When do you think is the right time to introduce things that can only be undone with higher-level spells like Remove Curse and Greater Restoration? Things like Petrification and Mummy Rot are basically a death sentence if the party isn't able to undo them, but immediately cease to be a major threat once they are. Is there some middle-ground for these effects that I'm not aware of?
They become viable to use when the party can feasibly acquire the means to fix it, which means if they can't cast the spell themselves, there's someone they can pay to do it, or there's some magic cure that they can acquire if the brave the dangers of the dungeon protecting it (like the sacred ashes in Dragon Age Origins).
Such affliction may affect the characters at any time in my camapign, based on encounter circumstances rather than their capabilities to deal with them. If the party has no one that can cast a spell to undo it because it's not on level or spell list, a magic item or NPC spellcaster that can may sometimes be found at some point.
In my current GREYHAWK campaign there are characters that were cursed by a magic item or aged by a ghost, for which no solution was found yet. They're actively seeking cure though, which will soon come... ☺
So long as the party has the time to accomplish the task of reversing the effect, and for that matter, death is an effect, there is no hard and fast "innappropriate" time. If the affliction fits the theme or encounter, then it should apply. Should the party not be organically able to produce the "cure", there are always Spellcasting Services that might be a catalyst for another adventure thread, or further deepening of story/plot, should the party not be able to finance the endeavor fully.
I might suggest giving the party the opportunity to gain the information regarding the possible outcomes of contact with things that might produce these effects and how to reverse them. NPCs get nosey sometimes and offer advice without provocation. Rumors and myth can sometimes be more accurate than one might assume. If, for example, the party is sent to clear out a strange "infection" in the crypts, a warning about Rot Grubs, and how to mitigate them, might be included.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
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When do you think is the right time to introduce things that can only be undone with higher-level spells like Remove Curse and Greater Restoration? Things like Petrification and Mummy Rot are basically a death sentence if the party isn't able to undo them, but immediately cease to be a major threat once they are. Is there some middle-ground for these effects that I'm not aware of?
The normal middle ground is that the PCs pay someone else to cast an appropriate spell.
They become viable to use when the party can feasibly acquire the means to fix it, which means if they can't cast the spell themselves, there's someone they can pay to do it, or there's some magic cure that they can acquire if the brave the dangers of the dungeon protecting it (like the sacred ashes in Dragon Age Origins).
Such affliction may affect the characters at any time in my camapign, based on encounter circumstances rather than their capabilities to deal with them. If the party has no one that can cast a spell to undo it because it's not on level or spell list, a magic item or NPC spellcaster that can may sometimes be found at some point.
In my current GREYHAWK campaign there are characters that were cursed by a magic item or aged by a ghost, for which no solution was found yet. They're actively seeking cure though, which will soon come... ☺
So long as the party has the time to accomplish the task of reversing the effect, and for that matter, death is an effect, there is no hard and fast "innappropriate" time. If the affliction fits the theme or encounter, then it should apply. Should the party not be organically able to produce the "cure", there are always Spellcasting Services that might be a catalyst for another adventure thread, or further deepening of story/plot, should the party not be able to finance the endeavor fully.
I might suggest giving the party the opportunity to gain the information regarding the possible outcomes of contact with things that might produce these effects and how to reverse them. NPCs get nosey sometimes and offer advice without provocation. Rumors and myth can sometimes be more accurate than one might assume. If, for example, the party is sent to clear out a strange "infection" in the crypts, a warning about Rot Grubs, and how to mitigate them, might be included.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad