So I'm looking for a bit of help with some inspiration. Life has just been too busy for me lately to come up with ideas organically, so I'm seeking help to boost my inspiration in the right direction. Here's my issue:
I'm currently running ROTRL for my group who have just defeated Barl and finished the Hook Mountain Massacre. It's the beginning of Winter, and they've discovered that Teraktinus plans to attack Sandpoint at first thaw. With the increased travel time due to the winter conditions, it looks like the party will reach Sandpoint within days of the first day of spring. However, due to an out of game scheduling conflict, our next session is going to be pretty short, and I'm not confident we'll have enough time to complete the battle of Sandpoint in one next session. Instead of cutting the session in the middle of the battle, I'd rather add a little something extra between the Hook Mountain and Sandpoint for the PCs to deal with.
Here's where my ideas are going, let me know if you feel this can be improved, or if there is a more interesting sidequest they could deal with:
Nualia managed to escape the PCs at Thistletop. The PCs then encountered her again when they visited the Seven's Sawmill, where she escaped again. During this time, the Paladin and Druid are both convinced she can be saved, and turned from her dark path. Both players have talked to me about this out-of-game, and so I allowed them to get their hands on a strand of her hair, which they've used periodically to scry on her. This has allowed me to give them a good deal of the story ahead of time that they normally wouldn't have access to. Also, during both encounters, the Paladin and Druid have fought her non-lethally, tried to talk and reason with her, and even managed to succeed in a very high DC Diplomacy Role to improve her disposition (and thus flee the battle at the Sawmill).
I'd like for Nualia to play a pivotal role in the Battle of Sandpoint, perhaps having something to do with the secret passage from the glassworks, and if the PCs play their cards right, I may even have her switch sides and help with fighting Longtooth.
But, as I said earlier; I'd like to put a sidequest in front of them before they return to defend Sandpoint - something that would take a day or less to complete.
However, this seems to be where my inspiration has ceased. Should I have them encounter her one last time on their travel back to Sandpoint? What would she likely be doing? Who/what might likely be aiding her? Would she once again return to Thistletop to plan her second attack on Sandpoint? What do you think?
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Maybe some of that plague from the Foxglove manor can be found. It takes the PCs like a month to get to Turtleback (and thus a month back) she could kill the whole town with that plague while they are gone. If she did manage something like this, then let them know it was her. Her transformation complete she moves away and leaves a book detailing how she did it, how she ticked them, how they helped her and how all the deaths she caused are their fault. Have fun with that Paladin.
:/
Alternately: Keep the possibility of the PC's actually getting through to her on the table and actually possible.
Turning PC victories into complete poison with them being unable to have any agency in what happens is one of the quickest ways to turn people off of the game.
I have played good characters that have been on the recieving end of this treatment. And yeah, some of them paladins.
Having every redemption attempt blow up in my face killed any desire to continue those campaigns for me.
I agree with Mikaze--reward the PCs with what they've invested in.
I first thought was a similar plot which is implemented in the Wrath of the Righteous AP with the redeemable succubus (#3 Demon's heresy).
But this would take a while; sorry, but it's been a while since I've read this installment and I'm away from my books.
A small piece of hope (that Nualia actually is redeemable) in between which you could give to the PCs might look something like this: have them encounter Nualia/see her at a distance and then flee/escape (again? might become a trope...). When the PCs investigate/search the area they find a litte butterfly drawn in the sand/mud/soil/carved in a tree.
They should reach the conclusion to include Father Zantus in this and then it's praying time to maybe get a hint what to do next from Desna/the GM...
Ruyan.
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Maybe I'm just crazy, but I prefer to reward my players for outside-the-box thinking, and for actually acting heroic. Like, they let Orik live, enlisted his help in fighting Nualia and Melfeshnekor, but then brought him to stand trial for the part he played in planning the goblin raid on Sandpoint. Orik was sentenced to live out the rest of his life in service as a Ranger at Fort Rannick. It really made my players light up when they found him again in the Fort Rannick dungeon, and they eagerly healed him up and enlisted him to help them again in retaking the fort.
I definitely like the broad strokes you've given RuyanVe; the idea of them encountering her and getting hints to that something about her is changing as opposed to the idea of passive-aggressively sabotaging my own game.
I played Nualia off as greatly disturbed and very engrossed in her new beliefs and PCs are utterly disgusted by her. She did however escape due to Trial by Combat in Magnimar and she's been MIA for a very long time (They are currently assaulting Fort Rannick and haven't seen her in over a book.) and I don't plan to have her come back until book 5.
She's going to be drawn by the Scribbler (who is an agent of Lamashtu so it works out well) and he is going to help her become a much more powerful demon in the catacombs below Sandpoint where she can then be unleashed to destroyed the town.
Naulia is back in Sandpoint and has captured (or will capture) Delek Viskanta, to:
1. get some looong awaited revenge
2. or "reward" for opening her eyes to Lamashtu
Let the players stumble into that and see where it goes.
