| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have read through the AP several times and currently GM'ing book 2. Anyone out there interested in trying to piece together, or push Paizo into: creating a second part for the AP?
As of right now I have a few ideas, but before I start listing off ideas and concepts, who all is interested? My players are loving the setting and I want to try to keep the excitement high for as long as possible (the problem with APs: They have an ending!).
Also, recommend methods of correspondence, as we could get a seriously massive messageboard going.
Anyone out there interested in trying to piece together, or push Paizo into: creating a second part for the AP?Very much! Though with very few illusions about "pushing Paizo" into anything.
Shh... Shh...Do you hear that creaking sound? My dreams, shattering. Don't shatter my dreams.
Awesome, I just don't know where/how to start with a compilation of brainstorms.
|
Awesome, I just don't know where/how to start with a compilation of brainstorms.
Well, what is the situation with which you want to start? How are the PCs leveled and tiered? Have any changes been made to the AP as it stands, or do you want to proceed assuming the AP was unchanged? Does the sequel assume that Baba Yaga has granted the boons mentioned in the Continuing the Campaign section, or is this yet to happen?
|
|
Actually there is a suggestion in the continuing adventure section in the final book that would make a killer AP. That is when they talk about attempting to establish a new dynasty in Irrisen. It could be like Kingmaker with more intrigue set in the North.
If we want to go this route I'd advise against including kingdom-building or kingdom-management elements. Irrisen's just too large and its mostly cold desert hexes are too unproductive to actually be sustainable under the Kingmaker/Ultimate Campaign kingdom building system. It has 977 total hexes. Of those, 262 can support farms and 44 can support fisheries (most of those hexes that support farms are riverside cold desert and could alternatively support fisheries, but farms are twice as productive). That leaves 409 consumption per month unaccounted for. This could probably be finagled away by building lots of cities or playing with trade routes, but somehow I doubt any players are going to want to bother.
Systems for gaining popularity and loyalty like those found in The Twice-Damned Prince, Blood for Blood and The Empty Throne (Comrade Spicer really likes these mechanics, huh?) might be better to crib than the kingdom-building system as a whole. We could also incorporate Kingmaker/Ultimate Campaign mass combat. Irrisen doesn't look ripe for a peaceful transition of power, especially if the players ask Baba Yaga not to return to Golarion. Princess Cassisoche could probably rally most of Elvanna's daughters behind her, but each Duchess leads her own province and own army, and has her own interests. The Linnorm Kings are slated to get involved, but they all have their own interests too. Meanwhile, the PCs through the above popularity/loyalty systems will be gathering their own forces.
No matter what Boon the PC's gain from Baba Yaga, she will be removing all of Elvana's direct children from Irresen, the book specifically states that.
The good news is that this removes a lot of competition to the PC's actions if they decide to try some manner of 'new management' for Irresen & also does a lot to destabilize Irresen's power structure.
The bad news is that it does a lot to destabilize Irresen's power structure & there are plenty of other Jadwiga/Mosters in positions of power to compete with the PC's.
No matter what Boon the PC's gain from Baba Yaga, she will be removing all of Elvana's direct children from Irresen, the book specifically states that.
The good news is that this removes a lot of competition to the PC's actions if they decide to try some manner of 'new management' for Irresen & also does a lot to destabilize Irresen's power structure.
The bad news is that it does a lot to destabilize Irresen's power structure & there are plenty of other Jadwiga/Mosters in positions of power to compete with the PC's.
This is what I wanted to play off of, also in one of the books it says that Irrisen is almost 100% reliant on trade for food. Bonemill should also fudge the kingmaker rules. I don't have the Twice Damned Prince, so would I need to go and buy it or are they simple enough? I tried a google search and it yielded nothing. Is it in Ultimate Campaign?
