Random DM nagging.

[Corwin]

In all seriousness, it's a side effect of male players playing female characters plus having a lot of female NPCs.

Well yeah. We were mostly traveling just with Adrian, who was alternating between flirting with Ithea and getting hitched to the first female NPC we came across.

Then we have a pair of old guys, and a shady unremarkable guy (who also kinda interacted the most with Ithea, now that I think about it, amusing). It took ages until Morniel joined us, and he was very much a quiet guy that took the back of the stage. Initiative is important, etc.

Eventually we recruited Gisfal, but it took quite some some. We also had an eagle, a dragon, giant and an air elemental that had male genders....

Going over the NPC list I see that I forgot Lief. It must be because I never interacted with him much and he's the wrong size anyway. Who else? The Master was Willim's mentor, and I never really clicked with him either for no real reason. Stille had promise, but he hit on Afina and followed up on Ithea. Finnegan is pretty endgame, though he was cool.

[Ebiris]

Afina was technically bi (she's a fairy, c'mon) but had a heart full of hatred and revenge.

[Anastasia]

Well yeah. We were mostly traveling just with Adrian, who was alternating between flirting with Ithea and getting hitched to the first female NPC we came across.

I'm not sure Adrian was quite flirting with Ithea. I don't think he'd be interested in someone with fur, though he enjoyed messing with her.

Going over the NPC list I see that I forgot Lief. It must be because I never interacted with him much and he's the wrong size anyway. Who else? The Master was Willim's mentor, and I never really clicked with him either for no real reason. Stille had promise, but he hit on Afina and followed up on Ithea. Finnegan is pretty endgame, though he was cool.

That reminds me, I want to write a fair bit about Stille when the time comes.

I wish Finnegan had gotten more time, but he game too late into things. He had his own history, life and I felt he could be a good character. Circumstances conspired against him.

[Anastasia]

Afina was technically bi (she's a fairy, c'mon) but had a heart full of hatred and revenge.

I don't think it mattered which way Afina went, short of Ilsenine making a move on her. Even that probably wouldn't matter, since I suspect she'd be with Ilsenine no matter her personal tastes.

[Anastasia]

THE COMING AGENDA! HEY LISTEN AND SHIT!

Friday

Jaela: Talk with Mirajane, wedding, talk with Hanna about siblings, Mei and Mirima to the Triune.
Afina: ???
Ithea: Visit Sharess, wedding.
Muirfinn: Whatever.

Sunday

The opening of Medi's quarters and game sendoff.

Eb, let me know if you have anything you want to do Friday.

[Ebiris]

I got nothing. Just feels redundant with the game ending.

[Anastasia]

Okay, then this is the schedule I'll roll with.

Friday

Jaela: Talk with Mirajane, wedding, talk with Hanna about siblings, Mei and Mirima to the Triune.
Afina: Nothing.
Ithea: Visit Sharess, wedding.
Muirfinn: Whatever.

Sunday

The opening of Medi's quarters and game sendoff.

Friday will roll around the wedding in the afternoon. Eb, if you're around for it you're welcome to join in, but no obligation. After that I'll see about knocking out individual stuff for Ithea and Jaela. Evening will deal with Muirfinn if whatever crystallized into anything. If a second day is desired and needed, it will be some time next week.

[Anastasia]

Okay guys, make sure to have the ritual stuff in order for Sunday. Don't worry about the cost of the weapons or anything, but make sure you have your ducks in a row.

[Anastasia]

What if?

What if the heroes chose to decline Adrian's offer and forsake finding Medicant?

Good question. While the basic tenet of not derailing a game as it starts all but eliminated this chance, I did have a backup plan if the PCs did not bite. The PCs would find themselves soon hunted by diabolical kidnapping squads. These squads, lead by cornugons and supported by erinyes and orthons, would be tracking survivors of Lifasa for capture. The fights wouldn't be fair - and I'll cop to a bit of railroading here - and would result with the PCs being knocked out and captured. They'd awaken in the same slave holding pen and from there I'd try to get you guys to run the whole rebellion angle from within. You'd likely become part of Makaril's rebellion in time and work on saving Lifasa from that angle.

This assumes you didn't come up with some other plan between rejecting Adrian and that. If you did I'd go along with that. That was my reserve option if the game's plot didn't want to come together.

What if the party did not free Annalise?

A lot less complications and one less powerful party member to call on. With the way it worked out, I'd call it a net gain. No problems with Celestia/Helm, no general complications from a vampire around and Jaela's heart doesn't get torn to shreds. This isn't to say Annalise was all negative, but with hindsight she was difficult for y'all. It's possible she may have been freed soon after, and if so she might come after Aurora for revenge. I had that idea as a B plot as you guys debated on freeing her.

What if a party member (or more) took some of Hell's early offers of status in exchange for submission?

BAD END.

Now you wouldn't be tortured and killed. As Hell showed, they're more than willing to corrupt those who accept it. You'd merely be damning yourselves to Hell, an eternal part of a miserable machine. You'd become another willing slave who has submitted to the chains of Perdition, casting away any light in favor of the illusions Baator grants. The entire party accepting would be a Game Over, while part of the party accepting would result as that PC being treated as slain. The player would be instructed to roll up a new PC and the old one would appear as a future antagonist.

Torture and murder is reserved for defiant PCs that are captured or soul-stolen. Speaking of...

What if a PC's soul was stolen on death or otherwise by magic?

