There is a player in our party who traveled into the Astral Plane via the Robe of Stars but then got stuck there (it was just an excuse for him to leave the game while the rest of the party leveled up to his level). He's been there A WHILE...
For his return, I want him to have developed some side effects from being in the Astral for so long. So far what I'm working with is that there are slivers all over his body which are missing entirely because they're in different planes. However, he still has the sensation of those body parts. Some parts of him are in cold, hot, windy, or wet places and he feels them all. So far I'm calling it Astral Leprosy. I'm looking for more effects though, possibly a buff and a debuff.
I'm not a big fan of using mechanics for unique things like this, at least not D&D mechanics. I'd rather use it only when narratively appropriate and to further the plot, but if I were to use a mechanic for this I would say something like:
Planar Sensitivity: The scars on your body itch, burn, freeze, or wriggle when you are within a mile of significant (as determined by the DM) extra planar energy. When you are within 1000ft of such a source of energy, you unerringly know the direction to the strongest manifestation of extra planar energy, but also suffer Disadvantage to Wisdom checks due to distraction.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
How about he randomly see's creatures that no body else can see out of the corner of his eyes. His hair is a blaze orange changes to Azure and sometimes sparkles.
Occasionally when he farts Skittles pop out.
Some sort of woodland creature type is fascinated with him. Every time he goes to sleep while on the road he wakes up with a couple of squirrels nestled up with him.
He is afraid of rainbows.
He glows in the dark.
With a period of meditation he now has the ability to enter the astral plane and for 1 minute and 14 seconds he can move around at will and see and hear but not be seen or heard
Having a creature be interested in him for some reason could provide for an interesting story line. I've thought about the meditation bit but wouldn't want to make him OP. Was dabbling with the idea of if he meditated for a long period of time, like a day, he'd be able to go into the Astral or some other randomly chosen plane.
Since he is literally in multiple places, he gets advantage on perception and initiative rolls (due to the heightened awareness needed to feel all those sensations across planes), but suffers disadvantage wisdom and charisma checks (due to the distractions).
What class are they? Sounds like you want to use some sort of subset of the Wild Magic table. Maybe use the Wild Surge table from the Path of the Wild Soul UA, but adapt it to their class if they're a martial class, or to a subset of their spells if they're a caster.
How about he randomly see's creatures that no body else can see out of the corner of his eyes. His hair is a blaze orange changes to Azure and sometimes sparkles.
Occasionally when he farts Skittles pop out.
Some sort of woodland creature type is fascinated with him. Every time he goes to sleep while on the road he wakes up with a couple of squirrels nestled up with him.
He is afraid of rainbows.
He glows in the dark.
With a period of meditation he now has the ability to enter the astral plane and for 1 minute and 14 seconds he can move around at will and see and hear but not be seen or heard
How about he randomly see's creatures that no body else can see out of the corner of his eyes. His hair is a blaze orange changes to Azure and sometimes sparkles.
Occasionally when he farts Skittles pop out.
Some sort of woodland creature type is fascinated with him. Every time he goes to sleep while on the road he wakes up with a couple of squirrels nestled up with him.
He is afraid of rainbows.
He glows in the dark.
With a period of meditation he now has the ability to enter the astral plane and for 1 minute and 14 seconds he can move around at will and see and hear but not be seen or heard
For a Debuff, consider that in the Astral Plane a traveler "can move by simply thinking about moving, but distance has little meaning". This suggests to me that they've done relatively little physical interaction in the past months. They should have some difficulty with physical tasks once they come back. Perhaps they've lost strength or coordination (-2 STR or DEX, recover a point a month?) Perhaps their depth perception is shot (attack roll/perception check penalty?) Perhaps their legs just don't work well anymore (-10ft of movement temporarily?)
There is no Sun on the Astral Plane so maybe their sleep cycle is way out of whack now? They stay awake for 24 hours at a time and then collapse for 12 hours. Or, as a buff, maybe they don't need to sleep at all any more? Since the Astral Plane is mostly grey and empty maybe they have lost their color vision? Conversely, perhaps they picked up Darkvision since they are now used to operating in poor lighting. Since there is no need to eat or drink on the Astral Plane perhaps their sense of hunger and thirst is out of whack and they keep forgetting to eat and drink (causing Exhaustion?)