As for the end of the AP, it doesn't specify how many generations are taken, just "elvanna's children" with that we could segue into the Witchwar Legacy (A granddaughter of Elvanna is trying to capture this artifact, and if we want OUR throne to hold, she cannot gain control of kostchtchie). And so I was going to reflavor that module and make a few tweaks in order to throw that in. This will bring my characters to level 18, a bit of the way to 19. I will also grant them their first mythic tier for releasing Baba Yaga, although Elvanna will have some tiers.
Another obstacle I wanted to present was the clashing ethnic groups in Irrisen. Chegar Tuvash (12 Barb winter wolf with... Undying mythic template and advanced template) will rally his Winter Wolves into taking a portion of Irrisen as their own, and unless they have Greta, I was going to make him a very powerful adversary.
Also the Frost Giants and the fey, I was going to have the fey fight 100% until basically annihilated and replaced, and they would attempt to attack the Frost Giants again, like they did when Irrisen was founded. This would result, along with the possibility for allies from Witchwar legacy in Frost Giants on the new throne's side, and the fey as enemies.
I am going to assume for now that Anastasia is crowned queen, and I would like some thoughts on how the Heralds of Summer's Return are going to deal with this. Their presence in Whitethrone was completely obliterated after the death of Lorgrovich. Their presence in areas such as Hoarwood are still quite prominent.
And for Sveinn... Any thoughts? This is where most of the mass combat would come in, is while Irrisen is shattered and the players are seeking allies (About half of the Jadwiga were going to grovel and the other half split up and join fey/winterwolves etc).
Edit: Also wanted to talk about the Winter Collectors, assuming we go with Earth as they setting, I wanted to try and get some WWII action in there with the Antarctica Obelisk surrounded by legions of daemons. This kind of mission screams Nazis and Daemons to me. Thoughts? That would also require about 15 years (1932) before it would be possible. Any other takes?
I also wanted to have Baba Yaga try to assassinate the players with her Invisible Stalker once they close down their first winter collector.
|
|
No matter what Boon the PC's gain from Baba Yaga, she will be removing all of Elvana's direct children from Irresen, the book specifically states that.
The book also specifically states that if the PCs ask Baba Yaga never to come back to Golarion she will accede to their request. The boon also talks about "Baba Yaga's absence", suggesting she doesn't make a reappearance. More important than any textual consideration, however, is that the PCs need something to challenge them back in Irrisen if we're continuing the campaign, and having Baba Yaga remove Elvanna's daughters (i.e., very high-level characters) makes that more difficult.
Interestingly, this means that choosing this boon strands the PCs on Earth unless they figure out some way to get back to Golarion. They probably can, they're level 17 at this point, but it's an interesting little wrinkle.
This is what I wanted to play off of, also in one of the books it says that Irrisen is almost 100% reliant on trade for food. Bonemill should also fudge the kingmaker rules. I don't have the Twice Damned Prince, so would I need to go and buy it or are they simple enough? I tried a google search and it yielded nothing. Is it in Ultimate Campaign?
I don't think it's in Ultimate Campaign, but rebellion points make an appearance in Blood for Blood, so you can use that if you don't have the Twice-Damned Prince.
Also the Frost Giants and the fey, I was going to have the fey fight 100% until basically annihilated and replaced
I really don't like this idea, as it makes the PCs partially responsible for ethnic cleansing and/or genocide.
Their presence in Whitethrone was completely obliterated after the death of Lorgrovich.
I'm not sure this is actually the case. In my reading of The Shackled Hut, Solveig's plan is to manipulate the Iron Guard into fighting her battles for her while conserving her Heralds. Basically lure the Iron Guard into a Spartakus Week or July Days while the Heralds play USPD or Mensheviks.
Irrisen, Land of Eternal Winter calls out the Heralds as having cells in the following towns:
- Kerad, Bleakmarch province;
- Lachka, Feyfrost province;
- Hoarwood, Hoarwood province;
- Kizobran, Hoarwood province;
- Lod, Hoarwood province;
- Nadziedja Lato, Hoarwood province;
- Baldachin, Thronehold province;
- Hagby, Thronehold province;
- Ledenica, Thronehold province;
- Sascha, The Verge;
- Skrata, The Verge;
- Sosulka, Wintercrux province;
- Zlatomesto, Wintercrux province.
