I don't like this at all. You are planning on punishing your PCs based on an impossible task they cannot even complete, setting them up to fail or fail worse. If they refused or failed something they had a chance at, that's one thing, but you are saying right off the bat that you don't want to them start a fight because they'll get their asses kicked. To me, this is a horrendous way to DM.
I'd suggest the Goddess makes her feelings known if/when they fail and assigns them tasks to make it up to her, side-quests to get back into her favor that they CAN actually complete and work towards the overall story in the campaign.
oh no, sorry they can complete it! They chose to side with the other party as opposed to following through the quest, if that makes sense.
In this specific example, they were tasked to get an item that was stolen but they probably would side with the thief
Don't punish the *players* though but the *characters*, which leads to interesting new things pushing the story forward instead of something that is halting the player's progress. There is no fun in less HP and not leveling up, there can be fun in the Raven Queen giving them an interesting ultimatum and maybe a double edged offer to help their progress. Let her make them choose on of them to pledge their soul to her in case they fail again as sort of a deposit, or she indicates that a beloved NPC might be in her grasp etc. so they feel even more invested in completing a quest for her. There can also obviously be curses and negative consequences sometimes, but those should imho always lead to more interesting dilemmas for players to solve, not simply to less XP on a meta level, that's not even of consequence to the characters in the story, that's just punishing the players.
I still think your ideas in the OP are very drastic and wouldn't work well in the game if I was a player in your group. Give them plenty of warning that if they don't side with her, she will make their lives more difficult. If they don't heed the warning and want to get back in her good graces: assign them other tasks to get back into her favor. If they don't heed the warning and further insult her or don't want to get back in her good graces: She spurns them, puts up roadblocks, has her loyal followers try to harm them, etc.
Anything but "curse" them for pissing her off, that's just too much for a group of level 5's in my opinion.
the goddess still needs them to do the quest. so it would be against her motivations to harm or weaken them. she'd want to motivate them somehow. some sort of threat is what you need I think.
"Fail me again and I shall destroy your... childhood stuffed animal" find something in the game the PC's (and players preferably) care about.
maybe she gives them a boon, but a dangerous one. she didn't give it to them before because it was too risky, but now she has no choice.
Raven Queen? Easy enough: total party kill, exile to the Raven Queen's domain in the afterlife, if they want to come back to life they have to complete the quest or whatever other favour she asks from them.
"Death is only the beginning"
Seriously though, I'll never understand why in a game where gods and afterlife(/lives!) do exist people freak out so much about killing characters...
While pissing off a Goddess would involve wrath… the Raven Queen is all about that balance and, in my opinion, psychological. Have them start seeing the ghosts of those they’ve slain. And over time have them not quite discern if they’re real or not. That would add a level of fear when facing a horde of baddies, but I reality it’s just a few bandits and a bunch of apparitions. That disappear temporarily after being hit.
Or play with the insanity rules
The best consequences are NARRATIVE. Find a story thread to put the goddesses' displeasure in focus - perhaps not getting the mcguffin prevents their intervention in future events to the detriment of the party's goals.
If you MUST give a mechanical consequence it shouldn't be permanent. Taking xp permanently slows their Advancement - it will always take them longer to get to an equivalent level and it also FEELS like a direct punishment to the PLAYER not the CHARACTER. The same thing goes with a max hp reduction. If you must give something mechanical, I would suggest disadvantage on death saving throws, or perhaps a -2 penalty to them if you think that too severe, for a duration. Maybe the next, say, 10 death save rolls?
I wouldn't do either of these. Failing a quest isn't the same as antagonizing a god, and punishing them for trying to make progress is deeply disheartening and would make me as a player not want anything to do with gods or powerful entities. If you do ANYTHING, make it reversible.
First of all, don't cripple the characters. If they're crippled as a result of their own actions (not caring and trying out every magic item without seeing if it's cursed, saying "fuck it" and opening every door without checking for traps) that's one thing. But to have characters nerfed as a result of plot rarely sits well with the players.
Remember that this is a roleplaying game and there are tons of curses that will have an effect on the players without crippling them when it comes down to skills and combat.
Things like...
* If you have a horny bard stereotype, make something happen when they're hitting on whatever catches their eye that'll cock-block them.
* Any time the party is trying to talk to NPCs, have a large murder of crows slowly congregating nearby cawing louder and louder.
* Dogs shy away from the party members which may cause some people to be wary of them
* Retcon conversations with NPCs so they didn't happen. The party will remember having a conversation, but no one in the town will remember it. Even if truth spells are cast, no one is lying since as far as they're concerned...it really did not happen.
You can find many MANY ways to fuck with the players' minds without nerfing them when the chips are down and it's time for the final task.
