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I know that the whole business with the obols and the Radiant Fire is just a big McGuffin to set up a scene in which the PCs get to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Cool.
But even given that, I, for one, am finding the story logic of this endgame confusing, convoluted, and internally inconsistent.
I have questions. And while I’m sure our collective creativity could rationalize answers to all of them, it’s OK if some of the answers are, “Yup, that doesn’t make sense.”
1) Why does Radiant Fire sever the link between Arazni and her phylactery (Book 4, p. 4, “Arazni realized that whatever Tar-Baphon’s weapon was, it had the power to disrupt the ties between her and her phylactery….”), but not the link between Tar-Baphon and his phylactery?
something something, she remembers the tree, she was a herald, something something
meta-wise, Arazni becoming a free agent was probably in the planning even back then, and Paizo didn't want to kill TB. so... different liches, different stitches. I dunno, I used the Radiant Fire to kill them both perma ded in my game.
2) Similarly, Arazni was exposed to Radiant Fire when Roslar’s Coffer was destroyed. So why didn’t that sever her link to phylactery?
how would she have known about it when it hadn't been used yet? it's a plot hole, at least I think. I didn't have her show up in the area until afterwards. She doesn't need to be destroyed twice.
3) Maybe the answer is that Radiant Fire needs to be “bolstered by her own rituals” (Book 4, p. 4). But if that’s the case, why don’t the PCs spend all their efforts to figure out how to do this bolstering so that they can do it to Tar-Baphon?
didn't make sense. skipped it. maybe it should be the tree stuff that they do in book 5?
4) Book 5, p. 8 says that the obols are “living kumaru.” But if the death of Aroden caused the death of the kumaru tree, why didn’t it also cause the deaths of the splinters of kumaru wood in the PCs (i.e., the obols)?
so... in my retelling, i had aroden kill the tree. STraight up, cut the heart out of it to make his shield. His death is completely separate from the tree. TB found out how to recharge the tree using 'ley lines' [tied it into a PC's backstory].
5) Why does Book 5 keep talking about reactivating the Veins of Creation? Aroden’s death killed the kumaru tree, not the Veins of Creation.
so... I liked the themes in book 5, but didn't like the setting. it wasn't epic enough. and the place wasn't exactly dying - it's a vibrant ecosystem! so... put it on EOX, the dead world. Aroden was up there helping out with the weapon that they were going to use to destroy the other two planets, and his price was the tree. Then the Eoxians blow up their own planet, and b/c the tree is dead, their world never recovers. At the end of the book, the PCs are involved in a ritual to create a new tree, and maybe in the distant future, the planet is restored.
7) Before Aroden died, did the magic power flowing into the Veins of Creation come from the kumaru tree or from the meteorite fragments in the structure of Tumbaja Mountain? If the latter, then it means the energy flow is Tumbaja Mountain ⇒ kumaru tree ⇒ Veins of Creation. So why didn’t the scientists of Xopatl just find an alternative intermediary between Tumbaja Mountain and the Veins of Creation?
again, this is why i set book 5 on Eox. Weird undead archliches consumed in their own ennui > kinda dumb magic boyz
Also, maybe they couldn't? Because... the tree?
8) In Book 5, why is nothing blue in the Blue Gardens of Tlil (except for one shrub in B6)?
truly the greatest mystery ;-)
9) In Book 5 on p. 40, “Instead of protecting the PC against such a blast, the obol would be obliterated along with the PC’s body and soul.” Why would the blast obliterate one’s soul?
b/c of the obol being tied to the souls of the PCs
11) In Book 6, why doesn’t Tar-Baphon teleport away when he initiates Radiant Fire like he did in Book 3? Why would he expose himself to Radiant Fire?
12) In Book 6, as pesky as the PCs are, why would Tar-Baphon use a weapon with a 3-mile radius to kill 4-6 heroes?
I had him choose the smallest shard, and now that he knows more about how they work, say "This should be enough for you!" before flinging it at them.
I also set that bit on the bridge to the Starstone Cathedral - and they'd just iced a daemonic harbinger. He brought out the big gun to clear them out of the way.
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Hi, Yakman,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply to my post. It is at least reassuring that others found some aspects of this AP perplexing.
I'm starting to brainstorm changes that make the endgame scheme work better for me. I will study what you did carefully.
Best,
Allen
happy to be your sounding board.