Current Events > need help figuring out this D&D thing

(+) Yeah! (+)

to preface, this is for a one-shot (to be reused in possible future campaign if i ever get the guts for it)

so, the basic premise is that i'm using the town of Hinderstap from the Wheel of Time:
a town where, at night, the inhabitants go into a murderous rage, killing everything, only to wake up unharmed, remembering it as just a bad dream in the morning, over and over.
so, the PCs are gonna get attacked by these guys, and then the next day see that anyone they killed comes back alive again.
(unless they just run away, which i have no idea how to stop)

and at the end, they're gonna find the source of this is a Wizard doing some fucked up Groundhog Day stuff, i'm thinking to keep a loved one from dying of an incurable disease, and the PCs can either fight him, or just convince him to stop.

anyway, i have the solution to the problem, but the issue i'm having is i have no idea how the PCs would actually figure it out.
i don't know how to give out the clues. any help would be appreciated.

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Do the PCs also have a "bad dream" or do they remember it with perfect accuracy?

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Tyranthraxus posted...

Do the PCs also have a "bad dream" or do they remember it with perfect accuracy?

the PCs would remember it.
though, if any PC gets killed during this, they wake up in a bed in a tavern, now affected in the same way as the villagers, dream and all.

if after the fight, they ask someone, they get a full explenation of this, but the villagers themselves don't know what causes it

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I've run a similar loop scenario in the past.

Things to be aware of:

What knowledge would they have on the town if they had a very good Knowledge: Local roll? Has this been going on for a while and other visitors reported things have been amiss? Why hasn't it been noticed beforehand.

Is there object permeance outside of the loop? Say you have a tiefling in the party, and they figure out they're in a loop so no damage is totally done - what's to stop them from just exsanguinating their companion a few times for materials?

Consider letting them interact with the town before they're attacked - otherwise they might just attack again on sight - dopplegangers are a thing.

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You could have them find on the 2nd or 3rd day another traveler who is imprisoned in the time because he came there to investigate bizarre stories, and that traveler has managed to put together a few pieces that he can use to give them clues.

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yeah. people know they're in a loop. like they've tried getting out but just wake up in the town, they've tried committing suicide, but just end up waking up at home.
but again, no one understands why, so at this point they've just fell into the general apathy of a problem they can't fix.

at least, that's how it is in the book i'm stealing this from, though these details can be changed if it helps the narrative

GreenMagicite posted...

ay you have a tiefling in the party, and they figure out they're in a loop so no damage is totally done - what's to stop them from just exsanguinating their companion a few times for materials?

i'm not sure i know what this means

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Depending on the edition, some of your spells are limited by the materials that you have. A popular one would be "Infernal Healing" which required devil's blood.

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nah, all biological traces of it disappears at sunrise.
only various building damages remain. spending a fortune on building fixing.

back to the subject.

how to give clues toward the wizard?
he's probably in a nearby tower or house or something.

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i'm thinking like, the PCs have been sent to this town by someone to investigate why communication has broken down, as all the people are pretty much stuck in there, and anyone else who has been sent in also gets stuck, as they all get killed and affected by the spell.

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My suggestions.

1. Remove Curse causes people (albeit one at a time) to begin remembering what happens and isn't a dream. PCs can figure it out via various detect shit. Certain people when they realize it's no longer just a "bad dream" have important leading information that implicates the wizard.
2. Damage is more severe in the direction of the wizard (fighting is more fierce, etc). They can follow it to the epicenter that way.


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ooh, i like those. but i would probably reverse that second, as the wizard want to stay relatively safe from the effects.

what can i actually even have them know that would point to the wizard?

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ROBANN_88 posted...

ooh, i like those. but i would probably reverse that second, as the wizard want to stay relatively safe from the effects.

what can i actually even have them know that would point to the wizard?

Well sometimes what the wizard wants isn't necessarily what happens. I'd assume he's got other ways of making himself safe.

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Oh here's some NPC clue ideas.

"A cleric came to town to investigate a special disease on (accurate date). I think he left without doing anything."

"(Person) was looked at by a healer and they said they had about 3 days left to live."

"I heard (Wizard) was engaged to be wed on (Accurate Date + 4 days) I guess it was postponed?"

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I think i got it.
If they don't figure it out right away, i'm just gonna have like a quick, faint magical light come from the Wizards home at the moment the spell takes hold on the second night

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Couldn't you make them arrive at the town just before nightfall. I have them begin resupplying maybe you can get a room at the end. Then suddenly they're all attacked and all killed. Then they become caught in the loop as well. They venture too far from the Town Center the day simply ends for them.

As the adventure progresses they notice may be subtle little differences in someone in the town. Those could be the Wizards henchmen moving around trying to influence things from day-to-day. If they battle those I could get information from them figure out who the actual wizard is

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lordofmud posted...

Couldn't you make them arrive at the town just before nightfall. I have them begin resupplying maybe you can get a room at the end. Then suddenly they're all attacked and all killed. Then they become caught in the loop as well. They venture too far from the Town Center the day simply ends for them.

Had this been a long campaign, i would love to do that.
But right now i'm only barely confident enough to do one-shots.
I'll keep that in mind incase i ever do a campaign in the future, though.

Hopefully atleast one person dies through this.

Might have to play a bit more cinematically loose with the combat than normal

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If the people of the town know about their cursed time loop status, and even know about the crazy night violence because only people and not physical property is reverted, why would nobody warn new people coming into town?

I probably wouldn't go with something as obvious as a ping of light coming from the wizard at certain intervals, I'd likely go with something more like a faintly heard thrumming that slowly builds in intensity over a few minutes and accompanying strange sensation that magical party members could have a chance of recognizing as magical in nature. That way it isn't so clear where the area to investigate is but from day 2 on the perceptive people could still use the sound to locate a general epicenter if they're prepared when it starts.

To me, the most logical place to start with trying to figure out what happened to the town would be to find out what was going on in the town on the day that it started. Some threads could lead to the tragic tale of a woman wasting away of a mysterious disease. Maybe there is a parent/sibling who spends their days drinking themselves into a stupor because for them life is either stay stuck in a nightmare or awaken into a different one. If you go with a Remove Curse allowing them to remember information kind of thing, it could lead to the realization that it's internalized guilt because they begged the wizard to do anything he could even knowing it could hurt others and they blame themselves for all of it, which could also lead to an entry point for confronting the wizard.

Tenlaar posted...

why would nobody warn new people coming into town?

Maybe have someone of power say that outsiders are forbidden in the city near sundown, but that first day just say it in a way that makes it sound like they just don't like foreigners.

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ROBANN_88 posted...

(unless they just run away, which i have no idea how to stop)

Dunno about the rest, but you stop that by making it like Barovia. Once you get in you can't leave without permission of the person in charge of the area.

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Anti purge bump

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After several days of seeing the same thing happen over and over, have the characters do perception checks. Anyone who passes, notices that one inhabitant seems to be not repeating himself. He does the same thing he usually does, but slight variations. Drinking with his left hand instead of his right, small things like that.
That would lead them to investigating, and following the person back to their abode, and learn he is the wizard manipulating the flow of time. Then you could set up a RP segment, where the players have to convince the wizard to break the loop.

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