I know this post looks long, but it is just separated to make it easier to follow! You can SKIP TO "beginning around lvl 5" if you aren't interested in the extra context of the idea!
Hey y’all!
I’ve started running a campaign for a few friends recently, and as we are nearing third level, and the end of our first adventure, I’m trying to come up with an unusual occurrence that will mess with the party for a while before they are able to find a source/reason for it, and eventually tie it to a BBEG later in the campaign.
Being a big Critter, my campaign is set in Wildemount, and I was toying with the idea of maintaining the theme of “dreams” through our campaign, but I don’t want to seem like I’m copying the M9 campaign. I came up with the idea of intermittently shifting realities, and since I don’t want to confuse myself and my players by having two separate stories playing out every second day, I came up with a few options for how this could happen mechanically.
If y’all could offer your thoughts and give me some feedback if there may be a better way to execute this, I would really appreciate it! Here’s what I’ve written so far, with examples in case my wording may be confusing.
Beginning around lvl 5:
Every time adventurers lay down to take a long rest, they awake to find themselves in a different version of reality. They are ultimately in the same place/environment, but those around them are different from those they knew the day prior. The NPC’s memories of interactions and events are fundamentally preserved, but everything else seems to shift along with the reality in which they currently reside.
I have a few options for the specifics of what could be different from day to day, and I’m unsure of which one(s) to proceed with:
**1. NPCs and monsters belong to a different race on alternate days. They are the same two races on each alternate day, and they are ultimately the same people, but are unaware that anything is different from day to day.
1st Day: Party is fighting through a lair of Kobolds minions that belong to a human inventor plotting the destruction of a nearby town.
2nd Day: The party takes a long rest and wakes up to find a lair of goblins that belong to an orcish inventor plotting the destruction of a nearby town.
3rd Day: The party takes a long rest, and once again find a lair of kobolds.
4th Day: Back to goblins, etc.
**2. NPCs and monsters have shuffled abilities/stats depending on the day, with no logical reason that it should be happening. The abilities aren’t matched to their race or class, but the monsters are able to use their abilities as if they’ve always had them.
1st Day: Kobold Underlings are equipped with crossbows and short swords, using their own stat block.
2nd Day: Kobold Underlings are now equipped with short bows and scimitars, using the goblin stat block.
3rd Day: Kobold underlings returned to normal.
4th Day: Kobold Underlings are now equipped with a spear and use the Bullywug stat block.
*(I like this idea to avoid the need to make new minis for each day, and to keep a certain element of surprise when the enemies they faced a day prior suddenly operate in a different way, with a low chance of a perceivable change. Also, I feel like this would offer a nice variety in combat so that it doesn’t become monotonous dealing with the same enemies repeatedly during multiple sessions.)*
**3. The enemies that the party is facing off against are suddenly in the place of their allies, and their allies are now the ones working on the opposite side.
1st Day: Party fighting against kobolds to save a dwarven/gnomish city.
2nd Day: Party fighting against gnomes/dwarves to save a city of kobolds.
3rd Day: Back to day 1, etc.
Thank you folks in advance for any help/advice and for telling me if this is a dumb idea!
Great idea, interesting concept, and well explained.
I do have a question, just to 'test the perimeter fences' as it were: In what way will the party be able to impact this ever changing world? Or will the world just be impacting the characters?
I actually have a revision to the concept that I built after getting bits of feedback from a few others which I will add below! I think the revision will answer your question (If I'm understanding it correctly)
TL;DR:
A powerful entity is locked away in a region where all my PCs are tied to. It desires freedom and has briefly “encountered” 2 of my PCs in their backstories.
This being senses the party’s increased power and “marks” them. This entity then begins shifting reality in a large radius around the PCs while they are taking a long rest.
I secretly roll a d20; If the roll is lower than their character level, reality is shifted until their next long rest.
