Hi everyone, I could use some help brainstorming here.
I'm running Rime of the Frostmaiden and we just did the Dark Duchess quest. Arveiaturace arrived while they were trying to raid the treasure. One of the PC's was keeping watch out on the deck of the ship and was able to warn everyone to get way before she landed. However, there were a couple of them who lingered not too far off so I ran the option from the book of having the corpse of Meltherond fall off her back and she started calling for help to get him back up.
Long story short, they didn't take the cue to run off. Now I have PC who has the doppelganger secret who is determined to transform into Meltherond and impersonate him in an effort to ride the dragon and visit her lair. They have currently retreated after feigning an effort to try to help her but they have clear intentions of coming back at some point. At least to try to raid the rest of the treasure and also attempt this plan of impersonating Meltherond if they get the chance.
So . . . any suggestions how to handle this? I think it sounds cool and fun so as the DM, I'm game. But this is an idea well outside of the sandbox created by the book. So I could use some help figuring out how to handle it. Some questions on my mind:
How easy would/should it be for Arveiaturace to be fooled?
Meltherond has been dead for a long time and she's in denial about it. Even if she is fooled by the doppelganger, how would she react to him suddenly talking, moving around, and otherwise acting like a living person again?
Assuming those questions could be answered in a way that would result in her accepting the deception, then what? What's the thing that happens next that would be fun and actually interesting or helpful in the context of the story?
Has you PC ever seen, heard, or interacted with Meltherond to know what they acted like, sound like or their personality, or are they just going to portray a corpse? Since you're the DM, you have purvue on how in depth the ruse would need to be to fool a dragon who has, shall we say, a slipped a bit, mentally. You've even pointed out the same difficulties in your own post.
I might suggest giving the player the opportunity to try, but also the information required to decide to leave well enough, absolutely tefawk alone. I would imagine that the dragon might be a little distraught seeing the "living" rider next to the original.
You might consider a skill check with a very hard DC, number of success/fail determines outcome on a scale of "pulled it off, until airborne..." to "got eaten on sight". I wouldn't expect the dragon to not figure this out, ever. Even though it's a white dragon, that are known to be the less intellectual of the brand, She would eventually figure this out.
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“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
So the way we've been playing this doppelganger secret is that he not only needs to have seen the person he's wanting to shapeshift into, but he needs a piece of them. A material component, if you will. So he has quite a collection of genetic material from the various NPC's and monsters he's encountered. So the idea here is that it's a full physical transformation. His voice would sound like the person, etc. He managed to steal a hair off Meltherond's corpse while feigning an attempt to help hoist him back onto the saddle.
However, in this case, he never observed the mannerisms or anything of Meltherond. So yeah, I'm thinking the deception DC would pre pretty high on this.
At this point in the lifespan of Arveiaturace, she's old, partially blind from cataracts, and mentally not all there. She still rides around with this corpse on her back, talks to it like he's still alive, etc. So she's in some serious denial here and has been for a long time. So I'm thinking that if the deception would be successful, it wouldn't be for long. Because even if her addled mind decided to entertain this fantasy, eventually she would work this out and maybe even accept that Meltherond was dead. And then yeah, be seriously ticked about this guy messing with the body and dishonoring Meltherond's legacy.
So I'm thinking it's a DC 20 deception check with advantage (because of the physical transformation) to convincingly pull off the Meltherond impersonation. With disadvantage if she can still see his corpse laying there. And yeah, if it fails, she just takes him out.
Then if the deception check succeeds, it's a wisdom saving throw for Arveiatruace to decide how she reacts. I'm thinking of improvising a table here for her reactions:
1-5: Roll on the Short-Term Madness table. Repeat the saving throw when the effect ends.
6-10: She embraces the deception for 1 - d12 hours and jumps right in to this fantasy that Meltherond is alive and kicking. They fly back to the lair, reminisce, etc. until the time runs out and then she freaks out.
11-15: Something clicks in her brain and she acknowledges that he's dead, and yet he's standing right in front of her. She assumes he's a ghost or something come to haunt her and flys off in fear (the history here of their relationship according to the published lore is that he originally tamed her through some serious abuse and then eventually some sort of Stockholm syndrome kicked in and her feelings changed from fear to love).
16-20+: In this case, she essentially see's someone pulling off a very convincing Meltherond impersonation. But ultimately understands that it's simply not possible for this to be the real thing. Meltherond is dead, and this can only be a deception by someone trying to steal her hoard. She attacks.
