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View Full Version : Your opinion on my climax?



Chookster
2011-11-11, 07:12 AM
So my games coming to a climax, six months of regular four hour sessions, and i could use a little help making it memorable, the overall quest is to track down a magical item (called the Delucci Bambino) and it it with an enchanted hammer.

The Bambino can basically be used by anyone who touches it to control the fate of the entire world, as you can imagine a lot of people are interested in this, though officially the party is working for the wizards guild, who want the bambino destroyed and have given them a special hammer enchanted to do so, the world and gods are completely homebrew

Alex, Elven Bard, was resurrected by the ladies of fate, basically the three faces of eve wen she died and has been offered a very long life indeed if she'll just use THEIR hammer instead of the wizard's one.

Rachel, Genasi sorcerer and pyromaniac and follower of the hedgehog god (basically god of chaos) and carrying a baby hedgehog, granted to her by her god, what she doesn't know is that the hedge hog is the delucci bambino and she's quite hell bent on defending it along with her god, she wont want anyone to hit it.

Tom Shadar-kai avenger, another devout hedgehog god follower, will defend the hedgehog with his life.

Marc, Kalashtar warlock, who would dearly like his soul back, and he can get it, all he needs to do is to hit the bambino with HIS hammer, and deliver it to the demon lord who owns his soul.

Spencer, Tiefling Warlock, representative of said demon lord, there to make sure arc follows through, but doesn;t want him to look too good doing it

Celeste: Dragonborn fighter, no particular allegiance has slept with every npc she could in the whole game.

Basically the Bambino wont manifest until its placed in the correct spot in the temple, any hints to how i should handle it? ideally there will be a couple of deaths and a big climactic battle.

Oh also all of these characters can ly, if that helps

supermonkeyjoe
2011-11-11, 07:16 AM
Make sure that destroying the MacGuffin is a bit more involved than hitting it with a hammer, otherwise the fate of the world will be decided by whoever wins initiative :smalleek:

Chookster
2011-11-11, 07:49 AM
Yea there will be shielding and stuff dont worry it will be involving

Gorbash
2011-11-11, 08:03 AM
Delucci Bambino...?

Mastikator
2011-11-11, 08:39 AM
Maybe a member of this wizard guild wants to have the Bambino, has been scrying on them this whole time, is waiting for them at the temple, and has a plan on how to remove them from the temple once they activate it or whatever.

Also, maybe the correct spot isn't in the material plane, maybe the etherial or shadow plane, or maybe even some hidden demi-plane that only exists in this temple. But to get to that plane you must open it, which may release some eldritch horror who's been hiding there waiting for the Bambino to be placed there.

BobVosh
2011-11-11, 08:47 AM
*snicker, snicker* Sorry, the little kid in me snickers about the bambino you have to beat in order to finish the climax.

Sidestepping all of that...

IMO if you want it to be truly epic, you need to make them think they are all working for a common goal with lots of backstabbing. Such as the ending of Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At world's end.

It looks like you have the perfect setup for this, if you could somehow have an NPC convince them. The hedgehog god sounds like a good in for this, perhaps a priest of HG shows up with a message for them.

What exactly are you looking to do for this? Just make it memorable?

Chookster
2011-11-11, 09:20 AM
absolutely want it to be memorable, :) lot of interesting ideas guys keep em coming please.

On the name, the delucci bambino is such a powerful artifact that just saying its name causes a random effect, some good some bad, one of the players lost a hand, they all grew wings, Marc's mother in law appeared... so i uh had to make it a name that wouldn;t come up in every day conversation

the hedgehog god has most definitely taken an interest, she provided the hedgehog, and has been communicating to the two worshippers through dreams

@BobVosh: thank you :)

The Succubus
2011-11-11, 11:06 AM
It sounds like Celeste has already had a fair few climaxes already, so someone else should get a turn. :smalltongue:

Of course, what would be really fun is if all the different hammers got mixed up, so no-one knew which one was which. Or perhaps they enter a room with multiple illusions of the Bambino - one for each of them. Each player strikes an illusion, which takes them to a small plane/room/whatever that makes them think about the choices that have led to their choice of hammer..

Chookster
2011-11-11, 04:00 PM
succubus you are a genius

Shadowknight12
2011-11-11, 04:01 PM
That was not what I was expecting when I clicked this thread.

Sadness.

boomwolf
2011-11-11, 04:44 PM
Well this IS a family-friendly forum...

I second The Succubus BTW, great idea.
If you know "Darken" webcomic you can look at Castor's dream sequence for example. (if you don't, read the webcomic. its already finished and a great product. I would have defiantly bought a book if I lived in the US...)

Link (http://darkencomic.com/?webcomic_post=20061101) start page of dream sequence...though it will probably make little sense of contest, you will get the general idea of the thing...