Monsters and NPCs in that radius essentially use the stat block of another creature while retaining their memories, personality, and their opinion of the PCs. They also have subtle physical features of that creature.
As the entity strengthens, some NPCs get stuck with their new abilities, but their memories revert to normal, leaving them confused and unsure of why they suddenly have new abilities.
Story/In-game Explanation:
My whole group inadvertently included the Menagerie Coast as a part of their backstories, and an entity residing in the waters of the region has interacted with 2 of my PCs in their backstories. This entity has been locked away by magical means since early years of the Age of Arcanum (tens of thousands of years ago) and has spent this time pushing against the boundaries of this imprisonment so that it may take its “rightful” place as the only “deity” that isn’t locked behind the Divine Gate.
Once the party inevitably returns to the area, the entity will see how quickly they’ve strengthened and decides to "mark” them. This entity is essentially trying to change reality in a large radius around the PCs to create monsters that can kill them but is unable to make drastic changes at the beginning, only smaller and less effective ones.
When this shift happens, NPCs and monsters have shuffled abilities/stats that aren’t matched to their original lineage or class, but they are able to use their abilities as if they’ve always had them. This change happens occasionally once the party has taken a long rest, and typically reverts on the next long rest. In the beginning, there’s no obvious cause for the anomaly, and it’s happening so infrequently that I believe this may take a backseat to the more “time-sensitive” goals of the individual PCs compared to something that is not affecting the PCs directly.
Over time however, it becomes more frequent of an occurrence, and it seems as if the creatures they are facing have abilities and skills beyond their normal strength. Additionally, there are reports/rumors of a rare occurrence where upon the reversal to the “correct reality” an NPC retains their alternate skills/abilities/magics and are unable to do the things they’ve done for their whole lives. Though in the alternate reality the NPCs believe that these new abilities are the ones they’ve had for their whole lives, once reality reverts, their memories revert as well, leaving them confused and others may believe they have been given a blessing or a curse. Once this “side effect” happens to an NPC that the party has built a friendship with, I want to find a way to offer a clue to point them in the correct direction to pursue/investigate this anomaly.
Mechanical Explanation:
This entity has been locked away for a long enough time that it’s now able to interact more freely with the material plane. This entity’s "mark" on the party allows it to shift reality to instill different creature’s abilities into NPCs near the party intending to kill the adventurers. If a PC is killed, the entity can now syphon the PCs abilities to use within its own champions who are working to free it from this cage.
Every time the adventurers take a long rest, I will roll a d20, and if the roll is below their character level, they awake to find themselves in a different version of reality. Every NPC within a 20-mile radius now operates under a new stat block. This change doesn’t change their demeanor, personality, alignment, or their opinion of the PCs, however the abilities used in encounters (Actions, HP & AC, (dis)advantages, skills, etc.) are all changed to this new stat block.
They will also exhibit minor physical changes that could clue in a keen observer that something is different. In the early stages of this event, the stat blocks used will be of the same CR of the host body, and as time passes, this imprisoned entity will grow stronger and able to shift stronger being’s abilities into lesser host bodies, making the encounters more intense.
Examples (assuming party level 4):
Long rest (rolled a 14): Winged Kobolds are equipped daggers and wield rocks, using their own stat block. Long rest (rolled a 1): They encounter two Winged Kobolds;
One is now equipped with a short bow and scimitar, using the goblin stat block. They have ears that look more like goblin ears, and their snout looks slightly flattened.
The second is equipped with a spear and uses the Bullywug stat block. This Kobold has a greenish color to their skin and seems to be able to jump abnormally high.
Neither Kobold seems to use or even move their wings and don’t seem to have difficulty seeing while in sunlight.
Some time later…
Long rest (rolled a 3): Party finds a rats’ nest in a sewer system that seems to be filled with an abundance of spider webs, but with no spiders around. The rats are climbing walls like it’s nothing, and the party notices the rats have extra eyes hidden in their fur. The party retreats due to the volume of rats, deciding to return the next day.