Some of the lower-level Warlock Invocations might translate nicely into Buffs. Perhaps they remember how to move with their mind and can Levitate at will? Perhaps if they stop moving they fade away (become Invisible) as they shift slightly out of the Prime Material Plane, but only if they don't move at all. Maybe they are sensitive to magic as with Eldritch Sight? Instead of something vision-based perhaps if they touch something which is magical it tickles. Are they still wearing that magical robe? :)
There is a player in our party who traveled into the Astral Plane via the Robe of Stars but then got stuck there (it was just an excuse for him to leave the game while the rest of the party leveled up to his level). He's been there A WHILE...
For his return, I want him to have developed some side effects from being in the Astral for so long. So far what I'm working with is that there are slivers all over his body which are missing entirely because they're in different planes. However, he still has the sensation of those body parts. Some parts of him are in cold, hot, windy, or wet places and he feels them all. So far I'm calling it Astral Leprosy. I'm looking for more effects though, possibly a buff and a debuff.
Ideas?
I'm not a big fan of using mechanics for unique things like this, at least not D&D mechanics. I'd rather use it only when narratively appropriate and to further the plot, but if I were to use a mechanic for this I would say something like:
Planar Sensitivity: The scars on your body itch, burn, freeze, or wriggle when you are within a mile of significant (as determined by the DM) extra planar energy. When you are within 1000ft of such a source of energy, you unerringly know the direction to the strongest manifestation of extra planar energy, but also suffer Disadvantage to Wisdom checks due to distraction.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Where did you get this feature? I can't seem to find it.
I just made it up?
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Oh that makes sense. Lol, I thought it was a feature I didn't know about. Thanks for the idea!
How about he randomly see's creatures that no body else can see out of the corner of his eyes. His hair is a blaze orange changes to Azure and sometimes sparkles.
Occasionally when he farts Skittles pop out.
Some sort of woodland creature type is fascinated with him. Every time he goes to sleep while on the road he wakes up with a couple of squirrels nestled up with him.
He is afraid of rainbows.
He glows in the dark.
With a period of meditation he now has the ability to enter the astral plane and for 1 minute and 14 seconds he can move around at will and see and hear but not be seen or heard
Having a creature be interested in him for some reason could provide for an interesting story line. I've thought about the meditation bit but wouldn't want to make him OP. Was dabbling with the idea of if he meditated for a long period of time, like a day, he'd be able to go into the Astral or some other randomly chosen plane.
Thanks for the ideas!
Since he is literally in multiple places, he gets advantage on perception and initiative rolls (due to the heightened awareness needed to feel all those sensations across planes), but suffers disadvantage wisdom and charisma checks (due to the distractions).
What class are they? Sounds like you want to use some sort of subset of the Wild Magic table. Maybe use the Wild Surge table from the Path of the Wild Soul UA, but adapt it to their class if they're a martial class, or to a subset of their spells if they're a caster.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
All we know is...he's called The Stig.
All we know is...he's called The Stig.
For a Debuff, consider that in the Astral Plane a traveler "can move by simply thinking about moving, but distance has little meaning". This suggests to me that they've done relatively little physical interaction in the past months. They should have some difficulty with physical tasks once they come back. Perhaps they've lost strength or coordination (-2 STR or DEX, recover a point a month?) Perhaps their depth perception is shot (attack roll/perception check penalty?) Perhaps their legs just don't work well anymore (-10ft of movement temporarily?)
There is no Sun on the Astral Plane so maybe their sleep cycle is way out of whack now? They stay awake for 24 hours at a time and then collapse for 12 hours. Or, as a buff, maybe they don't need to sleep at all any more? Since the Astral Plane is mostly grey and empty maybe they have lost their color vision? Conversely, perhaps they picked up Darkvision since they are now used to operating in poor lighting. Since there is no need to eat or drink on the Astral Plane perhaps their sense of hunger and thirst is out of whack and they keep forgetting to eat and drink (causing Exhaustion?)
Some of the lower-level Warlock Invocations might translate nicely into Buffs. Perhaps they remember how to move with their mind and can Levitate at will? Perhaps if they stop moving they fade away (become Invisible) as they shift slightly out of the Prime Material Plane, but only if they don't move at all. Maybe they are sensitive to magic as with Eldritch Sight? Instead of something vision-based perhaps if they touch something which is magical it tickles. Are they still wearing that magical robe? :)