Moon madness (lunatio) . . . it will kill you

[cure]

What is the average life expectency of a novice half-vistani adventurer who goes off, possibly three nights per lunar month, by himself/herself and runs wild under the Darkonese moon? Is it any better in Barovia? Does the count's protection extend to half-breeds? Forget Invidia of course. There is hope in Dementlieu perhaps? A feat (cold one or warding gesture) and lots of luck might keep some particular danger at bay, but others should hardly be wanting.

A half-vistana with exceptional wisdom of 20 (18+2 racial bonus for a modifier of +5 to will saves) who was a cleric or druid (+2 to will saves) and had the open mind feat (+4 to will saves versus madness) would still fail 15% of the time which is nearly once every second month. And of course the most logical feat, lunacy, would only send the individual running off to eventual doom more frequently.

Am I being unimaginative in my reading of the rules or does the novice half-vistani adventurer have little hope unless he/she is accompanied on his/her nights out by a party of equally moon mad outcasts?

Is there a way of reasonably handling moon madness that I am overlooking?

I do admit that a 2nd level half-vistani bard in Kartakass with the spell Siren Song (from VRA) might have half a chance, at least until the icy fingers of winter catch up with him and his voice. But how did he manage to live so long in the first place? Even if moon madness only starts at puberty, which seems reasonable, 2nd level is still too many moons off, especially for the less than sage.

Thanx for your thoughts,

cure

[Stygian Inquirer]

What is the average life expectency of a novice half-vistani adventurer who goes off, possibly three nights per lunar month, by himself/herself and runs wild under the Darkonese moon?

An interesting question. I think it would depend on whether his/her actions were disruptive enough to cause an investigation.

Is it any better in Barovia? Does the count's protection extend to half-breeds?

I think that the protection would only extend to half-breeds in extreme circumstances whereby the half-breed was working as a spy for Strahd. Otherwise, a half-breed is of little use to him.

Am I being unimaginative in my reading of the rules or does the novice half-vistani adventurer have little hope unless he/she is accompanied on his/her nights out by a party of equally moon mad outcasts?

Is there a way of reasonably handling moon madness that I am overlooking?

I think that moon madness is an interesting roleplaying device that is used to help a character develop. How the character deals with lunatio is part of that. Otherwise, if you don't like lunatio, don't play a half-vistani. Also it can get interesting with differing lunar cycles in the core (the Nuitari during the reign of the Black Rose for example).[/quote]

[tec-goblin]

IMC lunation sure has caused severe problems to the characters, but the most logical solution was locking down the half-vistani during these 3 nights. With chains... The half-vistani character, after the last time she caused mayhem and disorder during her lunatio, accepted it.

Of course, it's quite tragic and controversial to lock down such a free spirit!

[sabbattack]

Well well, we have a comedian here, don't we??

Seriously though, I can imagine that for half vistanis to be tied down during lunatio would be the same as keeping a vistani in the same domain for one or two years... Disastrous.

Maybe it's a bit harsh, but you must let the beast run no matter what. As it was said above, if you don't like it, don't play it.

[cure]

After the suggestions and further thought, perhaps a half-vistani barbarian with the lunacy or the ferally raised feat might survive more than a lunar month or two.

I can plausibly imagine a half-vistani raised by natural wolves in Verbrek and not attacked by the werewolves at the order of the domain lord both because of the vistani heritage and in the hope of eventually winning a willing convert to the Wolf-God. He or she would either flee to another domain before Timothy finally comes for his prize or would perhaps have the skills to escape in the foot race to the border. Something somewhat similar could be imaginable for Barovia too.

As for the lunatic half-vistani barbarian, he or she would have the physical talents to wage more than a few heroic battles under the full moon before meeting his eventual grisly fate.

An entirely different possibility would be a cleric of the Ancestorial Choir in Kartakass. As a cleric, with the open mind feat, and with the luck domain he would succumb to moon madness roughly only every fourth month. Now if the domain lord and the wolfweres happened to take a liking to him, instead of deeming him competition, he would stand a pretty decent chance of living to see more than a few full moons.

[Troile]

It really doesn't sound that bad to me

"Run wild under the night sky"

It doesn't mean she ignores her safety. In fact she would be a lot more safe like that than off on her own...with all the instincts of being "wild."

It also doesn't suggest that she turns evil in anyway.

I think people look too much into things when they take the character from the player's control.

The DM is not the player's enemy...just b/c the DM has control of the character doesn't mean that the DM should try to harm her in every way possible.

[cure]

The rules as written say that it is impossible for an individual with moon madness to prepare spells, as well as heal naturally, during the 3 days of the full moon. Am I correct in thinking that it is equally impossible for bards and sorcerers, who do not prepare spells, to recover spells during these 3 days?

