Since folks in the notes have been wondering about the potential effects of the contaminated water, a few ideas:
Village residents are suddenly compelled to speak in rhyme, but most of them are lousy poets, so in practice theyâre just unable to communicate effectively (this one works even if the GM is bad at improvising rhyming dialogue, since the premise takes that into account)
Certain villagersâ personalities are warped into archetypal heroes and villains, without the skills to go with it, so you basically end up with Batman theme villains; e.g., a villainous shoemaker who devises dastardly shoe-related crimes
Domestic animals begin behaving as folkloric guardians and tricksters; e.g., a chicken who wonât let you gather her eggs unless you successfully answer her three riddles, and devours you if you fail
Formerly harmless rituals and superstitions become efficacious, e.g., a rash of seemingly unconnected people all getting hit with the same curse, the common thread being that they all walked under the same ladder at some point
Local tradespeople become supernaturally effective at their trades in awkward or inconvenient ways, e.g., the village piemaker begins unwittingly baking pies that act as magic potions with a variety of exciting and undocumented effects
For bonus points, have each incident be amenable to its own targeted cure or solution that doesnât obviously point back to the water supply. If youâre running a town-centric campaign (e.g., perhaps using a system like Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures), you could squeeze a whole series of investigative scenarios out of this bullshit before the players figure out whatâs going on.
(Feel free to add your own ideas if youâve got âem!)