Hi all. I'm fairly new to DnD and even newer to DMing, but I had an idea for my campaign and wanted to run it by some more experienced DMs and players here. I thought it might be a fun idea for a session or two if the players were forced to swap bodies, at the intervention of one of the deities in the world. He's very much a trickster god, and that sort of shenanigan is right up his alley. However, I'm concerned that my players won't react well to it, and might be mad that they have to play a "new character" for a while.
A couple of things to note.
1)The players will simply swap character sheets with each other, but may retain their original character's personality. This means they will lose all of their old stats, feats, abilities, and equipment, as it will be replaced by whatever the other player has.
2)It will be temporary, and will be made clear as such. The players will be told that if they complete a fairly straightforward quest for the god, he will switch them back.
3)The players will not be forced to spend any gold, unless they really want to, meaning that this should not take them long. I may even have the God teleport them in some fashion closer to their objective to facilitate things if I sense apprehension.
4)Most importantly, this whole event will be optional. I would hate to force players into any situation in general, but especially on a quest like this, it will not be mandatory. If they follow the breadcrumbs to this quest, it will be clear that it is a sidequest and only to be done for personal glory or to satisfy curiosity. There will be clues sprinkled along this route to indicate to them the fickleness of this god, so it's not like they won't be forewarned.
My question is, has anyone does this sort of thing before in a campaign, and if so, how was it received? Were your players livid that they had to swap character sheets? Did they try to sabotage each other? Did they really enjoy it and want to stay swapped?
4)Most importantly, this whole event will be optional. I would hate to force players into any situation in general, but especially on a quest like this, it will not be mandatory. If they follow the breadcrumbs to this quest, it will be clear that it is a sidequest and only to be done for personal glory or to satisfy curiosity. There will be clues sprinkled along this route to indicate to them the fickleness of this god, so it's not like they won't be forewarned.
I've never done anything like this, but given your point that I quoted, I say go for it. It could be fun! Just be very sure that you don't let them accidentally kill the other characters body. It kinda has to stay safe enough for it to just be fun. Else you risk hurt feelings, etc.
Thanks for your input! I agree that having a character be killed because of another player would be a bad idea, so I'll need to ensure that death is off the table.
My idea for the initial body swap is that they anger the god who in turn kills them. Realizing this is too harsh, he brings them back to life, but in each others' bodies. Maybe then, if the players do die while in this state, the price is that they end up switching again, with the caveat being that they still can't return to their initial bodies until they complete his quest. That might serve as a way to make death still a threat, without running the risk of Player A killing off Player B's character and Player B getting mad.
I'm glad you pointed that out, because I don't think I would have thought about that otherwise.
I've done this, without telling my PCs that its temporary. It went over fine, but that is because my players know that I am a cruel, yet fun DM. They had a blast, only 1 character died.
perhaps consider that if a player conspires/deliberately kills another persons character (or through inaction allows the character to die), the deity will not let that person return to their original PC. The deity would compel them to start a completely new character, or take no further part in the campaign (unless as a ghost).
You could play it that if a character dies, make it be they are dead until this quest is complete, so it feels real enough to them and they think they are dead but then at the end of the quest and they have satisfied the god it turns out it was in a pick universe or all just in a collective day dream.
Great ideas everyone, thanks! I'm glad that the concept of players swapping sheets for short time is at least not the worst idea ever haha.
I would hope to avoid death in that instance, since I'm not sure if my players fully trust me yet haha, but if they do die, I like those ideas. Adding in caveats within the context of the game to give them reasons not to kill themselves is smart, because otherwise that is for sure the first thing they would do.
I would advise about telling the players ahead of time that if they die they'll be brought back. Or at least hint at it. Otherwise it makes it look like you made a mistake and are trying to fix it as opposed to something you had planned ahead of time.
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Hi all. I'm fairly new to DnD and even newer to DMing, but I had an idea for my campaign and wanted to run it by some more experienced DMs and players here. I thought it might be a fun idea for a session or two if the players were forced to swap bodies, at the intervention of one of the deities in the world. He's very much a trickster god, and that sort of shenanigan is right up his alley. However, I'm concerned that my players won't react well to it, and might be mad that they have to play a "new character" for a while.
A couple of things to note.
1)The players will simply swap character sheets with each other, but may retain their original character's personality. This means they will lose all of their old stats, feats, abilities, and equipment, as it will be replaced by whatever the other player has.
2)It will be temporary, and will be made clear as such. The players will be told that if they complete a fairly straightforward quest for the god, he will switch them back.
3)The players will not be forced to spend any gold, unless they really want to, meaning that this should not take them long. I may even have the God teleport them in some fashion closer to their objective to facilitate things if I sense apprehension.
4)Most importantly, this whole event will be optional. I would hate to force players into any situation in general, but especially on a quest like this, it will not be mandatory. If they follow the breadcrumbs to this quest, it will be clear that it is a sidequest and only to be done for personal glory or to satisfy curiosity. There will be clues sprinkled along this route to indicate to them the fickleness of this god, so it's not like they won't be forewarned.
My question is, has anyone does this sort of thing before in a campaign, and if so, how was it received? Were your players livid that they had to swap character sheets? Did they try to sabotage each other? Did they really enjoy it and want to stay swapped?
I've never done anything like this, but given your point that I quoted, I say go for it. It could be fun! Just be very sure that you don't let them accidentally kill the other characters body. It kinda has to stay safe enough for it to just be fun. Else you risk hurt feelings, etc.
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Thanks for your input! I agree that having a character be killed because of another player would be a bad idea, so I'll need to ensure that death is off the table.
My idea for the initial body swap is that they anger the god who in turn kills them. Realizing this is too harsh, he brings them back to life, but in each others' bodies. Maybe then, if the players do die while in this state, the price is that they end up switching again, with the caveat being that they still can't return to their initial bodies until they complete his quest. That might serve as a way to make death still a threat, without running the risk of Player A killing off Player B's character and Player B getting mad.
I'm glad you pointed that out, because I don't think I would have thought about that otherwise.
I've done this, without telling my PCs that its temporary. It went over fine, but that is because my players know that I am a cruel, yet fun DM. They had a blast, only 1 character died.
Hi,
perhaps consider that if a player conspires/deliberately kills another persons character (or through inaction allows the character to die), the deity will not let that person return to their original PC. The deity would compel them to start a completely new character, or take no further part in the campaign (unless as a ghost).
S
You could play it that if a character dies, make it be they are dead until this quest is complete, so it feels real enough to them and they think they are dead but then at the end of the quest and they have satisfied the god it turns out it was in a pick universe or all just in a collective day dream.
Great ideas everyone, thanks! I'm glad that the concept of players swapping sheets for short time is at least not the worst idea ever haha.
I would hope to avoid death in that instance, since I'm not sure if my players fully trust me yet haha, but if they do die, I like those ideas. Adding in caveats within the context of the game to give them reasons not to kill themselves is smart, because otherwise that is for sure the first thing they would do.
I would advise about telling the players ahead of time that if they die they'll be brought back. Or at least hint at it. Otherwise it makes it look like you made a mistake and are trying to fix it as opposed to something you had planned ahead of time.