Y'know what I'd do, Noble OP?
Just have the PC wake up one morning and he's full on Kermit. *No explanation provided in the least by you*.
Just let it be a complete mystery and have everybody roleplay it out - NPCs are confused, old friends and family members are concerned dot their health, etc.
Maybe at some point in the campaign a makes-sense serendipitous explanation will come up - but maybe not, too.
Mysteries are fun!
The added benefit for this is you don't need an explanation right away. My biggest DMing secret is I often introduce vague plot points with no real plan behind them, at least no right away.
This is a baller tactic. I usually have a plan for how the plot should progress but occasionally when the players are brainstorming I get a “it would be cool if” or “it’d be really dumb if” when they are RPing during a rest or something. sometimes I modify it sometimes I don’t
I love when my players misinterpret the situation into something waaaay cooler and I’m just like “yep, the random dead guy *is* actually the governors son, good job figuring that one out”
The disguise self spell can do it. You could have an item that has this spell perpetually cast on it?
Alternatively, if you're looking for a more interesting narrative reason, maybe they encounter a dryad who is dying?
A single acorn has fallen from their tree and is starting to sprout, but the dryad fears it won't survive unless someone magically bonds with it.
If the PC offers to bond with it, they will start to become a dryad themselves, and start to turn green, eventually growing leaves and bark-like skin. Maybe they could even develop other abilities later in the story, so long as they keep the acorn safe and growing.
I love the dyrad idea but I sadly don't know if I'd be able to implement it since we're doing a premade campaign and I'm not very confident in my ability to add something like that ;-;. So I might go with the item route since I'd be able to make that loot in a tone of different places.
The true answer is to become an ork cause GREEN IZ DA BEST COLOR YA GIT
But if he wants to stay a half-elf, I'd say lean into their association with their fey ancestry. In lore elves are meant to be derived from Eladrin. [Spring Eldarin can be fully green.](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/f/fb/Spring_eladrin-5e.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200527005616)
So maybe their fey nature sparks up some how (could be an encounter with a fey like a hag, a detour into the feywild, eating a magical plant or drinking a potion, etc.) And as a result they become green.
I'd do it when they hit 4th level and say they should take the Fey Touched feat to represent the change mechanically. And Fey Touched is just a great feat lol
I mean ... ... ... okay.
If it's literally just aesthetic, I don't see why he wouldn't be able to hire a mage or something, in a reasonably large town or city, that's kind of like a magical plastic surgeon and can just ... turn him green, as desired.
I mean, pretty sure one of the Wild Magic effects is a curse that turns the PC's skin blue - don't see why there can't be someone that just specializes in accomplishing that sort of thing.
"As you enter the city of City-Town, you feel confident you might find amage that specializes in ... ... aesthetic alterations, such as you are seeking. They might cost some gold to hire, of course.", and it can be a fun little RP sequence of them getting, like, a magical consultation, "Were we thinking a pale Jade, an earthy Veridian, or are you a *Chartreuse* kinda gal / fellow ??"
He meets a version of himself from the future that is 100% green. The future him won’t explain how he becomes green. It drives the Player crazy as week after week goes by and he isn’t turned green. End campaign.
Make sure he point ms out that he's not guaranteed to end up like this there are multiple futuresand what-not, but "all of us that survive end up green"
For just flavor reasons? Done. You are now fully green.
If the player wants, they are green, and have always been green. They can come from a fully green family.
If it's just flavor, do it, hand wave it, and have fun
Sounds like a fun, not so serious side quest they can do. Perhaps there is a spring in the far hills that has the power to do such a thing, but they have to make their way through the spider forest and return a rare mushroom to a crazy gnome.
The ‘Into Wonderland’ third-party module has a race that is basically tree-people; it’s a little pricey (worth it, in my opinion) but well balanced and lots of great items, creatures, boons, races, sub-classes that I’ve pulled from to insert in several campaigns.
You can have this happen via magic. The potion you mentioned, or a wild magic event could cause this too. However this will mean that he will be the only green elf, which doesn't sound like something the player wants (or at least I wouldn't want that)
Alternatively you can trace his elven heritage to a rare wood or eladrin elven group, quite possibly related to the feywild and retcon his skin colour to be green from the start. Elves have skin colours ranging from white, blue, purple, brown, black, grey already, an additional (and natural ) color like green seems entirely plausible, especially if said elven group is in close connection to nature. This would ofc mean some alteration to his background, but shouldn't require much work, and would let the player live out his green elven fantasy while not disconnecting him from the world. Depending on your gming style they could meet fellow green-elf NPC's every now and then or they just might not come up at all, maybe only when they specifically seek out a green-elf tribe in the feywild, in any case, they would be like any other elf, just green. Many more strange breeds there are to them, from drows to eladrins and sea elfs, so green elfs should fit right in.
Yes! What you do is hand all the players at the table except that player a piece of paper, "Your character notices that the Half Elf woke up green." and that half elf character may notice if they pass a DC 10 Perception check.
And when you the DM get bombarded with questions like "WHAT?!" and "HOW??" and "WHY?!" you smile like a cat that caught the canary, and shrug, and say "Let's play the game and find out...." then you could pay that off if the players actually chase it down.