Edit: Also wanted to talk about the Winter Collectors, assuming we go with Earth as they setting, I wanted to try and get some WWII action in there with the Antarctica Obelisk surrounded by legions of daemons. This kind of mission screams Nazis and Daemons to me. Thoughts? That would also require about 15 years (1932) before it would be possible. Any other takes?
As you point out, the timeline's a bit wonky for WWII motifs, but the Freikorps are around in 1918.
No matter what Boon the PC's gain from Baba Yaga, she will be removing all of Elvana's direct children from Irresen, the book specifically states that.The book also specifically states that if the PCs ask Baba Yaga never to come back to Golarion she will accede to their request. The boon also talks about "Baba Yaga's absence", suggesting she doesn't make a reappearance. More important than any textual consideration, however, is that the PCs need something to challenge them back in Irrisen if we're continuing the campaign, and having Baba Yaga remove Elvanna's daughters (i.e., very high-level characters) makes that more difficult.
Interestingly, this means that choosing this boon strands the PCs on Earth unless they figure out some way to get back to Golarion. They probably can, they're level 17 at this point, but it's an interesting little wrinkle.
I read that more as she will never come back personally, but I suppose it is entirely a matter of GM interpretation. Actually, the PC's are in danger of being left on Earth no matter what Boon they request if they aren't very careful how they treat with Baba Yaga after releasing her.
Asmodeous ain't got nothin' on 'Little Grandmother' when it comes to creatively misinterpreting Letter vs. Spirit of agreements made.Which is one of the reasons I am inclined to allow the PC's to figure out how to move the Hut back to a previous location, Like Iobaria hint hint..., once they get down to preparations for the 'final countdown' as it were...
Also the Frost Giants and the fey, I was going to have the fey fight 100% until basically annihilated and replacedI really don't like this idea, as it makes the PCs partially responsible for ethnic cleansing and/or genocide.
Yeah that was ill phrased. I just wanted to have history repeat itself with the chillblight fey being chillblight fey.
I reread that section of Shackled Hut, and my players haven't quite gotten to Whitethrone, but I'll have them assist in setting up the meeting with the leader of the Iron Guard, and if they choose to set it up in the Shrine to the Everbloom (which is ill advised by Solveig) then the Rebel bases will be destroyed. Otherwise you're quite right, she's doing this to actually give the PC's an opening into Market Square, nothing more. So they should be waiting in Whitethrone for the long anticipated return of their allies.
Asmodeous ain't got nothin' on 'Little Grandmother' when it comes to creatively misinterpreting Letter vs. Spirit of agreements made.
You want immortality? Okay... I'll give you immortality.
|
|
I read that more as she will never come back personally, but I suppose it is entirely a matter of GM interpretation.
I think of it as a trade-off. Let's assume the PCs want to impose their will on Irrisen. They can either do so themselves and have Baba Yaga stay out of things, in which case they'll face higher-leveled, more staunch, and more well-organized opposition. Or they can let Baba Yaga grant them some legitimacy at the cost of leaving themselves vulnerable to her claiming their souls in a hundred years, not to mention unexpected intervention in the interim.
Actually, the PC's are in danger of being left on Earth no matter what Boon they request if they aren't very careful how they treat with Baba Yaga after releasing her.
Asmodeous ain't got nothin' on 'Little Grandmother' when it comes to creatively misinterpreting Letter vs. Spirit of agreements made.
Well, they could choose the boon that lets them travel anywhere in the multiverse to travel back to Golarion, but your larger point is sound. And deliciously devious.
Yeah that was ill phrased. I just wanted to have history repeat itself with the chillblight fey being chillblight fey.
