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My players, stay out and keep playing Portal 2 or whatever.
Okay, so.
I've been adding a lot of stuff to the AP through the course of it all, and the PCs already have a maybe-final showdown with Rolth in the wings and a handmaiden devil running Longacre's Grey Maiden recruitment program that they're going to find out about next session, but I've been thinking about having a sort of bookend encounter, to further tie the whole thing together nwo that they're back in Korvosa after such a long time away.
1. Hell's Hitmen
The idea is that now that it's been announced to all the city that the PCs are back in town, one of the bigwig devils hanging out in Castle Korvosa is going to pull in some favors and get a few damned souls that have been warped and twisted into monstrous reflections of themselves, their sins in life, and how they died. These guys would be built as unique monsters, sent as near-suicidal assassins with the promise of revenge and some measure of relief from their torments, if they're successful.
Specifically, damned folks that have a LOT of reason to hate the PCs:
Bahor, Devargo Barvasi, and Gaedren Lamm.
Dr. Davaulus is a possibility as well, though he was actually executed by his fellow Red Mantis for failing his mission and endangering the queen.
Gaedren Lamm : Had both the party's fighter and cleric under his heel when they were children. He was cut down by the same along with his alligator.
Devargo Barvasi : His position in the drug trade and overall cruelty earned him the hatred of the entire party, especially the rogue(future Blackjack) who later took Majenko under his wing. Devargo dies particularly badly, as he was covered with poisonous spiders the moment the ettercap in the hold below was slain. The cleric killed the ettercap, the rogue put Devargo out of his misery.
Bahor : Played the party in his gambit to clean out the competition in his house, and was entirely not expecting them to be as effective as they truly were. He and his house in general took advantage of the charitable efforts of the party's Shoanti alchemist, and were also holding her captive to serve as the next meal with the party met her. Said alchemist fire bombed mercilessly firebombed him to the negatives before the fighter put him down.
Davaulus : Played his cards well and kept his true nature hidden until he was caught offguard at the hospice. The party jumped him, and the gnome sorcerer stymied every attempt he made to escape. The party was short on time and left him unconscious and tied up in his office before they dashed into the area beneath the hospice. During their absence, Davaulus was beheaded and had his head stolen away by his Red Mantis handlers.
Just looking for inspiration for visuals and capabilities that reflect what these guys were in life and how they checked out. I'm either going to build these guys using standard monster rules or as soem sort of variant Eidolons.
I was playing with the idea of Lamm having been meshed with some representation of Gobblegut, like a centaur with the gator's head sprouting from his stomach, forever hungry, as a sort of way to play on the childhood fears of the two PCs that grew up in his "care". Devargo in turn would likely be seeping an intoxicating poison with some sort of addictive aspect to it(possibly also giving him withdrawal symptoms if he's gone too long without spreading his poison to someone else). That's as far as I've gone. I'd gladly dump that in favor of something more poetic though.
(The Cinderlander would have been a sure thing if he hadn't been so far from LE, considering his ties to the PCs. The NE guys listed above got in only because the way I run the cosmology in our games, the vast majority of NE souls get split up between Hell and the Abyss.)
2. Memories of Kazavon
Going to be adding to the final encounter as well, just to help ensure that it'll be climactic and satisfying for the group. One of the possibilities is also a sort of push for a future adventure hook.
The BBEG, who is basically speedballing Kazavon and infernal empowerment, will have the capability to blast/engulf a target(most likely the one weilding Serithtial) within shadows that shunts them out of the fight. With the BBEG, that is.
The target would instead find themself standing on a shadow-choked battlefield, with Scarwall in the distance. Mostly intangible hordes would be tearing into each other and seemingly unaware of the PC, leaving a sort of open path leading towards Scarwall. Standing in the middle of that path would be the human persona of Kazavon, just as he appeared in life at the height of his power in full-on Vlad the Impaler-mode.
The player has to get past him to get back into the fight that's still raging. THeir allies have to hold out until the PC gets back with the BBEG's bane. I'm thinking it would be possible for other party members to join their ally in that fight by travelling to the Shadow Plane, which they have the means to do via potions claimed from Sial.
This encounter with Kazavon's shade would also be a prelude for what's to come if they follow up with the Hunt Kazavon's Relics plot thread.
Has anyone worked with a scenario like this before? How did you have it work, and how did it work out for your group?
(in case the mood being shot for matters, the soundtrack setting the scene for the final battle is going to be Nightwish's "Whoever Brings the Night"(Instrumental version) for the BBEG and "Illusory Dance" from Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for Kazavon's shade.)
Sounds like great stuff... too bad my campaign already is over and I am halfway through the first module of Kingmaker by now. :p
One question, how balanced was the Alchemist throughout the campaign, compared to other party members? I am somewhat afraid that the one in my campaign will turn into a solo-boss killer, with the possible damage output per round of the bombs.
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She hasn't been really overpowering in the campaign so far. Very effective in some situations, but she hasn't made any encounters lopsided.
Then again, the large number of fire-resistant/immune creatures and incorporeals in the latter half of the game may come into play there as well, and I've been adding a lot of combat complications here and there, but that's mostly because we've got a large six player group.
The alchemist has also almost singlemindedly been focused on getting her wings of flying(Hawk Clan Shoanti, heh) and not really going for "optimal" gear choices.
I'd say it's been pretty balanced thus far. She probably does need to invest in a fallback weapon for when she's out of bombs though...
She hasn't been really overpowering in the campaign so far. Very effective in some situations, but she hasn't made any encounters lopsided.
Then again, the large number of fire-resistant/immune creatures and incorporeals in the latter half of the game may come into play there as well, and I've been adding a lot of combat complications here and there, but that's mostly because we've got a large six player group.
The alchemist has also almost singlemindedly been focused on getting her wings of flying(Hawk Clan Shoanti, heh) and not really going for "optimal" gear choices.
I'd say it's been pretty balanced thus far. She probably does need to invest in a fallback weapon for when she's out of bombs though...
Thanks, this put my mind to rest a bit. That player is my "problem" player, because he optimizes quite well, compared to the rest. He is also the guy who has the most initiative ( real-life one ) to pick up plot threads, so it's always a balancing act between managing his twinkish impulses and him helping advance the plot. ^^