I picked up a copy of RotFM and have been reading through it. I was stoked about Auril's design, and leading an adventure into an unforgiving, ice covered wasteland seemed like a great way to help me and my players (all of us "semi-experienced") practice bestowing more importance on terrain, weather, wilderness, and all things having to do with the Survival stat.
I've breezed through a few of the chapters to get the general gist of what's happening, but the final act gets pretty damn *out there*.
**Final Spoiler Alert**
So, I was surprised that Auril, herself, isn't scripted as the final act. The option is definitely there, but it's not set. We're going full JRPG here. We're diving into an ancient flying city (cool cool) with lots of lost, magical knowledge and zombie wizards (okay, still neat), with a normal person and a bunch of cultists as the final villain (ah... bit of a letdown, there), and the possibility of irreversibly launching the party into the distant past where wizards have "helpers with smooth green skin" guiding them (cool, we've gone full Crystal Skull here).
So.. thoughts?
I'm personally worried to bring a party this far, probably between half a year to a year's worth of sessions, for things to get bizarro or, in the event Avarice is all that's left, a rather letdown of a final villain. I don't want them to feel cheated or bamboozled. I may see what I can do to keep Auril more important through the ending, but it takes a really wild turn, and I just wonder what everyone else's opinions might be.
I feel that the ending needs a delicate hand in how it needs to be given to the players, lest they find it's conclusion to be unsatisfying. I've been thinking on it since blazing through the book, and while I probably missed some really important points (roleplaying as a literal god of winter probably does have a lot of... nuance, and I have no idea how I'll do that yet), I think that having a normal person and cultists as the final 'big bad' possibly could possibly allow the opportunity for Auril to be seen as a more sympathetic character at the conclusion of the game.
Given that even if the players defeat her in combat, shes only going to come back again within the year anyway, I can understand why the game would 'end' on someone else. Perhaps the players might look to an alternative solution to solving their divine problems and wrap the adventure up with an understanding with her? It's a thinker.
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Hey, everyone!
I picked up a copy of RotFM and have been reading through it. I was stoked about Auril's design, and leading an adventure into an unforgiving, ice covered wasteland seemed like a great way to help me and my players (all of us "semi-experienced") practice bestowing more importance on terrain, weather, wilderness, and all things having to do with the Survival stat.
I've breezed through a few of the chapters to get the general gist of what's happening, but the final act gets pretty damn *out there*.
**Final Spoiler Alert**
So, I was surprised that Auril, herself, isn't scripted as the final act. The option is definitely there, but it's not set. We're going full JRPG here. We're diving into an ancient flying city (cool cool) with lots of lost, magical knowledge and zombie wizards (okay, still neat), with a normal person and a bunch of cultists as the final villain (ah... bit of a letdown, there), and the possibility of irreversibly launching the party into the distant past where wizards have "helpers with smooth green skin" guiding them (cool, we've gone full Crystal Skull here).
So.. thoughts?
I'm personally worried to bring a party this far, probably between half a year to a year's worth of sessions, for things to get bizarro or, in the event Avarice is all that's left, a rather letdown of a final villain. I don't want them to feel cheated or bamboozled. I may see what I can do to keep Auril more important through the ending, but it takes a really wild turn, and I just wonder what everyone else's opinions might be.
I feel that the ending needs a delicate hand in how it needs to be given to the players, lest they find it's conclusion to be unsatisfying. I've been thinking on it since blazing through the book, and while I probably missed some really important points (roleplaying as a literal god of winter probably does have a lot of... nuance, and I have no idea how I'll do that yet), I think that having a normal person and cultists as the final 'big bad' possibly could possibly allow the opportunity for Auril to be seen as a more sympathetic character at the conclusion of the game.
Given that even if the players defeat her in combat, shes only going to come back again within the year anyway, I can understand why the game would 'end' on someone else. Perhaps the players might look to an alternative solution to solving their divine problems and wrap the adventure up with an understanding with her? It's a thinker.