[cure]

Troile,

Good points.

"Running wild" probably should imply that the DM takes over the character for the night in question, as with an afflicted werewolf who involontarily transforms, and it probably should imply that the subconscious of the character reaches back to the instincts of his ancestors that guide the Vistani fearlessly in their secret rituals under the full moon.

My concern was not loss of control, let alone evil deeds secretly done, but rather the prospects and plausibility of a lone character surviving the terrors of the night in most, if not all, domains. To take the example of Darkon, there was no exemption for (half-)Vistani in the curfew that Azalin proclaimed and one is led to believe that violaters almost certainly will be dragged down by his undead servants. The same might be said of Barovia, Strahdt, and his wolves, and likewise in other domains. Perhaps the night is not quite so terrifying as one would think, at least not if one has a little Vistani blood in the veins.

[Nathan of the FoS]

As you say, Cure, I think a half-Vistani under the influence of lunatio should be treated as if s/he were fully Vistani for that period; somehow, trouble just doesn't stick to them. With their connection to the Mists presumably at its strongest, perhaps they just "blend in"--literally--with the Demiplane on some level--enough to keep them safe from the attentions of ghasties and ghoulies, at least.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Van Richten said that evil itself feared the Vistani, and I would agree. I don't think the lunatio was supposed to be a bigger inconvenience than removing the character from the party for three days.

FWIW, a PC in one of my games was cursed to join the Vistani every month during the full moon, and never remember. He sometimes wound up hundreds of miles away, but he wasn't ever killed by it.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I've been kinda lax on the lunatio causing problems IMC, mainly because I wasn't sure what to do with it, and because the times it's come up, other things were going on that I didn't want to distract from.

The trouble I have is that recently the ranger's Wolf Companion has taken to following and guarding the half-vistani on his "run" and when they return, the ranger naturally asks the wolf what happened. I had no clue. What DO they do? So the last couple times I said "he just kept running!" I'd like to come up with something a bit more sinister and distrubing next time, but I'm not sure what. (This would especially be good because the 1/2 vistani character may be slipping into madness like his mother did from mental contact with spirits. The wolf reporting that he did something "crazy" would play into that...)

[Dominique]

The only way I've used lunatio to be problematic, other than meaning that the half-Vistani couldn't help out with watches or nighttime combats (which was a problem, since he was the ranger), was to sow some inter-party strife. The paladin was utterly convinced that the half-Vistani was a werewolf, which led to his dread mount trying to kill him on more than one occasion. As far as actual harm coming to the character, though, I don't think -anything- messes with a half-Vistani when his roots are showing.

[Troile]

As you say, Cure, I think a half-Vistani under the influence of lunatio should be treated as if s/he were fully Vistani for that period; somehow, trouble just doesn't stick to them. With their connection to the Mists presumably at its strongest, perhaps they just "blend in"--literally--with the Demiplane on some level--enough to keep them safe from the attentions of ghasties and ghoulies, at least.

Pretty much sums it up.

Afterall there are normal animals in the realm that survive at night too. I would think the half-vistani would be no different...though be equipped to deal with the situation.

[cure]

The trouble I have is that recently the ranger's Wolf Companion has taken to following and guarding the half-vistani on his "run" and when they return, the ranger naturally asks the wolf what happened. I had no clue. What DO they do?

The Vistani are social creatures in the extreme. So if a Vistana rejoins his roots and runs wild under the moon, this is likely to include joining with other half-Vistani and perhaps even Vistani proper. In either case, a warding gesture, or worse, is likely to send any animal companions, short of a familiar who should be equally mad in any case, fleeing in terror. An animal companion then would witness a gathering of two or more Vistani before being put to flight.

This also affords the possibility of subsequent encounters with half-Vistani coloured by the inexplicable feeling of having met before.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

I don't take a half-Vistani PC from a player's control during lunatio, so long as the player is willing to role-play the experience. Like Fear checks, IMO, it's not necessary to impose such behavior on a PC if the player is already acting out suitable responses in-character.

FWIW, I've always thought of lunatio as more like being drunk out of your mind than anything else. Yes, drunk people sometimes get themselves into trouble, and yes, they can be destructive, but usually being drunk only exacerbates impulses that are already present (and are normally repressed). If a half-Vistana likes to look at flowers on a normal day, she might wander through the fields picking them and tying them in her hair, singing about flowers, during lunatio. If another likes to whistle at pretty giorgios when their men aren't around, he might "run wild" in a village by making passes at anything in a dress, and get himself strung up for his trouble! How lunatio affects a character should be more personalized, and how the PC experiences it (and has survived it) makes for a nice bit of character backstory.