Well they are led by a madman [sic]. Overmobilization and rash attacks both leading to depopulation and economic ruin are far from out of the question. I just don't want to present the players the option of ethnically cleansing the winter-touched fey on purpose. All too many would take it.
I reread that section of Shackled Hut, and my players haven't quite gotten to Whitethrone, but I'll have them assist in setting up the meeting with the leader of the Iron Guard, and if they choose to set it up in the Shrine to the Everbloom (which is ill advised by Solveig) then the Rebel bases will be destroyed.
Ooh, that's clever.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
In case we do go in the direction of including mass combat, here's a hex map of Irrisen and its environs.
Ash Blue = marsh
Blue = water
Brown = mountains
Dark Green = forest
Gray = settlement
Light Green = plains
Tan = hills
White = ice/cold desert
Yellow = hot desert
Red = polity border
Maroon = place of interest
EDIT: Baba Yaga modifies the terrain type. Like a Titan.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Also wanted to talk about the Winter Collectors
Bringing this subject back up...
Anyone have any ideas for methods of destroying winter collectors and the winter receiver they power? The Witch Queen's Revenge has the following to say on the subject:
* * *
Each collector has its own unique requirements for its destruction, but the adventure to destroy a given winter collector should include one or more trials that allow the PCs to attain more mythic tiers upon the successful destruction of the winter collector.
For comparison and inspiration (I'd muse, but believe it or not I've got class at 19:55 hours...best I can come up with at this point is to relate them somehow to the elements of Baba Yaga's power the PCs recovered and subsequently surrendered in The Witch Queen's Revenge), here are the ways to destroy the other known artifacts created by Baba Yaga. Their destruction tends to be...fiendishly complicated. As is only right.
Huh. That's a lot of artifacts. The ones listed above, plus the six (we can adjust this number up or down if we decide to go with this element) winter collectors the PCs would need to destroy to destroy the winter receiver - though there are dozens more - plus the winter receiver itself, is thirteen artifacts. As is only right.
Sorry for late post, been studying for a Calc II test D=
Hmm, I like using Baba Yaga's "teleport it to a fire plane" method she used on the invisible stalker's home.
Another idea is having Kostchtchie being capable of destroying some. I don't know how you feel about having your players need to ally themselves with a demon lord, my characters are mostly CN/NE.
Also wanted to talk about the Winter CollectorsBringing this subject back up...
Anyone have any ideas for methods of destroying winter collectors and the winter receiver they power? The Witch Queen's Revenge has the following to say on the subject:
** spoiler omitted **
For comparison and inspiration (I'd muse, but believe it or not I've got class at 19:55 hours...best I can come up with at this point is to relate them somehow to the elements of Baba Yaga's power the PCs recovered and subsequently surrendered in The Witch Queen's Revenge), here are the ways to destroy the other known artifacts created by Baba Yaga. Their destruction tends to be...fiendishly complicated. As is only right.
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...
I love this as I think it most definitely earns 10 mythic tiers and level 20.
I love this as I think it most definitely earns 10 mythic tiers and level 20.
Yup, just need to flesh out the details.
|
|
Hmm, I like using Baba Yaga's "teleport it to a fire plane" method she used on the invisible stalker's home.
** spoiler omitted **
Ooh, if the PCs go to Abaddon, there's a way to incorporate the WWII motifs you wanted after all. Let's say that Earth's strides toward the apotheosis of modern war attracts Szuriel's attention, and she starts creating various horrors to inspire men like Guderian, Tukachevsky, and Liddel Hart.
Another idea is having Kostchtchie being capable of destroying some. I don't know how you feel about having your players need to ally themselves with a demon lord, my characters are mostly CN/NE.
I'm not enamored of this idea. The PCs have spent the whole of the Reign of Winter adventure path allied with a "lesser" evil to destroy a "greater" evil. Part of the reason to do a sequel at all is to let the PCs go after the "lesser" evil that Baba Yaga represents without having to make that hard choice again. Besides, Kostchtchie is already uniquely able to destroy the Artrosa Ring; I don't like the idea of him being uniquely able to destroy other artifacts created by Baba Yaga as well.