Seems plausible enough. I still encourage you to, OOC, tell the player what happens when she comes back around. Also, she has a mate that would probably be a 5th wheel, and definitely someone she would share news 0f her rider with.
Mate is Arauthator from RoT, sea of moving ice.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“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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Hi everyone, I could use some help brainstorming here.
I'm running Rime of the Frostmaiden and we just did the Dark Duchess quest. Arveiaturace arrived while they were trying to raid the treasure. One of the PC's was keeping watch out on the deck of the ship and was able to warn everyone to get way before she landed. However, there were a couple of them who lingered not too far off so I ran the option from the book of having the corpse of Meltherond fall off her back and she started calling for help to get him back up.
Long story short, they didn't take the cue to run off. Now I have PC who has the doppelganger secret who is determined to transform into Meltherond and impersonate him in an effort to ride the dragon and visit her lair. They have currently retreated after feigning an effort to try to help her but they have clear intentions of coming back at some point. At least to try to raid the rest of the treasure and also attempt this plan of impersonating Meltherond if they get the chance.
So . . . any suggestions how to handle this? I think it sounds cool and fun so as the DM, I'm game. But this is an idea well outside of the sandbox created by the book. So I could use some help figuring out how to handle it. Some questions on my mind:
Has you PC ever seen, heard, or interacted with Meltherond to know what they acted like, sound like or their personality, or are they just going to portray a corpse? Since you're the DM, you have purvue on how in depth the ruse would need to be to fool a dragon who has, shall we say, a slipped a bit, mentally. You've even pointed out the same difficulties in your own post.
I might suggest giving the player the opportunity to try, but also the information required to decide to leave well enough, absolutely tefawk alone. I would imagine that the dragon might be a little distraught seeing the "living" rider next to the original.
You might consider a skill check with a very hard DC, number of success/fail determines outcome on a scale of "pulled it off, until airborne..." to "got eaten on sight". I wouldn't expect the dragon to not figure this out, ever. Even though it's a white dragon, that are known to be the less intellectual of the brand, She would eventually figure this out.
“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
So the way we've been playing this doppelganger secret is that he not only needs to have seen the person he's wanting to shapeshift into, but he needs a piece of them. A material component, if you will. So he has quite a collection of genetic material from the various NPC's and monsters he's encountered. So the idea here is that it's a full physical transformation. His voice would sound like the person, etc. He managed to steal a hair off Meltherond's corpse while feigning an attempt to help hoist him back onto the saddle.
However, in this case, he never observed the mannerisms or anything of Meltherond. So yeah, I'm thinking the deception DC would pre pretty high on this.
At this point in the lifespan of Arveiaturace, she's old, partially blind from cataracts, and mentally not all there. She still rides around with this corpse on her back, talks to it like he's still alive, etc. So she's in some serious denial here and has been for a long time. So I'm thinking that if the deception would be successful, it wouldn't be for long. Because even if her addled mind decided to entertain this fantasy, eventually she would work this out and maybe even accept that Meltherond was dead. And then yeah, be seriously ticked about this guy messing with the body and dishonoring Meltherond's legacy.
So I'm thinking it's a DC 20 deception check with advantage (because of the physical transformation) to convincingly pull off the Meltherond impersonation. With disadvantage if she can still see his corpse laying there. And yeah, if it fails, she just takes him out.
Then if the deception check succeeds, it's a wisdom saving throw for Arveiatruace to decide how she reacts. I'm thinking of improvising a table here for her reactions:
1-5: Roll on the Short-Term Madness table. Repeat the saving throw when the effect ends.
6-10: She embraces the deception for 1 - d12 hours and jumps right in to this fantasy that Meltherond is alive and kicking. They fly back to the lair, reminisce, etc. until the time runs out and then she freaks out.
11-15: Something clicks in her brain and she acknowledges that he's dead, and yet he's standing right in front of her. She assumes he's a ghost or something come to haunt her and flys off in fear (the history here of their relationship according to the published lore is that he originally tamed her through some serious abuse and then eventually some sort of Stockholm syndrome kicked in and her feelings changed from fear to love).
16-20+: In this case, she essentially see's someone pulling off a very convincing Meltherond impersonation. But ultimately understands that it's simply not possible for this to be the real thing. Meltherond is dead, and this can only be a deception by someone trying to steal her hoard. She attacks.
Thoughts?
Seems plausible enough. I still encourage you to, OOC, tell the player what happens when she comes back around. Also, she has a mate that would probably be a 5th wheel, and definitely someone she would share news 0f her rider with.
Mate is Arauthator from RoT, sea of moving ice.
“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