okay, so i've run the first two adventures of the STAP and one thing is abundantly clear to my PCs. Vanthus is the main BBEG. so they've already discussed that the next time they meet him they are going to keep him alive to face justice. they find it really bizarre that they haven't met him yet, but have heard all kinds of bad things about this man. they know he's evil, and that he will create havoc later on.
Failing that, if he somehow dies, they will burn his body, spread the ashes to the four winds and make it so he cannot return except from a high level wish spell. either that, or take him back to a large city and hire a mage to cast Imprison on him.
my question is this: What happens if they keep him alive? the crimson fleet will probably keep doing what they need to do, but the story with lavinia will not go forward, and Vanthus won't turn into a death knight. my party seems to think that if they keep him alive the savage tide will stop with him.
now, i know we have the whole demogorgon thing and a demon prince can do anything the DM wants to drive the story forward, but they have some pretty elaborate plans of what to do when they meet him.
i've told them they are metagaming, but they actually came up with a valid argument. "we've heard this guy is doing bad things and is responsible for many deaths, whether he pulled the trigger or not. we just want to bring him in for justice and keep him alive. we've heard stories and rumours and even documented history of people doing bad things in the world and coming back from death. we are going to stop this from happening again."
so what's the ramifications of this? ideas? thoughts?
It's probably worth waiting until we see the showdown episode before committing yourself to anything - depending upon how it's set up, keeping him alive may simply not be a viable option.
One thing you could do is start introducing an occasional villain, an officer of the Crimson Fleet, who's become rather infatuated with Lavinia - maybe have the Blue Nixie encounter his ship while the Sea Wyvern is dealing with the Journey's End sargasso, only for Lavinia to charm him into letting her go, a tale she'll recount once they are reunited with her. Arrange a couple more encounters during which his infatuation turns to obsession, and then if Vanthus is taken out of the picture, this NPC becomes his replacement. Ultimately, he captures Lavinia and takes her to Gaping Maw so that Demogorgon can transform her into a half-fiend and make her his bride.
A F1/W3/Ur2/Mth8 should have some pretty innovative solutions at hand for storing magically powered up beasts.
Even more so for a warlock.. being practically freed from all considerations of caster level and known spells ;)
I was going to tell you not to worry about it since clearly the STAP would provide and opportunity to get even with Vanthus but the editor of the magazine itself gave you the answer.
The first time the PCs will have a chance to back up their words with cold steel won't happen until the end of "Tides of Dread." By that point, Vanthus has gone through some life-changes of his own. Keeping him alive is probably not the best idea at that point...
My advice, when the time comes, let the PCs do their worst. By that point I would assume that they will already be worrying about Demogorgon and Vanthus will be revealed as the pawn he is.
Yeah, apparently Vanthus will be a deplorable half-fiend when the PCs cross swords with him. of course, the PCs might still want to keep him alive. The writer of this particular adventure path segment better have some nifty way to bring about his permanent demise.
Vanthus left alive? That could get ugly for the PC's if he ever managed to escape. What with the chaotic power that demon lords have, who knows what they might be able to do to help a devoted minion escape prison to sow confusion and destruction in its enemies.
Can you imagine the horror of the PCs when facing Demogorgon to suddenly see Vanthus, the half fiend death knight, sporting some new uberdemonic weapon, step out to face the party at their darkest hour.
Why, I think the statement that might come out of the PC's mouths would be "We should have *@##$%-ing killed him when we had the chance!!"
Whenever my PCs wander from the path I try to find ways to hurt them for it. By the time the party is ready to face Vanthus, they should realize that the only justice for him would be death. If they don't believe in killing evil (which seems odd because even paladins believe that), then punish them for it by having Vanthus come back. I can't believe that the PCs would be able to muster a magical prison that a demon lord couldn't figure out a way around. I think if you have access to an entity as powerful as Demogorgon, you should use it.
In the end, it would make things harder for the PCs but if they whine, you can always tell them, "I didn't leave him alive, you did."
trap the soul.. have it sacrificed in some unrecoverable way?