Geas/Quest spell by making the 3d6 damage per day unhealable while the spell lasts. Otherwise, the druid can simply heal himself (or have an ally heal him) and ignore the spell entirely.

The spell lasts 1 day/level, so the druid will have to at least attempt to fulfill the geas about half the time if he expects to survive the experience. Finally, Geas/Quest is not on the Druid spell list, but for such an occasion you can surely make an exception (or the Dark Druid will need an Evil Bard ally to cast it).

 

[Kahuna Burger]

I'll echo the sentiment earlier: talk with the druid's player. Find out what he/she would like to role-play, and then figure out how it would work. If they simply balk at Rping the trauma, then drop it.

yeah, my though on the thread title was just "don't, unless the player is on board." if the player is ok with this massive a non combat event in the life of the character, work with him to determine a good outcome. I have to say if a DM threw this at a character of mine out of the blue, the character would be retired, and depending on the circumstances, there's a good chance I'd leave the game.

Is this a openly agreed upon "vile" game? If not, DM imposed tourture of a PC is out to begin with. Its just not appropriate to throw into a standard game. (I don't know how explicitly the dark themes of ravenloft are played out, but generally "should have expected it" isn't good enough for me.)

Since a bad expereince with a DM who tossed vile themes in without warning or agreement, I've started addressing the issues of 'rating' and pc plot immunity up front with new gaming groups to make sure everyone is on the same page. If I actually find a group that is interested in a non pc immune vile game, there will be some important additions to skills, feats, spells and equiptment to reflect those dangers.

Kahuna Burger

 

[Kyramus]

I'd put a mark on him/her. The dark druid has other friends/collegues/etc. Those that were part of the same coven will recognize who the person is and may haunt him for quite some time.

Repetition of some of the things done to him while being tortured would make him paraniod. If he was constantly poked with a hot poker and he wakes up to find a poker leaning against a chair NEAR HIS HEAD.
I think it'll make him go nuts, maybe even suspect other party members in trying to pull that kind of prank.

The werewolf idea isn't too bad, but I might go with something more menacing. Assume the dark druid has found a process that will work over time, he's inflicted this process on the druid. He starts getting sensitive to sunlight, nothing major, just that the sun seems too bright. He is easy to sun burn for some time. He orders his meat raw.
End proceses is that he is becoming a vampire. It may take weeks, months, years before full completion. During that time, no one would know the wiser, especially if you time it to other events. A fireball and he finds himself sunburnt a little too much than normal, etc.

 

[BSF]

I'm not entirely sure you need to do anything to the character. Have the villian prepare everything that he is going to do to the Druid. Slowly and methodically. Take many of the suggestions here and have the Dark Druid go on acquisition trips. Have the Dark Druid leave for a few days, then return with a big bear that he tells the PC has been infested with a Rot Grub. The Dark Druid plans on using them on the PC, but he needs to wait for the grubs to reproduce first. After all, he is going to put them in the PC, let them eat around for a while and then Cure Disease. Then, he will observe how much pain the PC can take. And while the grubs are eating the bear, he is going to go get something else. So, the Druid gets to watch the bear suffer. When the Dark Druid returns, he might have a new component for his torture ready. A few shopping trips and he is slowly populating his lair with all the nasty stuff he will be sending the Druids way.

The threat of torture and the lengths the Dark Druid is willing to go to might be enough to leave a memorable impression.

But, for added fun, maybe the Dark Druid is keeping notes somewhere. Stuff like "Subject is responding well to isolation and pain from the Rot Grubs. Today he agreed with the basic premise that Humans are a threat to the natural order." "Subject has memorized the three principles on how to eliminate the threat Humans present. A few more days and he will be ready to be 'saved' by his former companions." You know, stuff like that. Let the party wonder if he is to be trusted any longer.

I do like the werewolf idea. Except, have an ally of the Dark Druid come into the lair, change shape and do a little biting, and chewing, and gnawing on the PC. The PC knows that he might be infected with Lycanthropy. Have the Dark Druid gleefully tell him how many days left until the full moon. When the other PC's finally save him, how much time will be left? It is curable, but it is a threat.