My players have encountered a Vistani-like troupe of planeswalkers, one of whom trades unusual potions for abstract or personal things. Not only does he barter them, his potions are distilled from them, too. The party saw a love letter fading away as a vial beside it was filling up, for example. Everyone thought it was a cool concept and eagerly purchased his wares, offering things like a kind word and stories about how they got their nicknames in exchange for consumable power-ups.
This apothecary has a bit of a fey flavor, however, and the players are beginning to realize they paid more than they thought. The wizard has lost all memory of his nicknames and the rogue's kind word will end up as a Sanctuary spell on a hostile creature of the apothecary's choosing, sometime down the road.
The Problem:
The barbarian traded her life story for a potion. Her whole backstory and the deepest motivations that define her/why she wants to kill the BBEG. For an exceedingly rare potion. I think she did it because she wanted to open up to someone who might understand her trauma. It leaves me with a conundrum, though, because I don't want to wipe her personality.
One, she and her player have gone through a lot of crap, lately, and I'd rather not throw more sucker punches at them. Two, I've already used the "tell a story and lose that memory" twist on the wizard. The whole party is anxious about what will happen to the barbarian next session, and I'm keen to subvert expectations. I also like the idea of the apothecary being mercurial and infinitely creative, never manifesting the same consequences twice.
I've reached out to the player about his reasons behind this RP choice, just in case it's a strategic move on his part. Regardless, I'd be grateful for help brainstorming consequences of trading your backstory to a fey.
This apothecary uses the story to create a duplicate of the barbarian. To further complicate matters, have the barbarian face her duplicate in some contest and arrange for the duplicate to win...
In this case, the twist could be to go mundane. The apothecary recorded the whole thing, wrote it down, and is planning to auction off the details in a typical, non-magical way. Maybe to agents of the BBEG, maybe to other enemies the party and/or character has made.
That is actually kind of a funny subversion or they could just make it into a best selling novel and suddenly every one is like " omg! it's Harriet Porber famed adventurer". There could also be embellishments and things like people expecting her to cast spells.
Thanks for all the ideas, so far! More than anything, you've convinced me to bring this NPC into my next campaign because you guys are coming up with some great stuff!
I'm leaning toward something involving a duplicate or a curse, particularly since I forgot the barbarian offended a goddess a while ago (ironically, for spurning a gift that would have provided healing from some of her trauma) and was told there'd be a reckoning. I'm also in my campaign's endgame - maybe 10 sessions left? Who can say with these players - so while I love the hook ideas and the funny mundane stuff, I don't really have the time to let things like that unfold properly.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I like those two options. The barb rejected the goddess of epilogues and second chances; the apothecary is forced to wander the planes because he rejected the goddess of desire and need. Both are being taught lessons. The synchronicity is too perfect to ignore.
If you have more, keep it coming! The wheels are beginning to spin and I feel like I'm almost there.
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The Context:
My players have encountered a Vistani-like troupe of planeswalkers, one of whom trades unusual potions for abstract or personal things. Not only does he barter them, his potions are distilled from them, too. The party saw a love letter fading away as a vial beside it was filling up, for example. Everyone thought it was a cool concept and eagerly purchased his wares, offering things like a kind word and stories about how they got their nicknames in exchange for consumable power-ups.
This apothecary has a bit of a fey flavor, however, and the players are beginning to realize they paid more than they thought. The wizard has lost all memory of his nicknames and the rogue's kind word will end up as a Sanctuary spell on a hostile creature of the apothecary's choosing, sometime down the road.
The Problem:
The barbarian traded her life story for a potion. Her whole backstory and the deepest motivations that define her/why she wants to kill the BBEG. For an exceedingly rare potion. I think she did it because she wanted to open up to someone who might understand her trauma. It leaves me with a conundrum, though, because I don't want to wipe her personality.
One, she and her player have gone through a lot of crap, lately, and I'd rather not throw more sucker punches at them. Two, I've already used the "tell a story and lose that memory" twist on the wizard. The whole party is anxious about what will happen to the barbarian next session, and I'm keen to subvert expectations. I also like the idea of the apothecary being mercurial and infinitely creative, never manifesting the same consequences twice.
I've reached out to the player about his reasons behind this RP choice, just in case it's a strategic move on his part. Regardless, I'd be grateful for help brainstorming consequences of trading your backstory to a fey.
Thanks as always!
Some ideas:
Those last two are more quest hooks if you want them to fight the apothecary while the first two could happen and the story continues.
This apothecary uses the story to create a duplicate of the barbarian. To further complicate matters, have the barbarian face her duplicate in some contest and arrange for the duplicate to win...
In this case, the twist could be to go mundane. The apothecary recorded the whole thing, wrote it down, and is planning to auction off the details in a typical, non-magical way. Maybe to agents of the BBEG, maybe to other enemies the party and/or character has made.
That is actually kind of a funny subversion or they could just make it into a best selling novel and suddenly every one is like " omg! it's Harriet Porber famed adventurer". There could also be embellishments and things like people expecting her to cast spells.
Thanks for all the ideas, so far! More than anything, you've convinced me to bring this NPC into my next campaign because you guys are coming up with some great stuff!
I'm leaning toward something involving a duplicate or a curse, particularly since I forgot the barbarian offended a goddess a while ago (ironically, for spurning a gift that would have provided healing from some of her trauma) and was told there'd be a reckoning. I'm also in my campaign's endgame - maybe 10 sessions left? Who can say with these players - so while I love the hook ideas and the funny mundane stuff, I don't really have the time to let things like that unfold properly.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I like those two options. The barb rejected the goddess of epilogues and second chances; the apothecary is forced to wander the planes because he rejected the goddess of desire and need. Both are being taught lessons. The synchronicity is too perfect to ignore.
If you have more, keep it coming! The wheels are beginning to spin and I feel like I'm almost there.