In-game urgency is addressed when you first rest and get the cutscene that makes the party aware that they're not transforming at the normal rate. The question is then: How should the game encourage players to rest before attempting to reach the Gith Patrol?
Either:
- A) After encountering Gale & Lae'zel, an overwhelming goblin force or some other danger (mind flayer ships searching the area?) should be detected by the party in a cutscene. The party has to hide and wait them out, and so they look for and find a secluded grove (the Camp) where they reluctantly hide and settle down for the night to wait out the danger.
Or
- B) The party gains multiple levels of exhaustion. Players have just been captured, held in a tank for X hours, implanted with a tadpole, fought their way out of a besieged ship, got slammed around in said ship, fell out of the ship, and fought a couple intellect devourers. Tav could have 1 or 2 levels when waking up on the beach. Then the party could gain a 2nd/3rd after the first Grove fight or after finding Lae'zel and Gale. At this point, a cutscene should play where other party members are clearly incredibly weak and beg you to rest, saying they can't go on (except for Lae'zel: she argues for powering through). You can of course choose not to rest, but this makes the game more difficult as 3 levels of exhaustion halves speed and gives disadvantage on every roll. Exhaustion doesn't need to be in the game otherwise.
*Not completely addressed though. Just because you're transforming more slowly than expected doesn't mean you shouldn't still rush to find a cure. After all, the Absolute could theoretically flick a switch (as you can do on the nautiloid) and instantly cause you to transform.
