Fantasy Medieval X-Men

Image by Mohammed Hassan via Pixabay

I don't know if this idea has legs or not. It's an interesting metagame but I'm not sure it's fun. But I've had it in my head for far too long without progressing it one way or another, so maybe I can get it out by writing it down.

Wizard X has assembled a team of heroes, each with their own special quality. By way of example, Sir A is as strong as an ogre. Lady B has hypnotically fascinating eyes. Sir C can swim like a fish. They roam the countryside doing good deeds, but the local peasants are always grateful when they move on. There's something unsettling about them.

Each of the characters is cursed and doesn't know it. Sir A just knows that Lady B is under a dark fate and must never see her own reflection. It's his job to keep tabs on her and make sure she doesn't. Lady B knows that Sir C must never taste sea water and it's her role to see that he never does. Sir C knows that Sir A can never eat uncooked meat under any circumstances, and the task of stopping it falls to him.

But the real truth is that Sir A is as strong as an ogre because he is one. Wizard X permanently polymorphed him into human shape and geased him never to think about his past. If he ever eats raw meat, that part of the spell is undone. Lady B has some of the powers of a gorgon because she's a gorgon. Sir C is a Saghuin. Each of them has a taboo they can never break, or their real nature will be revealed to them. Wizard X never told them about the 'curse' or the taboo because he didn't want them to know even that much about their situation. In order to keep them from crossing the line, he gave each of them the job of managing one of their companions.

I think it would be on-theme for only the GM and a character's minder player to know what their taboo is. I can't imagine it being hard to figure out, the cat's going to be out of the bag on the meta level within the first session or two. From there it's going to be about playing their character like they aren't aware of it and don't know why another character is constantly trying to stop them doing something. Obviously for this to make it into a game, players will have to be comfortable with acting out in-game conflict between the two characters. Some people aren't, and that's fine. I'm not sure I could make this work at my table. I know some larpers who might go for it.

It could be a good gimmick for a streamed game, on reflection.