I have this player, who created a character who is literally Mammon, the god of greed, in Aasimar-form, and he (the character, Mammon) is horribly selfish, aggressively shouting at everyone (while hiding behind the barbarian bc he is a level 2 bard), unwilling to help others, greedily hoarding money, pretending like he has no healing powers, pretending he has no money, pretending he is not a bard and lacy as f***
As you would expect if you know anything about Mammon.
And some of you might think: why would you allow a character like that in your game?
Well, the answer is, that it is our first campaign as a group, and I wanted to give them some freedom to be what they wanted to be.
And I forgot to mention that the characters in a DnD game should be team-players. (Silly me)
So... To have a little fun with this, (and prevent the other characters from strangling Mammon in his sleep) I am plotting to have him cursed by a powerful wizard or a sorceress. He is constantly unpleasant, insulting and stealing stuff from the NPC's, so it won't be hard to make him anger the wrong person. I only need to figure out what exactly the cures should do. As it will be triggered by him behaving like a jerk, I would like it to be a curse that forces him to be nice in some way.
But it shouldn't change the character completely, like an alignment change would, and it shouldn't be too complicated.
I know that the player would love RP-ing Mammon hating to do something, that he can't stop doing.
Something like cursing him to smile at every stranger they meet, but more impactful...
Plz help me with ideas to a good course for my friend's rude character :)
Edit To those who are worried that Mammon might be ruining the game for the others, ore that I am just trying to make him make another character: We are a pretty small group of people I know separately and I talk to all of them outside of the table. Both as friends and as a DM, to get the feel of where they want to go with their own characters, to know how they feel about the direction the game is going in, and to ask if they are plotting to leave Mammon in a pit somewhere. The two other players are annoyed at the character but enjoy the dynamic roleplay... Mammon is actually a catalyst for a lot of awesome roleplay, bc it is impossible for the other characters and NPC's to ignore his behavior.
Conversions of content from older Dungeons and Dragons editions into DnD 5e.
Encyclopedia Magica: Amulet of Amiability
Amulet of Amiability
Wondrous Item, Very Rare (requires attunement)
Aura: Strong Enchantment and Transmutation
This amulet of unassuming appearance nevertheless contains great power. You gain a +3 bonus to AC and saving throws while you wear this amulet. In addition, as an action you can conjure either a plate of chocolate chip cookies or a bouquet of fresh flowers, which last for an hour, until consumed or until you use this ability to conjure the same object again.
Curse. This amulet is cursed, and becoming attuned to it extends the curse to you. As long as you remain cursed, you are unwilling to part with the amulet and will attempt to wear it at all times. Regardless of race, class or alignment, you become incredibly nice, kind and thoughtful. You cannot do anything directly or indirectly harmful to yourself or others, even when directly attacked. In addition, you act in an exceptionally helpful manner, and will pursue reasonable courses of action suggested by others as though under the effects of a Suggestion spell.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
In game solutions rarely work for out of game problems. If Mammon is making the game not fun for the other players, then this is an out-of-game problem between your actual players, and the only way to fix it is to talk about it.
However, if all the players are cool with Mammon and they understand that it's just a persona, then no problem.
You could have a Geas put on him. The first time each day that he isn't nice he takes 5d10 psychic damage. But you'd have to wait until the character is high enough level to survive it. Or not, depending on how the other players feel about his shenanigans.
Put it on the player to decide. Tell them they have to be nice in some way and hash out with them what that means roleplaying-wise. This allows them to stay in control of their character and they will be much more likely to play along with something they came up with themselves.
So, I was just describing how I use a particular effect in roleplaying that capitalizes on "emotions" in a differen thread.
You want the Player to Role Play, and you want them to roleplay a curse that is simply horrific -- but will also thrill everyone else. You also don't want to chang ethe character's general traits.
So, make it a challenge.
THe curse makes it so that the player has to play the character in social encounters (including with other players) wit the following emotional states:
The cruelest ones are "Fulfilled", "Content", and "Respectful".
But make sure they know this only applies when they engage with other people. Any other people. Including bad guys, if they are people.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Have fun with the fact that his antics will get him in trouble, and even tip off the rest of the players so that feel comfortable in not aiding him when his behavior is unacceptable. Look up tv series where there are characters who tend to be unscrupulous at times and how these activities get them in trouble.
As a bard, hopefully, he is not physical powerful and thus could be prone to intimidation from physical threats. Use his arrogance so he gets tricked into bad business dealings. Have him constantly get caught and tossed in jail. Have the party find ways to resolve conflict by trading away his hoarded wealth. Place him in scenarios where his spells are not helpful or maybe exacerbate the conflict. Doesn't heal the party? That is when a new threat appears or when his riches are stolen (maybe now he will try to remind everyone how much of a team player he is). In summary, leverage the limitations that come along with the character's make up (class, statistics, flaws, etc.) to make for fun scenarios and stories.
