WotBS Advice on killing off a prominent NPC in war of the burning sky

[Birdmetal]

Hi! I've just purchased part 1 of WotBS in preparation for possibly running a long term campaign but not yet ready to make the money/time investment of buying and reading through the whole story to find out what is important to later parts so I just wanted to ask if there are any significant long-term ramifications for me killing off the NPC Torrent early in the campaign?

I dont really want a DMPC sticking with my party for too long because beyond the initial exposition dump I don't want her to give them too much guidance on where to go next since I want the story to feel driven by the players rather than by me. Plus don't want the hassle of having an extra person in the party for every single combat.

So once the party is out of gate pass and knows their objective is to head through the burning forest and take the case to the Lyceum I'd like for them to "lose their training wheels" so to speak and kill her off. Preferably in a heroic fight with the inquisitor that tracks them down at the farmhouse at the end of part 1 in order to add more emotional weight to how scary the inquisitors are.

I just want to check that she isn't essential to the plot later on. I figure since she's from the lyceum she is probably helpful once they arrive there but I'm hoping that wont be too hard to write around. Thoughts?

 

[RangerWickett]

There is a connection between here and the villain in adventure 3, so if you don't have her with the party, you might have her mention her mentor a few times, perhaps making a point to bring up that she learned to wrestle against his squid animal companion.

Torrent is in no way essential to the plot, but every adventure up to #8 introduces an NPC who can team up with the party and later show up to help in the final adventure. I understand not wanting a lot cadre of NPCs with the party, but you might consider having some other way to write her out that doesn't kill her.

You could maybe give the inquisitor the ability (as a bonus action 1/day) to put a curse on her rendering her incapable of accepting helpful magic (which keeps her from healing and from receiving the benefits of the stand the heat potions). Even if she survives, she can't go along with the party, so she stays behind and resolves herself to try to go the long way around the fire forest.

You could then maybe have her show up in adventure 4 helping Duke Gallo defend against the Ragesians, or wait much longer and have her as a captive in the Scourge Prison in adventure 8.

You might also have later inquisitors use that spell too, but the party would be high enough level for remove curse to et rid of it.

 

[Birdmetal]

thanks heaps! thats great info and I like your suggestions for alternatives. I'll definitely consider them as options. I guess I'll wait to see whether my players enjoy having her around or not before deciding.

 

[Tormyr]

The NPCs that come alongside the heroes not only give you a relief valve if a situation gets too dicey, but they let you speak to the players in game, and the players see how the war affects the various people around them. Torrent is looking for a mission to prove herself, and when things get bad in the fire forest, she will doubt herself. The interpersonal conflict between Torrent, Haddin, and Crystin and their conflicting advice on how to deal with Indomitability will give the players chances to see what kind of people they want their PCs to become and how they will deal with those affected by the war.

 

[Lylandra]

Just go with the flow, I'd say. I know my players would be furious at me if I just killed off people they care about while they are present without giving them a chance to influence the outcome. Put her in danger (she's a melee cleric trying to prove herself) and see how they react. In my (rather small) group, torrent eventually became the love interest and later wife of one of my PCs, so they definitely chose her (and Crystin) over several others... they wouldn't have cared so much for Balan or the Halflings. I know that the party becomes rather large until they reach Seaquen, but once they arrive at the Lyceum, you can treat the school and city as a hub for parking group NPC.

 

[Salicus]

There is a connection between here and the villain in adventure 3, so if you don't have her with the party, you might have her mention her mentor a few times, perhaps making a point to bring up that she learned to wrestle against his squid animal companion.

Torrent is in no way essential to the plot, but every adventure up to #8 introduces an NPC who can team up with the party and later show up to help in the final adventure. I understand not wanting a lot cadre of NPCs with the party, but you might consider having some other way to write her out that doesn't kill her.

You could maybe give the inquisitor the ability (as a bonus action 1/day) to put a curse on her rendering her incapable of accepting helpful magic (which keeps her from healing and from receiving the benefits of the stand the heat potions). Even if she survives, she can't go along with the party, so she stays behind and resolves herself to try to go the long way around the fire forest.

You could then maybe have her show up in adventure 4 helping Duke Gallo defend against the Ragesians, or wait much longer and have her as a captive in the Scourge Prison in adventure 8.

You might also have later inquisitors use that spell too, but the party would be high enough level for remove curse to et rid of it

So cutting NPCs out of the adventure is also not a thing you would suggest? I was thinking about cutting three eyed raven in Adventure 5 because the PCs dont need him to get to the monastery(they have a monk from there). So instead of cutting him completely, is it better to have him there for some other reason? Maybe because he knows the people of the land around the monastery or something like that? Since I am doing the same thing as the creator of this thread, by reading only one adventure ahead of the current adventure and not buying all at once, I do now know what is coming in the later adventures.

 

[Tormyr]

So cutting NPCs out of the adventure is also not a thing you would suggest? I was thinking about cutting three eyed raven in Adventure 5 because the PCs dont need him to get to the monastery(they have a monk from there). So instead of cutting him completely, is it better to have him there for some other reason? Maybe because he knows the people of the land around the monastery or something like that? Since I am doing the same thing as the creator of this thread, by reading only one adventure ahead of the current adventure and not buying all at once, I do now know what is coming in the later adventures.

You could cut out Three Weeping Raves from adventure 5, but you should move his time foreshadowing with the heroes to some time before they leave for the temple in Trial of Echoed Souls as he alludes to the temple his people came from and what happened there.

If cost is an issue, you can wait for a sale or grab the 3.5 compilation to read the adventures ahead of time. It will help with planning where to tie the heroes into the adventures. War of the Burning Sky: The Complete Campaign (D&D 3.5) - EN Publishing | War of the Burning Sky Campaign Saga | D&D 3.5 / OGL / d20 | DriveThruRPG.com

 

[Salicus]

You could cut out Three Weeping Raves from adventure 5, but you should move his time foreshadowing with the heroes to some time before they leave for the temple in Trial of Echoed Souls as he alludes to the temple his people came from and what happened there.

If cost is an issue, you can wait for a sale or grab the 3.5 compilation to read the adventures ahead of time. It will help with planning where to tie the heroes into the adventures. War of the Burning Sky: The Complete Campaign (D&D 3.5) - EN Publishing | War of the Burning Sky Campaign Saga | D&D 3.5 / OGL / d20 | DriveThruRPG.com

anything like the full book planned when all 12 adventures are out for 5e? it looks cool and would be a nice thing to have.

 

[Salicus]

Other then that, It is not about money beeing an issue but having anxiety about rather or not the Players will continue all the way to book 12
Let me explain that, WotBS is the first Campaign I am running after finding it out of pure luck on Roll20 and liking what I saw in the GM and Players book. I am kinda hoping, that there will be some full collection stuff when all is out, but I would probably not buy it if I already have all the "normal" books. Also I already had 3 people jump off the campaign in the first 2 adventures, because of time related problems and you never know what the future holds now with COVID and all. Maybe when all that lockdown stuff here in germany is over, time priorities will shift away from DnD for me or my players, so I did not want to sink more money into it then I have to. Although I really like it up until now =)

 

[jeffh]

I blew Torrent up right after she finished her opening spiel and never looked back.

Three Weeping Ravens was also replaced with an ex-PC whose player had left the group early on, similar to what you're contemplating, it worked out fine.