Hello :) First post here, just looking for some advice.
Little backstory, I'm a new DM, originally I was nervous about it and I'm starting to find my feet. I've been a player with friends weekly for around 3 years still going strong - our friend group is scattered so this has all been online. My brother and stepdad have had a big interest in d&d as well, long before I have, but have had bad luck with groups. They finally had one, and it sadly fell apart. So I naturally thought - I can DM for them. I've run the starter set Dragons of Stormwreck Isle and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. I picked a few modules to suggest as we move on and we've decided on Princes of the Apocalypse. A big undertaking for sure, but I never do things by halves and I'm close with my family, they're super supportive... At this point, when I ask my question, you should probably expect spoilers maybe :)
I've given them a game expectations sheet and at the end of our starter set campaign, I ran a session zero. I have one major concern and I'm not sure how to overcome it. One player, my sister in law, has a severe fear of snakes - it would be easy to swap out a minor creature but unfortunately Marlos Urnrayle - prophet of the earth cult - is literally a Medusa. How would you lovely experienced DM's recommend I approach this? Do I sit down with her, tell her and spoil part of the game and see what her feelings on this are? Completely change the race of the enemy and say nothing?
As a little extra - previous to knowing about SIL fear of snakes as originally my brother didn't believe a session zero was necessary (this has helped everyone realise that yes - yes it is), they fought a fire snake with her character right in it's face. She was okay since I didn't go too deep on the description of it at the time.
There is a 99.9% chance I am also overthinking and overcomplicating this hah
Definitely sit-down if it is her as a personal fear. Let her know that there are snake like creatures in this module and in the game when you set her down to discuss her fear. This can be done without any spoilers, as this can be a problem in playing the game itself.
Bring up several snake like monsters and of course medusa. Ask her about her comfort with snakes in a game. Seeing a painting of a snake is different from a TV/Movie and that is also different from seeing one in real life. Find out where she sits among these different depictions. If she can see a picture of medusa as long as it does not "move" then use it. Tailor your description to what she can handle with no problem.
It is possible that this fear in real life can translate to a character flaw in game but will not limit, but prefer you bring in snakes so she can kill them and be like St. Pat and provoke a genocide of all snake like creatures.
So, I see several approaches. Which one is best depends on the person.
Just swap it out. There's no way that being a medusa is such a load-bearing attribute that the adventure falls apart if you do. Maybe make them a human with an "amulet of the basilisk" if you need to keep the petrification
Give them a heads-up, so they can prepare themself.
Since it's a medusa, the snakes are not the point. Don't mention them explicitly.
#1 is probably safest. A combination of 2 and 3 is also probably workable.
So, I see several approaches. Which one is best depends on the person.
Just swap it out. There's no way that being a medusa is such a load-bearing attribute that the adventure falls apart if you do. Maybe make them a human with an "amulet of the basilisk" if you need to keep the petrification
Give them a heads-up, so they can prepare themself.
Since it's a medusa, the snakes are not the point. Don't mention them explicitly.
#1 is probably safest. A combination of 2 and 3 is also probably workable.
I agree here. Just re-skin them. They’re an elf or an earth genasi or whatever. They can turn people to stone with a look because it’s a power granted to them by their god. I wouldn’t use an item because then the players will want it for themselves. Maybe their snake hair attack becomes a poisoned dagger.
Re-skinning is a great strategy just in general. It’s good for these situations, and also for more experienced players. Sure, they know what a mind flayer can do, but describe it differently, and now it’s some kind of new, unknown enemy.
Just from a quick image search for "Marlos Urnrayle" online, it looks like the only medusa-like feature is the hair- he doesn't seem to have a snake-like lower body, the way some medusa depictions have. So if it's just the hair, and you want to just remove the snake imagery from it, you could rule (as DM) that medusas have some variance in appearance: the snakes can be tentacles, eels, eyestalks, tiny grasping hands, or whatever other horrible appearance isn't going to run into a player's real-world phobias. At that point you've not only eliminated the potential problem, but you've also added some flair to the setting: a new take on a familiar idea.
I also saw a mention that the character's transformation was a curse brought on by his vanity (hopefully that's not a spoiler!), so it makes sense that it would vary between individuals, to give the person an appearance that they found most repulsive.
So, I see several approaches. Which one is best depends on the person.
Just swap it out. There's no way that being a medusa is such a load-bearing attribute that the adventure falls apart if you do. Maybe make them a human with an "amulet of the basilisk" if you need to keep the petrification
Give them a heads-up, so they can prepare themself.
Since it's a medusa, the snakes are not the point. Don't mention them explicitly.
#1 is probably safest. A combination of 2 and 3 is also probably workable.
I agree here. Just re-skin them. They’re an elf or an earth genasi or whatever. They can turn people to stone with a look because it’s a power granted to them by their god. I wouldn’t use an item because then the players will want it for themselves. Maybe their snake hair attack becomes a poisoned dagger.
Re-skinning is a great strategy just in general. It’s good for these situations, and also for more experienced players. Sure, they know what a mind flayer can do, but describe it differently, and now it’s some kind of new, unknown enemy.
