I had the leader of a werewolf village be a nice old granny werewolf. She’s very old, and blind, and smells the essence of your soul. She’s pretty knowledgable about the gods and their personalities.
Granny gave my players their first real “Quest” and since then, at every new piece of information they want to run back to her and ask her for advice or more information. It’s worse now because they have the message spell to spam, so they can communicate more easily.
I was thinking about having a previously mentioned NPC kill her, and have the NPC rogue that’s been hanging around the party take her spot as the leader. That would dangle some more questions in front of their faces and would make sense, as they just made an enemy of a god.
What do you think? Is there a better way to handle this, or is killing her the best way? I’d like to have a combat the party is a part of, where a way OP villain was ordered to kill Granny but wasn’t directly ordered to kill the party. It would make the party feel way out of their depth and realize they’re entering the realms of legends.
If she's old, you could just have her start to go senile. If the main reason why she's useful is her information, then that should fix it. You could also do some shenanigans before they realize she's becoming senile by giving them false information. Is killing her the best way? Perhaps. How do you think your players will react?
You could have her start to go.. but I'd create a reason for it. have an NPC who realizes, just who the local mastermind who has been running the interference the party has been causing his cats paws kidnap her. Have the stress of that, and the parties rescue cause her issues that start her down hill slide.
But as she, herself realizes this.. at some point in the future have her choose the party as her heirs, to her secret position.
If there's a bit of info you don't want the PCs to know, she doesn't know it. Pretty simple. This is actually giving you complete access to what information the PCs do and don't get. Knowing 'a lot' about something doesn't mean you know everything, after all.
Think in this scenario I'd have it so the granny werewolf was actually a doppleganger who is tired of being where it is. It's overtly helpful to the party because it's studying each of them in an effort to kidnap/kill a party member and take that players place.
From there have the player play as the doppleganger until it's time for it to attack the others or until it's caught leaving the party to wonder where the real player is. Perhaps going back to search.
It's an open world. Twist and turn it to your will.
You could always just pull the standard Hero's Journey mentor BS, "there is no more I can teach you, you must learn to do this on your own..."
You could have granny wolf take a more active role in the world (maybe not the player's story directly), taking off on a journey to subtly influence events from the sidelines, maybe she shrouds herself from any magic that might detect her, including message spells. Then maybe at some crucial juncture after a while of being gone, she can burst back into the story with some crucial information, or save the players in a time of need.
Or you could kill her. But it's good to think which option might have the most impact on the story.
First, I would love this because the more they rely on her, the harder it's going to hit them when she betrays them. It's a great opening to a possible story with a fiend or some a shapeshift of some kind, or she was a hag the entire time.
Also, keep in mind that message only works at a range of 120ft.
First, I would love this because the more they rely on her, the harder it's going to hit them when she betrays them. It's a great opening to a possible story with a fiend or some a shapeshift of some kind, or she was a hag the entire time.
Also, keep in mind that message only works at a range of 120ft.
First, I would love this because the more they rely on her, the harder it's going to hit them when she betrays them. It's a great opening to a possible story with a fiend or some a shapeshift of some kind, or she was a hag the entire time.
Also, keep in mind that message only works at a range of 120ft.
They probably mean Sending
I assumed because they said they can "spam" the spell, they meant the Cantrip version. At least Sending means they are using up spell slots so it is not that big a problem.
It was Sending. The wizard is an elf and can send it every 4 hours, assuming they are traveling without interruption or in a place where they can rest.
The party has grown to really like the granny. She gives them Werther's Originals and food from a cauldron. Sometimes chicken noodle soup, sometimes waffles. She has the ability to smell a person's soul, which lets her see who you worship. She's very spiritual and is magically kept alive. Somewhere around 3,000 years old, I think I told the party.
I don't want her to suddenly be useless to them for narratively no reason. She's not going to know specifically about what they're asking this time around, but I"m worried they'll keep asking her about everything that comes up and I don't want to just shut them down every question they ask.
I think my best way forward is to have her soul stolen or something similar where she's put into a magical coma. That accomplishes a few things, like introducing a major minion of the big bad, taking out an information source, instilling a party NPC as Granny's replacement, and giving the party the quest to restore Granny's soul. But I've been inspired by comments before, so I'm still taking suggestions.
I really like the ideas of the doppleganger, but it doesn't fit in this particular situation for me. I'll probably use it somewhere else though.
