Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #30 – “Alt-itis”
January 12, 2018
Out of the Box introduction
A common problem some Dungeon Masters have to deal with is one of players desiring to change characters often. I can admit that I, too, love making a wide variety of characters even if they may not see play. If a player isn’t focusing on the character they are playing at the time, this may lead to decision making not only affecting the distracted player at hand, but may ripple out to the characters around the distracted character. It may even affect the DM. This can grow into a problem where some players spend more time making characters than actually playing one.
A possible solution to this might be getting some players to “test drive” a race. How do we, as DMs, accomplish this? That’s the point of this encounter. Using an existing mechanic (the reincarnate spell, page 271, Player’s Handbook), and providing a temporary circumstance tied to a location, then a player who may have a desire to play something else could have their potential boredom temporarily satisfied.
The hope is the DM can abate or reduce a player character turnover, at least on a race basis. For those desiring a more recently released race (say, from Volo’s Guide to Monsters), the reincarnate spell contains several entries containing subspecies. One could simply count all elve” under one result, using the other two results to insert two other races (like goliath or kenku), and then applying the same mechanic to the duplicate dwarf, gnome and halfling slots. The table below will reflect this.
Environment
Any (in this case, a small cave in the wilderness)
Level
Any
Description
The outcropping the party faces is different only in that it has a wide crack, perhaps 5 feet wide at the base and stretching to 20 feet up the cliff face to where the crack becomes so thin only insects could crawl inside. Still, with care, it’s possible for medium-sized creatures to squeeze inside so long as they mind their heads toward the 7-8 foot mark where the ceiling becomes very sharp and tight.
The way twists inward for a good 50 feet before beginning to open up into a larger chamber. The football-shaped cavern is probably 40 feet deep, 20 feet high in spots, and is almost 15 feet wide at its centre. It shrinks again to a 5 foot wide point, but in an unusual manner. The far end is worked by tools to flatten it into a formal stonework doorway. The living rock around the stone door is marked in some form of pictographs of ancient origin. A successful DC 20 Intelligence (History) check allows a character to recognize and translate the pictographs. In an ancient form of common they read “Chamber of Many Selves”.
The door itself appears to have multiple faces over its entire surface. Some are human, but many others are present, including some of either a rare or unusual origin (DM’s discretion: include at least one of every playable race you’ll allow or that will be included on the chart below). A dwarf with Stone Cunning who succeeds on a DC 20 Intelligence (History) check knows this stonework used techniques from several kingdoms or empires ago (depending on the history of the particular region the DM is placing this in).
The door itself has no latch or apparent hinge. Should a PC push on it, it will open easily on hidden stone hinges in the frame, exposing a massive 50 foot diameter circular chamber within with a domed 20 foot high ceiling. Four empty stone braziers will alight in blue flame, revealing the 10 foot diameter stone dais they surround at its cardinal points. The flames showcase reliefs on the entire domed wall and ceiling. The reliefs are of a garden filled with all manner of plants and natural animals. A successful DC 17 Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check reveals some of the animals and plants have features from the faces on the door.
Hovering 5 feet above the centre of the dias is what looks like a multifaceted stone of a reflective quality which slowly spins in spot. The stone is about the size of a watermelon, and a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) or Intelligence (jeweler’s tools) check reveals it is not of a stone familiar to the land. Its iridescent colour shifts like spilled oil in the sun.
Should a PC touch it, then things really start to happen. The stone will begin to pulse with a rainbow of colours, and will begin to emit a loud, pulsating hum. It will grow brighter and brighter. This will continue for two rounds, at which point, if the character who touched it is still in the room, they will need to succeed a DC 15 Constitution saving throw.
Should they pass, nothing will happen. Should they fail, consult the table below. The DM or the player can roll randomly, and consult the chart below. The result will be the target’s new race.
This race will replace all racial features the character had before, but will not change their class or background. The only alteration to their class will be from replacing old racial adjustments with the new racial adjustments to their ability scores. Gear will alter to fit their new form. Native languages (at the discretion of the DM) can also alter to include the new race’s native language at the cost of what would have been their old native language.
Should the PC leave the chamber and exit the cave within one hour, this change will revert to what they had previously. If they stay past the one hour marker, the change will be permanent. If a PC leaves and re-enters the cavern, the stone will not affect that character a second time. (The DM is always the final arbiter here.)
d100 | Race | Source |
---|---|---|
01-02 | Aasimar, Fallen | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
03-04 | Aasimar, Protector | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
05-06 | Aasimar, Scourge | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
07-09 | Dragonborn | Player's Handbook |
10-13 | Dwarf, Hill | Player's Handbook |
14-17 | Dwarf, Mountain | Player's Handbook |
18-20 | Dwarf, Duergar | Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide |
21-23 | Elf, Drow | Player's Handbook |
24-27 | Elf, High | Player's Handbook |
28-31 | Elf, Wood | Player's Handbook |
32-33 | Firbolg | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
34-35 | Goliath | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
36-39 | Gnome, Forest | Player's Handbook |
40-43 | Gnome, Rock | Player's Handbook |
44-46 | Gnome, Deep | Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide |
47-50 | Half-elf | Player's Handbook |
51-54 | Half-orc | Player's Handbook |
55-56 | Halfling, Ghostwise | Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide |
57-60 | Halfling, Lightfoot | Player's Handbook |
61-64 | Halfling, Stout | Player's Handbook |
65-82 | Human | Player's Handbook |
83-86 | Monstrous | Various - roll d6 and consult below |
1 | Bugbear | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
2 | Goblin | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
3 | Hobgoblin | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
4 | Kobold | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
5 | Orc | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
6 | Yuan-ti | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
87-88 | Kenku | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
89-90 | Lizardfolk | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
91-92 | Tabaxi | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
93-96 | Tiefling | Player's Handbook |
97-98 | Triton | Volo's Guide to Monsters |
100 | Player's choice | The player! |
Monsters
None
Treasure
None, save a possible racial change to abate character boredom
Complications
The biggest worry for a DM is the target player(s) may not desire this sort of random race assignment. Be clear your players may or may not want this sort of encounter, and adjust accordingly. If you’re not sure, perhaps allow success on a DC 10 Intelligence (Arcana) or Intelligence (Religion) check to discern the nature of the stone, and then allow a pair of rolls to determine the outcome. In other words, the DM rolls once, and the player rolls once, and the player gets to pick between the two. The DM might even wish to make the effect of this stone have a temporary effect for longer, or wears off if the player doesn’t leave until the next dawn. There should always be a lot of room to move in encounters/traps like these. If there’s a concern this will be used constantly, then have the stone disintegrate after all players have had a turn. If the DM has any doubt their players may not be open to this sort of thing, do not use it. It’s better to do something else than make a player feel like they’ve lost agency.
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