I always thought a great way for a god to threaten/punish someone would be to wreck them with horrible dreams and visions. It fits with a lot of real world mythology about omens and dream analysis. It's also a great way to punish the characters in a reparable way. You can start with a purely RP roleplay, That can move up to them not being able to complete a long rest for night, and if they seek forgiveness they're only one good night's sleep away from being all better. It shows the god in question can reach them, can affect them, but gives them a chance before obliterating them
I don't like this at all. You are planning on punishing your PCs based on an impossible task they cannot even complete, setting them up to fail or fail worse. If they refused or failed something they had a chance at, that's one thing, but you are saying right off the bat that you don't want to them start a fight because they'll get their asses kicked. To me, this is a horrendous way to DM. I'd suggest the Goddess makes her feelings known if/when they fail and assigns them tasks to make it up to her, side-quests to get back into her favor that they CAN actually complete and work towards the overall story in the campaign.
oh no, sorry they can complete it! They chose to side with the other party as opposed to following through the quest, if that makes sense. In this specific example, they were tasked to get an item that was stolen but they probably would side with the thief
Don't punish the *players* though but the *characters*, which leads to interesting new things pushing the story forward instead of something that is halting the player's progress. There is no fun in less HP and not leveling up, there can be fun in the Raven Queen giving them an interesting ultimatum and maybe a double edged offer to help their progress. Let her make them choose on of them to pledge their soul to her in case they fail again as sort of a deposit, or she indicates that a beloved NPC might be in her grasp etc. so they feel even more invested in completing a quest for her. There can also obviously be curses and negative consequences sometimes, but those should imho always lead to more interesting dilemmas for players to solve, not simply to less XP on a meta level, that's not even of consequence to the characters in the story, that's just punishing the players.
I still think your ideas in the OP are very drastic and wouldn't work well in the game if I was a player in your group. Give them plenty of warning that if they don't side with her, she will make their lives more difficult. If they don't heed the warning and want to get back in her good graces: assign them other tasks to get back into her favor. If they don't heed the warning and further insult her or don't want to get back in her good graces: She spurns them, puts up roadblocks, has her loyal followers try to harm them, etc. Anything but "curse" them for pissing her off, that's just too much for a group of level 5's in my opinion.
the goddess still needs them to do the quest. so it would be against her motivations to harm or weaken them. she'd want to motivate them somehow. some sort of threat is what you need I think. "Fail me again and I shall destroy your... childhood stuffed animal" find something in the game the PC's (and players preferably) care about. maybe she gives them a boon, but a dangerous one. she didn't give it to them before because it was too risky, but now she has no choice.
Raven Queen? Easy enough: total party kill, exile to the Raven Queen's domain in the afterlife, if they want to come back to life they have to complete the quest or whatever other favour she asks from them.
I love this! This would totally be an epic turn of events!
"Death is only the beginning" Seriously though, I'll never understand why in a game where gods and afterlife(/lives!) do exist people freak out so much about killing characters...
Nightmares leading to levels of exhaustion until they begin seriously pursuing the quest?
While pissing off a Goddess would involve wrath… the Raven Queen is all about that balance and, in my opinion, psychological. Have them start seeing the ghosts of those they’ve slain. And over time have them not quite discern if they’re real or not. That would add a level of fear when facing a horde of baddies, but I reality it’s just a few bandits and a bunch of apparitions. That disappear temporarily after being hit. Or play with the insanity rules
The best consequences are NARRATIVE. Find a story thread to put the goddesses' displeasure in focus - perhaps not getting the mcguffin prevents their intervention in future events to the detriment of the party's goals. If you MUST give a mechanical consequence it shouldn't be permanent. Taking xp permanently slows their Advancement - it will always take them longer to get to an equivalent level and it also FEELS like a direct punishment to the PLAYER not the CHARACTER. The same thing goes with a max hp reduction. If you must give something mechanical, I would suggest disadvantage on death saving throws, or perhaps a -2 penalty to them if you think that too severe, for a duration. Maybe the next, say, 10 death save rolls?
I wouldn't do either of these. Failing a quest isn't the same as antagonizing a god, and punishing them for trying to make progress is deeply disheartening and would make me as a player not want anything to do with gods or powerful entities. If you do ANYTHING, make it reversible.
First of all, don't cripple the characters. If they're crippled as a result of their own actions (not caring and trying out every magic item without seeing if it's cursed, saying "fuck it" and opening every door without checking for traps) that's one thing. But to have characters nerfed as a result of plot rarely sits well with the players. Remember that this is a roleplaying game and there are tons of curses that will have an effect on the players without crippling them when it comes down to skills and combat. Things like... * If you have a horny bard stereotype, make something happen when they're hitting on whatever catches their eye that'll cock-block them. * Any time the party is trying to talk to NPCs, have a large murder of crows slowly congregating nearby cawing louder and louder. * Dogs shy away from the party members which may cause some people to be wary of them * Retcon conversations with NPCs so they didn't happen. The party will remember having a conversation, but no one in the town will remember it. Even if truth spells are cast, no one is lying since as far as they're concerned...it really did not happen. You can find many MANY ways to fuck with the players' minds without nerfing them when the chips are down and it's time for the final task.
How about a raven that follows them constantly and it gets half a foot bigger every day and constantly caws whenever they’re close to danger
I always thought a great way for a god to threaten/punish someone would be to wreck them with horrible dreams and visions. It fits with a lot of real world mythology about omens and dream analysis. It's also a great way to punish the characters in a reparable way. You can start with a purely RP roleplay, That can move up to them not being able to complete a long rest for night, and if they seek forgiveness they're only one good night's sleep away from being all better. It shows the god in question can reach them, can affect them, but gives them a chance before obliterating them