The Most Evil Creature in the World™ Returns By: Joe Alfano Posted on: 9/15/2008

If you have been reading this column for a while, there is a chance that you remember an early article I did on one of my favorite characters I have played in the various Dungeons and Dragons games I have been in.  The so entitled Most Evil Creature in the World™ article was left with the cliffhanger of when he became a monster, just like a couple of the other members of the party.  This is the story of how that happened.

A combination of things came into play that made it possible for my beloved little Halfling to enter into the world of the monsters.  Not one single event, circumstance or roll led to Jared McBurrows jumping into quoting, “I’m a monster, RAWR!”  Each of them added to the situation as a whole.

First off, there was the size of our group.  We were running a little heavy at nine players.  That makes things difficult to keep track of, and a bit hectic at times.  This can also lead to a large amount of “do something stupid” moments.  For those unfamiliar with this phenomenon, it dictates that when a player is either bored or has nothing to do, they decide to do something stupid and see what happens.

Next there was the point of sleep deprivation on the part of our Dungeon Master.  Basically, in the haze of his lack of sleep, he forgot some of the key features of the creature we were fighting.  One of them was an integral part in Jared becoming a “monster.”  All of which was a formula for funny.

And finally there was role playing and the rolls involved.  Through the series of misadventures and missed rolls, somehow this devilishly attractive elven woman that made her way into our camp was able to get into the middle of the camp and be near one Jared McBurrows when she revealed herself to be a lycanthrope – specifically, a werefox, otherwise known as a vixen. 

During the course of the fight, although she determined we had a serious lack of silver or magic to hurt her, she knew the numbers were against her.  Still holding my Halfling as a hostage though, she bit him in the shoulder, flung him at the group and ran off for the woods.  It was pretty easy for us to lose her as she had shifted into fox form, and I was flailing on the ground claiming I was dying because she had poisoned me.

The dwarven cleric healed me up to healthy again – all the time me commenting on how the rest of the party has it in for short folk, evidenced by the fact that the elven cleric refused to help tend my wounds.  And with that, we went about our business until the next full moon.

During a break, the Dungeon Master had revealed to me that I was becoming a werefox.  This meant that I could only be harmed by silver or magical weapons, I could shift into the form of a small fox (which would be awesome for staking out places) and most importantly I would be granted the power to awe people.  This was an aspect of having an extremely high charisma in 2^nd Edition.  Fail a will save and the character is subject to my suggestion.

After realizing what abilities this new status granted me, the first thing I did was go to the home of the wealthiest merchant and asked the guard at the front door to show me to his master’s treasure vault.  He was convinced that the merchant had offered to let me look upon his treasures so that I could tell tales of his affluence.  I took nothing, thanked the guard, and went back to the inn.  The party was sure that I stole something though, since the entire exchange took place where they could not hear it.

So the elven cleric was convinced that this curse had turned me evil.  Looking past the fact that he thought I was evil before, the Dungeon Master and I agreed that I would not see this as a curse and it would not turn me evil.  I saw it as a blessing, and a new tool to use in my trade.

At this point I can sense some confusion as to why the Dungeon Master’s lack of sleep could have lead to this.  For those of you not familiar with the werefox in the 2^nd Edition rules, she can only infect human or elven women with lycanthropy.  It was right around the time when we were discussing – in private – Jared’s thoughts and views on this “curse” that he gave me a choice as the player.  I could be turning into a miniature werewolf, or be facing a more drastic transformation of returning from each fox transformation a little closer to being an elven female.

Looking at the options, I figured I had a better chance of finding a way to keep my Halfling status than transforming into an actual monster every full moon.  Plus Jared was seeing far too many opportunities with this new form.  It was then that Jared McBurrows took on the rogue identity of the Silver Fox.

That did not keep entire party (minus the dwarf who was starting to believe the rest of the group hated short people), from wanting to “cure” me of this “curse” that had been bestowed on me.  The height of this happened when the group decided to forcibly take the Halfling to the high priest of the elven cleric’s temple to have the curse removed.  They figured that even just the three or four of them that were in solid support of this idea could manage to get me there.

So the final count was that I drugged the elven cleric to sleep, and when they continued to come after me, I charmed the paladin in the party into defending me as I escaped out the door.  Apparently he worked really well as a linebacker since the minotaur wasn't around.  All of this was due to the fact that apparently my curse was much worse than the minotaur’s curse.  The idea behind his character was that due to emergency induced cannibalism, he was cursed with the form of the minotaur until he could repent.

When I approached the head of the White Council (a high ranking wizard/cleric) and presented him with my case, I offered to become a member of the council in exchange for making my “curse” become part of me and not be affected by a remove curse spell.  One of the side effects of becoming a werefox was the bent towards multiclassing to magic-user as well as rogue – thus making me a prime candidate for the White Council.  Aside from that, it also made me quite a useful member of the White Council.

The whole deal did not deter them from trying to remove my curse, but it did afford me a level of protection against my own party.  It also afforded me a level of comfort that my party did not know due to the side jobs that the White Council tended to send me on.  Overall, everyone won – who was not over four feet in height and a member of my adventuring party.

To his credit though, Jared McBurrows (who was well on his way to assuming the guise of T’Salla the Silver Fox) did invite the group to the party he threw at his favorite inn.  The spoils of that first task he performed for the White Council, and the attempt to gain a positive profile in town so that he may set himself up to form his own thieves guild – one that was strongly allied with the White Council.

But that – as always – is another story.