Initially I thought it would be difficult to reskin, especially from the stat block - but as far as I can tell it is actually only as a description
Just from a quick image search for "Marlos Urnrayle" online, it looks like the only medusa-like feature is the hair- he doesn't seem to have a snake-like lower body, the way some medusa depictions have. So if it's just the hair, and you want to just remove the snake imagery from it, you could rule (as DM) that medusas have some variance in appearance: the snakes can be tentacles, eels, eyestalks, tiny grasping hands, or whatever other horrible appearance isn't going to run into a player's real-world phobias. At that point you've not only eliminated the potential problem, but you've also added some flair to the setting: a new take on a familiar idea.
I also saw a mention that the character's transformation was a curse brought on by his vanity (hopefully that's not a spoiler!), so it makes sense that it would vary between individuals, to give the person an appearance that they found most repulsive.
Thanks! Don't worry about spoilers. Tiny grasping hands... :'D definitely on the list now
It's definitely easy to work around player fears, it sounds like you've gotten some great answers so far but here are some things I've encountered over the years that help with understanding player comfort levels.
1. You can always ask about what would be too far for a player with a phobia. Perhaps snakes are completely fine as long as you don't describe them in detail. It might also be fine to *describe* but not *show* the creature. Or it's possible that the fear of snakes only applies to actual physical snakes in their proximity. I have a fear of large dogs, for example, but only when they're in immediate physical proximity to me. I can watch videos of large dogs, talk about large dogs, see pictures and read descriptions about large dogs, and only if one is right next to me do I begin to get uncomfortable. I've never been uncomfortable with the presence of dogs in a TTRPG, and one of my characters had a mastiff companion... but in real life I couldn't handle that very well.
2. Flavor is mutable and changing things is allowed. Obviously using a module makes it harder to make broad sweeping changes since sometimes there's details that get lost in translation, but I've had players that I've run through the same sessions, introduced to the same characters, and had the same encounters with the same creatures between several different groups and told the story differently each time to tailor it to their party composition, player experience level, and mood of the campaign. It saves me a ton of prep work because I can reuse the core content I've already made, but it lets me give each group the experience they (hopefully) enjoy the most. The same works for phobias- I've had arachnophobic players and had to dance around the use of spiders and spider based monsters before. As long as you know in advance, it's relatively easy to substitute out monsters and rebuild encounters on the mechanical side, and flavor is even easier to replace than mechanics.
It sounds like you've been pretty thoughtful and well prepared so I think you're set, though. And I love the tiny grasping hands idea too.
It's definitely easy to work around player fears, it sounds like you've gotten some great answers so far but here are some things I've encountered over the years that help with understanding player comfort levels.
1. You can always ask about what would be too far for a player with a phobia. Perhaps snakes are completely fine as long as you don't describe them in detail. It might also be fine to *describe* but not *show* the creature. Or it's possible that the fear of snakes only applies to actual physical snakes in their proximity. I have a fear of large dogs, for example, but only when they're in immediate physical proximity to me. I can watch videos of large dogs, talk about large dogs, see pictures and read descriptions about large dogs, and only if one is right next to me do I begin to get uncomfortable. I've never been uncomfortable with the presence of dogs in a TTRPG, and one of my characters had a mastiff companion... but in real life I couldn't handle that very well.
2. Flavor is mutable and changing things is allowed. Obviously using a module makes it harder to make broad sweeping changes since sometimes there's details that get lost in translation, but I've had players that I've run through the same sessions, introduced to the same characters, and had the same encounters with the same creatures between several different groups and told the story differently each time to tailor it to their party composition, player experience level, and mood of the campaign. It saves me a ton of prep work because I can reuse the core content I've already made, but it lets me give each group the experience they (hopefully) enjoy the most. The same works for phobias- I've had arachnophobic players and had to dance around the use of spiders and spider based monsters before. As long as you know in advance, it's relatively easy to substitute out monsters and rebuild encounters on the mechanical side, and flavor is even easier to replace than mechanics.
It sounds like you've been pretty thoughtful and well prepared so I think you're set, though. And I love the tiny grasping hands idea too.
Yeah, replies have been fantastic :) I plan to have a session with her anyway - as she's quite daunted by the character creation process so it's definitely in the plans to discuss while I help her. Perhaps I'll make sure the model I use doesn't show it and I don't describe it, maybe I'll need to change the flavour entirely but I'll have the conversation and I definitely feel more confident to do so
Thanks a lot for all the help :D
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Hello :) First post here, just looking for some advice.
