I'm building a plot line in my new Wildemount campaign that involves a crisis of regal succession and a potential illegitimate heir to the throne. It got me wondering if there was a D&D "DNA test" way of proving a blood relation between two people. Obviously I can make something up for flavor but I thought I'd ask the experts first.
Any ideas? has anyone done something like this before in their campaigns? Is there something already in the standard magical arsenal that could apply here?
The most straightforward options would be Divination and Legend Lore, though the latter relies on the person in question being significant (good for royal succession, but not for farmhands). Those are 4th- and 5th-level spells, not sure if that’s prohibitive with what you’re doing.
You could also use zone of truth. There are also spells that use a drop of blood as a materiel component, like animate dead. You could flavor that along the lines of animating an ancestor that will only work if the two drops of blood are of the same line.
You could always introduce Maury Povich as an NPC.
In seriousness, the two spells that sound like they might offer what you might be asking for are Commune and Contact Other Plane. There's also a magic item called a Moonblade which lorewise is passed down the lines of Elven noble houses, so taking something like that and reflavoring it to suit your needs could also be an interesting option.
Zone of truth might not work. It stops people lying, but not being wrong, So it would depend on the situation. Someone might honestly believe they are the heir and not know they’re actually the son of the gardener.
And like 5percent is saying, there are nonmagical ways to figure things out. E.g. Ned Stark.
Generations ago, a wizard created a Blod Stone (magic item, can't do the link at the moment) that has the blood of the original ruler. It hasn't been seen in a long time, but rumour has it that ________ has it, or it's located in _________'s tower/dungeon/etc. Once it's retrieved, it can be used to determine blood relation to the royal line.
The thing is about Zone of Truth, there are fairly easy ways around it. If they truly believe that they are the heir to the throne, or if they have some magic/ability that makes it so they're unaffected by it.
The best way would be Legend Lore, but that might give you a riddle as the answer.
There is a magic item from Storm King's Thunder that detects blood of a person and can detect their children. A Blood Stone, I think it's called.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
The magic items they put in the books is the stuff that would interest adventurers. A magical paternity test would have been one of the very first magic items ever commissioned, and for exactly this reason; to avoid royal succession issues that could lead to war. I wouldn't hesitate to homebrew this and just say that it's always been around, but only the King has access to it.
So I'm doing a similar thing with the succession in Wildemount and I'm thinking of tying in part of the plot of stardust eventually that only a true heir to the throne can restore "the thing". Haven't figured out the item yet.
One thing to note - because of the problems you don’t use the zone of truth on the heir, you use on the heir’s mother to make sure the king is the only man she slept with around the time of conception - throws a few more twists into the adventure.
This diamond contains the blood of a creature — blood that appears in the form of the blod (blood) rune. While the item is on your person, you can use your action to divine the location of the creature nearest to you that is related to the blood in the item and that isn't undead. You sense the distance and direction of the creature relative to your location. The creature is either the one whose blood is in the item or a blood relative.
This item is made from a large diamond worth at least 5,000 gp. When the blood of a creature is poured onto it during the creation process, the blood seeps into the heart of the gem. If the gem is destroyed, the blood evaporates and is gone forever. A vengeful being might use a Blod Stone to hunt down an entire bloodline. Such stones are sometimes given as gifts to siblings or handed down from parent to child.
From stormking's thunder.
I know this is an old post but this is the best cannon solution incase someone else was looking for something like it.
I'd be inclined, for the sake of making it a quest, to have a long-lost artefact which is bound to the bloodline. It's stored in some ancient crypt in a dungeon, and so on.
Then I'd make it a twist that the artefact is cursed, and only curses that bloodline, and so by proving the character was the next in line, the party also corrupted their soul and sowed the seeds of war in their kingdom. This would be the reason why the artefact was buried in the first place!
On the other hand, what about Glyph of Warding? Sure, it's a bit out there, but a glyph that reacts to any member of a clan of vampire hunters of something similar would not be out of place in a vampire's lair. It makes sense to say that glyphs could be set to react to a member of a certain family or a certain relation, because that sort of capability would have enough use in the worlds of DnD that some wizard would find a way to do it.
The magic items they put in the books is the stuff that would interest adventurers. A magical paternity test would have been one of the very first magic items ever commissioned, and for exactly this reason; to avoid royal succession issues that could lead to war. I wouldn't hesitate to homebrew this and just say that it's always been around, but only the King has access to it.
This leads to a whole set of quests, the item needs the feather of a griffin or some flower up on a mountain to work, the item has gone missing or is stolen lots of plot hooks with this approach.
There is a midwife in a nearby village who has the ability to divine who the father was, when such questions arise. She uses a drop of the mother's blood, and a drop of the offspring's blood, and mixes it with dried henbane leaves. The mixture is then spread on a piece of dried leather and slowly heated over a candle. A rune appears!
Why would I make it so complicated? Just so I could throw in player involvement or possible complications. The midwife can't be found or is missing or has been paid off. The son or mother refuses to provide the necessary blood. There is some sort of issue with the henbane, etc.
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Howdy peeps,
I'm building a plot line in my new Wildemount campaign that involves a crisis of regal succession and a potential illegitimate heir to the throne. It got me wondering if there was a D&D "DNA test" way of proving a blood relation between two people. Obviously I can make something up for flavor but I thought I'd ask the experts first.