The PC would drift in darkness, unaware of anything but a vague passage of time. This would persist until they are aware of a smirking devil's face all around them. This figure would seem to see them and all of them, as seeing the past, present and future and finding it piteously wanting. A coldness that would chill them to the bone. He would introduce himself as the Duke of Destiny and explain there are but two paths now. One offer is to submit wholly to Baator and be allowed to survive and the other is being consumed by Taelfagn.

Submission would lead to the PC being transformed into a lemure. While powerless, this lemure would retain the intelligence and awareness of the PC. Taelfagn would take it to the Serpent Throne and Asmodeus as an offering to the dread lord of Nessus. Asmodeus would then silently decide if the he will consume the PC utterly - as a complete submission to Baator does not rule this out - or transform them into a devil thrall. Either way is a bad end and removes the PC from play. The former is a true death, as short of slaying Asmodeus or convincing him to trade the soul away, there would be no escape. A devil thrall would be carefully used to demoralize Aurora, but in ways that prevent Aurora from affecting or recapturing the brainwashed PC.

The other is self explanatory. The PC would be consumed and that would be another true death. It's easier to slay Taelfagn than Asmodeus at least.

As a note, this would happen no matter what diabolical entity captured the PC's soul. The Order of the Lie has instructions to notify Asmodeus on this occurrence and has given Taelfagn special dispensation to confiscate the soul.

What if the Child of Lifasa was born?

GAME OVER. Full stop. GAME OVER. The moment the Child is born, Lifasa and any children of Lifasa are forever damned. The Child of Lifasa would have been able to effortlessly and irresistibly dominate anyone from Lifasa. He would consume them and then the traitors of Lifasa, consuming the nine-fold seal they maintain. He would then rise as a regal pit fiend, ruling over the broken land and absorbing all the souls of Lifasa. He would be a newborn horror, a nightmare of destiny wrought and perverted by Taelfagn. Aurora would be his palace on Lifasa and his reign would be a blight on all Creation. Hell would grow yet stronger.

Good call on putting that shit down.

What if the party chose to face Gathgorian instead of retreating with Queen Ilsenine?

Most likely you'd die. Gathgorian is 20+ CR above your range at the time, resulting in what is most likely a painful slaughter. While a few spells could slow him down, you're simply out of your depth against him. Moreover, Gathgorian is no fool. He had ordered reinforcements to be prepared in case of a serious struggle. If somehow you reduced Gathgorian to 1/4th of his HP, he's simply retreat and you'd have a chance to escape. If by some miracle you did more than 1/4th of his hit points to finish him off before that and lived to tell the tale, you'd gain Gathgorian's sword and armor as a drop, as well as a special reward.

More to come.

[Corwin]

What if a PC got captured and thrall'd, and then we captured them back?  >_>

[Anastasia]

What if a PC got captured and thrall'd, and then we captured them back?  >_>

In short, see Ellese.

You'd be dealing with someone broken by the will of Asmodeus. This takes but a moment and is a complete destruction of the psyche, reserved only for those who have personally offended the Lord of the Ninth. It would be picking up the pieces and trying to build someone close to what they were before. It would be your discretion if you wanted to pick them up as a PC again or stick with your new PC. It is well within Asmodeus' power to do in an instant what skilled tormentors could do over the span of years, decades or even centuries.

In the unlikely event you roll several 20s in a row to resist Asmodeus, you'd garner his personal interest. Only a handful of creatures through eternity have managed this feat. Most likely you'd be consumed utterly, so that Asmodeus may absorb that ferocious will and grow stronger, or put back into a soul gem and studied by a Duke or Archduke of Hell. The purpose of this would to be to explain where this supreme will came from and what created it.

[Corwin]

I've been curious about whether we needed a certain amount of soldiers before we could unlock certain things. Like an assault on Benfal/Lifasa, say.

Also curious about the events we didn't trigger like some 100% loyalty in troops (which conditions would trigger it and what would happen).

[Ebiris]

Yes, what is up with those fucking pixies?

[Corwin]

Too emo?

[Anastasia]

I've been curious about whether we needed a certain amount of soldiers before we could unlock certain things. Like an assault on Benfal/Lifasa, say.

I didn't run the army battles too complexly, but your numbers did influence the base odds of a battle. You didn't 'need' nay raw number to attack, but the more you have, the better.

Also curious about the events we didn't trigger like some 100% loyalty in troops (which conditions would trigger it and what would happen).

Depends on the events you mean. There's a lot of events you triggered and just as many you missed. A few examples:

Romantic Details
Trigger: Get Balyss to mention who she's in a relationship with back home.
Event: A conversation with Balyss where she loosely outlines what happened and why she was being cagey about it.
Reward: Finding out what happened to old characters.

Strain
Trigger: Cause Sylvie to have three otherworldly instances of thought. (Such as when she was able to lie with 21 due to tapping into two instances of herself across time.)
Event: Sylvie makes Will save vs DC 63. The constant strain of 21 and the new thought patterns forays into the Far Realm have provided cause her mind to break. Success leads to a functional person who is beginning to think in ways alien to this Creation - and able to tap into more powers from 21. Failure results in distorted madness and a crushed mind.
Reward: If successful, a weapon form for 21, more damage when using it and souped up true seeing. If failed, no reward and madness. Also more hints about 21 regardless of success or failure.

Echos of the Past
Trigger: Successfully improve the Celestial Key.
Event: Aurora is further empowered by the new key. As a result, both Galariel and Elena gain more power and freedom. In addition, a hidden message from Medi plays.
Reward: Galariel and Elena as usable NPCs, information and world setting details from Medi.
Note: You guys didn't even come close to sniffing this one out.

The 100% loyalty ones had 2/3 triggers and were simplified to triggers+reward provided. Refresh me on which ones you triggered?