I've given a PC an elven blade that allows her once per day to caste the Haste or Slow spell upon a successful hit with it. This wasn't revealed when the wizard cast identify on it. This was going to be revealed as she went through a trial created by the now-dead ancestral owners of the blade and was going to open a big personal story arc for her as the blade continues to gain attributes as the PC levels up.
However, the PC's are in the middle of a fight with a BBEG and this attribute of the sword would really help this PC right now. Do I activate the ability now during the fight (much to her surprise and delight) and then try to find a way back to the story arc later? Or do I just wait it out in order to stick to the original idea, hope that she doesn't die in the fight, and find a way back to the story later?
My guess is that most folks will say the latter but I'm a pretty new DM and and could really use to some input either way.
PC's are level 7 (about to be 8) if that's helpful and this is the PC's first magic item.
You could always give them a vision from the ancestral owners as a good faith action for things to come and to let the character know they can be trusted. The vision doesn't have to be long or anything either.
Up to you, but if I were the player I wouldn't be delighted...I'd feel like the DM brought in a Deus Ex Machina to help me win the fight, and I hadn't done it on my character's own skills and abilities. And part of the thrill of D&D is that characters can die, and stories can be lost. You know your players best, though, so do what you think will be fun for them.
I'd tend towards not activating it. One casting of haste or slow shouldn't change the outcome of the battle that much. If it would then there is something more going wrong :)
From a player perspective, they do NOT know that the blade is supposed to have any special properties (I don't know if you have foreshadowed anything in your comments or descriptions about the blade). If you introduce it in the middle of a close fight it will look like the DM stepping in, making something up to save the party. The reaction may not go the way you expect it to go since the players have no idea it was planned to do something all along and no matter how much you tell them it won't change the fact that you made this become apparent at a crisis point for no specific reason that the players can see.
If you have foreshadowed that the blade is special but that the characters haven't been able to figure out what is unique about it then you might get away with it. If the blade is sentient then you could set up a situation where it might choose to intervene and then reveal the path needed to become properly attuned to the blade. However, without the setup it becomes a deus ex machina situation from the player perspective in which the DM imposes something out of the blue.
Many thanks for all of the input, truly appreciated. I should've mentioned that the blade is indeed sentient (communicates through emotional indicators and occasionally visions) and that the PC knows that there is some connection to the "fabric of the temporal plane". Big omission, sorry. She's been granted visions in which she's received visual hints about the nature of what it can do.
That said, I think you all are right. . . probably best to wait. She probably won't die in this fight and I can hint that the blade feels like it wants to reveal itself to her in some way during the fight but that there's some sort of block that first be cleared, etc.
Thanks again, everybody!
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I've given a PC an elven blade that allows her once per day to caste the Haste or Slow spell upon a successful hit with it. This wasn't revealed when the wizard cast identify on it. This was going to be revealed as she went through a trial created by the now-dead ancestral owners of the blade and was going to open a big personal story arc for her as the blade continues to gain attributes as the PC levels up.
However, the PC's are in the middle of a fight with a BBEG and this attribute of the sword would really help this PC right now. Do I activate the ability now during the fight (much to her surprise and delight) and then try to find a way back to the story arc later? Or do I just wait it out in order to stick to the original idea, hope that she doesn't die in the fight, and find a way back to the story later?
My guess is that most folks will say the latter but I'm a pretty new DM and and could really use to some input either way.
PC's are level 7 (about to be 8) if that's helpful and this is the PC's first magic item.
Many thanks in advance for any help!
You could always give them a vision from the ancestral owners as a good faith action for things to come and to let the character know they can be trusted. The vision doesn't have to be long or anything either.
If it activates now, I'd make there be some major inconvenience to activating it in this way, so there's still motivation to do it 'properly'.
Up to you, but if I were the player I wouldn't be delighted...I'd feel like the DM brought in a Deus Ex Machina to help me win the fight, and I hadn't done it on my character's own skills and abilities. And part of the thrill of D&D is that characters can die, and stories can be lost. You know your players best, though, so do what you think will be fun for them.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
I'd tend towards not activating it. One casting of haste or slow shouldn't change the outcome of the battle that much. If it would then there is something more going wrong :)
From a player perspective, they do NOT know that the blade is supposed to have any special properties (I don't know if you have foreshadowed anything in your comments or descriptions about the blade). If you introduce it in the middle of a close fight it will look like the DM stepping in, making something up to save the party. The reaction may not go the way you expect it to go since the players have no idea it was planned to do something all along and no matter how much you tell them it won't change the fact that you made this become apparent at a crisis point for no specific reason that the players can see.
If you have foreshadowed that the blade is special but that the characters haven't been able to figure out what is unique about it then you might get away with it. If the blade is sentient then you could set up a situation where it might choose to intervene and then reveal the path needed to become properly attuned to the blade. However, without the setup it becomes a deus ex machina situation from the player perspective in which the DM imposes something out of the blue.
I agree... stick to the plan.
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Many thanks for all of the input, truly appreciated. I should've mentioned that the blade is indeed sentient (communicates through emotional indicators and occasionally visions) and that the PC knows that there is some connection to the "fabric of the temporal plane". Big omission, sorry. She's been granted visions in which she's received visual hints about the nature of what it can do.
That said, I think you all are right. . . probably best to wait. She probably won't die in this fight and I can hint that the blade feels like it wants to reveal itself to her in some way during the fight but that there's some sort of block that first be cleared, etc.
Thanks again, everybody!