If they player wants to roleplay this character then they should accept the natural comedic role that comes with it. Make this work to bring the players together and establish a common format or script so that the god of greed ends up losing out in the end; and their vicious cycle of seeking wealth, and the turmoil and frustrations that accompanies it, repeats itself across the sessions.
In game solutions rarely work for out of game problems. If Mammon is making the game not fun for the other players, then this is an out-of-game problem between your actual players, and the only way to fix it is to talk about it.
I think this is mostly the correct answer - but a short term curse that forces the PC to change up their roleplay could be really entertaining for everyone involved. If the goal is just to get him to basically make a new character though, then just handle that out of character discussions not with in-game mechanics
In game solutions rarely work for out of game problems. If Mammon is making the game not fun for the other players, then this is an out-of-game problem between your actual players, and the only way to fix it is to talk about it.
I think this is mostly the correct answer - but a short term curse that forces the PC to change up their roleplay could be really entertaining for everyone involved. If the goal is just to get him to basically make a new character though, then just handle that out of character discussions not with in-game mechanics
The gole is not to make him make a new character, but to have some fun with the one he have. I have talked to all the players individually and after sessions and so far, everyone is having fun with it.
As others have said, if this is a problem player then you need to sort off the table. But now, to the fun bit:
Curse of Honesty: Whilst cursed, the target cannot retain any material goods which it has gained though morally evil means. What is considered Morally evil is up to the discretion of the DM, and includes, but is not limited to: Murder, Stealing, Confidence Trickery, Withholding Fair Shares, Snatching, Use of magic to decieve or dupe, Extortion, Blackmail, and Threats.
Any items, including coins, which the target gains through such means return to their owner after one hour, or turn to ash if nobody has claim over them (EG the owner was killed and has no heirs). Artefacts and magical items of signifigance instead are teleported to a random location in the world. Furthermore, items and coins gained in this manner appear worthless to others, and cannot be used to trade.
Curse Caveat - Philanthropy. If the target donates coins or items, which they did not gain through Morally Evil means, to a charitable cause, they may keep items or coins which were attained through morally evil means up to half the value of that donated.
The idea being that this is something their character would have to roleplay without changing their personality - it would not change their character, but would bring about a change in them as they realise that stealing does not work any more! They will end up either trying to find a loophole - prompting further punishment - or becoming philanthropic, and stopping stealing.
You could go a slightly different route. Rather than a curse you could have the Bards actions draw the wrong sort of attention and have a Cult of Mammon start to follow the party, maybe trying to get the PC's to join them, or maybe just trying to steal their valuables. Mordenkainens Tome of Foes has an entry for Mammon cultist and one of their abilities is called promise of wealth which makes some of the cultists allies believe a target is carrying great wealth and if the allies attack the target they get advantage on their attack roles. They also get one called Grasping Hands which allows a cultist a Dex/Slieght of Hand check to magically teleport one item from a target into the cultists open hand.
The cult does have to always be around but every now and then when the party has their defenses down, such as when resting in a tavern, one or more the cult spring into action, sneak into their rooms and try to make off with the bards valuables. You could also make it into a bit of a joke, the bard is such a miser that even mammon is aware of them.
Usually for curses I do small role play things rather than big mechanical changes.
For example There is a pretty funny spell gift of gab which rewrites memories of what some one said. You could have a curse where even if he says mean things peoples memories are altered to make him sound like a sappy overly nice suck up.So that if he complains some one smells like arse, they hear how great he thinks their arse smells. You can also make him do nice things like help an old lady cross the street in ways that don't interrupt the player for example doing it while they sleep.
As a fun idea you could play into curse tropes like the were wolf with quotes like . " you wake up covered in a strange dark liquid... " but it's shoe polish and in his sleep he polished all of the parties boots. You could even call it the " curse of the were good boy"
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Hey
I only need to figure out what exactly the cures should do. As it will be triggered by him behaving like a jerk, I would like it to be a curse that forces him to be nice in some way.
Edit
To those who are worried that Mammon might be ruining the game for the others, ore that I am just trying to make him make another character:
We are a pretty small group of people I know separately and I talk to all of them outside of the table. Both as friends and as a DM, to get the feel of where they want to go with their own characters, to know how they feel about the direction the game is going in, and to ask if they are plotting to leave Mammon in a pit somewhere.
The two other players are annoyed at the character but enjoy the dynamic roleplay... Mammon is actually a catalyst for a lot of awesome roleplay, bc it is impossible for the other characters and NPC's to ignore his behavior.
