One of my players has been just absolutely great, incredible. They even read the whole 15 page lore document that I said was optional! They really want to interact with the world, and want to play as a member of one of the families in my world (short rundown- my homebrew world is inspired by the American folklore and tall tales I heard growing up. Everything from John Henry to Paul Bunyan to Jolly Jane). The family in question is based in Legally Distinct Louisiana™, inspired by Lavinia Fisher. Long story short, the Fisher family has a curse upon their bloodline, that once they reach 31 years of age, they will become possessed by a drive to murder all they can, becoming psychopathic serial killers. Legend goes that Great-great Grandma Lavinia killed the son of a powerful swamp witch. Driven mad with grief, a cursed was laid upon her for all her legacy.
But here's what I need- What can they do to avoid the curse? I am trying to find a way to introduce a plot point that will allow the character to break the curse, but they can't atone for the original death. I'm open to any suggestions. The theme is a kind of more mysterious, deepwoods vibe, so a simple remove curse is not going to cut it, both logically and narratively.
One of my players has been just absolutely great, incredible. They even read the whole 15 page lore document that I said was optional! They really want to interact with the world, and want to play as a member of one of the families in my world (short rundown- my homebrew world is inspired by the American folklore and tall tales I heard growing up. Everything from John Henry to Paul Bunyan to Jolly Jane). The family in question is based in Legally Distinct Louisiana™, inspired by Lavinia Fisher. Long story short, the Fisher family has a curse upon their bloodline, that once they reach 31 years of age, they will become possessed by a drive to murder all they can, becoming psychopathic serial killers. Legend goes that Great-great Grandma Lavinia killed the son of a powerful swamp witch. Driven mad with grief, a cursed was laid upon her for all her legacy.
But here's what I need- What can they do to avoid the curse? I am trying to find a way to introduce a plot point that will allow the character to break the curse, but they can't atone for the original death. I'm open to any suggestions. The theme is a kind of more mysterious, deepwoods vibe, so a simple remove curse is not going to cut it, both logically and narratively.
I suggest reading the Avatar Trilogy. It's set in the Forgotten Realms. One of the main characters has a curse similar to what you described. It plays out, perhaps much farther that you plan to. However, it might present ideas. It's good reading anyway, in my opinion.
When in doubt, Time Travel. Make them go back and stop the murder to prevent the curse from ever being laid.
Alternatively, go the Professor Lupin route and keep the character drugged to suppress the curse until you figure out some way to break it. Could be a fun mechanic to play with. The drug would have side effects.
Another thought is dodging the curse with a reincarnate spell. Being rezzed in a body that doesn't share the bloodline just ahead of the 31st birthday.
There are lots of ways to cure curses and what works will really depend on the curse. Van richtens guide has some suggestions but I can give you some too. They all depend on how the curse actually functions.
Is it possession? perhaps some monster needs to be drawn out with a ritual and fought. Perhaps the ghost of the original murderer or a demonic manifestation of the grief. Maybe the ghost needs to be put to rest
Is it maintained by something? like the loup garou do you need to hunt the origin of the curse before it can be removed. Maybe you must destroy the original murder weapon or the coven of witches who did the curse.
Is it a punishment? maybe the player needs to atone from some ancestral sin or do something before its removed. Maybe you need to make amends with the witch or her family.
Is it a disease? maybe it functions like a disease and can be treated with medicine, good health or avoiding stressors. Maybe it comes out when frightened or when you draw blood.
Is that swamp witch still around? Seems like killing her is a start, though admittedly it’s kind of a boring one.
Im getting a side-quest vibe from this, so while you want the player to have a moment or two, you don’t want the entire campaign to center around it. The traditional way, outside of killing the witch, is doing some kind of ritual. Where the character needs some kind of macguffin to complete the ritual. Then you can throw said macguffin in a treasure hoard whenever the time is right, and let that character convince the others to allow them to go to the mystical forest and complete the ritual which will break the curse. Ideally, at least one of the other characters needs to go either to or very near the mystical forest, so it becomes more of a group errand instead of a single character errand. Not terribly original, but there’s a reason it’s a classic.
Oh, and I have to disagree with an above poster. Never do time travel. It’s always a cop-out.
Yeah I don't like literal time travel it gets weird.. The closest I would do is like going into some ones memories to change them or doing a divination to see the past. Stuff like that is fine but the availability of time travel can undercut allot of things. See all the people asking why they didn't use a time turner to kill Voldemort.
Time travel was a sort of tongue in cheek suggestion. It always creates more problems than it solves, but somehow gets used to solve everything from saving Buckbeak to defeating Thanos.
One of my players has been just absolutely great, incredible. They even read the whole 15 page lore document that I said was optional! They really want to interact with the world, and want to play as a member of one of the families in my world (short rundown- my homebrew world is inspired by the American folklore and tall tales I heard growing up. Everything from John Henry to Paul Bunyan to Jolly Jane). The family in question is based in Legally Distinct Louisiana™, inspired by Lavinia Fisher. Long story short, the Fisher family has a curse upon their bloodline, that once they reach 31 years of age, they will become possessed by a drive to murder all they can, becoming psychopathic serial killers. Legend goes that Great-great Grandma Lavinia killed the son of a powerful swamp witch. Driven mad with grief, a cursed was laid upon her for all her legacy.
But here's what I need- What can they do to avoid the curse? I am trying to find a way to introduce a plot point that will allow the character to break the curse, but they can't atone for the original death. I'm open to any suggestions. The theme is a kind of more mysterious, deepwoods vibe, so a simple remove curse is not going to cut it, both logically and narratively.
I suggest reading the Avatar Trilogy. It's set in the Forgotten Realms. One of the main characters has a curse similar to what you described. It plays out, perhaps much farther that you plan to. However, it might present ideas. It's good reading anyway, in my opinion.
When in doubt, Time Travel. Make them go back and stop the murder to prevent the curse from ever being laid.
Alternatively, go the Professor Lupin route and keep the character drugged to suppress the curse until you figure out some way to break it. Could be a fun mechanic to play with. The drug would have side effects.
Another thought is dodging the curse with a reincarnate spell. Being rezzed in a body that doesn't share the bloodline just ahead of the 31st birthday.
There are lots of ways to cure curses and what works will really depend on the curse. Van richtens guide has some suggestions but I can give you some too. They all depend on how the curse actually functions.
Is that swamp witch still around? Seems like killing her is a start, though admittedly it’s kind of a boring one.
Im getting a side-quest vibe from this, so while you want the player to have a moment or two, you don’t want the entire campaign to center around it. The traditional way, outside of killing the witch, is doing some kind of ritual. Where the character needs some kind of macguffin to complete the ritual. Then you can throw said macguffin in a treasure hoard whenever the time is right, and let that character convince the others to allow them to go to the mystical forest and complete the ritual which will break the curse. Ideally, at least one of the other characters needs to go either to or very near the mystical forest, so it becomes more of a group errand instead of a single character errand. Not terribly original, but there’s a reason it’s a classic.
Oh, and I have to disagree with an above poster. Never do time travel. It’s always a cop-out.
Yeah I don't like literal time travel it gets weird..
The closest I would do is like going into some ones memories to change them or doing a divination to see the past. Stuff like that is fine but the availability of time travel can undercut allot of things. See all the people asking why they didn't use a time turner to kill Voldemort.
Time travel was a sort of tongue in cheek suggestion. It always creates more problems than it solves, but somehow gets used to solve everything from saving Buckbeak to defeating Thanos.
I really like the idea of using divination to find the root of the curse, thanks!