Little backstory, I'm a new DM, originally I was nervous about it and I'm starting to find my feet. I've been a player with friends weekly for around 3 years still going strong - our friend group is scattered so this has all been online. My brother and stepdad have had a big interest in d&d as well, long before I have, but have had bad luck with groups. They finally had one, and it sadly fell apart. So I naturally thought - I can DM for them. I've run the starter set Dragons of Stormwreck Isle and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. I picked a few modules to suggest as we move on and we've decided on Princes of the Apocalypse. A big undertaking for sure, but I never do things by halves and I'm close with my family, they're super supportive... At this point, when I ask my question, you should probably expect spoilers maybe :)
I've given them a game expectations sheet and at the end of our starter set campaign, I ran a session zero. I have one major concern and I'm not sure how to overcome it. One player, my sister in law, has a severe fear of snakes - it would be easy to swap out a minor creature but unfortunately Marlos Urnrayle - prophet of the earth cult - is literally a Medusa. How would you lovely experienced DM's recommend I approach this? Do I sit down with her, tell her and spoil part of the game and see what her feelings on this are? Completely change the race of the enemy and say nothing?
As a little extra - previous to knowing about SIL fear of snakes as originally my brother didn't believe a session zero was necessary (this has helped everyone realise that yes - yes it is), they fought a fire snake with her character right in it's face. She was okay since I didn't go too deep on the description of it at the time.
There is a 99.9% chance I am also overthinking and overcomplicating this hah
has a severe fear of snakes
Is this her as a person or the character.
Definitely sit-down if it is her as a personal fear. Let her know that there are snake like creatures in this module and in the game when you set her down to discuss her fear. This can be done without any spoilers, as this can be a problem in playing the game itself.
Bring up several snake like monsters and of course medusa. Ask her about her comfort with snakes in a game. Seeing a painting of a snake is different from a TV/Movie and that is also different from seeing one in real life. Find out where she sits among these different depictions. If she can see a picture of medusa as long as it does not "move" then use it. Tailor your description to what she can handle with no problem.
It is possible that this fear in real life can translate to a character flaw in game but will not limit, but prefer you bring in snakes so she can kill them and be like St. Pat and provoke a genocide of all snake like creatures.
So, I see several approaches. Which one is best depends on the person.
#1 is probably safest. A combination of 2 and 3 is also probably workable.
I agree here. Just re-skin them. They’re an elf or an earth genasi or whatever. They can turn people to stone with a look because it’s a power granted to them by their god. I wouldn’t use an item because then the players will want it for themselves. Maybe their snake hair attack becomes a poisoned dagger.
Re-skinning is a great strategy just in general. It’s good for these situations, and also for more experienced players. Sure, they know what a mind flayer can do, but describe it differently, and now it’s some kind of new, unknown enemy.
Just from a quick image search for "Marlos Urnrayle" online, it looks like the only medusa-like feature is the hair- he doesn't seem to have a snake-like lower body, the way some medusa depictions have. So if it's just the hair, and you want to just remove the snake imagery from it, you could rule (as DM) that medusas have some variance in appearance: the snakes can be tentacles, eels, eyestalks, tiny grasping hands, or whatever other horrible appearance isn't going to run into a player's real-world phobias. At that point you've not only eliminated the potential problem, but you've also added some flair to the setting: a new take on a familiar idea.
I also saw a mention that the character's transformation was a curse brought on by his vanity (hopefully that's not a spoiler!), so it makes sense that it would vary between individuals, to give the person an appearance that they found most repulsive.
Initially I thought it would be difficult to reskin, especially from the stat block - but as far as I can tell it is actually only as a description
Thanks! Don't worry about spoilers. Tiny grasping hands... :'D definitely on the list now
It's definitely easy to work around player fears, it sounds like you've gotten some great answers so far but here are some things I've encountered over the years that help with understanding player comfort levels.
1. You can always ask about what would be too far for a player with a phobia. Perhaps snakes are completely fine as long as you don't describe them in detail. It might also be fine to *describe* but not *show* the creature. Or it's possible that the fear of snakes only applies to actual physical snakes in their proximity. I have a fear of large dogs, for example, but only when they're in immediate physical proximity to me. I can watch videos of large dogs, talk about large dogs, see pictures and read descriptions about large dogs, and only if one is right next to me do I begin to get uncomfortable. I've never been uncomfortable with the presence of dogs in a TTRPG, and one of my characters had a mastiff companion... but in real life I couldn't handle that very well.
2. Flavor is mutable and changing things is allowed. Obviously using a module makes it harder to make broad sweeping changes since sometimes there's details that get lost in translation, but I've had players that I've run through the same sessions, introduced to the same characters, and had the same encounters with the same creatures between several different groups and told the story differently each time to tailor it to their party composition, player experience level, and mood of the campaign. It saves me a ton of prep work because I can reuse the core content I've already made, but it lets me give each group the experience they (hopefully) enjoy the most. The same works for phobias- I've had arachnophobic players and had to dance around the use of spiders and spider based monsters before. As long as you know in advance, it's relatively easy to substitute out monsters and rebuild encounters on the mechanical side, and flavor is even easier to replace than mechanics.
It sounds like you've been pretty thoughtful and well prepared so I think you're set, though. And I love the tiny grasping hands idea too.
Yeah, replies have been fantastic :) I plan to have a session with her anyway - as she's quite daunted by the character creation process so it's definitely in the plans to discuss while I help her. Perhaps I'll make sure the model I use doesn't show it and I don't describe it, maybe I'll need to change the flavour entirely but I'll have the conversation and I definitely feel more confident to do so
Thanks a lot for all the help :D