So, I am running a campaign for my family (my dad as the aforementioned wood elf ranger, my mom as a halfling eldritch knight and my sister as a jungle elf cleric, and, if my girlfriend joins, there will be a drow rogue). We are almost at the end of Dragon of Icespire Peak (party just got done murdering the Stone Cold Reavers, and have decided to rest before continuing on to the rest of Icespire Hold), and I am going to create my own story line out there. I am planning on one of the party's main allies to be a female half-orc divination wizard (I used the diviner stat block from VGtM) named Juliana, and I am concerned about my dad's ranger's reaction to this particular NPC.
My dad's character, Dayereth had orc as his favored enemy because his tribe or clan of wood elves was destroyed by orcs or some edgy crap backstory like that, and I am running my own homebrew version of Forgotten Realms where drow, goblinoids, and orcs can actually be of any alignment, and the only evil orcs are those corrupted by Grummsh (instead of Grummsh creating orcs), and those are the only orcs that actually raid. However, Dayereth is still extremely racist against orcs. Juliana Agatha, the Diviner, is a key NPC, and I want to make as sure as possible that Dayereth doesn't murder her (despite being a half-orc, not a full orc). For mechanical protections for this NPC against Dayereth, I am planning Dayereth's favored enemy feature work on half-orcs, since it would assume full orcs. Are there any other spells that I can add to Juliana's stat blocks or anything else mechanical that ensures that she would be adequately protected against Dayereth. Dayereth is a min-maxed gloomstalker ranger, btw that will reach 6th level after finishing DoIP.
While you could probably come up with any number of bits of plot armor to protect the half orc, you should not. Nor should you adjust a class power for the purposes of a single encounter (and honestly there’s very little impact from favored enemy anyway).
Just give her normal spells and items for her level and see what happens. This is an ideal opportunity for role playing and character growth for the ranger. And for the rest of the party to stop him from acting on his impulses. And if he picks a fight, he and the party need to deal with the consequences: if it’s in town, the watch will be called, if he kills this NPC, he’ll be wanted for murder, and she won’t be able to give them information and it will makes things harder for them. And if he doesn’t kill her, she’ll still be angry at them and probably not willing to work with the party.
Never hang the whole campaign on one person. just lay things out and force PCs to deal with the consequences of their actions.
Consequences, always plan on consequences. What happens, if he murders her? Was she well connected, so that he will be hunted by the authorities or whatever? Does the information that go missing with her death empower the bad guys? What else can happen, that might really really make him think twice about his choice to murder her? e.g. let her have a human child, they did not know anything about, crying over the dead body of its mom + being chased for cold blooded murder.
Think about ways to show your players, that actions matter and have consequences.
I'd make sure any information from the NPC can be aquired regardless of how your PCs react. If there is immediate important information (plot can't move forward without it), I'd have the wizard store a note with the information somewhere the party would be found.
You could slow reveal the Orc heritage. Maybe her look favours her human side. Allow them to form a connection and then eventually reveal her secret which initially she didn’t realize she needed to keep secret until she realized how violently racist this ranger is. If I understand your setting, you could present that to her by having an encounter with Orcs that are just going about their day.
One other thought: is your world such that that they could straight up murder her for basically no reason and there are no consequences? You have a few tools on this front. First and most obvious, the authorities and whatever civilization is in place. Second, assuming you use alignment, is there nobody good aligned in the party to advocate for her? Certainly there there will be no one left in the party with good alignment if they allow the ranger to murder her.
You could slow reveal the Orc heritage. Maybe her look favours her human side. Allow them to form a connection and then eventually reveal her secret which initially she didn’t realize she needed to keep secret until she realized how violently racist this ranger is. If I understand your setting, you could present that to her by having an encounter with Orcs that are just going about their day.
One other thought: is your world such that that they could straight up murder her for basically no reason and there are no consequences? You have a few tools on this front. First and most obvious, the authorities and whatever civilization is in place. Second, assuming you use alignment, is there nobody good aligned in the party to advocate for her? Certainly there there will be no one left in the party with good alignment if they allow the ranger to murder her.
I think that it would be smart to have her look human.
All three player characters are good-aligned (though that is questionable when it comes to Dayereth), with me giving them mostly good or neutral-aligned NPCs. The half-orc wizard in question is neutral good. I do not allow evil-aligned PCs, death domain clerics, or oathbreaker paladins in my party.
They are going to be in Neverwinter after they slay the dragon at the end of Dragon of Icespire Peak, so they will be subject to all of its laws. They can't get away with murder. However, I think outside of civilization (the first two missions will be in Neverwinter Wood) might be an issue.
Consequences, always plan on consequences. What happens, if he murders her? Was she well connected, so that he will be hunted by the authorities or whatever? Does the information that go missing with her death empower the bad guys? What else can happen, that might really really make him think twice about his choice to murder her? e.g. let her have a human child, they did not know anything about, crying over the dead body of its mom + being chased for cold blooded murder.
