One of my characters had a back story where she was an enslaved gladiator. Her mission is to free other slaves. At the outset, I told her it was Loris Raknian, who also owns gem mines operated by slave labor. I want to give her the chance to kill Raknian without getting the entire town guard, etc., after the players.
If the players don't destroy the giant wormlike thing before fighting Auric and the gang, I can provide this chance easily. If the players seem to do well against the worm, Raknian could jump in the arena to fight to defend the worm so he can be recast as an undead badass. If Auric is eaten successfully, players can fight him in another plane later.
But if the players prevent the giant worm from disrupting the games ahead of time, which is the optimal course, things are murkier. Raknian presumably would find out that his lackeys have been killed and his dreams will not come to be. The only reason for jumping in the arena to attack the players would be revenge - he's got nothing left to live for, players ruined everything. This is such a bad action movie move, but perhaps its the best one.
I would never go with the "jumping in" idea. This way Raknian admits to the whole Free City that he's a villain. If the players want to kill him, let them come to him.
Raknian has total deniability when the worm bursts out of the arena floor. If it kills the PCs, fine, if the PCs kill the worm, he can applaud them and look for another opportunity to kill them, possibly luring them into an ambush, aided by his captain and some guards (or even some gladiator friends).
Of course, especially with the revenge side plot, it would be an excellent to have Raknian turned into an undead, sop he can hound the PCs again in the future.
Personally, I didn't like how the whole climactic ending to this episode falls apart if the PCs defeat Bozal early. My PCs killed Bozal before he had the chance to release the ulgurstasta (which actually worked out okay) so I kept it in its cocoon until the final battle with Auric's band. I don't know how other people kept the final battle exciting if the ulgurstasta breaks out early. I reread the episode notes several times and couldn't come up with an exciting and plausible way to do it. I actually considered fudging things so the ulgurstasta wouldn't break free until the end but suddenly I didn't have to because the PCs dropped Bozal like a chump.
MrVergee wrote: I would never go with the "jumping in" idea. This way Raknian admits to the whole Free City that he's a villain. If the players want to kill him, let them come to him.
Raknian has total deniability when the worm bursts out of the arena floor. If it kills the PCs, fine, if the PCs kill the worm, he can applaud them and look for another opportunity to kill them, possibly luring them into an ambush, aided by his captain and some guards (or even some gladiator friends).
Of course, especially with the revenge side plot, it would be an excellent to have Raknian turned into an undead, sop he can hound the PCs again in the future.
Hm. What if (assuming Raknian doesn't become undead) the players' manager kills Raknian when he hands over the Champion's Belt? He's got motive and may be willing to go to jail for it.
MrVergee wrote: I would never go with the "jumping in" idea. This way Raknian admits to the whole Free City that he's a villain. If the players want to kill him, let them come to him.
Raknian has total deniability when the worm bursts out of the arena floor. If it kills the PCs, fine, if the PCs kill the worm, he can applaud them and look for another opportunity to kill them, possibly luring them into an ambush, aided by his captain and some guards (or even some gladiator friends).
Of course, especially with the revenge side plot, it would be an excellent to have Raknian turned into an undead, sop he can hound the PCs again in the future.
Also, Doesn't Raknian already admit guilt when he says something about offering to sacrifice a champion to the worm?
My players have a serious hate-on for Raknian. They know he was responsible for ordering the hit on them with the mind flayer, and they suspected early on that he was setting them up in the games. Fortunately/unfortunately they killed Bozal and the ulgurstasta the day before the final match, so, since the adventure says that Raknian checks on Bozal the night before the final match, I figured he'd see the dead tiefling and dead ulgurstasta and decide the jig was up and leave town.
But I'd like them to get some satisfaction so I'm trying to think of a way to get him back in the game. So far, the only thing I can think of is as some undead in Dragotha's lair, but I'm not sure. Anyone have any better ideas?
Greg
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