Long rest (rolled a 19): Party returns to the sewer to find the rats are getting stuck in the webs and don’t seem able to climb walls. After clearing them out, they notice none of the rats have any extra eyes.
Based on your response my critique then would be that the world is all happening to the player characters. There's nothing there about how the player characters might impact upon the world. There's nothing inherently wrong with this. Some players love this style - having a big challenge to overcome. However, this constant shifting of NPC abilities has massive impacts if the party are looking for a healer, or an alchemist for potions. What happens if the party purchase up all of the Healing potions, but the next time they visit the herbalist, they no longer have the skill with which to manipulate the herbs and brew the potions (kinda imagining a chef losing their knife skills, having been replaced with say photographic memory for academic sources). What if they want to undergo training - how would the party find a suitable trainer to help them improve in a skill or develop a new feat?
I love the way that you're shifting monster stat blocks around, but just as a side note here - you're aware that you have the freedom to do that normally right? No big magical force required? It's one of the better ways to prevent players from utilising meta (out of game) knowledge.
That said, I think if you're going to run with this you might wish to work in some way of the players discovering those new weaknesses and resistances. It could be an action to make a check of something similar. Many DMs have their own house rules for this. Maybe a character with a higher perception or insight could see that something is off about the way creatures are using their weaponry or skills? Just a thought.
However, this constant shifting of NPC abilities has massive impacts if the party are looking for a healer, or an alchemist for potions. What happens if the party purchase up all of the Healing potions, but the next time they visit the herbalist, they no longer have the skill with which to manipulate the herbs and brew the potions (kinda imagining a chef losing their knife skills, having been replaced with say photographic memory for academic sources). What if they want to undergo training - how would the party find a suitable trainer to help them improve in a skill or develop a new feat?
This is the reason that I have decided that the changes will all be based on a roll at their long rest, where odds are, that the changes will revert back to their original state. I want to ensure that the world will still function essentially the same when it comes to the stability of a functioning society in the face of a small change in stats (At least until the party has sufficiently angered the entity by pushing back against its plans.) Initially, the biggest differences would present themselves in combat/hostile encounters.
The random finality of the shift in stats would only be for individuals that this entity is able to force the change on more permanently, but that will be a very infrequent event in the beginning, and only increase once they are higher in level and have more of a direction/drive towards the entity that causes these shifts. (Potentially in the form of a beloved NPC being affected and distraught, begging the party to find a way to reverse it)
I love the way that you're shifting monster stat blocks around, but just as a side note here - you're aware that you have the freedom to do that normally right? No big magical force required? It's one of the better ways to prevent players from utilising meta (out of game) knowledge.
Our group consists of two that are new to the game (myself and my partner), one who has been a DM for 6 years, and two others who are more advanced players. I have already taken the dive into homebrew/adjusted stats as well! I have a surgery room with a magical weapon hidden within, and when the door is opened without the key, the table, a few scalpels, and some bloodied rags animate to protect this hidden artifact. The bloodied rags act as a smaller Rug of Smothering, which can smother a small creature, or two of them can combine their strength to smother a medium sized creature.
Having said that, I honestly think my overall concept tackled meta by chance.
I came up with the idea while running our first adventure, Dangerous Designs, because I found that the abundance of Kobolds was getting really monotonous since we were moving slowly with everyone learning their characters, and some learning the game. In this way, it becomes less boring to be fighting through a clan of goblins when one just randomly has eye stalks and an anti-magic cone (an exaggerated example) but is then normal the next day.
My hope is that when there is a point where the PCs aren't sure which direction to go, or their personal goals seem to be at a dead end, I can offer a breakthrough that lights the path to this entity, and gives them a good reason to want to stop this entity. Because this entity draws on the power and abilities that dead creatures possessed in their lives, I think there may be certain individuals who are affected permanently by the shift, and then possessed by the spirit of a creature devoted to this entity who then is working against the PCs, trying to kill the PCs for their power.