Think about ways to show your players, that actions matter and have consequences.
If he kills Juliana, the CG tiefling vengeance paladin NPC I created would smite him.
Juliana has a 13-year-old tiefling apprentice who is pretty much her daughter. Her daughter was kidnapped by the Cult of Asmodeus, so Juliana would want the party's help.
Is there any particular reason you need to introduce a half-orc wizard to a party that has an orc racist member? Is there any reason why you have made a paladin that will smite said racist character if need be?
Sorry buddy but, sounds like you got a passive-aggressive issue with your dad that you are projecting into D&D!
I agree with the above poster. Why did you, as a DM, make up a half-orc character that you know will result potential intra-party strife? Are you trying to set up party infighting on purpose? If so, I recommend against it, unless you have already talked to the players and that is the sort of game (backbiting, PVP, etc) that they want to have.
It's not like some Super-DM came down from on high and made you put a half-orc NPC into the campaign. You chose to do this... you can just as easily un-choose. Make it a half-ELVEN instead of half-orc wizard and you avoid the issue.
Again, unless having party infighting and the topic of racism and prejudice are major campaign themes, and all members at the table have already agreed to this.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Hope this doesn't come across as dog-piling, but I agree with the other posters about re-examining this pending conflict. Is your goal to introduce some tension and provide an avenue for Dayereth to grow? ( perhaps this orc has a parallel backstory where her orc-parent was killed by a gang of drunks with anti-orc tendencies, or maybe she has a specific skill she would be willing to teach Dayereth provided he treats her with courtesy and respect). If it's merely a "trap" for you to be able to punish a player for doing things that you don't like but that they have heavily signaled their player would do, have a discussion outside of the game. If you're the DM and you don't want characters in your campaign to be bigoted or prejudiced, let the players know that, but don't spring it on them as a way to beat them.
Also, I would make sure that you're really up front about the "are orcs evil or not" thing and make sure it's not just cool backstory you know but not something that the players haven't run into yet. Ice Spire Peak definitely leans towards the classic Tolkien-esque world where there are the "civilized" races that more or less get along, and then races who have an inherent and pretty much unquestioned nature that involves pillage, violence and predation. If your players have carved their way through a bunch of bloodthirsty orcs and now this NPC will be the first one offering them sage advice and chamomile tea, it's a bit jarring. Have them see and interact with some other goblins or orcs who run bakeries, tend to the local chapels and shrines, or are captains of the local guard. If you signal that these races are a welcome and integrated part of society in your campaign, then Dayereth's behavior will seem problematic and regressive to the other characters in your world, which is what you're going for by the sounds of it.
Consequences, always plan on consequences. What happens, if he murders her? Was she well connected, so that he will be hunted by the authorities or whatever? Does the information that go missing with her death empower the bad guys? What else can happen, that might really really make him think twice about his choice to murder her? e.g. let her have a human child, they did not know anything about, crying over the dead body of its mom
Maybe she has an adopted wood elven kid
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So, I am running a campaign for my family (my dad as the aforementioned wood elf ranger, my mom as a halfling eldritch knight and my sister as a jungle elf cleric, and, if my girlfriend joins, there will be a drow rogue). We are almost at the end of Dragon of Icespire Peak (party just got done murdering the Stone Cold Reavers, and have decided to rest before continuing on to the rest of Icespire Hold), and I am going to create my own story line out there. I am planning on one of the party's main allies to be a female half-orc divination wizard (I used the diviner stat block from VGtM) named Juliana, and I am concerned about my dad's ranger's reaction to this particular NPC.
My dad's character, Dayereth had orc as his favored enemy because his tribe or clan of wood elves was destroyed by orcs or some edgy crap backstory like that, and I am running my own homebrew version of Forgotten Realms where drow, goblinoids, and orcs can actually be of any alignment, and the only evil orcs are those corrupted by Grummsh (instead of Grummsh creating orcs), and those are the only orcs that actually raid. However, Dayereth is still extremely racist against orcs. Juliana Agatha, the Diviner, is a key NPC, and I want to make as sure as possible that Dayereth doesn't murder her (despite being a half-orc, not a full orc). For mechanical protections for this NPC against Dayereth, I am planning Dayereth's favored enemy feature work on half-orcs, since it would assume full orcs. Are there any other spells that I can add to Juliana's stat blocks or anything else mechanical that ensures that she would be adequately protected against Dayereth. Dayereth is a min-maxed gloomstalker ranger, btw that will reach 6th level after finishing DoIP.
While you could probably come up with any number of bits of plot armor to protect the half orc, you should not. Nor should you adjust a class power for the purposes of a single encounter (and honestly there’s very little impact from favored enemy anyway).
