Alright, fa/tg/uys, I decided to face the music of my own fuck up.
In aftermatch of last campaign my players managed to pull some godly rolls and rescue an NPC, who I wanted to die just to show that baddies r bad. Why would I rather have that NPC dead? Because of insane ESP'er shit she was able to pull off, including being able to find people across entire galaxy and see future.
Short backstory (space fantasy setting): >be a girl on shithole planet >get kidnapped by cabal of ESPers >beaten into obedience then dunked into sensory deprivation tank with life support >be left there for years while watching over cabal as taught >eventually PC's and cabal cross path >despite cabal's effort PC's presist >take interest in them and shyly reach out >offer help in return for death >PC's have none of that shit >they get there and start pulling godly rolls on pretty much everything I throw at them >cleric PC princess carries her out of the tank and to their ship >they deal with remaining cabal goons and wreck the place
I decided to roll with it and make it so she will eventually join up with them, despite ton of psychological problems. While I do have polished out her personality and stuff, I still don't have a character art/model fitting someone like her.
I need character art of some cutsey, innocent sci fi girl. Help cleric PC get a waifu, fa/tg/uys.
How big is this cabalist cell? Was this there only base? Let's say that you can get away with making these guys a major organization in the setting. A cool thing you could do is turn the heroes into fugitives, constantly chased by this organization to the point where they can't stay any place very long. If the everyone decides that she is too powerful an asset for these space cultists, that can help you get the girl into the party. If not, maybe some divisions form since this cleric likes her. Would help with player agency too. The next thing you could do to spice up the narrative is, over time, reveal that this girl isn't exactly as innocent as she appeared to be. Maybe she lacks the proper sense of morals, stemming from a stolen childhood and lack of development with people. If you see what I'm saying, she should just view the world differently than a normal person, since her entire life she has been more powerful than others around her, leading to a corrupted worldview. You could show this with an encounter where their is a hostage situation and the party needs to get rid of the bad guys. She decides on her own (maybe she's just stubborn) to blow the entire place, civilians included, to hell. This shouldn't be fast and I'm not trying to say that you make straight evil. There's room for grey here, maybe she just doesn't understand the value of other human lives. Then, you can flip the tables around. Maybe the cultists saw the "evil" (whatever you decide to go with) this girl was and decided they had to lock her up. It puts the PCs in a very weird spot if their characters are all good. I don't know your group, so it would be hard to gauge. Maybe say in the past that she was wiping out villages, towns, etc. If you want to keep it morally grey, make it so that she did this, went on a rampage, because someone dear to her died and she was angry at the world. If you don't like any of this, just find a way to engage the other players in her story.
Bentley Davis
just kill her from brain damage next time PCs have her use powers fuck em
William Sanders
I could off her or make her grayish at any time, but I've dragged them through enough shit throughout the campaign. This NPC was meant as a little more than a plot device... which surprisingly survived the showdown.
I've given her case a lot of thinking, since future seeing NPC allies could easily be game braking. Thankfully, my players are more set on roleplaying good guys than rollplaying munchkins. If I establish that she is not comfortable with using her skills on their whim (having flashbacks to sensory deprivation tank) they will very likely leave her be.
Not to mention in this scenario I can continue using her as a plot device from now on, having her seeing shit of my choice and warning them ahead.
Either way, I only need somekind of character art to base her on.
Chase Davis
>I've given her case a lot of thinking, since future seeing NPC allies could easily be game braking. Did you describe how precise are her abilities? Is she Muad'Dib level or just able to get some glimpses? If you didn't yet describe how powerful are her prophetic abilities making her able just to see some possible variants, and even then not fully, would make her a pretty normal NPC - could be useful but not enough to break anything.
Same goes for her ESP abilities. Finding that person X is on a planet on the other side of the galaxy is ok. Being able to track him real time is another thing.
And the fact that evert use of abilities could trigger PTSD is a good reason for players to not use them left and right.
Maybe have it so the cabal was using heavy meds to either amplify or supress her powers, such that in the first case they wear off and her powers are average, or in the second case her powers went off charts because they woke up from being held down and now they will balance out
Camden Kelly
Cabal had her on a deadly poison with regular antidote/repoisoning schedule, incase she ever got free or stolen she would die. Its incurable & she only has an hour or so before she dies.