I love this as I think it most definitely earns 10 mythic tiers and level 20.
This brings up another point. Do our hypothetical players start this sequel when the AP assumes they do, at Level 17/Tier 1? Or could they start the sequel a little stronger? If they were following Tangent's and my scheme from the Mythic thread, for instance, they'd be Level 17/Tier 5. I'm a fan of the stronger start, because it means we'll have to write less material for Trials (always a plus!) and because it means we can revise the number of winter collectors down to five and use only and all the winter collectors presented in the book.
Good thing I already proposed a sequel to Adam Daigle last week!
That hurt my head.
|
|
Okay, at this point, instead of asking, I'm going to take certain assumptions as axiomatic and try to extrapolate from there. For the sake of the thread.
Assumption 1: the PCs will start at L17/T5, according to the Tangent scheme. This is for our sake as writers and as people with stuff to do in the world other than write adventures for free, so we have less to write.
Assumption 2: the aim is to have the PCs face off against Baba Yaga, having themselves attained L20/T10.
Assumption 3: the easiest way to do that is to revolve a plot around the winter collectors. This will ensure that the PCs gain Baba Yaga's attention, and will also let the PCs have a positive impact on Irrisen, ending its eternal winter.
Assumption 4: the easiest way to introduce the PCs to the winter collectors is via the Royal Palace in Whitethrone. We know the winter collectors channel their energy there; I imagine that the Palace has a map similar to the map of Elvanna's winter portals the PCs found in the Pale Tower.
Does anyone take issue with these?
Assumption 1, but I'm sure I can modify somewhat. I was going to run Witchwar Legacy (making them 18/T1 or 2). But as stated, I can modify.
If my future campaign goes the distance, I intend to plant one of the winter collectors in Kostchtchie's realm, perhaps right in his palace. Only his death, which must be accomplished after his soul is restored to him, can bring the end of this final collector.
Kostchtchie obviously wouldn't have wanted it, but after he became a demon lord Baba Yaga marched right into his realm and built the first winter collector, perhaps centuries before she actually used it for anything. Despite how far he'd gone, he was still wasn't strong enough to oppose her.
The Deathless Frost would suffer further humiliation during their rematch in the Witch War centuries later.
And so stands in the depths of one of the coldest parts of the Abyss the very first winter collector, a monument to the Old Crone's power that won't crumble until Kostchtchie is no more.
I suspect that Dear Grandmother gets a huge kick out of other people having to clean up her messes.
|
|
If my future campaign goes the distance, I intend to plant one of the winter collectors in Kostchtchie's realm, perhaps right in his palace. Only his death, which must be accomplished after his soul is restored to him, can bring the end of this final collector.
This sounds epic, and we should think more on how to make it work, because there is a problem. The torc of Kostchtchie holds the part of the demon lord's mortal soul that he is missing. It can only be destroyed (which is presumably the only thing that would restore that part of Kostchtchie's soul to him) by being boiled for twenty-four hours in the cauldron in the dancing hut of Baba Yaga. So, in order to destroy your winter collector, the PCs would need to 1) gain access to the dancing hut, and to a specific room within the dancing hut, 2) maintain that access for twenty-four hours, 3) escape the dancing hut, 4) return to the Abyss and kill Kostchtchie to destroy the winter collector. The problem with this is obvious: if the PCs can pierce Baba Yaga's defenses and hold her off for a day, what is stopping them from just killing her right then?
The workaround is also obvious. Make this the last winter collector the PCs will have to destroy before they can lift Irrisen's eternal winter. There is, however, another problem. The PCs killing Baba Yaga before they kill Kostchtchie seems a bit silly thematically; Baba Yaga is the villain around whom the whole AP-as-written and this coda are based. Kostchtchie is, as you put it, one of her messes.
