So in our upcoming session, I have a player who was absent for a few weeks trapped in a magical mirror made by Tharzidun, and I am pretty sure that they're going to smash the mirror. How should I invoke the wrath of the god of eternal darkness upon my lvl 7 players? I don't want to incapacitate them, but giving them a fun struggle to get through would be good :)
The angry god punishes them with mirror magic: If they try to read text, they realize it is all backwards, mirror-image...which might give them a clue why they suddenly can't understand a word that any NPC is saying to them, and the NPCs can't understand a word they say...they are cursed with backwards speech till they appease the annoyed Tharzidun.
If you want to make it tougher, give them reverse-magic on spells with spoken words.
Edeleth Treesong (Aldalire) WoodElf Druid lvl 8 Talaveroth Sub 2 Last Tree StandingTabaxi Ranger, Chef and Hoardsperson lvl 5, Company of the Dragon Team 1 Choir Kenku Cleric, Tempest Domain, lvl 11, Descent Into Avernus Test Drive Poinki Goblin Paladin, Redemption, lvl 5, Tales from Talaveroth Lyrika Nyx Satyr Bard lvl 1, The Six Kingdoms of Talia
The angry god punishes them with mirror magic: If they try to read text, they realize it is all backwards, mirror-image...which might give them a clue why they suddenly can't understand a word that any NPC is saying to them, and the NPCs can't understand a word they say...they are cursed with backwards speech till they appease the annoyed Tharzidun.
If you want to make it tougher, give them reverse-magic on spells with spoken words.
So this idea is interesting.
Perhaps once breaking the mirror have them trapped inside a mirror dimension of wear they need to notice they are trapped inside it by seeing other people view them from their mirrors. and they cant escape the mirror until they fix what they broke.
examples would be a mirror dungeon with no exit, they start in the room with the broken mirror and after a while of exploring they are back it the room. you can fill the room with mimics and or shadows of fallen enemies or rival NPCs that they must combat.
once glaring into a mirror they see the face of a wo/man preparing for a party looking into it. while trying to talk to him/her they notice it is not aware of them. have them have to collect broken shards of the mirror around the dungeon and piece them together to be released from this dimension.
if you want to curse them for more than 1 session you can make it so their reflection always shows their inner though.
trying to decieve a guardsman to let them into a city, their reflection under the drawbridge shows their malicious intent of stealing the barons treasure.
Alternatively, you could gaslight your characters (note: never gaslight real people, its not funny).
Describe every reflective surface (mirrors, windows, still water) as being cracked, shattered, dirtied or spoiled.
Give them a secret negative to their Perception checks, even when they roll really well they seem to be missing things.
Describe shop signs and menus as being 'poorly written, some of the letters in the wrong order and some letters facing the wrong way'.
Give them disadvantage on Investigation checks to read through books, scrolls or ledgers, for some reason you keep reading things wrong.
If at any point the players notice that their characters aren't seeing things correctly, let them make an Intelligence check to put it together. At which point you can let them in on the curse and its reasoning. Once the players know they're cursed, you can either keep doing the subtle things above or have mirror doppelgangers stalk them from nearby mirror to mirror. Threatening them through their reflections, perhaps attacking them if they get complacent about their mirror curse.
I love the idea of their ability to read being messed up by all the text appearing backwards, that sounds really good! That's going to be a real bummer for my wizard. >:) Throw in some challenges that they need to be able to read to get through, and I think that's a curse that'll work really well. Thank you, everyone! There were a lot of other really good suggestions in here, too!
Absolutely would recommend doing a sanity check!! Maybe they're unsure of what's the real world or the mirror world and they slowly fall into compulsions or random ticks. A quick Google search should lead you in the right direction for this. And it really helps getting some people to roleplay thier character a bit more too.
Perhaps the motives of NPCs around them now take on a much more negative tone. Everybody, even their friends and relatives suddenly seem envious, spiteful, or extremely suspicious for no apparent reason. Make them pass successful WIS checks to realize that something is amiss. If some party members pass, but some fail miserably, perhaps the ones who passed now seem suspicious to the ones who did not.
So in our upcoming session, I have a player who was absent for a few weeks trapped in a magical mirror made by Tharzidun, and I am pretty sure that they're going to smash the mirror. How should I invoke the wrath of the god of eternal darkness upon my lvl 7 players? I don't want to incapacitate them, but giving them a fun struggle to get through would be good :)
Thanks!
Professional computer geek
God of Eternal Darkness?
My DM's Guild Content - Mostly quick rules and guides.
No long rest until they atone for their sin.
The angry god punishes them with mirror magic: If they try to read text, they realize it is all backwards, mirror-image...which might give them a clue why they suddenly can't understand a word that any NPC is saying to them, and the NPCs can't understand a word they say...they are cursed with backwards speech till they appease the annoyed Tharzidun.
If you want to make it tougher, give them reverse-magic on spells with spoken words.
Edeleth Treesong (Aldalire) Wood Elf Druid lvl 8 Talaveroth Sub 2
Last Tree Standing Tabaxi Ranger, Chef and Hoardsperson lvl 5, Company of the Dragon Team 1
Choir Kenku Cleric, Tempest Domain, lvl 11, Descent Into Avernus Test Drive
Poinki Goblin Paladin, Redemption, lvl 5, Tales from Talaveroth
Lyrika Nyx Satyr Bard lvl 1, The Six Kingdoms of Talia
So this idea is interesting.
Perhaps once breaking the mirror have them trapped inside a mirror dimension of wear they need to notice they are trapped inside it by seeing other people view them from their mirrors.
and they cant escape the mirror until they fix what they broke.
examples would be a mirror dungeon with no exit, they start in the room with the broken mirror and after a while of exploring they are back it the room. you can fill the room with mimics and or shadows of fallen enemies or rival NPCs that they must combat.
once glaring into a mirror they see the face of a wo/man preparing for a party looking into it. while trying to talk to him/her they notice it is not aware of them. have them have to collect broken shards of the mirror around the dungeon and piece them together to be released from this dimension.
if you want to curse them for more than 1 session
you can make it so their reflection always shows their inner though.
trying to decieve a guardsman to let them into a city, their reflection under the drawbridge shows their malicious intent of stealing the barons treasure.
or something along those lines.
Alternatively, you could gaslight your characters (note: never gaslight real people, its not funny).
If at any point the players notice that their characters aren't seeing things correctly, let them make an Intelligence check to put it together. At which point you can let them in on the curse and its reasoning. Once the players know they're cursed, you can either keep doing the subtle things above or have mirror doppelgangers stalk them from nearby mirror to mirror. Threatening them through their reflections, perhaps attacking them if they get complacent about their mirror curse.
My DM's Guild Content - Mostly quick rules and guides.
I love the idea of their ability to read being messed up by all the text appearing backwards, that sounds really good! That's going to be a real bummer for my wizard. >:) Throw in some challenges that they need to be able to read to get through, and I think that's a curse that'll work really well. Thank you, everyone! There were a lot of other really good suggestions in here, too!
Absolutely would recommend doing a sanity check!! Maybe they're unsure of what's the real world or the mirror world and they slowly fall into compulsions or random ticks. A quick Google search should lead you in the right direction for this. And it really helps getting some people to roleplay thier character a bit more too.
Perhaps the motives of NPCs around them now take on a much more negative tone. Everybody, even their friends and relatives suddenly seem envious, spiteful, or extremely suspicious for no apparent reason. Make them pass successful WIS checks to realize that something is amiss. If some party members pass, but some fail miserably, perhaps the ones who passed now seem suspicious to the ones who did not.