That said, I think if you're going to run with this you might wish to work in some way of the players discovering those new weaknesses and resistances. It could be an action to make a check of something similar. Many DMs have their own house rules for this. Maybe a character with a higher perception or insight could see that something is off about the way creatures are using their weaponry or skills? Just a thought.
I do intend to ask players to make perception checks during the day when the shifts happen. Anyone close enough to a kobold may be able to see that it has subtle gills, and everyone would see that it's wielding a trident with a long chain (which is definitely not the weapon that any of them had the day before!) I do really like the idea of a feat/action as well! That gives me an idea that there could be an NPC that is somehow unaffected by the "shift" that has developed a "spyglass" of sorts that will offer up information on the creature's damage resistances and immunities with a successful Insight check? Maybe this?
I apologize for the length of my reply, I went on a bit of a tangent, but I feel it's all related in some way!
I know this post looks long, but it is just separated to make it easier to follow! You can SKIP TO "beginning around lvl 5" if you aren't interested in the extra context of the idea!
Hey y’all!
I’ve started running a campaign for a few friends recently, and as we are nearing third level, and the end of our first adventure, I’m trying to come up with an unusual occurrence that will mess with the party for a while before they are able to find a source/reason for it, and eventually tie it to a BBEG later in the campaign.
Being a big Critter, my campaign is set in Wildemount, and I was toying with the idea of maintaining the theme of “dreams” through our campaign, but I don’t want to seem like I’m copying the M9 campaign. I came up with the idea of intermittently shifting realities, and since I don’t want to confuse myself and my players by having two separate stories playing out every second day, I came up with a few options for how this could happen mechanically.
If y’all could offer your thoughts and give me some feedback if there may be a better way to execute this, I would really appreciate it! Here’s what I’ve written so far, with examples in case my wording may be confusing.
Beginning around lvl 5:
Every time adventurers lay down to take a long rest, they awake to find themselves in a different version of reality. They are ultimately in the same place/environment, but those around them are different from those they knew the day prior. The NPC’s memories of interactions and events are fundamentally preserved, but everything else seems to shift along with the reality in which they currently reside.
I have a few options for the specifics of what could be different from day to day, and I’m unsure of which one(s) to proceed with:
**1. NPCs and monsters belong to a different race on alternate days. They are the same two races on each alternate day, and they are ultimately the same people, but are unaware that anything is different from day to day.
1st Day: Party is fighting through a lair of Kobolds minions that belong to a human inventor plotting the destruction of a nearby town.
2nd Day: The party takes a long rest and wakes up to find a lair of goblins that belong to an orcish inventor plotting the destruction of a nearby town.
3rd Day: The party takes a long rest, and once again find a lair of kobolds.
4th Day: Back to goblins, etc.
**2. NPCs and monsters have shuffled abilities/stats depending on the day, with no logical reason that it should be happening. The abilities aren’t matched to their race or class, but the monsters are able to use their abilities as if they’ve always had them.
1st Day: Kobold Underlings are equipped with crossbows and short swords, using their own stat block.
2nd Day: Kobold Underlings are now equipped with short bows and scimitars, using the goblin stat block.
3rd Day: Kobold underlings returned to normal.
4th Day: Kobold Underlings are now equipped with a spear and use the Bullywug stat block.
*(I like this idea to avoid the need to make new minis for each day, and to keep a certain element of surprise when the enemies they faced a day prior suddenly operate in a different way, with a low chance of a perceivable change. Also, I feel like this would offer a nice variety in combat so that it doesn’t become monotonous dealing with the same enemies repeatedly during multiple sessions.)*
**3. The enemies that the party is facing off against are suddenly in the place of their allies, and their allies are now the ones working on the opposite side.
1st Day: Party fighting against kobolds to save a dwarven/gnomish city.