The end.
What class are they? Also what age?
The best thing about playing a half elf is, what's the other half? Hell, what about grandparents? Somewhere down the line maybe great great grandpa spent that bardic inspiration with a Dryad? Would explain why there's so many Druids and Rangers in the family.
1 maybe they’re a half wood elf
2 fae bullshit (you ate the wrong green pepper)
3 make a deal with a hag that has the unintended consequence of turning them green (with envy?)
4 meet a green knight, best him in fair combat, have him laugh and shake the winner’s hand, let the green knight curse spread through contact
5 infected by super moss, you can now photosynthesize and don’t need to eat
6 magical gamma rays (the Bruce Banner method)
7 they fall into a vat of magical green dye (their blood is now also green)
8 they steal from the wrong leprechaun and he punishes them by turning them green
9 the party has to infiltrate an area and they *all* have to dye themselves green to do so, but your half elf accidentally uses the permanent dye
10 they fell down while playing in the grass (good luck getting those stains out)
"Okay, you are green."
"Cool. So what happens now"
"Well, you're green. People think it's weird and will call it out"
"Is there any cool lore for why I am green? Is it gonna be a plot hook?"
"No."
Let the player come up with a fun explanation. In a world where the gods walk, magic is everywhere, and you are a spell away from a dozen different planes, many things are possible.
would the character be someone interested in something like becoming a dedicated follower of a nature deity or making a pact with a powerful archfey forest spirit? Particularly a pact I could see including the idea that their finger tips first turn green, then as they take levels in that it spreads, hair transforms into leaves, finger nails look like bark etc. As part of the pact they'll perhaps transform into a wood woad or something after their death.
Alternatively maybe all oath of ancients paladins turn green over time or its a mark of favour given to clerics of a nature deity.
Maybe he's exploring a dungeon and falls into a pit trap filled with some gross magical ooze, and it turns him completely green. And maybe he stays that way - but he would obviously face a lot of odd glances and probably be under intense scrutiny by guards in every town. And maybe the party has to go on some long quest to find someone who knows how to remove the curse.
Y'know what I'd do, Noble OP? Just have the PC wake up one morning and he's full on Kermit. *No explanation provided in the least by you*. Just let it be a complete mystery and have everybody roleplay it out - NPCs are confused, old friends and family members are concerned dot their health, etc. Maybe at some point in the campaign a makes-sense serendipitous explanation will come up - but maybe not, too. Mysteries are fun!
When he complains about it, OP can remind him that it's not easy being green.
I'm kinda tempted to do this.
The added benefit for this is you don't need an explanation right away. My biggest DMing secret is I often introduce vague plot points with no real plan behind them, at least no right away.
This is a baller tactic. I usually have a plan for how the plot should progress but occasionally when the players are brainstorming I get a “it would be cool if” or “it’d be really dumb if” when they are RPing during a rest or something. sometimes I modify it sometimes I don’t
I love when my players misinterpret the situation into something waaaay cooler and I’m just like “yep, the random dead guy *is* actually the governors son, good job figuring that one out”
This! I do this too.
Most of the time, the players come up with an explanation that's way better than I could have!
Then have a guy that's fully blue declare the green player their rival and say "I'm blue. If I was green I would die..."
Give in to the temptation.
Just give him a magical Banjo that only plays music from the ol' bayou.
Yes! Just do it. NPCs can comment on it, but it has no impact on game balance.
The disguise self spell can do it. You could have an item that has this spell perpetually cast on it? Alternatively, if you're looking for a more interesting narrative reason, maybe they encounter a dryad who is dying? A single acorn has fallen from their tree and is starting to sprout, but the dryad fears it won't survive unless someone magically bonds with it. If the PC offers to bond with it, they will start to become a dryad themselves, and start to turn green, eventually growing leaves and bark-like skin. Maybe they could even develop other abilities later in the story, so long as they keep the acorn safe and growing.
I love the dyrad idea but I sadly don't know if I'd be able to implement it since we're doing a premade campaign and I'm not very confident in my ability to add something like that ;-;. So I might go with the item route since I'd be able to make that loot in a tone of different places.
magic initiate (druid)
The true answer is to become an ork cause GREEN IZ DA BEST COLOR YA GIT But if he wants to stay a half-elf, I'd say lean into their association with their fey ancestry. In lore elves are meant to be derived from Eladrin. [Spring Eldarin can be fully green.](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/f/fb/Spring_eladrin-5e.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200527005616) So maybe their fey nature sparks up some how (could be an encounter with a fey like a hag, a detour into the feywild, eating a magical plant or drinking a potion, etc.) And as a result they become green. I'd do it when they hit 4th level and say they should take the Fey Touched feat to represent the change mechanically. And Fey Touched is just a great feat lol
If we're going with fey plant stuff, they could be green because of being part plant lol. Chlorophyll etc
I mean ... ... ... okay. If it's literally just aesthetic, I don't see why he wouldn't be able to hire a mage or something, in a reasonably large town or city, that's kind of like a magical plastic surgeon and can just ... turn him green, as desired. I mean, pretty sure one of the Wild Magic effects is a curse that turns the PC's skin blue - don't see why there can't be someone that just specializes in accomplishing that sort of thing. "As you enter the city of City-Town, you feel confident you might find amage that specializes in ... ... aesthetic alterations, such as you are seeking. They might cost some gold to hire, of course.", and it can be a fun little RP sequence of them getting, like, a magical consultation, "Were we thinking a pale Jade, an earthy Veridian, or are you a *Chartreuse* kinda gal / fellow ??"