Just give her normal spells and items for her level and see what happens. This is an ideal opportunity for role playing and character growth for the ranger. And for the rest of the party to stop him from acting on his impulses.
And if he picks a fight, he and the party need to deal with the consequences: if it’s in town, the watch will be called, if he kills this NPC, he’ll be wanted for murder, and she won’t be able to give them information and it will makes things harder for them. And if he doesn’t kill her, she’ll still be angry at them and probably not willing to work with the party.
Never hang the whole campaign on one person. just lay things out and force PCs to deal with the consequences of their actions.
Consequences, always plan on consequences. What happens, if he murders her? Was she well connected, so that he will be hunted by the authorities or whatever? Does the information that go missing with her death empower the bad guys? What else can happen, that might really really make him think twice about his choice to murder her? e.g. let her have a human child, they did not know anything about, crying over the dead body of its mom + being chased for cold blooded murder.
Think about ways to show your players, that actions matter and have consequences.
I'd make sure any information from the NPC can be aquired regardless of how your PCs react. If there is immediate important information (plot can't move forward without it), I'd have the wizard store a note with the information somewhere the party would be found.
You could slow reveal the Orc heritage. Maybe her look favours her human side. Allow them to form a connection and then eventually reveal her secret which initially she didn’t realize she needed to keep secret until she realized how violently racist this ranger is. If I understand your setting, you could present that to her by having an encounter with Orcs that are just going about their day.
One other thought: is your world such that that they could straight up murder her for basically no reason and there are no consequences? You have a few tools on this front. First and most obvious, the authorities and whatever civilization is in place. Second, assuming you use alignment, is there nobody good aligned in the party to advocate for her? Certainly there there will be no one left in the party with good alignment if they allow the ranger to murder her.
I think that it would be smart to have her look human.
All three player characters are good-aligned (though that is questionable when it comes to Dayereth), with me giving them mostly good or neutral-aligned NPCs. The half-orc wizard in question is neutral good. I do not allow evil-aligned PCs, death domain clerics, or oathbreaker paladins in my party.
They are going to be in Neverwinter after they slay the dragon at the end of Dragon of Icespire Peak, so they will be subject to all of its laws. They can't get away with murder. However, I think outside of civilization (the first two missions will be in Neverwinter Wood) might be an issue.
If he kills Juliana, the CG tiefling vengeance paladin NPC I created would smite him.
Juliana has a 13-year-old tiefling apprentice who is pretty much her daughter. Her daughter was kidnapped by the Cult of Asmodeus, so Juliana would want the party's help.
Is there any particular reason you need to introduce a half-orc wizard to a party that has an orc racist member? Is there any reason why you have made a paladin that will smite said racist character if need be?
Sorry buddy but, sounds like you got a passive-aggressive issue with your dad that you are projecting into D&D!
I agree with the above poster. Why did you, as a DM, make up a half-orc character that you know will result potential intra-party strife? Are you trying to set up party infighting on purpose? If so, I recommend against it, unless you have already talked to the players and that is the sort of game (backbiting, PVP, etc) that they want to have.
It's not like some Super-DM came down from on high and made you put a half-orc NPC into the campaign. You chose to do this... you can just as easily un-choose. Make it a half-ELVEN instead of half-orc wizard and you avoid the issue.
Again, unless having party infighting and the topic of racism and prejudice are major campaign themes, and all members at the table have already agreed to this.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Hope this doesn't come across as dog-piling, but I agree with the other posters about re-examining this pending conflict. Is your goal to introduce some tension and provide an avenue for Dayereth to grow? ( perhaps this orc has a parallel backstory where her orc-parent was killed by a gang of drunks with anti-orc tendencies, or maybe she has a specific skill she would be willing to teach Dayereth provided he treats her with courtesy and respect). If it's merely a "trap" for you to be able to punish a player for doing things that you don't like but that they have heavily signaled their player would do, have a discussion outside of the game. If you're the DM and you don't want characters in your campaign to be bigoted or prejudiced, let the players know that, but don't spring it on them as a way to beat them.
Also, I would make sure that you're really up front about the "are orcs evil or not" thing and make sure it's not just cool backstory you know but not something that the players haven't run into yet. Ice Spire Peak definitely leans towards the classic Tolkien-esque world where there are the "civilized" races that more or less get along, and then races who have an inherent and pretty much unquestioned nature that involves pillage, violence and predation. If your players have carved their way through a bunch of bloodthirsty orcs and now this NPC will be the first one offering them sage advice and chamomile tea, it's a bit jarring. Have them see and interact with some other goblins or orcs who run bakeries, tend to the local chapels and shrines, or are captains of the local guard. If you signal that these races are a welcome and integrated part of society in your campaign, then Dayereth's behavior will seem problematic and regressive to the other characters in your world, which is what you're going for by the sounds of it.
Maybe she has an adopted wood elven kid