Now, the question remains why is there a limited range? Maybe it is the soil, that already drained by some Barrenfield Oaks produces accorns of lower quality... that loose their fertility and are useless at the border of the 'field'.
Given that, I have diffilcuty believing the 'instant growth' thing, maybe the growth slows down as it expands, the ecological catastrophe happens anyway. So the accorn they find may have been a weaker one... growing slower, but trees popping up expansively as they find new soil.
Oh, and if there is ancient knowledge regarding this phenomena, some other Alchemist may try his luck again: to change them into quick-growing trees that mine the minerals of earth, but with a few accorns, or accorns that have to be harvested manually. Would be a great way of mining if it works... or another horror if not. Go to Comment
The whole box thing detracts from the entry. Who made the box with a warning? How 20th Century of them.
The Alchemist who would not release the acorns? Why would the Brigand do it? The Brigand would have his WMDs stored away safely.
Think about it. The moment he used one, the acorns would be out of the bag... others could easily go and get some of these (after they figured out what happend?) Everytime you unleash this thing, more of them are made. And what would stop others from collecting them and doing the same thing? After this happened, his political clout would be reduced. After all, now there are a couple of people who could? And what would stop the Kings of these destroyed kingdoms from using their acorns to take out their enemies ("If I can't have a healthy country, neither can you")?
Several of these events would occur. Some on purpose, some on accident. Somebody would try to find a way to stop these things (and might succeed). Of course, that success might have consequences. Go to Comment
Perhaps it is nothing to do with roots. Real oaks count on squirrels to spread their acorns, so at first the squirrels happly spread the acorns. However, since they are not nutritious they eventually all starve. Once there are no squirrels nearby, the spreading stops unless happenstance - water, humans, spreads one to where squirrels can again carry out their duty:) Go to Comment
Actually, if the PCs found out about the curse, they could 'trade' the armbands between themselves every day, thus preventing the curse from coming to fruition, as they 'reset' the countdown. Go to Comment
Just make it so that the countdown is NOT reset ;)
Perhaps the spirit Lycanthrope could become a silent stalker instead of giving a warning if you re-claim the bracelets later.
Or there could be two (3,4,...) of the lycanthropes, who approach faster, with every subsequent re-claiming of the bracers. Go to Comment