Quote Originally Posted by Irreverent Fool View Post
I need some help defining tropes and making sure certain revelations occur in the game I currently DM.
Okay, lets look at them then.
Quote Originally Posted by Irreverent Fool View Post
Redefining the plot is possible, (I don't like railroading my players too much). Lately, I feel as if the game is proceeding a little aimlessly and I feel that definitions will help me get things back on track.

Warning: My players should probably keep out. Alfonse, Xantia, Mughlok, Daneel, whatever Josh is rolling up...

Background, Reader's Digest version:
Spoiler
Show
The god of evil rules the heavens, Zeus-style. He created humanity, so humans revere him. They generally believe they are doing good (god's work), though long-term outcomes tend toward evil.

A Duergar wizard is impersonating the Dwarven king and has built the Soulforge -- a device for binding souls into a magical container. He plans to use this container trap the god of evil and free the world from its suffering. He takes the souls unwillingly, but they are not destroyed. Once the object is complete, the trapped souls understand the purpose and willingly remain to contain the god of evil.

The soulforge has a side-effect: The soulless bodies reanimate as creatures with all the abilities they had in life. Soulless deal wisdom damage. Those reduced to 0 wisdom become soulless as well. Soulless are nigh-unkillable (regenration) and become stronger each time they heal from 0 hp. The Duergar wizard tends to capture them and contain them.

To complete the object, he will require the PCs' help to gather certain artifacts. This hasn't happened yet, as the last time they encountered him (as the Dwarven king), they refused to act on the plothammer.

Their current plan is to journey to the other side of the world to recruit the armies of the Empire of Krueger (a human nation devoted to their god, templars and such), find the re-constructed soulforge (they disabled it once, but the Dwarven king had it moved), and eliminate the forge and the soulless threat once and for all. They're about halfway there.

There are other sub-plots, of course, but these are the rails.

Revelations to be made:
  1. The god of evil, his influence and followers are all bad for the world
  2. The King of the dwarves is the Duergar wizard they encountered in the first soulforge (as a simulacrum)
  3. The souls are not being harmed or destroyed (Already partially did this by allowing a wish scroll to return the cohort's soul and allow him to be raised. He had some vague memories of being in a purgatory-like place and a feeling that he was waiting to do something important.)

Any suggestions will be rewarded with savage mockery delicious cookies gratuitous thanks.

obnoxious
sig
I could probably do more were I not so tired, but that should be enough tropes to get you started.