Severus
2011-11-11, 05:01 PM
You could also play a bit with the idea of what the "fate of the entire world" actually entails, though I think you'd have to do so carefully not to make it into something that feels like a let down to the players.

The point being that perhaps the artifact, when used, creates alternate realities. You don't change this world, you create an entirely new one... and you're trapped in it. It is exactly what you wanted, isn't it? You can be the omnipotent god of your world, making and breaking it as you wish... alone.

How long does that appeal? When do you start to realize that it has no real meaning? etc, etc.

Chookster
2011-11-11, 06:52 PM
I've already previously adressed the problems of using it to control the world, a previous adventure group in another timeline suceeded, and ****ed everything up, mortal minds dont have enough comprehension to succesfully shape the world to their needs, wont stop some of the players from trying though :P

ClockShock
2011-11-11, 07:24 PM
I believe, after consulting with several well-read students of the topic, the general opinion on the title in question is that it simply came too soon.

-

As for the other content, at least someone should by trying to do the right thing and destroy it once and for all with the 'correct' hammer - even if it's an NPC to get in the way.
But mostly, give your characters plenty of freedom, let the players know that this is pretty much their last chance to do something awesome, and let the rest of your group come up with the best of it.

Prepare plenty of loose contingencies, but don't try to force any of them. The players will remember something more if they feel they created it, instead of something you read to them off a sheet of paper.

Basically, you party already has different goals, so the hard work is done.

Chookster
2011-11-13, 07:56 PM
Ok i think i'm good, i'll post how it goes once it happens, that wont be for a few days sp still hapy to recieve suggestions!

@Clockshock: yea thats pretty much what i was planning to do :) player generated story is what its all about

The Succubus
2011-11-14, 07:35 AM
Well this IS a family-friendly forum...

I second The Succubus BTW, great idea....

The Succubus - delivering awesome climaxes since 2008!

boomwolf
2011-11-14, 09:12 AM
Sounds so wrong coming from a guy x_x

Chookster
2011-11-16, 09:04 AM
guys have/give climaxes too you know...

boomwolf
2011-11-16, 09:20 AM
Most of them are not named "The Succubus"...

The Succubus
2011-11-16, 09:51 AM
This entire thread is going in my signature.

:amused:

Rorrik
2011-11-16, 11:11 AM
You've inspired me. I need to work harder at creating that level of confusion in the party before the end. Great set up.

Chookster
2011-11-16, 10:20 PM
I started playing paranoia a lot before i set this up, may have contributed somewhat.

I've always had trouble creating boss fights so for the end i figured why bother? this group are not a bunch of saints, the all powerful artifact will in all likelihood splinter them... so i ran with it.

Chookster
2011-12-01, 11:31 AM
Well if anyone was curious heres what happened, each persons trial was more or less a conversation with their employer, helping them clarify their motives and desires beforehand privately.

The hedgehog was placed in a receptacle in the middle of a huge round disc that quickly shot up towards space, with Rachel and tom in the middle guarding it with their lives as commanded by their god. (the hedgehog was protected by three magical fields which could only be destroyed by a hammer blow)

The two warlocks approached from one side and stayed at the edge blasting at rachel and tom with their eldritch magic, the party bard Alex slipped in from the opposite side with her hammer, and the wild card Celeste approached from between the two, all entering from the circumference.

Which worked to Rachel's advantage when she managed to knock marc's character screaming into negative hitpoints and all the way to the ground below

Seeing this the characters charged for the center which sadly didn't help the other warlock who met his end at the hand of a lightning bolt carrying his corpse off to join his companion below.

Tom with a few specacularly unlucky rolls (three ones in a row) managed to break his leg, and the bard was bleeding out on the ground at the hands of tom and celeste after she removed the defences of the hedgehog.

Approaching the height where the Delucci bambino would truly manifest they decided to put aside their differences and use the hedgehogs magic to reshape the world, Tom even taking the time to stabilise alex and place her hand on the hedgehog, it was touching.

Celeste became the new god of death birth and rebirth, with her two angels as the damned souls of marc and spencer (the liked that a lot)

Tom became a demigod with a hedgehog/dragon mount running around righting wrongs and serving his god with a team of knights templar

Rachel also ascended to godhood and became the new goddess of fire/chaos.

Alex wished for eternal peace for her and her family ( an attractive barman had impregnated her previously) and grew old with many children in peace and wealth

Thats the cliff notes version, it was intense violent, glorious and funny and everything i hoped it to be thank you all so much.

valadil
2011-12-01, 11:34 AM
Your game has a hedgehog god?! Reading that part was the climax of the post for me.

Chookster
2011-12-02, 10:11 AM
Ya more or less the goddess of silliness and chaos, wont let anyone build any temples to her and requires the sacrifice of carrots.

valadil
2011-12-02, 10:21 AM
Seems reasonable. They also like turkey and cilantro in my experience.

Chookster
2011-12-02, 11:30 AM
I'll include that in my next campaign :)