Jace Hall
Either she's evil/working for the bads or her shit doesn't work as well as they thought. Or the bad guys put some interference in it. They think she's telling them where to go BUT ITS A TRAPPp
Gabriel Wood
Ignore the edgefucks ITT. Have her esteemed handsome doctor brother show up and take the party on an adventure in an effort to remedy her brain damage. The doctor forbids you from taking advantage of her ESP and psychic abilities since they cause deterioration. Considering your party went to so much trouble to rescue her they probably want her to live so they'll comply. Then at the end of the rainbow he cures her and she can only access a reasonable amount, PC-levels of psychic power. The doctor gets to be the husbando of choice for the horniest player at your table, and you can use this opportunity to ERP with some of your friends. Trust me, it's a lot of fun!
Hunter Phillips
Oh and pic related in case you're too dense to get the reference.
On a side note, if you don't want her to use her all-powerful powers right away or to their full effectivness, you should set up a plot on "how to get her better" because sensory deprivation leaves deep deep marks. Have them search for drugs (meds and illicit substances) to help her with her anxiety, have them look for a psychiatrist across the galaxy, while escaping from other cabal goons that weren't at the base when they blew it up and are searching for revenge. Set up a trap for them at a drug deal, have a mafia lord make them do his biddings for a while to get to his renowned psychiatrist... There are a lot of ways you could make them "acquire" the powers of the girl and sort of make it "legit" that they have them.
Holy shit, I didn't think this thread would still be up
Thanks for all the art based anons
>Did you describe how precise are her abilities? Didn't have to, since these abilities exist in game mechanics. Precognition typically works by giving oracle-ish clue of a future event, without being all too precise. At some point even players could be able to learn some of them, but it would be both costly and lengthy.
Sensory deprivation tank and supply of raw essence was giving her unholy bonuses to ESP skills. Now, that she is out of it and all by herself, she will have same problems as every other ESP'er in game world.
She will be also suffering from depersonalization, claustrofobia, paranoia and overall weak immunology system. It will take them a long time to get her back to "normal".
Great idea, I will make use of it after she joins their group
Mason Mitchell
If you want some more ideas, I'm still here and I'm not going anywhere for a while
Dylan Foster
She could be a Doctor Manhattan type character, with all the power in the world but none of the motivation or care to use it to protect or help anyone.
Julian Baker
Thanks for the offer, user. You've given me already a lot of side quest value for a session or three, with an ability to make a return later on.
I never planned for her to be in a main spotlight (or to survive), but it will be worthy of a large side quest. Especially that my players showed that they are the types that wont leave a stray puppy behind. I could drag them through dirt for plot value, but I'll rather let them be proud of their own accomplishments and up the bar for next campaign. It will bite me in the ass in long run, but I guess it'll be a good training to become a better/more crative DM.
Brandon Martin
Or just pull a firefly and use her being a disturbed psychological victim to curb any potential gamebreaking stuff.
Yeah she has galaxy level abilities but if the PCs aren't willing to essentially mentally rape her she is far more limited in what she actually sees and is able to communicate.
Joshua Scott
Bump
Robert James
You already showed the baddies were bad if the players knew they girl was dead but for their interference. This is an example of badasses being badass so let them shine. Make her answers and help cryptic and possibly dangerous. More cryptic and more dangerous the more they rely on her power. If they lean on her too much in your opinion have her flip out and go psycho because she hasn't been getting her necessary sanity serum. Remember, "the DM giveth and the DM taketh away." If they go after the sanity serum and are suitably badass, let them take that win too. Just don't let them have too much, just a limited resource of cluepons. If they keep raiding for sanity serum the baddies will catch on and spike the batches with psycho serum.
Be smug that this was your plan all along. Congratulations on your successful Xanatos Gambit.
Jose Jones
Great story OP, and congrats for being a good GM! While it will definitely be more work for you, that's part of the fun of your work, and I'm sure your players appreciate it.
And I agree with the other anons, there are several ways to work around her abilities, make her severly limited, unable to use them properly without having breakdowns, or maybe she even requires to be put back into sensory deprivation to be able to focus and get clear visions. You can easily make it so she can only give hints that you already planned on giving the party, so that they don't feel like she's useless, and only really make it work like a plot device when the plot demands it.