Any ideas? has anyone done something like this before in their campaigns? Is there something already in the standard magical arsenal that could apply here?
Thanks for the help!
The most straightforward options would be Divination and Legend Lore, though the latter relies on the person in question being significant (good for royal succession, but not for farmhands). Those are 4th- and 5th-level spells, not sure if that’s prohibitive with what you’re doing.
You could also use zone of truth. There are also spells that use a drop of blood as a materiel component, like animate dead. You could flavor that along the lines of animating an ancestor that will only work if the two drops of blood are of the same line.
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
You could always introduce Maury Povich as an NPC.
In seriousness, the two spells that sound like they might offer what you might be asking for are Commune and Contact Other Plane. There's also a magic item called a Moonblade which lorewise is passed down the lines of Elven noble houses, so taking something like that and reflavoring it to suit your needs could also be an interesting option.
Aside from above suggestions.
medicine checks.
several biological characteristics are genetic. Ex: ears, face shape, hairline.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4013696/#s4title
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Zone of truth might not work. It stops people lying, but not being wrong, So it would depend on the situation. Someone might honestly believe they are the heir and not know they’re actually the son of the gardener.
And like 5percent is saying, there are nonmagical ways to figure things out. E.g. Ned Stark.
Generations ago, a wizard created a Blod Stone (magic item, can't do the link at the moment) that has the blood of the original ruler. It hasn't been seen in a long time, but rumour has it that ________ has it, or it's located in _________'s tower/dungeon/etc. Once it's retrieved, it can be used to determine blood relation to the royal line.
The thing is about Zone of Truth, there are fairly easy ways around it. If they truly believe that they are the heir to the throne, or if they have some magic/ability that makes it so they're unaffected by it.
The best way would be Legend Lore, but that might give you a riddle as the answer.
There is a magic item from Storm King's Thunder that detects blood of a person and can detect their children. A Blood Stone, I think it's called.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
The magic items they put in the books is the stuff that would interest adventurers. A magical paternity test would have been one of the very first magic items ever commissioned, and for exactly this reason; to avoid royal succession issues that could lead to war. I wouldn't hesitate to homebrew this and just say that it's always been around, but only the King has access to it.
Mabye a really smart gnome would come up with a really rudimentary DNA test, loke something would turn a different color`
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Thanks all for some fantastic replies! You've given me a ton to work with here.
Now, would we classify Maury Povich as Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral??? Seems the chaotic part is a given...
So I'm doing a similar thing with the succession in Wildemount and I'm thinking of tying in part of the plot of stardust eventually that only a true heir to the throne can restore "the thing". Haven't figured out the item yet.
One thing to note - because of the problems you don’t use the zone of truth on the heir, you use on the heir’s mother to make sure the king is the only man she slept with around the time of conception - throws a few more twists into the adventure.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
This diamond contains the blood of a creature — blood that appears in the form of the blod (blood) rune. While the item is on your person, you can use your action to divine the location of the creature nearest to you that is related to the blood in the item and that isn't undead. You sense the distance and direction of the creature relative to your location. The creature is either the one whose blood is in the item or a blood relative.
This item is made from a large diamond worth at least 5,000 gp. When the blood of a creature is poured onto it during the creation process, the blood seeps into the heart of the gem. If the gem is destroyed, the blood evaporates and is gone forever. A vengeful being might use a Blod Stone to hunt down an entire bloodline. Such stones are sometimes given as gifts to siblings or handed down from parent to child.
From stormking's thunder.
I know this is an old post but this is the best cannon solution incase someone else was looking for something like it.
I'd be inclined, for the sake of making it a quest, to have a long-lost artefact which is bound to the bloodline. It's stored in some ancient crypt in a dungeon, and so on.
Then I'd make it a twist that the artefact is cursed, and only curses that bloodline, and so by proving the character was the next in line, the party also corrupted their soul and sowed the seeds of war in their kingdom. This would be the reason why the artefact was buried in the first place!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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Wonder if the name is taken from the Subseries Vampire movie series or just a fun coincidence.
On the other hand, what about Glyph of Warding? Sure, it's a bit out there, but a glyph that reacts to any member of a clan of vampire hunters of something similar would not be out of place in a vampire's lair. It makes sense to say that glyphs could be set to react to a member of a certain family or a certain relation, because that sort of capability would have enough use in the worlds of DnD that some wizard would find a way to do it.
This leads to a whole set of quests, the item needs the feather of a griffin or some flower up on a mountain to work, the item has gone missing or is stolen lots of plot hooks with this approach.
Thanks for the new input on my question! I appreciate how generous and helpful you DMs continue to be. You’re all awesome!
I would just RP the hell out of this.
There is a midwife in a nearby village who has the ability to divine who the father was, when such questions arise. She uses a drop of the mother's blood, and a drop of the offspring's blood, and mixes it with dried henbane leaves. The mixture is then spread on a piece of dried leather and slowly heated over a candle. A rune appears!
Why would I make it so complicated? Just so I could throw in player involvement or possible complications. The midwife can't be found or is missing or has been paid off. The son or mother refuses to provide the necessary blood. There is some sort of issue with the henbane, etc.