2nd Day: Party fighting against gnomes/dwarves to save a city of kobolds.
3rd Day: Back to day 1, etc.
Thank you folks in advance for any help/advice and for telling me if this is a dumb idea!
Sounds interesting
Great idea, interesting concept, and well explained.
I do have a question, just to 'test the perimeter fences' as it were: In what way will the party be able to impact this ever changing world? Or will the world just be impacting the characters?
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
I actually have a revision to the concept that I built after getting bits of feedback from a few others which I will add below! I think the revision will answer your question (If I'm understanding it correctly)
TL;DR:
Story/In-game Explanation:
My whole group inadvertently included the Menagerie Coast as a part of their backstories, and an entity residing in the waters of the region has interacted with 2 of my PCs in their backstories. This entity has been locked away by magical means since early years of the Age of Arcanum (tens of thousands of years ago) and has spent this time pushing against the boundaries of this imprisonment so that it may take its “rightful” place as the only “deity” that isn’t locked behind the Divine Gate.
Once the party inevitably returns to the area, the entity will see how quickly they’ve strengthened and decides to "mark” them. This entity is essentially trying to change reality in a large radius around the PCs to create monsters that can kill them but is unable to make drastic changes at the beginning, only smaller and less effective ones.
When this shift happens, NPCs and monsters have shuffled abilities/stats that aren’t matched to their original lineage or class, but they are able to use their abilities as if they’ve always had them. This change happens occasionally once the party has taken a long rest, and typically reverts on the next long rest. In the beginning, there’s no obvious cause for the anomaly, and it’s happening so infrequently that I believe this may take a backseat to the more “time-sensitive” goals of the individual PCs compared to something that is not affecting the PCs directly.
Over time however, it becomes more frequent of an occurrence, and it seems as if the creatures they are facing have abilities and skills beyond their normal strength. Additionally, there are reports/rumors of a rare occurrence where upon the reversal to the “correct reality” an NPC retains their alternate skills/abilities/magics and are unable to do the things they’ve done for their whole lives. Though in the alternate reality the NPCs believe that these new abilities are the ones they’ve had for their whole lives, once reality reverts, their memories revert as well, leaving them confused and others may believe they have been given a blessing or a curse. Once this “side effect” happens to an NPC that the party has built a friendship with, I want to find a way to offer a clue to point them in the correct direction to pursue/investigate this anomaly.
Mechanical Explanation:
This entity has been locked away for a long enough time that it’s now able to interact more freely with the material plane. This entity’s "mark" on the party allows it to shift reality to instill different creature’s abilities into NPCs near the party intending to kill the adventurers. If a PC is killed, the entity can now syphon the PCs abilities to use within its own champions who are working to free it from this cage.
Every time the adventurers take a long rest, I will roll a d20, and if the roll is below their character level, they awake to find themselves in a different version of reality. Every NPC within a 20-mile radius now operates under a new stat block. This change doesn’t change their demeanor, personality, alignment, or their opinion of the PCs, however the abilities used in encounters (Actions, HP & AC, (dis)advantages, skills, etc.) are all changed to this new stat block.
They will also exhibit minor physical changes that could clue in a keen observer that something is different. In the early stages of this event, the stat blocks used will be of the same CR of the host body, and as time passes, this imprisoned entity will grow stronger and able to shift stronger being’s abilities into lesser host bodies, making the encounters more intense.
Examples (assuming party level 4):
Long rest (rolled a 14): Winged Kobolds are equipped daggers and wield rocks, using their own stat block. Long rest (rolled a 1): They encounter two Winged Kobolds;
Some time later…
Long rest (rolled a 3): Party finds a rats’ nest in a sewer system that seems to be filled with an abundance of spider webs, but with no spiders around. The rats are climbing walls like it’s nothing, and the party notices the rats have extra eyes hidden in their fur. The party retreats due to the volume of rats, deciding to return the next day.