Is there a way to engineer a situation where the PCs can destroy the torc of Kostchtchie without being in a position to kill Baba Yaga?
I wasn't aware the torc could be destroyed by boiling it in Baba Yaga's cauldron until this thread - it doesn't have a destruction condition in Witch War Legacy (beyond Baba Yaga knows it, and can perhaps be persuaded to help when she returns to Golarion).
My eventual plan is to have the party actually have to work with Baba Yaga to bring about the destruction of the Winter Controllers. After all, the entire reason the Winter Collectors exist is so that a band of heroes can rise up to the task of destroying them! I'd expect a pattern of carrying out some strange and dangerous task for her, in exchange for clues as to where to find the next Collector and how to destroy it.
Witch War Legacy has happened in my group's campaign continuity; I ran it while guest-DMing a different campaign; Baba Yaga swung by at the end to pick up the torc, because while she meant for a group of great heroes to find it, they were the wrong group, and they have their own burden to bear. Recovering the torc from its new hiding place will be the trial the party has to overcome before trying to slay Kotshtchie himself.
Assuming the party is on hostile terms with Dear Grandmother , I'd probably change the destruction condition to (staying in the theme of their relationship) something that's relatively simple yet completely humiliating to Kostchtchie. Like the Deathless Frost having to prostrate himself before Dear Grandmother, or at least an effigy of her, and beg her forgiveness. Because while he's an immensely powerful, mass murdering demon lord, to Baba Yaga he's just a naughty boy and a failure.
I assume Kostchtchie would also get stronger if he had his soul back - probably scale up him up to a higher CR once he has it. And he'd most certainly want to kill anyone who witnessed what he'd done, or that knew that he had done it.
But yeah, I definitely intend to make the Collector in Kostchtchie's realm the last one.
Baba Yaga can be defeated before Kostchtchie, its just they both come back after being killed. In about 24 hours I think. So Baba Yaga might defend a winter collector, but she's not dead unless her Hut dies, which it can't without her
I like the idea and theme of evil against another kind of evil, so I even thought about after Witchwar legacy having Kostchtchie try to team up with them if they take the torc (Well, they can control him, like tashanna did) and he'd help take care of a few things but in the end his idea is once they kill baba yaga for him, he'll kill them.
This is also nice because if they want to destroy Artrosia Ring, he could help (why? idk) and it doesn't bring about the problem we had in earlier posts where he was too useful an ally for being a baddy.
I also don't have any Paladins or anyone who might have an issue with this in my game. But I think we should flesh out his Fortress in Jhuvmirrak. Linking a winter collector to one of my favorite badguys (and since he is getting a statblock! YAY! ^_^ ) is awesome. I'll type up some statblocks for Giant+Gnarled+(?Boreal?) Demons that serve under him, if you guys want some food for thought.
I also wanted to do something with the Thrice-Tenth Kingdom again, I think breaking up the cold terrains with something a little more fantastic (like Nagrand/Zangarmarsh from WoW or Shivering Isles from Oblivion) so that the players can get a taste of something different. Don't remember where I read it, but she has a castle dedicated to her filled with anthropomorphic animal servants. Now, her actual domain in the kingdom is a boreal forest, but it IS in the first world. Ideas?
How many winter collectors are we going for again?
|
|
I would like to go for five. As for the Thrice-Tenth Kingdom, here is the description given in The Witch Queen's Revenge:
The Thrice-Tenth Kingdom is a wide plain dotted with thick forests at the foot of a spine of majestic mountains. Uncanny fey dart through the gloomy woods and strange ogres wage war among the mountain peaks. Even stranger creatures come out when the sun sets and the everchanging moon races across the night sky. Inky black beasts that shred flesh from bone hunt unfortunate pixies too distracted to find shelter for the night. Philosophical herds of elk and deer roam the steppes on quests for enlightenment. Talking birds bicker with each other in aerial matches of wits and wing, and even the wriggling worms in the rich soil have their say, for the seemingly idyllic surface conceals sinister truths. Below the earth here, vast caverns stretch forever, echoing with screams and pleas for help. In some, a low moan goes on forever,
only altered in pitch by sorrowful pauses.