Figure out how she’s magically kept alive. That could be a starting point for something.
Also, if the party tells someone else who is undercover about their information source, you could make them unintentionally complicit in whatever happens to her, and guilt is an excellent motivator.
It was Sending. The wizard is an elf and can send it every 4 hours, assuming they are traveling without interruption or in a place where they can rest.
You can only benefit from a long rest once per day, so they only get spell slots back every 24 hours (if I read you correctly and they're restoring spell slots every 4 hours due to being an Elf?)
I didn't know about the "1 long rest per 24 hours" rule. That'll really help temper that. The whole point of my campaign is to twist fairy tales around. Their NPC party member is Little Red Riding Hood, who ran away to a werewolf village and became an assassin. Granny is the village leader. I thought it was clever. The woodcutter showing up to kill Granny kinda twists too much of the story, I think. But it's an awesome thought process.
What makes for a better story? Does killing Granny make for a better story? Will it motivate the party to seek out and take revenge? Is it only done for revenge? Are there things that they don't know about Granny, and her death brings them to light?
Have Granny go insane (or be manipulated) into attacking the party and the only way they can stop her is by killing her (in self-defense). The rest of the village knows they had no choice, but some will still be upset. Then have it become found that she was manipulated and the party has to find the ones responsible. All the while learning new things and proving that they're worthy.
I'm not a big fan of OP/unbeatable enemies showing their awesomeness to the party. It removes agency and is more likely to backfire making the players feel helpless in their escapist fantasy. In my Infinite Weirdos game, the party from the first season showed up at the end of season two, to help fight against the OP enemy, so the players from that first campaign, got to play both characters during the battle (they were only slightly more powerful than the season two characters). It was what I wanted: a climax the players won't forget. And they got to see their characters from the first season again, and got to play them alongside their current characters (including a father and his daughter).
It wasn't NPCs coming to help them, it was their previous characters coming in to help them. Played by them. All to save a little girl who was kidnapped at the end of Season one (oh, and by rescuing her, they saved the multiverse). Giving them better closure than they'd had before.
Um, sorry, tangent. Back now. Tell the story the way it's flowing. If death is what is needed to keep the story alive, then into the plot-blender Granny goes.
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I had the leader of a werewolf village be a nice old granny werewolf. She’s very old, and blind, and smells the essence of your soul. She’s pretty knowledgable about the gods and their personalities.
Granny gave my players their first real “Quest” and since then, at every new piece of information they want to run back to her and ask her for advice or more information. It’s worse now because they have the message spell to spam, so they can communicate more easily.
I was thinking about having a previously mentioned NPC kill her, and have the NPC rogue that’s been hanging around the party take her spot as the leader. That would dangle some more questions in front of their faces and would make sense, as they just made an enemy of a god.
What do you think? Is there a better way to handle this, or is killing her the best way? I’d like to have a combat the party is a part of, where a way OP villain was ordered to kill Granny but wasn’t directly ordered to kill the party. It would make the party feel way out of their depth and realize they’re entering the realms of legends.
If she's old, you could just have her start to go senile. If the main reason why she's useful is her information, then that should fix it. You could also do some shenanigans before they realize she's becoming senile by giving them false information. Is killing her the best way? Perhaps. How do you think your players will react?
You could have her start to go.. but I'd create a reason for it.
have an NPC who realizes, just who the local mastermind who has been running the interference the party has been causing his cats paws kidnap her.
Have the stress of that, and the parties rescue cause her issues that start her down hill slide.
But as she, herself realizes this.. at some point in the future have her choose the party as her heirs, to her secret position.
Itinerant Deputy Shire-reave Tomas Burrfoot - world walker, Raft-captain, speaker to his dead
Toddy Shelfungus- Rider of the Order of Ill Luck, Speaker to Friends of Friends, and Horribly big nosed
Jarl Archi of Jenisis Glade Fee- Noble Knight of the Dragonborn Goldcrest Clan, Sorcerer of the Noble Investigator;y; Knightly order of the Wolfhound
If there's a bit of info you don't want the PCs to know, she doesn't know it. Pretty simple. This is actually giving you complete access to what information the PCs do and don't get. Knowing 'a lot' about something doesn't mean you know everything, after all.
Think in this scenario I'd have it so the granny werewolf was actually a doppleganger who is tired of being where it is. It's overtly helpful to the party because it's studying each of them in an effort to kidnap/kill a party member and take that players place.
