An infectious bite

[Skrum]

I'm brainstorming an encounter, and the main enemies are a wolf-themed tribe of elves that can partially transform and also use runic magic. I was thinking of giving one of them a bite that inflicts "rage." Like, fail the save, and the character gets all of the penalties (and drawbacks ) of the barbarian's rage (I'd probably add some compulsion-type effect too that would drive the character to act recklessly in some way, like maybe a penalty that kicks in if they don't take the attack action. Or maybe a confusion-like chance to attack your allies).

Is this just wildly mean to spellcasters?

[LudicSavant]

I'm brainstorming an encounter, and the main enemies are a wolf-themed tribe of elves that can partially transform and also use runic magic. I was thinking of giving one of them a bite that inflicts "rage." Like, fail the save, and the character gets all of the penalties (and drawbacks ) of the barbarian's rage (I'd probably add some compulsion-type effect too that would drive the character to act recklessly in some way, like maybe a penalty that kicks in if they don't take the attack action. Or maybe a confusion-like chance to attack your allies).

Is this just wildly mean to spellcasters?

Eh, there's worse things that could happen to you if you fail a save. And if you give the party a chance to learn about the tribe beforehand, they might pack a Calm Emotions or something.

[Skrum]

I'm gonna go with

Creatures bitten by Skarde must make a DC 16 Con save or be infected by the spirit of Silia. While infected, they gain
- resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage
- may not cast spells or concentrate on them
- must use their action to attack the closest creature each turn, or dash to close the distance to the closest known creature

Additionally, they take 2d8 psychic damage at the beginning of each of their turns. They may attempt a DC 16 Wis save at the end of each of their turns to end the effect. Calm Emotions or Remove Curse cast on the creature immediately ends the effect

[Mastikator]

What happens if a barbarian gets it? Are they just buffed?

[Skrum]

What happens if a barbarian gets it? Are they just buffed?

They'd still loose control of their action, potentially attack allies, and take psychic damage each turn. But yes they'd get the benefit of an unbreakable rage :)

[Witty Username]

I would make it a charisma save, mostly for variety.
Since that also implies a possesive force it also gives more leway for forced actions.

[verbatim]

The big things imo to watch is how many enemies will be capable of forcing that save a turn and what % party's hp 2d8 chips away.

1-3 saves a turn and you probably will be fine but more than that + they're tier 1 you run the risk of a very anticlimactic TPK.

[Skrum]

The big things imo to watch is how many enemies will be capable of forcing that save a turn and what % party's hp 2d8 chips away.

1-3 saves a turn and you probably will be fine but more than that + they're tier 1 you run the risk of a very anticlimactic TPK.

The party is 8-10 and only one enemy will have this ability, so I'm not worried about it causing the entire party to lose control and kill each other. If anything, I think it more likely no one succumbs to it at all - the bite has to hit, and then the character needs to fail a save. But hopefully the bite hits at least and the players can get nervous about the potential danger.

[schm0]

You can use a poison, disease or curse effect. If you are worried about poison resistance, you have options, but any of those three mechanics will work. They all have their own counters, as well. If you don't want it to countered, and are feeling particularly diabolical, consider using a "greater" curse a la Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (pg 192 if you have it). I would give your PCs a warning that such a creature is known to drive those it bites to madness in explicit terms, probably via lore dump from an NPC or a physical item like a book. Similarly, diseases are a bit more loose and the DMG will tell you that you can make it so that even normal methods of curing the disease don't work.

Since it's a bite, it'd be a Con save likely, scaled for their level. A typical DC for level 8-10 characters would be 16 or 17. You can adjust this as needed based on how hard you want the save to be.

From there, you apply the effects. You have the basic mechanics down already, but I would add personality traits to each of the affected characters that will enforce the "you act this way now" for the duration of the effect. This should cover the behavioral aspects of the bite in addition to the mechanical ones.

Lastly, you'll want a cure. (Or at least, I hope you do .) If it's just a paladin laying hands or remove curse, then so be it. But if you went with the "greater" curse or the "special disease" options I mentioned previously, you can get really creative on what the players need to do to find a cure. Sky's the limit, really. Maybe they have to find a rare mushroom and deliver it to a hag to create a potion, or maybe they have to do the funky chicken on top of Mt. Olympus. You get the idea.

[Skrum]

You can use a poison, disease or curse effect. If you are worried about poison resistance, you have options, but any of those three mechanics will work. They all have their own counters, as well. If you don't want it to countered, and are feeling particularly diabolical, consider using a "greater" curse a la Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (pg 192 if you have it). I would give your PCs a warning that such a creature is known to drive those it bites to madness in explicit terms, probably via lore dump from an NPC or a physical item like a book. Similarly, diseases are a bit more loose and the DMG will tell you that you can make it so that even normal methods of curing the disease don't work.

Since it's a bite, it'd be a Con save likely, scaled for their level. A typical DC for level 8-10 characters would be 16 or 17. You can adjust this as needed based on how hard you want the save to be.

From there, you apply the effects. You have the basic mechanics down already, but I would add personality traits to each of the affected characters that will enforce the "you act this way now" for the duration of the effect. This should cover the behavioral aspects of the bite in addition to the mechanical ones.

Lastly, you'll want a cure. (Or at least, I hope you do .) If it's just a paladin laying hands or remove curse, then so be it. But if you went with the "greater" curse or the "special disease" options I mentioned previously, you can get really creative on what the players need to do to find a cure. Sky's the limit, really. Maybe they have to find a rare mushroom and deliver it to a hag to create a potion, or maybe they have to do the funky chicken on top of Mt. Olympus. You get the idea.

All good ideas, but I'm gonna go with more of a "possession" angle. The bite isn't coming from a creature that there's a horde of, it's a particular elf who belongs to a werewolf-esque tribe. He bites them, and they are temporarily overcome by the bloodthirsty spirit of Silia, the founder of this tribe. I think this is most akin to a curse (even though it's a temporary one), so remove curse is valid, and since it causes rage, calm emotions also seems fitting. I'm thinking of it as like a shot of Evil Adrenaline than "I broke into the mummy's tomb and now I'm cursed."

[schm0]

All good ideas, but I'm gonna go with more of a "possession" angle. The bite isn't coming from a creature that there's a horde of, it's a particular elf who belongs to a werewolf-esque tribe. He bites them, and they are temporarily overcome by the bloodthirsty spirit of Silia, the founder of this tribe. I think this is most akin to a curse (even though it's a temporary one), so remove curse is valid, and since it causes rage, calm emotions also seems fitting. I'm thinking of it as like a shot of Evil Adrenaline than "I broke into the mummy's tomb and now I'm cursed."

Yep, a curse is likely how I would deal with it as well (and in line with other curses like lycanthropy). Calm emotions sounds like a fun and unique counter, especially if your players have it prepared. Best of luck!