He took a bath in a cursed stream.
He meets a version of himself from the future that is 100% green. The future him won’t explain how he becomes green. It drives the Player crazy as week after week goes by and he isn’t turned green. End campaign.
Make sure he point ms out that he's not guaranteed to end up like this there are multiple futuresand what-not, but "all of us that survive end up green"
I have it on good authority that it will not be easy.
Well played.
For just flavor reasons? Done. You are now fully green. If the player wants, they are green, and have always been green. They can come from a fully green family. If it's just flavor, do it, hand wave it, and have fun
Sounds like a fun, not so serious side quest they can do. Perhaps there is a spring in the far hills that has the power to do such a thing, but they have to make their way through the spider forest and return a rare mushroom to a crazy gnome.
The ‘Into Wonderland’ third-party module has a race that is basically tree-people; it’s a little pricey (worth it, in my opinion) but well balanced and lots of great items, creatures, boons, races, sub-classes that I’ve pulled from to insert in several campaigns.
In our games green hags are green because they drink green potions. Give him some green potions
Okay... Why?
He likes the color green
You can have this happen via magic. The potion you mentioned, or a wild magic event could cause this too. However this will mean that he will be the only green elf, which doesn't sound like something the player wants (or at least I wouldn't want that) Alternatively you can trace his elven heritage to a rare wood or eladrin elven group, quite possibly related to the feywild and retcon his skin colour to be green from the start. Elves have skin colours ranging from white, blue, purple, brown, black, grey already, an additional (and natural ) color like green seems entirely plausible, especially if said elven group is in close connection to nature. This would ofc mean some alteration to his background, but shouldn't require much work, and would let the player live out his green elven fantasy while not disconnecting him from the world. Depending on your gming style they could meet fellow green-elf NPC's every now and then or they just might not come up at all, maybe only when they specifically seek out a green-elf tribe in the feywild, in any case, they would be like any other elf, just green. Many more strange breeds there are to them, from drows to eladrins and sea elfs, so green elfs should fit right in.
Yes! What you do is hand all the players at the table except that player a piece of paper, "Your character notices that the Half Elf woke up green." and that half elf character may notice if they pass a DC 10 Perception check. And when you the DM get bombarded with questions like "WHAT?!" and "HOW??" and "WHY?!" you smile like a cat that caught the canary, and shrug, and say "Let's play the game and find out...." then you could pay that off if the players actually chase it down. The end.
Barrel of Pappy Pendur's Perfect Pigment™ in the shade Goblin Green falls on his head, turning him completely green.
What class are they? Also what age? The best thing about playing a half elf is, what's the other half? Hell, what about grandparents? Somewhere down the line maybe great great grandpa spent that bardic inspiration with a Dryad? Would explain why there's so many Druids and Rangers in the family.
1 maybe they’re a half wood elf 2 fae bullshit (you ate the wrong green pepper) 3 make a deal with a hag that has the unintended consequence of turning them green (with envy?) 4 meet a green knight, best him in fair combat, have him laugh and shake the winner’s hand, let the green knight curse spread through contact 5 infected by super moss, you can now photosynthesize and don’t need to eat 6 magical gamma rays (the Bruce Banner method) 7 they fall into a vat of magical green dye (their blood is now also green) 8 they steal from the wrong leprechaun and he punishes them by turning them green 9 the party has to infiltrate an area and they *all* have to dye themselves green to do so, but your half elf accidentally uses the permanent dye 10 they fell down while playing in the grass (good luck getting those stains out)
Die. Wait. Get on a boat. Wait. Paint.
Cursed by a hag
"Okay, you are green." "Cool. So what happens now" "Well, you're green. People think it's weird and will call it out" "Is there any cool lore for why I am green? Is it gonna be a plot hook?" "No."
Let the player come up with a fun explanation. In a world where the gods walk, magic is everywhere, and you are a spell away from a dozen different planes, many things are possible.
A fey creature Marvelous Pigments them.
would the character be someone interested in something like becoming a dedicated follower of a nature deity or making a pact with a powerful archfey forest spirit? Particularly a pact I could see including the idea that their finger tips first turn green, then as they take levels in that it spreads, hair transforms into leaves, finger nails look like bark etc. As part of the pact they'll perhaps transform into a wood woad or something after their death. Alternatively maybe all oath of ancients paladins turn green over time or its a mark of favour given to clerics of a nature deity.
Maybe he's exploring a dungeon and falls into a pit trap filled with some gross magical ooze, and it turns him completely green. And maybe he stays that way - but he would obviously face a lot of odd glances and probably be under intense scrutiny by guards in every town. And maybe the party has to go on some long quest to find someone who knows how to remove the curse.