| Loremaster Howlin |
I want advice and/or criticism for the driving goal of the BBEG and/or his personality/how i should act when him.
BBEG was a classically raised wizard who lived in poverty, eventually discovering the lies that his parents said to comfort him and the lies society made to keep order, he made it his life goal to seek the ultimate truth and discover the meaning of everything as it truly was.
The false god of knowledge, a powerful outsider named Kos, was nearing the end of its lifespan and needed a replacement to help maintain the order of life by reincarnating the gods continuously to prevent Apocalypse, and saw potential in BBEG as a replacement.
Kos approached BBEG with the offer to become "god" of knowledge, truth, and secrets in exchange for BBEG continuing its work. Needless to say BBEG accepted and Kos ascended him and passed on, However BBEG learn the ultimate truth that the entire world is nothing more than a fictional creation to entertain uncaring "players".
Now knowing this he conspired to bring about the end of creation by gathering the three keys of creation and unlocking the veil that hides the world from the primordial god of uncreation.
Kos foresaw this possibility and made a short-lasting clone containing a copy of his mind, and hid it under powerful illusion magic, the copy seeing BBEG go "Murder everything" runs to the Pcs to call in a favor they owe him. Stop his successor.
Tl:Dr
Guy wants to get rid of the "Lie" that is existing after realizing the setting is fictional.
| Aioran |
I don't think you need the victim complex to be so heavy, at least not until after he ascends. I suggest a more gradual descent into evil representing his faith in the world being shaken (parents lied), damaged (society is unfair), then destroyed when he realises the world is fake.
Otherwise, kos sounds like he is a bit messed up as well and I can't really understand his motivations to make an unstable, evil wizard a god other than to create an antagonist to fight.
EDIT: And what about the replacement god of false information?
| Loremaster Howlin |
Kos isn't a real god, just a mantle that extremely powerful wizards-turned outsiders take. The burden of knowing everything eventually begins to destroy the body and mind, making each "Kos" seek out a replacement after 100,000 years or so. BBEG was ideal because he was the most powerful wizard and Kos had an easy way to convince him to take up the role.
The duty that each Kos inherits is making sure every god that falls in battle with Sthun'alaz (basically the idea of uncreation) is replaced themselves and that their followers are unaware.
But yeah, i see the flaws in this reasoning as i type. Also what about the god of false information?
| KestrelZ |
Sounds more like you are playing Primal Order than Pathfinder. When you say BBEG, it usually means an antagonist that the players can be challenged with, yet can still be defeated.
Throwing around the whole deity thing makes me think you are running Primal Order (where everyone plays gods), or a high level mythic campaign.
The BBEG sounds like the ultimate "careful for what you wish for" person that is now throwing a tantrum. He will be difficult at best to negotiate with as he isn't interested in "talking to pawns and figments of other's imaginations". He doesn't seem interested in deeper philosophies of WHY creation is simply a game (what forces made the game the way it is?). This does limit interaction with the BBEG to simply "I apply my weapon to his face".
Also, it is better to know what personalities you have opposing the BBEG. I would save this type of BBEG for a group that has at least one philosophically minded PC and one jaded gambler type PC. Otherwise the backstory would be lost as the PC group would just be interested in solving the problem with violence, not really caring what the backstory is.
| Loremaster Howlin |
Also good points, i guess i should have considered my players a bit more. while some of them would love it, others would not.
The encounter i have planned for them just means they have to delay him long enough for his chance to be missed. And he isn't a god, but a CR 30 outsider at this point.
After they win, i'm thinking of him dropping to his knees, distress apparent. and then he would say something along the lines of "Do you know what you have done?" or "Now we'll never escape, why do you wish to remain trapped?"
hmm, this needs more thought
| Hugo Rune |
Your BBEG sounds somewhat deranged. He thinks/knows the entire reality in which he exists is a figment. He is not going to listen or reason with the party. He is also powerful enough to shape reality around him through his magical ability - further convincing him that it is not real.
There are a few parallels with an evil version of Neo from the Matrix here. In fact the whole plot could draw some inspiration from the Matrix, but without ever experiencing the world outside. Actually, just thinking, that might be a good starting point. Reframe the entire Matrix storyline with the Architect and the machines as the good guys and Morpheus and Neo as the bad guys. Kos is essentially Agent Smith, who mistakenly picked Neo as his successor and has now engaged the party to stop Neo.
The really hard part is trying to work out the BBEG's plot in detail and how the party can stop them. Are you considering playing a high level/mythic campaign from the beginning or building up to it from a low level?
| Loremaster Howlin |
Building up from low, the party is level 6 right now and i plan to go on for 2 years or so. The setting will ensure a wide variety of powerful pseudo-demons to kill for XP for continuous levels
and must i say, your idea of the matrix is utter, flawless, gold because everyone in my group has seen and loves those movies.
thank you so much Hugo Rune
| Hugo Rune |
Building up from low, the party is level 6 right now and i plan to go on for 2 years or so. The setting will ensure a wide variety of powerful pseudo-demons to kill for XP for continuous levels
and must i say, your idea of the matrix is utter, flawless, gold because everyone in my group has seen and loves those movies.
thank you so much Hugo Rune
Happy to help
Are you considering dropping clues as to the fact that the reality is not real? If so, that might give you an overarching storyline to fill in. Each clue becomes the subject of an adventure. You may want to start by developing the storyline and plot points for the BBEG to achieve his goal without consideration for the party. The write the players' storyline. Then munge the whole together, tweak and edit and rework until it makes sense. You should then have a campaign framework and matrix of adventures. Each adventure develops the storylines and can show the BBEG's goals being met or the players - or sometimes both.