Consider the 2nd Ed magic item, the Amulet of Amiability (updated for 5th ed)
In game solutions rarely work for out of game problems. If Mammon is making the game not fun for the other players, then this is an out-of-game problem between your actual players, and the only way to fix it is to talk about it.
However, if all the players are cool with Mammon and they understand that it's just a persona, then no problem.
You could have a Geas put on him. The first time each day that he isn't nice he takes 5d10 psychic damage. But you'd have to wait until the character is high enough level to survive it. Or not, depending on how the other players feel about his shenanigans.
Put it on the player to decide. Tell them they have to be nice in some way and hash out with them what that means roleplaying-wise. This allows them to stay in control of their character and they will be much more likely to play along with something they came up with themselves.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
So, I was just describing how I use a particular effect in roleplaying that capitalizes on "emotions" in a differen thread.
You want the Player to Role Play, and you want them to roleplay a curse that is simply horrific -- but will also thrill everyone else. You also don't want to chang ethe character's general traits.
So, make it a challenge.
THe curse makes it so that the player has to play the character in social encounters (including with other players) wit the following emotional states:
Accepting, Amused, Confident, Content, Courageous, Ecstatic, Fulfilled, Happy, Inquisitive, Intimate, Joyful, Loving, Optimistic, Peaceful, Proud, Respectful, Sensitive
The cruelest ones are "Fulfilled", "Content", and "Respectful".
But make sure they know this only applies when they engage with other people. Any other people. Including bad guys, if they are people.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
How about the curse is he is a 2nd level bard.
Have fun with the fact that his antics will get him in trouble, and even tip off the rest of the players so that feel comfortable in not aiding him when his behavior is unacceptable. Look up tv series where there are characters who tend to be unscrupulous at times and how these activities get them in trouble.
As a bard, hopefully, he is not physical powerful and thus could be prone to intimidation from physical threats. Use his arrogance so he gets tricked into bad business dealings. Have him constantly get caught and tossed in jail. Have the party find ways to resolve conflict by trading away his hoarded wealth. Place him in scenarios where his spells are not helpful or maybe exacerbate the conflict. Doesn't heal the party? That is when a new threat appears or when his riches are stolen (maybe now he will try to remind everyone how much of a team player he is). In summary, leverage the limitations that come along with the character's make up (class, statistics, flaws, etc.) to make for fun scenarios and stories.
If they player wants to roleplay this character then they should accept the natural comedic role that comes with it. Make this work to bring the players together and establish a common format or script so that the god of greed ends up losing out in the end; and their vicious cycle of seeking wealth, and the turmoil and frustrations that accompanies it, repeats itself across the sessions.
I think this is mostly the correct answer - but a short term curse that forces the PC to change up their roleplay could be really entertaining for everyone involved. If the goal is just to get him to basically make a new character though, then just handle that out of character discussions not with in-game mechanics
The gole is not to make him make a new character, but to have some fun with the one he have.
I have talked to all the players individually and after sessions and so far, everyone is having fun with it.
As others have said, if this is a problem player then you need to sort off the table. But now, to the fun bit:
The idea being that this is something their character would have to roleplay without changing their personality - it would not change their character, but would bring about a change in them as they realise that stealing does not work any more! They will end up either trying to find a loophole - prompting further punishment - or becoming philanthropic, and stopping stealing.
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You could go a slightly different route. Rather than a curse you could have the Bards actions draw the wrong sort of attention and have a Cult of Mammon start to follow the party, maybe trying to get the PC's to join them, or maybe just trying to steal their valuables. Mordenkainens Tome of Foes has an entry for Mammon cultist and one of their abilities is called promise of wealth which makes some of the cultists allies believe a target is carrying great wealth and if the allies attack the target they get advantage on their attack roles. They also get one called Grasping Hands which allows a cultist a Dex/Slieght of Hand check to magically teleport one item from a target into the cultists open hand.
The cult does have to always be around but every now and then when the party has their defenses down, such as when resting in a tavern, one or more the cult spring into action, sneak into their rooms and try to make off with the bards valuables. You could also make it into a bit of a joke, the bard is such a miser that even mammon is aware of them.
Usually for curses I do small role play things rather than big mechanical changes.
For example There is a pretty funny spell gift of gab which rewrites memories of what some one said. You could have a curse where even if he says mean things peoples memories are altered to make him sound like a sappy overly nice suck up.So that if he complains some one smells like arse, they hear how great he thinks their arse smells. You can also make him do nice things like help an old lady cross the street in ways that don't interrupt the player for example doing it while they sleep.
As a fun idea you could play into curse tropes like the were wolf with quotes like . " you wake up covered in a strange dark liquid... " but it's shoe polish and in his sleep he polished all of the parties boots. You could even call it the " curse of the were good boy"