D&D 5E What if a curse isn't a curse?

[Quartz]

The setup: the PCs drink from a magic fountain and something happens to one of them. Maybe they change race, maybe a huge disfigurement - something like a port wine stain - appears, maybe something else significant changes. So they go to someone who can remove the curse only to find that the fountain didn't curse them; rather, the fountain removed an enchantment placed upon them when they were an infant. What next?

 

[aco175]

Be careful when attacking PCs. Changing them without player ok may not go well with players.

Otherwise, it sounds like a cool hook is a birthmark was revealed showing the lost king or something. Then the PCs are forced to deal with having the PC be the lost king and all the problems with getting him to the throne and the others not wanting him to once they find out about him. This presents the problem with that PC not being able to die or the plot of the campaign is gone.

They all could have the mark of the disgraced legion. Somehow their grandparents were in this battle group that disappeared with rumors of dealings with devils. Now it is up to the PCs to find them and free them from their long imprisonment.

 

[BookTenTiger]

This is a great hook for a mysterious village... They think a travelling potion peddler is turning villagers into inanimate objects, like brooms and teapots. The villagers are ready to stone this peddler to death...

Turns out the villagers were originally objects given life in some miracle, and turned human. The peddler sells potions that dispel magic.

Who originally transformed these objects (or animals, or faeries, or demons) into human villagers? What was their purpose? How can they be found to help save those who drank the dispelling potions?

 

[Bagpuss]

Be careful when attacking PCs. Changing them without player ok may not go well with players.

Can depend on how dramatic the change is as well.

Recently our party Warlock cast Misty Step while targeting it by looking round the corner holding a mirror (they also unknown to them happened to be in a wild magic zone).

After they cast it I let them know they were a mirror image of themselves. They were now left handed, a mole had swapped sides, etc.

 

[GSHamster]

I think this is a bad idea. Players get dominion over their characters, the DM gets the rest of the world. Here you're trespassing on their domain, on who their character really is.

If a player wants to play a character with a facial disfigurement, or green eyes, etc. that's their call. It's out of line for a DM to say, "Ha, ha, your eyes are really blue!".

 

[commandercrud]

You can't do anything to the players. How dare you!

Nope, screw that. You're the DM. And it's a cool idea.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

You'd need to get a player's buy-in before pulling this off, IMO. If they agree, it could be a very fun twist for the rest of the group to witness, though.

 

[Ancalagon]

intriguing hook.

However, a curse is not a curse. A curse is a ... class.

Curse as a class "contest" - the Ogre

On the GLOG discord server, Mother came up with the *brilliant* idea that a curse, like say, lycanthropy, could be expressed as a "class" ...

slugsandsilver.blogspot.com

 

[toucanbuzz]

The setup: the PCs drink from a magic fountain and something happens to one of them....What next?

I'll start by echoing others: don't force a "mystery" storyline on a player. That's your story, not theirs, and they are likely to ignore it.

However, in the "trying to be helpful" category, what's next? So you have a fountain that dispels powerful magic. Will players figure this out and come back anytime they need magic dispelled (e.g. free remove curse)? Otherwise, you could try and pull your player aside (send them a private message, etc.) and tell them you've got a story idea, but it requires them to secretly buy-in to the idea. If you collaborate, that could be something. For example, the royal line of X kingdom is known for being born with "strawberry" birthmarks on their faces that lighten with age. The PC could have been a bastard and someone took great steps to protect their identity. That's a pretty common, cliché storyline, but it gets the ball rolling.

 

[Umbran]

The setup: the PCs drink from a magic fountain and something happens to one of them. Maybe they change race, maybe a huge disfigurement - something like a port wine stain - appears, maybe something else significant changes. So they go to someone who can remove the curse only to find that the fountain didn't curse them; rather, the fountain removed an enchantment placed upon them when they were an infant. What next?

I am assuming, for the moment, that you've got player okay on this*.

The problem with the question is that what is next... is really dependent on the player. So... my character is disfigured, and you dock me some Charisma points. And... do I care? Maybe I care to quest to have this fixed. Maybe I care to have a huge blow-out with my parents about how they could have done this without telling me. Maybe I care to just use this as an excuse to play a bit more brooding. Maybe I wasn't using my Charisma score much anyway, and I'm glad that if you hit me, you hit me in the dump stat, and I don't care to do anything at all.


For my games where I intend to manipulate player backstory, I have the player write up that backstory, and then indicate to me elements they refuse to have me alter, things they *may be okay with alterations in, and things that I am free to screw with as I see fit. If I really know the player, I can be comfortable in pulling their chains unexpectedly. If I'm not that familiar, we'll have a discussion first.