I have an Aasimar PC cleric who has been brought up to believe she is one of my homebrew god's chosen one. Due to plot points (the God is evil and trying to remove all the other gods) I am considering revealing that her whole life has been a lie and that she is in fact fey (or fey-touched, at least). I have made sure that there are holes in her background that allow this (in fact, strongly hint at this, but I have prior knowledge). She is still unaware, however, and I couldn't state it clearly due to spoilers. This would not come out of the blue - she has had dreams of life in the Feywild (although not explicitly) and had a strange sense of recognition on entering it in a side-quest. I guess I really have 2 questions:
Do you guys think this will be a welcome and interesting personal twist to the character, or a betrayal of trust? She likes a bit of drama, but she is quite attached to her character. No matter what, she will be forced to have a crisis of faith.
It is a homebrew, so I can handwave a lot, but what would be the most RAW way to do this? She is a Protector Aasimar past lvl 3 so has used Radiant Soul.
It is not too late for me to change course on this. Honestly, I kind of like the idea but I guess I'm getting cold feet as the reveal gets closer.
My rule of thumb as a DM is that I have fair game over story elements, but will never change a PC's mechanics without express consent from them. From that perspective, you're good to go. However, I can see how it would be a delicate balancing act. Really, this comes down to how much was foreshadowed earlier, as well as how much the player (not the character) likes the PC's identity.
One way to 'soften' the blow of this reveal would be to have it come by way of another similarly-aligned god, one in which she can pledge herself to in much the same way she had this one. Maybe part of the reveal can be that her Cleric powers came from this other deity, who was trying to help/contact/do something in that respect? This is obviously just throwing spaghetti at the wall but hopefully it helps a bit.
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
... have it come by way of another similarly-aligned god, one in which she can pledge herself to in much the same way she had this one.
Thanks, her deity will have to change, there is no way around it. I'm not actually too concerned about that, there are god-like fey and I am using 'the Platinum Dragon' in my campaign (because I love Tiamat so much and she needs a counter - child of the 80s). We discussed the importance of religion in the campaign in our session 0. Her cleric attributes will return almost unaffected.
I am actually talking about changing her very nature. She will no longer be Aasimar because this 'god' wasn't able to create them (in fact, no god can - she is the only one in my world - the chosen one). I have some ideas about a Fey-touched changeling, or, after reading the new arcana, a half-fairy.
As far as 'softening the blow' she will keep her previous abilities and, I reckon, actually gain some, depending on how it goes down.
But I'm getting the feeling you think this will be too much?
I think this is a very cool idea. I’ve seen it done well in previous campaigns. But I think you really do have to talk to this player first if her class and race abilities are being switched around. You don’t necessarily need to tell her everything, but definitely give her a heads up beforehand that you’re going to fundamentally change her character. Ask her for advice on how to play it out. The important thing is that she still really enjoys playing this character, and doesn’t feel like that’s been taken from her. After all, that is why you should be giving her these role-play opportunities. As long as she seams ok with it though, go for it! This sounds like a really cool twist to introduce to your campaign.
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Be Excellent to one another. Rock on dude.
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I have an Aasimar PC cleric who has been brought up to believe she is one of my homebrew god's chosen one. Due to plot points (the God is evil and trying to remove all the other gods) I am considering revealing that her whole life has been a lie and that she is in fact fey (or fey-touched, at least). I have made sure that there are holes in her background that allow this (in fact, strongly hint at this, but I have prior knowledge). She is still unaware, however, and I couldn't state it clearly due to spoilers. This would not come out of the blue - she has had dreams of life in the Feywild (although not explicitly) and had a strange sense of recognition on entering it in a side-quest. I guess I really have 2 questions:
It is not too late for me to change course on this. Honestly, I kind of like the idea but I guess I'm getting cold feet as the reveal gets closer.
My rule of thumb as a DM is that I have fair game over story elements, but will never change a PC's mechanics without express consent from them. From that perspective, you're good to go. However, I can see how it would be a delicate balancing act. Really, this comes down to how much was foreshadowed earlier, as well as how much the player (not the character) likes the PC's identity.
One way to 'soften' the blow of this reveal would be to have it come by way of another similarly-aligned god, one in which she can pledge herself to in much the same way she had this one. Maybe part of the reveal can be that her Cleric powers came from this other deity, who was trying to help/contact/do something in that respect? This is obviously just throwing spaghetti at the wall but hopefully it helps a bit.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
Thanks, her deity will have to change, there is no way around it. I'm not actually too concerned about that, there are god-like fey and I am using 'the Platinum Dragon' in my campaign (because I love Tiamat so much and she needs a counter - child of the 80s). We discussed the importance of religion in the campaign in our session 0. Her cleric attributes will return almost unaffected.
I am actually talking about changing her very nature. She will no longer be Aasimar because this 'god' wasn't able to create them (in fact, no god can - she is the only one in my world - the chosen one). I have some ideas about a Fey-touched changeling, or, after reading the new arcana, a half-fairy.
As far as 'softening the blow' she will keep her previous abilities and, I reckon, actually gain some, depending on how it goes down.
But I'm getting the feeling you think this will be too much?
I think this is a very cool idea. I’ve seen it done well in previous campaigns. But I think you really do have to talk to this player first if her class and race abilities are being switched around. You don’t necessarily need to tell her everything, but definitely give her a heads up beforehand that you’re going to fundamentally change her character. Ask her for advice on how to play it out. The important thing is that she still really enjoys playing this character, and doesn’t feel like that’s been taken from her. After all, that is why you should be giving her these role-play opportunities. As long as she seams ok with it though, go for it! This sounds like a really cool twist to introduce to your campaign.
Be Excellent to one another. Rock on dude.