What is the worst thing that can happen to a character?

[Halaster-Blackcloak]

Actually, not just the worst thing, but what I'm looking for is a ranking of what everyone thinks are the worst things (in order) that can happen to characters. I'm not necessarily talking about what your players hate, but rather how you as a DM (or an individual player) see it. I'll start, to give you all an example of what I mean:

1. Artificial Aging - Yes, my players feared this the most. However, I enjoy this the most and also think it's the worst thing that can happen to a character. First of all, even 1 year of artificial aging can kill you, requiring a system shock roll. So let's say you're touched by a ghost and aged 30 years. System shock roll. If you fail, you drop dead. But if you survive, you're still a lot older. A character who is 25 years old and goes out on an adventure only to come back several weeks later being 55 or 65 years old has problems. Who will recognize them or believe they are who they say they are? And gods forbid the ghost touches someone twice, aging them an average of 50 years. He comes back 75 years old! Then there is also the issue of losing STR/DEX/CON. And on top of all that, there are only a few potions that can restore artificial aging - though the best potion only restores 12 years. Not much help if half the party has been aged 30 years or 50 years. Now granted, aging is not as terrible for elves/dwarves/gnomes as it is for humans, although if you use relative aging it is. It's simply very difficult to deal with the effect of half the party being aged decades in a matter of moments.

2. Ability Score Loss - Second to artificial aging only because artificial aging does harm in addition to ability score loss. In AD&D, ability score loss is very difficult to fix. Short of finding a rare tome that raises an ability score (and even then it takes time), or getting a rare wish spell, there is no good cure. No spell raises lost ability scores (except for rare wishes). There is no "raise ability score" spell. Adventuring does not raise it. No potion will rraise it. If the PCs are fighting lamias for example, and half the team loses several points of wisdom, how do you fix that? No sane DM will allow 3 or 4 tomes of wisdom to appear. Short of the all-powerful wish, there is no fixing it. So ability score loss is very difficult to deal with.

3. Level Drain - It sucks because it weakens characters and makes then have to re-earn the xp needed to re-gain their previous levels. That can take a long time. Sure, there is the restoration spell, but that only raises the PC one level and it ages both the caster and the recipient 2 years, requiring a system shock roll for each to survive. No priest is going to cast 12 restoration spells, age 24 year, and most certainly die trying to raise the WIS scores of 6 PCs who each lost 2 pts. of WIS to the attack of a lamia. Again, the all-powerful wish can restore/undo the level drain, but short of that it's not easy to fix. I rank it third only because, as opposed to the previous two problems (artificial aging and ability score loss), this problem (level loss) is fixable without the expenditure of a single copper piece or the casting of a single spell. The character just keeps adventuring (which he's going to do anyway) and he regains his lost levels. It's sort of a self-fixing problem.

4. Petrification - I thought about ranking this higher, because when restored to life you must make a system shock roll. However, there is a simple mid-level spell to fix it and most characters have pretty damned good system shock scores. It's simply not the threat the other issues are, nor is it as difficult to fix.

Everything else ranks far below. Paralyzation isn't anywhere in league with the rest of them. Dying in combat is part and parcel of the game and can be easily avoided via careful play, knowing when to retreat, use of healing spells/potions/scrolls, the use of protection spells, etc.

[garhkal]

I am surprised you didn't mention "Getting your soul trapped!"

[TigerStripedDog]

Lol.

In my world there is an organization called the Black Tower. The Black tower fights all extra-worldly threats and/or Elder powers. If they suspect that Eldritch or Elder madness has infected a person's mind, they will destroy their body, consolidate their soul, and feed it into a higher-level version of the sphere of annihilation. There is no coming back. Not even a wish. After the process, the memory of the individual begins to fade from the minds of those who knew them.

Its pretty rough.

Tiger

[Halaster-Blackcloak]

Garhkal wrote:

I am surprised you didn't mention "Getting your soul trapped!"

Ooops! Forgot that one! It doesn't happen often, so I overlooked or forgot it. Yeah, that ranks pretty high!