As of right now, the players in my campaign have made their way to a new nation that is plagued by a prophecy. Long story short, the prophecy turns people into monsters and kills a bunch of innocent civilians around them until they are put to a stop. However, they have been in this nation for a long enough time, so I want the prophecy to take full effect, so people will start to die. I am trying to make a good mechanic revolving around this fact. This is what I have as of right now: Every day that passes I am going to roll a d10. The amount that I roll on it determines how many people die this day. X10 If I roll a 1, 10 people die. If I roll a 2, 20 die, 3, 30 die. 4, 40. 5, 50. 6, 60… so forth. However, I do not think this is the best way to go about this because I really don't want the party to feel 100% hopeless. Should I make opportunitites for them to stop some of the deaths, but if so how do should I do that? Any help would be amazing! Thank you!
The pedantic part is that what your describing is more of a curse or something that a prophecy - a prophecy is a prediction, rather than a direct cause.
As for how to handle it...I'm not sure of what you're intending. The impression I got was that a random civilian would turn into a monster and kill those around them. The die roll is to provide a background number of people dying (because you don't want to run an encounter every single time, which is smart). As such, the power of the party to stop the deaths is to occasionally intervene in a monster attack (short term), and to break the curse (long term).
If you want to provide an alternative way to reduce deaths, perhaps you can provide quests that when completed, alter the size of the die you roll (either permanently or for a fixed period). Or you can ask a sacrifice - perhaps they find a ritual (in the dictionary sense of the term, not in the game mechanics sense) than they can perform. Doing so means you use a smaller die or don't roll at all that day, but they have to give something up, like a spell slot.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Thank you! I messed up my words. There is a prophecy that explains what will happen in the future and in this case it explains that there is a curse that is going around turning people in monsters. And yes, your impression was right! I'll try out your suggestions!
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As of right now, the players in my campaign have made their way to a new nation that is plagued by a prophecy. Long story short, the prophecy turns people into monsters and kills a bunch of innocent civilians around them until they are put to a stop. However, they have been in this nation for a long enough time, so I want the prophecy to take full effect, so people will start to die. I am trying to make a good mechanic revolving around this fact. This is what I have as of right now: Every day that passes I am going to roll a d10. The amount that I roll on it determines how many people die this day. X10 If I roll a 1, 10 people die. If I roll a 2, 20 die, 3, 30 die. 4, 40. 5, 50. 6, 60… so forth. However, I do not think this is the best way to go about this because I really don't want the party to feel 100% hopeless. Should I make opportunitites for them to stop some of the deaths, but if so how do should I do that? Any help would be amazing! Thank you!
The pedantic part is that what your describing is more of a curse or something that a prophecy - a prophecy is a prediction, rather than a direct cause.
As for how to handle it...I'm not sure of what you're intending. The impression I got was that a random civilian would turn into a monster and kill those around them. The die roll is to provide a background number of people dying (because you don't want to run an encounter every single time, which is smart). As such, the power of the party to stop the deaths is to occasionally intervene in a monster attack (short term), and to break the curse (long term).
If you want to provide an alternative way to reduce deaths, perhaps you can provide quests that when completed, alter the size of the die you roll (either permanently or for a fixed period). Or you can ask a sacrifice - perhaps they find a ritual (in the dictionary sense of the term, not in the game mechanics sense) than they can perform. Doing so means you use a smaller die or don't roll at all that day, but they have to give something up, like a spell slot.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Thank you! I messed up my words. There is a prophecy that explains what will happen in the future and in this case it explains that there is a curse that is going around turning people in monsters. And yes, your impression was right! I'll try out your suggestions!