In the center of the deepest forest is a fanciful castle wrought of silver and glass called the Witchspire, where an empty throne sits in the grand central chamber. Baba Yaga never asked for the Witchspire. Her minions, brought here from a thousand worlds, built it in honor of the Queen of Witches, but as Baba Yaga has never cared for opulence or
overt political power, she eschews the seat set for her. In fact, when Baba Yaga visits the Thrice-Tenth Kingdom, she more often than not still stays within her sanctum in the Dancing Hut.
So with this winter collector, player's first thoughts would be Witchspire, upon learning of its existence.
Since I'm always the gonzo fantasy guy, I figure I'd throw in a concept.
Rasputin's name was survived by quite a few children, yes? Whose to say they don't discover their father's mistakes and madness... Perhaps they launch cult operating in secret from the Soviet Union, resulting in a return to Siberia. But, it's the atomic age and many of the rules have changed! Nuclear weapons, cultists with soviet assault rifles, radioactive horrors, revived supernatural monstrosities, espionage fiction references galore! And if possible, an automated computer voice over with a strong accent!
"Biological containment has failed in the research facility. Special forces have been deployed. All unidentified personel will be eliminated!"
Since I'm always the gonzo fantasy guy, I figure I'd throw in a concept.
Rasputin's name was survived by quite a few children, yes? Whose to say they don't discover their father's mistakes and madness... Perhaps they launch cult operating in secret from the Soviet Union, resulting in a return to Siberia. But, it's the atomic age and many of the rules have changed! Nuclear weapons, cultists with soviet assault rifles, radioactive horrors, revived supernatural monstrosities, espionage fiction references galore! And if possible, an automated computer voice over with a strong accent!
"Biological containment has failed in the research facility. Special forces have been deployed. All unidentified personel will be eliminated!"
That runs into the same issue as the Nazis in Antarctica: 1945 versus 1918, we need to account for timeline. Though radioactive waste could be interesting.
That runs into the same issue as the Nazis in Antarctica: 1945 versus 1918, we need to account for timeline. Though radioactive waste could be interesting.Since I'm always the gonzo fantasy guy, I figure I'd throw in a concept.
Rasputin's name was survived by quite a few children, yes? Whose to say they don't discover their father's mistakes and madness... Perhaps they launch cult operating in secret from the Soviet Union, resulting in a return to Siberia. But, it's the atomic age and many of the rules have changed! Nuclear weapons, cultists with soviet assault rifles, radioactive horrors, revived supernatural monstrosities, espionage fiction references galore! And if possible, an automated computer voice over with a strong accent!
"Biological containment has failed in the research facility. Special forces have been deployed. All unidentified personel will be eliminated!"
While it could be said that the Soviet Union was a surveillance state, it would be next to impossible to comb all of the Siberian lands with too much success. The Lykov family wasn't spotted for around 40 years after living in isolation from the rest of the Soviet Union (when a helicopter spotted them in the late 1970s.) So I figure a decommissioned facility in some obscure location wouldn't be out of the question. (It worked in James Bond flicks, which TimeSplitters 2 & 3 made homage to.)
As for jumping 50 years, I'd assume that planning would operate in deep silence among a very secretive cult. But yes, an expanded timeline on the events between RMD and a followup would certainly help, conjoined with knowledge of the first 50 years of the USSR. The only thing that might come to mind is the prison camps maintained by the GULAG state agency (mostly WWII era though.) But, that would be redundant with RMD. Tying in the construction of hydroelectric power plants in the late 1960s/70s could work somehow though. One of them was the location of the first level of TS2 after all. Plus, perhaps the then-recent area of Akademgorodok (a scientific community in Siberia) would be a potential connection too.