You're gonna need some backstory. Last session something strange happened. I'm gonna spare you the details but basically. The team Warlock and Barbarian got into an argument and it escalated into them starting to fight. It was just some harmless fun, no one was actually angry they were just roleplaying. But eventually the Warlock managed to make the Barabarian uncouncious. Then he decided to start kiking his unconcious body and that together with some really bad rolls made the Barbarian fail all his death saves and die. Everyone at the table was schocked. It escalated really quickly. The Warlock was prefusely apologizing but the Barabarian seemed to be ok with it. He seemed to think it was more funny that anything. Anyways the Warlock decided to try and pay to his patron to revive the Barbarian. I made him roll a persuasion roll after some roleplay and he rolled a 23 (they're level 6 right now btw). I decided that he managed to revive the Barbarian but his patron would take a bit of his soul as payment. Now...this is the problem. What should I do to take a piece of his soul. I thought he could maybe get some negative effect or something but i don't know how. If any of you have any requests then please dump them in this thread i'm desperate! Thanks in advance!
I am currently playing a character with the Living Shadow Dark Gift.
I'm sure there are so many more ideas, but this is what popped into my head first :)
Cheers!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty. Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers; Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas. Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
Why does there need to be negative effects? Does your Warlock have negative effects for his patron owning his soul?
I'd personally give the barbarian a buff as a reward for being a good sport about the whole thing, as I would assume you don't want further tensions between the two characters?
The negative would simply be that if the barbarian dies again, the warlock's patron will own the barbarian's soul for all eternity. Which most of the time should be a relatively bad thing.
What is the patron of the Warlock? Giving the barbarian the Magic Initiate feat with a couple of thematic spells might be a nice little reward.
Instead of a soul, give each a "high level" cursed weapon/item. Make the DC for the warlock to contact the patron either very high to not actually work or a low level "chief of staff" to show up and just give wrong answers.
How about thinking of the patron as a Vito Corleone style mafia kingpin (see The Godfather) who has offered his assistance to a family member (the Warlock). The Warlock and, by extension of being revived, the Barbarian now both owe a boon or favour to the patron, the patron may never call for it but there is always the chance the patron will want a sit down with the warlock and barbarian to "discuss a favour that is in need of repayment" and then you might have a fun little side quest for the pair to undertake.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
First, the Warlock has the patron and requested the boon so in my opinion the Warlock should be the one paying the price.
Second, if you are going to enforce a bargain that wasn't made by the Barbarian the price should be exceedingly minor, perhaps simply RP the patron becoming able to communicate with the Barbarian and trying to influence him.
I would consider making the Warlock pay the price - but if you insist on the Barbarian doing so, then Dark Gifts or bringing him/her back as a Reborn might work (I would work it out with the player playing the Barbarian though). Remember none of this was his/her fault, so it should be something they are ok with... but... death needs to have consequences.
If all players involved are ok with the situation (what ever it ends up being), and are willing to roleplay it out - then there's really no problem. It adds to the story. Still, I would absolutely make someone pay a price, because they need to know that their actions have consequences.
You're gonna need some backstory. Last session something strange happened. I'm gonna spare you the details but basically. The team Warlock and Barbarian got into an argument and it escalated into them starting to fight. It was just some harmless fun, no one was actually angry they were just roleplaying. But eventually the Warlock managed to make the Barabarian uncouncious. Then he decided to start kiking his unconcious body and that together with some really bad rolls made the Barbarian fail all his death saves and die. Everyone at the table was schocked. It escalated really quickly. The Warlock was prefusely apologizing but the Barabarian seemed to be ok with it. He seemed to think it was more funny that anything. Anyways the Warlock decided to try and pay to his patron to revive the Barbarian. I made him roll a persuasion roll after some roleplay and he rolled a 23 (they're level 6 right now btw). I decided that he managed to revive the Barbarian but his patron would take a bit of his soul as payment. Now...this is the problem. What should I do to take a piece of his soul. I thought he could maybe get some negative effect or something but i don't know how. If any of you have any requests then please dump them in this thread i'm desperate! Thanks in advance!
Greetings LooeiBaboowi,
As you are deciding what the affect is, you could go very light, or more than that.
Maybe something as simple as a -1 to his Constitution or a level in Exhaustion Until a certain thing happens in game to fix it.
You could also look into the Dark Gifts and see if any of them seem suitable:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/vrgtr/dark-gifts#DarkGiftDescriptions
I am currently playing a character with the Living Shadow Dark Gift.
I'm sure there are so many more ideas, but this is what popped into my head first :)
Cheers!
Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty.
Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers;
Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas.
Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
Maybe……
See Soul Coin?
Why does there need to be negative effects? Does your Warlock have negative effects for his patron owning his soul?
I'd personally give the barbarian a buff as a reward for being a good sport about the whole thing, as I would assume you don't want further tensions between the two characters?
The negative would simply be that if the barbarian dies again, the warlock's patron will own the barbarian's soul for all eternity. Which most of the time should be a relatively bad thing.
What is the patron of the Warlock? Giving the barbarian the Magic Initiate feat with a couple of thematic spells might be a nice little reward.
Instead of a soul, give each a "high level" cursed weapon/item. Make the DC for the warlock to contact the patron either very high to not actually work or a low level "chief of staff" to show up and just give wrong answers.
.
I would second the Dark Gifts. Maybe even craft one of your own: Gives benefits, but also has a drawback.
How about thinking of the patron as a Vito Corleone style mafia kingpin (see The Godfather) who has offered his assistance to a family member (the Warlock). The Warlock and, by extension of being revived, the Barbarian now both owe a boon or favour to the patron, the patron may never call for it but there is always the chance the patron will want a sit down with the warlock and barbarian to "discuss a favour that is in need of repayment" and then you might have a fun little side quest for the pair to undertake.
First, the Warlock has the patron and requested the boon so in my opinion the Warlock should be the one paying the price.
Second, if you are going to enforce a bargain that wasn't made by the Barbarian the price should be exceedingly minor, perhaps simply RP the patron becoming able to communicate with the Barbarian and trying to influence him.
I would consider making the Warlock pay the price - but if you insist on the Barbarian doing so, then Dark Gifts or bringing him/her back as a Reborn might work (I would work it out with the player playing the Barbarian though). Remember none of this was his/her fault, so it should be something they are ok with... but... death needs to have consequences.
If all players involved are ok with the situation (what ever it ends up being), and are willing to roleplay it out - then there's really no problem. It adds to the story. Still, I would absolutely make someone pay a price, because they need to know that their actions have consequences.
Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
Sorry if i was bad at describing what happened but it was the Warlock that had to pay the price. My bad.