From there have the player play as the doppleganger until it's time for it to attack the others or until it's caught leaving the party to wonder where the real player is. Perhaps going back to search.
It's an open world. Twist and turn it to your will.
Have her get annoyed at their dependence on her and teach them the life lesson of relying on themselves and each other...
You could always just pull the standard Hero's Journey mentor BS, "there is no more I can teach you, you must learn to do this on your own..."
You could have granny wolf take a more active role in the world (maybe not the player's story directly), taking off on a journey to subtly influence events from the sidelines, maybe she shrouds herself from any magic that might detect her, including message spells. Then maybe at some crucial juncture after a while of being gone, she can burst back into the story with some crucial information, or save the players in a time of need.
Or you could kill her. But it's good to think which option might have the most impact on the story.
First, I would love this because the more they rely on her, the harder it's going to hit them when she betrays them. It's a great opening to a possible story with a fiend or some a shapeshift of some kind, or she was a hag the entire time.
Also, keep in mind that message only works at a range of 120ft.
They probably mean Sending
I assumed because they said they can "spam" the spell, they meant the Cantrip version. At least Sending means they are using up spell slots so it is not that big a problem.
It was Sending. The wizard is an elf and can send it every 4 hours, assuming they are traveling without interruption or in a place where they can rest.
The party has grown to really like the granny. She gives them Werther's Originals and food from a cauldron. Sometimes chicken noodle soup, sometimes waffles. She has the ability to smell a person's soul, which lets her see who you worship. She's very spiritual and is magically kept alive. Somewhere around 3,000 years old, I think I told the party.
I don't want her to suddenly be useless to them for narratively no reason. She's not going to know specifically about what they're asking this time around, but I"m worried they'll keep asking her about everything that comes up and I don't want to just shut them down every question they ask.
I think my best way forward is to have her soul stolen or something similar where she's put into a magical coma. That accomplishes a few things, like introducing a major minion of the big bad, taking out an information source, instilling a party NPC as Granny's replacement, and giving the party the quest to restore Granny's soul. But I've been inspired by comments before, so I'm still taking suggestions.
I really like the ideas of the doppleganger, but it doesn't fit in this particular situation for me. I'll probably use it somewhere else though.
Figure out how she’s magically kept alive. That could be a starting point for something.
Also, if the party tells someone else who is undercover about their information source, you could make them unintentionally complicit in whatever happens to her, and guilt is an excellent motivator.
You can only benefit from a long rest once per day, so they only get spell slots back every 24 hours (if I read you correctly and they're restoring spell slots every 4 hours due to being an Elf?)
I'm pretty sure it's traditional for the local woodcutter to kill granny wolf in this situation.
I didn't know about the "1 long rest per 24 hours" rule. That'll really help temper that. The whole point of my campaign is to twist fairy tales around. Their NPC party member is Little Red Riding Hood, who ran away to a werewolf village and became an assassin. Granny is the village leader. I thought it was clever. The woodcutter showing up to kill Granny kinda twists too much of the story, I think. But it's an awesome thought process.
What makes for a better story? Does killing Granny make for a better story? Will it motivate the party to seek out and take revenge? Is it only done for revenge? Are there things that they don't know about Granny, and her death brings them to light?
Have Granny go insane (or be manipulated) into attacking the party and the only way they can stop her is by killing her (in self-defense). The rest of the village knows they had no choice, but some will still be upset. Then have it become found that she was manipulated and the party has to find the ones responsible. All the while learning new things and proving that they're worthy.
I'm not a big fan of OP/unbeatable enemies showing their awesomeness to the party. It removes agency and is more likely to backfire making the players feel helpless in their escapist fantasy. In my Infinite Weirdos game, the party from the first season showed up at the end of season two, to help fight against the OP enemy, so the players from that first campaign, got to play both characters during the battle (they were only slightly more powerful than the season two characters). It was what I wanted: a climax the players won't forget. And they got to see their characters from the first season again, and got to play them alongside their current characters (including a father and his daughter).
It wasn't NPCs coming to help them, it was their previous characters coming in to help them. Played by them. All to save a little girl who was kidnapped at the end of Season one (oh, and by rescuing her, they saved the multiverse). Giving them better closure than they'd had before.
Um, sorry, tangent. Back now. Tell the story the way it's flowing. If death is what is needed to keep the story alive, then into the plot-blender Granny goes.