Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Should Hector Kill . . . ?

Hector didn't kill the ruffians, even though they were totally asking for it, and he didn't kill the coffin-maker because it turned out that the coffin-maker had been coerced by a coven of vampires (whom he and his companions destroyed). He also didn't kill the "mad wizard" (whom I probably haven't told you about) because the wizard's madness was easily cured and he is no longer a threat to anyone. However, Hector now has to confront yet another potential threat to the realm, one that should be eliminated as soon as possible, before anyone else gets hurt: himself.

It is entirely possible, though not yet confirmed, that Hector has contracted lycanthropy. That is, he may now be a werewolf.

In D&D, as in most mythologies with werewolves, werewolves are not entirely in control of them. When they transform, which happens non-voluntarily, they fly into a wild killing spree, attacking every human they see, and probably some other animals, too.

Hector knows that he has been bitten by a werewolf, so he knows that there's a chance that he will soon transform against his will and begin attacking innocent people. There are several ways to prevent this, but only one way is sure to work.

He could, and will, try to have his lycanthropy cured, but that will take some time. In D&D, lycanthropy can be cured as easily as casting the "Remove Curse" spell on the lycanthrope, but Remove Curse is a 3rd level spell, meaning that it would take a reasonably powerful spell caster to cast it. It's possible that one of his companions could cast this spell, if she has it in her spellbook, but there's no guarantee of that. I'm sure the no-longer-mad wizard could cast Remove Curse on Hector, but he's several days' journey away. There will be many moonlit nights before Hector can get to the wizard to remover the curse.

In the meantime, Hector must contain the beast in more conventional ways. He will soon reach a town at which he could almost certainly buy a chain and some padlocks, no questions asked, but, troublingly, the chain might not be strong enough. According to the equipment description in the Player's Handbook, a chain has a break DC of 20, which means that if you want to break a chain, you roll a 20-sided die, add your Strength bonus to it, and if the total is 20 or higher, you succeed. Hector could, on a lucky (or unlucky) roll, break the chain with his bare hands, even without whatever Strength bonus he might get for being a werewolf, and the werewolf will certainly try to break the chain. Keeping the werewolf chained up is not a reliable long-term solution.

My current plan for Hector is to try and keep the werewolf chained up until we can find someone to cast Remove Curse on him, but this plan carries serious risk. If the werewolf breaks the chain, it will be up to Hector's companions to bring the him down, and if any of them get injured and infected in the process, their problem gets exponentially worse.

One simple solution to this lycanthropy problem, and one that is sure to work without any risk of injuring others, is for Hector to kill himself. This is certainly not an ideal solution, but it's the only way to truly guarantee the safety of others. Either Hector takes his own life, or he runs the risk of taking or at least ruining others'.

Hector isn't going to do that. The situation is literally dicey, but the odds of a mishap are low enough that to take such drastic action seems unwise. But still, in this situation, the option must be considered. If any lives are to be lost because of Hector's lycanthropy, it should be his, and it seems irresponsible to risk an unknown number of lives just to hopefully spare one. However, self-harm, even in the name of sacrificing oneself for the good of others, is never a good option, and it is very rarely the best.

I don't even have to finish the question. No, Hector should not kill himself. Probably no one should. It is, at this point, risky for Hector to let himself live, but it's a risk that he is just going to have to take.

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