I made a game, similar to Digital Devil Saga, where the PCs have to fight other tribes until there is only one, by either killing or assimilating them, to win their god's competition.
I wanted to make it so if the chief dies, the tribe counts as out of the competition and can choose to leave or join with the PCs tribe. Thus the PCs don't have to massacre a tribe of innocents just to take one out.
But if the chief PC makes a bad choice and dies, then their tribe is out for good.
How should I fix it so there is a way to decide a tribe is out of the competition and not be too punishing to the PCs?
Maybe a sacrifice to their god to appoint a new leader and stay in the competition? Gold, build points(for when their tribe grows big enough to use the kingdom builder rules), or something else?
A quest maybe to appease their god?
A harder final boss dungeon?
Any suggestions?
Perhaps instead of killing chiefs they have to destroy the chief's mcguffin. (some artifact, jewel, tower, ect. Some kind of 'power source')
Possible to use the mythic rules where the mcguffin grants mythic tiers or something.
Perhaps it represents the god's ties to the material plane.
That way getting out of the competition is relatively painless as nobody has to actually die.
Getting back in is tricky. I would guess go with the sacrifice but something that comes at a terrible price. An act that tethers a god to the plane would require something grand and personal given. Probably it would be situational to the god. One god could require you give up someone you love, while another would want gold. In each instance what is sacrificed becomes the new mcguffin.
Alternatively each god could have a 'portal' that grants a test.
Just a few ideas.
I think the McGuffin thing Malwing suggested could work nicely, but maybe a capture basis might work better? The more McGuffins a tribe has the greater its power, but this also makes it harder to take them out since all their McGuffins have to be captured by an opposing team before they are out.
So you could start where each tribe in the area has a single McGuffin. It's the PC's job to not only capture an enemy McGuffin but also protect their tribe's. Each McGuffin that's in a tribe is seen as a sign of a deity's favor and the loss of it shows the deity now favors whoever captured it. The chief or shaman of each tribe is charged with the protection of the McGuffin as well, and the members of the tribe are easily swayed by the loss or gain of a McGuffin.
There could also be some rogue McGuffins - magical totems not possessed by any tribe (yet) but which would bolster the tribe possessing it (and which would make it harder to make that tribe go out).
Rogue McGuffins could be protected by wild monsters, possibly deep in a natural cave system or similarly dungeonish area. If it's a guardian beast it might need to be killed. Then again, capturing the McGuffin could capture the creature(s) guarding it as well, allowing a tribe to gain some monsters for allies.
Capture backs aren't allowed unless there's more than one McGuffin. If a tribe's McGuffin is taken it's seen as an obvious sign from the gods that those capturing it are superior and to be followed. The PCs will have to understand and abide by this, even if it means their own tribe's McGuffin is taken.
However, if the tribes are 'out' but also simply part of the conquering one's then it's less traumatic for the PCs. Their tribe might be out as a separate entity, but they could choose to work for the new chief/shaman. Of course, they'd have to prove themselves somehow - especially if the McGuffin from their tribe was stolen on their watch.
Thoughts?
Sorry I should clear that up. The point wasn't to make it painless or deathless. There are going to be some tribal leaders that will just massacre other tribes. It was more to have a way to decide at what point a tribe has lost to another. Of course if the tribe is wiped off the planet then yes they are gone.
I was already going to have rogue McGuffins around so the individual tribes could build up power before attacking others.
I was also worried about the PCs not leaving their town because they don't want anyone attacking it while they are away. But I guess that is part of it anyway.
I think the McGuffin idea works though. They were going to have banners with their tribe's symbol on it. Those would work out as the items you need. If the PCs lose theirs they would have to join the bigger tribe or, if they are really set on keeping their old one, they could steal one from someone else or take out another tribe for all of theirs. It would be difficult but it would give them a chance.
The rogue ones were more going to be magic items for them to use, seeing as this is rather primal and magic items will be rare.
Sorry I should clear that up. The point wasn't to make it painless or deathless. There are going to be some tribal leaders that will just massacre other tribes. It was more to have a way to decide at what point a tribe has lost to another. Of course if the tribe is wiped off the planet then yes they are gone.
I did figure that there would be death and destruction, though keep in mind in such a setting it's unlikely the entire tribes will be slaughtered. It's far more likely that all the males and male children will be killed and the females captured to be used for sex and slavery. If any males are captured, they'd be the ones too weak to be considered a danger or with some known skill that makes keeping them alive a better option.
I was already going to have rogue McGuffins around so the individual tribes could build up power before attacking others.
I was also worried about the PCs not leaving their town because they don't want anyone attacking it while they are away. But I guess that is part of it anyway.
The important thing would be to have NPC defenders that are fairly competent at what they do. The Chief of the tribe could easily have a level or two of Fighter, Barbarian, or Ranger while the Shaman could have a level or two of Wizard, Cleric, Witch, Sorcerer, Druid, or Oracle. There could also be several warriors and adepts around to help. PCs would be more likely to adventure if they felt fairly confidant that things wouldn't go south while they were gone.
I think the McGuffin idea works though. They were going to have banners with their tribe's symbol on it. Those would work out as the items you need. If the PCs lose theirs they would have to join the bigger tribe or, if they are really set on keeping their old one, they could steal one from someone else or take out another tribe for all of theirs. It would be difficult but it would give them a chance.
The rogue ones were more going to be magic items for them to use, seeing as this is rather primal and magic items will be rare.
Okay. If there's some form of natural magic, it could coalesce in certain ways in nature. 'Mana stones' could exist that could be the basis of any or all magic items. Putting them together to form a McGuffin might take magical power and/or crafting skills not readily available (fifth level or higher). Without much other than some scraps of lore, it'd take a lot of luck to create new McGuffins, and even then there could be a huge potential for backfire.
I like that idea of the mana stones. They could work as materials to make magic items to help them out. Sweet. Got some good ideas. Thanks.
I like that idea of the mana stones. They could work as materials to make magic items to help them out. Sweet. Got some good ideas. Thanks.
Glad to be of help. One other thing did occur to me: you'll need to explain the status quo. That is, presumably many tribes have been around a while now. If this sort of capture and kill thing has been going on a while then there ought to be several larger, more powerful tribes rather than a bunch of smaller, weaker ones.
If it's only fairly recent you'll need a good reason for why it's suddenly started. If it's been around a while you need to come up with a reason tribes don't get too large or powerful. Personally, the latter might be easier to explain if it's some sort of test by deities (there aren't any larger tribes around because the more powerful tribes get shunted elsewhere) or if having too much mana in one tribe causes trouble (a tribe can only get so big before the number of magical items starts causing mutations or similar nastiness).