Long rest (rolled a 19): Party returns to the sewer to find the rats are getting stuck in the webs and don’t seem able to climb walls. After clearing them out, they notice none of the rats have any extra eyes.
Based on your response my critique then would be that the world is all happening to the player characters. There's nothing there about how the player characters might impact upon the world. There's nothing inherently wrong with this. Some players love this style - having a big challenge to overcome. However, this constant shifting of NPC abilities has massive impacts if the party are looking for a healer, or an alchemist for potions. What happens if the party purchase up all of the Healing potions, but the next time they visit the herbalist, they no longer have the skill with which to manipulate the herbs and brew the potions (kinda imagining a chef losing their knife skills, having been replaced with say photographic memory for academic sources). What if they want to undergo training - how would the party find a suitable trainer to help them improve in a skill or develop a new feat?
I love the way that you're shifting monster stat blocks around, but just as a side note here - you're aware that you have the freedom to do that normally right? No big magical force required? It's one of the better ways to prevent players from utilising meta (out of game) knowledge.
That said, I think if you're going to run with this you might wish to work in some way of the players discovering those new weaknesses and resistances. It could be an action to make a check of something similar. Many DMs have their own house rules for this. Maybe a character with a higher perception or insight could see that something is off about the way creatures are using their weaponry or skills? Just a thought.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
This is the reason that I have decided that the changes will all be based on a roll at their long rest, where odds are, that the changes will revert back to their original state. I want to ensure that the world will still function essentially the same when it comes to the stability of a functioning society in the face of a small change in stats (At least until the party has sufficiently angered the entity by pushing back against its plans.) Initially, the biggest differences would present themselves in combat/hostile encounters.
The random finality of the shift in stats would only be for individuals that this entity is able to force the change on more permanently, but that will be a very infrequent event in the beginning, and only increase once they are higher in level and have more of a direction/drive towards the entity that causes these shifts. (Potentially in the form of a beloved NPC being affected and distraught, begging the party to find a way to reverse it)
Our group consists of two that are new to the game (myself and my partner), one who has been a DM for 6 years, and two others who are more advanced players. I have already taken the dive into homebrew/adjusted stats as well! I have a surgery room with a magical weapon hidden within, and when the door is opened without the key, the table, a few scalpels, and some bloodied rags animate to protect this hidden artifact. The bloodied rags act as a smaller Rug of Smothering, which can smother a small creature, or two of them can combine their strength to smother a medium sized creature.
Having said that, I honestly think my overall concept tackled meta by chance.
I came up with the idea while running our first adventure, Dangerous Designs, because I found that the abundance of Kobolds was getting really monotonous since we were moving slowly with everyone learning their characters, and some learning the game. In this way, it becomes less boring to be fighting through a clan of goblins when one just randomly has eye stalks and an anti-magic cone (an exaggerated example) but is then normal the next day.
My hope is that when there is a point where the PCs aren't sure which direction to go, or their personal goals seem to be at a dead end, I can offer a breakthrough that lights the path to this entity, and gives them a good reason to want to stop this entity. Because this entity draws on the power and abilities that dead creatures possessed in their lives, I think there may be certain individuals who are affected permanently by the shift, and then possessed by the spirit of a creature devoted to this entity who then is working against the PCs, trying to kill the PCs for their power.
I do intend to ask players to make perception checks during the day when the shifts happen. Anyone close enough to a kobold may be able to see that it has subtle gills, and everyone would see that it's wielding a trident with a long chain (which is definitely not the weapon that any of them had the day before!) I do really like the idea of a feat/action as well! That gives me an idea that there could be an NPC that is somehow unaffected by the "shift" that has developed a "spyglass" of sorts that will offer up information on the creature's damage resistances and immunities with a successful Insight check? Maybe this?
I apologize for the length of my reply, I went on a bit of a tangent, but I feel it's all related in some way!