Nualia has decided to try this redemption thing out, so she came back to Sandpoint to meet the PCs, who aren't there yet.
The locals reacted... badly. Nualia is in jail and slated for trial/execution, as soon as the main witnesses to her crimes (the PCs) are back.
Roleplay session out the wazoo...
As I read the original post, while it seems the pc's want to redeem Nualia, it's not clear they know how to go about it - though the tactics they chose seems like good ones.
What you need to do is determine what the process is for her redemption (and possibilities/consequences for failure) and then give the players a chance to do it. Is it game mechanic driven - so many diplomacy checks of difficulty x,y and z? Does the cleric need to channel positive energy as part of that diplomacy check? Etc. Or is it role-playing driven? Do they need to convince her of three key ideas (examples: she's worth saving, Lamashtu is a barren path, they need her help) Or is it story-driven - if these three events happen, she changes heart: she witnesses the party's valor in saving the town from the giants, the pc's deliberately spare her when they could have killed her (perhaps already met) and someone outside the party offers her mercy (Ameiko?)
Once you have that in hand you can design an encounter with her that gives the party a chance to succeed. While scrying on her, they discover she's returned to Sandpoint and is trying to rally the Mosswood goblins to attack. When the pc's spare the goblins and her while stopping the plot, she starts to rethink her life choices. Or she's skulking around town trying to find a way to the minor runewell (please take into account any steps the pc's may have taken to deal with it previously) and she gets trapped in a cave-in from which the party saves her. Or pending what happened at Habe's perhaps she's found her way there (though having her in the hands of the two lunatics that run that place seems really awful.) Maybe in his own bizarre way Habe can help break her down to receive redemption (more likely by coincidence than design.)
By the way, you should also give some thought to what happens if she does get redeemed. Does she join the party? Does she join the Temple in Sandpoint? Maybe she goes to serve with the Black Arrows.
As I read the original post, while it seems the pc's want to redeem Nualia, it's not clear they know how to go about it - though the tactics they chose seems like good ones.
What you need to do is determine what the process is for her redemption (and possibilities/consequences for failure) and then give the players a chance to do it. Is it game mechanic driven - so many diplomacy checks of difficulty x,y and z? Does the cleric need to channel positive energy as part of that diplomacy check? Etc. Or is it role-playing driven? Do they need to convince her of three key ideas (examples: she's worth saving, Lamashtu is a barren path, they need her help) Or is it story-driven - if these three events happen, she changes heart: she witnesses the party's valor in saving the town from the giants, the pc's deliberately spare her when they could have killed her (perhaps already met) and someone outside the party offers her mercy (Ameiko?)
I like the way you think, sir. While your "story driven" option is definitely in line with what I'm going for, your the three key ideas for what to convince her of in your "role-playing driven" option are very much in line with what the party has been doing. Maybe do a combination of the two...
Like, next time they scry on her, they see her meeting with Teraktinus, planning the assault, and see that there's already some dissension among the ranks. After all, Mokmurian (and thus Teraktinus through him) is interested in the Old Light only because Karzoug is, but doesn't know that Karzoug's interest is only because he's seeking to punish the Scribbler for betraying him. Being a follower of Lamashtu, just like Alaznist was and the Scribbler as well, and having actually explored the ruins of the Catacombs as Wrath, maybe Nualia is strating to put together that Mokumurian and his Runelord master might not have goals that are aligned with hers? Sure, she wants to see Sandpoint burn, but is this really the best way, by allying with enemies of her cult just to see this end met, dooming other worshipers of her goddess in the process? Maybe drop some hints in here as well to inspire the players to think along the right lines to actually meeting the correct prerequisites to redeem her?
But I also really like both of these ideas:
Once you have that in hand you can design an encounter with her that gives the party a chance to succeed. While scrying on her, they discover she's returned to Sandpoint and is trying to rally the Mosswood goblins to attack. When the pc's spare the goblins and her while stopping the plot, she starts to rethink her life choices. Or she's skulking around town trying to find a way to the minor runewell (please take into account any steps the pc's may have taken to deal with it previously) and she gets trapped in a cave-in from which the party saves her.
After all, the PCs did take steps to empty this runewell. So many sinspawn....
By the way, you should also give some thought to what happens if she does get redeemed. Does she join the party? Does she join the Temple in Sandpoint? Maybe she goes to serve with the Black Arrows.
I've been putting a lot of thought into this, actually. I guess it all depends on how/when they finally convince her (if they do). I have a few vague ideas, but nothing really pinned down yet.
Your players can be the source of some shockingly good ideas sometimes. You can have some NPC question their thought processes and see if any of their ideas can be worked in (even if not as they intended or expected).
Concerning NPC reactions: have you thought about some of the notable NPCs reacting badly (Titus Scarnetti) to your do-gooders? Seems in line with more roleplaying opportunities--something what your group seems to like?
Ruyan.