At the conclusion of the Savage Tide Adventure Path our intrepid (and very lucky) band of heroes has slain the Prince of Demons and thrown the already chaotic layers of the abyss into a true malestrom of destructive anarchy.
With Demogorgon slain there is now open and bloody warfare between every faction of the Abyss that wan'ts a piece of his former power - meaning, anyone who is anyone is going throwing themselves into the fray in the hopes of coming out with more than they had previously. In addition, the obyrith species is once agian on the rise - and likely to take the undisciplined masses ot tanar'ri frenzying for a share in the power by surprise.
In short, the Abyss has been turned into a seething couldron of carnage with every side fighting every other side like never before. Demon princes are likely to fall, entire layers are likely to change, perhaps entire speicies of demon will be wiped out (likely replaced by new obyrith species).
And from his dark throne in Nessus, Asmodeous smiles - and sends forth a hellish army the likes of which the multiverse itself cannot fathom to strike the blow that will tip the scales of evil toward Law for all time...
Its a damn shame that Paizo is now "off the job" for Dungeon and Dragon Magazine because the ending of the Savage Tide Adventure Path suggests a beginning of a new Adventure Path: One where the devils finally get their due and our players find themselves pawns in a battle that may decide the fate of the entire multiverse. Aside from the adventure "A Paladin in Hell" - there has never been an adventure (let alone an adventure series or path) that captures the true politics, spleandor, and horror of Hell and its masters.
That's a damn shame - because I believe that the ending of the Savage Tide has presented an unprecidented opportunity to finally involve "The Lords of the Nine" in an adventure path frought with politics, intrigue, betrayal, and double-dealing as only the devils of Hell can cook up. Such an adventure path would also be a fantastic opportunity to present the players with choices entirely unique: such as siding with the "lesser of evils" in making them actually side with the interests of the Abyss (or simply that of Chaos) in order to thwart the tyranny of Hell.
On the World of Greyhawk the perfect setting for jumping this campaign off woud be in the Great Kingdom - where the fate of Ivid V and Rauxes could be explored. The Causeway of the Fiends and the Isle of Cursed Souls could be explored, but most of all: the players themselves would be involved in the politics of the shattered Great Kingdom - the perfect opportunity for "skill-based" characters to shine from the beginning to end of the Adventure path.
Anyway, these are just some post-Paizo thoughts for Dungeon and Dragon Magazine and the direction I believe they could have gone (to the delight of all).
-B
So how about you give us the goods on how the final battle with Demogorgon went down?
At the conclusion of the Savage Tide Adventure Path our intrepid (and very lucky) band of heroes has slain the Prince of Demons and thrown the already chaotic layers of the abyss into a true malestrom of destructive anarchy.
With Demogorgon slain there is now open and bloody warfare between every faction of the Abyss that wan'ts a piece of his former power - meaning, anyone who is anyone is going throwing themselves into the fray in the hopes of coming out with more than they had previously. In addition, the obyrith species is once agian on the rise - and likely to take the undisciplined masses ot tanar'ri frenzying for a share in the power by surprise.
In short, the Abyss has been turned into a seething couldron of carnage with every side fighting every other side like never before. Demon princes are likely to fall, entire layers are likely to change, perhaps entire speicies of demon will be wiped out (likely replaced by new obyrith species).
And from his dark throne in Nessus, Asmodeous smiles - and sends forth a hellish army the likes of which the multiverse itself cannot fathom to strike the blow that will tip the scales of evil toward Law for all time...
Its a damn shame that Paizo is now "off the job" for Dungeon and Dragon Magazine because the ending of the Savage Tide Adventure Path suggests a beginning of a new Adventure Path: One where the devils finally get their due and our players find themselves pawns in a battle that may decide the fate of the entire multiverse. Aside from the adventure "A Paladin in Hell" - there has never been an adventure (let alone an adventure series or path) that captures the true politics, spleandor, and horror of Hell and its masters.
That's a damn shame - because I believe that the ending of the Savage Tide has presented an unprecidented opportunity to finally involve "The Lords of the Nine" in an adventure path frought with politics, intrigue, betrayal, and double-dealing as only the devils of Hell can cook up. Such an adventure path would also be a...
Whoa - someone's hit the finale of the STAP already ?
And I heartily echoe PH Dungeon's sentiments - details, man, details!
Fellows!
You're putting too much faith in my campaign - we haven't even begun the Savage Tide yet (my party is just about to face Braazemal in the AoW).
My post/mini-rant here was simply to give voice to what I believe would have been a "hell" of a follow-up Adventure Path in the wake of the Savage Tide's climax.
I second you on that Xaene. And of course you love the Great Kingdom, just look at your name.
I myself am running a skill-based game in the Great Kingdom right now. I was even planning on dropping some Savage Tide hints and other stuff into it. Seeing if I can get my wife hooked on the idea (just a single-player game).
The idea of a lead in game from STAP into an Epicly huge Paladin in Hell would be awesome. And of course, you yourself could cameo Xaene.
Very interesting plot point/idea. I did not even consider what the devils response would be to Demogorgon's fall. It would make sense that Asmodeous would use this oppertunity to strike.
With Demogorgons and Orcus armies weakned and with Grazz't scheme aganist Lolth a failure the great powers of the Abyss are weak and ripe for an attack.
Of course, since the defection of the Succubi to the Hells via 4E all the devils might be too busy acting like drunken frat boys for the ladies to mount an attack.
That'd be something:
Pholtus Ascendant - and then a great "Holy War" between his and St. Cuthbert's followers as Law Run Wild sweeps the lands.
It'd be like the antithesis of what the Wind Dukes of Aquaa stood for - it'd make chaos seem preferable (particularly if Asmodeous managed to convince denizens of Mechanus and *gasp* maybe even some lawful good angelic types who were more focused on 'law' than 'good').
Can anyone say...a reiteration of the beginning of Fiendish Codex II?
I really would not overly concern myself with the outer planar aspects too much unless the PCs from STAP will still be active. Unless you plan on some major epic campaigning, that seems unlikely.
The idea of an 'unexplained upsurge' or zealousness in the Theocracy of the Pale is very interesting though. May I suggest looking into the WOG comic for some fun ideas about Pholtus. Pholtus can be such a son of a motherless goat!
Definately cool.
Many Elrich-esque implications. Have some Chaotic-Evil types be heroes, and what not.